Brick-SDR v1.4_hl2 Pre-release

Brick-SDR v1.4_hl2 - Pre-release

This is a pre-release with Hermes Lite 2 support. The Hermes Lite 2 code has NOT been tested on real HL2 hardware. It builds, starts and the HL2 model with its controls (HL2 I/O board, drive in dB, temperature and current in the status bar) can be selected, but nobody has run it against a radio yet. Brick and ANAN boards are not affected by the HL2 code paths, but treat this build as a test version.

Please report every bug you find as a GitHub issue: https://github.com/linoobs/Brick-SDR-Software/issues/new . Attach the data that helps to find the cause: the radio and firmware version, ErrorLog.txt from %APPDATA%\OpenHPSDR\Brick-SDR-x64 (it exists only after an error), screenshots of the problem and of the related Setup pages, and a short description of what you did. Reports with data and screenshots are fixed much faster.

IMPORTANT: the installer has changed

• The program is now installed with a Windows Installer package (.msi). Earlier versions came as an .exe installer.
• If you installed Brick-SDR with an older .exe installer (1.3.x or older), uninstall it yourself first (Windows Settings > Apps > Brick-SDR > Uninstall). The new package does not remove it. Your settings are kept: they are in %APPDATA%\OpenHPSDR\Brick-SDR-x64.
• Later .msi versions update the previous .msi version by themselves.
• The package installs to C:\Program Files\Brick-SDR, adds Start menu and desktop shortcuts and a Windows Firewall exception for the program. Administrator rights are needed.

v1.4_hl2 - Change Log

• [add] Hermes Lite 2 support taken from the MI0BOT Thetis version (it has the same base, Thetis 2.10.3.15): HERMES LITE radio model, HL2 specific network protocol 1 code, HL2 I/O board, extended attenuator range, HL2 setup pages. Thanks to MI0BOT and the Thetis authors.
• [add] Windows Installer (.msi) package, built with WiX.
• [change] The .exe installer got proper version information and no longer deletes itself through cmd /c ping, which anti-virus heuristics dislike.
• Known: the Brick-style cards of the main window are not adapted to the HL2 controls yet (the automatic attenuator A-ATT and the extended LNA range are reached through the normal Setup pages).
• Everything of v1.3.8 is included (log bar with call sign look-up, online logbooks, automatic RX level for the digital modes, Zero beat button in the CW panel and others, see the v1.3.8 release).

VirusTotal

1 of 61 engines flags the .msi with a generic heuristic verdict (VBA32 "Dropper.MSIL.gen"), the others find nothing. Link: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/2a653453ea4ab94d6b70e6a2ce0002927734c6cebc7d8de8153e022deba07a09

Brick-SDR 1.3.8

Brick-SDR 1.3.8

• Log bar under the panadapter for the modes that don't log by themselves (SSB, AM, FM, CW, RTTY by hand): call sign, report received, name, QTH and a Save button, plus buttons that open the call on QRZ.com and Google. Name, QTH and locator are looked up while you type, in several sources at once: callook.info and HamDB (US), RadioID.net, the country table and your own logs, and HamQTH / QRZ.com XML when you enter your log-in in Setup > DIGI MODES > Online logs. The bar is hidden while the FT8/FT4 window is open and can be switched off in the DIGI menu (Log bar). Saved QSOs go to the ADIF log and to the online logbooks you switched on.

• CW: the Zero beat button is back in the CW panel (it was hidden by the new interface).

• PSK Reporter: the receiver record now carries the radio name (for example Brick3 15W).

• Frequency box at the pointer: it is level with the pointer and a bit further away from it, and a right click on the spectrum / waterfall switches it on and off.

• Automatic RX level for the digital modes and the online logbooks (QRZ.com, eQSL, Club Log, LoTW) are as in 1.3.7. The Save button of the log bar has not been run against the real online services yet.

• VirusTotal: 5 of 75 engines flag the installer with generic / heuristic verdicts, 64 find nothing. Report: VirusTotal-report-1.3.8.md, live page: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/38ed1f52e103f43cdf727d872aba1f5279afdad95f8f95c56e02e2c9a0fe1efc

