Please note on this webpage "PowerSDR" refers to the stock version of PowerSDR available from FlexRadio Systems and "PowerSDR/IF Stage" refers to the version modified for IF Stage use. PowerSDR/IF Stage is the version available for download only from this webpage. PowerSDR/IF Stage is being developed by Scott McClements, WU2X, andChad Gatesman, W1CEG, without affiliation to FlexRadio Systems.
In 2007, I built a Softrock SDR kit for 8.83 Mhz and attached it to the I.F. output port of my Kenwood TS-940S. Since my TS-940S was also computer controlled, I decided to modify FlexRadio Systems' PowerSDR software used for FlexRadio Systems series of SDR radios so I could have the features of PowerSDR with my TS-940S. I made changes to PowerSDR source code so that any radio using a Softrock or similar board as an I.F. stage with a radio that is capable of being (CAT) computer controlled could take advantage of the PowerSDR software features. I modified PowerSDR to communicate with another software package called Ham Radio Deluxe . Ham Radio Deluxe would communicate directly with the radio over the serial port, and my version of PowerSDR would communicate with Ham Radio Deluxe, regardless of which radio Ham Radio Deluxe was connected to. This provided these basic features:
Full tuning control from the PowerSDR software. You can change bands, modes, frequency, click to tune from the panadapter window, etc. as usual from the PowerSDR software and the tuning updates will be tracked by your radio in real time
Full tuning control from your radio. You can spin the VFO, change modes, etc. and the tuning updates will be tracked by the PowerSDR software
I chose to use Ham Radio Deluxe to control the radio because its a well written piece of software with an easy to use, well defined, high performance interface for third party software interfacing that already can control almost every rig that supports CAT commands. There are plenty of radios out there such as the Kenwood TS-950 series, Kenwood TS-850S, Kenwood TS-870S. Kenwood TS-940S and the Elecraft K3 that have IF outputs and support CAT control that can easily and cheaply pickup some modern features and performance that Software Defined Radio and the PowerSDR software has to offer. Other radios such as the Yaesu FT-1000D and FT-2000 will also work, with the addition of a mixer circuit to downconvert the first I.F. frequency down to a lower HF range, so that simple boards like the Softrock can be used. Other radios that don't provide a factory IF output can be tapped internally, with some know how.
I have personally been using my Softrock lite kit with a Kenwood TS-940S and its been a great combination. The TS-940S has a buffered 8.83 Mhz IF output and has the ability to switch the AGC circuit off in SSB and CW modes - both necessary for good performance. Figure 1 shows my setup.
Figure 1 - Softrock kit configured for IF use on a Kenwood TS-940S.
Since 2007, I released three versions of my special PowerSDR modifications, that I call "PowerSDR/IF Stage", though most just refer to it as "PowerSDR/IF".
The three PowerSDR/IF Stage versions released were 0.90, 0.91 and 0.92. They were all based on the same 2007 version of PowerSDR, v1.9.0. FlexRadio Systems have made several improvements to the PowerSDR since the 2007 version that I used as the base of my version. My original versions were more prototype like, and more of a "hack" to see what was possible. The new PowerSDR/IF Stage 1.19.0.x version is a complete rewrite from the 0.92 version.
Since FlexRadio has release several improved versions of PowerSDR , I decided it was time to work on a new version of PowerSDR/IF Stage. Chad Gatesman, W1CEG, a new ham and good friend of mine has joined in on the development of the new version. In fact most of the new code base was actually written by Chad. We are tracking all the development of the project at http://code.google.com/p/powersdr-if-stage/ So to quickly highlight some differences between the 0.9x version and the new version, and our design goals:
New PowerSDR/IF Stage version numbering scheme. It will have the format 1.19.3.x. Notice there are 4 positions to the version number - we will include the base PowerSDR version number in this new versioning scheme. The version 1.19.3.1 signifies that its based on PowerSDR version 1.19.3 and the last position (1) signifies the PowerSDR/IF version.
New version supports direct serial communication to rig from PowerSDR/IF. In addition to supporting Ham Radio Deluxe communication, we have implemented a direct, high performance serial connection to a few types of radios (Elecraft K3, Kenwood TS-940). This allows for a superior tuning connection between PowerSDR/IF Stage and the external radio. All serial communication is optimized for PowerSDR/IF Stage usage.
