Did the previous program release the COM port?    That may be the issue.  I'd shut everything down, restart the computer (do not shut down as it actually does a hibernation save of the current state) and see if it still happens.

Neil, KN3ILZ

On 12/25/2020 5:33 PM, chrisdg4kvi@... wrote:

[Edited Message Follows]

Merry Christmas. I recently loaded MMSSTV to receive the ISS. I also used the RT systems to safe the memories. All seemed fine but now WSJT is reporting a Hamlib error. Tried everything (obviously not) so does anyone have any ideas? This has been working fine until today.

Good point, may consider but think adjusting the time server polling will take care of this. More after I try. 

On Dec 25, 2020, at 8:56 PM, Robert Lorenzini <bob@...> wrote:

And he could use a cheap USB GPS dongle and BKTtimesync or similar.

Bob - wd6dod

On 12/25/2020 5:18 PM, john ni0k wrote:

There is a way to accomplish release of the port without rebooting. Open Device Manager, right-click the proper port and select Disable. Right-click again and select Enable. Ignore any message about rebooting.

--
73,
-de John NI0K
https://www.qrz.com/db/NI0K

MARTIN LAMPNER wrote on 12/25/2020 6:36 PM:

Chris, I found that once an app has used the Com Port via USB, even if you exit the program it does not always release the Com Port. The error is telling you the port i not available. The fix while a nuisance is unfortunately to reboot the machine if this is what is causing it. My guess is RT did not disconnect from the USB connection on exit. A reboot cures that. 

Dan nothing to apologize about. Yes the 991A and I assume the 991 actually opens to com ports via the USB cable. When using HRD’s Rig control as the “radio” in WSJT you get a choice PPT called CAT and I assume that it instructs WSJT to use the second port for sound. I do know the audio is getting to WSJT as the audio meter on the left of the screen show level and responds if I raise or lower the volume on the 991A.  

I’m actually using the NIST.GOV clock as my time server, assuming the time.is website is accurate then my clock in the PC is accurate to within 7/10s of a second so I am  fairly confident time sync is good. I could improve on it. Windows 10 calls the time server once a day, but you can edit the Registry and instruct it to do it more frequently. I’m always hesitant to mess in the registry but if I wanted to improve the accuracy of time keeping having it do it four times a day but I don’t think that is going to be needed. I know my PC calls for time at 9:38PM and resets then. If when I checked it about half an hour ago it was only 7 10ths behind It should be no more than .085 behind at reset. 

I do have some concern about how good Time.Is is just because the net itself can induce time loss. Not sure how it compensates for that. As I mentioned I really loved my old radio based time check system but it was when I had the company buy it about $800. But it theoretically was going to be off by know more than .001 seconds from WWV, anywhere in North America and less than that most places. 

Still struggling with getting this to work right but one thing being retired and being careful about COVID is provide time to play with this. 

On Dec 25, 2020, at 6:59 PM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:

sorry I misspoke, I thought from reading the specs of the 991 that an SCU17 was required. Reading it again, the SCU17 is integrated into the unit. 

Perhaps then also probably gives HRD the ability to adjust the SCU17? 

My apologies 

Dan KC2STA

On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 6:19 PM Mike Koralewski K8VA <k8va@...> wrote:

I disagree.. It is perfectly "best" to use the direct USB on the rig, to USB on the computer technique on the FT991a. There is absolutely no reason to use an external sound card, unless you want to add more complication to an already complicated situation.

Additionally, the Mienberg NTP time synchro is another over complicated program... I used it for a time, but after a contentious " Microsoft Update Tuesday"  a couple of months ago, I ran into continuous off-synch issues.. Deleting Mienberg and downloading and installing Dimention 4 solved that issue... D4 is old program but it is very easy to install and setup. No issues anymore. 
Yes, it was very good advise to set the bandwidth to Maximum on the Ft991a.
73 and Happy Holiday... 
MIKE K8VA 

--

Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX

[Edited Message Follows]

Merry Christmas. I recently loaded MMSSTV to receive the ISS. I also used the RT systems to safe the memories. All seemed fine but now WSJT is reporting a Hamlib error. Tried everything (obviously not) so does anyone have any ideas? This has been working fine until today.

