Stutter in panadapter with Spots?

Rich M5RIC

Hi

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed when spots are enabled during a big contest, there being a delay on the panadapter updating when going from TX to RX an RX to TX.

This was on a 6600M.

I noticed it in WPX RTTY and put it down to the volume of spots must be very high and the dell venue not being able to keep up?

What I would see is when going from TX to RX, I can see the radio has stopped transmitting but the panadapter is still showing like I am transmitting, only for a second or 2. Would get the reverse with going in to TX, the screen just doesn't update to show the tx signal then it catches up.

Turned off the spots and all is well again. It didn't seem to effect my decoding from from I could see.

I had the maxmium filters on the cluster spots, just with skimmer running they were plentiful.

73

Rich

Jeff Schwartz

Same issue here with spots enabled. The screen will freeze for up to 15 secs when enabled and subsequent jittery freezes with tuning the band. Switching bands causes screen freeze or blackout for 15 plus seconds before it returns. Disabling the spot feed solves all issues.

Additionally if I use the PC SmartSDR with the rig’s M panel in a disconnected state all works fine with or without the spots enabled. No panadapter freezes what so ever.

When using the 6600M my spot source has to be disabled in order for the panadapter to function properly.

Jeff / KI0KB

Jeff Schwartz

PROBLEM SOLVED with a Reset of the Persistence Database of the 6600M. Works like a new rig again. No spot issues causing panadapter issues any longer.

Rich M5RIC

Hi Jeff, how do you carry out that type of reset?

Perhaps @Mike-VA3MW would like to comment if this is a known issue, should we log a support ticket?

Johan SE3X

Just search and you will find https://helpdesk.flexradio.com/hc/en-us/articles/200831185-How-to-Reset-the-Persistence-Database-for-a-FLEX-6000

Tim K9WX

It would be helpful, I think, if someone from Flex could comment on this issue, the stuttering/freezing of the panadapter (I use a Maestro with my 6600) and the pros and cons of resetting the persistence database.

Tim K9WX

Rich M5RIC

I have submitted a ticket so it's then tracked through the proper channels.

Mike-VA3MW

We talked about this in our morning scrum.

The feeling is that when you bombard the Maestro with spots, there is so much network traffic that you can hear it.

Duplicate spots get sent as well if you are using aggregators that connect you to many DX Clusters. Duplicates are bad and 'network expensive'.

You may find that using multiple sources for DX Clusters is not required since if you connect to 1 cluster you are then connected to many.

As an example, if you do a "sh/c" command on the cluster you get a list of all the clusters that are connected down 2 levels. But, there are more beyond that.

The advantage of connecting to just 1 cluster is that the Cluster will do any de-duping for you and limit the traffic arriving at your logging program and then ultimately on your Maestro.

What you may want to consider is reviewing your login to the cluster you use and setting filters to limit the amount of traffic you actually receive. Every DX Cluster has powerful filters.

http://www.dxcluster.org/main/filtering_en.html

In the case of my cluster (va3mw.dxcluster.org port 41112), I filter every spot I receive and only pass on those that are spotted from Zones 2, 4 and 5. This is great if you are in the NE of the US / Canada.

The list below shows my DX Cluster (silently running on a RPI 4).

73

Node         Callsigns
VA3MW-7      DL3YZ        F4JKT        G2BUJ        JR1TMP       K3OB
             KB0EL        KF2E-2       N4UW-1       VA2MM        VA3CW
             (VA3CW-1)    VA3EBM       VA3MW-5      VA3PC        VA3SD
             VA3SF-7      VA3SF-8      VA3SK        VE3AD        VE3AHO
             VE3DS        VE3FZ        VE3JI        VE3QSB-2     VE3RYI-4
             VE3RYI-5     VE3UGT       VE3XYD       VE3YV        VO1FOG
             WE8R-6       WE8R-7       YO8BBU       ZS5TC
VA3UG
VA6AAA-1
VE1CFB       IU5PTV       VA3CPB       VA3VW        VE1AI        VE1KF-10
             VE1SK        VE4HAZ       VE9SY
VE2HEW-5     VA3FZ
VE2PKT
VE2PKT-9     F4JDS        JH4ALY       VA2OM        VA3KRT
VE2REA       N4BAA-11
VE2RWQ-9
VE3CGR-5     PP5RP        (VA3HDL-2)   VA3IDD       VA3KRT       VE1OR-13
             VE3KAO       VE3LBI       VE3LRL       VE3PP-9      VE3SGK
             VE3TKI       VE3WA        VO1DJT
VE3EXI-2     F4JFG        VA3IDD       VE1GVY       VE3FE        VE3TKI
VE3EY-7      KK2I         VA3DX        VA3DXA-4     VE2AR        VE2RE
             VE3EY        VE3EY-3      VE3EY-5      VE3EY-9      VE3JI
             W3LIL
VE3TOK
VE3TOK-1
VE3XPG-3
VE3ZIN-2     IS0AGY       KO4YC        VA3KRT       VE3CWP       VE3JVG
             VE3KPP       VE3MXG       VE3WEJ       VE4YE        VO1KVT
VE6CIC-1
VE6DXC       9Y60TT       A71AM        E20AX        EA6EJ        HL2EIZ
             IZ8EEL       PY2MR        S58WW        SN70W        SP6LMV
             SQ9D         SQ9D-10      VA3BM        VE3YT        VE4HAZ-2
             VE6FXL       VE6GCM       VE6GGF       VE6KDX       VE6WQ
             VK3MH
(VE6TN-7)    VE2DQO       VE6DDD
VE7CC-1
VE9SC        IZ2ACM-4     K1UO         N8NOE-2      VA2MP        VE1AST
             VE1MPF       VE1NR-9      VE9MPF       VO1BIL       WI2E
VA3MW-7>

Tim K9WX

Thanks, Mike VA3WA, I'm sure that is good advice, to connect to a single cluster (and perhaps filter spots as aggressively as possible at the source) in order to minimize the load on the Maestro.

Is it possible, regarding the in-design version C of the Maestro targeted for release later this year, that its processing power will be enhanced and that, other things being equal, it will be more capable when it comes to handling and processing spots?

Tim K9WX

Mike-VA3MW

What I can say is that the Maestro C will have a more powerful computer in it and also current Network NIC cards.