v1.10.15 once lost network connection and locked up during transmit

Frederic HB9CQK

I previously reported that the network connection loss problem is still existing with 1.10.15 beta. It is a lot less frequent than with the previous version. Running 24/7 in RX I had it once every day or second day before and with the current beta it is more like once a week. Not a big deal so far. However, this time it became more serious. Yesterday I was running my 6700 with 8 slice receivers running and 4 of them receiving data through DAX to JTDX. One slice receiver was used to send WSPR signals with 2W of power on 40m. All of a sudden SmartSDR crashed while the 6700 was transmitting the WSPR signal. I could not stop it transmitting other than pressing the power button for a long time. Fortunately I was sitting at the station when this happened, but I am not always so close when running WSPR. I was wondering if the 6700 has a watchdog of some sort, or would it transmit forever in such a situation?

Thank you very much for your support and good DX!

73, Frédéric, HB9CQK

Jim Gilliam

My guess, a watchdog timer would need an extra piece of hardware that would time out if it failed to receive an acknowledgment at regular intervals from the firmware. This might be an oversight of the original design and would require an expensive factory update.

Jim, K6QE

Kari Gustafsson SM0HRP

I agree we need somekind of auto tx shut off. This happened to med also in regular CE with 1 kW output when working remote. Luckely I was able to shut off over Remote ON.

Bill -VA3WTB

This would never harm the radio, but not so good for the amp

George KF2T

There is such a watchdog in the radio settings.

Frederic HB9CQK

Thanks George, I will check that out tonight. As Jim stated it needs to be separated from the firmware, since the firmware is locked up in the case I described.

Steve K9ZW

@Frederic - the Watchdog tmeout setting configures the embedded code in the radio itself, which I think is what you were pointing out as the right solution.

I think it is called "PTT Timeout" in FRS's documentation, and is in the Transmit Profile.  Looks like it is configurable for every band and every TX Profile.

There are also some configurations for a Watchdog Timer in DDUTIL that may need to be reviewed as well.  Location I think is in the Misc. tab (form?) and a "W" bottom right of all the settings.

73

Steve K9ZW

Frederic HB9CQK

Dear Steve, thank you very much for your help! I found the "Timeout(min)" setting in the "TX" tab of "Settings". I set it to 3 minutes, because the WSPR TX cycle is 2 minutes. This is a general setting, not band specific. I am not using DDutil. Testing for success will be difficult, because I cannot simulate the lockup of the 6700. I still have my doubts that this will work because I think the firmware has to be operational for this to have an effect. Anyway, it is the best I can do for the time being. Thanks again and 73, Frédéric