From w3oa at roadrunner.com Fri Jul 3 07:11:07 2020 From: w3oa at roadrunner.com (W3OA) Date: Fri, 3 Jul 2020 07:11:07 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] New version of FT#StartUP (version 1.1) now available on RBN Web Site Message-ID: <21c1afe2-c216-8314-77ef-6dc01b35e9f4@roadrunner.com> FT#StartUP version 1.1 is now available on the RBN web site (http://cms.reversebeacon.net/sites/cms.reversebeacon.net/files/2020/07/03/FT%23StartUp%20v1.1.exe). The GUI window of the original version was rather large and some users reported it was too big to fit on their monitor so they could not access all the controls on the form.? This version adds horizontal and vertical scroll bars which appear automatically if the GUI window is not large enough to show all controls in the form.? Users can then scroll around the form to access all controls. This version also changes the timing of events when starting a new WSJT-X instance.? This fixes a problem that occasionally prevented the complete startup of some instances. 73 - Dick, W3OA From dave.g4aon at gmail.com Fri Jul 17 07:49:13 2020 From: dave.g4aon at gmail.com (Dave) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2020 12:49:13 +0100 Subject: [Skimmertalk] QS1R (Rev C) over heating? Message-ID: My QS1R failed recently. The fault was the 1.2V supply, which is fed from an L1117 1.2 regulator. Running the 1.2V rail from an external supply showed a current draw around 300mA when listening to a broadcast station with SDRMAX V software, but around double that current when running 7 slices with CW Skimmer. The original regulator, which uses the PCB as a heatsink, seems inadequate for the current needed by the Cyclone III FPGA. I tried an LM317 (TO220) regulator with a small heatsink, however the heatsink reaches over 90C running 7 x slices with Skimmer. Before I bolt the regulator to the case, has anyone checked their QS1R for boiling hot regulators, modified theirs, or has mine an overheating fault? By the way, Skimmer works with multiple slices, as does the QS1R when used to listen ?single channel? as in broadcast station listening. Thanks Dave G4AON -- Sent from my iPhone SE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From alexranaldi at gmail.com Fri Jul 17 08:22:01 2020 From: alexranaldi at gmail.com (Alexander Ranaldi) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2020 08:22:01 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] QS1R (Rev C) over heating? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I placed some enormous copper heatsinks on my regulators and put the QS1R board itself in a new enclosure with a built-in linear power supply and two 80mm fans running at ~2k RPM. Seems pretty stable in that configuration. I haven't checked the heatsink temperatures though. Alex w2axr On Fri, Jul 17, 2020 at 7:49 AM Dave wrote: > My QS1R failed recently. The fault was the 1.2V supply, which is fed from > an L1117 1.2 regulator. > > Running the 1.2V rail from an external supply showed a current draw around > 300mA when listening to a broadcast station with SDRMAX V software, but > around double that current when running 7 slices with CW Skimmer. > > The original regulator, which uses the PCB as a heatsink, seems inadequate > for the current needed by the Cyclone III FPGA. I tried an LM317 (TO220) > regulator with a small heatsink, however the heatsink reaches over 90C > running 7 x slices with Skimmer. > > Before I bolt the regulator to the case, has anyone checked their QS1R > for boiling hot regulators, modified theirs, or has mine an overheating > fault? By the way, Skimmer works with multiple slices, as does the QS1R > when used to listen ?single channel? as in broadcast station listening. > > Thanks > Dave G4AON > -- > Sent from my iPhone SE > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave.g4aon at gmail.com Fri Jul 17 10:13:40 2020 From: dave.g4aon at gmail.com (Dave) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2020 15:13:40 +0100 Subject: [Skimmertalk] QS1R (Rev C) over heating? