SSDR 1.4.16 initial experience.

Andrew VK5CV

Just loaded 1.4.16.

Can't put a finger on why but this version just seems more slick and smooth.

The audio on SSB seems some how just clearer and more detailed.

Great job FRS.

Andrew VK5CV

Gary L. Robinson

My initial experience is that it does seem to load slices on my 6300 quicker and smoother.  Haven't listened too much except on digital so can't comment about audio.  But so far, no problems but does seem to be quicker and solid!

---Gary WB8ROL

Ian1

When I first read this thread I was skeptical however after the update last night I would have to agree with Andrew.

The Audio is cleaner the NR works and the Panadapter seems smoother yet the AVG and FPS are the same.

So Far this is really been a nice update.

Ian

Bill Roberts

I noticed the new release "just working" without additional fiddling usually encountered with a new release.  The network quality monitor now appears to work correctly.  Also, I didn't have to play with USB ports et-al to get the Woodbox S-Meter and HRD to work.  More than likely, these were just Windows being Windows as none of these were mentioned in the change log.

Simon Lewis

did NR change? seems better too??

Tim - W4TME

We are always making "under the covers" performance optimizations as we are working on the code.  Some of these changes will have a secondary effect of improving performance with features not directly related to the logic we are directly working on.  I suspect you are seeing some of these serendipitous benefits.

Ken - NM9P

After being gone for a two week vacation (Wife and 8 year old wanted to go to Disney World) i returned and installed the new V. 1.4.16.  All went well, except for a short period of time where my SSB audio was very distorted, as monitored on my Flex-1500.

I did several things at the same time... checked mike XLR connector, and the TRS on the other end of the line, unplugged and plugged all audio lines into the rig and Behringer Q802USB mixer, unplugged the power to the mixer, did a cold reboot of the 6500, reloaded my global profiles, turned PROC off and onn, changed TX profiles back and forth between three different RAGCHEW/DX/DX-NAR profiles...

Finally my audio was back to the excellent sounds I am accustomed to.

I still don't know what it was, but it seemed to clear up when I toggled the PROC off and on again.

I had to do this routine twice....the second time after changing frequencies/modes.  But then it operated flawlessly for the next two hours.  It was either a software glitch, a dirty connection from having sat for two weeks, or my mixer didn't boot up properly after being powered of for two weeks.  But it seems to be fine now.

Has anyone else experienced this?

I will post other observations in another post.

Ken - NM9P

Additional observations of my initial experience with V. 1.4.16:

After the audio adventures stated above , I used the new software for a couple of hours.

1) I did not have any freezing when using DAX!  Thank you!  I was plagued with repetitive freezing in the last version to a degree that I had stopped playing with Digital modes and my voice keyer.  I was confident that a fix would be on the way, so I occupied myself with other odes.

2) The display seems to be smoother, and I have not had screen/tuning overruns as I did a few times in the previous version (which had stopped in 1.3 but were reintroduced in 1.4.11)  It may be too early to tell if this is totally fixed, but I am hopeful.  I also noticed that when using the FlexControl Knob, the screen starts to pan to the left or right at about the 10% and 90% position instead of waiting until it is closer to the edge.  This may be part of the solution.  I do need to increase my pan scale a little if I want to keep the screen steady while tuning in the complete phone part of 17 meters, etc.  But this is a small adjustment to make.

3) NR & ANF seem to be a little smoother, and the level controls seem to remember their position after leaving a band and returning.  I have not given this a thorough shake down yet.

4) It is nice to be able to monitor my voice keyer as it plays through the DAX line.  Users need to be aware, however that the monitor on SSB either via the mike/bal/line input or the DAX input is PRE Filtering, EQ, and Processor.  It is not an exact representation of your transmitted SSB signal.

If you want to hear what you sound like...press the record button, transmit, and then play yourself back.  (You can do this with as little as one watt and it will sound essentially the same.) You will hear what you sound like in a receiver that has filters set the way your receiver's filters are currently set.  (i.e. if your receiver has a 2.4K filter, then that is what you will hear.  This fooled my a couple of times when the previous version was released.)

5) TX EQ response does not seem to have changed with this release.  This is good.  There was a major shift a couple of releases back that required me to adjust all of my TX profiles.  I welcomed that change because it improved my TX audio even more.  But I like the current EQ response and hope it doesn't change again unless major response glitches are discovered and a change is needed to improve the audio even more (which is hard to imagine!)

6) FYI:  I did a total uninstall of 1.4.11 before installing this version, including telling it to uninstall the DAX Drivers.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that my previous CAT ports were maintained (I have about 10 or 12 of them as a mixture of Shared, PTT, and Dedicated ports and wasn't really looking forward to setting them up again, even though it only takes about 4 or 5 minutes.)  I did a cold reboot of the rig (power removed) but not a persistence reset (press and hold the OK button while powering on) before running the new software, and again after letting it update the rig.) 

There are a few more tests that I need to run when I get the chance, but so far this seems to be a solid maintenance release that solved several problems and frustrations left over from 1.4.11.

Thanks FRS.  It just keeps getting better.  Now I am looking forward to 1.5!  

Ken - NM9P

Tim - W4TME

Did you cold boot the radio after doing the upgrade?

Ken - NM9P

Yes, I always cold boot before and after an upgrade.  I also did a complete uninstall of the previous version.  (I have become a little OCD about my upgrade procedure.)  But I didn't do a persistence reset.

After powering down yesterday due to thunderstorms I booted it back up and the distortion returned in the middle of a QSO last night.  I unplugged the PR-22 from the XLR cable, wiggled it around, and changed my TX profile back and forth, and the sound came back.  I still don't know what is causing it.  It is curious.

When it happens, the audio level drops, power output drops, and the audio is distorted.  I suspect it might be a mike wire grounding problem at one end of the cable or another.  But I cannot rule out a software glitch, yet.  This evening I will check the entire length of the cable.  

(My cat might have expressed his displeasure at our being gone on vacation by biting the cable!  He does that kind of stuff, sometimes.  He also chews on anything plastic he can find around the house when he is bored.  It is worse than child-proofing a house.)

I will let you know what I find.
I will also do a persistence reset and see if it comes back.

Ken - NM9P