Quisk Version 4.2.30 March 2024 ================================ A new option "Tx-Rx silence msec" on the Timing configuration screen controls how long to suppress Rx audio when switching from Tx to Rx. The previous fixed time was 50 msec. The SSB squelch control now works on CW too. Please test. Quisk Version 4.2.29 January 2024 ================================== This version updates the FreeDV library files and program logic. I added a "Monitor" item to the FreeDV menu. It routes the sound to the speakers instead of to the demodulator. Turn on both the monitor and FDX to listen to your transmitted FreeDV signals. Please test. Modes 700x and 1600 are finished. The other modes will be added shortly. If you use any of them post here and I will move them to the top of the list. Quisk Version 4.2.28 December 2023 =================================== This version includes a patch from Jon, AB8WU, to build Quisk on FreeBSD. Thanks Jon! I fixed a bug in setting the AF level in Hamlib. Quisk Version 4.2.27 December 2023 =================================== This release corrects the Hermes-Lite2 antenna tuner logic. Jim, N1ADJ, has an antenna tuner and is helping debug. Thanks Jim! Quisk Version 4.2.26 December 2023 =================================== This release has support for the Hermes-Lite2 antenna tuner protocol. The tuner button is on the last row of the screen at the left. Please test. Quisk Version 4.2.25 November 2023 =================================== When using the Hermes-Lite2 at a remote location over WiFi, the Tx buffer may underflow. I added another line to the Config/Status screen to show the number of Tx buffer errors. Quisk Version 4.2.24 November 2023 =================================== You can now specify the WSJT-X option "--rig-name" on the Configure WSJT-X window. It used to be fixed at "quisk". Please test. I worked around a bug in wxPython that caused some screens to be too small. I polished the code for the RQST and ACK bits in the Hermes-Lite2 protocol. Quisk Version 4.2.23 September 2023 ==================================== I fixed a bug in the HiQSDR when the clock is not a multiple of 48 kHz. I added more support for the IO board. Quisk Version 4.2.22 August 2023 ================================= This version adds more support for the Hermes Lite2 IO board. Quisk Version 4.2.21 July 2023 =============================== This version includes Windows support for Python 3.11. It also has the new IO board register numbers. Quisk Version 4.2.20 July 2023 =============================== I fixed a bug in the HiQSDR radio that caused the CW sidetone to play when not in CW mode. Quisk Version 4.2.19 May 2023 ============================== I added the Flex ZZAR command to the Hamlib interface. This controls the AGC level from -20 to +120 dB. The levels are mapped to the Quisk AGC level 0.0 to 1.0. The Flex AGC operates as a limiter but the Quisk AGC is a compressor, so you will need to experiment to find the correct ZZAR command. Also the Quisk AGC is never off. The off setting just changes the AGC level. So to turn AGC off send another ZZAR command, perhaps "ZZAR+120;". When using the AC2YD remote feature, the serial port PTT now works correctly. Quisk Version 4.2.18 April 2023 ================================ I added some small changes to the I2C messages sent to the Hermes Lite 2 IO board. Quisk Version 4.2.17 February 2023 =================================== I fixed the PTT keyboard shortcut on Linux. The "documentation" link at the top on the Help screen now works on all platforms. The "Split" feature now defaults to 1000 Hz for CW, and 3000 Hz for other modes. You can now lock either the Rx or Tx frequency. Quisk Version 4.2.16 January 2023 ================================== The CAT serial port can now be a real hardware port or a virtual port. See the Config/radio/Remote screen. Please test. Quisk Version 4.2.15 January 2023 ================================== The Alsa sound driver and the Windows sound driver with the "Fast Sound" option are fast enough to produce a useful sidetone for CW operation. I improved the PulseAudio sound driver to produce a fast sidetone too. Quisk Version 4.2.14 December 2022 =================================== The new file quisk_hardware_fifisdr.py supports the FiFi SDR hardware. Thanks to Joe, LA6GRA. I added the rig 2 Hamlib command "U TUNER 1" to control the Spot button. The Quisk remote feature now works with the "Small" screen format. Please test. Quisk Version 4.2.13 December 2022 =================================== Python 2 was obsolete as of January 1, 2020. And the new code by Ben, AC2YD, needs Python 3. It is troublesome to write code that runs on both Python 2 and Python 3. So it is time to stop supporting Python 2 in Quisk. Please upgrade to Python 3. If you have both versions on your computer use Python 3 for Quisk. Some have reported that the remote Quisk graph stops after a long Tx. No graph data is sent during Tx, so perhaps the open UDP port has expired. I added keepalive graph data that is sent at one second intervals. Let's see if that fixes it. I added support for the HiQSDR radio to Remote Quisk. I corrected some drawing errors on the config screens. I removed the "Help with Radios" config tab and moved the text to the documentation available from the Help button. Quisk Version 4.2.12 November 2022 =================================== I made the Hermes LNA slider control value persistent. This make more sense than having it be a configuration setting. When using Quisk Remote, band changes from WSJT-X now correctly set the HL2 filters. I fixed a bug in the SoftRock amplitude/phase adjustment screens. I started work on using the "small screen" version of Quisk work as a control head. Please test, as more work may be needed. Quisk Version 4.2.11 November 2022 =================================== This is an update to the new Quisk Remote feature by Ben, AC2YD. This version reduces the audio sample rate from 48 ksps to 8 ksps. This should help with slow networks, but is is hard to predict the effect. Please test. If you have dropouts at the new sample rate, try increasing the "Play latency msec" on the Config/Timing screen. Quisk buffers sound, and the buffer size can be adjusted. I fixed the problem with the Split Rx/Tx feature. Please test. Ben made some additional changes for Windows networking. Quisk Version 4.2.10 October 2022 ================================== I improved the Config/Config and Config/TxAudio screens and added help buttons for all items. The File Record button no longer overwrites an existing file. It creates a new file each time it is pressed. Enter a base name and the files will be base001.wav, base002.wav, etc. Decide on a directory for these files, perhaps the Music directory on your computer or a special directory. Files will accumulate there, and must deleted. The File Play names will follow the File Record names so that pressing Play after Record plays the current recording. I had to change a lot of logic for this, and there may be bugs. So please test. I fixed some bugs in the new Quisk Remote feature by Ben, AC2YD. The Spot slider is now initialized. I fixed the bugs in the Split feature. Please test, and if there are any remaining bugs, please report them. I will add a feature to reduce the sample rate from 48 ksps to 8 or 12 ksps as the next step. I didn't add it now because it may cause problems. Maybe it will increase latency, or the added processing will be too much for a Raspberry Pi used as a remote. Quisk Version 4.2.9 October 2022 ================================= This is an update to the new Quisk Remote feature by Ben, AC2YD. I fixed the problem with the favorites screen and the station buttons below the X-axis. I fixed the "Failure in OnFreedvMenu" bug. Quisk Version 4.2.8 September 2022 =================================== This is an update to the new Quisk Remote feature by Ben, AC2YD. Midi now works with the control head. For HermesLite2, the RfLna is correctly initialized. I changed the ports to 4585:TCP control; 4586: graph data; 4587:radio sound and mic. This should work correctly with NAT. The main documentation page docs.html which is available from the Help button now describes the remote feature in more detail. Quisk Version 4.2.7 September 2022 =================================== This is an update to the new Quisk Remote feature by Ben, AC2YD. These features are due to Jaroslav, OK2JRQ: The clip indicator is now sent from the remote to the control head. The remote radio IP address can now be a host name or an IP address. TCP and UDP ports are now distinguished in the documentation. The control head sends initial graph data to the remote in order to establish a path through NAT. The remote radio can now be operated as a normal radio unless there is an active connection to the control head. The Favorites screen now works. I fixed all the bugs I know of except the segmentation fault on RPi4 raspian when closing Quisk. But I need help testing everything. Please test and let me know of any new bugs or bugs I missed. Quisk Version 4.2.6 September 2022 =================================== This is an update to the new Quisk Remote feature by Ben, AC2YD. The frequency is now correctly set when changing bands. Initial menu items are now set. Frequencies stay synchronized when changing from USB to CWU. I changed the graph data from 8 bit to 16 bit. I improved the config screen visibility when using "Dark" mode. Quisk Version 4.2.5 September 2022 =================================== This is an update to the new Quisk Remote feature by Ben, AC2YD. There is no longer a need to make the screen sizes of the control head and remote radio the same. Any size should be OK. If you changed your screen sizes to match, please go back to running with different sizes. Then verify that the graph on the control head is correct. I fixed all the bugs I know about, but this is still beta software. Please test. Quisk Version 4.2.4 August 2022 ================================ This version adds the missing ac2yd directory. It is present in the Quisk source distribution but missing in the "pip" installs. Quisk Version 4.2.3 August 2022 ================================ This is an experimental release to test the new Quisk