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Thanks for the feedback Alex I?m glad it?s not just mine! My second option is either a switching regulator based on an LM2596, or a big heatsink on the LM317, with a large hole in the case and a cooling fan. I prefer the switching regulator option, subject to it not generating QRM. 73 Dave, G4AON On Fri, 17 Jul 2020 at 13:22, Alexander Ranaldi wrote: > I placed some enormous copper heatsinks on my regulators and put the QS1R > board itself in a new enclosure with a built-in linear power supply and two > 80mm fans running at ~2k RPM. Seems pretty stable in that configuration. I > haven't checked the heatsink temperatures though. > Alex w2axr > > On Fri, Jul 17, 2020 at 7:49 AM Dave wrote: > >> My QS1R failed recently. The fault was the 1.2V supply, which is fed from >> an L1117 1.2 regulator. >> >> Running the 1.2V rail from an external supply showed a current draw >> around 300mA when listening to a broadcast station with SDRMAX V software, >> but around double that current when running 7 slices with CW Skimmer. >> >> The original regulator, which uses the PCB as a heatsink, seems >> inadequate for the current needed by the Cyclone III FPGA. I tried an LM317 >> (TO220) regulator with a small heatsink, however the heatsink reaches over >> 90C running 7 x slices with Skimmer. >> >> Before I bolt the regulator to the case, has anyone checked their QS1R >> for boiling hot regulators, modified theirs, or has mine an overheating >> fault? By the way, Skimmer works with multiple slices, as does the QS1R >> when used to listen ?single channel? as in broadcast station listening. >> >> Thanks >> Dave G4AON >> > -- >> Sent from my iPhone SE >> _______________________________________________ >> Skimmertalk mailing list >> Skimmertalk at contesting.com >> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk >> > -- Sent from my iPhone SE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From 57jndenneny at comcast.net Fri Jul 17 11:44:02 2020 From: 57jndenneny at comcast.net (James Denneny) Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2020 08:44:02 -0700 Subject: [Skimmertalk] QS1R (Rev C) over heating? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <007501d65c51$18db2610$4a917230$@comcast.net> Hi Dave My QS1R ?bit the dust? after many years a year ago. W3LPL bought it and fixed it. I bought a Red Pitaya SDR that runs 24x7 for RBN spotting Jim K7EG From: Skimmertalk On Behalf Of Dave Sent: Friday, July 17, 2020 7:14 AM To: Alexander Ranaldi ; skimmertalk at contesting.com Subject: Re: [Skimmertalk] QS1R (Rev C) over heating? Thanks for the feedback Alex I?m glad it?s not just mine! My second option is either a switching regulator based on an LM2596, or a big heatsink on the LM317, with a large hole in the case and a cooling fan. I prefer the switching regulator option, subject to it not generating QRM. 73 Dave, G4AON On Fri, 17 Jul 2020 at 13:22, Alexander Ranaldi > wrote: I placed some enormous copper heatsinks on my regulators and put the QS1R board itself in a new enclosure with a built-in linear power supply and two 80mm fans running at ~2k RPM. Seems pretty stable in that configuration. I haven't checked the heatsink temperatures though. Alex w2axr On Fri, Jul 17, 2020 at 7:49 AM Dave > wrote: My QS1R failed recently. The fault was the 1.2V supply, which is fed from an L1117 1.2 regulator. Running the 1.2V rail from an external supply showed a current draw around 300mA when listening to a broadcast station with SDRMAX V software, but around double that current when running 7 slices with CW Skimmer. The original regulator, which uses the PCB as a heatsink, seems inadequate for the current needed by the Cyclone III FPGA. I tried an LM317 (TO220) regulator with a small heatsink, however the heatsink reaches over 90C running 7 x slices with Skimmer. Before I bolt the regulator to the case, has anyone checked their QS1R for boiling hot regulators, modified theirs, or has mine an overheating fault? By the way, Skimmer works with multiple slices, as does the QS1R when used to listen ?single channel? as in broadcast station listening. Thanks Dave G4AON -- Sent from my iPhone SE _______________________________________________ Skimmertalk mailing list Skimmertalk at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk -- Sent from my iPhone SE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dave.g4aon at gmail.com Tue Jul 21 07:28:54 2020 From: dave.g4aon at gmail.com (Dave) Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2020 12:28:54 +0100 Subject: [Skimmertalk] QS1R (Rev C) over heating? Message-ID: Having tried an LM317 with small heatsink, in place of the failed U6 (1.2V regulator) which quickly became seriously hot (90+ degrees C). I looked at alternatives. Most FPGA boards appear to use switching regulators, there are some very low cost ones on eBay using an LM2596 Buck Converter. The one I bought is eBay item 283630220212. I mounted it half an inch above the board using a couple of short stiff