Brick-SDR 1.3.7

Brick-SDR 1.3.7

• Online logbooks: every logged QSO of any mode (FT8/FT4 automatically; SSB, CW, RTTY, FreeDV, AM, FM with Log QSO in the DIGI menu or the RTTY/CW window) is written to qso_log.adi and uploaded to QRZ.com Logbook, eQSL, Club Log and LoTW (through TQSL). Keys and passwords are stored encrypted for the Windows user; failed uploads are retried. Without a paid QRZ subscription the QSOs are collected in qrz_manual.adi for a manual import (Setup > General > DIGI MODES > Online logs). Only the QRZ key check was tried against the real service; eQSL, Club Log and LoTW are untested.
• Automatic RX level for the digital modes (FreeDV, FT8/FT4, RTTY, CW): lowers the level the decoders get when the audio clips, raises it back when it stays low (FreeDV window button Auto RX level, Setup > DIGI MODES > RX level).
• FreeDV Reporter: picking a station no longer switches FreeDV off when the band changes; the client name sent to the server now shows the Brick-SDR version.
• FT8/FT4: blocked-country list refinements (no country label, rows between two other stations are not dimmed, Russia blocked by default), partial-period decoding and faster decode passes, close-up waterfall, holiday splash screens.
• Several fixes (minimize error in DirectX, FreeDV strip follows RADE state).

Brick-SDR 1.3.6

Brick-SDR 1.3.6

Start pictures for holidays

• On a holiday of the world, of Ukraine or of Germany the splash screen shows a drawn scene (Halloween, Summerween, Christmas, New Year, Valentine's Day, Women's Day / May Day, World Amateur Radio Day, Easter (Western and Orthodox), Ukrainian and German national days, St. Nicholas Day, the Sundays of Advent). Switch off: an empty file no_holiday_splash.txt in %APPDATA%\OpenHPSDR\Brick-SDR-x64. To look at a scene on another day: environment variable BRICKSDR_HOLIDAY=xmas (halloween, summerween, xmas, newyear, hearts, flowers, radio, eggs, flagua, flagde, nicholas, advent).

FT8 / FT4

• Stations that are not answered (Setup - General - DIGI MODES - FT8/FT4): choose countries (or call patterns like UA*, 3Y0K). Their stations are dimmed in the lists and over the waterfall, can't be clicked and are never answered by the auto-sequence; a compound call with one blocked and one other country (UR/DL1ABC) is only marked in amber. Option to also skip stations whose country is unknown. Update prefix table button (Big CTY from country-files.com); a table (cty.csv) comes with the program.
• Close-up waterfall over the receiver filter band, with the call signs above the signals; left click sets Rx, right click sets Tx, click on a call selects the station.
• PSK Reporter spotting (off by default), ADIF log in digi_modes\ft_log.adi.

CW

• Three decoders, switched on the fly in the CW window: Basic, DeepCW (neural network) and Goertzel (a port of ggmorse).

Fixes

• DirectX error on minimize (DivideByZeroException) with "Maintain aspect ratio" on.
• FreeDV: the strip under the panadapter now follows FreeDV also when it is switched from the settings window.
• "Ignore spectral area image" is kept between runs; the Auto AGC knob turns green; the TX leveler is switched on in SSB; PA settings of Brick boards are no longer skipped.

Not tested on the air: RTTY and CW transmit, FreeDV on real traffic, the FreeDV Reporter connection.

Brick-SDR 1.3.5

Brick-SDR 1.3.5

CW

• Three CW decoders, switchable on the fly in the CW window (Decoder drop-down): Basic (envelope), DeepCW (neural network, MIT, by e04) and Goertzel (a port of ggmorse, MIT). On a live 40 m QSO DeepCW read the whole exchange cleanly; try the others and tell us which one works best for you.
• DeepCW needs deepcw\model.onnx and ONNX Runtime next to the program (both are in the installer); if they can't be loaded the basic decoder is used.

FT8 / FT4

• The window is answered in the next slot when you click a station and press Enable TX in time (early decode 1.5 s before the slot ends); CQ starts in the soonest slot.
• A click on a decoded line selects the station, a double click also enables TX. Log button opens the folder with the ADIF log (digi_modes\ft_log.adi).
• PSK Reporter spotting (Setup - General - DIGI MODES - FT8/FT4 - Network Services). Off by default.
• The FT8 / FT4 window closes when the receiver leaves DIGU.
• Transmit level and Drive: RTTY and FT8/FT4 use full audio level, power is set by the main Drive slider as in CW/SSB.

Digital windows

• No Close / RX1 / RX2 buttons (the window follows the mode and the DIGI menu), "RADE" is called FreeDV, the VAC settings panel is hidden while FT8/FT4, RTTY or FreeDV is in use.
• DIGI menu remembers the dial frequency and LSB/USB returns to it.
• The TX leveler is switched on in SSB.

Fixes

• DirectX error on minimize ("Problem in DirectX Renderer, DivideByZeroException") with "Maintain aspect ratio" on.
• "Ignore spectral area image" is kept between runs (plain black background).
• Auto AGC (right click on the RF slider): the knob turns green while it is on.
• PA settings of Brick boards were skipped when the board was found before Setup existed; fixed.

