v1.666 [very large update, many changes/improvements]
From the CHANGE_LOG file:
v1.666 April 12, 2024
Extensions moved to main control panel so they can be used while another extension is in use:
Antenna Switch extension => RF tab
Waterfall extension => WF tab
Noise Blanker/Filter extensions => Audio tab
Those three tabs, RF/WF/Audio, now scroll vertically to accomodate the new content.
To avoid confusion all the previous methods of accessing those former extensions are still
available. So they continue to appear in the "extension" menu even though selecting them
now simply jumps to their respective control panel position.
Your existing bookmarks selecting an antenna will still work, e.g. kiwi:8073/?ext=ant,loop
even though there is now a simplified format: kiwi:8073/?ant=loop
Because mouse wheel (and trackpad emulation of that) will now cause scrolling of the
RF/WF/Audio panel content you must now hold shift while the cursor is positioned over a
slider to get the sliders to adjust using the mouse/trackpad (the prior behavior).
The antenna switch has been integrated into KiwiSDR codebase to make the above change possible.
My thanks to the author Kiwi Karvonen, OK1KK, for agreeing to this change.
The antenna switch frontend & backend scripts have not changed. But now live in the directory
/root/Beagle_SDR_GPS/pkgs/ant_switch instead of /root/extensions/ant_switch
If you had the extension installed and configured the settings will be carried over to the
Kiwi version. Backend selection and configuration has been added to the admin extensions page.
As changes are made to the admin config they are immediately reflected on the new antenna switch
area of the RF tab. No restarting is required anymore. The changes are significant enough that
there will likely be bugs in the new scheme.
(Continued below)
Comments
The following improvements are based on suggestions made by the Kiwi community. Thanks everyone!
Waterfall tab (WFn) has a new entry called "Spec RF passband marker".
Similar to other SDR programs, when enabled this shows a transparent rectangle in the RF spectrum
that is the width of the passband. Color adjustment, including transparency, via a color picker.
Color is saved in browser storage. More marker improvements are planned, like being able to
adjust the passband width by dragging the edges of the marker.
Admin page:
New checkbox on control tab: "Require name/callsign entry when connecting".
Forces the user to enter a non-blank entry before a new connection will proceed.
Not shown again since the name/callsign is now in browser storage for this Kiwi.
RF attn slider on the admin config tab is now defined as the attenuation value preset
on server startup. When a connection is made from a user that has attenuator adjustment
permission, and has an attn value saved in browser storage, the storage value will be used.
The intent here is to provide a global default attenuation value when there are only users
connected who do not have attenuator adjust permission. Such as when the Kiwi owner/admin
knows a few dB is required to prevent significant ADC overload.
Admin password save:
On the admin security tab is a new switch "Save admin password in browser local storage?"
Note that browser storage is not the same as browser cookies in that local storage values
are not included in every web request as cookies are. Hence using local storage to save
the admin password is a better balance of security/convenience (but also note that cookies
are now gone as described below).
URL tab select:
You can now specify an admin tab to select in the URL, e.g. my_kiwi:8073/admin?dx
or my_kiwi:8073/admin?ext,ant to select the antenna switch submenu on the extensions tab.
The names can be a case-insensitive substring of the full tab/menu names.
So /admin?e,w to select the Extensions > WSPR submenu.
Map GPS resolution:
The webpage and public tabs had a button called "set from GPS" that would fill-in the
map/location fields with a lat/lon value computed by the GPS (if available).
The single button has been replaced with two: "lo res" and "hi res".
"lo res" works as before, giving only two significant digits of lat/lon.
A very rough location designed to protect your privacy.
The new "hi res" button gives the full 6-digits of resolution the GPS computes.
A warning is displayed when using this option telling you your precise location will be
revealed on map.kiwisdr.com and the [map] link at the top of the user page.
The webpage tab now allows customization of the user README/welcome panel (the panel with a
violet color) and also the password panel shown (if any) when a user connects.
If you make the customization entry empty the default text is restored.
There is additional error checking on the connect tab "Domain name" and "Specified IP" fields.
A domain name entry is looked up with DNS and an error displayed if the domain is not found.
An invalid IP address specification will also show an error message.
A new config tab checkbox controls if the geolocated city for a user connection will be shown.
(Continued below)
Admin page:
New admin tab "Users":
Presents a list of all user connections since the server was last started.
Essentially a consolidation of the "ARRIVED" and "LEAVING" log messages.
A new entry appears when a user connects. And the "connected" time updates when a user leaves.
Users with the same name/callsign connecting from different IP addresses are shown in a
sublist, revealed by clicking an icon that will appear. Column sort options available.