copper wires. Beware they come set for max output Voltage, test it off board first with a bench power supply. The minimum Voltage from mine is 1.22V (pot turned fully anti clockwise. Running 7 Skimmer ?slices?, the LM2596 reads 47 deg C on my ir thermometer. The air temperature in the shack is 28C. That is with the board in open air, but even in the QS1R case it shouldn?t be an issue. I cannot detect any QRM from the board, either using SDRMAX V to listen, without an antenna, or with an antenna, nor can I detect any noises from it on the shack radios when ?Skimming?. Looks like a cheap and simple fix. 73 Dave, G4AON -- Sent from my iPhone SE -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wes.cosand at gmail.com Sat Jul 25 17:44:05 2020 From: wes.cosand at gmail.com (Wes Cosand) Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2020 17:44:05 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] New release of Pavel Demin's software for Red Pitaya 125-14 and 122.88-16 In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Bj?rn: Just a note to say that your installation instructions are very good. I had no trouble updating my FT8 receivers to Pavel's new version and installing your add-on. Thank you for all the work you have done to help make Pavel's software easy for us to use. Wes WZ7I On Mon, Jun 29, 2020 at 11:43 AM Bj?rn Ekelund wrote: > Yesterday Pavel Demin released new versions of his receiver software for > the > Red Pitaya 125-14 and 122.88-16. > > He has consolidated what used to be two separate images into a single one > that works on both. > The individual applications are however still different since the system > resources on the two boards differ. > > The installation instructions on https://sm7iun.se/redpitaya/ft8skimmer/ and > the associated > add-on kit to upgrade Pavel's software to a RBN-compatible, 16-band FT8 > skimmer > are updated and now only work with this new release. > > The changes are small but the decoding efficiency improvements in WSJT-X > version 2.2 are included. > I have so far not observed any increase in actual decoding performance, > only a slight reduction in > device temperature. > > Bj?rn SM7IUN > > > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk > -- Wes Cosand 6299 Route 413 PO Box 349 Pipersville, PA 18947 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From k3ukandy at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 09:20:49 2020 From: k3ukandy at gmail.com (Andrew O'Brien) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 09:20:49 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down Message-ID: I have seen about 5-6 recent comments on Facebook from hams successfully running CWS without problems in the past but in the last few months, they experience major "slow down" of CWS . Does anyone know the source of this problem? The primary symptom is decoding capacity reaching 100% even in low activity days. One person said they recently increased their RAM from 8 to 16 and then to 32 gigs but the slow down still happens. System resources reported by Windows do not indicate CPU or RAM is close to maxing out. It cant be related to any CWS updates, so I am wondering about Windows updates. Andy K3UK -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From n6tv at arrl.net Tue Jul 28 11:27:27 2020 From: n6tv at arrl.net (Bob Wilson, N6TV) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 08:27:27 -0700 Subject: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Are they using CW Skimmer or Skimmer Server? Facebook? Where? They should ask here. Failure to exclude FT8 (and FT4?) frequencies from RTTY and CW spotting should help reduce the "decoder counts," which is the main cause of high CPU utilization. Or by "slow down", do they mean the horizontal waterfall of CW Skimmer moves more slowly? That sounds like a video driver issue. 73, Bob, N6TV On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 6:21 AM Andrew O'Brien wrote: > I have seen about 5-6 recent comments on Facebook from hams successfully > running CWS without problems in the past but in the last few months, they > experience major "slow down" of CWS . Does anyone know the source of this > problem? The primary symptom is decoding capacity reaching 100% even in low > activity days. One person said they recently increased their RAM from 8 to > 16 and then to 32 gigs but the slow down still happens. System resources > reported by Windows do not indicate CPU or RAM is close to maxing out. It > cant be related to any CWS updates, so I am wondering about Windows updates. > > Andy K3UK > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From n4zr at comcast.net Tue Jul 28 11:50:17 2020 From: n4zr at comcast.net (N4ZR) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 11:50:17 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <296508bb-86f0-250c-3c8d-002cbe302a9e@comcast.net> I have implemented FT#-free zones in the band segments in my ini file - helps a bunch! 