On Dec 25, 2020, at 8:56 PM, Robert Lorenzini <bob@...> wrote:

And he could use a cheap USB GPS dongle and BKTtimesync or similar.

Bob - wd6dod

On 12/25/2020 5:18 PM, john ni0k wrote:

There is a way to accomplish release of the port without rebooting. Open Device Manager, right-click the proper port and select Disable. Right-click again and select Enable. Ignore any message about rebooting.

--
73,
-de John NI0K
https://www.qrz.com/db/NI0K

MARTIN LAMPNER wrote on 12/25/2020 6:36 PM:

Chris, I found that once an app has used the Com Port via USB, even if you exit the program it does not always release the Com Port. The error is telling you the port i not available. The fix while a nuisance is unfortunately to reboot the machine if this is what is causing it. My guess is RT did not disconnect from the USB connection on exit. A reboot cures that. 

Dan nothing to apologize about. Yes the 991A and I assume the 991 actually opens to com ports via the USB cable. When using HRD’s Rig control as the “radio” in WSJT you get a choice PPT called CAT and I assume that it instructs WSJT to use the second port for sound. I do know the audio is getting to WSJT as the audio meter on the left of the screen show level and responds if I raise or lower the volume on the 991A.  

I’m actually using the NIST.GOV clock as my time server, assuming the time.is website is accurate then my clock in the PC is accurate to within 7/10s of a second so I am  fairly confident time sync is good. I could improve on it. Windows 10 calls the time server once a day, but you can edit the Registry and instruct it to do it more frequently. I’m always hesitant to mess in the registry but if I wanted to improve the accuracy of time keeping having it do it four times a day but I don’t think that is going to be needed. I know my PC calls for time at 9:38PM and resets then. If when I checked it about half an hour ago it was only 7 10ths behind It should be no more than .085 behind at reset. 

I do have some concern about how good Time.Is is just because the net itself can induce time loss. Not sure how it compensates for that. As I mentioned I really loved my old radio based time check system but it was when I had the company buy it about $800. But it theoretically was going to be off by know more than .001 seconds from WWV, anywhere in North America and less than that most places. 

Still struggling with getting this to work right but one thing being retired and being careful about COVID is provide time to play with this. 

On Dec 25, 2020, at 6:59 PM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:

sorry I misspoke, I thought from reading the specs of the 991 that an SCU17 was required. Reading it again, the SCU17 is integrated into the unit. 

Perhaps then also probably gives HRD the ability to adjust the SCU17? 

My apologies 

Dan KC2STA

On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 6:19 PM Mike Koralewski K8VA <k8va@...> wrote:

I disagree.. It is perfectly "best" to use the direct USB on the rig, to USB on the computer technique on the FT991a. There is absolutely no reason to use an external sound card, unless you want to add more complication to an already complicated situation.

Additionally, the Mienberg NTP time synchro is another over complicated program... I used it for a time, but after a contentious " Microsoft Update Tuesday"  a couple of months ago, I ran into continuous off-synch issues.. Deleting Mienberg and downloading and installing Dimention 4 solved that issue... D4 is old program but it is very easy to install and setup. No issues anymore. 
Yes, it was very good advise to set the bandwidth to Maximum on the Ft991a.
73 and Happy Holiday... 
MIKE K8VA 

--

Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX

There is a way to accomplish release of the port without rebooting. Open Device Manager, right-click the proper port and select Disable. Right-click again and select Enable. Ignore any message about rebooting.