Release new versions more frequently. We will be able to release new version more easily now because modifications in source code that we made are not "mixed" with the original code. We can merge our source code changes into newer PowerSDR versions very quickly and release it. Understand this limits what type of changes we will make. For instance, modifying any visual aspect of the stock PowerSDR windows (console, setup menus, etc.) will cause us much more effort in moving up in the future, so we will avoid those types of changes.
PowerSDR/IF has its own Setup dialog. This keeps PowerSDR/IF settings separate from PowerSDR settings. PowerSDR/IF settings are also stored in a separate database file (databaseIF.xml).
SDR-1000 Hardware is selected instead of Softrock hardware. In the 0.9x versions, softrock was the type of hardware selected, but now we use the SDR-1000 radio as this minimized the number of changes we need to make. By default when you install PowerSDR/IF Stage SDR-1000 will be selected. We are now including a default PowerSDR config file (database.xml) that will select several default values that are needed for proper PowerSDR/IF Stage operation.
Continue to make PowerSDR/IF Stage work with as many radios as possible. We want to keep PowerSDR/IF Stage working with as many radios as possible and do not want to focus on integrating more features that only benefit a single radio model.
If you are not already familiar with the stock PowerSDR software, then please visit the FlexRadio's website and read the PowerSDR manual. Once PowerSDR/IF Stage is operating correctly, the PowerSDR manual is very valuable for understanding all the features that are available.
If you are using a Kenwood TS-940S or Elecraft K3, we recommend that you start by trying the direct serial connection to those rigs from PowerSDR/IF stage. This means that you do not need to have Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) installed and running on your system for things to work. If you are not running one of those radios, then you need to get the latest version of HRD installed and controlling your radio (if you haven't already!). HRD has very good documentation and a good support forum. Please ask any questions about HRD in the HRD support forums. If are going to use HRD for the external rig connection, make sure you have HRD correctly controlling your radio before you continue.
Download and unzip the PowerSDR-IF Stage.zip - OR- run the PowerSDR-IF Stage.exe file (self-extracting zip file) and extract the setup files into the directory of your choice. Then run setup.exe .
Once you run setup, follow the instruction to install PowerSDR/IF Stage on your system as you would any Windows software.
If you are not going to use direct serial communication with the 940 or K3, after installing the PowerSDR/IF Stage software, but before running PowerSDR/IF Stage, ensure that HRD is running and connected to the radio you wish PowerSDR/IF Stage to interface with.
Now you can start PowerSDR/IF Stage. We have shipped a default database.xml file with the install so that we could pre-setup several necessary values in the PowerSDR Setup menu. For instance, we selected the "SDR-1000" hardware and marked it "Receive Only". These are just a few settings we defaulted. If you change those settings, PowerSDR/IF Stage will not operate correctly. Reset your database if you changed things and its no longer working (download stock database.xml from from HERE and copy into install directory). Since we have shipped a database file, you will not run through the normal setup wizard - PowerSDR/IF Stage will start up immediately. If you are familiar with PowerSDR already, you may click on the "Setup" menu and customize any of settings that you desire (i.e. audio sample rate, choose a skin, change buffer sizes. The only changes in PowerSDR/IF Stage to the stock PowerSDR setup menu was to add additional buffer sizes (as in version PowerSDR/IF Stage 0.92) on the audio tab. We have not implemented the "I/Q Sample Offset Correction" option.
Next you need to setup various IF Stage related settings, click on the "Setup IF" option:
The first tab is labeled "Rig Connection". This is where you specify which type of connection you want to the external rig from PowerSDR/IF Stage. In the "Rig Type" box, you can select "Ham Radio Deluxe", "Kenwood TS-940S", "Kenwood TS-950", "Yaesu" or "Elecraft K3" or The Kenwood, Yaesu and Elecraft selections are direct serial connections - no other external program is required to be running. The defaults for Rig Serial Connection should all automatically be filled in correctly for either the Kenwood or Elecraft. Note for the Yaesu, if you are running the FT-2000 or FT-950, you must set the baud rate to match the baud rate set in the menu of the external rig. You must also select the the COMM port the rig is connected to. Be sure that you do not already have a logging program, or other software connected to the radio when you attempt to connect from PowerSDR/IF Stage. The defaults for the "Rig Timing" box should be good for most newer computers. Selecting either the Kenwood, Yaesu or Elecraft automatically changes other settings on the "IF Frequencies" tab.
