[hpsdr] PowerSDR/OpenHPSDR mRX PS v3.2.26 released

[Doug W5WC]

All,

PowerSDR/OpenHPSDR mRX PS v3.2.26 has been released.

This release can be downloaded from the apache-labs.com website.
https://apache-labs.com/download_file.php?downloads_id=1032

It is not available from the openhpsdr.org website at this time.

This release contains the following changes:

* You will now find the FocusMaster feature on the Setup/CAT Control/CAT
tab.  This feature is aimed primarily at contest operation and automatically
restores Windows "focus" back to your logging (or other) window after you
make an adjustment in PowerSDR. There are three modes to specify a window to
which you would like focus restored:  (1) if you use the N1MM+ Logger, just
select this Mode and PowerSDR will automatically find the input window, (2)
Select by Click - choose this mode and then next Click within the window to
which you'd like focus restored, and (3) Enter Window Title - type in the
text of the window titlebar EXACTLY as it appears.  You can also specify a
Delay time, the time between interaction with PowerSDR and return of focus
to the selected window.

For the N1MM+ Logger mode to function, PowerSDR must receive information
from the N1MM+ Logger program identifying the input window.  To enable the
N1MM+ program to send this information, a few lines must be added to the
file N1MMLogger.ini .  These can be added/modified with a text editor, e.g.,
Notepad, and should read:

[ExternalBroadcast]
DestinationIPs=127.0.0.1
DestinationPort=12060
IsBroadcastAppInfo=True
IsBroadcastContact=True
IsBroadcastRadio=True

Windows Firewall may ask you if it's OK to allow communication between 
N1MM+ and PowerSDR to which, of course, you should respond that it is.

Note also that, to allow you sufficient time to configure the FocusMaster,
focus will NOT go to your selected program as long as the Setup/CAT
Control/CAT tab is open.

* Several operators recently reported problems using PureSignal
Auto-Calibrate with their amplifier chains.  Based upon very detailed
feedback from a few people, some significant improvements have been made in
the way PureSignal deals with "challenging" amplifier chains.  If you were
having difficulty with PureSignal Auto-Calibrate, we encourage you to try
this latest software release.

* John, K5IT has shared his recent code changes that reduces latency using
the VAC feature. 
Here is more information about those changes:

* The 120ms minimum latency for VAC output has been removed.

Many users on current versions of windows can achieve much lower latency
than the default 120ms; however, if you can get frequent drop-outs setting
the value too low. 50ms is a reasonable starting point. There is a lot of
variability, so experiment to find what works best in your setup.

* The VAC input and output audio buffers are now dynamically scaled in based
on the latency, buffer size, and sample rate.

The VAC buffer is sized to hold a maximum of twice the number of samples
required to maintain the specified average latency. For example with 48000
sample rate and 50ms latency, the buffer will hold
48000 samples/sec * 0.050 sec * 2 = 4800 samples. The buffer is then rounded
up to the next multiple of the audio buffer size. In this example if we have
selected 1024 as the audio buffer size the VAC buffer will be 4800 rounded
up to the nearest multiple of 1024: 5120 samples. The minimum VAC buffer
size is two audio buffers.

These changes are made ahead of properly implementing a variable rate
resampler which will properly and accurately match the radio's samplerate
with the audio hardware (real or virtual). The buffer scaling has been
included now after receiving favorable reports of latency improvements from
early testers.

* Other minor bug-fixes and improvements include:
CAT Command support for ZZFR, ZZFS, and ZZCN was added.
   ZZFR - Reads or sets the RX2 DSP Filter High value
   ZZFS - Reads or sets the RX2 DSP Filter Low value
   ZZCN - Reads or sets the CTUN button for RX1

CTUN control was added to the DJ Console Controller.

The 'BYPASS on Tx', 'Ext 2 on Tx', and 'Ext1 on Tx' work correctly when
using the "Disable BYPASS' feature.


You WILL need to reset your database.

Thanks & 73,

Doug, W5WC
Warren, NR0V