73, Pete N4ZR Check out the Reverse Beacon Network at , now spotting RTTY activity worldwide. For spots, please use your favorite "retail" DX cluster. On 7/28/2020 11:27 AM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote: > Are they using CW Skimmer or Skimmer Server? Facebook?? Where?? They > should?ask here. > > Failure to exclude?FT8 (and FT4?) frequencies from RTTY and CW > spotting should help reduce the "decoder counts," which is the main > cause of high CPU utilization. > > Or by "slow down", do they mean the horizontal waterfall of CW Skimmer > moves more slowly?? That sounds like a video driver issue. > > 73, > Bob, N6TV > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 6:21 AM Andrew O'Brien > wrote: > > I have seen about 5-6 recent comments on Facebook from hams > successfully running CWS without problems in the?past but in the > last few months, they experience major "slow down" of CWS .? Does > anyone know?the source of this problem? The primary symptom is > decoding capacity?reaching 100% even in low activity days. One > person said they recently increased their RAM from 8 to 16 and > then to 32 gigs but the slow down still happens.? System resources > reported by Windows do not indicate CPU or RAM is close to maxing > out.? ?It cant?be related to any CWS updates, so I am wondering > about Windows updates. > > Andy K3UK > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk > > > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From n4zr at comcast.net Tue Jul 28 11:51:09 2020 From: n4zr at comcast.net (N4ZR) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 11:51:09 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <5295b557-530e-5c02-d999-1f6362f213fb@comcast.net> I have implemented FT#-free zones in the band segments in my CW and RTTY ini files - helps a bunch! 73, Pete N4ZR Check out the Reverse Beacon Network at , now spotting RTTY activity worldwide. For spots, please use your favorite "retail" DX cluster. On 7/28/2020 11:27 AM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote: > Are they using CW Skimmer or Skimmer Server? Facebook?? Where?? They > should?ask here. > > Failure to exclude?FT8 (and FT4?) frequencies from RTTY and CW > spotting should help reduce the "decoder counts," which is the main > cause of high CPU utilization. > > Or by "slow down", do they mean the horizontal waterfall of CW Skimmer > moves more slowly?? That sounds like a video driver issue. > > 73, > Bob, N6TV > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 6:21 AM Andrew O'Brien > wrote: > > I have seen about 5-6 recent comments on Facebook from hams > successfully running CWS without problems in the?past but in the > last few months, they experience major "slow down" of CWS .? Does > anyone know?the source of this problem? The primary symptom is > decoding capacity?reaching 100% even in low activity days. One > person said they recently increased their RAM from 8 to 16 and > then to 32 gigs but the slow down still happens.? System resources > reported by Windows do not indicate CPU or RAM is close to maxing > out.? ?It cant?be related to any CWS updates, so I am wondering > about Windows updates. > > Andy K3UK > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk > > > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From k3ukandy at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 23:54:25 2020 From: k3ukandy at gmail.com (Andrew O'Brien) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 23:54:25 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down In-Reply-To: <5295b557-530e-5c02-d999-1f6362f213fb@comcast.net> References: <5295b557-530e-5c02-d999-1f6362f213fb@comcast.net> Message-ID: The whole FT free zones issue never even occurred to me. I'll take a look and see if this is indeed the issue. The Facebook CWS page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cwskimmer/ Andy K3UK On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 11:51 AM N4ZR wrote: > I have implemented FT#-free zones in the band segments in my CW and RTTY > ini files - helps a bunch! > > 73, Pete N4ZR > Check