SmartSDR 3.1.8 loses signal sharpness, then cannot copy FT8

AB4EJ

Since upgrading from SmartSDR V2 to V3.1.8, I have noticed that if the radio is used for a while (> 30 minutes) to copy FT8 signals, the signals from individual stations go from being sharp and copyable to being a fuzzy mass which WSJT-x cannot copy (see screen shot of FT8 waterfall before and after a restart of SmartSDR). If I simply restart SmartSDR, the signals become sharp again  and WSJT-x can copy the sending stations. Is  this a known problem, with a solution? Are other people noticing this?

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Bill

I would have to say no at this point.  Just one thing you might try, if you haven't already, would be to do a clean reboot on things and see if that clears it up.

I worked  a TON of people last night on 6M without issue.

Let me know how it goes.

Mike va3mw

Phil Moore M0TZZ

Not seen this and I work a lot of FT8

Al K0VM

Mika Rintala

Larry Benoit

AB4EJ

I tried a "clean reboot" - which consisted of powering down the Flex6600 and removing 12v from it for a few minutes. The problem returns: signals become fuzzy after some time (don't yet know exactly how long). I will try disabling anti-virus and see if this makes a difference...

AB4EJ

BTW - I did check driver versions - they are at 3.1.0.5.

AB4EJ

KD0RC

Al K0VM

Bill W2PKY

Dave - WB5NHL

I also have seen this from time to time. Stopping and Restarting DAX always cleared it up. However, it has been awhile since it's occured.

AB4EJ

I am not running a GPSDO.   - Bill, AB4EJ

KD0RC

OK. I was taking a shot in the dark that maybe a jittery GPSDO was causing the problem.
Len

AB4EJ

Al K0VM

Sergey KN7K

Bill W2PKY

Some PCs can not run DAX under Win10. This has been discussed at nauseam when Win10 first cam out. An example is my ASUS Z97A 4790K motherboard. with Win 10 Pro installed DAX will run for a short time and one by one the receive channels get corrupt. Tried all sorts of tricks with the O/S to no avail. Had to go back to Win7 Pro. Obviously, do not know if this is your problem for sure but if you search around the community you will find posts where many had to stay with Win7. 

My 2 Surface Pro tablets run Win 10/DAX with no issue.

What computer are you running? Did it come with Win10?

Finally, are you certain prior versions of SSDR ran ok on your computer.

AB4EJ

Tim - W4TME

You are averaging less so the signal is losing resolution.  This is to be expected.  It the way the math works.

K6HN

As silly as it might seem, the reset DAX timer app is what I had to do with an earlier release of DAX. Every hour it would close and restart DAX. I had the same issue you are seeing and it was happening every hour or so.  With the latest version of DAX it only happens every couple of days if I leave the radio on 24x7 so I do not have to use the reset timer app.

AB4EJ

The PC I am using is a Dell XPS 8920, which came with Windows 10 pre-installed. The previous version of SmartSDR did not have this problem. I am going to downgrade to version 2, as I have several things coming up for which DAX needs to work continuously for many hours.

AB4EJ

AB4EJ

Oops - I spoke too soon.  The v2 system lost its mind after a couple of hours and resumed creating a splatter of frequencies, Will report further when I have more details....

AB4EJ

WK2Y

Noise on the power supply?

Bill W2PKY

As many Ops have found some PCs can not run DAX reliably  using Win10 OS. Is it possible to try another PC, maybe running Win7?

AB4EJ

I thought about this, but it is hard for me to imagine that noise on power supply would instantly be cured by simply restarting DAX. Also, this is a frequency jitter; I would expect noise to show up as an amplitude.

AB4EJ

Sergey KN7K

How do you guys restart the DAX? I usually restart SSDR.
Thanks
Sergey, KN7K