Plugging a Key or Keyer into the HL2 freezes HL2

[Lou KI5FTY]

I have looked everywhere but could not find an answer to this.  If I plug a iambic key or keyer into the HL2 (with the unit powered down) and then boot the HL2 works fine until I touch a paddle.  The relay clicks and both adc lights goes out and linhpsdr stops receiving data.  Program is still operating but behaves just like I turned off the radio.  All comes back to normal if I power cycle.  Then dies again if I touch a paddle on my key.  Same behaviour with just a key or a keyer installed into the front key ptt 1/8 jack.

This is happening on 2 different HL2s purchased from the same build lot.  HL2 build 9.  Any ideas of what I could be doing wrong?

Also same behaviour with powersdr on Win10.

Thanks

Lou KI5FTY

[Lou KI5FTY]

Just noticed - linhpsdr shows it stuck in transmit mode but I do not see anything on my inline watt meter;  I have the drive set at 80% so I should see power out.  The linhpdsdr power meter shows 0 watts byt the alc shows -400 db and swr 1.0:1 and the mox button is lit on the software control panel.  Clicking off the mox button does not reset the behaviour.

[Lou KI5FTY]

So further experimenting is showing that when linhpsdr is in transmit mode (stuck there after paddle press) if I touch the right paddle my watt meter shows transmitted power for each press; but the left paddle only does ptt.  SO now I know why the jack is labeled ptt/key.  I guess I need a special pinout for my keyer and not use the iambic directly connected to the hl2?

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Lou,

Yes, the base HL2 support a single CW keydown signal at the tip of the connector. You can connect a keyer like the k3ng. We are working on better CW support when a key is plugged into the host computer. This will allow for both remote and local operation.

73,

Steve

kf7o

[Lou Scalpati]

Yes thank you - have have gotten past that portion (using a stereo plug with only the tip for the key.  With that config PowerSDR and Quisk seem to work ok as long as vox is engaged.  I still have the problem with linhpsdr and sdr console and I will file a bug report with each of them.

Thanks

Lou KI5FTY

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[Lou Scalpati]

So the problem was with the gateway software - the default version currently shipping is 6.7.  I upgraded to 6.9p4 and linhpsdr, sdr-console, powersdr and quisk all work as expected.  No PTT hangs or freezes and I no longer have to use vox mode on the systems that worked before.  BIG thanks to   Matthew M5EVT for helping me out.

On Thu, Mar 12, 2020 at 9:18 AM Lou Scalpati <lsca...@gmail.com> wrote:

Yes thank you - have have gotten past that portion (using a stereo plug with only the tip for the key.  With that config PowerSDR and Quisk seem to work ok as long as vox is engaged.  I still have the problem with linhpsdr,sdr console and I will file a bug report with each of them.

Thanks

Lou KI5FTY

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Lou,

Yes, there was a CW bug in the shipped 6.7 gateware. Glad you found it. Also happy to see that people are helping each other off list. Feel free to help on list as it may help someone else too.

73,

Steve

kf7o

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[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Group,

With gateware 68 I find that the PTT stays ON in Quisk after either pin of CN4 (key/ptt in) is grounded.

These are the bits returned from HL2 in C0 [2:0]:

Ground the tip,   get 0b101

Ground the ring, get 0b001

It doesn't seem right to set bit 0 for both.

It seems there were some changes in the 60 series of gateware. My older code for versions less than 62 expects key on C0[0] and no PTT. For later versions I have PTT on C0[0] and key on C0[1]. This used to work. To make Quisk work with any code version over 60, I need to know these bits for each code version.

Jim

N2ADR

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Jim,

That was a bug on the gateware side. It should be fixed in version 69 and later, and work as it previously did. Please try the latest testing release:

https://github.com/softerhardware/Hermes-Lite2/tree/master/gateware/bitfiles/testing/20200301_69p4

73,

Steve

kf7o

[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Steve,

I changed to the latest gateware 69.4. I set the MOX bit to zero in Quisk so Quisk never sets MOX. I disabled keying logic from C0 so that Quisk never sees key down. I still get this raw return from HL2 in C0 & 0x7:

Ground the tip,   get 0b101

Ground the ring, get 0b001

The 0x5 seems incorrect for a raw bit return from hardware.

Jim

N2ADR

[Steve Haynal]

Hi Jim,

I just checked and the HL2 is doing what the original Hermes RTL does. Bit[0] is the PTT. It is set when the external PTT is engaged (ring grounded) or CW TX is activated (tip grounded). When activated due to CW, bit[0] stays set during the entire time TX is on for CW, which includes hangs. Bit[2] indicates the actual CW key press (tip grounded) and is only asserted for the time the CW key is actually asserted, no hangs In my mind, these are only status indicators back to software of *external* events on the HL2. Bit[0] PTT indicates when TX is on due to a nonsoftware initiated event on the HL2. Bit[2] keydown indicates the CW key is down due to a nonsoftware initiated event. These bits are never set for a software initiated PTT or CWX.

Please elaborate on what you have in mind. If is still works with PowerSDR, and Alan and Matthew agree, I am open to making changes.

73,

Steve

kf7o

[James Ahlstrom]

Hello Steve,

Thanks for explaining this. If HL2 is doing what the original Hermes did, then I don't think we should change it. I guess I just was expecting a more hardware level interface. If you don't mind I will add your description to the protocol wiki.

Jim

N2ADR