PocketDigi / News: Recent posts

Hi gang.

After nearly two years I finally found time to release an update on PocketDigi.

The biggest new feature is DXCC lookup function and distance / bearing calculation. DXCC database from DXLab Suite was converted into a highly compact form and packed into the PocketDigi binary to simplify installation. PocketDigi 1.0.12 is therefore about 200kB bigger than 1.0.11. One could display DXCC information and distance / bearing from the QSO dialog or from RX view popup menu. The distance and bearing information will be more precise if both calls provide maidenhead locator.... read more

Hi gang.

I released PocketDigi 1.0.11 at http://pocketdigi.sourceforge.net. There are following new features implemented: RSID, PSK63F, PSK125, sampling rate conversion, tx delay/tx tail/ats3 preamble/postamble settings, Handheld PC 2000 improvements, Waterfall FFT optimization and basic Smartphone support.

RSID is the famous Reed Solomon ID of Patrick Lindecker F6CTE. Patrick added this feature into his MultiPSK software year ago. Until now only MultiPSK (and since last week also Cesco's FDMDV?) implemented this feature. Instead of CW ID or Image ID, a sequence of 15 MFSK tones is sent at the beginning of every TX to identify mode and center of frequency of the following data stream. RSID has very high redundancy, so if the RSID is decoded with zero or one error, there is extremely low probability of false detection. The feature is very handy to automatically detect mode and submode of rare modes and therefore encourages experimentation. Also it is easy to tune MFSK16 mode as no tuning is needed at all. I found RSID very useful with ATS-3b transceiver, at it has only narrow not very flat CW filter. Even if the whole digital signal does not fit into the filter, if the mode has high enough redundancy and is strong enough, it will be still decoded if tuned properly. But without seeing the whole spectrum of the signal on waterfall, it is very difficult to tune it. With RSID receive on, one only needs to get the RSID signal into receiver passband to make sure the signal will be tuned correctly.... read more

Hi gang.

I put a new release of PocketDigi on Source Forge. I set the version number to 1.0.9, because I sent away lot of 1.0.8-pre already.

I was quite busy the last couple of months by making ATS-3a transceiver talk digitally, which is the reason I did not release updates of PocketDigi since January.

For those who don't know the fabulous ultimate backpacking qrp rig fitted into Altoids tin from Steve Weber KD1JV, look at his page http://kd1jv.qrpradio.com/... read more

Hi gang.

This is a new version of PocketDigi. There are two new modems implemented - Throb/ThrobX and Olivia/Contestia/RTTYM. Both of them have not been optimized for best S/N yet, but seem to work well.

The Olivia modem has been adopted from the code by Pawel Jalocha, but simplified. I have removed the receive input processor, which does kind of channel equalization. I actually do not think that Olivia decodes better than MFSK16, but Olivia is much more easier to tune. I wonder whether anyone will ever use the Throb/ThrobX modems.... read more

Hi gang.

This is a new version of PocketDigi. The main highlight is MFSK16 modem. The implementation is pretty efficient, it generates a CPU load comparable to the PSK31 decoder. The decoder is about 1dB worse than Nino's Stream in white noise. All the calculations done in fixed point arithmetics. I hope to get reports on the usability of it.

I know there are lot of things to improve. The winters are long and cold, improvements are to be expected until spring. There will be a gathering of OK-QRP club on 17. November. I hope to manage to presuade some colleges to build a small digital QRP TRX as a companion to PocketDigi. DDS driven MFSK16 transceiver with E-class PA would be a perfect QRP solution and the TRX may not be bigger than my iPaq.... read more

Hi gang.

I have uploaded updated PocketDigi-1.0.5 as promised.

Here is the addition to CHANGES.txt:
- Added macros, send file, station info, QSO info.
- Added RX/TX context menus. Clear window, select call, RST, QTH etc from the receive window.
- Added waterfall threshold and range settings.
- Added waterfall speed selection.
- Added TX volume slider.
- Added device info dialog. For debugging purposes.
- bugfix - TX will be restarted after the device is switched off/on
- Fixed BPSK31 sync gain. It does not depend on input volume now.
- Fixed main screen layout. Menu will not be hidden.... read more

Hi Guys.

I have added CW coder/decoder of gmfsk project to PocketDigi, I have even slightly improved the decoder. It works very well on stable slow signals burried in noise, when both main filter bandwidth and maximal allowed CW speed are set low. It could decode slow morse, which I whistle, when the main filter is wide enough and maximal CW speed is set low. It is fun and could be helpful to the people like me, which are bad at morse but like to do CW contacts. Pocket PC decoding CW could be considered backup of the human DSP, when it fails.... read more

Do not use version 1.0.2. It hangs your PocketPC on exit.
1.0.3 contains bugfix of RX/TX window scrolling and RTTY support.

The software is able to receive and send BPSK31 stream. The program is very alpha. Receive buffer are too small.