RS-HFIQ versus new kid on block QRP Labs' QDX transceiver

[Al Holt]

Hello All,

My RS-HFIQ has been languishing on the shelf for 2+ years. I have a renewed interest in it after seeing the write-up on QRZ and videos on YouTube. What's more is the 'over-the-top' response to QRP Labs' QDX with their initial run of ~500 units being sold in something like 14 minutes! Now all of a sudden, QRP FT8 is gonna be the next big thing?? 

I look at it (QDX) as a 5W QRP 3-band transceiver with built-in sound card. Well, I've got 3/4 of one of that (with more bands) in the RS-HFIQ. 

A couple of stumbling blocks with it though, IMO. My understanding is one must use OmniRig and HDSDR if on Windows and Quisk if on Linux. I've never warmed up to either and haven't bothered checking to see if there are newer or up-to-date versions. In my simple version of SDR interfacing it would be nice if a piece of middleware could be written to make RS-HFIQ's Arduino controller look like one of the widely available CAT definitions (Kenwood TS-2000 maybe?).

Early on in my SDR journey, I happen upon the Genesis SDR line which used a version of PowerSDR. Maybe that could be used with the RS-HFIQ? Again, some software knowledge is needed and not my strong suit.

Maybe on the Linux side with Quisk things are great. I think I did try it on a Pi3 and as you can guess wasn't impressed.  The IQ64 was (and is) a great solution and probably with a Pi4 a great portabile solution!

I'm glad this support group is available, I've been lurking on it since the forum hosted by HobbyPCB. I'll make a point to read over the threads here closer than I have been since I've been away from it for so long. 

Thanks!

--Al

WD4AH

[jcve...@gmail.com]

Hi Al,

I hadn't seen the QDX before, looks like in interesting design. The receiver is a pretty standard DC I&Q design just like the Softrock, RS-HFIQ and KX2/3 but the transmitter is constant amplitude only so it will only work with digital/CW modes and maybe FM voice. It can't be used for SSB or AM. 

I completely agree about Quisk and HDSDR and if they were the only solution I probably wouldn't use my RS-HFIQ at all. I have the IC705 and the KX3/PX3 and I've used both if them extensively but my favorite is the RS-HFIQ with the PI SDR IQ+. It runs PowerSDR and completely eliminates driver and sound card issues.

Since the new videos about the RS-HFIQ have dropped we've seen a bunch of new sales and took an inventory and only have a few left. We might look at a redesign that includes more onboard features. Before we get to that though we're working on a 100W upgrade for the Hardrock-50.

73,

Jim WA2EUJ

[Chuck Ritola]

The most prominent middleware that I know of is Hamlib/rigctl. It has
a driver for the RS-HFIQ and provides something of an abstraction
layer. Then find software that supports hamlib and they should talk to
each other. It also supports tunneling the radio control as a network
service through rigctld.

[Al Holt]

Hello Jim,

Thanks for writing! I'll take a closer look at Pi-SDR IQ+ I'm sure it's worth it to reduce the number of boxes and cables.

  I'd like to give PowerSDR a try. I think I used a clone of it with the Genesis G4030 I built a long time ago.

Cheers!!

--Al 

On Thursday, October 14, 2021 at 12:40:10 PM UTC-4 jcve...@gmail.com wrote:

[Al Holt]

Hello cjri again,

I'm getting used to the GG format and I replied to the email off list, so to speak, but I'd like to report my experience with the hamlib RS-HFIQ driver. 

I got my 'IQ (short for RS-HFIQ) rig going again yesterday connected with a Windows 10 computer, but couldn't get the hamlib driver for the 'IQ to communicate directly. I went back through the steps outlined in Jim's "Quick Start" document and could get it to work with OmniRig. This was one of those 'first time through the process' trial and error sessions. 

I began to get the impression the RS-HFIQ hamlib driver may only work in the Linux w/ Quisk environment. The question is anyone using their 'IQ on Windows using the RS-HFIQ hamlib driver?