radio remote control software written by Ben Cahill, AC2YD. This allows Quisk running on a local PC to control a remote radio. The remote radio is connected to a PC also running Quisk. Ben has tested this on SoftRock CW operation. The current test version supports SoftRock and HermesLite2. Quisk Version 4.2.2 July 2022 ============================== I am still working on the Hambib Rig 2 interface. I changed the response to chk_vfo to agree with Hamlib 4.4. I did some work on FM demodulation. Please test. Quisk Version 4.2.1 June 2022 ============================== I improved the Hamlib Rig 2 interface. Please continue to report any problems. To test, start Quisk. Then in a separate window start "telnet localhost 4532". Send commands to Quisk with telnet and view the response. I made some improvements to the station line shown below the X axis on the graph. Quisk now has some support for the Hermes Lite IO Board. Quisk Version 4.2.0 May 2022 ============================== I added a patch from Jaroslav, OK2JRQ, to improve compatibility with Hamlib. I removed the Python function set_transmit_mode() because it seems to be unused. I fixed a lockup problem that happens when the Hermes Lite2 key is pressed during SSB operation. Quisk Version 4.1.96 May 2022 ============================== These changes were suggested by Neil, G4BRK. I fixed the bug that touching the CW key in SSB mode locked up Quisk in transmit mode. All the Record/Play file names on the Config/Config screen were already saved when starting Quisk. The state of the Play device is now saved too. I didn't save the Record check boxes because restarting Quisk may overwrite an existing file. When changing between CW and SSB, the transmit and receive frequencies are moved by the CW tone frequency. That way if you tune in a CW signal in SSB, and then change to CW the CW tone is unchanged, and you are ready to transmit. I changed the return from Hamlib GetVfo() from "VFO" to "Main" to fix a compatibility problem. Quisk Version 4.1.95 May 2022 ============================== This is a minor release to fix a Midi issue. There is now a separate item on the radio Keys screen to control the Midi PTT toggle. I started to add support for my IO Board. But since the IO board is not released, the code does nothing. Quisk Version 4.1.94 April 2022 ================================ This is a minor release to fix some Midi issues. The Config/Keys "PTT key toggle" item now controls the Midi PTT control as well as the hot key PTT. That is, it controls whether the Midi button must be held down for PTT, or whether one press turns PTT on and the next press turns it off. Quisk Version 4.1.93 December 2021 =================================== I fixed a bug in the FreeDV button. It now works like other mode buttons. Quisk can now use the WDSP library to add the additional functions NR2 (noise reduction) and SNB (noise blanker). The WDSP library is optional, and you don't have to use it. The library ships with Quisk on Windows. For Linux it is used by many other SDR software, and you may already have it. If Quisk can find WDSP, the NR2 button will be active. If the NR2 button is grayed out, you can install WDSP on Linux as follows: git clone https://github.com/g0orx/wdsp.git cd wdsp make sudo make install This is an experimental feature, and I can use some feedback on its use. Quisk Version 4.1.92 October 2021 ================================== I changed the power meter on the Hermes Lite 2 from an average value to PEP. The FreeDV sideband and mode are now restored on startup. I fixed a bug that results in errors on tx_level when adding a new radio. I fixed a bug in the new PTT key logic. The Midi control now updates the Rf gain display. Quisk Version 4.1.91 October 2021 ================================== I changed the Midi control of the Rit frequency so the center includes the CW tuning offset. I tested this with the DJControl Compact that Ben, AC2YD, lent me. The PTT accelerator key was failing for some users. It turns out that wx.GetKeyState() is not available on all systems. So I had to program around the problem. If you have errors with GetKeyState(), change "PTT key toggle" to True and "PTT key if hidden" to False. This is the only combination that works with a bad GetKeyState(). While I was at it, I made changing the keys immediate (no need to restart). I made a change to fix the problem with "digital_rx2_name" not being found. I don't understand what causes this, but the new code is more robust. I added a button to set the WSJT-X path and config option. It is on the Config/Config screen. Quisk Version 4.1.90 October 2021 ================================== I changed the Midi feature to accommodate more Midi controllers. I removed the Midi message from the Config/Status screen and moved it to the Midi screen (Config/radio/Keys). You can directly assign the Midi message to a Quisk control, and the channel is now recognized. I added the RfLna control. I added a log file to Quisk. Log messages are sent to the file quisk_logfile.txt which is located with other Quisk user files. The item "Debug level" on the Config/radio/Options screen controls the output. A debug screen is shown when "Debug level" is greater than zero. The serial port PTT feature was not working. I fixed it and made some other improvements. Please test. Quisk Version 4.1.89 October 2021 ================================== I fixed the problem of Quisk crashing when the Config button is pressed. This only happens on the Raspberry Pi. I needed to work around a problem with wxPython on the Pi. Ben, AC2YD, lent me the Midi controller DJControl Compact, and I was then able to add some improvements to the Midi feature. Midi now works for all buttons on the Small Screen layout. I added control messages for the Volume, Ys and all other Quisk sliders. I added "Tune" to the controls. Midi has two kinds of controllers. A "Knob" rotates a whole turn left and right and sends its level as a number 0 to 127. A "Jog Wheel" rotates around and around, and sends up and down messages every few degrees. I added both types of control. Quisk Version 4.1.88 October 2021 ================================== This version makes digital programs like WSJT-X easier to use. There is a button on the Config/Config screen to start WSJT-X. The default is "Never". Select "On startup" to start WSJT-X when Quisk starts. Select "Now" to start it now. When Quisk starts WSJT-X, it uses "--rig-name quisk" so that the settings you make are saved separately. On Linux, Quisk can set up virtual sound card names, and I changed these names on the drop down lists. For Digital Tx0 Input, choose "Use name QuiskDigitalInput" and then find this name in the WSJT-X sound output menu. For Digital Rx0 Output choose "Use name QuiskDigitalOutput.monitor" and then find this name in the WSJT-X sound input menu. See the new Quisk documentation http://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/docs.html#Digital for details. Quisk Version 4.1.87 September 2021 ==================================== The documentation now has a better description of how to make a custom hardware file. I made some changes to the new Midi feature. The Config/Status screen now shows all three bytes of the Midi message. I moved the MidiHandler logic to its own file midi_handler.py. If you copy this to your config file, your MidiHandler will be used instead. This enables you to completely control Quisk with Midi. For example, you can support Control Change messages. Take a look at the comments at the top of midi_handler.py. If needed I can add logic to the Keys screen to extend Midi for those not comfortable with Python. Quisk Version 4.1.86 September 2021 ==================================== This is a bug fix release to fix a problem with the new Midi logic and Keys screen. Please test. Quisk Version 4.1.85 September 2021 ==================================== I made some visual improvements to the configuration screens. This should make them easier to use. You can now assign Midi notes to Quisk buttons. For example, you can assign note 57 to the PTT button, and assign 58 to the Mute button. See the Config/radio/Keys screen. These assignments are global; that is, common to all radios. I also moved the existing "Midi CW key" from the CW screen to the new Keys screen. This feature is not complete for the "Small Screen" format because some buttons need two presses. Let me know if this is a problem. You can see the Midi note numbers on the Config/Status screen as they are received. This is useful for discovering which note is sent by each Midi key. Quisk has a new hardware file quisk_hardware_hl2_oob.py. You can specify this name as your hardware file on the Config/radio/Hardware screen. It is for use with the Hermes Lite 2, and it disables the power amp when the transmit frequency including sidebands is out of band. Be sure to set accurate band edges on the Config/radio/Bands screen. You might want to set a new band plan on the Config/Config screen. Quisk Version 4.1.84 August 2021 ================================= Chuck Ritola submitted a patch to correct the phase adjustments in conjunction with channel delay. Thanks Chuck! I added the Transverter Offset from the Bands screen to SoapySDR. Quisk shows a color bar on the frequency X-axis to show the band plan. That is, the CW, phone and data segments of the band. Since the band plan varies with country, there is a new feature to change it on the config screen. Press the Config button and then the Config screen. Look for the "Band plan" button. It will bring up a screen to set a list of frequencies and the mode (CW, phone) that starts at each frequency. The screen will start at the band plan you are currently using. The band plan is the same for all your radios. You can mark any frequency you want, even frequencies outside the ham bands. Quisk Version 4.1.83 June 2021 =============================== This version contains patches by Mooneer, K6AQ, for FreeDV mode 700E. Thanks Mooneer! Quisk generates its own CW waveform when keyed by the serial port or MIDI. Quisk delays this CW waveform so that when changing from Rx to Tx there is time for relays to switch and power amps to turn on. The CW key timing is preserved. This delay was 15 