Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

KC3KAE
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2020 1:53 pm

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by KC3KAE » Fri Jul 17, 2020 1:59 pm

I tried a lot of things to get the RD-5R hotspot mode working, ultimately I put a 10 foot extension cable between the antenna and the radio, used a tiny rubber duck antenna, and used a vertical drop on the USB programming cable. I also set the RD-5R to 50mW.

No matter what I tried. Pi-Star would hang forever when it tries to transmit something. I could call Parrot 9990 and it accepted my call, so RX works, but when pi-star called me back I get about half a second of audio, then it says "Missed Call" and then the pi-star dashboard remains "sending" forever until it is rebooted.

W1CY
Posts: 76
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2020 6:57 pm

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by W1CY » Fri Jul 17, 2020 10:11 pm

KC3KAE wrote:
Fri Jul 17, 2020 1:59 pm
I tried a lot of things to get the RD-5R hotspot mode working, ultimately I put a 10 foot extension cable between the antenna and the radio, used a tiny rubber duck antenna, and used a vertical drop on the USB programming cable. I also set the RD-5R to 50mW.

No matter what I tried. Pi-Star would hang forever when it tries to transmit something. I could call Parrot 9990 and it accepted my call, so RX works, but when pi-star called me back I get about half a second of audio, then it says "Missed Call" and then the pi-star dashboard remains "sending" forever until it is rebooted.
I will calibrate it and double check whether the 50mW is actually 50mW. I had seen the same issues as you are seeing. The good thing is that when it locks Pistar in Tx it is not actually transmitting. I can hear other people speaking, it just does not show on the dashboard.

KC3KAE
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2020 1:53 pm

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by KC3KAE » Fri Jul 24, 2020 2:55 am

This seems to be the same "Fake TX Hang" that has a 40+ page thread. I turned the power way down, I set TXLevel and DMRTXLevel to 5 each, and RFLevel to 1! I confirmed the RD-5R said 50mW on the Hotspot screen. I used my 10' antenna cable to move the stubby antenna as far as possible. On my RTL-SDR its barely -70dBm. However, something *is* causing the /dev/ACM to crash because it gets replugged as /dev/ACM1 in dmesg.

Hope this info helps. I would love to have the hotspot :D

KC3KAE
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2020 1:53 pm

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by KC3KAE » Fri Jul 24, 2020 4:10 am

For a followup, here's what error I get when it locks...

Code: Select all

[  646.634786] usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, device number 3
[  646.635374] cdc_acm 1-1.3:1.0: failed to set dtr/rts
[  647.390111] usb 1-1.3: new full-speed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[  647.536626] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=1fc9, idProduct=0094, bcdDevice= 1.01
[  647.536633] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[  647.536639] usb 1-1.3: Product: MCU VIRTUAL COM DEMO
[  647.536644] usb 1-1.3: Manufacturer: NXP SEMICONDUCTORS
[  647.539300] cdc_acm 1-1.3:1.0: ttyACM1: USB ACM device

VK3KYY
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by VK3KYY » Fri Jul 24, 2020 5:00 am

See the hotspot thread.

This is a know hardware issue with the RD-5R.

I'm going to remove the Hotspot functionality from the RD-5R version, because the hardware is not capable of running USB while transmitting.

KC3KAE
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Jul 17, 2020 1:53 pm

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by KC3KAE » Fri Jul 24, 2020 5:09 am

That makes me very sad. It seems to me like its a bug with the kernel's cdc_acm module.

Code: Select all

[    5.711126] cdc_acm 1-1.3:1.0: ttyACM0: USB ACM device
[    5.716135] usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_acm
[    5.716146] cdc_acm: USB Abstract Control Model driver for USB modems and ISDN adapters
   .
   .
[  516.330575] usb 1-1.3: USB disconnect, device number 3
[  516.330993] cdc_acm 1-1.3:1.0: failed to set dtr/rts
[  517.176408] usb 1-1.3: new full-speed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[  517.312965] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=1fc9, idProduct=0094, bcdDevice= 1.01
[  517.312973] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
[  517.312978] usb 1-1.3: Product: MCU VIRTUAL COM DEMO
[  517.312983] usb 1-1.3: Manufacturer: NXP SEMICONDUCTORS
[  517.317622] cdc_acm 1-1.3:1.0: ttyACM1: USB ACM device
Leave it in for now, please. I have been looking into this matter and I think there is hope maybe. Could be something as simple as a permissions issue. The RX clearly works great, and the TX always starts to work and then crashes. So its mostly working, just has some kind of crash bug. I don't think its RF noise but I am still trying various things.

VK3KYY
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by VK3KYY » Fri Jul 24, 2020 7:09 am

Its become clear that the RD-5R hardware will not support reliable USB communications while the radio is transmitting, and hence hotspot mode is not possible on this radio.

Hotspot mode will be removed from the RD-5R version of the firmware, to save any further confusion.


Note.
The RD-5R version has always been purely an Experimental version of the firmware, because of its numerous hardware problems.

SO5AJG
Posts: 91
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:44 pm
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by SO5AJG » Sat Jul 25, 2020 4:35 pm

W1CY wrote:
Wed Jul 15, 2020 3:43 am
I tried everything, I used ferrite on the USB cable, I wrapped the cable and the pi-Zero with aluminum paper, and I connected the radio to the external antenna in the attic using a LMR-400 cable. I could not prevent the RF interference that prevents pistar to update the dashboard and to reset the TX counter.

Restored factory firmware, but forgot to backup the settings when on the OPENGD77. After the factory firmware was loaded, I got an error on the display, that went away when I burned the original CPS.

I will retire my plan to use the RD-5R as a hotspot and return the GD-77 to that function.
I, too, have made a lot of tests that show that the problem is inside the radio itself, perhaps due to inadequate shielding of individual modules. This is confirmed by my colleagues who say that when I work with a power of about 1-2 W through the converter, they hear a characteristic hum of digital modulation against the background of my modulation, although in the microphone circuit I used a suppression filter consisting of a capacitor and a choke. Unfortunately, it didn't help. Working on the hotspot with the power of 50 mW there are no problems.

DO1DSH
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Aug 21, 2020 7:51 pm

Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by DO1DSH » Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:01 pm

Hello,

I just wanted to say a big thank you to the developers of the RD-5R firmware. I installed the latest version, and the firmware definitely enhances the radio.It' s clear that it was programmed by radio amateurs for radio amateurs. Very nice is that you can now finally adjust the microphone gain and sensitivity. So the Baofeng sounds much better on analog and digital. So once again a big thank you to the programmers! Keep up the good work! :-)

73, Dennis
DO1DSH

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PY2GPS
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Location: Sao Paulo - Brasil
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Re: Experimental Baofeng RD-5R version

Post by PY2GPS » Fri Sep 04, 2020 10:09 pm

Hello all...

I´m using DM-5R with OpenRD5R Built 07:25:41 Aug 29 2020 and my radio keeps the display always on. Has anyone here noticed this same problem?

Thanks
PY2GPS
Rafael

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