[Lowfer] WSPR-X (getting our Priority straight)

[JD]

>>> The WSPR program surely doesn¹t try to upload the entire ALL_WSPR.txt 
>>> file each time it updates, does it (as opposed to just new spots)? .... 
>>> I¹m wondering if my instance of WSPR is spending all its time doing 
>>> something besides decoding, or perhaps I am still uploading a big file 
>>> when the next occurrence comes along, causing crashes or freezes.

If you do manual uploads (as I have to do because of no 'net access on the 
farm), it certainly does upload the whole thing, and the database then has 
to sort out what's new, and that causes problems when it grows too large. 
As for automatic uploads, I'm not sure how WSPR decides what to do with the 
newer decodes, but keep in mind that it does have to load the whole file 
into memory and save it back to disk each time it performs an operation on 
it, and that consumes time and other resources.

For that reason, I do the same thing Garry does and rename my file each day 
(if it contains anything I want to preserve) or else delete it entirely. 
It's a variation of the KISS principle...in this case, Keep It Small.

As for long decode times, there may be a couple of things going on.  One I 
discovered a couple years back (especially on WSPR-2 mode) is that 
too-strong signals force too much analysis, probably due to production of 
stray audio components that have to be accounted for.  That sometimes causes 
decoding to overlap--and therefor miss--the next transmission window.

Also, anything else the computer is doing takes away resources from WSPR. 
Don't let your antivirus do background scans at the same time, for instance, 
and clear out your browser cache before a listening session.  (Seems 
bizarre, but recent versions of Windows waste resources keeping track of 
those files even when the browser isn't open.)  Do without "live tiles" if 
you can, etc.

Finally, my experience here Friday with WSPR X acting so flaky for a time 
got me hunting for other problems I hadn't experienced before and possible 
solutions--and I found one today!  My unaccustomed difficulty Friday gave 
every indication of Windows taking too much time for its own housekeeping 
tasks and shortchanging the desired application, namely WSPR X.

Well, imagine my delight today to read a tip by KE4PT on page 72 of the 
January 2016 QST, in which he describes a technique to use a batch file to 
run WSJT-X in realtime priority mode on Windows 8.1.  The same technique 
applies to Windows XP, 7, and probably also 10.

It's equivalent to opening Task Manager, selecting the Processes tab, 
right-clicking Set Priority, and then choosing a higher value than the 
default of Normal. (Except you don't have to go through all the mouse 
clicks...just run the .bat file to simultaneously start the program and set 
its priority.)

There are three greater levels of priority available, in increasing order: 
Above Normal, High, and Realtime.  There are potential drawbacks, of course; 
the higher priority you give to one running process, the more likely you are 
to create instabilities in another one that may also be time-critical.  For 
that reason, I would (and will) try High first and see if it gave me the 
desired result first before going all the way to Realtime.

Since WSPR, like WSJT, is so time sensitive, this may be a useful fix.

John