One of the intended uses is to more conveniently spot new undesirable "bot" connections and
add them to the IP address blacklist.
A new webpage tab checkbox allows centering of the top bar splash photo.
The admin connection lockout period after restart (message: "Database update in progress")
has been eliminated. (thanks Christoph for recommending Linux "ipset")
New keyboard shortcut keys:
'$' toggles 1 Hz frequency readout. Also added a new entry in the right-click menu.
'%' toggles tuning lock (existing entry in the right-click menu).
'R' switches to RF tab.
Added AM wide mode. AM mode button now toggles AM => AMN => AMW => AM ...
AMW default passband values available on the admin config tab.
"Measure SNR now" button on admin control tab now shows result values next to the button.
User and admin status page SNR values are now updated promptly.
When the cursor hovers over the "SNR xx/yy dB" text in the title bar a popup describes the
frequency ranges xx and yy refer to.
Admin page > Extensions > FT8 has a new switch causing spots to be recorded to the syslog.
Same as what the WSPR extension has.
The AGC tab has a "defaults" button that returns all settings to nominal values.
TDoA extension: As you rollover markers, and they highlight yellow, they will now pop in front
of all other markers and be completely visible. Previously if they were obscured by another
marker you couldn't see all of their content.
rx.kiwisdr.com will show the product model (e.g. "KiwiSDR 1" or "KiwiSDR 2") instead of just
"KiwiSDR". But only for Kiwis running v1.666 or later.
All browser cookies have been moved to browser local storage. The difference is that local
storage is not transmitted with every web request like cookies are.
Cookies were originally used back in 2016 because local storage didn't exist back then.
Now it is widely supported by all modern browsers.
The cookie values were never used for anything on the Kiwi server side. Only for their
browser storage feature which persists across sessions. So their transmission with each
web request was very wasteful of network bandwidth (approximately 1 kB per web request).
Bugs fixed:
Owner/Admin email link no longer closes browser connection.
Fixed bug in DX label CSV import relating to start/stop schedule times.
Fixes bug where setting static IP with blank DNS entries disables Ethernet on Debian 11.
Some minor memory leaks were fixed.
(End)
Awesome!! Will update mine later. Does the update fix the Blank DNS Entries issue that disables Ethernet interface from Pre-1.666?
Does the update fix the Blank DNS Entries issue that disables Ethernet interface from Pre-1.666?
Yes (just now added that to the CHANGE_LOG).
Great! Thank you!!
@jks Where can I download the image file v.1.666 for those like me who only bought the KIWISDR2 card? On the installation pages only V.1.665 is downloaded. Thank you.
Go to the admin GUI select the update page.
Check for software update and select "check now".
If an update is available
Force software build and select "build now"
The build will commence and the KiWi will reboot after approx 20 - 30 minutes, depending on the upload and configuration time.
Yes, I know the procedure and have done the update, but I have a new Kiwisdr2 with Beaglebone Black and I have to install everything from scratch, I'm sorry to install V.1.665 and then update to V.1.666... On the download page it is only available as image file v.1.665, that's why I was asking... Anyway, thanks.
@IK8SUT The image doesn't get updated with new kiwi versions, only with OS updates.
The last (debian 10) image had a 2 year old kiwi version when it got replaced with debian 11.
Sorry but at this link: http://kiwisdr.com/quickstart/index.html#id-net-reflash we have possibility to download version 1.665 ... that's why I was looking v. 1.666 .
http://kiwisdr.com/files/KiwiSDR_v1.665_BBG_BBB_Debian_11.9.img.xz
Am I missing something ?
What is the problem with using an image with version 1.665, and then using the update procedure to version 1.666 ?
Regards,
Martin
No, you haven't missed anything, but since I have to install from scratch, being a new receiver with a new beaglebone it's to optimize times, that's all.
I don't create new image files very often because it is a very complex and error-prone process. It literally takes the better part of a day. So I would never do it just because of a version update from v1.665 to v1.666.
As others mentioned just use the v1.665 image and then let the automatic update procedure take you directly to v1.666 or whatever the current release is.
Soon I hope to have binary distros working. So an automatic update will still copy over the source code, but not compile from it (unless necessary). Instead it will just install binary files directly. So the update procedure will take 30 seconds instead of 30 minutes (roughly).
Well, thank you Jks.
73's de IK8SUT Antonio.
Thanks for the update! My KiwSDR2 updated last night. But now the Android KiwiSDR App doesn't seem to connect anymore on my phone as well as my tablet. (and I use that a lot) Could this be related to the update? I even updated to v1.667 to see if that would help, but no luck. Thanks!