milliseconds, but is now adjustable. It is controlled by the "Start CW delay msec" field on the Timing screen. Note that this does not work if the key is connected to the hardware and the hardware generates the CW itself. When switching from Rx to Tx in all modes except CW, Quisk zeros the RF output for a few milliseconds to allow time for relays to switch, power amps to turn on and filters to fill with samples. This time was 100 milliseconds, but is now adjustable. It is controlled by the "Start SSB delay msec" field on the Timing screen. When Quisk is remote and controlled by another program it is possible that Quisk will be in the transmit state when the link is broken. To prevent Quisk from transmitting forever there is now a timeout "Max Tx seconds" on the Timing screen. This should normally be set to zero to disable the timeout. Quisk Version 4.1.82 May 2021 ============================== Quisk now works with 64-bit Python 3.9. It is OK to continue using 64-bit Python 3.8, but please upgrade Python from earlier versions. I changed PortAudio and added addition log messages. This is important for Apple Mac. Quisk Version 4.1.81 April 2021 ================================ Quisk on Windows now handles devices with 3-byte samples, and works in both Exclusive and Shared mode. I tried to catch up on all bug fixes. If I missed any please re-post. Quisk Version 4.1.80 February 2021 =================================== This is a bug fix release. I fixed a problem with sound on Windows when "Fast sound" is False. Quisk Version 4.1.79 February 2021 =================================== This is a bug fix release. I tried again to fix "Failure to convert device name" on Windows. I fixed the 5 second freeze in CW mode for SoftRock hardware. Quisk Version 4.1.78 February 2021 =================================== Hamlib Rig2 split VFO now controls the frequency of the first added receiver. This is used for working satellites. Use the regular Quisk window for the uplink, and the extra receiver for the downlink. Control both frequencies with Hamlib. The Hamlib "F" command controls Rx, and the "I" command controls Tx. I added code by Ben Cahill, AC2YD, to recover from a fault in the playback thread for "fast sound" on Windows. I fixed a bug in the HermesLite 2 Small Screen layout. I added address 0x09 bit 17 for the HermesLite 2 radio. I may have fixed the problem "Failure to convert device name" on Windows. If it is not fixed, the new error message should be more informative. Quisk Version 4.1.77 January 2021 ================================== I added further changes to support the YU1LM designs and the Genesis 3020 QRP rigs. When using the ZZBS Hamlib command, Quisk now remembers the last frequency and mode. I added back some softrock files that were removed. Quisk Version 4.1.76 January 2021 ================================== If there are errors when Quisk starts on Windows, the window showing the error messages now stays open so you can read them. It used to close too fast. I improved sound buffer levels so they stay closer to 50%. Ben Cahill, AC2YD, contributed code and testing support. I corrected Quisk C code so no warning messages are produced by the latest compiler. I fixed the problem with Hermes write queue timeouts on startup. But these will still appear if the Hermes is not running. I added back the RTS signal to the Linux serial port CW keying logic. This signal goes high when DSR goes high. When DSR goes low, RTS goes low after a 1.5 second delay. Dr. Karsten Schmidt contributed additional logic to the Hamlib serial port. Thanks Karsten! I added two new Hamlib commands: ZZAG and ZZBS. Quisk Version 4.1.75 December 2020 =================================== This version includes improvements to the Windows sound code contributed by Ben Cahill, AC2YD, and a fix to the Macintosh contributed by Christoph, DL1YCF. Thanks! The pip install method on Linux now builds the Afedri and Soapy modules properly. Please test. Quisk Version 4.1.74 December 2020 =================================== I added some missing controls to the Hermes-Lite2 Hardware configuration screen. I removed the Alex filter band screen and implemented the same logic in the regular Bands screen. If you need the Alex screen, please complain. Quisk now ships with Linux binary files for Python3, not Python2. If you have Python2, run "make" to make a Python2 version. You could also start using Python3 instead. Eric, WW4ET, Davide Gerhard, and Christoph, DL1YCF, provided help to make Quisk run on a Mac. Thanks! Christoph provided code. Thanks Christoph! The Mac changes may not be complete. Please test. SdrIQ support was changed. Quisk now uses the hardware file quisk_hardware_sdriq.py instead of sdriqpkg. The directory sdriqpkg and those binary files are now obsolete. The new code is 100% Python. Quisk Version 4.1.73 November 2020 =================================== I rewrote the logic for SoftRock I/Q amplitude and phase corrections. The new logic will enable much better image suppression because it can correct I/Q based on both the VFO and the tuning offset. If you do nothing, there is no change in the corrections. To use the new logic, enter new correction data. Use the Help button on the Config/radio/Config correction screens. Corrections are in the file quisk_init.json, and you should make a copy of this file to save your current corrections. I added a missing version.h file to SoapySDR. It is not clear that this fixes the version check for the change in the Soapy API. Please test. When using the Split button, Quisk now leaves the Rx frequency unchanged and splits the Tx frequency. I added a new band "Aux1" that can be checked on the Config/radio/Bands screen. It can be used as a special band for a panadapter or when Quisk is used as a 10.7 MHz IF. Quisk Version 4.1.72 September 2020 ==================================== For SoftRock hardware, the Tx power can now be set for each band. See the Config/radio/Bands screen. I also added the Tx level and Digital Tx Level sliders to the Config/Config screen, and the Digital Tx power % to the Config/radio/Hardware screen. The Y-scale and Y-zero settings are now saved for the graph at the top of the Waterfall screen. These settings are independent of the settings for the Graph display. I fixed a problem with the Hermes Lite 2 SWR display. I fixed a problem with SoftRock phase corrections. Quisk Version 4.1.71 September 2020 ==================================== The last band and frequency etc. are saved in the file .quisk_init.pkl, but this binary file can not be easily read. I am now writing initialization in the new file quisk_init.json, a text file. The location of this and the other Quisk user files is now shown on the Config/Status screen. I fixed a bug in the new CW snap-to-peak feature. I added "PTT hang time" and "Tx buffer msec" to the Hermes Lite 2 hardware screen. The Graph button can be pressed repeatedly to select display averaging. The Waterfall button can now be pressed repeatedly to select averaging for the graph at the top. Remember that the Ys and Yz sliders on the Waterfall screen adjust the waterfall colors. To adjust the graph at the top, hold down the Shift key. Quisk Version 4.1.70 August 2020 ================================= I speeded up MIDI CW keying on Linux. There used to be two ways to set the level of Tx audio sent to SoftRock hardware, a slider or the "Tx audio level" on the Config/radio/Hardware screen. I removed the slider. Please set the level on the Hardware screen. I removed the 70% limitation and you can now set any level you want. For CW modes, if you click a peak within the filter bandwidth, the tuning frequency will snap to the peak. This is an aid to tuning in CW signals. You can still adjust the frequency with the mouse wheel or by dragging. I also made frequency rounding work with the Rx frequency in split mode. Quisk Version 4.1.69 August 2020 ================================= Quisk can now use a MIDI device for CW keying. The setup options are on the Config/radio/Timing and CW screen. Just enter the MIDI name and note number and restart. Performance is good on Windows but poor on Linux. See my paper http://james.ahlstrom.name/serialports/index.html for measurements. If you use Linux, try the aseqdump command for testing. I fixed a bug in the small screen display. When using "Debug sound" on Windows, I was surprised to find that clicking the console (terminal) window froze the sound. I had to move all debug messages to an extra window and avoid writing to the console. This is the oddest Windows "feature" I have seen. I did some more work on Windows "fast sound" stability, and it runs for hours at my QTH. There may still be problems on other hardware, so please test. Quisk Version 4.1.68 August 2020 ================================= I fixed a bug in the S-meter code for very small signals of less than 1E-16. I fixed a bug in the config screen colors when Quisk can not find the correct color scheme of the system. I changed the Windows "fast sound" system again. This should offer better performance and lower CPU usage. Please test by setting "Debug sound" to 1 on the Config/radio/Options screen. Quisk Version 4.1.67 July 2020 =============================== I improved the Windows CW operation for SoftRock. Windows sound should now be stable when using "fast sound". Please test. I fixed the colors on the config screens when using the "Adwaita dark" theme. The hardware CW/PTT input now works on voice modes for HiQSDR. Quisk Version 4.1.66 July 2020 =============================== This version changes the Linux sound system. Soundio is no longer used. Instead I rewrote the old logic and added fast sound to it. The fast sound is only used for the sidetone. There is no longer a "fast sound" option on the config screens for Linux. Please test. The Windows sound system was not changed. I will work on that next. Thanks to Dave Roberts I corrected the Soapy module for a recent API change. Thanks Dave! Thanks to Jaroslav, OK2JRQ, I fixed two bugs in the Python2 version. Thanks Jaroslav! I added back the waterfall_scroll_mode item from the config file. Quisk Version 4.1.65 July 2020 =============================== This version should correct the problems with opening