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PaTemp Oddity

Peter K1PGV
Peter K1PGV Member ✭✭✭
edited June 2020 in SmartSDR API

In my PATempDataReady Event Handler, I'm getting called with fractional values... like 0.48 or 0.56 -- I understand from the comments in FlexLib that this meter event should be reported in degrees C.

Am I the only one seeing this?  Is this a known issue?

And what should the typical PA Temp be on a 6500?

Answers

  • K1FR
    K1FR Member ✭✭
    edited February 2017
    Peter:  Just wrote an handler for the temp data and got the same results.  About 0.48 with my 6700 in RX mode.  Got up to 0.68 after one minute of 100W into dummy load.  The FlexLib code is indeed clear should be in degrees C.  Wonder if instead it is a percentage of max value?

    No info here on typical temps.  Sorry.

    73, Tom
    K1FR
  • Peter K1PGV
    Peter K1PGV Member ✭✭✭
    edited June 2020
    Thanks Tom.  I appreciate the confirmation.  At least I know it's not something unique to my environment.

    Hmmmm... perhaps the numbers just need to be multiplied by 100??

    So, you'd have a 68 degrees C after 100W output for one minute?  As I have exactly zero experience regarding amplifier design, Google would suggest that this is not unreasonable.  I see RF amplifier chips that are stable to about 85 degrees C.

    ??


  • K1FR
    K1FR Member ✭✭
    edited February 2017
    Peter:  Well, that might be reasonable for sure.  Have not had my Flex 3000 on for sometime, but seem to recall that PowerSDR displayed something like in the 30-40 C range after long, full power.

    73, Tom
    K1FR

  • KY6LA_Howard
    KY6LA_Howard Member ✭✭✭
    edited January 2017
    DDUTIL will give you a temperature readout.. Perhaps that might give you a clue as to the readouts you are seeing
  • K1FR
    K1FR Member ✭✭
    edited June 2020
    Peter:  Thinking you were correct on multiplying by 100.  This Am when started up my radio, the temp was showing 0.27. That would be about 81 F.  The room was clearly cooler than that - maybe 70 F, but I can imagine the radio warming up by 10 degrees in the couple of minutes it took for SSDR and the computer to start up.

    Have been playing around with tuning the rig, freq memories, etc.  Need to do a lot more learning here before jump into the deep end and start playing with the IQ data stream!

    73, Tom
    K1FR
  • James Whiteway
    edited June 2020
    Guys, are you grabbing things like the PA temp(which changes) in a similar fashion to getting things like NickName, Model, VFO freq. etc.? I've been struggling with this for a while now. (part of the problem is being on the road and not enough time to spend relearning C#)  I don't know if the Flexlib API will provide feedback with changing events like Temp, Voltage, and other Meter Class objects. Or if I need to use the Ethernet API and parse that to get the type of info I'm after. My goal is to eventually create some different meters, analog, digital etc.to use with the radio. Similar to what Woodbox Radio currently is doing. BUT, maybe some meters that look like old knobbed radio meters. (just one of several ideas I have in mind............)
    james
    WD5GWY
     
  • Peter K1PGV
    Peter K1PGV Member ✭✭✭
    edited June 2020
    James: I'm out right now, but when I get home I'll post an example of handling the various events that can be raised by the radio and the slice. It's really easy!

    K1PGV
  • K1FR
    K1FR Member ✭✭
    edited January 2015
    James:  Sorry if you get this twice.  Had internet failure as was sending.

    Thanks again for sending the code example last week.  Big help!

    Below is what I did to get PA temp and volts displayed.  I am a rank beginner, so probably ways to do this better.  But, it does work.  Let me know how it goes.

    73, Tom
    K1FR

          private void radio_PATempDataReady(float data)        {
                Console.WriteLine(",,,,,,,,,,,PA Temp data event handler fired");
                float PA_temp_data = data;
                PA_temp_data*=100.0f;
                PA_temp_data = (PA_temp_data * 9.0f / 5.0f) + 32.0f;
                textPATemp.Text = String.Format("{0:f1}", PA_temp_data) + " F";

            }

            private void radio_VoltsDataReady(float data)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(",,,,,,,,,,,PA Volts data event handler fired");
                float volts = data;
                textVolts.Text = String.Format("{0:f1}", volts);

            }
     
  • K1FR
    K1FR Member ✭✭
    edited January 2015
    Ooops, forgot to include the code in the RadioAdded method:

    radio.PATempDataReady += radio_PATempDataReady;            radio.VoltsDataReady+=radio_VoltsDataReady;


  • James Whiteway
    edited January 2015
    Thanks Tom! I see where "some" of my issues are. I had added :

    radio.VoltsDataReady+=radio_VoltsDataReady;

    to the api_RadioAdded event. BUT, I did not have the method like you wrote to work with the data. No wonder Visual Studio complained!
    Now that I've added your code, it works like it is supposed to.
    I knew you would be getting up to speed rather quickly! Thank you for your help.
    james
    WD5GWY

  • James Whiteway
    edited June 2020
    Thank you Peter, that would be most helpful. I wish I had more time to mess with this. It is very interesting to me. I drive a truck for a living and am on the road 5 days a week. In fact, I'm leaving in an hour or so and heading to Colorado to get a load of river rock to bring back to Dallas.
    Might be a bit cold this trip!
    Thank you for all your help.
    james
    WD5GWY