--
73,
-de John NI0K
https://www.qrz.com/db/NI0K

MARTIN LAMPNER wrote on 12/25/2020 6:36 PM:

Chris, I found that once an app has used the Com Port via USB, even if you exit the program it does not always release the Com Port. The error is telling you the port i not available. The fix while a nuisance is unfortunately to reboot the machine if this is what is causing it. My guess is RT did not disconnect from the USB connection on exit. A reboot cures that. 

Dan nothing to apologize about. Yes the 991A and I assume the 991 actually opens to com ports via the USB cable. When using HRD’s Rig control as the “radio” in WSJT you get a choice PPT called CAT and I assume that it instructs WSJT to use the second port for sound. I do know the audio is getting to WSJT as the audio meter on the left of the screen show level and responds if I raise or lower the volume on the 991A.  

I’m actually using the NIST.GOV clock as my time server, assuming the time.is website is accurate then my clock in the PC is accurate to within 7/10s of a second so I am  fairly confident time sync is good. I could improve on it. Windows 10 calls the time server once a day, but you can edit the Registry and instruct it to do it more frequently. I’m always hesitant to mess in the registry but if I wanted to improve the accuracy of time keeping having it do it four times a day but I don’t think that is going to be needed. I know my PC calls for time at 9:38PM and resets then. If when I checked it about half an hour ago it was only 7 10ths behind It should be no more than .085 behind at reset. 

I do have some concern about how good Time.Is is just because the net itself can induce time loss. Not sure how it compensates for that. As I mentioned I really loved my old radio based time check system but it was when I had the company buy it about $800. But it theoretically was going to be off by know more than .001 seconds from WWV, anywhere in North America and less than that most places. 

Still struggling with getting this to work right but one thing being retired and being careful about COVID is provide time to play with this. 

On Dec 25, 2020, at 6:59 PM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:

sorry I misspoke, I thought from reading the specs of the 991 that an SCU17 was required. Reading it again, the SCU17 is integrated into the unit. 

Perhaps then also probably gives HRD the ability to adjust the SCU17? 

My apologies 

Dan KC2STA

On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 6:19 PM Mike Koralewski K8VA <k8va@...> wrote:

I disagree.. It is perfectly "best" to use the direct USB on the rig, to USB on the computer technique on the FT991a. There is absolutely no reason to use an external sound card, unless you want to add more complication to an already complicated situation.

Additionally, the Mienberg NTP time synchro is another over complicated program... I used it for a time, but after a contentious " Microsoft Update Tuesday"  a couple of months ago, I ran into continuous off-synch issues.. Deleting Mienberg and downloading and installing Dimention 4 solved that issue... D4 is old program but it is very easy to install and setup. No issues anymore. 
Yes, it was very good advise to set the bandwidth to Maximum on the Ft991a.
73 and Happy Holiday... 
MIKE K8VA 

--

Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX

Chris, I found that once an app has used the Com Port via USB, even if you exit the program it does not always release the Com Port. The error is telling you the port i not available. The fix while a nuisance is unfortunately to reboot the machine if this is what is causing it. My guess is RT did not disconnect from the USB connection on exit. A reboot cures that. 

Dan nothing to apologize about. Yes the 991A and I assume the 991 actually opens to com ports via the USB cable. When using HRD’s Rig control as the “radio” in WSJT you get a choice PPT called CAT and I assume that it instructs WSJT to use the second port for sound. I do know the audio is getting to WSJT as the audio meter on the left of the screen show level and responds if I raise or lower the volume on the 991A.  

I’m actually using the NIST.GOV clock as my time server, assuming the time.is website is accurate then my clock in the PC is accurate to within 7/10s of a second so I am  fairly confident time sync is good. I could improve on it. Windows 10 calls the time server once a day, but you can edit the Registry and instruct it to do it more frequently. I’m always hesitant to mess in the registry but if I wanted to improve the accuracy of time keeping having it do it four times a day but I don’t think that is going to be needed. I know my PC calls for time at 9:38PM and resets then. If when I checked it about half an hour ago it was only 7 10ths behind It should be no more than .085 behind at reset. 

