v1.462 release: ALE 2G
Update: release is available. CHANGE_LOG notes below have been revised. Balance of changes in a separate post below.
Previously: I'm sorry it's taking so long to get this release out. Here is a preview of what's coming. There have been lots of problems getting the ALE extension to work properly. Some subtle bugs in the gr_ale code were found. Right now I'm working with Jim, WA2ZKD, using some realtime ALE signals he's providing to get scanning working.
New security code will follow in a separate, standalone release in case there are problems.
v1.462 September 10, 2021
ALE 2G extension preliminary release:
A work-in-progress. Lots of issues no doubt. See KiwiSDR forum for discussion.
Features
Net/station menus
Contents downloaded from kiwisdr.com on extension startup.
Hence menu updates do not require a new software release.
"Collapse" mode to shown only scan or single-frequency entries.
Admin menu populated with JSON content from Admin > Extensions > ALE_2G page.
Variable scan speed and frequency filtering.
Net menus contain lots of entries. Filter for time-of-day propagation considerations.
Automatically record audio on ALE call establishment.
Select different types of ALE messages to display.
By request:
Waterfall
Timestamps
When enabled they will appear on the waterfall left edge.
New "waterfall" extension
Select via "More" button on WFn tab or from the extension list.
Set WF timestamp interval here or with the new "wfts=SECS" URL parameter.
The aperture auto mode settings have moved here from the colormap extension.
Adjustments for the FFT window function, interpolation and CIC filter.
Right-click menu "save waterfall as JPG"
Also saves frequency scale (Thanks Yuri!) and spectrum if open.
Saved waterfall includes any timestamps.
Filename format compatible with Kiwi audio recording and kiwirecorder.
More waterfall is saved than seen in screen scrollable area.
With 1 Hz waterfall update rate you can capture over an hour of timestamped WF.
Original feature was code contributed by Peter, VE3SUN.
Audio tab
Added option to disable passband overload mute feature. Disabled by default
so as not to disturb audio recordings of extremely strong signals.
International WSPR Beacon Project (IWBP) frequency hop mode
For both the WSPR extension and autorun (background) mode there is a new
band menu entry called "IWBP". This causes the receive frequency to automatically
hop every two minutes according to the schedule here: github.com/HB9VQQ/WSPRBeacon
S-meter extension now has timestamp option. UTC/local selected from waterfall extension.
(see post below for more)
Comments
This reads great!
Looking forward to it very much.
73 Josef
DE3JGA
Hello,
will all KIWI SDRs automatically get the ALE version as an update?
Thank you and 73
Josef
DE3JGA
That is the usual process, the tested update is made available in the main repo and the update mechanism detects that and upgrades everyone (on their local schedule).
Part of the problem with geographically weighted enhancements is getting valid signals to test, often compounded by the best receive stations, in the right locations, being least likely to be made available for remote software build and testing.
73, Stu
--Edit--
BTW I'm just a "user" in case it sounded like anything more..
Thank you Stu!
73, Josef
Additional CHANGE_LOG items because this forum software couldn't handle the long list: (lol)
Admin > Config page
Passband center field now has a "lock" checkbox which holds the pbc constant
as the other fields are changed. Makes the passband center field behave like the
old CW offset field, i.e. change it and everything moves with it. Also, if an
asymmetrical passband is defined with a locked pbc, then changing the passband width
maintains the asymmetry.
Admin > Network page
Added an IP address blacklist file download button. The blacklist file is
curated from user contributions. See KiwiSDR forum for details.
Admin > Update page
Added new menu "after a restart": "install updates", "delay updates until overnight".
Can prevent a pending update from being annoyingly installed just because you restarted.
Bug fixes:
Largest frequency step now 1 kHz in SSB modes (incorrectly changed to 5 kHz recently).
The configuration files kiwi.config/{kiwi,admin,dx}.json are now pretty-printed with
fewer URI character escapes. Improves readability and makes manual editing easier.
IBP_scan extension (VE3SUN contribution) working again using current API.
Vivado/Verilog (FPGA)
Continuing changes to allow Kiwi to be used as a general FPGA development platform.
Many fewer warning messages now from Vivado when building the Kiwi Verilog code.
Good morning.....
after updating to version v1.462 on the update page this error message appears .... what is the problem?
Considering that it is the first time that the following error appears !!
************************************
waiting for communications
Greetings
Fabrys
Hi Fabrys,
It could simply be that the server was busy at the time.
I'd try manually updating again.
Regards,
Martin
>It could simply be that the server was busy at the time.
>I'd try manually updating again.
>Regards,
>Martin
.... I've been trying since this morning, that is since I posted the first message .... but the result is always the same, this is the last attempt made a few minutes ago.
See new announced thread for fix.