  • James Whiteway
    edited January 2015
    One thing I have noticed and have been meaning to ask here is, in each of the Methods for different events, I see a bit of code writing to the console:

    private void radio_VoltsDataReady(float data)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(",,,,,,,,,,,PA Volts data event handler fired");
                float volts = data;
                textVolts.Text = String.Format("{0:f1}", volts);

            }

    I have found that I can comment: Console.WriteLine(............);. out and everything still works. I has Assumed that it was included to get the radio to send back the info requested. But, it appears that assumption is wrong as everything still works without that code running. Maybe it's there for debugging purposes? The only thing I see in the immediate window when I run my test program is the Exception messages for Sockets that Peter told me to turn off. Everything still works otherwise.
    Might be because I'm doing this using WinForms instead of a console app.
    james
    WD5GWY



  • K1FR
    K1FR Member ✭✭
    edited January 2015
    James:  Most welcome.  Just emailed you a version as well.  Have a safe trip to CO!  
    73, Tom
    K1FR
  • James Whiteway
    edited January 2015
    Thanks! Just getting ready to leave now!
    james
    WD5GWY

  • James Whiteway
    edited January 2015
    Tom, checked my email a couple minutes ago (waiting for truck to warm up) and I did not see your email. Maybe my isp is slow tonight. Try: jjames700@earthlink.net Thanks again for your help. The code you posted earlier works fine. james WD5GWY
  • k3Tim
    k3Tim Member ✭✭✭
    edited May 2020
    Checked the 6500 here - after 1 minute it went from 30C to 46C (100Watts).  During RTTY RU, the temp was never a concern.  

    Best Regards,

    TimP

  • Peter K1PGV
    Peter K1PGV Member ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    James... I see Tom K1FR already posted a nice, clear, sample of getting Event callbacks... pretty much the same as what I was going to post.

    Peter
    K1PGV
  • Peter K1PGV
    Peter K1PGV Member ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    (James... FYI for the future:  It's probably better to start a new thread for a question such as you asked here.  This gives greater visibility to your question, and helps avoid "thread drift" in the original topic.  

    Your question's a good one, and we all (a) want your question to be answered, (b) want others to be able to find and benefit from that answer in the future by easily searching threads by titles, (c) want the original question in this thread not to be lost.  Sorry, I don't mean to lecture here... just trying to be helpful.)
  • Peter K1PGV
    Peter K1PGV Member ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016
    Thanks, Tom.  By multiply by 100, I saw reasonable ranges while I was playing RTTY RU.

    Now it would just be nice to get a confirmation from Flex... 
  • James Whiteway
    edited January 2015
    Thanks Peter, I hadn't thought about it that way. You are right, it would increase chances of getting a hit during a search by creating a separate thread for different subjects. I did what I did because I have been trying to get things like the PA temp and as noted above, failing to do because I was going about it wrong. I saw the subject here and that piqued my interest and that is why I asked the questions I did in this thread. (same subject I was interested in) james WD5GWY
  • K1FR
    K1FR Member ✭✭
    edited January 2015
    James:  Per your question on the Console:WriteLine......  You are correct that those lines are not needed for the program to function.  But, when running the code in debugger mode they will put lines into the Output Window on VS that help you know if a particular method or line executed.  Sometimes saves inserting breakpoints which can sometimes mess things up if the program misses something important from the radio while it was waiting for programmer to restart after a break.   73, Tom
  • Eric-KE5DTO
    Eric-KE5DTO Administrator, FlexRadio Employee admin
    edited June 2020
    I looked through the code related to the PA Temp meter and there is definitely some funny math going on.  I'll post here when I know more.  I have entered this in our tracking system as #1266.  Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
  • Peter K1PGV
    Peter K1PGV Member ✭✭✭
    edited June 2020
    Thank you, Eric.  I appreciate the rely.
  • James Whiteway
    edited January 2015
    Tom, thanks for the explanation. Looks like I need to do more studying! james WD5GWY
  • Eric-KE5DTO
    Eric-KE5DTO Administrator, FlexRadio Employee admin
    edited December 2016
    Bottom line: There was a conversion factor missing in the radio.  For now, you can multiply by 64 to get the right temp in degrees C.  In the next release, this will be corrected and you will need to remove the extra multiple since it will already be in the radio.  Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
  • Peter K1PGV
    Peter K1PGV Member ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016

    Thanks, Eric... for the quick investigation and reply.

    Not to push my luck, but one follow-up question if I may?  What is the recommended range of PA temperatures? Obviously, I know "lower is better"... but at what temp would you say the "red zone" should start at?

    Thanks again.

  • Eric-KE5DTO
    Eric-KE5DTO Administrator, FlexRadio Employee admin
    edited December 2016
    We set the fans to high speed at 70°C.  The radio shuts down at 90°C.  We are measuring the temp on the heatsink which is a good 10°C cooler than the actual transistor temp which is rated up to 120°C if I remember correctly.  Does that help?
  • Peter K1PGV
    Peter K1PGV Member ✭✭✭
    edited December 2016

    Yes!  Helpful, informative, and very useful.  Thanks VERY much.

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