I do have some concern about how good Time.Is is just because the net itself can induce time loss. Not sure how it compensates for that. As I mentioned I really loved my old radio based time check system but it was when I had the company buy it about $800. But it theoretically was going to be off by know more than .001 seconds from WWV, anywhere in North America and less than that most places. 

Still struggling with getting this to work right but one thing being retired and being careful about COVID is provide time to play with this. 

On Dec 25, 2020, at 6:59 PM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:

sorry I misspoke, I thought from reading the specs of the 991 that an SCU17 was required. Reading it again, the SCU17 is integrated into the unit. 

Perhaps then also probably gives HRD the ability to adjust the SCU17? 

My apologies 

Dan KC2STA

On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 6:19 PM Mike Koralewski K8VA <k8va@...> wrote:

I disagree.. It is perfectly "best" to use the direct USB on the rig, to USB on the computer technique on the FT991a. There is absolutely no reason to use an external sound card, unless you want to add more complication to an already complicated situation.

Additionally, the Mienberg NTP time synchro is another over complicated program... I used it for a time, but after a contentious " Microsoft Update Tuesday"  a couple of months ago, I ran into continuous off-synch issues.. Deleting Mienberg and downloading and installing Dimention 4 solved that issue... D4 is old program but it is very easy to install and setup. No issues anymore. 
Yes, it was very good advise to set the bandwidth to Maximum on the Ft991a.
73 and Happy Holiday... 
MIKE K8VA 

--

Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX

On Dec 25, 2020, at 6:59 PM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:

sorry I misspoke, I thought from reading the specs of the 991 that an SCU17 was required. Reading it again, the SCU17 is integrated into the unit. 

Perhaps then also probably gives HRD the ability to adjust the SCU17? 

My apologies 

Dan KC2STA

On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 6:19 PM Mike Koralewski K8VA <k8va@...> wrote:

I disagree.. It is perfectly "best" to use the direct USB on the rig, to USB on the computer technique on the FT991a. There is absolutely no reason to use an external sound card, unless you want to add more complication to an already complicated situation.

Additionally, the Mienberg NTP time synchro is another over complicated program... I used it for a time, but after a contentious " Microsoft Update Tuesday"  a couple of months ago, I ran into continuous off-synch issues.. Deleting Mienberg and downloading and installing Dimention 4 solved that issue... D4 is old program but it is very easy to install and setup. No issues anymore. 
Yes, it was very good advise to set the bandwidth to Maximum on the Ft991a.
73 and Happy Holiday... 
MIKE K8VA 

--

Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX

On Dec 25, 2020, at 4:56 PM, Bob McGraw K4TAX <rmcgraw@...> wrote:

Interesting regarding HRD.   I use a single USB cable between my radio and my computer to operate AFSK, PSK-31 and CW. Two of these are audio modes and CAT control.   All at the same time too.  

Bob, K4TAX

On Dec 25, 2020, at 4:18 PM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:



Marty-

confirm your time accuracy at https://time.is

HRD gives you CAT control, but has nothing to do with the audio.

Dan KC2STA

On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 2:57 PM MARTIN LAMPNER <Martin@...> wrote:

Thanks Dan, 

I am actually connecting via a USB cable with appropriate chokes on both ends rather than sound cards and HRD which also uses that connection seems to be fine with it.  I did decide since one of the radios choices is HRD to use it in place of the actual radio and it tests fine. 

As to time I am fairly sure I’m within the 1 second window. I used to have a radio receiver that could be plugged into the PC that would tune WWV and had software that could compare the system clock to it unfortunately it was my employer’s and it stayed with them when I retired. We needed it as we had networks in three states that had to maintain sync for certain functions. In the absence of that I made the changes suggested to WIN10, going to NIST rather than the Microsoft time server and while I can only check by ear I did tune WWV and watched and my computer is clicking over the minute so close to tone that it is easily in the 1 second even allowing for the 10 milsec delay between transmitter so I don’t think its time and in any case I doubt it would be what is preventing the transmit to work. 

If I can’t figure this out I will go back to a direct connection with HRD down but the problem with that is it would mean reconfiguring HRD to either work with these parameters or alternatively reconfigure the radio each time I want to use the other setup. 

Hope you are having a great holiday, 73 KC3PZX. 

On Dec 25, 2020, at 6:33 AM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:

Martin-

with any WSJT mode time accuracy of the pc is critical. YOu need to install a time sync program, I use Meinberg NTP. 

One thing to do is get FT8 working first, before WSPR. FT8 has very short time cycles, as opposed to waiting 2 mins for the wspr cycle. 

Do you have your sound card properly selected in WSJTx?

what audio interface are you using? I use a Signalink. it is best to use a 2nd sound card, not the built in one.

when you look at the WSJTx display do you see audio activity on the lower left of the display? 

in the waterfall do you see signals in the wspr bandwidth?

here is a guide to set up audio, https://wsjtx.groups.io/g/main/message/13890

make sure the receiver is set for max bandwidth and USB data mode. 

Hope that helps

Dan KC2STA

On Thu, Dec 24, 2020 at 4:42 PM MARTIN LAMPNER <Martin@...> wrote:

My thanks for allowing me to join the WSJT-X group.  I am a freshly minted General license holder, with at this moment in time about 8 weeks of operation behind me. I held a Novice license in the mid 1960s but never took it further than that - girls and cars distracted me from the hobby.

In rejoining the hobby I am excited about learning more about the various digital modes. I’m interested initially in Whspr as I have built several antennas and it would seem to offer a good way to see how they perform and how various tweaks will help them.

I know I will be asking many questions no doubt asked and answered before so I apologize for taking folks time on things that may be common knowledge.

I do have two questions but first let me share my setup as that could have some bearing on my questions. I am running a Yeasu FT 991A. I built two antennas, one for the HF 20 meter band, a ground mounted vertical, with roughly 20 or so radials.  On the VHF/UHF side I have built a vertical mounted about 14 feet up. Both seem to be performing fairly well but as I say I am interested in seeing how far they can reach.

So to the questions: I am located in Delaware in the USA near the Atlantic Coast, about  3 miles from the coast line. I have run wsjt in Whspr mode twice now with no inbound contacts. I did look at the real time map and saw a station located about 15 miles from me had five contacts. Am I being impatient? I let it run about an hour one time and about an hour and a half the second time.  What is a reasonably amount of time to expect to see inbound contacts?

Second Question when I click on Transmit it will not stay lit. When i did the setup and tested push to talk it worked fine but in an active session it lights for a second then goes back to white? Any ideas on what’s wrong?

Again my apologies for taking the group’s time with what I expect are fairly rudimentary questions.

Merry Christmas to all and best wishes,

KC3PZX - Marty   73.

--

Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX

--

Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX

On Dec 25, 2020, at 4:18 PM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:



Marty-

confirm your time accuracy at https://time.is

HRD gives you CAT control, but has nothing to do with the audio.

Dan KC2STA

On Fri, Dec 25, 2020 at 2:57 PM MARTIN LAMPNER <Martin@...> wrote:

Thanks Dan, 

I am actually connecting via a USB cable with appropriate chokes on both ends rather than sound cards and HRD which also uses that connection seems to be fine with it.  I did decide since one of the radios choices is HRD to use it in place of the actual radio and it tests fine. 

