P25RX-II P25RX-II Firmware Updates / Testing

[btt]

Thanks for testing. I updated again. 01-29_0333. It is only a change to the EVM calculations. I think I have it right now. Please let me know how the EVM does for phase 2. Not much phase 2 activity here now. The DSP changes are working amazingly well! Same for the changes to the P25RX firmware.

 

[btt]

I forgot to mention it, but with the recent updates to the firmware, the IQ files I have are now obsolete. If you update to the latest firmware and have issues with reception, please send new IQ files for analysis. Thank you!

 

[mclove]

P25RX-II will it work in Canada ?

 

[btt]

P25RX-II will it work in Canada ?

Please see the reply to your email. If that wasn't you, then please send an email / contact via the web site. Thank you.

 

[btt]

Version 01-30_1440 is available. This version appears to be another significant improvement in receive performance in addition to the improvements over the past few days. I've been working on finding a good method for locking the course frequency correction for some time now. I always end up reverting back to leaving it in an unlocked state. The frequency correction would start to drift around at very low signal levels (not desirable). This locking implementation appears to be working very well. It works in both demodulation modes. The current firmware is working very well with linear-simulcast-modulation. With changes over the past few days, the EVM is nearly perfect while monitoring an LSM system.

 

[freqseeker]

01-30_1440 has been running for about five hours now. Great audio as usual. A little variation in signal strength. The audio is much clearer than a few versions back. Great job.

 

[maus92]

This is the best version yet for me - nice tight plot for the cch, and decent for traffic channels. Sounds good, comparable to the control receiver I'm using.

 

[btt]

This is the best version yet for me - nice tight plot for the cch, and decent for traffic channels. Sounds good, comparable to the control receiver I'm using.

Thank you for the feedback. The first image you posted is a good example of what monitoring a non-LSM system with the LSM demodulation looks like in some cases. In this case, it is very good and will work very well, but you can see that the EVM is a bit larger value and the shape of the clusters is somewhat triangular. The second image shows very nice circular, tight clusters of symbols. This is definitely an LSM system with balanced, linear, power-hungry, excellent amplifiers on the transmitters. Beautiful.

 

[maus92]

To be clear, this is a Phase 2 LSM / simulcast system. In addition to the point plots, the line graphs are also nice and flat on both the control and traffic channels - a huge improvement for my situation.

 

[btt]

To be clear, this is a Phase 2 LSM / simulcast system. In addition to the point plots, the line graphs are also nice and flat on both the control and traffic channels - a huge improvement for my situation.

Ok, I see. That was just an interpretation. The second plot is definitely linear. Do you have the filter setting on auto?

 

[maus92]

Ok, I see. That was just an interpretation. The second plot is definitely linear. Do you have the filter setting on auto?

Yes. The second plot is the control channel; the first is one of the traffic channels.

 

[btt]

Yes. The second plot is the control channel; the first is one of the traffic channels.

Thanks. will look into it. Maybe the P2 filter can be improved further. In any case, I'm glad to see that it is working so well for you!

 

[Vermonster]

I have had the opportunity to extensively test the last few versions on Con+. Using all default settings the reception is very good and voice quality excellent.
For those who may be using default settings on a relatively weak system, it can take several minutes for CC reception to be optimized so be patient. Once reception is optimized, it works well adapting to signal changes when mobile. If the CC signal is moderate-strong when the system is initially loaded, reception optimization is just about instantaneous.

I have noted one glitch, which remains with 2022-01-31 12:32:
If a Con+ system is loaded and a conventional P25 frequency is subsequently written, it appears the device stays locked on the Con+ control channel. While the console window appears to show the new P25 conventional frequency is tuned, I don't think it is based on no voice traffic heard and SIG light on device displays solid green (which I don't think it should). If a conventional DMR frequency is written in this scenario, it appears (based on console) that the frequency is loaded, but after a minute or so, it reverts to the prior Con+ CC. Using a series of restarts, I can eventually get a conventional P25 to appear like it tunes in the console window (and it probably does, however voice reception is suboptimal).