Select the "IF Frequencies Tab". What you specify here will depend on what type of Rig you are using. This panel is familiar to users of PowerSDR/IF Stage version 0.92, the settings should be the same.
If you have selected the Elecraft K3 as your rig type, you don't need to put any values in for the IF Frequencies for each mode - leave them set to zero. For proper K3 to PowerSDR/IFStage alignment of CW signal, ensure that the CW pitch entered in PowerSDR/IF Stage matches the CW pitch set in the K3. We have no way to poll the K3 for its pitch frequency - so you must manually make sure these two pitch values are equal. Enter the IF (center) Frequency to be used for each mode. Some calculations and a little trial and error are needed to find the exact IF center frequency needed for each mode. The values depend on the type of radio used, mode, IF output frequency of the radio and the Softrock center frequency. Figure 2. shows the IF conversions involved for my TS-940S and will serve as the demonstration for calculating required values.
Figure 2 - Frequency conversion from the IF output of rig to baseband.
The IF output of the TS-940S is 8.83 Mhz. The center frequency of the Softrock is ~8.817 Mhz.. Since the Softrock lite converts the IF output to baseband, we need to calculate the frequency where the center IF output of the TS-940S falls on the baseband (green line). We take the TS-940S center IF output and subtract the Softrock's center frequency:
8.83 Mhz - 8.817 Mhz = 0.013 Mhz
This gives us the ball park baseband IF frequency we must enter into setup menu for the IF Frequency for each mode. The IF frequency is entered into the setup menu in Hz, so we must convert Mhz to Hz.:
0.013 Mhz X 10^6 = 13000 Hz
After you have entered these values into the setup menu, you will then need to tune in a strong signal where the exact frequency is known. For instance a local AM broadcast station, WWV or a signal generator will work. Use the panadapter to view the strong signal and make corrections to the IF center frequency for each mode to perfectly align the signal with the PowerSDR's VFO display. Figure 3 shows the peak of the carrier of WWV centered right at 15 Mhz.
Figure 3 - WWV carrier centered @ 15 Mhz, the result of tweaking the IF center frequency.
On some radios that output a transmitted signal sample on the IF port, you can put the radio into transmit mode and view the panadapter to make corrections to the IF center frequency. Given my setup above, I ended up with a value of 13950 Hz for LSB and 17000 Hz for USB, for example. If the IF output frequency of the radio is less than the center frequency of the Softrock kit, you will end up with a negative number. You specify a negative IF center frequency in this case:
8.804 Mhz - 8.817 Mhz) X 10^6 = -13000 Hz
The above alignment is useful if you intend to use the PowerSDR/IF Stage for receiving and the radio for transmitting - your received and transmit frequency will be aligned this way (make sure XIT/RIT and split mode is off on your external radio!).
The "Global IF Frequency Adjustments " section is used to make small corrections for drift after you align the IF frequency for each mode. Since there will be some amount of drift between the oscillator in the external radio and the SDR board, you might need adjust the global offset. The "Global Offset" value is added to any value set for each mode. The "LO Center" only relates to when you have selected the Elecraft K3 from the menu. Use this to fill in the center frequency of your SDR board. Also note it is not necessary to fill in any IF Frequency if you are connected directly to the K3. This is because the K3 automatically provides the IF frequency values to PowerSDR/IF Stage via a CAT command. The only value you need to adjust is the global offset to tweak frequency alignment.
"Swap I/Q @ Frequency" is used to swap the I and Q channels automatically at a certain frequency. Radios like the Elecraft K3 and K2 invert the IF output above a certain frequency. Again if you select the direct Elecraft K3 connection as you Rig Type, this will automatically be setup. I believe the frequency for inversion of the K2 is 20Mhz, any K2 users, please let us know.
"Frequency Limits" is used to set the frequency limits of the external rig under control. Selecting the Elecraft K3 rig type will automatically fill in these values for you. Otherwise, manually specify the min and max frequency of the radio you are using
The "Meter Connection" tab allows you to connect PowerSDR/IF Stage directly to an external Power/SWR meter through a serial connection. When connected, the TX meter in PowerSDR/IF Stage will show real-time power and SWR data taken directly from the external meter.
