Addition power settings?

NA7Q
Posts: 151
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:41 pm

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by NA7Q » Fri Jan 31, 2020 3:25 am

VK3KYY wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 3:17 am
kt4lh wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 2:53 am
250mW has worked since I moved to OpenGD77, I'm never more than like 30 feet from the hotspot generally, so it's not exactly DX but it's just a Pi-W-Z sitting on the desk with the junky antenna that came with the MMDVM, seems fine. For all I know, maybe 50mW is outputting zero on my radio, I have no way to tell.

Also don't have any sane way to tell if 100mW uses less power than 250mW, but always happy to test and report what I see. What do you guys use to measure such power levels?


The problem is most likely that its very hard to set the radio to output 50mW. Or even 75mW.

So the power setting on one radio to give 50mW could be a lot different for another radio to give 50mW

I've attached my version of 50mW, and also has 5W++ mode, and various other changes

It may or may no be giving 50mW on your radio
I think that could be the case. My radio with the default settings are roughly 100mW or more off depending on which power level is selected. Certainly some variations between radios.

KT4LH, I use a Surecom SW-102 with a dummy load. It's always been pretty accurate for testing to 100mW. I can't speak for much below that. I have another meter I could test with that might work. I would see if you can key any line of sight repeaters on analog or digital using the lower power settings.

kt4lh
Posts: 272
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2020 4:27 am

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by kt4lh » Fri Jan 31, 2020 1:09 pm

VK3KYY wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 3:17 am
The problem is most likely that its very hard to set the radio to output 50mW. Or even 75mW.

So the power setting on one radio to give 50mW could be a lot different for another radio to give 50mW

I've attached my version of 50mW, and also has 5W++ mode, and various other changes

It may or may no be giving 50mW on your radio
Yep, must be the calibration values in the radio, your 50mW works across the room, still not enough for across the house. So I wonder if there's so much variation here across radios that 50mW might be too low to even work, although that could just be up to the user to decide for themselves. If it's not enough, they can turn it up. I still like the idea of maybe 50, 100, 250.

So do you think the variation is across radios, or just getting the values figured out overall would generally work on everyones radio? Of course as NA7Q point out, everyone is going to have additional variables in their system that might make it work or not. Cheaper hotspots that work worse than others, more or less RFI in the area, etc.

VK3KYY
Posts: 7478
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by VK3KYY » Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:49 pm

Have you calibrated the 1W and 5W power values?

kt4lh
Posts: 272
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2020 4:27 am

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by kt4lh » Fri Jan 31, 2020 11:02 pm

VK3KYY wrote:
Fri Jan 31, 2020 7:49 pm
Have you calibrated the 1W and 5W power values?
I have not personally, I only have a super cheap meter that I don't really trust beyond ballpark figures.

NA7Q
Posts: 151
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:41 pm

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by NA7Q » Mon Feb 03, 2020 3:45 am

Calibration across radios is certainly different. I took the stock calibration from the new source code, and it tossed my low power levels off a bit. 50mw was 150mw. But I suppose that is expected. I also noticed I get 4.5 watts out on the 3 watt setting.
I haven't done any calibration in the CPS however. Probably should. Otherwise I've just been toying with the power via the source.

VK3KYY
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by VK3KYY » Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:02 am

NA7Q wrote:
Mon Feb 03, 2020 3:45 am
Calibration across radios is certainly different. I took the stock calibration from the new source code, and it tossed my low power levels off a bit. 50mw was 150mw. But I suppose that is expected. I also noticed I get 4.5 watts out on the 3 watt setting.
I haven't done any calibration in the CPS however. Probably should. Otherwise I've just been toying with the power via the source.
The power levels will be way off unless you calibrate the 1W and 5W values using the CPS.