As to time I am fairly sure I’m within the 1 second window. I used to have a radio receiver that could be plugged into the PC that would tune WWV and had software that could compare the system clock to it unfortunately it was my employer’s and it stayed with them when I retired. We needed it as we had networks in three states that had to maintain sync for certain functions. In the absence of that I made the changes suggested to WIN10, going to NIST rather than the Microsoft time server and while I can only check by ear I did tune WWV and watched and my computer is clicking over the minute so close to tone that it is easily in the 1 second even allowing for the 10 milsec delay between transmitter so I don’t think its time and in any case I doubt it would be what is preventing the transmit to work. 

If I can’t figure this out I will go back to a direct connection with HRD down but the problem with that is it would mean reconfiguring HRD to either work with these parameters or alternatively reconfigure the radio each time I want to use the other setup. 

Hope you are having a great holiday, 73 KC3PZX. 

On Dec 25, 2020, at 6:33 AM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:

Martin-

with any WSJT mode time accuracy of the pc is critical. YOu need to install a time sync program, I use Meinberg NTP. 

One thing to do is get FT8 working first, before WSPR. FT8 has very short time cycles, as opposed to waiting 2 mins for the wspr cycle. 

Do you have your sound card properly selected in WSJTx?

what audio interface are you using? I use a Signalink. it is best to use a 2nd sound card, not the built in one.

when you look at the WSJTx display do you see audio activity on the lower left of the display? 

in the waterfall do you see signals in the wspr bandwidth?

here is a guide to set up audio, https://wsjtx.groups.io/g/main/message/13890

make sure the receiver is set for max bandwidth and USB data mode. 

Hope that helps

Dan KC2STA

On Thu, Dec 24, 2020 at 4:42 PM MARTIN LAMPNER <Martin@...> wrote:

My thanks for allowing me to join the WSJT-X group.  I am a freshly minted General license holder, with at this moment in time about 8 weeks of operation behind me. I held a Novice license in the mid 1960s but never took it further than that - girls and cars distracted me from the hobby.

In rejoining the hobby I am excited about learning more about the various digital modes. I’m interested initially in Whspr as I have built several antennas and it would seem to offer a good way to see how they perform and how various tweaks will help them.

I know I will be asking many questions no doubt asked and answered before so I apologize for taking folks time on things that may be common knowledge.

I do have two questions but first let me share my setup as that could have some bearing on my questions. I am running a Yeasu FT 991A. I built two antennas, one for the HF 20 meter band, a ground mounted vertical, with roughly 20 or so radials.  On the VHF/UHF side I have built a vertical mounted about 14 feet up. Both seem to be performing fairly well but as I say I am interested in seeing how far they can reach.

So to the questions: I am located in Delaware in the USA near the Atlantic Coast, about  3 miles from the coast line. I have run wsjt in Whspr mode twice now with no inbound contacts. I did look at the real time map and saw a station located about 15 miles from me had five contacts. Am I being impatient? I let it run about an hour one time and about an hour and a half the second time.  What is a reasonably amount of time to expect to see inbound contacts?

Second Question when I click on Transmit it will not stay lit. When i did the setup and tested push to talk it worked fine but in an active session it lights for a second then goes back to white? Any ideas on what’s wrong?

Again my apologies for taking the group’s time with what I expect are fairly rudimentary questions.

Merry Christmas to all and best wishes,

KC3PZX - Marty   73.

--

Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX

--

Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX

I want to thank everyone for the welcome and the suggestions. I will be exploring all of them. I did realize something last night. I run Ham Radio Deluxe and looking at various things including the manuals for both the two programs at least on paper work well together having presets for each other.  I decided this AM to try connecting that way. It does connect and at least while on the radio configuration the test for control and PTT both indicate they are working.

Early on in working with this I was getting an error message, that George Nelson commented on Hamlib error: IO error. I realized when I saw his message  what it meant at lest in my case if HRD’s rig control is working it grabs the IO from the USB interface blocking WSJT. I did try with HRD down but was still having issues so I decided to change the configuration and use HRD’s Rig Control as the radio. Doing so as I say does get the tests to work properly and eliminates the IO conflict.