soundcards. To open a Delta 44 use the name "alsa:plughw:CARD=M44,Dev=0". You can use any Alsa name that libsoundio recognizes. There are other improvements to the sound system to increase stability and reduce CPU usage. Quisk Version 4.1.64 July 2020 =============================== The favorites button now jumps to the correct screen. The Pulse device "default" now works. This version should open "fast sound" devices that failed before. Look on the Config/Status screen to see if all devices open successfully. If there are still problems, the new debug messages should add more information. Turn on "Debug sound". Then start Quisk with and without "fast sound". Save the startup messages. Quisk Version 4.1.63 June 2020 =============================== This version fixes an incompatibility with Python2 from version 4.1.61. I plan to support Python2 indefinitely, but be advised that Python2 is obsolete. It would be best to upgrade to a 64-bit version of Python3. Dave Roberts, G8KBB, provided code to add new FreeDV modes. But the newest 2020 mode requires an additional shared library that Quisk does not provide. Quisk provides a codec2 but multiple dependent libraries should be installed in the correct system directories. So to use 2020 you need to install a new codec2 and all its dependencies. Then you can use 2020 with Quisk. Quisk Version 4.1.62 June 2020 =============================== This version fixes problems with fast sound on Windows. If you are not running Windows there is no need to update. Quisk Version 4.1.61 June 2020 =============================== This version fixes a problem with the latest version of wxPython on Windows. Quisk works with all prior versions of wxPython, but there was a problem with the newest 4.1.0. Buttons did not work properly and stayed pressed. I think this is a problem with wxPython, but I found a workaround by re-writing all the waterfall code in C. I do not know if this problem occurs on Linux because my Ubuntu 18 has wxPython version 4.0.1. But now Quisk should work with any recent wxPython. Quisk Version 4.1.60 June 2020 =============================== This is a bug fix release. I fixed a problem with the file record and play buttons. I fixed a problem with SoftRock CW operation. I make some major changes to softrock/hardware_usb.py. If you use this file, SoftRock CW should work. If you are using a different hardware file, you should check the changes and see if you need to modify your file. Quisk Version 4.1.59 June 2020 =============================== This is a bug fix release to correct some installation problems. The most recent wxPython version 4.1.0 is not compatible with Quisk on Windows. The buttons do not seem to show the correct up/down state even though they work. For Windows, please install the last version: pip install wxPython==4.0.7.post2 For Linux, if you plan to use the new fast sound for sidetone, install libsoundio-dev before installing Quisk: sudo apt-get install libsoundio-dev Quisk Version 4.1.58 June 2020 =============================== This version includes a new faster sound system that enables fast CW sidetone and remote CW operation for the Hermes-Lite2. All the old sound systems are still included, and you can turn the new sound on and off from the Config/Radio/Timing_and_CW screen. New sound is default off. To use new sound on Linux, install the libsoundio-dev package with "sudo apt-get install libsoundio-dev" and run "make" to rebuild Quisk. New sound runs on Windows, but interferes with the screen update. Sometimes buttons appear to stay pressed although they work fine. Maybe someone can offer a solution. When using the new sound, adjust your play latency and data poll parameters for best operation. Start with 150 milliseconds play latency and 10000 microseconds data poll. I fixed a bug with the external demodulation button. I moved the sound latency timing parameter from the sound screen to the timing screen. I removed the top level "Config/Sound" screen because it was not useful and conflicted with the radio sound screen. The "quisk" command in Windows should now start Quisk. Andrea, IW0HDV, provided a patch for the Perseus hardware. Thanks Andrea! Eoin Mcloughlin, EI7HSB, provided a patch to speed startup time. Thanks Eoin! Dave Roberts, G8KBB, provided code to add new FreeDV modes. Thanks Dave! For SoftRock, Quisk will now try the USB backend libusb0 if libusb1 fails. Thanks to Ben Cahill! I added the "-r" or "--radio" command line option to choose the startup radio. To get a list of command line options, use "python quisk.py --help". Quisk will now save and restore the various record and playback file names. You can now right-click the temporary playback button to save the sound to a file. For Hamlib I added additional control items to Quisk's rig2 protocol. The mode PKTUSB sent by WSJT-X is now recognized and interpreted as mode DGT-U. I also added PKTLSB and PKTFM. I added the level AGC to control the AGC button, and the level AF for the audio volume. This work makes it easier to add additional Hamlib controls in the future. There are a lot of changes in this release. Please report bugs to the N2ADR-SDR group at https://groups.io/g/n2adr-sdr. A detailed description of the bug would be good. A patch would be even better. If you have problems with this release remember that you can install the prior version: To install the prior version on Windows: pip install quisk==4.1.57 To install the prior version on Linux: sudo -H pip install quisk==4.1.57 Quisk Version 4.1.57 May 2020 ============================== This is a bug fix release. I fixed a bug in the small screen version. I fixed an incompatibility with the latest wxPython version 4.1.0. I added a patch from Dave Roberts to close FreeDV properly. Thanks Dave! Quisk Version 4.1.56 April 2020 ================================ For Linux, if the file /usr/include/portaudio.h is absent, portaudio will not be included in Quisk. This change makes portaudio optional. The change was needed because portaudio breaks wine. Quisk now restores the correct frequency for the 60 meter band. There were some other bug fixes. Quisk Version 4.1.55 April 2020 ================================ The new Sdr Micron radio was missing from the Windows version of Quisk. There are reports that the item Hermes_BandDictTx is damaged in the quisk_settings.json file. Quisk will now fix this itself. The item is the "Tx IO Bus" on the Hermes Bands configuration screen. Quisk Version 4.1.54 March 2020 ================================ There are now two new radios available in Quisk. David Fainitski contributed code for the Sdr Micron, and Andrea Montefusco IW0HDV contributed code for the Perseus SDR. The radios should appear on the list of supported radios in Config/Radios screen. Check the Config/radio/Hardware screen to see if you need any more options. Please test these radios to make sure everything is working. I added a general way to add new radios to the configuration screens. See docs.html under Custom Hardware. Quisk Version 4.1.53 March 2020 ================================ I changed the Afedri radio module to be compatible with Python3. The graph Zoom feature now is available on the Bandscope screen. Vladimyr Burdeiny provided a patch to make dx cluster work with Python 3. I extended the range of the Waterfall color controls Ys and Yz to accommodate hardware with a higher noise floor such as PlutoSDR. You will have to readjust your waterfall colors. I added a hardware setting for the LNA gain during transmit for the HL2. I made some changes to the CW and PTT hardware interface for the HL2. These work great with the HL2, but test the new code if you have different Hermes hardware such as Red Pitaya. Quisk Version 4.1.52 December 2019 =================================== I added an On/Off button to Quisk. When Quisk starts the button is "On". When you turn it to "Off", Quisk shuts down the sound system and closes the hardware. When you turn it "On" again, Quisk starts with any new setting made from the Config screens. This provides a way to start Quisk with changed settings, and to re-start your hardware after a power down. Martin Schaller found and fixed a bug in the Alsa sound system that produced sporadic crashes. Thanks Martin! Max, G7UOZ, found and fixed a bug in the Python3 SoftRock hardware_net.py code. Thanks Max! This Quisk includes a more recent FreeDV library in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The Windows SoapySDR interface still requires 64-bit Quisk. The Config/Status screen now shows the dB level of each open sound device. The maximum level is zero dB. This is meant as an aid to configuring the sound devices. Quisk Version 4.1.51 November 2019 =================================== I fixed a bug in the "small screen" code when using the new wx version 4. Thanks to Martin Schaller for pointing out that underflows from the Soapy sample source should not count as errors. This version fixes the Linux installation errors "ImportError: No module named _quisk". It also provides a way to run either Python2 or Python3 quisk when both are installed. To do that use "python2 -m quisk" or "python3 -m quisk". The new installation instructions are here: http://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/docs.html#Installation Quisk Version 4.1.50 November 2019 =================================== Thanks to Martin Schaller for fixing a bug in the SoftRock Tx sound level. I fixed a bug in the HermesLite gateware program button traceback. This Quisk provides pre-built binaries for the Windows Python3 versions. There are now four Windows versions: Python2 and Python3, each for either 32 or 64-bit Python. If you have a recent Python3, just run your Python3 and use pip to install Quisk. Pip will detect the version of Python you are using, and will install the correct version of Quisk. If you want to try Python3, install the latest 64-bit version. The installation instructions are here: http://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/docs.html#Installation Quisk Version 4.1.49 November 2019 =================================== Quisk can now program the Hermes Gateware (FPGA flash) over Ethernet. See the button on the radio Hardware screen. I fixed some more Python 3 bugs. Quisk