Hotspot mode will be removed from the RD-5R firmware

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VK3KYY
Posts: 7484
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Hotspot mode will be removed from the RD-5R firmware

Post by VK3KYY » Fri Jul 24, 2020 7:03 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.

So. Hotspot mode will be removed from the RD-5R version of the firmware

nh6bf
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jan 11, 2020 2:28 am

Re: Hotspot mode will be removed from the RD-5R firmware

Post by nh6bf » Fri Jul 24, 2020 2:17 pm

Got it!!! Will use a GD-77S for the external project....Shame, but YOU and your team have done MAGIC (FM) with the OPen GD-77 project....
GD-77, GD-77S, RD-5R and DM-5R...all with OPEN!!!

EA2EQM
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2020 5:16 pm

Re: Hotspot mode will be removed from the RD-5R firmware

Post by EA2EQM » Fri Jul 24, 2020 6:33 pm

I don't understand this decision.

While the RD-5R might be far from being the best hotspot in the market, the HS mode is a nice feature to have.
If it had to be written from scratch I could understand it, but the feature has already been implemented.

Wouldn't it be better to include a big warning message letting users know that the HS mode is not reliable and that the user and user only is responsible for its use? And/Or remove it from the menu but let users invoke it via certain key?

OpenGD77 / OpenRD5R is not the official firmware and therefor I don't think the all-or-nothing approach should be taken.

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

Re: Hotspot mode will be removed from the RD-5R firmware

Post by kt4lh » Fri Jul 24, 2020 8:34 pm

EA2EQM wrote:
Fri Jul 24, 2020 6:33 pm
I don't understand this decision.

While the RD-5R might be far from being the best hotspot in the market, the HS mode is a nice feature to have.
If it had to be written from scratch I could understand it, but the feature has already been implemented.

Wouldn't it be better to include a big warning message letting users know that the HS mode is not reliable and that the user and user only is responsible for its use? And/Or remove it from the menu but let users invoke it via certain key?

OpenGD77 / OpenRD5R is not the official firmware and therefor I don't think the all-or-nothing approach should be taken.
I don't own one, but someone I know does and he says it won't stay in hotspot mode more than 5 minutes without it locking up. He's used 50mW, external antenna, re-re-re-ran wires, put wires in beads, charging, not charging. The things just break themselves. Roger already pointed out long ago how much cost reduction was done on them in filtering (both front end as well as just general RF) and tx/rx switching, etc.

Taking away a completely broken function is better than using it and finding it to be broken. Are any of them okay? This I have no idea, I have very limited data there ;)

VK3KYY
Posts: 7484
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Hotspot mode will be removed from the RD-5R firmware

Post by VK3KYY » Sat Jul 25, 2020 1:12 am

The hardware in this radio simply does not seem to support USB transfers while the radio is transmitting.

Hotspot mode should never have been enabled in this version of the firmware in the first place.

However, I didn't port the firmware to this radio, it was ported by EW1ADG
https://github.com/rogerclarkmelbourne/ ... 7/pull/515
I don't know if EW1ADG ever tested the hotspot mode worked correctly.

We just assumed that it would work on this hardware, but that assumption was incorrect.

I know people are buying the RD-5R specially to use it only as a hotspot, so I need to make things very clear, that this radio does not work as a hotspot.

EA2EQM
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Jun 18, 2020 5:16 pm

Re: Hotspot mode will be removed from the RD-5R firmware

Post by EA2EQM » Sat Jul 25, 2020 12:51 pm

kt4lh wrote:
Fri Jul 24, 2020 8:34 pm

I don't own one, but someone I know does and he says it won't stay in hotspot mode more than 5 minutes without it locking up. He's used 50mW, external antenna, re-re-re-ran wires, put wires in beads, charging, not charging.
I have never used it to TX but I do for RX to monitor quiet TGs and I can say that it never locked up, it runs for hours until the battery dies. And I use it with the antenna, lead and battery that came with the radio. Maybe I got lucky. Bought it around November 2018, A2606.

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