New Accessory for Flex6700 - Cognitive Processor Bus Interface

Stu Phillips - K6TU

Press Release - for immediate publication

K6TU announces Cognitive Processor Bus Interface for the FlexRadio 6700

Woodside, California:  November 18th, 2014:  K6TU is proud to announce the immediate availability of the Cognitive Processor Bus Interface (CPBI) for the FlexRadio 6700.  The CPBI enables faster QSO rates in contests by continually adapting to shifting band conditions by interfacing to the K6TU WetWare Neural Processor.  Signals are spatially separated instantly in the Neural Processor allowing quicker extraction of callsigns and contest exchange data.

The CPBI and Neural Processor also aid pile up management by separating multiple calling stations clearly and quickly, cutting down the number of repeats or fills required to extract a complete callsign.

Designed for the discerning contesters and expert operator, the CPBI improves contest rate, reduces fatigue, increases motivation and moves the fun factor into warp drive!

Further information can be found on the K6TU blog.

For pricing information, please contact K6TU directly.

JB

I tried reading your blog with both eyes but my buss must have been too wet...

Great reading with one eye though :-)

George O'Brien

Hi Stu,

I love the iPad K6TU app, but wonder if I should wait until the 1st of April for you new offering?

DrTeeth

Maybe increase the spatial awareness with some Lysergic acid diethylamide, maybe a touch of SSRI for bravado?

Stu Phillips - K6TU

No, no!  This is REAL and not an April 1st gag!

Its shipping NOW!
Stu K6TU

Stu Phillips - K6TU

Or maybe some mushrooms? ;-)
Stu K6TU

PS: Seriously, this works!

George O'Brien

Okay, Stu, I've read the blog.  I chose the 6700 because it has a second receiver.  The TenTec Orion II that I am selling also has a second receiver.  I use a SteppIr DB18 and a Pixeloop antenna in diversity mode.  I use an inverted L antenna and the Pixeloop mag loop antenna on 160 meters. This makes a BIG difference on top band.  Please tell me more about your software and how it enhances the effect?

Stu Phillips - K6TU

George,

No software required!  Everything you need is already in V1.3.8 of SSDR - just adjust the controls a little and the effects I've described in my blog post will come dancing into your hearing!

I think THE huge advantage with the 6700 is that the two SCU's are phase synchronous so with some good separation between the two antennas, you can get amazing reception!

Stu K6TU

George O'Brien

You are right about the importance of phase coherence.  I had to work with the Orion to adjust the phase between the two receivers, since, unlike the K3, the LO's are not phase lock looped. Three cheers for DIV mode on the 6700!

George O'Brien

Hey Stu,

One last comment...I've read that this psychoacoustic phenomenon creates a sound stage in our minds, not only left-to-right one, but front-to-back as well.  It's almost an acoustic hologram, isn't it?  I highly recommend everyone to try it if they can.

Stu Phillips - K6TU

George,

That was exactly the effect - especially in the pile up case.  Until you experience it, its hard to describe but the pile up was spread out on the mental sound stage and it was a slum dunk to get the full call first time of one of the callers.

I have have some additional integration work to do with my remote rotor control for the loop... I want to be able have the option to automatically **** the azimuth of the loop to that of the Yagi.  I'm also wondering about phasing two loops together at 90 degrees to each other to change the cardioid pattern to just a single lobe...

It's all about rate!
Stu K6TU

DrTeeth

Sounds like an invite to a party at Stu's for a demo, hi hi.

DrTeeth

I believe you, it sounds amazing (no pun intended).

Ken - NM9P

Gee, Stu, it is enough to make us lowly 6500 owners jealous!  
Seriously.  This feature, and 2 Meter coverage are the only regrets I have about not being able to afford the 6700.  

It would be interesting to hear a recording someday.  Perhaps before the next contest you can set up Audacity and simply hit "record" when you are in the middle of a good example session.  Then record about ten minutes and stop.  You can save and export it during a break or after the contest is over.

I bet it would help sell some more 6700's!

