WSJT-X

[n6gn]

Now that WSJT-X is approaching candidate release stage, maybe some on here would like to use it to make a QSO on 2M or above.  Joe has a draft users manual available now.

The higher numbered versions, up to JT9-30 which takes 30 minutes/transmission, require considerable operator time and very good stability. However, with the GPS10 versions starting to get into wider use (more on that soon) these are real candidates for VHF+ DX QSOs.  As you may know they can dig down 40 dB below the noise in a 2.5 kHz SSB bw and are considerably more sensitive than WSPR-2 that we have been using.

Glenn n6gn

[Steven Hess]

I am going to need a well cooled RF amplifier of some type before I do any 30 minute transmissions. I don't want to put that much stress on my FT-857D PAs. I want to try it though.

 I have some other improvements I want to make first though. Getting a new beam at 30 to 35 feet in the air is one of them.

Steven 

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____________
Apply appropriate technology. Use what works without prejudice.  
Steven L Hess ARS KC6KGE DM05gd22
Google Voice 661 769 6201 +SMS
openSUSE Linux 12.2 KDE 4.8.5
Known as FlameBait and  The Sock Puppet of Doom.

[Pamela J. Filicky]

Hello Glen & the group, well standing by to see what develops.

                     Regards Steve/N6KOG

---

From: n6gn <n6...@sonic.net>
To: 2-mete...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tue, April 30, 2013 7:04:01 AM
Subject: {2 Meter WSPR} WSJT-X

Now that WSJT-X is approaching candidate release stage, maybe some on here would like to use it to make a QSO on 2M or above.  Joe has a draft users manual available now.

The higher numbered versions, up to JT9-30 which takes 30 minutes/transmission, require considerable operator time and very good stability. However, with the GPS10 versions starting to get into wider use (more on that soon) these are real candidates for VHF+ DX QSOs.  As you may know they can dig down 40 dB below the noise in a 2.5 kHz SSB bw and are considerably more sensitive than WSPR-2 that we have been using.

Glenn n6gn

[KC6KGE]

I've been using WSPR-X on 2 meters for a few days now. I don't know that it decodes wspr-2 as well as WSPR v.3.0 but I find the waterfall display pretty nice. I've not be able to get it running on my openSUSE Linux box as it has difficulty getting the audio stream and wants to write it's configuration file to /usr/bin/something and fails because of permission problems then it segfaults when enabled. At the time I didn't feel like sorting it out and still haven't. I am running two instances on WSPR-X under Windows 7 64 along with one instance of WSPR v3.0

Conditions for RX down here seem to have degraded quit a bit. I am hoping conditions improve. I've been getting spotted plenty but I am not seeing and stations besides Kevin and Carol down here.  

My next project will be getting a new 2 meter antenna up to 30 feet in height.

[Glenn Elmore]

I compiled and am (trying) running wspr-x on latest Ubuntu on the netbook. However, it crashes regularly with portaudio issues. That seems to occur even when I am receive only.  I agree that the realtime waterfall is really helpful. I'm watching the developers list and it looks like the current effort is going into wsjt-x but Joe has just started looking at linux installs.

You probably aren't seeing me because
a. I am on receive only
b. I am presently pointed toward Carol

This condition my remain for a few more days while I try to ship out some  GPS10's and repair an IC706.

Glenn

--

[Line Printer]

On Tue, 21 May 2013, Glenn Elmore wrote:

> I compiled and am (trying) running wspr-x on latest Ubuntu on the netbook. However, it crashes regularly with

> portaudio issues. That seems to occur even when I am receive only.ￜ I agree that the realtime waterfall is really

> helpful. I'm watching the developers list and it looks like the current effort is going into wsjt-x but Joe has just
> started looking at linux installs.

Disclaimer: may contain tedious trivia or food for thought.........



The status of the wspr-x on my l00nix systems is currently in the
"Frustrating" status. Most of the author's team development work has been
focused on the WSJT-X project lately. I expect that their efforts may be
applicable to wspr-x....


As far as wspr-x goes, I can get it to build but there are some areas that
aren't covered well at this point. For instance, in the "Setup" dialog
box, the choices for the "CAT port" offers a list of None, COM1 - COM15
and USB. None of these are /dev/ttyS4 or /dev/ttySanything. But still,
the wsprx.ini file can be edited to:

CATport=/dev/ttyS4

This is useful because it enables the rigctl application to operate the
radio. Without this edit, starting up wsprx results in the error window
stating:

rig_open: error = IO error

rigctl -m 360 -r None -s 9600 -C data_bits=8 -C stop_bits=1 -C
serial_handshake=None F 144489000

and "OK" is needed to move past this error.