Prior to that when I tried some of the settings folks recommended I found I could get WSJT to do the rig control but was still having issues with the PTT test. The other problem with that is making the various changes in the menu HRD stopped working so I reverted to the defaults and connected through HRD. Doing so I can pass both tests and the radio clearly goes into TX, when doing the PTT test.

I still don’t seem to be getting any incoming messages. Will try the suggestion of using FT8 to see if that behaves differently but also have the problem in both Wshpr and FT8 if I try to enable TX, clicking the button it flashes red for a second  but then reverts to off. If I press tune I can see the transmitter light come on and the unit does auto tune so I’m not sure what is going on.

I did check the time on the system against WWV and while I am using just my ears the time seems well within the second tolerance when displaying the seconds. I note in the WSJT info it says Win 10 does have the accuracy needed if certain adjustments are made. I switched from the Microsoft Time Source to NIST and as I say it is at least as far as I can tell without any instruments staying well within the time standard.  I considered adjusting the polling rate for checking with NIST but decided not to mess with that as its incredibly close to the received signal when tuned to WWV. I am hesitant to set up NTP, as I have had problems with it and some other software in the past.

Is anyone using WSJT through HRD and if so what if any issues are you experiencing.

Thanks all and hope everyone is enjoying the holiday.

On Dec 25, 2020, at 6:33 AM, d_ziolkowski <dan.ziolkowski@...> wrote:

Martin-

with any WSJT mode time accuracy of the pc is critical. YOu need to install a time sync program, I use Meinberg NTP. 

One thing to do is get FT8 working first, before WSPR. FT8 has very short time cycles, as opposed to waiting 2 mins for the wspr cycle. 

Do you have your sound card properly selected in WSJTx?

what audio interface are you using? I use a Signalink. it is best to use a 2nd sound card, not the built in one.

when you look at the WSJTx display do you see audio activity on the lower left of the display? 

in the waterfall do you see signals in the wspr bandwidth?

here is a guide to set up audio, https://wsjtx.groups.io/g/main/message/13890

make sure the receiver is set for max bandwidth and USB data mode. 

Hope that helps

Dan KC2STA

On Thu, Dec 24, 2020 at 4:42 PM MARTIN LAMPNER <Martin@...> wrote:

My thanks for allowing me to join the WSJT-X group.  I am a freshly minted General license holder, with at this moment in time about 8 weeks of operation behind me. I held a Novice license in the mid 1960s but never took it further than that - girls and cars distracted me from the hobby.

In rejoining the hobby I am excited about learning more about the various digital modes. I’m interested initially in Whspr as I have built several antennas and it would seem to offer a good way to see how they perform and how various tweaks will help them.

I know I will be asking many questions no doubt asked and answered before so I apologize for taking folks time on things that may be common knowledge.

I do have two questions but first let me share my setup as that could have some bearing on my questions. I am running a Yeasu FT 991A. I built two antennas, one for the HF 20 meter band, a ground mounted vertical, with roughly 20 or so radials.  On the VHF/UHF side I have built a vertical mounted about 14 feet up. Both seem to be performing fairly well but as I say I am interested in seeing how far they can reach.

So to the questions: I am located in Delaware in the USA near the Atlantic Coast, about  3 miles from the coast line. I have run wsjt in Whspr mode twice now with no inbound contacts. I did look at the real time map and saw a station located about 15 miles from me had five contacts. Am I being impatient? I let it run about an hour one time and about an hour and a half the second time.  What is a reasonably amount of time to expect to see inbound contacts?

Second Question when I click on Transmit it will not stay lit. When i did the setup and tested push to talk it worked fine but in an active session it lights for a second then goes back to white? Any ideas on what’s wrong?

Again my apologies for taking the group’s time with what I expect are fairly rudimentary questions.

Merry Christmas to all and best wishes,

KC3PZX - Marty   73.

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Dan Ziolkowski KC2STA
SKCC #4290T
Ubuntu LINUX