Not tested on the air: RTTY and CW transmit, FreeDV on real traffic, the FreeDV Reporter connection.

Brick-SDR 1.3.4

Brick-SDR 1.3.4

New: digital modes (DIGI menu)

• FT8 and FT4: decoding and transmitting inside the program (mfsk-core decoder, WSJT-X sensitivity). Band activity and QSO lists, click a station to select it (double click to answer), automatic QSO sequencing, ADIF log (ft_log.adi, the Log button opens its folder), UTC clock correction from the stations heard.
• RTTY and CW terminals with decoder, macros and transmit, FreeDV RADE with FreeDV Reporter, panadapter overlay, meter readings and RTTY markers. The window docks under the panadapter and is restored at start.
• Decoder audio no longer depends on the RX AF slider or MUTE.
• RTTY and FT8/FT4 now transmit at full audio level, so the Drive slider gives the same as in CW (before, RTTY gave much less power than CW at the same Drive).
• The tuning step follows the mode: SSB 500 Hz, CW and digital 10 Hz, AM/FM 1 kHz.

Fixes

• PA settings of the Brick boards were skipped when the board was found before the Setup form existed (and then never applied); fixed. Brick2_16b_15W.xml added to the profile files.
• Leaving a digital mode switches RADE off and closes its windows, DirectX error on minimize fixed.

Please test

FT8/FT4, RTTY and RADE are new and were tested on the air only on 40 m FT8 (one QSO) and with live FT8/FT4 decoding. RTTY and CW transmit, RADE on real traffic and the Reporter connection need more testing. After FT8/FT4 transmit check the TX ATT value if PureSignal is on (auto-attenuate can raise it).

Brick-SDR 1.3.4_dev (digital modes: test build)

Development build 1.3.4_dev. Needs checking and testing: the digital modes added in this build (DIGI menu).

New and untested in real operation:

• RTTY and CW terminals (docked under the panadapter, or Pop out): decoding of real stations, transmit, macros.
  CW decoder follows the strongest tone near the pitch (tested on a synthetic signal only, no real CW station was heard).
• FreeDV RADE: receive and transmit, FreeDV strip under the panadapter and the settings window, FreeDV Reporter,
  RADE overlay on the panadapter, RADE readings for meter containers. Transmit was tested into the load only; real RADE
  traffic and the Reporter connection were not tested.
• RTTY mark/space markers on the panadapter.
• Tuning step follows the mode: LSB/USB 500 Hz, CW and digital 10 Hz, AM/FM 1 kHz.
• Leaving a digital mode (to SSB) switches RADE off and closes the terminal / strip.

Please report problems in the Brick SDR Telegram channel or as an issue.

Brick-SDR v1.3.3

Windows installer (x64). Based on Thetis 2.10.3.x with WDSP 2.11.

• menu bar, drop-down menus and status bar in the Brick-SDR style (flat menu buttons, orange on hover), status bar spacing fixed
• DIGI drop-down for RX1: DIGL, DIGU, FT8, FT4, RTTY, CW, DX, POTA (the button shows the choice); RX2 keeps DIGL / DIGU
• leaving another mode for LSB / USB picks the sideband that suits the band
• tune power slider back next to Drive; it is inactive during a normal over and lit when Setup - Transmit uses it for TUNE / 2TONE
• lighter RX2 frame; Leveler on in the Brick TX profiles
• the installer file name now carries the version

The installer is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may show an unknown-publisher warning: More info -> Run anyway.

Brick-SDR v1.3.2

Windows installer (x64). Based on Thetis 2.10.3.x with WDSP 2.11.

• click on the spectrum (outside the visor) tunes to the nearest station, like a click on the waterfall (LSB upper / USB lower edge, 500 Hz steps)
• includes v1.3.1: PureSignal with the Thetis 2.10.3.15 algorithm, SWR bar marks
• the exe product version now shows the Brick-SDR version

The installer is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may show an unknown-publisher warning: More info -> Run anyway.

Brick-SDR v1.3.1

Windows installer (x64). Based on Thetis 2.10.3.x with WDSP 2.11.

• PureSignal now uses the Thetis 2.10.3.15 algorithm (calcc / iqc) instead of the WDSP 2.11 rewrite: IMD3 about -50 dBc within a few seconds (was -35 dBc, slow convergence, occasional drops of the correction). All PureSignal options (PIN, MAP, STBL, TINT) work again.
• SWR bar: yellow mark at 1.5, red from 2.0
• fixes from 1.3 (frozen waterfall) included

The installer is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may show an unknown-publisher warning: More info -> Run anyway.