Ken - NM9P.

BTW.  I didn't play in this contest because I had too many meetings that weekend.
I hope to be up and on the ball for the three big 160 contests.  I need CA, HI, AK & UT for 160 WAS from Indiana!

Stu Phillips - K6TU

I will give it a shot! 
Stu K6TU

George O'Brien

If you do listen to Stu's recording, it must be in stereo on headphones.  Speakers will not work due to mixing the sounds and therefore the phase delays between the left and right channels.

Steve W6SDM

Having actually experienced the 1960s, I can only say that if use use Stu's device then say your call sign backwards, you'll see images of Hiram Percy Maxim in your English muffin the next morning.

Watts - K4QJZ

Stu, great write up, what an excellent way to help folk’s without Diversity reception knowledge understand the advantage and practical application. It will be interesting to see what comes next from Diversity reception mode.

philip.theis

Very nice, I love diversity

Sergey R5AU

I wanna to say - diversity what we need definetely ,
as ex. for visualize:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFpSQQ_dBE4
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD0V2D5S1dU

Andrew VK5CV

I did worry that I might be jealous of the 6700 for diversity, but another GPS locked 6500 at a diverse location might be better. You use mine and I use yours. For the 6700 I wonder if an adjustable time delay between the two receivers might enhance the spacial perception and gain pattern. Andrew VK5CV

Barry N1EU

I've been posting diversity recordings on the Web for the past 10 years.  Just holding out hope that Flex can bring a 6K diversity platform to market at a lower price point than the 6700.  Until then, my diversity rig is the Orion2/RX366.

Ian1

When considering the purchase of my 6500 I looked into local noise levels. Stu are you saying regardless of noise this still works?

Ken - NM9P

Interesting idea... But I wasn't able to get the GPS option. Another $600 that I didn't have at the time. ... Now if I could find a really cheap, but stable, 10 MHz reference......I could lock my 6500 and 1500 together. That would be nice!

Stu Phillips - K6TU

Yes.

I happened to use an antenna for the second slice that has a fair amount of rejection of local noise sources but the real secret in the cookie dough is the physical separation between the antennas.

That's independent of noise.

The ionosphere is a fluid and very dynamic - think on a very small time scale due to heating effects, ionization rates, changes in the magnetic field of the Earth and coupling of high altitude weather up into the higher levels of the atmosphere (at a minimum).

As a result, the reflection/refraction of the received signal at ONE point of observation is continually changing - this is the QSB you hear which will generally be more obvious on weaker signals.  This is because there are multiple signal paths between the transmitter and receiver as a radiated signal has many "launch" angles from the antenna.  So there are really multiple "rays" propagating through a shifting medium that provides the reflection/refraction.

Ray combining can occur constructively where the combinations are all in phase - this makes the received signal stronger.

Or, they can combine destructively where the combinations are in opposite phase - this makes the received signal weaker.

CRITICAL - and why I emphasized the ONE above...

If you have a SECOND point of observation that is physically separated from the first, you will see different combination effects because the effective phase of the different arriving signals gets shifted.  Different phase means different combining effects.

When I chose the site for my PixelLoop I wanted to get it as far away from my 160m vertical for two reasons...  even with the protection relay in the PixelLoop, I wanted to provide some isolation from the effect of dumping 1500 watts into the near field... Second, I wanted to get the second antenna away from the inevitable local noise that gets re-radiated from the vertical.

Serendipitously this put the antenna about 600 feet from my tower...  about as far as it can be without going off my property!

On 10m this is about 20 wavelengths dropping to about 3 on 160m...  rough math.

The multiple wave lengths between the two antennas guarantees that the combining effects of the different arriving "rays" is different.  Statistically it must be possible that they could be the same where both fade at the same time but given the dynamics of the ionosphere, I believe the probability is very low.

Sorry for the long explanation...

The net is that the arriving signals at the two antennas are different in terms of fading and other effects reducing our ability to copy the signal.  By running both signals together from the separate SCUs (which are phase synchronous - thus preserving the phase differences between the two incoming signals) into the headphones on different channels, our brain processes this onto a mental "sound stage".