out the Reverse Beacon Network > at , now > spotting RTTY activity worldwide. > For spots, please use your favorite > "retail" DX cluster. > > On 7/28/2020 11:27 AM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote: > > Are they using CW Skimmer or Skimmer Server? Facebook? Where? They > should ask here. > > Failure to exclude FT8 (and FT4?) frequencies from RTTY and CW spotting > should help reduce the "decoder counts," which is the main cause of high > CPU utilization. > > Or by "slow down", do they mean the horizontal waterfall of CW Skimmer > moves more slowly? That sounds like a video driver issue. > > 73, > Bob, N6TV > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 6:21 AM Andrew O'Brien wrote: > >> I have seen about 5-6 recent comments on Facebook from hams successfully >> running CWS without problems in the past but in the last few months, they >> experience major "slow down" of CWS . Does anyone know the source of this >> problem? The primary symptom is decoding capacity reaching 100% even in low >> activity days. One person said they recently increased their RAM from 8 to >> 16 and then to 32 gigs but the slow down still happens. System resources >> reported by Windows do not indicate CPU or RAM is close to maxing out. It >> cant be related to any CWS updates, so I am wondering about Windows >> updates. >> >> Andy K3UK >> _______________________________________________ >> Skimmertalk mailing list >> Skimmertalk at contesting.com >> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk >> > > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing listSkimmertalk at contesting.comhttp://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk > > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From k3ukandy at gmail.com Tue Jul 28 23:56:39 2020 From: k3ukandy at gmail.com (Andrew O'Brien) Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2020 23:56:39 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down In-Reply-To: References: <5295b557-530e-5c02-d999-1f6362f213fb@comcast.net> Message-ID: and... I'm talking about CWS, not the server. Mostly a decode slowdown and not a video driver issue. Andy On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 11:54 PM Andrew O'Brien wrote: > The whole FT free zones issue never even occurred to me. I'll take a > look and see if this is indeed the issue. > > The Facebook CWS page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cwskimmer/ > > Andy K3UK > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 11:51 AM N4ZR wrote: > >> I have implemented FT#-free zones in the band segments in my CW and RTTY >> ini files - helps a bunch! >> >> 73, Pete N4ZR >> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network >> at , now >> spotting RTTY activity worldwide. >> For spots, please use your favorite >> "retail" DX cluster. >> >> On 7/28/2020 11:27 AM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote: >> >> Are they using CW Skimmer or Skimmer Server? Facebook? Where? They >> should ask here. >> >> Failure to exclude FT8 (and FT4?) frequencies from RTTY and CW spotting >> should help reduce the "decoder counts," which is the main cause of high >> CPU utilization. >> >> Or by "slow down", do they mean the horizontal waterfall of CW Skimmer >> moves more slowly? That sounds like a video driver issue. >> >> 73, >> Bob, N6TV >> >> >> On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 6:21 AM Andrew O'Brien >> wrote: >> >>> I have seen about 5-6 recent comments on Facebook from hams successfully >>> running CWS without problems in the past but in the last few months, they >>> experience major "slow down" of CWS . Does anyone know the source of this >>> problem? The primary symptom is decoding capacity reaching 100% even in low >>> activity days. One person said they recently increased their RAM from 8 to >>> 16 and then to 32 gigs but the slow down still happens. System resources >>> reported by Windows do not indicate CPU or RAM is close to maxing out. It >>> cant be related to any CWS updates, so I am wondering about Windows >>> updates. >>> >>> Andy K3UK >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Skimmertalk mailing list >>> Skimmertalk at contesting.com >>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Skimmertalk mailing listSkimmertalk at contesting.comhttp://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Skimmertalk mailing list >> Skimmertalk at contesting.com >> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ehr at qrv.com Wed Jul 29 07:58:37 2020 From: ehr