73, de Albert PA3GUK
edit: I think the update has to do with it, since I am able to connect to a v1.663 KiwiSDR with my phone.
Yeah, I remember now. This is due to the transition of cookies to browser storage. Browser storage is widely supported by all modern browsers.
But the Kiwi Android app uses something called
appinventor.mit.edufor the HTML rendering. And it does not support browser storage. So I'm going to have to add some fallback code that goes back to using cookie storage.Okay, got it working again. Will be fixed in the next release, which will hopefully be out within a few days.
Thanks for the quick response!
73, de Albert PA3GUK
OH! OH! I LOVE the USERS tab on the Admin page! A thousand THANK YOUS! :) Cool beans! I'm a kid with a new toy! LOL! My unit just did the update a few mins ago, because (oops) somehow, I knocked the power cord out the other day, and wasn't aware of it. All good now, and this super update (1.673) just went through! :D AWESOME!
If you have suggestions for the users tab let me know. It's not easy to do everything people have suggested. But it never hurts to ask so I can think about it at least. I have some ideas of my own..
I was just sitting here, thinking about how truly GLAD I am that I bought this unit. :) It was definitely one of the best $250 (incl shipping) I've ever spent. :) These updates are just a part of that. Compared to every other WEBSDR I have tried, the Kiwi remains my favorite! I love the interface (I love what you've done with the place!) ;) and just the ability to see all 30MHz of the HF spectrum in one waterfall is very compelling! :)
As for the USERS log, since it JUST went into effect for me, I have no entries, yet. ;) I hope that will change in the days ahead. Thank you, again, for your ongoing support of this wonderful device. :)
Hi John,
Personally I'd like the option to list the frequencies and modes that users have tuned to, but I realise that may become a bit too large to accomodate.
Perhaps just list frequencies that have been listened to for a long period of time ? or some other criteria to pick out the most popular user frequencies ?
Just thoughts, and not requiring any action.
Regards,
Martin
Dear John, Dear All,
The « Users » tab is a great option. Thank you very much for this development. Now, the display here (v1.671) is capricious: sometimes the list is displayed, sometimes not, even after waiting for a certain time. On my Kiwi, the list quickly becomes quite long (around 10 web pages), because there are a lot of connections.
Another option that would be interesting would be to be able to print this list, or to save the list locally.
Currently I am downloading version v1.673.
Best regards, Philippe
Maybe I'm thinking too complicated, but I prefer to ask before I change anything.
Currently my kiwi is still version 1.665, so the antenna switch (and others) are working the old way as extensions. Now I want to upgrade to the current version which integrates them. Should I remove/uninstall any old extensions before to avoid conflicts? Or does the upgrade do this automatically?
Asked another way: Which extra steps are necessary due to these conceptual changes, except hitting the build button?
Best regards,
Manfred, DL7AWL
The antenna switch device you have selected in the old antenna switch extension should be automatically carried over. I believe the antenna descriptions and other setting should be carried over as well.
You mention "and others", but I'm not sure what those would be.
Thanks for your fast answer! So I'll dare now to click "build". 😉
You mention "and others", but I'm not sure what those would be.
According to your opening posting, I assumed that, in addition to the antenna switch, also
Waterfall extension => WF tab
Noise Blanker/Filter extensions => Audio tab
have been integrated. That's what I meant by "others".
The upgrade went smoothly, and my (gpio-based) antenna switch still works as expected, now in the RF Tab. (It was merely inactive and had to be reactivated.) Thanks for this pretty change, it makes the UI even more comfortable and user-friendly!
Two things make me wonder:
/root/extensions/ant_switch/frontend/ant-switch-frontendin the new version? Aliases likeantdon't seem to work ("./ant-switch-frontend: No such file or directory"). Oh, I can partially answer it myself: If I do afind /root -name "ant-switch-frontend"then I get 3 results. Two of them seem to be non-working relics of the old version, but/root/Beagle_SDR_GPS/pkgs/ant_switch/ant-switch-frontendseems to work. So I guess that only the alias isn't specific enough.Sorry if I should have overseen something.
Addressing your two points:
cdawill take you there. This is because all the code including the scripts must now be parts of the Kiwi source code, hence in /root/Beagle_SDR_GPS. It won't be available until the next release, but there will be a new aliasaahthat will show all of the antenna switch related aliases. Until then you can use./ant-switch-frontend <cmd>as before.There are also many fixes for the antenna switch code coming in the next release. If I can ever get past all these other disasters and manage to get that release out.
I understand. Thank you very much!