To configure an external meter, check the "Use External Meter" check box. This will enable you to select a meter type (e.g. "Array Solutions PowerMaster") in the drop down box. The PowerMaster is currently the only model supported now. You will also have to configure the port number for the serial connection to the external meter. The other serial connection values will be automatically set to the defaults for the selected meter type, but if you have a need to change them, they are there.
The Data Interval controls the rate at which data is collected from the external meter. Figure 4 shows the power meter in PowerSDR/IF Stage during transmit reading output from teh Array Solutions PowerMaster meter.
Figure 4 - Power meter during transmit after configuration to interface with an Array Solutions PowerMaster meter
"Collapsible Display" is a new features unique to PowerSDR/IF Stage. It is a configurable view that hides most of the controls surrounding the panadapter display window. This allows you save screen real estate by only showing the panadapter window and selected other controls. If you are using PowerSDR/IF Stage merely as a Panadapter and not using the receive functions of PowerSDR, this is a handy feature. Also during contesting where you might have many windows open on your screen, it would be helpful to use this mode. The tab "Collapsible Display" allows you to configure which minimal set of controls you want to see when you are in "Collapse" mode:
Top Controls: Shows the Start button, AF and AGC-T controls, VFOA and VFOB windows, VFO controls and meter Band Controls: Shows the band buttons across the bottom of the window Mode Controls: Shows the mode buttons across the bottom of the window
You can toggle between "Collapse" (minimal view) and "Expand" (normal view) by selecting the "Collapse" or "Expand" button depending on the mode you are currently in, from the menu. The following screenshot shows the normal full-sized display. Notice the new "Collapse" button highlighted in yellow. Click this button to enter collapse mode. This menu item will turn into "Expand" when you are in Collapsed mode. You click the "Expand" button to return to the normal view and expose all the controls. If you need to access a control that is hidden when in collapse mode, you will need to toggle back to regular mode to access the control.
"Collapse" mode without any options from the "Collapsible Display" tab selected. This is as few controls as you can display. This window is resizable. Press the "Expand" menu item (shown highlighted in yellow) to toggle back to the regular display.
"Collapse" mode with all the options from the "Collapsible Display" tab selected. This view shows the VFO, band and mode buttons. This window is resizable. Press the "Expand" menu item (shown highlighted in yellow) to toggle back to the regular display.
The last tab on the Setup IF menu is "Debug Logging". This tab should be completely unchecked, as shown below. It is intended for the developers to collect information for debugging a problem on a user's system, should the need arrise. Instructions on its use will be provided to individual users on an as-needed basis by the development team. Turning on any of these setting will likely impact audio performance.
Functional vs. Non-Functional Dialog Buttons and Controls
As was stated previously, no attempt has been made to disable to remove controls that are of not usable or can cause undesired side effects in PowerSDR/IF Stage. For example, the "BCI Rejection" button is used on the FlexRadio SDR-1000 to engage filter hardware to eliminate Broadcast interference on the low bands. Rather than try to list out every button or control that is not usable, or should not be used, use this as a guide: If the control is specific to controlling FlexRadio SDR-1000 hardware, then it should not be used . Another obvious group of controls that exist, that should not be used, are the buttons related to transmitting functions - "Drive Power", CW Sending Speeds, etc. That being said, any control related to receiving functions and PowerSDR console appearance are usable. The PowerSDR/IF Stage program does perform all the frequency and mode related functions that PowerSDR has to offer. The purpose of PowerSDR/IF Stage is to provide 1st class panadapter features, click to tune, quick QSY and split functions. It is NOT a goal to provide full computer control over the external rig.
Functionality Available When Using Direct Serial Connection to External Rig
The amount of functionality provided by selecting one currently supported rigs with direct serial control is greater than when using Ham Radio Deluxe. For instance, when using one of these rigs, there is full linking between VFOA and VFOB. The "Split" control can be toggled on the radio or on PowerSDR/IF Stage and it will work properly. In other words, VFO A/B linking, Mode Linking, and Split mode linking will work, and can be controlled from PowerSDR/IF or the external rig. Also, the update sync'ing between PowerSDR/IF Stage and the external rig will be virtually real time. For instance, muting of the PowerSDR/IF Stage audio will be virtually instantaneous when using the TS-940 or K3. In addition, the K3 setup should work "out of the box", without any change required for IF Frequencies and other settings, as long as the Rig Type of "Elecraft K3" is selected (along with the correct comm port and correct specification of the LO Center frequency of the SDR board being used). The Kenwood CAT commands are virtually the same for all Kenwood rig types; this means it is possible to use the TS-940 rig type selection to connect to other Kenwood models - though is this completely untested and unsupported at this point. Feedback appreciated.