at qrv.com (E.H. Russell) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 07:58:37 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down In-Reply-To: References: <5295b557-530e-5c02-d999-1f6362f213fb@comcast.net> Message-ID: <017201d6659f$98a58c80$c9f0a580$@qrv.com> I?ve just started looking into CWS potential interaction with FT# causing a slowdown. So far: I can?t find a band plan that bypasses decoding FT# segments. Even so, there are only about 50 decoders allocated for FT# It seems this would need to be in the hundreds before it becomes a drag on performance. More info coming as I explore this. Ed / w2rf From: Skimmertalk On Behalf Of Andrew O'Brien Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2020 11:57 PM To: N4ZR Cc: SkimmerTalk Reflector Subject: Re: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down and... I'm talking about CWS, not the server. Mostly a decode slowdown and not a video driver issue. Andy On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 11:54 PM Andrew O'Brien > wrote: The whole FT free zones issue never even occurred to me. I'll take a look and see if this is indeed the issue. The Facebook CWS page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cwskimmer/ Andy K3UK On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 11:51 AM N4ZR > wrote: I have implemented FT#-free zones in the band segments in my CW and RTTY ini files - helps a bunch! 73, Pete N4ZR Check out the Reverse Beacon Network at , now spotting RTTY activity worldwide. For spots, please use your favorite "retail" DX cluster. On 7/28/2020 11:27 AM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote: Are they using CW Skimmer or Skimmer Server? Facebook? Where? They should ask here. Failure to exclude FT8 (and FT4?) frequencies from RTTY and CW spotting should help reduce the "decoder counts," which is the main cause of high CPU utilization. Or by "slow down", do they mean the horizontal waterfall of CW Skimmer moves more slowly? That sounds like a video driver issue. 73, Bob, N6TV On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 6:21 AM Andrew O'Brien > wrote: I have seen about 5-6 recent comments on Facebook from hams successfully running CWS without problems in the past but in the last few months, they experience major "slow down" of CWS . Does anyone know the source of this problem? The primary symptom is decoding capacity reaching 100% even in low activity days. One person said they recently increased their RAM from 8 to 16 and then to 32 gigs but the slow down still happens. System resources reported by Windows do not indicate CPU or RAM is close to maxing out. It cant be related to any CWS updates, so I am wondering about Windows updates. Andy K3UK _______________________________________________ Skimmertalk mailing list Skimmertalk at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk _______________________________________________ Skimmertalk mailing list Skimmertalk at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk _______________________________________________ Skimmertalk mailing list Skimmertalk at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From k3ukandy at gmail.com Wed Jul 29 09:37:49 2020 From: k3ukandy at gmail.com (Andrew O'Brien) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 09:37:49 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down In-Reply-To: <017201d6659f$98a58c80$c9f0a580$@qrv.com> References: <017201d6659f$98a58c80$c9f0a580$@qrv.com> Message-ID: One ham experiencing this issue reports that the problem has been fixed by reverting back to CWS 2.0 rather than. 2.1. I will experiment some more , I edited bandplan.ini over night and set to CW 7000 to 7060 and it is handling the 120 or so decoders well this morning . I still wonder about video driver issues . Andy K3UK > On Jul 29, 2020, at 7:58 AM, E.H. Russell wrote: > > ? > I?ve just started looking into CWS potential interaction with FT# causing a slowdown. So far: > > I can?t find a band plan that bypasses decoding FT# segments. > Even so, there are only about 50 decoders allocated for FT# > > It seems this would need to be in the hundreds before it becomes a drag on performance. > > More info coming as I explore this. > > Ed / w2rf > > > > > From: Skimmertalk On Behalf Of Andrew O'Brien > Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2020 11:57 PM > To: N4ZR > Cc: SkimmerTalk Reflector > Subject: Re: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down > > and... I'm talking about CWS, not the server. Mostly a decode