Version 4.1.48 November 2019 =================================== I fixed some more problems with the Python3 version of Quisk. I added support for reading and writing the EEPROM in the HermesLite. Reading the EEPROM requires code version 68 or newer. The EEPROM settings are on the radio Hardware screen. Quisk Version 4.1.47 October 2019 ================================== This is a bug fix release. I fixed a problem with the Python 3 version of Quisk saving program state. I fixed a sound device name problem on Windows. I added some code provided by Steve to support the HermesLite. Quisk Version 4.1.46 October 2019 ================================== When using the bandscope screen the band buttons no longer reset the frequency and mode. Try it. Thanks to Ed, GM3SBC, for changes to the hot key PTT logic. The hot key now works better, and is disabled when using the config screens. I changed the FM repeater offset code to increase the level of the CTCSS tone. I made further progress on Python3 and fixed some resultant problems on Python2. The objective is to have a Quisk that runs the same on Python3 as Python2 so you can use either Python. Linux users can test the Python 3 version by entering "make quisk3" followed by "python3 quisk.py". Quisk Version 4.1.45 September 2019 ==================================== I added a config screen hardware option "Hermes known IP". If you know the IP address of the Hermes hardware, enter it here. Otherwise Quisk will search for the hardware using the usual broadcast method. The Python Rx samples interface can now accept bandscope data, that is, raw samples from the ADC. See the file quisk_hardware_model.py for documentation. I fixed a bug in the bandscope that added noise. Quisk Version 4.1.44 September 2019 ==================================== I made some improvements to the Python Rx sample interface. See quisk_hardware_model.py for the new interface. I removed the duplicate decimation rates from the SDR-IQ hardware screen. There are a number of changes to make Quisk run on Python 3, although this is not finished yet. Quisk Version 4.1.43 August 2019 ================================= This release fixes a bug that resulted in calling the hardware HeartBeat() method too frequently. This caused flickering of the HermesLite temperature reading. Quisk Version 4.1.42 August 2019 ================================= I improved the SoftRock amplitude/phase correct screen. I fixed a bug in the Hamlib extended commands thanks to James, KE4MIQ. I added an interface to provide Rx samples to Quisk directly from the Python hardware file. Many new SDR hardware devices return samples by Ethernet, USB or a serial port. Since Python has these three interfaces, it may be possible to add a new hardware device to Quisk by using Python alone. This is much easier than adding C code to Quisk. This work was inspired by David, N7DDC, an avid SDR hardware designer. I am using the new interface to support the SDR-IQ by RfSpace. Change your hardware file to quisk_hardware_sdriq.py instead of the sdriqpkg directory to use the new logic. The sdriqpkg directory will be removed in a future release. Quisk Version 4.1.41 June 2019 =============================== I added Steve's code for the Hermes Lite 2 that moves the harmonics of the switching power supplies out of the amateur bands. Thanks Steve! I renamed sound devices to have consistent names on all screens. Stephen Hurd contributed changes to the SDR-IQ module and the Quisk widgets module. Thanks Stephen! I made the configuration screens for the radios more efficient. I may have fixed the last of the bugs. Please test. Quisk Version 4.1.40 June 2019 =============================== This is a bug fix release for assorted problems. The filter bandwidth is now saved for program start. I fixed a buffer overflow in the DirectX code. I added "Digital output level" to the Config/Sound screen. I was not able to duplicate a burst of Tx noise when switching to digital modes. But I added code to fix it anyway. Please test. I was not able to duplicate the problem that the Spot output frequency is correct, but the audio is always transmitted at the center frequency instead of the tuning frequency. Please re-test with this release, and if it is not fixed I will try again. Quisk Version 4.1.39 May 2019 ============================== I fixed a bug in the VNA program quisk_vna.py. The Windows version of SoapySDR is compiled against SoapySDR version 0.8.0. Quisk Version 4.1.38 April 2019 ================================ The bandwidth of the DC removal filter on the Config/radio/Options screen now applies to all sample sources, not just sound cards. This is useful to set the bandwidth for SoapySDR devices. For Hermes Lite, set the bandwidth to zero or one. I added Rx and Tx sample rate and bandwidth to the SoapySDR hardware screen. Any value can be entered, not just the values from a list. See the latest SoapySDR news at http://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/soapy.html. Quisk Version 4.1.37 April 2019 ================================ I added another broadcast address to the Hermes code to fix a network problem. I added an option to the radio Options config screen to reverse the sideband on Tx. This is needed for satellite operation. I added the 13, 9, 5 and 3cm bands to the list. I added the additional samples rates 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1250 ksps to accommodate the RedPitaya. The frequency entry box now clears its entry with each use. You can now specify the bandwidth of the SoftRock DC removal filter on the radio Options screen. I added some of the SoapySDR transmit parameters on the radio screen. But I am having trouble making transmit actually work. So transmit is disabled for now. Quisk Version 4.1.36 March 2019 ================================ I added a patch by Franco Spinelli, IW2DHW, to add chk_vfo to the Hamlib control for WSJT-X. There are further improvements to the SoapySDR radios. I added three Rx gain setting methods and automatic DC correction. You will need to re-read the SoapySDR device. Just use the "Change.." button and leave the device name unchanged. This is necessary to read additional device parameters from the hardware. Quisk Version 4.1.35 February 2019 =================================== I added the Tx Level to the bands config screen for the Red Pitaya. Now you can set the power level for each band. I changed the Hermes Lite networking so it works with Virtual Box and multiple network interfaces. Please test. I am starting to add SoapySDR support to Quisk. See http://james.ahlstrom.name/quisk/soapy.html. Quisk Version 4.1.34 January 2019 ================================== This fixes a bug in version 4.1.33 that caused a traceback for b_test1 when using the Small Screen layout. I also added support for Afedri hardware. Just use the Config/Radios screen and add a radio of type Afedri. Quisk Version 4.1.33 January 2019 ================================== I improved the output level control for digital modes. This removes the lag in attaining 100% level. For the first transmit, Quisk does not know what level to expect from the external digital source, so there may still be a small delay. I added a squelch feature that works for SSB and FM. Just push the "Squelch" button. The SSB level automatically adjusts for band noise, and the default slider value of 0.200 should be close to what you want. Quisk Version 4.1.32 January 2019 ================================== I corrected some button colors and colors on the config screens. The green Rx line is now centered in the filter for Split mode. Quisk used to leave some headroom in the 16-bit samples it sends to the hardware. The maximum level used to be about 70%. I changed the maximum level to 100%. So the PEP output for all modes will be the same level as 100% Spot output. But remember that the PEP level is 100%, not the average level. An average reading power meter will show a level much below PEP for SSB and digital modes. There is a new tuning method available. If the Shift key is held down when you left-click the graph, the Rx filter is centered at that frequency. Normally the Tx frequency is set at the frequency. This is useful when using narrow digital filters. It can also be used for SSB. Quisk Version 4.1.31 December 2018 =================================== When using N1MM+, I removed the 10 kHz frequency shift when adjusting frequency. The center will now shift only if the external frequency control gets within 10% of the left or right edge. Then the frequency is re-centered. I fixed the new Windows version handling of Latin-1 accented characters. I added a new "Filters" page to the Config Radio screens for the Hermes Protocol Alex high pass and low pass filters. Quisk Version 4.1.30 December 2018 =================================== The Windows installation procedure is different. If you have an old Quisk installed, you should use the Windows Apps screen to uninstall it. Then install Quisk using Python "pip". See the downloads page and the new documentation. The new installation method is compatible with standard Python setup tools. The Linux installation procedure is also different. I removed the "pyusb" module from Quisk. You will need to install the public version if you need it. The inclusion interfered with the public version. See the downloads page and the new documentation. I fixed a bug that happens with multiple displays. The zoom feature now centers in the Rx passband. This is useful for narrow digital modes. There are a lot of changes in this version, and the installation method is new, as is the 64-bit Windows version. If you have any problems or suggestions, please post to the usual groups. Quisk Version 4.1.26 November 2018 =================================== I added some narrow filters to the digital modes DGT-U and DGT-L. The narrow filters are centered at 1500 Hertz. This makes filtering in the digital program easier, and is useful for RTTY. As part of this project I rewrote the filter display logic. Filters are now more accurately shown, and include the effect of RIT. The keyup delay on the radio Timing screen used to affect only the CW key. It now works with the PTT button too. Quisk Version 4.1.25 October 2018 ================================== I added the option of Quisk CAT control by a software serial port to accommodate N1MM+ logging software. Set the N1MM radio to "Flex", and enter the port name on the Quisk Config/radio/Remote screen. You need a "Virtual Serial Port" (VSP) pair. One side connects to Quisk and the other to N1MM. For Linux, Quisk can set up these ports itself. Pick a port name like "/tmp/QuiskTTY0" on the Config/radio/Remote screen and enter that name in the external program. On Windows you need a VSP that is set up by an external program. This is like the "Virtual Audio Cable" needed for samples. An Internet search will turn up HDD Software, Eltima Software and many others. Set up a port pair, and enter one name on the Quisk Remote screen, and the other name in N1MM. Not all of the "Flex" commands are implemented. If you get any error messages, send them to me. I moved the split Rx/Tx play menu from the config screen to the Split button so it is easier to change. I added code from Steve Haynal to control the VersaClock on the Hermes-Lite2. Quisk Version 4.1.24 October 2018 ================================== I changed the sound logic so that a mic device is no longer needed for digital modes or Spot. The mic is only needed for voice communications. I added a requested feature to the Config/radio/Keys screen. I improved the operation on the Raspberry Pi. Quisk Version 4.1.23 September 2018 ==================================== I fixed some more problems with the new Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. Quisk Version 4.1.22 August 2018 ================================= I fixed the FM squelch so that it works for multiple receivers. The record to file and play from file logic was simplified and improved. See the Config/Config screen and the Help button. Quisk can now both record and play an IQ samples file. I removed the 4 Gig file size limitation inherent in a WAV file so that larger files can be used. I fixed some of the problems with the new Linux 18.04 LTS. There is still an assertion error when accessing the config screens. I am trying to work around it, but it seems to be a bug in the gnome desktop. Quisk Version 4.1.21 July 2018 =============================== I made additional changes for the Hermes Lite 2 project. Control the CW hang time with the Config/Radio/Timing/Tx_delay_msecs option. I added a change for the Dx Cluster feature from YO5RXM. Thanks! Quisk Version 4.1.20 June 2018 =============================== I made additional changes for the Hermes Lite 2 project. I added a change for the Dx Cluster feature from YO5RXM. Thanks! I fixed a graph screen flicker problem on Windows. Quisk Version 4.1.19 June 2018 =============================== I made additional changes for the Hermes Lite 2 project. There are now separate Rx and Tx filter settings. If multiple receivers are in use, the Rx filter is that of the highest frequency band. Quisk Version 4.1.18 June 2018 =============================== I added improved code for FreeDV to support the new 700D mode. Quisk Version 4.1.17 May 2018 ============================== The Quisk VNA program now works with Hermes-Lite 2. Firmware 62 and above is required. I made additional changes for the Hermes Lite 2 project. Quisk Version 4.1.16 May 2018 ============================== I updated the built in version of FreeDV digital voice. It now includes newer modes such as 700D. I added the column for the IO bus to the Red Pitaya radio. I fixed a bug when selecting the "Bands" screen. I added shortcut keys to the buttons. If a button has an underlined letter, pressing ALT and the letter will press the button. This is convenient for operation, and allows Quisk to be controlled by another program that can generate key presses. If you have set a PTT shortcut key, please check its validity on the radio Keys screen. The shortcut characters for the band buttons can be changed in the config file. Quisk Version 4.1.15 March 2018 ================================ I changed the logic for the PTT keyboard shortcut. If you are using a PTT shortcut key, go to the Config/Radio/Keys screen and check the keys you are using. I made further changes to support Hermes-Lite. And the "darwin" platform was added to defaults. I fixed the Status screen flickering that occurred on Windows. Quisk Version 4.1.14 March 2018 ================================ The use of the Spot button for testing has been removed, and proper operation restored. There are further improvements to the Hermes-Lite power and current calculations, including a correction to the PA current measurement from Steve. Thanks Steve! There is a new "Keys" tab in the configuration screens where you can set one or two hot keys to press the PTT button. Space bar seems a popular choice. I added a toggle option so that PTT stays on until the next key press. I made further improvements to wxPython 4.x Phoenix support, but feel free to continue to use the 3.x version. Quisk Version 4.1.13 February 2018 =================================== This version is only for TEST. The Spot button now generates an audio tone from 0 to 5000 Hertz controlled by the sidetone slider. I added power calculations for the Hermes-Lite project. Quisk now works with the wxPython 4.0 Phoenix release. This code is beta, so feel free to continue to use the 3.x version. Quisk Version 4.1.12 December 2017 =================================== Sid, G3VBV, updated the documentation file. Thanks Sid! I fixed a network problem with the HiQSDR on Windows 10. There is now an easy way to connect Quisk to an external digital program such as Fldigi or wsjtx by using Linux PulseAudio. Just set the names pulse:QuiskDigitalInput and pulse:QuiskDigitalOutput on your radio Sound configuration screen. Quisk will create the necessary loopback devices. Then set your digital program output/input to Quisk input/output. Press the Help button for documentation, and see the docs.html file for details. Quisk Version 4.1.11 November 2017 =================================== I added a fix for the Proficio USB frequency control from Stew, N8VET and Tony, VK4KRC. Thanks! I changed the Config/Radio/Bands/IO Bus screen to a bit field instead of an integer for the Hermes Lite. There is a new "Frequency round for SSB" on the radio/options screen. It rounds the left mouse click to 1000 Hertz for voice modes on HF. This is useful when most voice stations are at a multiple of 1000 Hertz. It defaults to zero, so enter 1000 (or other rounding frequency) to turn it on. The graph Ys and Yz settings are now saved for each band. Quisk Version 4.1.10 August 2017 ================================= I added Steve's Quisk updates for version 60 of the HL2 firmware. Thanks Steve! I fixed a bug in the VNA code for HermesLite. But please note that quisk_vna will NOT work in HermesLite2 until I have a working HL2 and I port the VNA firmware to it. Currently VNA requires a Hermes Lite with firwmare version 32. Quisk Version 4.1.9 August 2017 ================================ The "Display fraction" is ignored for the Bandscope so the whole spectrum is visible. I added bandscope support for the Odyssey-2 radio. I changed the HermesLite2 logic to agree with the new firmware. Thanks Steve! I added logic for the SoftRock to correct for rate differences between two sound cards. Thanks to Nick, G3VNC! Quisk Version 4.1.8 June 2017 ============================== This version adds a bandscope screen for the Hermes Lite. It uses the raw data from the ADC to display a 36 MHz wide view of the spectrum. You do not need to update to this version unless you have Hermes hardware. Quisk Version 4.1.7 June 2017 ============================== This version merges all Hermes Lite 1 and 2 features with the regular Quisk distribution. There is no longer a need for a special Hermes Lite version. If you have a Hermes Lite 2, please use the latest firmware with version 40 and up. The extra data windows and settings for HL2 will appear when using HL1, but will be invalid. I will fix this when everyone updates to the latest HL2 firmware. Robert, DM4RW contributed a bug fix for CW. Thanks Robert! Quisk Version 4.1.6 May 2017 ============================= This version fixes a bug in the small window format of the Hermes Lite 2 screen. Do not use this version unless you have HL2 hardware. Quisk Version 4.1.5 April 2017 =============================== This version adds code for Hermes Lite Version 2 to display temperature and current. Do not use this version unless you have HL2 hardware. Quisk Version 4.1.4 March 2017 =============================== This version adds code for Hermes Lite Version 2 that was provided by Steve, KF7O. Do not use this version unless you have HL2 hardware. It will produce error messages if used with HL1. Quisk Version 4.1.3 December 2016 ================================== The VNA program quisk_vna.py now works with either the Hermes hardware or the HiQSDR hardware. The quisk_vna.py program is part of Quisk. You need Hermes-Lite firmware 32 or above to use VNA. I added some defaults for the 137k and 500k bands. These bands are experimental, so be sure to set the lower and upper edge on the Config/Radio/Bands screen and follow the rules for your country. If you set the TX Level for a band to zero, the PTT button is grayed out for that band. This is a visual reminder not to transmit on that band. Quisk Version 4.1.2 October 2016 ================================= This contains a new version of the Quisk Vector Network Analyzer program quisk_vna.py. The VNA program works with the Quisk hardware and the HiQSDR. I replaced the correction logic, added a new Calibrate screen and improved the formatting. I added a feature to change the Quisk waterfall colors on the Fonts configuration screen. The new colors were provided by David Fainitski. Quisk Version 4.1.1 June 2016 ============================== Quisk can now display and tune multiple sub-receivers if your hardware has them. It currently works with the Hermes-Lite hardware. Push the Help button for documentation. You can tune sub-receivers to different bands and modes, and play audio from any of them. You can select different color schemes from the Radio/Font configuration screen. I added code to speed up the display of configuration pages