Even after calibrating, the power settings other than 1W or 5W won't be completely accurate as every radio seems to be slightly different

NA7Q
Posts: 151
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:41 pm

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by NA7Q » Wed Feb 05, 2020 2:19 am

VK3KYY wrote:
Mon Feb 03, 2020 4:02 am
NA7Q wrote:
Mon Feb 03, 2020 3:45 am
Calibration across radios is certainly different. I took the stock calibration from the new source code, and it tossed my low power levels off a bit. 50mw was 150mw. But I suppose that is expected. I also noticed I get 4.5 watts out on the 3 watt setting.
I haven't done any calibration in the CPS however. Probably should. Otherwise I've just been toying with the power via the source.
The power levels will be way off unless you calibrate the 1W and 5W values using the CPS.

Even after calibrating, the power settings other than 1W or 5W won't be completely accurate as every radio seems to be slightly different
So I finally got around to calibrating the power via the CPS. Previously I noticed that using the 2W, 3W and 4W settings would produce 2.5, 4.1, and 4.4 watts.

So I adjusted the high and low power setting with the 5W setting, and the 1W setting. They came out perfect with some adjustments. And here's what I notice now when using it. They are putting out 5.3, 5.7, and 6 watts. So is just my radio? I find this unusual.

I will try to change the firmware to make it accurately reflect what it should be. Oh, and my source changes for the power levels below 1W are spot on, before and after the calibration.

Update: I tested with the official and it's more accurate. Still quite a bit off. But each is within the respected 2, 3, and 4 watt ranges. So I wonder if there is something I'm missing by adding the extra power levels that I have added in the source? I'm an amateur at it for sure. Maybe you could take a look?
https://github.com/na7q/OpenGD77

NA7Q
Posts: 151
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:41 pm

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by NA7Q » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:05 am

Code: Select all

txPower = (((powerLevel - 6.8) * stepPerWatt) * 0.90) + trxPowerSettings.lowPower;
I changed this to 6.8 compared to the original 3. This gave perfect results. Wasn't sure if there was something hidden away. I tend to hack things into pieces until it works. Then smash it with a hammer and hope for the best. :P
https://github.com/na7q/OpenGD77/commit ... da0f137c87
Last edited by NA7Q on Wed Feb 05, 2020 4:14 am, edited 1 time in total.

VK3KYY
Posts: 7478
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by VK3KYY » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:07 am

Ideally, you should have "forked" my repo using the github "fork" feature, as this retains the linkage with my repo.

You repo looks like its totally independent, and not derived from mine

Loads of other people have forked my repo

https://github.com/rogerclarkmelbourne/ ... rk/members

Going forward, I'd recommend you backup you existing files on your local machine. Rename (or delete) your OpenGD77 repo on github.

Fork my repo (Github would not let you fork if you already had a repo with the same name "OpenGD77").

Then clone that new repo to your local machine, and use something like Beyond Compare (on Windows), to show you what differences are between your version and my version.

Then use Beyond Compare to re-insert those changes, and then commit those changes back into your fork.

Strangely, my trial copy of Beyond Compare never seems to time out... But I bet it will now ;-)

NA7Q
Posts: 151
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:41 pm

Re: Addition power settings?

Post by NA7Q » Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:40 am

VK3KYY wrote:
Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:07 am
Ideally, you should have "forked" my repo using the github "fork" feature, as this retains the linkage with my repo.

You repo looks like its totally independent, and not derived from mine

Loads of other people have forked my repo

https://github.com/rogerclarkmelbourne/ ... rk/members

Going forward, I'd recommend you backup you existing files on your local machine. Rename (or delete) your OpenGD77 repo on github.

Fork my repo (Github would not let you fork if you already had a repo with the same name "OpenGD77").

Then clone that new repo to your local machine, and use something like Beyond Compare (on Windows), to show you what differences are between your version and my version.

Then use Beyond Compare to re-insert those changes, and then commit those changes back into your fork.

Strangely, my trial copy of Beyond Compare never seems to time out... But I bet it will now ;-)
I plan on forking it to make it easier. I certainly didn't plan on doing this with the firmware when I first started. But it's been fun. So my plan is to fork it and go that route. But for the next few days I'm just uploading like that, and then will do as you suggest :) I already use Beyond Compare, which keeps it easy. Thanks a million for the replies and all the work! It's greatly appreciated.

It's now forked :D
Last edited by NA7Q on Wed Feb 05, 2020 3:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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