New Beta 2023 08 18

[VK3KYY]

A new Beta version is now available

downloads/GD77/Firmware/Latest

Note this page will redirec to the specific release files

downloads/GD77/Firmware/fc286b8324e3f26 ... 6760f8ee8/

Changes in this version are as follows

• Bug fix APRS
• Bug fix boot screen problem
• Bug fix MD9600 1750Hz Tx problem
• Bug fix DMR TA decoding
• Add APRS setting to Channel Details screen
• Added +/- 4.6Mhz repeater frequency shift
• Improve MD9600 and UV380 1750Hz and DTMF tone indication through speaker
• Improve satellite screen.

Maximum number of satellites has been increased from 18 to 25.

More satellites have been added to the CPS, e.g. TEVEL2,3,4,5 etc. Some nonfunctioning satellites have been removed.

Each satellite now has 3 possibly frequencies: Voice, APRS and Beacon, by pressing keys 1,2 or 3

APRS configuration is now defined for each satellite via the satellites.txt file in the CPS

To customise an APRS configuation for a specific satellite e.g. "ISS" create an APRS configuration with the same name as the satellite, and this will be used instead of the APRS configuation for that satellite from satellites.txt in the CPS

APRS Tx is possible on any satellite frequency where the Tx frequency has been enabled, but transmitting on the "Voice" frequency of a satellite e.g. ISS wil not result in your position being sent to APRS.fi and will annoy anyone trying to use the Voice frequency of the satellite.

• Turkish language updates
• Czech language update
• Various other small bug fixes.


Very Important

To use APRS and Satellite mode in this version, you MUST update to the latest CPS.
downloads/CPS/Latest/OpenGD77CPSInstall ... .18.01.exe
In this CPS you will need to re-create any APRS configurations and link them to the appropriate channels, then upload the new codeplug into the radio
In the CPS you MUST upload new satellite Keps

APRS Tx will NOT work unless a channel or VFO has an APRS configuation.
There is no longer a default APRS configration in the firmware.
Remember also. For APRS you must enter your callsign into the CPS. If there is no callsign then the APRS transmission will not be valid.


Thanks as usual to Daniel F1RMB and Colin G4EML for their work on this version

[UW5ELK]

Thank you. Super. Now works with direwolf. Is APRS decoding planned in the OpenGD77 firmware?

[VK3KYY]

Thank you. Super. Now works with direwolf.

OK. That's good

Is APRS decoding planned in the OpenGD77 firmware?

At the moment we do not know whether this will be possible becuase of audio signal paths to the CPU not being fully understood

Investigating whether the Rx audio signal reaches the CPU is on the To Do list, but the list is very long already.
Then if it reaches the CPU we need to understand if the audio quality is high enough that the AFSK 1200 baud can be demodulated to a bitstream

[m1dyp]

thank you

[N1KY]

APRS Tx is possible on any satellite frequency where the Tx frequency has been enabled, but transmitting on the "Voice" frequency of a satellite e.g. ISS wil not result in your position being sent to APRS.fi and will annoy anyone trying to use the Voice frequency of the satellite.

I accidentally did this a couple of times today on the ISS before I realized that keys 1, 2, and 3 don't change the frequency while on the polar view, oops! Hopefully CTCSS on the voice repeater input kept it from getting through.

[LU3ERX]

Thank you !!!!!

[VK3KYY]

APRS Tx is possible on any satellite frequency where the Tx frequency has been enabled, but transmitting on the "Voice" frequency of a satellite e.g. ISS wil not result in your position being sent to APRS.fi and will annoy anyone trying to use the Voice frequency of the satellite.

I accidentally did this a couple of times today on the ISS before I realized that keys 1, 2, and 3 don't change the frequency while on the polar view, oops! Hopefully CTCSS on the voice repeater input kept it from getting through.

The reason I didn't allow the Sat freq/type to change when Not on the freq / Az / El screen, was because the freq index / type name is not shown on any screens apart from the Freq / Az / El screen.

I also considered automatically changing back to the Voice Freq when satellites are changed, but wasnt sure whether to do this or not.

What I should probably do is prevent APRS Tx on the Voice frequency, but this is a bit tricky as the Tx function is baked into the core of the firmware and not controlled by idividual screens, eg.. you can transmit on any any screen, not just the VFO, Channel and Satellite screen

Daniel has suggested that we display a popup alert when the selected freq type is changed, and I agree with him that we should do this, so we'll add it to the code for the next release

BTW.

CCTSS is only enabled on the Voice freq, so like you say, the APRS would not have been audible on the voice freq

The APRS Tx function is a bit clunky at the moment, and I'm not sure of the best UI for it.

Possibly short press of SK1 on a channel / VFO with a APRS config, should send the APRS packet without needing to press and hold the PTT
But this would be a departure from the existing functionality, where the PTT has to be pressed to transmit, except for DTMF contact dialing, where the radio transmits the DTMF from the DTMF menu.

I has also been suggesed to me that Long press on the Orange button should send APRS without needing to press the PTT, but the Orange button is not available on all radios and is broken on a lot of people's radios, so using it as the only means to send APRS would not be possible

[OK2MOP]

Hi,

Possibly short press of SK1 on a channel / VFO with a APRS config, should send the APRS packet without needing to press and hold the PTT
But this would be a departure from the existing functionality, where the PTT has to be pressed to transmit, except for DTMF contact dialing, where the radio transmits the DTMF from the DTMF menu.

What about adding alternate combination of holding SK1 and short press of PTT? Would this be feasible (i.e. the transmission only happens for the APRS frame and ends immediately regardless if the PTT has been depressed in the meantime)? I think the biggest problem now is that we are theoretically transmitting audio (silence) also on dedicated APRS channel in the short time before SK1 press and before PTT is released.

I am not sure how this actually works on satellite APRS frequency (I was not able to transmit, but since it was out of the satellite pass window, maybe this was the reason).

[sp7epj]

I have a question about

The maximum number of satellites has been increased from 18 to 25.

That is, if I insert in the satellites.txt file more satellites then I will be able to import them into the radio Yes - Did I misunderstand it ?

[VK3KYY]

I have a question about

The maximum number of satellites has been increased from 18 to 25.

That is, if I insert in the satellites.txt file more satellites then I will be able to import them into the radio Yes - Did I misunderstand it ?

Yes. If you add satellites to the file it will import them.

But only if the satellite is listed in the keps data file downloaded from celestrak.org

If you add a satellite thats not in the downloaded keps data file, then it will not be imported.

You can change the download URL, but the data needs to be in the same format as from celestrak.org

The satellites are cross-references by their catalogue number, not by their name. The name text is only for display in the firmware and can be different e.g. shorter than the full name of the satellite in the keps file.
The name is not copied from the keps file, only the kep values needed for the prediction are taken from the keps data and uploaded to the radio.