PI-RX

New

• Automatically submitting spots every 10 minutes to PSKReporter if the frequency is known
• If band is 50 MHz the SBP interval is shown when hovering over the UTC in the status menu
• Pressing the enter key after entering a call in the call box will look up the locator. This is an alternative to the black arrow
• Links to Syncronized Beacon Project, !Yahoo beacon group and Aurora Watch
• Spotting below is 10 MHz not possible
• PI4 spots to own webpage now includes the frequency

Changes

• (propagation tag) changed to <propagation tag>
• No empty fields in single clipboard strings
• Links are sent to a redirect page on rudius.net so then can be maintained without updating PI-RX
• Frequencies in the beacon .csv files changed from kHz to Hz, but beacon frequencies inside PI-RX are still in 100 Hz resolution. Also the zero distances and directions have been removed form the file

Bugs

• 3 h decoding numers were incorrectly calculated over 11800 s and not 10800 s (3 h)
• The beacon list was not always reopened if open when closing PI-RX
• If active band and band in decoded spot were different the spot data could be wrong
• Link to PSKReporter.info did not show spots for the last 24 h

Updating

• After installation please go to Menu | Help | Check for updates and click on the beacons list update button.

New

• It is now possible to change band after a decode is displayed
• Spots are now also submitted directly to beaconspot.eu
• The total decoded percentage now shows the absolute number of decodes
• The absolute number of decodes, percentage, the max S/N and associated Q for a one hour and three hours intervals is shown
• Service messages can now be seen with the full description when hovering over a decoded service message
• After a successful decode it is possible to play a file called Decoded.wav

Changes

• Submitting spots to the DX cluster is no longer possible for decodes that are more than one hour old
• Improved handling of the pane splitter between the waterfall and the decoder panes
• If the playback wav directory does not exist then PI-RX defaults to the standard PI-RX\Wav directory
• Some setting variables have changed names
• Disabling the frequency markers are no longer possible
• New location of the settings file (Settings_all.xml), see Help | Program paths and info
• The max frequency capture range is now +/-450 Hz
• The waterfall contrast, dynamic range and zoom info box is only shown five times

Bugs

• Better handling of installations on Windows XP that did not remember the settings - however, probably not 100% bulletproof due to an error in the .Net Windows component. It is time to stop using Windows XP due to the lack of support from Microsoft
• The UTC was not displayed correctly on locales with an AM/PM setting. UTC is a 24 hours clock not a 12 hours AM/PM clock
• Antenna settings were not always loaded
• If the window was maximized before closing it the window was not maximized again after launch
• Saving the beacon form active band and call only settings did not work
• General house cleaning to make code more readable and easier to maintain
• Some typos corrected

Changes

• The preferred carrier frequency can now be set up to 2 kHz

Bugs

• The beacon list did not show correct frequency on systems where a dot was used as the decimal symbol
• The main form caption did not update if station call sign was changed

New

• Copy visible full information from the decoder window to clipboard
• Copy all  full information from the decoder window to clipboard
• Copy program window to clipboard, Alt+F12
• Station call sign and locator in main form caption and spot beacon
• Own beacon list for individual maintenance

Changes

• Proper rounding of carrier and frequency errors in info strings
• Minimum width of the waterfall window reduced to 10 pixels
• Minimum width of the decoder window reduced to 50 pixels
• CSSDP Aurora Oval link changed to kho.unis.no/Forecast.htm

New

• The beacon spot form now shows a number of predefined propagation buttons
• All beacon spots are now collected in a spots database for viewing on the specific beacon homepage
• The beacon list resolution is now 100 Hz
• The beacon list is not automatically updated
• Copy all decoded information to clipboard
• Warning if station call is missing when a successful decode has been made thus making it possible to submit a proper spot

Changes

• The resolution of the time offset, in the Setup, has been changed from 1 ms to 10 ms
• IARU Region 1 VUSHF beacon link changed
• Delayed wav save has been removed completely
• Improved station call validation
• Removed optional new version check and added 180 days warning

Bugs

• If a received beacon was not in the beacons list a previous locator could remain in the locatorbox
• Calculating distances to a beacon was wrong for extended locator(s)

New

• Multi session decoder added by averaging multiple minutes into one decoding also a M column has been added to the decoder window to show the number of periods used
• Decoder mode in is written to the Decoded.log in case of multi session decoding
• The day has been added to a hint if hovering over the UTC column in the decoder window
• Wav files can be saved by clicking in the decoder window and not necessarily always when successful or failing to decode
• If the callbox and locatorbox are empty the latest call is automatically copied to the callbox and if the call is found in the beacons list the locator is placed in the locatorbox
• A simple decoded percentage has been added to the decoder window
• The dynamic range, contrast and zoom level can be changed by double clicking in the waterfall window
• The waterfall frequency range can be moved by clicking and holding down the mouse button while dragging the waterfall window
• An AGC has been added to the waterfall
• A reset user parameters to default functionality has been added to the setup menu
• In the file menu a link to the PI-RX logging folder has been added
• Distance has been added to the DX cluster spot info string
• A propagation information button that places brackets for propagation information has been added to the DX cluster spot info string
• Antenna information has been added to the station setup and use when spotting via PSKReporter
• Link to PSKReporter has been added to the help menu
• Link to the PI4-TX homepage has been added to the help menu
• Link to the BEACONSPOT.eu beacon list has been added to the help menu
• A program paths information box has been added to the help menu
• Shortcut key, F11, added that saves the latest two minutes to a wav file
• Shortcut key, F12, added that takes a screen dump of the main window and saves it to the PI-RX logging folder
• Shortcut key, Shift+F12, added that takes a screen dump of the waterfall window and saves it to the PI-RX logging folder
• Wav file player sync to the time for individual files
• Automatic screen dump played back wav file(s)