However, having the CATport=/dev/ttyS4 has the unforseen consequences of
the wspr-x application crashes if attempting to open the "Setup" dialog
box or segfaulting at the exact end of the TX transmission cycle. Worst
of all, LEAVING the IC-7000 STILL in TX MODE until the owner (me) notices
that the IC-7000 has the red TX light enabled while being puzzled about
"Segmentation fault" and "May 21 17:07:51 hastur kernel: [3661759.125716]
wsprx[999] general protection ip:7f18c6c2f332 sp:7f18b6862ce0 error:0 in
libc-2.15.so[7f18c6bb6000+19b000]".

In summary, I've found that the wspr-x v0.8 r3058 in an OpenSuse 12.2
environment is functional for receiving and uploading data on spotted
stations. The wspr-x waterfall display is more useful and contains much
more data compared to the wspr v4.0 r3015 application I'm usually running.

It's possible to transmit and control and Icom/Signalink USB setup thru
the rigctl commands but there are some details needing to be adjusted to
bring consistency and stable operation using wspr-x in my l00nix
environment (and apparently others).

Attached to this are three images, from my system, showing the Setup
config window, the interface window and the waterfall window.

It's an excellent start!

Tedious Trivia is found below.......


C.YaZ,
Kevin Martinez
KI6STW


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- begin tedious triviality -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-




I had previously setup a ~/.asoundrc file based on
what I learned from Sawson KG6NUB and it enabled WSJT
to function with the IC-7000 and the SignaLink USB.

cat .asoundrc
pcm.radio
{
type hw
card 2
device 0
}
pcm_slave.radioslave {
pcm radio
rate 48000
}
pcm.radioconv {
type rate
slave radioslave
}

For the Audio In/Out devices, I chose "radioconv" from the list..


---------------------------------------

cd wsprx/lib
cp Makefile Makefile.orig
cp -pi Makefile.linux Makefile

There's something odd about the profile when building from the "lib"
directory and the executable intended to be copied into
../../wsprx_install directory instead is copied as ../../wsprx_install.
So make the directory first:

mkdir ../../wsprx_install
make

[....]

lt ../../wsprx_install/
total 144
drwxr-xr-x 4 kmartinez users 4096 May 21 15:56 ../
-rwxr-xr-x 1 kmartinez users 84544 May 21 15:57 wsprd*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 kmartinez users 50031 May 21 15:57 WSPRcode*
drwxr-xr-x 2 kmartinez users 4096 May 21 15:57 ./

cd ..
cp -pi wsprx.pro wsprx.pro.orig

diff -u wsprx.pro.orig wsprx.pro
--- wsprx.pro.orig 2013-05-21 15:41:13.721980042 -0700
+++ wsprx.pro 2013-05-21 15:51:21.520502229 -0700
@@ -54,9 +54,9 @@
RC_FILE = wsprx.rc

unix {
- INCLUDEPATH += $$quote(/usr/include/qwt-qt4)
+ INCLUDEPATH += $$quote(/usr/include/qwt6)
LIBS += ../wsprx/lib/libwspr.a
- LIBS += /usr/lib/libqwt-qt4.so
+ LIBS += /usr/lib64/libqwt.so
LIBS += -lportaudio -lgfortran -lfftw3f
}


qmake
make

[.....]

lt ../wsprx_install/
total 568
drwxr-xr-x 4 kmartinez users 4096 May 21 15:56 ../
-rwxr-xr-x 1 kmartinez users 84544 May 21 15:57 wsprd*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 kmartinez users 50031 May 21 15:57 WSPRcode*
drwxr-xr-x 2 kmartinez users 4096 May 21 16:00 ./
-rwxr-xr-x 1 kmartinez users 431998 May 21 16:00 wsprx*

mkdir ../wsprx_install/save/
cd ../wsprx_install/
cp -pi ../../wsprx_install/ALL_WSPR.TXT ../../wsprx_install/hashtable.txt
../../wsprx_install/wsprx.ini .