The auditory processor in our brain is amazingly good - evolution at work here... as we process the sounds arriving in each ear and can instantly perceive where the sound is coming from.  The brain is also really good at selective processing - being able to focus what you want to hear.

That's how it all works!

The key is antenna siting - you need the physical separation in order to benefit from the diversity reception.

I have 600 feet or so of separation plus the coax run from the PixelLoop is about 500 feet - adding a significant amount of delay line effect.  That must also play together.

Finally (everyone heaves a sigh of relief)... you can also use diversity to reduce or even eliminate the impact of noise on a received signal - this is how the active noise reducers work that are sold by MFJ et al.  By changing the phase and matching the amplitude of the noise from one antenna and mixing it with the signal at the second, you can cancel out the local noise signal.  Thing Noise Reduction headsets - they work in the same way.

That's the real differentiation of the 6700 over the 6500 - and as Gerald wrote in the recent Flex Insider, that's going to be a big feature focus area in 1.5.  Many of the effects can be done with a single SCU BTW so all the models will benefit.

Stu K6TU

James Kirk

The 5000 with a second receiver works well and is a bargain now on the used market.

Ken - NM9P

Stu, I had never thought about the phase induced stereo imaging effects translating into spatial placement of signals in an RF diversity system.  That is a very interesting concept.  

I wonder what would happen if you had two pixel receiving loops, spaced 600 or more feet apart, each with directional controls, or perhaps just at 90 degree angles to one another.  Being evenly matched and low noise antennas, would this magnify the "psycho-acoustical stereo placement effect?"  

It would be interesting to experiment....

Ken - NM9P

Richard McClelland, AA5S

I wonder whether the Array Solutions Shared Apex Loop Array might achieve similar effects without having such large physical separation?   From the Array Solutions website:

"The antenna is a true-time-delay array with four identical wire loops supported by a single non-conductive mast. Signals from each loop are transferred through a ferrite coupler to a short balanced line that connects to the switch/ combiner/amp enclosure mounted at the base of the antenna."

Might be worth a try when the option of large physical separation isn't available.

Rick, AA5S

Stu Phillips - K6TU

Rick,

I looked at and modeled this antenna fairly extensively before buying the Pixel Loop - it's a fine design and if you have the space for the larger version will perform as well as the Pixel Loop and with better directivity on 160m.  The smaller version will work also on the higher bands.

The time delay mentioned is the way in which directivity is created from the antenna. In this case, its the time delay between the same signal arriving at element pairs.  The time delay and phasing delay difference cancels out signals arriving off the back and provides the F/B ratio of the antenna.

As a side note, one of my friends was on the C82DX operation - they had a Pixel Loop and a Shared Apex Loop - both delivered similar results.

To get the diversity benefit I describe you need physical separation.  From a little digging via Google, it looks like 0.5 to 0.8 wavelengths separation are probably the minimum...

An alternative is Polarization Diversity - ie use a Yagi and a Vertical.  Similar path differences will exist in polarization as with physical separation.

This is well documented in the literature and I will (at some point) dig out my ancient R5 vertical and see how that performs with polarization diversity.

Stu K6TU

Stu Phillips - K6TU

Ken,

Re the two separated PixelLoops...  i don't know if it would magnify the effect of the psycho acoustics.  I started thinking about two PixelLoops at 90 degrees to one another to phase together and improve the directivity F/B...

Stu K6TU 

Richard McClelland, AA5S

I was sort of missing the point, wasn't I?   I just checked my property and the max distance I can achieve is 175' separation unless I encroach on a drainage easement abutting the back of my property.  I could achieve 660' separation if I did that but my neighbors might ask about my activities.  One of them has already mentioned that he watched me for several hours as I was putting up my delta loop and he was afraid that I was in some type of peril.  I told him that I was putting up a ham antenna and he hasn't spoken to me since.  I hope I didn't offend him.