slowdown and not a video driver issue. > > Andy > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 11:54 PM Andrew O'Brien wrote: > The whole FT free zones issue never even occurred to me. I'll take a look and see if this is indeed the issue. > > The Facebook CWS page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cwskimmer/ > > Andy K3UK > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 11:51 AM N4ZR wrote: > I have implemented FT#-free zones in the band segments in my CW and RTTY ini files - helps a bunch! > > 73, Pete N4ZR > Check out the Reverse Beacon Network > at , now > spotting RTTY activity worldwide. > For spots, please use your favorite > "retail" DX cluster. > On 7/28/2020 11:27 AM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote: > Are they using CW Skimmer or Skimmer Server? Facebook? Where? They should ask here. > > Failure to exclude FT8 (and FT4?) frequencies from RTTY and CW spotting should help reduce the "decoder counts," which is the main cause of high CPU utilization. > > Or by "slow down", do they mean the horizontal waterfall of CW Skimmer moves more slowly? That sounds like a video driver issue. > > 73, > Bob, N6TV > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 6:21 AM Andrew O'Brien wrote: > I have seen about 5-6 recent comments on Facebook from hams successfully running CWS without problems in the past but in the last few months, they experience major "slow down" of CWS . Does anyone know the source of this problem? The primary symptom is decoding capacity reaching 100% even in low activity days. One person said they recently increased their RAM from 8 to 16 and then to 32 gigs but the slow down still happens. System resources reported by Windows do not indicate CPU or RAM is close to maxing out. It cant be related to any CWS updates, so I am wondering about Windows updates. > > Andy K3UK > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk > > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk > _______________________________________________ > Skimmertalk mailing list > Skimmertalk at contesting.com > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ehr at qrv.com Wed Jul 29 12:54:16 2020 From: ehr at qrv.com (E.H. Russell) Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 12:54:16 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down In-Reply-To: References: <017201d6659f$98a58c80$c9f0a580$@qrv.com> Message-ID: <018c01d665c8$e5b46e00$b11d4a00$@qrv.com> I added a bandplan that omits FT# segments. This does work and reduces the number of decoders by about 50 in current conditions on 20m. The number could of course run higher, but seems it would have to be in the hundreds to affect performance. If this does turn out to be the source of the slowdown a new version of bandplan.ini should solve the problem. But at the moment I?m guessing the problem is something else. Ed / w2rf From: Andrew O'Brien Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2020 9:38 AM To: E.H. Russell Cc: N4ZR ; SkimmerTalk Reflector Subject: Re: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down One ham experiencing this issue reports that the problem has been fixed by reverting back to CWS 2.0 rather than. 2.1. I will experiment some more , I edited bandplan.ini over night and set to CW 7000 to 7060 and it is handling the 120 or so decoders well this morning . I still wonder about video driver issues . Andy K3UK On Jul 29, 2020, at 7:58 AM, E.H. Russell > wrote: ? I?ve just started looking into CWS potential interaction with FT# causing a slowdown. So far: I can?t find a band plan that bypasses decoding FT# segments. Even so, there are only about 50 decoders allocated for FT# It seems this would need to be in the hundreds before it becomes a drag on performance. More info coming as I explore this. Ed / w2rf From: Skimmertalk > On Behalf Of Andrew O'Brien Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2020 11:57 PM To: N4ZR > Cc: SkimmerTalk Reflector > Subject: Re: [Skimmertalk] Several hams experiencing major CWS slow down and... I'm talking about CWS, not the server. Mostly a decode slowdown and not a video driver issue. Andy On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 11:54 PM Andrew O'Brien > wrote: The whole FT free zones issue never even occurred to me. I'll take a look and see if this is indeed the issue. The Facebook CWS page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/cwskimmer/ Andy K3UK On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 11:51 AM N4ZR > wrote: I have implemented FT#-free zones in the band segments in my CW and RTTY ini files - helps a bunch! 