[hpsdr] Making DDU more reliable

[Neal Campbell]

Hi!

I should add "from human error" to the subject of this email!

I see a lot of apparent frustration from less computer-savvy users when
they have set their SDR radio to work in conjunction with DDUtil but
continually have problems when they accidently close the main window
(killing the program). Then, the frequency stops appearing in fldigi or HRD
and then the user starts trying to "fix" the problem which doesn't help.

In recent days, I also have seen an error in my conventional configuration
where DDUtil comes up and doesn't find any comm ports even though your
VSPMgr-defined ports are there. FYI, Steve advises against starting DDUtil
in the startup folder of Windows.

So, I recommend using a scheduled task to start DDUtil and keep it running.
This way, even if DDU accidently terminates for whatever reason, it will
restart itself and you might not even notice!

I will show you how to do it. First, kill DDUtil. Next, if you start DDUtil
via the Startup folder of your account, remove it from there.

Go to the Control Panel and double-click on "Administrative Tools". Then
double=click on Task Scheduler.

On the right panel, click once on Create Task. In the Name field, type
DDUtil.

Now click on the Actions tab. Click on the New button.In the dialog box
that opens, select 'Start a program'. Click the Browse button. Go to where
you have installed DDUtil. Before you do anything in the file chooser,
right-click in the 'Breadcrumb' Bar at the top of the dialog box (where it
likely says Computer>c:>DDUtil V3>) and select Copy Address as Text. Now
select the DDUtil's exe file (ie, DDUtil v3.exe) and then click Open. Back
in the New task dialog box, Pright-cllck in the Start in (Optional) field
and select Paste. Then click OK.

Now click on the Triggers tab.

Click New. At the top of the new Task dialog box, select At startup for
beginning the trigger. Now click the Delay Task checkbox. In the combo box
beside it, erase the text in there and type 20 Seconds'.Then click OK.

Back in the Triggers tab, click New again. This time, all you have to do is
click the Repeat Task every: check box. Then erase the text in the combo
box beside it and type in '2 Minutes'. Then click OK.

Then click OK in the Create Task dialog box. Now you can close the Task
Scheduler.

Wait 2 minutes and watch DDU magically appears. If you accident kill it in
the future, it will start by itself. If you have been experiencing the 'No
Comm Port Defined" problem, it is now solved!

73

Neal Campbell
Abroham Neal LLC

*** 10 DAY COMPUTER SALE NOW IN PROGRESS!! ***
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