when the Config button is pushed. For users of the HiQSDR, I added sample rates of 1536 and 1920 ksps. These are 16-bit samples, and require recent DL2STG firmware. I changed the VNA program shutdown messages. Quisk Version 4.0.5 April 2016 =============================== I added a new column to the Bands screen for transverter offset. I added the favorites file path to the Options radio screen. If you leave this blank, the default is used. I fixed a bug that caused a difference in drawing the graph screen between wx 2.8 and wx 3.0. I added additional sample rates 1536 and 1920 ksps. Quisk Version 4.0.4 February 2016 ================================== For radios using UDP (HiQSDR, Hermes, etc.) I added the transmit IP and port number to the radio configuration screens in order to support multiple radios on the same network. Leave these blank for normal operation. I fixed a drawing error that seems to occur on wx 3.0. Quisk Version 4.0.3 December 2015 ================================== This is mostly a bugfix release. It changes Unicode JSON strings to ASCII. It adds additional PulseAudio features provided by Eric Thornton. Thanks Eric! Quisk Version 4.0.2 December 2015 ================================== This is mostly a bugfix release. It fixes problems with the DX cluster telnet server. It adds additional PulseAudio features provided by Eric Thornton. Thanks Eric! Quisk Version 4.0.1 November 2015 ================================== This is mostly a bugfix release. It also adds the "Odyssey" radio by David Fainitski. Quisk Version 4.0.0 November 2015 ================================== This is a major new release of Quisk. Comments, suggestions and bug reports are welcome. There is a lot of new code here, but remember that the prior version is still on my web page. Quisk now has two new screen layouts. The "large screen" layout is the default, and is designed for PCs. It uses the full screen width in order to show as wide a graph as possible, and to make mouse tuning easy. The new layout "small screen" is designed for small screens such as touch screens used for single-board computers. But "small screen" can also be used by those with sight impairment, or by those who run Quisk at narrow widths on a PC. It has more button rows; and the band, mode and screen select buttons are hidden behind three master buttons. To select the band, for example, you press the band master button, and a list of bands pops up; then select the band. Press the Help button to read the new help file. Set button_layout = "Small screen" in your config file; but see below. If you have written your own quisk_widgets.py file to add custom widgets to the bottom of your screen, you will need to change this file to accommodate both layouts. See n2adr/quisk_widgets.py and hermes/quisk_widgets.py for examples. Quisk now has configuration screens to display and edit its settings. For most users, this makes config files obsolete. Press the Config button and see the additional tabs, and be sure to read the config help tab. Furthermore, Quisk can save different settings for different radios. For example, you can have a block of settings named HiQSDR and a separate block named SoftRock. When Quisk starts, it can ask which radio you want to use. This feature should appeal to those who have trouble dealing with config files, and to advanced users with multiple radios. If you do nothing, Quisk operates as before, and the settings feature does nothing. You have to turn it on by making a named block of settings; a "radio". If you make some changes that cause Quisk to fail to start, just start Quisk with the "-a" or "--ask" option, and specify "ConfigFileRadio" as the startup radio. The "ConfigFileRadio" is the radio as specified in the config file, and no internal settings are used. This should not happen, but the code is very new, and I expect that it needs more work. The settings screens take the place of config files, although config files can still be used. After editing settings, it is necessary to restart Quisk to make the settings happen. Press the "Restart" button. Some changes will always require a restart, such as the button layout. But I expect to make many settings happen instantly without a restart. Quisk Version 3.7.8 November 2015 ================================== Foreign users can have trouble with their config directory on Windows because the "Documents" directory is in a foreign language; for example, "Mine Dokumenter". I changed Quisk to use the registry to find the name of the "Documents" directory so Quisk should find it in any language. When playing a CQ loop using the "Transmit sound from WAV file" feature, pressing hardware PTT will cancel the play loop. I added the hardware information to the top of the screen. This is convenient when running multiple instances of Quisk with multiple hardwares. I removed the SoftRock status line at the bottom of the screen. The same information is in the Config/Config screen and in the title line at the top. When operating in Split mode, the RIT control used to only change the Rx channel. But that meant that the other Tx channel did not have RIT. So in CW mode, a station exactly on the Tx frequency would not be heard. RIT now works on both channels in Split mode. The "Record Rx audio" feature now records Tx audio too. This is useful to record and review a QSO. Quisk Version 3.7.7 September 2015 =================================== Eric and I fixed some problems with the PulseAudio code, including problems displaying very long device names. I reorganized the file quisk_conf_defaults.py to make it easier to read. I changed the colors on the Config screen to make the controls look better. Quisk Version 3.7.6 September 2015 =================================== The PulseAudio code was completely rewritten by Eric Thornton, KM4DSJ. It now uses the asynchronous interface. This will: 1)Improve stability/performance. We can now manage latency events how we want to and prevent ever increasing latency due to CPU load or network delays. latency_millisecs in the quick_conf.py file will established the target buffer size for playback. Realtime latency for pulse audio streams is available on the config/status tab. 2)Allow connection to two different PulseAudio servers. The default connection is to the local machine for normal usage. A separate machine can be specified to pass IQ audio via the network. This is useful to utilize a Softrock or Peaberry via a raspberry pi or other remote computer. Specify IQ_Server_IP = "your.ip.here" in your quisk_conf.py to utilize this option. Be sure to set latency_millisecs to something reasonable (300 works for me over wifi). NOTE: To keep network congestion down, all modes except CW will "cork" the idle up/down IQ stream. 3)Quisk will attempt to utilize native 16 bit LE format if a PulseAudio sink is configured this way. Default fallback is Float 32. This reduces network overhead for remote IQ audio streaming while not losing resolution for any local streams that are configured as floating point. Additional changes: -Remote control of Softrock receivers via usbsoftrock. Add usbsr_ip_address = "your.ip.here", usbsr_port=port#, and import hardware_net.py in quick_conf.py to communicate with a usbsoftrock daemon. Start usbsoftrock on the remote machine with the -D option. -Added a macports target to the makefile to utilize dependency libraries from macports. This option now allows use of PulseAudio on OSX. Eric KM4DSJ Quisk Version 3.7.5 September 2015 =================================== I changed the code for full-screen mode. You can now enter window sizes directly. See window_width in the file quisk_conf_defaults.py. I added two more bits to tx_control for the FPGA protocol. I updated the PyUSB package that ships with Quisk to version 1.0.0b2. The received characters from FreeDV now appear in the upper left of the graph. I added the new FreeDV 700 and 700B modes. Right-click the FDV button to select the mode. To make it clear when buttons have added functions, I added a miniature slider to buttons that can be right-clicked, and a circular arrow to buttons that can be clicked repeatedly. This can be turned off in your config file. Quisk Version 3.7.4 August 2015 ================================ The Spot button transmits a variable level carrier in all modes, not just SSB. The new config file option "spot_button_keys_tx = True" will cause the Spot button to key the transmitter. The default is False. The up button for the Favorites screen used to set the frequency in Hertz, but the frequencies must be in Megahertz. The ctcss was also broken. This has been fixed. I added a new Hermes-Lite model configuration file hermes/quisk_conf2.py. This is for use by people who can program in Python and want to add features to Quisk. It is set up to send the Spot button status on the J16 connector. Quisk now operates in CW mode using the new Hermes-Lite key input. For other modes, use the PTT button. On the Hermes, use the PTT button with Spot, even for CW. The CW key always transmits full power CW even if the mode is not CW. There is now an option to receive microphone samples from a UDP device. This is used for SDR hardware that has a built-in codec. See quisk_conf_defaults.py. The FreeDV code was completely rewritten. It is now simpler, and it is easier to change to a newer libcodec2. See the file freedvpkg/README.txt. If anyone is running on Apple OSX, and has problems, email me, and look at freedv.c. The config file option graph_width=0.8 sets the width of the graph. If this is set to exactly 1.0, Quisk will run in full-screen mode. This is meant for built-in screens, tablets etc. that lack window management. Quisk Version 3.7.2 July 2015 ============================== I made some changes for Hermes-Lite. You must add rx_udp_clock to your config file. You can adjust rx_udp_clock slightly to correct the frequency display. See hermes/quisk_conf.py. I added Hermes_BandDict to the config file. It controls the bits on the J16 connector of the Hermes-Lite. Quisk will now keep the same filter for a given mode when changing bands. I added RepeaterOffset() to the softrock hardware file so that repeater offsets work. I added mode DGT-FM for digital FM modes. Quisk Version 3.7.1 July 