A similar issue also occurs when a conventional P25 or DMR frequency has been loaded and a Con+ system is written. In this case the conventional P25 or DMR frequency is shown in the console log and the device never tunes to the CC shown on the DMR tab. If a nonsense frequency is entered on the p25RX config tab (0.0) when the Con+ system is written from the DMR tab, an error is produced and the device appears to tune to 859.9625. This does not solve the issue if one subsequently tries to write a Con+ system.
To solve the issue, the software must be closed, device USB must be unplugged and re-plugged, then software restarted and the DMR system re-written.

I don't presently have a trunked P25 system to test on right now, so the issue may also exist there as well.

 

[btt]

There is a new version available for the P25RX-II. Version 02-02_1107 has many changes. Some of the changes are based on recent success with the P25RX (original model) in a location that it hasn't worked too well up until version 01-31_0648. I have verified that it is working correctly for P25 P1/P2 here. Please test it with the LNA, Mixer, and VGA gain settings all on AUTO. The default AGC target is -10 dB. If you are in a highly active area and the defaults are not working well, then try setting the AGC target to -20 dB. If you area in a rural area, you could try an AGC target as high as 0 dB and test what works better. If you are monitoring a system with a very high signal level and you see oscillations in the AGC->target gain line, then try setting the RF Hysteresis higher until the oscillation stops. If the 10 dB setting in the GUI is not enough, then you can manually set it with the 'rf_hyst' command. To set it to 12 dB for example:
'rf_hyst 12'
'save'

 

[maus92]

Hate to say that the last two versions have been significantly worse performers for me. 2022-1-31-0919 was working well, the current 2022-02-02-1107 has less clear audio, EVM has doubled on the rest channel from 2 to 4%, and on traffic channels to 5 - 6%. RSSI has also deteriorated by about -5dBm.

 

[btt]

Hate to say that the last two versions have been significantly worse performers for me. 2022-1-31-0919 was working well, the current 2022-02-02-1107 has less clear audio, EVM has doubled on the rest channel from 2 to 4%, and on traffic channels to 5 - 6%. RSSI has also deteriorated by about -5dBm.

If you have time, would you try changing the VGA gain to 18 dB manual and post the plots for that?

 

[maus92]

If you have time, would you try changing the VGA gain to 18 dB manual and post the plots for that?

 

[btt]

@maus92, Thanks. It appears the increase in EVM is probably related to the channel filter bandwidth. I've reverted it to what is what previously in version 02-02_1333.

 

[pcman67]

@btt , I've not had time to use my P25RX units hardly at all these last two months and I've pretty much been a ghost around here, but had some time today and updated my P25RX-II to version 2022-02-02_1107 . This release is phenomenal, especially going from using a version from Dec. 2021! I have tested P1, P2 reception using the default configuration and I am truly blown away by how things have progressed! EVM resting on the control channel is 2%, P1 reception has an EVM ranging from 2% to 4% and P2 EVM ranges from 5 to 7%. These are improved numbers from what I have been used to seeing. Received audio on both P1 and P2 is excellent!

 

[btt]

@btt , I've not had time to use my P25RX units hardly at all these last two months and I've pretty much been a ghost around here, but had some time today and updated my P25RX-II to version 2022-02-02_1107 . This release is phenomenal, especially going from using a version from Dec. 2021! I have tested P1, P2 reception using the default configuration and I am truly blown away by how things have progressed! EVM resting on the control channel is 2%, P1 reception has an EVM ranging from 2% to 4% and P2 EVM ranges from 5 to 7%. These are improved numbers from what I have been used to seeing. Received audio on both P1 and P2 is excellent!

Thank you @pcman67! If you have some more time, I think we can improve the EVM to around 1-2% with the demod set to LSM on an LSM system. If you have some more time, can you give the latest a try? (02-02_1352).