Functionality Available When Using Ham Radio Deluxe
When using Ham Radio Deluxe as the Rig Type, integration is slightly reduced. Also, update speeds between the external radio and PowerSDR/IF Stage will be slower. Ham Radio Deluxe only provides linking of VFO A and mode between the external rig and PowerSDR/IF Stage - the limitation comes from the Ham Radio Deluxe software. This is the reason that we have implemented direction serial connections for a few rigs to start with.
Comparison of PowerSDR/IF Stage Version 1.19.x.x to Version 0.92
If you are familiar with PowerSDR/IF Stage 0.92, you will find that some base functions that existed in the base PowerSDR program were not working. Some examples are playback of wav files, automatic image rejection and level adjustments (DSP tab). These should all work in PowerSDR/IF Stage version 1.19.3.5.
Additional Notes About Direct Serial Communication for the Kenwood TS-940S
Some additional notes for TS-940 users using direct serial connection. You will notice two behaviors that PowerSDR/IF Stage enforces when connected to your TS-940S. Note these are not bugs. The first is that it will force the TS-940S radio to always be on VFO-A. If you try to switch to VFO-B (directly on TS-940S), it will switch you back to VFO-A. This is to keep its behavior consistent with the PowerSDR interface. It will also force the modes son VFOA and VFOB to be the same whenever you toggle on "split" mode. This really provides the TS-940S with a true second receiver. You can now use the SubRX in PowerSDR/IF Stage to track a "last worked" station for a DX station working split. In fact, if the RIT function is not turned on, the RIT/XIT knob on the TS-940S can be used to tune the VFOB SubRX frequency. Tuning is not as smooth as the main dial, but it works! Unlike the K3, the TS-940S when in transmit outputs a strong TX signal sample to PowerSDR/IF Stage. This can be distracting because of the audio delay when monitoring yourself talking, so you will find the real time muting that occurs when the TS-940S goes into transmit mode useful. The red TX indicators on the PowerSDR console give a quick indication of which VFO is the active TX VFO. You can click on the "TX" indicators to quickly toggle which VFO should be the active VFO to transmit on. Note however when you go into transmit mode, the Panadapter area will always show the VFO A frequency, even if you are transmitting on VFOB.
PowerSDR/IF Stage Behavior During Transmit
For all rig connection types, when the external radio goes into transmit mode, PowerSDR/IF Stage will automatically turn on the mute (MUT) so no output is heard. If you wish to monitor the transmit output (if your radio supports it), you can click the MON button to override the MUT during TX mode. Also for the direct serial connection rigs (TS-940S and K3), during transmit the DSP controls NB, NB1, NR and ANF will be temporarily disabled so that monitoring of transmit audio will not be distorted by these unnecessary noise reduction algorithms.
New Tuning Methods for VFOB and Mouse Recommendation
PowerSDR/IF Stage also has implemented two new ways for tuning VFO B, compared to the stock PowerSDR version. This function currently only exists in PowerSDR/IF Stage. You can control VFO-B in the panadapter window area by holding down the Control button on the keyboard and spinning the mouse wheel. Spinning the mouse wheel without holding down the control key will tune VFOA (normal PowerSDR function), but holding the control key down allows you to target VFOB for mouse wheel tuning. You can also control VFO-B in the Panadapter (when MultiRX is on) by right clicking twice to get the red crosshairs and then spinning the mouse wheel - in other words, when the red crosshairs are visible, using the mouse wheel tunes VFO-B. As an additional tip here, Logitech has a series of mice that have something called "Hyper Scroll Wheel". These are mice with a weighted mouse wheel. The wheel does not have detents, it freewheels when you spin it - just like a weighted VFO knob! Coding guru Chad has implemented a time based queue so that when you spin the weighted mouse wheel, the tuning of the external radio is perfectly smooth. As it was, the free spinning VFO knob in PowerSDR/IF Stage would overload the external rig with CAT frequency changes. We really dig the hyper scroll Logitech mice and highly recommend them.
