Noise Reduction & ANF version 1.4.3

Gary Franklin

Running a 6300. Recently installed version 1.4.3 of Smart SDR.  I have not been able to enable the noise reduction or anf function since the upgrade. I depress the function button and it comes on the immediately goes off!  Anyone else have this problem??  The noise blanker works but not nearly as well as my flex 5000 with Power SDR did.

Jim Gilliam

I have both a 5000 and 6500. I find the noise blanker on the 6500 next to worthless. The 5000 is very good in that I can adjust its parameters.

Jim, K6QE

Steve N4LQ

You may have to do a reset on the rig but really the NR and Auto Notch are worse than useless anyway.

Jay Nation

Somebody, ought to inject that they weren't designed to be useless intentionally and are likely part of the upcoming 1.5 improvements. 

Steve N4LQ

Heard that before.

Jim Gilliam

Makes me wonder if the Beta testers are on a **** break.

k3Tim

Depends on the mode of operation.  Under CW / SSB, the ANF / APF and NR are accessable other modes, one can move the control to 100%, select the filter and the s/w will turn it off and set the control to 0.  Obviously by design but not sure why.

My Regards,
Tim

KY6LA_Howard

Deja Vu all over again...

KY6LA_Howard

IIRC ... Gerald has just recently commented on the planned deliverables.

DV

Didn't know the 6700 had a worthless NB and NR until I set it up when it was brand new.  When you purchase a radio as expensive as the 6700, you do have an expectation to have a NB and NR that will rival the best of the expensive tranceivers on the market. Unfortunately, the many assets of the 6000 series radios are darkened by the lack of this hugely important function. Although, there is nothing a user can do but wait until 1.5 or a later release, it seems a shame that we will have to pay for that. It's not so much the expense of 1.5 but the disappointment in Flex in this matter.

Bill -VA3WTB

What are we going to pay for?

Gary Franklin

Thanks Tim!  Thats the answer.... need to be in the CW/SSB modes before NR and NB function.  I happened to be in the AM mode.

Gary

DV

It's my understanding that updates beyond 1.4### will be part of the payment tier.

Bill -VA3WTB

No, the pay releases are 2.0 and over.
They are working right now on the noise mitigation, there are to be small point releases till 1.5
1.5 should complete noise mitigation.

Jim Gilliam

It is my understanding that there will be no additional payments in all the 1.**** updates. There will be additional fees at 2.0 and above. Also it is my understanding if we call 1.**** a tier, 2.**** a tier, etc. no additional payments will be in each tier.

Jim, K6QE.

DV

Thanks, I stand corrected.

Jim Gilliam

Also, if you elect to bypass 2.**** and elect to purchase 3.****, there will be only the charge for the 3.**** tier.

Jim

Tim - W4TME

Jim is correct.

Tim - W4TME

Bill's info is correct.  We are actively working on noise mitigation and there is no cost for ANY of the 1.x software versions.

Tim - W4TME

We are aware of the deficiencies related to the noise mitigation algorithms in the current 1.4.3 version of SmartSDR and we have stated publicly that our focus for SmartSDR v1.5 is improving noise mitigation.

DrTeeth

@Tim,

Glad to see somebody else who actually read the OP's post properly - viz he was NOT talking about their respective performance shortcomings, but the inability to turn them on.

Jim Gilliam

One must appreciate the POWER of the Field Programmable Gate Array. In my opinion it is a paradigm from a microprocessor and related software/firmware. One can create virtually any electronic component including a microprocessor. It is not easy shifting into this paradigm. It requires hours of creativity to synthesize all of these hardware functions with firmware. I congratulate Flex of taking this route and in the end, it will pay off enormously. Please be patient. They have made wonderful strides and will continue to do so.

Jim, K6QE 

David H. W5CAH

Really looking forward better NB, NR, ANF.  I have had my 6500 since June of 14.  They have been my biggest disappointment.

Jim Gilliam

I have owned many rigs including the Icom 7800. I have yet to use a noise reduction unit I thought was worth anything. To me all they do is lower the noise to a very low bass rumble and terribly distort the audio. I some times wonder if it is possible at the this time to make a really good noise reduction unit. I am sure there are those who will disagree with me.

Jim, K6QE

Steve N4LQ

I agree. NR is pretty useless for cw. Audio peaking does more for me but IMHO it needs to be done after the sidetone. None are.

W5XZ - dan

if you hold your nose just right, and get AGC-t exactly right,  and turn NB on and off several times, sometimes NB works on s-7 line noise...

JM2c..

Jim Gilliam

For me, most noise is from arcing A/C power lines. I have tried working with the power company, but it seems their knowledge of noise, directivity, leakage, etc.. lies somewhere between an unborn fetus and a demented ape. From what I have observed regarding power line noise, most of it sounds pretty much the same. It would seem that based on the "regularity" of this type of noise special algorithms could be devised for this particular type of noise rather than just random noise. The best results I have ever achieved with power line noise is my MFJ noise canceler than uses two separate samples of the noise and by adjusting both the phase and amplitude, it is possible to almost completely eliminate this noise. I have often wondered if the same would be possible with software/firmware.

Jim, K6QE

Steve N4LQ

Certainly. That should be easy. Just create an adjustable phase delay on the second receiver input for the "sense" antenna. Computers are good at delaying anyway!

Jim Gilliam

Seems the Flex 6700 would be "made in heaven" using this approach to eliminate this type of noise.

Jim

Ken - NM9P

Seems one option would be to sample a different frequency with a wide and receiver even on the same antenna, and detect the impulses and use them to blank the target slice receiver. R.L. Drake did that decades ago.

Jim Gilliam

Good idea, this approach might be amenable to the 6300 and 6500. Flex has mentioned new approaches to the noise problem and maybe this technique is under their microscope.