I still have to go through a re-education process reading over this forum and others' experiences. At this point I have things working by running OmniRig 2 with HDSDR. Getting WSJT-X to play nice turned out to have CAT settings set to use a Kenwood TS-145s(?) rig definition and a virtual COM connection to HDSDR. Again, I couldn't get WSJT-X to directly communicate to the 'IQ using the hamlib driver RS-HFIQ.

On the audio side, I have both the StarTech and Beringer USB audio devices. At the moment, I'm using the StarTech but can only get it to work properly at 48kHz sampling. The "Quick Start" doc specifies 96kHz, but when I use that settings I don't get any audio in HDSDR. Not sure if there's a better driver I should be using. I couldn't find one at StarTech's website.

I'll do more tinkering today to see if I can get things smoothed out some more.

Thanks again for the info on hamlib and rigctl.

--Al

WD4AH

[Al Holt]

Jim, 

The Pi-SDR IQ+ is it available? Do I need to contact the developer directly about purchase details? 

Thanks!

--Al

[jcve...@gmail.com]

Yes the PI SDR IQ+ is available from Christos SV1EIA. He is very responsive and offers excellent technical support.

Also the problem with the StarTech isn't the driver, it's the firmware. If you device says 'REV B" in the back, go to the product page:

https://www.startech.com/en-us/cards-adapters/icusbaudio2d

Click on 'Driver/Downloads' and download:

icusbaudio2d_firmware.zip

which has instructions and flies for updating the FW, then the device will work as advertised.

73,

Jim WA2EUJ

[Al Holt]

Jim,

Thanks, but no Rev B to be seen. I've had it a long time, and used it with the 'IQ. As I understand it 96kHz 'only' gives you more viewing bandwidth in HDSDR. That's really not a problem for me right now.

On the PI SDR IQ+ I'll contact Christos.

--Al

[Chuck Ritola]

TL; DR: You will need some intermediary DSP between quisk and the RS-HFIQ

So the problem with WSJT-X talking to the RS-HFIQ over Hamlib is it requests a mode setting where the RS-HFIQ doesn't have a mode, ignoring the philosophical argument that I/Q is a mode:

`Hamlib error: Feature not available while getting current mode`

... unfortunately, WSJT-X doesn't handle this issue gracefully, and I wish it would. Maybe it's maintainer(s) could fix that. One may also propose to the Hamlib devs to include IQ as a 'mode.' Then someone (might end up being me) would modify Hamlib's RS-HFIQ source, as well as other IQ-related radios like FUNCube Dongle to support the mode-setting request to return `IQ`. There's still a lingering issue of whether or not WSJT-X would handle the new IQ mode reply in a constructive way so it seems to all come back to WSJT-X.

Apparently WSJT-X doesn't really support IQ audio anyway, though it can sort of fake it:

https://sourceforge.net/p/wsjt/mailman/message/35064094/

... this means there will still need to be an intermediary means of converting the baseband audio to I/Q and back- such as GNU Radio Companion or Quisk. It's a bit of software to run, like having multiple boxes on a desk forming a signal chain.

I found that Grig will control the RS-HFIQ. In that case WSJT-X would run with rig set to 'none' while tuning and keyup would be handled with grig. Grig is strictly a control application- it does no signal processing.

The raw-IQ nature of the RS-HFIQ makes it very powerful at the cost of moving a lot of control and responsibility to the radio operator instead of inside the equipment. I learned to like Quisk. I had to write a bit of C and Python code, as well as file bugs and pull requests with a few project maintainers - months of effort- but it ended up being very rewarding: I might be able to use the RS-HFIQ and the HARDROCK-500 as my 'forever radio' w/ HF. On the other hand, many don't have the time for all of the technical snags that inevitably pop up -and there is no shortage of them - and would be happier with something more monolithic.

[Chuck Ritola]

ugh, typo: "TL; DR: You will need some intermediary DSP between WSJT-X and the RS-HFIQ"