73, Pete N4ZR Check out the Reverse Beacon Network at , now spotting RTTY activity worldwide. For spots, please use your favorite "retail" DX cluster. On 7/28/2020 11:27 AM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote: Are they using CW Skimmer or Skimmer Server? Facebook? Where? They should ask here. Failure to exclude FT8 (and FT4?) frequencies from RTTY and CW spotting should help reduce the "decoder counts," which is the main cause of high CPU utilization. Or by "slow down", do they mean the horizontal waterfall of CW Skimmer moves more slowly? That sounds like a video driver issue. 73, Bob, N6TV On Tue, Jul 28, 2020 at 6:21 AM Andrew O'Brien > wrote: I have seen about 5-6 recent comments on Facebook from hams successfully running CWS without problems in the past but in the last few months, they experience major "slow down" of CWS . Does anyone know the source of this problem? The primary symptom is decoding capacity reaching 100% even in low activity days. One person said they recently increased their RAM from 8 to 16 and then to 32 gigs but the slow down still happens. System resources reported by Windows do not indicate CPU or RAM is close to maxing out. It cant be related to any CWS updates, so I am wondering about Windows updates. Andy K3UK _______________________________________________ Skimmertalk mailing list Skimmertalk at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk _______________________________________________ Skimmertalk mailing list Skimmertalk at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk _______________________________________________ Skimmertalk mailing list Skimmertalk at contesting.com http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/skimmertalk -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From wes.cosand at gmail.com Thu Jul 30 10:00:25 2020 From: wes.cosand at gmail.com (Wes Cosand) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2020 10:00:25 -0400 Subject: [Skimmertalk] What are you using for a case for the Red Pitaya? Does it need to be shielded? Message-ID: It doesn't appear that the aluminum case for the Red Pitaya is still available. Is the plastic case available and does it cause interference to the unit or to other receivers close by? Anyone have a spare RP 125-14 in the aluminum case that still meets specs and that they have replaced with the 16 receiver unit? If you want to sell it email me off the reflector. Wes WZ7I -- Wes Cosand 6299 Route 413 PO Box 349 Pipersville, PA 18947 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From bjorn at ekelund.nu Thu Jul 30 15:44:32 2020 From: bjorn at ekelund.nu (=?UTF-8?Q?Bj=C3=B6rn_Ekelund?=) Date: Thu, 30 Jul 2020 21:44:32 +0200 Subject: [Skimmertalk] [RBN-OPS] What are you using for a case for the Red Pitaya? Does it need to be shielded? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The aluminium case is really neat for when using the Pitaya as a lab tool which you handle and move around a lot but due to the very thick thermal pad it does not offer sufficient cooling for a constant high load, like in a skimmer application. Particularly for the 122.88-16 which produces more heat than the 125-14. I use small fans on my 122.88-16, fixed directly to the heatsink. M3 screws actually fit quite nicely between the fingers of the heatsink. I use a series resistor to keep them quiet. But the plastic cover of course provides more mechanical protection. https://sm7iun.se/redpitaya/sm7iun-skimmer/ I use the aluminium case for my 125-14 which is mostly used as a lab instrument. Bj?rn SM7IUN Den tors 30 juli 2020 kl 16:00 skrev Wes Cosand : > It doesn't appear that the aluminum case for the Red Pitaya is still > available. Is the plastic case available and does it cause interference to > the unit or to other receivers close by? > > Anyone have a spare RP 125-14 in the aluminum case that still meets specs > and that they have replaced with the 16 receiver unit? If you want to sell > it email me off the reflector. > > Wes WZ7I > > -- > Wes Cosand > 6299 Route 413 > PO Box 349 > Pipersville, PA 18947 > _._,_._,_ > ------------------------------ > Groups.io Links: > > You receive all messages sent to this group. > > View/Reply Online (#4676) | Reply > To Group > > | Reply To Sender > > | Mute This Topic | New Topic > > > Your Subscription | Contact > Group Owner | Unsubscribe > [ > bjorn at ekelund.nu] > _._,_._,_ > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: