AOR DV1 v. 1611B Issue

[MStep]

I installed the newest version of the firmware, 1611B, but it now appears that something has gone amiss with the radio's CTC search capability. The radio no longer displays the CTC when in CTC search mode. I reverted back to the 1610B and all is working fine again with CTC search.

I have not had a chance to check if the entire CTC system has been affected, or if DCS search and other modes has also been affected.

Can folks here please start verifying if their radios have also lost these important capabilities so that AOR can be notified as quickly as possible to get a fix up and running?

 

[G7HID]

Have had a good play with the DCS and CTCSS search capability on firmware on 1611B and it is all working OK..!
Double checked firmware version - 1611B
Selected CTC and SRCH, display shows 'TONE' , 'tone frequency' and 'CTC' below. Audio gates on Tone.
Selected CTC and 110.9, display shows 'TONE' , '110.9' and 'CTC' below. Audio gates on valid Tone.
If tone is incorrect it will display '110.9' but will not gate audio..
DCS works as above with display and audio gating OK.

Mike

 

[MStep]

Have had a good play with the DCS and CTCSS search capability on firmware on 1611B and it is all working OK..!
Double checked firmware version - 1611B
Selected CTC and SRCH, display shows 'TONE' , 'tone frequency' and 'CTC' below. Audio gates on Tone.
Selected CTC and 110.9, display shows 'TONE' , '110.9' and 'CTC' below. Audio gates on valid Tone.
If tone is incorrect it will display '110.9' but will not gate audio..
DCS works as above with display and audio gating OK.

Mike

Thanks Mike--- I will have to download the firmware again in case there was a glitch in my first download. I'm starting to think that some of the issues may be specific to either the U.S.A. version of the radio or the European version of the radio. On my radio with 1611B, the audio is gating properly when the proper tone is applied--- it's just not showing anything when searching for tone, even though I am testing with radios that are putting out tone. Reverting back to 1610B solves the problem.

I'm also a little confused by your statement that "If tone is incorrect it will display '110.9' but will not gate audio". If tone is incorrect, why should it show anything at all? Maybe is am misreading your statement.

I'd like to hear from others with the U.S. version of the radio to see if the anomaly does in fact exist. In the meantime, when I get home tonight, I will re-download 1611B to see if I can duplicate the issue with the missing CTC search function.

 

[G7HID]

....I'm also a little confused by your statement that "If tone is incorrect it will display '110.9' but will not gate audio". If tone is incorrect, why should it show anything at all? Maybe is am misreading your statement....

Sorry that should read:
Selected CTC and 110.9, On receipt of a CTCSS tone display shows 'TONE' , 'Current Tone' and 'CTC' below.
Audio gates on a 110.9Hz Tone.
If tone is incorrect it will display 'Current Tone' but will not gate audio..

Hope that explains it ?

Mike

 

[marlbrook]

What are you using?

G7HID (Mike).

Are you doing the above manually or via eSPYonARD? If via the program, it has a 'fix' that kicks in and corrects the problem.

As we discussed recently, I found this was happening in firmware 1610B, when adding the 'search' option in the CTC and DCS parameter choices menu.

If in a frequency search, under purely manual control, when instructing the radio to switch either 'on', they appeared for a second or two, then disappeared from the radio's display, indicating it had switched them off. It happened under serial control too.

It was intermittent though, but happened very often, so I wrote a 'workaround' for it.

My point is that this is not something new, introduced in 1611B, it was already in 1610B,

No amount of switching the firmware will provide anything conclusive, because the thing is intermittent. I KNOW it happens in 1610B.

Obviously it should not be happening in either firmware version, but it is important I think, to realise that it is not a new bug introduced by 1611B.

Anyone trying to switch CTC or DCS on during a search manually, or with other software, will just have to live with it unless or until AOR correct this.

In eSPYonARD - 007 (the latest). Using the program, CTC and DCS always remain on in a Search, once selected.

 

[G7HID]

G7HID (Mike).
....Are you doing the above manually or via eSPYonARD? If via the program, it has a 'fix' that kicks in and corrects the problem.My point is that this is not something new, introduced in 1611B, it was already in 1610B,.....

Manually via the AR-DV1 keypad Jeff..

Mike

 

[marlbrook]

Aint Intermittent problems wonderful

Manually via the AR-DV1 keypad Jeff..

Mike

Cheers,

Obviously it is happening in 1611B for the other Mike manually.

Just have to wait and see.

 

[MStep]

Further Experimentation

I re-downloaded the 1611B just in case the first download got glitched, but still no luck. The CTC Search function is still not displaying. In addition, I tested the DCS Search function, and that is also not displaying the DCS tone when in search mode.

I brought this to the attention of AOR and they are investigating the latest problem. In addition, I asked them to please check this with a radio that is the U.S. approved version since there might be differences in the way that the firmware affects the U.S. and European versions of the DV1.

 

[G7HID]

This is bloody strange...

Mike

 

[rustynswrail]

All aspects of CTCSS and DCS working with the Australian version. Search displays instantly, correct tone passes audio, incorrect doesn't.

1611B firmware employed.

R

 

[MStep]

All aspects of CTCSS and DCS working with the Australian version. Search displays instantly, correct tone passes audio, incorrect doesn't.

1611B firmware employed.

R

We are going to wait to either get a confirmation from AOR, or better still, confirmation from someone else who has the U.S. version and who has done the update.

This could also provide some answers to Jeff Marlbrook at eSPY as to why he is seeing so many intermittent issues with various firmware updates. He has spent the good part of the last six months, hunting down and correcting via his very excellent software package (eSPYonARD), some of the issues that these firmware updates have introduced.

Since the problem disappears when I revert back to v. 1610B of the firmware, I am convinced that I am not having hardware issues.

 

[marlbrook]

Time and Tide

The problems MStep describe were definitely present in 1610B. I KNOW that, however they were very intermittent.

I could not tie the trigger down. I could only get as far as finding out that writing to VFOZ seemed to cause the problems to appear SOMETIMES.

The key word here is 'intermittent'.

The fact someone never saw the problems when running 1610B does not mean they they were not present. All it means is that they might be there, but were not triggered.

The fact some people actually experienced the problems occasionally in 1610B, does prove they were there.

I also suspect, many of the other problems that revolved around the use of VFOZ in 1610B have now been resolved in 1611B, but as yet I do not KNOW this, as they were 'intermittent' too.

AOR described one of the main ones in their 1611B release notes, so as they have fixed that, it seems likely some, will no longer be triggered. Some may still be lingering in the background. Only a lot of time will tell.

The CTC in search was one of the problems I know could 'sometimes'occur in 1610B.

As MStep is seeing them in 1611B, then that does prove that particular issue is still in that firmware too.

The fact others are not seeing it in 1611B does not prove it is individual to his AR-DV1, the furthest any conclusion can go is that it 'might be' present in any AR-DV1, but still very intermittent in nature.

This is also true after MStep reverted to 1610B. The CTC issue may 'appear' to have gone away, but as all my testing shows that in 1610B it is triggered occasionally and intermittently, that is only proof that it has not manifested itself, not that the bug is not present.

In many ways all of this is an academic argument. The bottom line is that the issue should never be happening, and whatever causes it in whatever firmware needs to be fixed by AOR, and I have confidence they will do that, eventually.

I realise what a hard task tying down and removing an intermittent problem will be.

 

[Vince64]

Hi Gents,

Just one question to clarify my mind:
Are talking about AUTO mode?

Cheers

 

[MStep]

Hi Gents,

Just one question to clarify my mind:
Are talking about AUTO mode?

Cheers

Great catch Vince---- double checked it here---- yes, it appears to be happening in AUTO mode only. In FM mode, the CTC and DCS Search function seems to still be displaying properly. I will have to pass this information along to AOR--- perhaps it will help them troubleshoot this issue.

In the past, it was working in AUTO MODE as well as FM mode. Thanks for that great catch again Vince.

P.S. Perhaps this is why Jeff Marlbrook was also seeing this problem "intermittently".

 

[MStep]

Great catch Vince---- double checked it here---- yes, it appears to be happening in AUTO mode only. In FM mode, the CTC and DCS Search function seems to still be displaying properly. I will have to pass this information along to AOR--- perhaps it will help them troubleshoot this issue.

In the past, it was working in AUTO MODE as well as FM mode. Thanks for that great catch again Vince.

P.S. Perhaps this is why Jeff Marlbrook was also seeing this problem "intermittently".

Updating on my on post and further experimentation----- the CTC and DCS search functions display the codes intermittently here when the radio is in FM mode, usually providing that the signal is of relatively strong strength. All of this information will be passed along to AOR on Monday.

Something definitely went amiss with the 1611B update, putting the whole CTC and DCS operation of the radio in question. As a premier piece of equipment, AOR needs to be more careful with its firmware upgrades, but AOR should also respond more quickly to user issues when they arise.

In addition to the firmware updates page, AOR should also publish a "Current Issues" page, indicating problems which have been reported and confirmed, and which AOR engineers are currently looking into for resolution.

 

[rustynswrail]

After reading the last few posts, I checked AUTO mode and the CTCSS / DCS search function on an Australian version of the radio, which is probably the same as those sold in Europe.

It appears to be a similar problem with no CTCSS or DCS showing when AUTO is selected. Change to FM CTCSS and DCS display appropriately.

With FM mode selected along with the correct CTCSS the audio passes to the speaker, select the wrong tone, no audio.

Accordingly it appears that version or geography has little to do with the problem, it seems firmware update 1611B is the usual suspect.

R

 

[G7HID]

Must admit I did not think to check the Tone signalling with AUTO as well as FM, nice find..

Mike

 

[marlbrook]

No

[QUOTE Perhaps this is why Jeff Marlbrook was also seeing this problem "intermittently".[/QUOTE]

NO, I was not using AUTO. It was intermittent in 1610B, or 'so I say'.

CTCSS and DCS problems were present in 1610B, intermittently. This is an offshoot of that.

'IF' that is not a bold face lie, then telling AOR it was introduced in 1611B will throw them right off track. To discover where those bugs started they should go back to 1610B, and then move forward checking both firmwares.

Of course accepting it started in 1610B will depend if anyone can believe someone who has never been interested in any of the basic functions, lol, as I read somewhere.

 

[MStep]

NO, I was not using AUTO. It was intermittent in 1610B, or 'so I say'.

CTCSS and DCS problems were present in 1610B, intermittently. This is an offshoot of that.

'IF' that is not a bold face lie, then telling AOR it was introduced in 1611B will throw them right off track. To discover where those bugs started they should go back to 1610B, and then move forward checking both firmwares.

Of course accepting it started in 1610B will depend if anyone can believe someone who has never been interested in any of the basic functions, lol, as I read somewhere.

I do not doubt that for some, including Jeff, the problem appeared in 1610B. It just did not become apparent to me until it stopped working in AUTO mode in 1611B.

And Jeff deserves a lot of credit, attempting to "patch-up" these AOR deficiencies by making the necessary adjustments in his eSPYonARD software to compensate and overcome these issues.

In any event, AOR has to take a serious look at the entire CTC and DCS sub-system of the DV1 to make sure everything is working properly, not just in Search mode, by in monitoring (gating) modes as well. It would be a nasty surprise for some folks with CTC or DCS set on certain frequencies, be it in Auto or FM mode, and be missing signals.

 

[MStep]

Must admit I did not think to check the Tone signalling with AUTO as well as FM, nice find..

Mike

Yes Mike, I keep most of my FM traffic programmed in "AUTO" mode, since the slightly wider frequency response in Auto is more pleasing the the ear. The CTC and DCS search mode had been displaying properly in Auto mode ever since I got the radio, the fact that this stopped working completely in Auto mode under 1611B was my first indication that something had gone amiss.

Jeff Marlbrook, who is admittedly more fluent in the operation of the DV1 that I am, spotted this problem first with the 1610B firmware.

Most of my research has been with either CTC or DCS in Search mode. I'm almost afraid to start looking at "gating" problems which may have arisen. This is why I would like AOR not only to resolve the Search issue, but to examine all aspects of the CTC and DCS electronics of the radio.