Changes

• Improved decoder
• Improved S/N accuracy
• Carrier to noise ratio, C/N, is now measured in a 16 Hz bandwidth
• The way multiple instances are setup has been changed to a command line principle
• Stop button removed from decoder window. Instead an abort button has been added to the wav file loading form
• Checking for updates has been improved
• When downloading a new PI-RX.zip update it is now saved to the logging path folder already set in PI-RX
• When selecting manual file maintenance the days selector is now disabled
• / are removed from the station call longer than eight characters when spotting on the DX cluster
• The setup window has been shrunken and waterfall parameters tuned match the new features
• Beacons and load wav forms now follow the main form when becoming visible again

Bugs

• If no rows in the decoder window and clicking "Hide not decoded" an error could occur
• If no input signal at all a crash could occur if S/N was zero
• Disabling allow sorting of decoder window columns did not sort rows according to time
• Manual file maintenance did not work at all
• Time offset did not work if offset compensation values became bigger than the actual offset

Changes

• Better use of memory
• New names to extended decoder modes but functionality remains the same
• Time offset changed form input box to up-down box
• Time capture dropdown box changed to up-down box
• Improved station call validation

Bugs

• Memory leaks stopped
• If all extended decoder modes were unchecked then loud signals were not decoded
• / did not work in station call
• Header and columns in Decoded.log displaced
• Distances and directions not always correct in beacons list
• Allow sorting of columns did not work from launch if unchecked
• If changing band to 70 MHz it was not checked in the band menu

• Decoder improvements and handling of scatter propagations such as multi path, aurora and rain scatter
• Spotting the received beacon on the DX cluster network and PSKReporter
• Enable/disable sorting of decoder window columns. Can be used if the is no need to sort the columns or to narrow the width of the columns
• File maintenance deleting old files manually or automatically at program launch
• Hide not decoded messages in the decoder window
• Notification if more than 120 days have passed since last update check
• Reusing settings from previous versions when upgrading
• Permanent Resume/Pause/Stop buttons
• Carrier to noise ratio, C/N, measurement
• Multiple installations possible

Changes

• Decoder mode changed from dropdown box to checkboxes
• The controls below the decoder window have been moved to tabsheets
• "Copy to DX cluster string" removed as it is now possible to spot directly on the DX cluster network
• The VU-meter has been moved to the status bar
• The waterfall dynamic ranges are now in 5 dB steps instead of 10 dB and default is 0 dB to 45 dB
• S/N is now measured on the PI4 signal
• Default window size is 600 x 400 pixels

Bugs

• S/N of -99 dB removed from files and clipboard strings
• Minor decoder bugs
• Wrong band detection in load wav file

• Improved decoder capabilities
• Different decoder modes with different computer loading characteristics
• Preferred carrier frequency from 500 to 1100 Hz
• Wave file input and output
  • Wav input: wav file type only. Supported sample rates: 6000, 8000, 12 000, 24 000 and 48 000. Multiple files must have the same sample rate
  • Wav out:
    • Automatic (from logging setup)
    • Manual from File menu
• Wider frequency capture range
• Sorting of decoded messages
• Decoded.log header
• Service message
• Beacons window

Changes

• Better sequence start detector
• PI4 can now be decoded without the carrier being detected
• Debug log changed so the latest 15 logs are named Debug_##.log
• Capture range from +/-25 Hz to +/-300 Hz
• Squelch removed

Bugs

• DPI errors
• F5 - Search for latest call if no call crash solved

• Capture range is +/- again and from +/-25 Hz to +/-200 Hz
• Less computer resources intensive

Bugs

• The waterfall should no longer stall unless there are missing sounds samples from USB sound devices
• Decoder bug solved that caused the PI4 decoder to produce gibberish
• F5 - Search for latest call if no call crash solved

• The frequency scale has been improved
• PI-RX can automatically check for program updates when inform about updates is checked in the station setup
• Capture [Hz] in decoder window replaces the frequency capture window in the setup. It is now an absolute number with a max of 400 Hz from the nominal carrier and down to 25 Hz
• New name for the debug log file, Debug.log
• Right clicking the callbox searches Google for the call
• Right clicking the locatorbox opens F6FVY's map service
• Pressing F7 searches Google for the call in the callbox and displays the locator in the locatorbox on F6FVY's map service
• Double clicking the distance and direction box copies the contents to the clipboard
• Credits in About box
• The background color of time offset, station call, station locator and logging path in setup is reddish in case of missing or invalid entry

Changes

• The PI-RX logo moved from the left side of the waterfall to the right side in screen dump pictures
• Sorting the decoder window columns has currently been disabled
• Internal speed up improvements and issues invisible to the user

Bugs

• Check if files exist before opening Decoded.log and Debug.log did not work
• Remaining menu in the picture when making a screen dump of the program
• No scrolling of decoder window when only new carrier was printed
• Sometimes the decoded message could show "Internal error" if clearing the decoder window
• The taskbar icon for the known issues window was visible

• Decodes with negative Q values marked as type ?

Bugs

• DPI other than 96/100% did not work
• Audio setup selection did not work in some cases