lt
total 580
-rw-r--r-- 1 kmartinez users 989 Mar 21 03:29 wsprx.ini
-rw-r--r-- 1 kmartinez users 20 Mar 21 05:39 hashtable.txt
-rw-r--r-- 1 kmartinez users 296 Mar 21 05:39 ALL_WSPR.TXT
drwxr-xr-x 4 kmartinez users 4096 May 21 15:56 ../
-rwxr-xr-x 1 kmartinez users 84544 May 21 15:57 wsprd*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 kmartinez users 50031 May 21 15:57 WSPRcode*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 kmartinez users 431998 May 21 16:00 wsprx*
drwxr-xr-x 2 kmartinez users 4096 May 21 16:05 ./


-------------------------------------------
./wsprx

------------
rigctl stderr:

rig_open: error = IO error

rigctl -m 360 -r None -s 9600 -C data_bits=8 -C stop_bits=1 -C
serial_handshake=None F 144489000

--------------
"OK"

"Failed to start audio input stream."

"PortAudio says requested soundcard format not supported."

"OK'ed"

Ran Setup, chose correct audio in/out

did File... Save user parameters... quit
(save doesn't actually save until quit, if crashes
before quitting,save didn't happen)

restart:
./wsprx

now waterfall works and dB indicator shows active level.


Under WSPR 4.0, it works without issues and to control the IC-7000,
I had chose:

PttPort None
CatPort /dev/ttyS4
PTTmode CAT
CATenable 1
SerialRate 9600
DataBits 8
StopBits 1
Handshake None
Rig #360##Icom###################IC-7000##########


**Some kind of watchdog timer to ensure the IC-7000 isn't transmitting
endlessly if the controlling application goes away.**



--
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Line Printer System | HODIE NATUS EST RADICI FRATER
lps at rahul 'dot' net | 645/6180 BOS/BCE
------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Steven Hess]

Thanks Kevin.

I am still trying to get it to play on openSUSE 12.3 from the pre-compiled binaries.

It's having problems getting the audio device and segfaults if you look at it sideways.

So your information will be helpful as I dig into this further to see if I can make it play. 

On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 6:13 PM, Line Printer <l...@rahul.net> wrote:

On Tue, 21 May 2013, Glenn Elmore wrote:

I compiled and am (trying) running wspr-x on latest Ubuntu on the netbook. However, it crashes regularly with

portaudio issues. That seems to occur even when I am receive only.  I agree that the realtime waterfall is really

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[N6SKM]

The signals at my QTH have also degraded a bit over the past month or so.  I'm spotting you a lot less frequently
as well as often not seeing Carol.

To try to fix that (and maybe spot you for once) I just purchased and assembled an M2 7-element beam.  I was testing
it in the next room and discovered that, inside a stucco/chicken wire house, the fields can really become "interesting".
They were so interesting that my FT-857D gave out a massive beep and reset itself to factory defaults!!!
Very impressive!  Definitely the last time I'll be testing the beam inside the house, even if firing it out the window.
73 for now,
Steve

[Glenn Elmore]

Kevin,

Not tedious at all. It may even relate to the problems I'm having and my
frequent crashes. I tried adding the additional .asoundrc file and
after getting rid of my typos managed to get it acceptable - sort of.
WSPR still runs but no additional entry appears in the list on WSPR v4
which is the only place I had to try it. I'm a confused between Alsa
and portaudio and which is used, and when. I suppose if I were to
spend sufficient time I could sort it out but for the moment portaudio
continues to crash with an error description and .c line number. I
Googled the error and found that it was a known problem by digital audio
enthusiasts using Linux.

Glenn

[Leigh Rainbird]

I pressume you guys are aware that you can run the Spectrum Lab waterfall program at the same time as running the WSPR program so that you can see in real time whats happening?
Its also handy for seeing if there are stations slightly off frequency outside the bandpass.
Its great to watch.
 
Leigh VK2KRR
 
www.vk2krr.com

 

---

Date: Tue, 21 May 2013 07:24:24 -0700
From: n6...@sonic.net
To: 2-mete...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: {2 Meter WSPR} Re: WSJT-X

[Steven Hess]

Leigh 

 I was running Spectrum Lab at Glen's suggestion. It's pretty darned good but I like wpsr-x better. as it's takes up less screen space even in it's minimal display mode. wspr-x works great on Windows. I ran into a condition once where Spectrum Lab locked my system up to where I was forced to do a restart to kill it.

