A new version of the Perseus software has been released, features and fixes are as follows:

Version 2.1i fixes some minor issues contained in the previous software version v2.1h:

• Preselection filters button misalignment in the Front-End panel
• System Date changes prevent software to be run unless fully registered
• New Marker Log File Format

Download at source here.

 

A new version of BobCAT has been released. Changes include support for non standard DPI settings and running without the main Perseus program.

You can read more about BobCAT here and you can download the latest version here.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that versuon 2.1H has been released today by Nico.

It is a larger install as you get new drivers. WinUSB is used and this gets around the issues of signed drivers in Windows 64bit OSes. Download at source.

What's new:

- Fully featured demonstration version.
- WinUSB drivers and new Perseus control DLL for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows 7 - 32 and 64 bit versions.
- Support for multiple Perseus receivers attached to a single PC.
- New FPGA cores with 48, 96, 192 kHz output sample rates.
- Direct support for CW Skimmer.
- Support for external frequency down-converters.
- Spectrum Display Max Hold/Clear/Pause Functions.
- New Waterfall Processing Modes.
- Waterfall Automatic Gain Control Options.
- Waterfall Time Ticks.
- User Configurable Color Palette.
- Markers Log.
- New S-Meter and Marker Units.
- Bugs fixed.

Perseus Control DLL v3.2 (19 Dec. 2009 - 47 kB .zip file) Fixes issues with multiple receivers installations. Improved support  for VE3NEA's CW Skimmer v1.5. Unzip and copy in the Perseus software v2.1h folder (and in the CW Skimmer folder). Download here.

ExtIO DLL for Winrad (20 Dec 2009 - 1.6 MB .zip file) Includes the support for all the Perseus output sampling rates. Download here.

Enjoy!

73

 

Evening all, it's a pretty wet night here in the UK and with the children tucked up asleep in bed and the YL at work it seemed a pretty good idea to get some shack time in!

I’ve put together some pictures of the Perseus, QS1R and the Perseus running using the HOKA SDR interface. I have tired to keep them pretty similar on settings so you can get a look at the lay of the land as it were when it comes to the current crop of SDRs. I will say this and that is the QS1Rs SDRMAXII interface although not as polished as the Perseus GUI does has the advantage(?) of the waterfall and FFT spectrum at the same time; again the HOKA SDR also shows the two together.

It is a shame that as yet Nico has not decided to offer this feature – I am sure it is on someone’s Christmas list! As far as performance goes the HOKA SDR is in very early beta and as such does not benefit from some of the changes Nico has made to the firmware loads for the Perseus. I am sure this small issue will be corrected in a later version along with some more control over the GUI and spectrum monitoring bandwidths etc now as the native Perseus GUI has 2MHz on tap.

For all the screenshots have a look in the gallery.

Best 73 & good sDrX!

Being new to the TADX scene I notice that a lot of the US shows are either the same content (similar to the likes of the GOLD network in the UK) or carry each others programs for sports etc. This can make a positive ID a challenge - top of the hour helps if they break for news but then again the indents’ can be "Talk Radio Sport AM" or similar. Not very helpful!

I've read about and used myself online radio players for checking DX in the past and have found that the CBS radio player at http://www.cbsradio.com/streaming/index.html a fantastic resource.

There are many AM and FM stations listed by US county and it makes comparing content a pretty simple task of matching the frequency you're on with the ones listed. It is not 100% as some will be using affiliate audio - but it helps with narrowing down just who "Talk Radio Sport AM" really is.

The various streams seem pretty reliable as well as fast and a few checks this evening on some of the early TADX stations to appear here shows that 660 KHz is the same as the WFAM web stream. :-) The pop up player even allows you to add stations to your own presets list; making it quicker to jump between them whilst checking those Perseus files!

73

QRM, a nasty three letter word to anyone with a radio.

Ever since I moved to somewhere a little quieter (read not a suburban housing estate) I noticed that even with the loop between 250 KHz and around 600 KHz there was always this mush, no matter what I did or how I worked the antenna feeds or what options I choose as for feed line this mush was omnipresent. At times it would be evident higher up in frequency at other times nothing about 2 MHz at all. So having a little of the TADX bug inside me I decided it was time to swat this pesky noise once and for all! Armed with my Perseus (which is great for spotting noise) and a UPS I went for the big switch!

A recording of the the noise 390Khz_QRN.mp3 (469.39 kb)

Killing my own mains power removed the noise completely, A Ha! It was my QTH that housed the problem, in some ways great in others not so great! If it was somewhere else I could call on OFCOM and its team of QRM investigators to find it and cure it! However being my noise it was my problem, darn! So back to the QRM DFing, now I knew it was me I could turn on the houses’ electrical outlets one by one and see when it appeared, sure enough I discovered that once the lower floors “mains” was restored the noise returned.

I was glad it was not the central heating or anything like that! This now left me with basically the downstairs and the items plugged in or hard wired – not much really to “check”. Grabbing my trusty Yupiteru and tuning to where the noise was strongest 390 KHz I began to wonder around the house (-pretty glad my YL was not about as she always looks upon this hobby with some suspicion!) each time I got anywhere near anything electrical the noise would peak, so if I moved near a light switch, wall outlet or where the wiring runs in the walls the noise would appear. Which at least shows it was the house wiring that was radiating!

This meant it was findable … moving from item to item the kitchen appliances seemed to radiate the most – well! Now I was getting somewhere. The three items that had displays were the fridge, cooker and microwave; in turn I switched them off – voila! Switch the microwave off and the noise is gone! Switch it back on and a swish and the noise returns. Hmmm now this is not some relic from the 80’s this is a state of the art combo microwave from Panasonic, nothing cheap about it, metal cabinet, screwed together and with a bloody decent screen on the back of the unit, but even with all this as noisy as a junk yard dog on a good day!

Even moving the unit to other mains outlets did nothing, boy did this throw some junk up the house wiring. There is no local radiation as running it from a UPS there is only noise (the same noise) within a few inches of the mains lead and the back area where the PSU is located, so it is not the “item” that radiates but it is throwing QRM up the mains lead into the house wiring.

Anyway I have fired off an email to Panasonic detailing what I have found and I am awaiting a reply. Hopefully something will come of this, in the mean time I just leave it switched off until I need it.

Probably a good thing as I have read some reviews on web sites and someone noted that on standby they consume 75 watts! What the hell for, the front display? If it needed 75 watts to display the clock I would be able to see if from another town it would be that bright! Below are some screenshots of the noise so you get the idea of what it looked like on the Perseus spectrum and waterfall displays.

Narrowed in on the center where it was strongest.

A view of the lower part of the spectrum with the peak.

Zoomed in to see the noise in all its glory.

A waterfall view of the same spectrum

The audio component of the QRM from the microwave.

73