[TenTec] New OMNI-VII Firmware posted and new OnePlug posted as well

[GARY HUBER]

Version 1.036 update completed.

Regarding Digital Mode BW.... I usually have the BW set at 3 kHz for PSK-31.

Thanks John.

73 & DX,
Gary - AB9M

-----Original Message----- 
From: John Henry
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 3:07 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: [TenTec] New OMNI-VII Firmware posted and new OnePlug posted as 
well

I just added a new firmware release for the OMNI-VII and a new OnePlug
release to the tentec website.

Go to www.tentec.com
hover over Downloads, select Transceiver Downloads.
Scroll down to the OMNI-VII / 588 section.
You will see a new firmware revision history showing what went into
making Version 1.036.

Basically, in a nutshell for the firmware, Version 1.036 has the
following changes.
- Improved Ethernet Audio reliability
- Improved handling of broken Ethernet packets, net effect was to
improve Ethernet packet handling for control and audio streaming.
- Removed support for uncompressed audio via the Ethernet.
(note, when using third party programs, ensure you enable compression
for RIP and TRIP, otherwise the radio will not start "RIPing" audio)
- Added a bit to the ?T query to identify that the version does NOT
support uncompressed audio. Refer to the programmers reference guide
for more details.
- Increased priority of Ethernet audio packet handling. Preserving DSP
functioning within allotted time. (e.g. AN, NR, etc. all still worked
at least as well as version 1.035.)
- Improved handling of QRN/impulse type noise so it wouldn't
prematurely load up AGC.
- Added Bandwidth to the rig memory recall/restore. This was added so
that customers could store settings for digital modes using sideband
as the mode but wanting a narrower bw filter. ***Caveat, when going
from 1.035 to 1.036, when one does a recall, the BW will get recalled
as 12kc, simply adjust the bw to the desired value, and then re-save
the VFO to Memory. From then on the bandwidth for that specific memory
will get recalled properly. This should be done for all memories the
user has already stored.
- Added Memory Recall (*Rnn, nn=0..99) to the CAT interface in remote mode.
- Added Memory Write (*Snn, nn=0..99) to the CAT interface in remote mode.
Note, for the above two commands, there is not a single query, once a
memory recall is performed, then each parameter can be queried via the
CAT interface individually.
- Improved logic on programming the DDS to help prevent the radio from
being off frequency. Basically made the timing of the code a bit more
robust, should help those who have seen the rig transmit off
frequency, a very very rare occurrence.

Basically, in a nutshell for OnePlug Version 1.2.00 has the following 
changes.
Problems Resolved: Works best with 1.036 and up Firmware
- Improved reliability of Ethernet audio handling
- Rewrote several parts of the code to help alleviate PCs that were
bogged down by the activity in all of the forms during RIP/TRIP.
- Removed support for uncompressed RIP and TRIP, always runs as
compressed audio now for both RIP and TRIP.
- Removed option to "Lock TRIP to RIG Timing",
OnePlug is now always driven by the OMNI-VII's data packet rate for
audio. Keeps them both in sync.
- Simplified the Ethernet Audio Handling code by removing repititious
events required to checking compression levels.
- Added RIP Buffer Depth Adjustment to NetConfig
Should try to run at minimum value, but can be increased when desired
to help receive audio handling on networks that experience high
amounts of jitter or continued loss of packets.
- Added NetHealth % indicator to CONSOLE display.
Shows how well the last 100 packets of Receive audio have performed.
100% means that OnePlug received and processed to the sound card 100%
of the audio items it was expected to receive.
<100% means that less than 100 of the expected packets have been received.
It is a weighted average so that losses stay shown longer than really occur.
This prevents a lost packet from going to 99% then back to 100% too fast to
see visually. Located below the "START/STOP RIP" button
- Corrected a few anomalies in the memory store/recall page.
- Added the ability to store and recall the rig memories in the rig.
Does not affect the memories stored on the PC.

Note1: OnePlug Version 1.2.00 can be utilized with rig firmware version 
1.035,
but the rig memory recall/store functions will not work.
Audio streaming will work, but not as well as it does with firmware
version 1.036

Note2: Firmware version 1.036 can be used with OnePlug 1.0.10,
but to use this combination, one must enable "Compress RIP", and
"Compress TRIP",
and "LOCK TRIP to RIG Timing" on the NETCONFIG display.
Otherwise the OMNI-VII running Version 1.036 will not RIP audio.

Essentially, this whole process was to improve the reliability of
Ethernet audio on slower bandwidth networks.
Granted, there is more that can be done, but ya gotta throw in the
towel for a while and see how well it performs on a thousand different
installations. I can't guarantee it cleans it up for everyone, but so
far many that have used this combination that were very displeased
with the previous release are now very pleased with this new one.
Minimum requirements is basically 512kbps up/down, I did have it
working fairly clean with very very few drops down to 200k, but,
specing it at 512k.
Added a few features customers had asked for.
e.g. The Bandwidth is stored in the rig memories now. This means you
can set up a rig memory for a digital mode using lsb, and another rig
memory with a different bandwidth for voice mode using lsb. It recalls
the bandwidth from memory. When you recall a memory set up in a
previous version of software, you will get 12kc as the bandwidth,
simply change to the bandwidth you want for that memory/mode, and then
store it for future recall.
Some wanted to be able to store and recall rig memories remotely.
This also fixes the QRN/Impulse noise issue officially. It was
available publicly on previous beta releases, but this is the first
official release with that change built in.

Questions, Comments, send me an email and I can help you through.

Thanks, and 73,
John Henry, KI4JPL
TEN-TEC Engineering
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