Notes About Connecting an External Logging Program When Using a Direct Serial Connection
If you are using the direct serial connection to the Elecraft K3 or Kenwood TS-940S, you can use the virtual CAT interface built into the base PowerSDR to attach a single logging or other program. Since connecting PowerSDR/IF Stage directly to the external rig over the serial connection provides the best realtime tuning experience, we recommend it over other methods. The aforementioned CAT interface built into PowerSDR is fully described in the PowerSDR manual, as it is part of the stock PowerSDR software. Even if you are using Ham Radio Deluxe as your rig control program, you can still use the virtual CAT interface provided by PowerSDR. Note that PowerSDR masquerades as a Kenwood TS-2000, so you will not have full functionality of all CAT commands for your Elecraft K3 using the virtual CAT connection with PowerSDR. It will work fine for simple logging programs.
How to use "Skins" support
Version 1.19.0.1 and later includes a "skins" feature (part of the "Pretty Betty" branch), where the look of the face plate of the console can be changed. In the PowerSDR setup menu, click on the "Appearance" tab. There is a drop down list where you can select different skins. When you select a different skin, the PowerSDR console window will automatically refresh with the selected skin.
K3 RX Filter Width Syncing
PowerSDR/IF Stage v1.19.3.5 adds a new feature that syncs the RX filter width on the K3 to the filter width in PowerSDR/IF Stage. When you change the filter width in PowerSDR/IF Stage, the filter width will change on the K3. When you change the filter width on the K3, the filter width will change in PowerSDR/IF Stage. If there is a matching preset filter in PowerSDR/IF Stage, it will use it, else it will use VAR1 with appropriately set low/high values to set the filter width.
Caveats -- PowerSDR/IF Stage v1.19.3.5 does not support syncing IF Shift on the RX filter. When IF shifting on the K3, the signals will shift in the panadapter rather than the RX filter shifting. This means the RX filter will always remain with a fixed offset from the tuned VFO frequency (this is configured under Setup>General>Filters>Default Low Cut).
When using RX Filter Width Syncing, this restriction to the filter position exists. This means that if you try to resize the RX filter from the inner side (side closer to the tuned VFO frequency), the filter will try to continually reposition back to the relative offset to the tuned VFO frequency.
It is recommended to only adjust the filter size from the outer side, through the filter width buttons, or with VAR1 and low/high values.
How to Disable K3 RX Filter Width Syncing
If the K3 RX Filter Width Syncing restrictions will be too much of a nuance for the way you operate, you can disable RX Filter Width Syncing in two different ways:
Select and use VAR2 to temporarily override and disable RX Filter Width Syncing until any other filter is selected in PowerSDR/IF Stage.
To completely turn off the RX Filter Width Syncing, uncheck SetupIF>Rig Connection>RX Filter Width.
[Issue 127]: Synchronize Filter Width between K3 and PowerSDR/IF Stage. Filter width in PowerSDR/IF Stage and on the K3 is now tracked. The IF Shift control is not tracked, however. When the "Var 2" filter is selected in PoweSDR/IF Stage, automatic filter width sync'ing isdisabled.
[Issue 136]: Collapsible PowerSDR/IF Stage Display (See item # 9 above on this webpage for more details)
Bug Fixes:
[Issue 133]: Fix regression where K3 can go into TX when PowerSDR/IF Stage is powered on.
[Issue 140]: Provide an option to turn on and off offsetting of the VFO when toggling between CW and SSB.
[Issue 144]: Fix PowerMaster incoming serial CAT parsing.
[Issue 146]: Fix PowerSDR/IF Stage CAT Control regression.
[Issue 147]: PowerSDR/IF Stage installer now has a dependency on .NET 3.5 SP1
PowerSDR/IF Stage v1.19.3.4 (2-15-2010)
New Features:
[Issue 104]: Based on PowerSDR v1.19.3
Automatic Wide Band Image Rejection
Support for 64 bit operating systems
Support for Vista and Windows 7
Many bug fixes over v1.19.0 for skin support
[Issue 85]: Direct connection for Yaesu rigs (tested with FT-2000 and FT-950 only)
[Issue 103]: Optimization of direct connection support for Kenwood rigs with OEM CAT control boards
Removal of unused DLL's (potential computer resource savings (CPU/Memory))
[Issue 107]: Configuration data files (database.xml, databaseIF.xml, etc.) are now written outside of the installation directory, to a common application data area ( C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\PowerSDR IF-Stage v1.19.3\* )
[Issue 118]: Added CWL, CWU, FSKL, and FSKU IF mode Offsets in Setup IF
[Issue 124]: Added new debugging console that can be dynamically enabled to help us determine the source of bugs
[Issue 79]: Added support for FT, MD, and TQ for future use.
