[hpsdr] SWR Problems with PennyLane

[Phil Harman]

Hi Scotty,

I've just sent exactly the same reply.  How the voltage is sent depends on
how the person did the coding - you can be sure that it will be there on
Tx.

73 Phil....VK6APH


> ***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>
> Hi Mark,
>
> Make sure that there is a jumper on JP2 pins 1-2. That jumper is used
> to separate the DAC/filter circuitry from the PA stages. If it is
> missing (or on pins 2-3), you will get no output.
>
> If you want to check the "drive" level to the ADC, you can put your
> meter on J7 pin 17. This should be a voltage level commensurate with
> the drive control. (This point is also the junction of C23 and R45,
> which might be easier to put your probe on than the fine-pitch IC
> pin.)  If you get zero volts there, it is probably because you either
> are using an old revision of Pennylane/Penelope FPGA code, or you
> have checked "Penelope" instead of "Pennylane" in the setup.  Just
> something to look at if you want to dig into it.
>
> The voltage may only be there during transmit, maybe Phil could
> answer that question.
>
> 73,
> Scotty WA2DFI
>
>
>
>
>
> At 12:18 PM 2/5/2012 -0500, you wrote:
>>***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>
>>I forgot to mention: I still see 0 power level indicated on LEDs 2
>>through 6 (i.e. none of them lit) when I key down or Tune with the
>>Dummy Load connected.
>>
>>Mark - K4XML
>>
>>On 2/5/12 12:04 PM, Mark Leone wrote:
>>>***** High Performance Software Defined Radio Discussion List *****
>>>
>>>Thanks, Phil. After posting I noticed that the external tuner
>>>requires 1 watt minimum input, and the LEDs are indeed indicating
>>>no RF. However, I tried again with the 50 ohm dummy load connected
>>>to the output of PennyLane, and there still seems to be a problem.
>>>
>>>Using PowerSDR, when I press Tune on the GUI or key the transmitter
>>>in CW mode, I see 0 Watts Forward and Reflected Power. I measure
>>>the voltage across the dummy load's diode detector, and I see it go
>>>up slightly, from 2 milliVolts (TX off) to 12 milliVolts key down).
>>>This equates to less than 1 milliWatt PEP, so something's not right.
>>>
>>>I have the Drive control on the main screen set to 100, and I tried
>>>adjusting the per-band gains on the PA Settings screen. Setting the
>>>minimal value in the latter gave me a slight increase in TX-on
>>>voltage from 10 milliVolts to 12 milliVolts. I also found some
>>>settings on other screens that pertained to transmit level, but
>>>increasing these did not make any difference.
>>>
>>>Perhaps I've mis-configured PennyLane. I didn't find a manual
>>>explicitly for PennyLane, so I used the Penelope manual. I
>>>understand the differences are minimal, but when I look at the
>>>picture of the circuit board showing the jumper settings, I see
>>>different jumper locations on my board compared to the picture in
>>>the manual. Nevertheless, I didn't muck with the factory jumper
>>>settings other than the PTT, Bias, and Aud jumpers. For those, I
>>>have them all removed per the manual instructions, since I have no
>>>mic connected to PennyLane. I have only a CW key connected to the
>>>DB-9 port on Metis.
>>>
>>>FWIW I get different behavior when I boot into Linux and run
>>>ghpsdr. When I key the transmitter, I see rapidly-changing SWR
>>>values in the GUI, never settling down to a usable value. I'm happy
>>>to work with PowerSDR to figure out the problem, but perhaps the
>>>ghpsdr behavior is a clue. I'm surprised to see this behavior with
>>>only a dummy load connected. It's behaving as if there's a tuner
>>>in-line when there isn't.
>>>
>>>Mark - K4XML
>>>
>>>On 2/4/12 9:41 PM, Phil Harman wrote:
>>>>Hi Mark,
>>>>
>>>>First test your PennyLane board by connecting it directly to a 50
>>>>ohm dummy load. Your PC code should indicate 500+mW output in Tune
>>>>mode and the LEDs on the board (which form a power bar graph) should
>>>> all be on.
>>>>
>>>>The change in flash rate of LED 7 happens when the PTT is active -
>>>>I need to add this to the documentation.
>>>>
>>>>It may be that 500mW is not enough power for your ATU to  tune
>>>>correctly  - I suggest you check the specification.
>>>>
>>>>73 Phil...VK6APH
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