On Linux I am still trying to find the right incantations to make wspr-x play. It's a problem with the audio routing. It may indeed be a permissions problem as well. I do not understand how Phonon works yet and it seems to be what is interacting badly. ALSA just works. Getting wspr-x to route the audio through ALSA might be the solution to my local problem.

Steven 

[Glenn Elmore]

Leigh,
Yes, we have run both Spectrum Lab and (I think) SpecAn at the same time and indeed they are handy tools for delving into real time streams. Even with these though I've noticed problems with different audio devices and levels, for example. 
I think there's probably a career in understanding audio devices alone!

Glenn n6gn

[Leigh Rainbird]

Glenn/Steve,
 
Apologies, wasn't sure if u were aware of it.
I usually run spect lab full screen and set it up so that the 1400 to 1600 Hz area is over the right of screen and then I run WSPR interface over top left and our VK Chat page below that to the left.
 
Looks like good conditions forming over here for the weekend.
 
Leigh VK2KRR
 
www.vk2krr.com

 

---

Date: Thu, 23 May 2013 07:11:20 -0700

[KP4MD]

I've been running WSPR-X on Windows 7 Pro since 3/23/2013 with no crashes, but sometimes it stops saving my spots to ALL_WSPR.TXT and uploading them to the wsprnet.org database.  I've had to restart the program when I've noticed that, and the unsaved spots that were showing in the window are lost each time.

Having had some success with JT-65 on HF, I am ready to try a sked with others on 2 meter JT-65 or JT-9 (if the frequency drift of my Elecraft XV144 permits)  I've read how EME has been accomplished with JT9, but terrestrial 2m JT65 frequencies vary by region and I've found no listed terrestrial 2 meter JT9 frequencies.  Please ignore the following as I just noticed that WSJTX has built in 144.489 MHz as the default JT9 frequency for 2 meters.

[Here in USA EME and MS digital modes use segments in the 144.1-144.3 MHz range (144.0-144.1 is exclusively CW here)  As .078 seems to be the theme on HF JT9, e.g. 14.078, 21.078 MHz etc, perhaps shall we try 144.178 or 144.278 MHz for a JT9 frequency if we find no conflict with other users?] 

Carol, KP4MD/W6

[Line Printer]

On Tue, 21 May 2013, Steven Hess wrote:

> I am still trying to get it to play on openSUSE 12.3 from the pre-compiled binaries.
> It's having problems getting the audio device and segfaults if you look at it sideways.

> So your information will be helpful as I dig into thisￜfurtherￜto see if I can make it play.ￜ

Months ago, I was encountering segfaults related the portaudio tools. It
was also difficult to get things to compile correctly when things were
looking for portaudio 2.0 but the portaudio 2.0 was really version 1.9.
I was trying to get fldigi, wspr and wsjt working on the same system.

I eventually settled with libportaudio2-19_20111121-2.1.2.x86_64 and
portaudio-devel-19_20111121-2.1.2.x86_64 and it mostly worked out.

The wspr-x I'm using doesn't seem to have portaudio issues. I've been
running it for the past few days in receive-only mode. It did yield up
some goodies:

cat hashtable.txt
412 KC6KGE
2179 KP4MD
2512 N6SKM
26531 K6PZB
28139 WW6D
28963 N6GN


73s
Kevin Martinez
KI6STW

[KP4MD]

Please ignore my previous question re: the 2 meter JT9 frequency.  

I just noticed that WSJTX has 144.489 MHz as the default JT9 frequency for 2 meters.

[KP4MD]

Now I have resumed WSPR 2.21 on 144.4905 MHz.  Too many missed uploads on WSPR-X.  
de KP4MD

[KC6KGE]

I notice many missed spots but on inspection they are usually too weak or drift by as much as 10 / 15 Hz ( on the eyeball scale).

At least I am noticing them today. Yesterday I didn't see many at all.

I haven't got back to trying to run it on openSUSE 12.3 again. Still running WSPR 3.0 over there. 

Running two instances of WSPR v 0.8 r3058 on Windows 7 x64 with one instance of WSPR v 3.0  r2290 Doing 30 meters on wspr-x, 2 meters on wspr-x and 20 meters on wspr.

[Glenn Elmore]

I'm noticing more spots and stronger spots than I was seeing as recently as a few weeks ago. KP4MD is starting to show big signals again, just as last June. Maybe there really is some annual component to signals after all. I wouldn't have thought it.

Glenn n6gn

[KC6KGE]

I switched back to WSPR 3.0 for the time being.