Bug Fixes:
Many fixes for Elecraft K3 direct connection (Multiple Issues in Bug Database)
[Issue 96]: 6 Meter IF Offset will now be in automatic aligment
[Issue 66]: Modes will remain sticky when switching bands with the PowerSDR/IF Stage band buttons
[Issue 120]: Improved IF Center adjustment on mode changes
[Issue 90]: CW pitch from PowerSDR/IF Stage is automatically added to the CW offset - no need to put pitch frequency in the CW IF Offset box
[Issue 68] : K3 MOX no longer comes on when PowerSDR/IF Stage is started
Setup IF settings not being recalled correctly after restarting the program - multiple settings such as I/Q will now be reloaded properly
[Issue 116]: New warning message box when PowerSDR/IF Stage can't communicate with external rig after connection to the COMM port
[Issue 122]: New warning message box that rig type cannot be switch when PowerSDR/IF Stage is powered on
[Issue 115]: Reset / Import / Export buttons now work in the Setup IF menu
[Issue 123]: Added european minimal locale support - database.xml is primed with a european style data to avoid crashing upon application startup with numbers format exception
[Issue 41]: Improved polling performance on VFO-B
[Issue 67]: PowerSDR/IF Stage no longer hangs when closed
[Issue 76]: Fixed problem where meter does not fall back immediately when switching from TX to RX
PowerSDR/IF Stage v1.19.0.2 (8-18-2009)
New Features:
[SVN Revision 136]: Add TS-950 Rig Connection Support
Bug Fixes:
[Issue 61] : Zoom adjustment causes PowerSDR to terminate. The root of the issue caused various issues with the K3 support.
[Issue 65]: A display max limit is 1000MHz. Frequency max was limited to 1000Mhz. Increased it to 10,000Mhz.
PowerSDR/IF Stage v1.19.0.1 (8-6-2009)
This is software will contain bugs! Please report them here. Please do not email bug reports.
PowerSDR/IF Stage is based on the "Pretty Betty" branch of PowerSDR v1.19.3. The pretty betty branch introduced "skins" to PowerSDR, but its an early version of skin support. We are aware of many display anomalies, such a flashing of the console and other visual oddities when doing certain actions in PowerSDR. Also, without question, version 1.19.0.2 of PowerSDR/IF Stage requires more CPU power that the 0.92 version did. This is for two reasons - one is that some of the DSP code is more intensive now and the other is the skin support seemed to increase CPU usage more. This means its possible that 0.92 would run just fine for you, but 1.19.0.1 will have audio breaks ups, especially at the higher sampling rates. We cannot improve performance anymore than we already have. FlexRadio is going to be releasing a more stable version of Pretty Betty, with more DSP performance features (Wide Band Image Rejection) around September 2009 and we intend to merge up to that version as soon as it becomes available.
No attempt has been made to allow PowerSDR/IF Stage to continue to work with any FlexRadio models. If you use a FlexRadio, use another stock install of PowerSDR from FlexRadio Systems. Do not select any other radio type other than "SDR-1000" in PowerSDR/IF Stage.
Please report any issues or bugs you find in version 1.19.3.5 here . Please include as much relavant information as you can. We are only fixing issues in version 1.19.3.x and not any of the previous 0.9x versions.
Here are previous versions of the software. Please use the newest version of the software if you are just starting out. The 0.92 version might be useful if you have an older computer and are having CPU performance issues with the newer 1.19.x.x. version. Note that we are no longer developing the 0.9x version stream:
Since this website served as the only documentation available for these earlier versions, you can download the previous webpage for the 0.9x version in PDF format HERE.
If you would like to show your appreciation and help support the future development of PowerSDR/IF Stage, please consider a donation. Besides the development cost and time required, this continues to generate a lot of support email (and even phone calls) for Chad and myself. You can use PayPal (button below), or write to me at my address in the FCC ULS database
Hosting of this website, the PowerSDR/IF Stage download and WU2X.com generously donated byLee Imber, WW2DX, since 2007. Supporting our sponsor helps support our project. Please consider Imber Networks for any and all of your web hosting needs