2015 ============================== This is a bug fix release to correct an incompatibility between my FPGA firmware and that of Stephen, DL2STG. He was using the byte in the control record that I used to send the sidetone volume. I now send the sidetone volume as byte 17. I added the config file parameter use_sidetone to add/remove the Sto sidetone volume control. It used to be necessary to use the hardware file for this. The default is no sidetone. To add the control, add "use_sidetone=1" to your config file. I fixed a bug in the Audio Plackback button and Hermes-Lite. Quisk Version 3.7.0 July 2015 ============================== Quisk now supports a new radio, the HermesLite. If you have a HermesLite, copy hermes/quisk_conf.py to your config file and modify the copy. You should only need to change the soundcard names. If you use Quisk on multiple radios, remember that you can have multiple config files. Use "python quisk.py -c my_config_file.py" or its equivalent to choose among config files. This code is currently under test and may have problems. The favorites screen now has two more columns for repeater offset and CTCSS tone. See the file quisk_conf_defaults.py. You must set do_repeater_offset=True, and your hardware must be capable of performing the shift. The FDV feature is now in "final" form. Please see freedvpkg/README.txt. Note that FDV is a moving target. There is now an option to send radio sound to a UDP device. This is used to send radio sound to SDR hardware that has a built-in codec. See quisk_conf_defaults.py. The SoftRock hardware file now supports the key line as a PTT button for voice modes. Use this if you have a hardware mic button that you can connect to the key line. I added the sidetone volume to the HiQSDR control data to accommodate new hardware. I softened the volume controls Vol and Sto for a smoother response. I added the new config file option cw_delay. Quisk Version 3.6.22 April 2015 =============================== FreeDV is the combination of the codec2 codec and the fdmdv modem. It provides digital voice in 1200 Hz bandwidth suitable for HF transmission. You can use FreeDV by downloading the FreeDv program from freedv.org, and connecting it to Quisk using the usual digital mode DGT-U. But now there is a simpler way. Quisk has a new mode button FDV. Just push the FDV mode and talk. See http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=452. Quisk will add the FDV mode button unless your config file contains the line add_freedv_button = 0 If there is a problem with the freedv module, the button will be grayed out. See README.txt in the freedvpkg subdirectory for more information. The "Split" button currently fails with FDV. With the mouse in the frequency display, roll the mouse wheel to change the digit. The new config option hamlib_ip specifies the Hamlib IP address; default "localhost". The IMD button now has a right-click level control like the Spot button. This is more convenient than having a few fixed levels. The Spot button can now transmit a carrier at zero amplitude. This is useful for testing the output noise. If you wrote your own OnSpot() method, level -1 is now Spot button off, and the level is now 0 to 1000. Quisk Version 3.6.21 March 2015 =============================== Quisk can now transmit a message from a WAV file. Record your message at a high level (near clipping) at 48 ksps, 16-bit, one channel (monophonic). Then enter the file name on the Config/Config screen. Press the "File play" button to transmit. Quisk will press the PTT button for you, and release it during pauses. To interrupt playback, press PTT or release FilePlay so you can answer. The "Split" button has been replaced with a "Splt" button and a "Rev" button. The "Splt" button splits Rx and Tx; and if you click it with the right mouse button instead of the left, it also locks the Tx frequency so tuning changes the Rx frequency. The "Rev" button reverses the Tx and Rx frequencies. These features were suggested by Mario, DH5YM. I added a new parameter mic_agc_level to the config file to control the mic AGC. Input levels below mic_agc_level are ignored. The default is 0.1. Increase this (up to 1.0) to reduce the AGC range, and reduce it to increase the AGC mic gain boost. Philip Lee contributed a patch to the PulseAudio code to set the play buffer size. Quisk Version 3.6.20 December 2014 ================================== Thanks to Graeme, ZL2APV, quisk now changes both channels of a control when using mixer_settings[]. He reports that setting boolean values does not work, but it works on my machine. More testing is needed. The new config file dictionary bandTransverterOffset[] gives the offset in Hertz for bands that are used with a transverter; for example 144000000 - 28000000 for a two meter transverter. This currently works for HiQSDR, SoftRock and SdrIQ. I also changed the graph X axis code so gigahertz frequency labels are not too wide. Quisk Version 3.6.19 October 2014 ================================= Mario, DL3LSM, contributed changes for MacOS support. Thanks! I added device names to PulseAudio. The PulseAudio name "pulse" still refers to the default device. Otherwise, enter a PulseAudio name such as "pulse:alsa_input.pci-0000_00_1b.0.analog-stereo". See quisk_conf_defaults.py or docs.html. PulseAudio support enables you to connect to recent versions of wsjt-x. To turn this off, set show_pulse_audio_devices = False in your config file. Quisk Version 3.6.18 June 2014 ============================== The Windows installer now works with the new WxPython 3.0. Previously it required 2.x. I fixed an annoying sound loop that happened on Windows when quitting Quisk. The Rx Filter screen now displays the bandwidth of the filter at the 3 and 6 dB points. I improved the calculation of FFT size for fft_size_multiplier==0. I added more FFT buffers to improve performance at high data rates. When you right-click the S-meter, there are new options to change the S-meter time constant, and to measure the audio voltage. Quisk Version 3.6.17 June 2014 ============================== Philip G. Lee contributed code to provide native PulseAudio support for Quisk. You will need to install the package "libpulse-dev" to compile. Thanks Philip! Stephen, K6BSD, provided patches to support FreeBSD. Thanks Stephen! The Spot button now works in CW mode with softrock USB hardware. There is a new slider control for SoftRock transmit level on the Config/Config screen. The new config file options file_name_audio and file_name_samples are the initial names for saving audio and samples on the Config/Config screen. I added more sample rates to support different hardware. Quisk Version 3.6.16 March 2014 =============================== I re-wrote the CW transmit logic for SoftRock transmitters. It now implements semi break-in CW operation. The config file options are key_poll_msec and key_hang_time. I added the config file option sample_playback_name to play the raw samples to a loopback or VAC device. You can access the raw samples by reading them back with another program. See quisk_conf_defaults.py. The sample rate is the same as the hardware sample rate. Quisk Version 3.6.14 November 2013 ================================== I restored audio to the "Tx Audio" screen. I increased the digital (DGT-U etc.) transmit bandwidth to 5 kHz. The Ys and Yz settings that control the waterfall colors are now saved for each band. Just adjust Ys and Yz on a band, and these settings are restored when you return to the band. I improved the receive AGC to reduce distortion. The AGC button now has separate slider values for On and Off. Right click the AGC button to set the sliders. Push the "Help" button to read the description of the AGC. I corrected some bugs related to dark color schemes, and added color_bg_txt to control the slider text on the main screen. Quisk Version 3.6.13 October 2013 ================================= I added VOX, voice operated relay. I improved the transmit audio speech processing. I added controls for the audio clip and preemphasis levels to the Tx Audio tab of the Config screen. Press the "Help" button to read the documentation on how to set your audio levels. Quisk Version 3.6.12 August 2013 ================================ I fixed a bug that produced slight distortion in the transmitted signal. I added the Enum type to the mixer control "mixer_settings[]". Be sure to use a Python float if you want a decimal fraction 0.0 to 1.0; that is, use "1.0" for 100%, not "1". The config file now defines hot keys that will press the PTT button when the keys are pressed. I added a new tab to the Config Screen for testing transmit audio. You can record and play back the processed microphone output to hear what it sounds like. I plan to add audio controls to this screen in a future release. I think the record/playback is more useful than a simple loopback because I find it difficult to talk and listen at the same time. Quisk Version 3.6.11 July 2013 ============================== I increased the size of the SoftRock status line. You can now change frequency by left clicking on the digits in the frequency display. Click on the upper part of a digit to increase it, and the lower part to decrease it. I added some GREAT features from Christof, DJ4CM: Symbols for buttons. But you can change back to text with use_unicode_symbols = False. Two new buttons for direct entry and recall of items on the favorites screen. A new window to display saved stations, favorites and dx cluster data below the frequency axis. A feature to query a dx cluster using telnet, and display the stations. The symbols use Unicode, and were tested on Linux and Windows, and on computers in Germany and the USA. But if your Windows does not support Unicode, you will need to add use_unicode_symbols = False. Read quisk_conf_defaults.py (as usual), and look for quisk_typeface, btn_text_, use_unicode_symbols, sym_stat_, station_display_lines, and dxClHost to see how to use these features by Christof. Quisk Version 3.6.10 May 2013 ============================= I made some changes to my n2adr hardware and widget files. I increased the timeout for select() in the UDP code. I added a patch from David Turnbull, AE9RB, to make Quisk USB control work with the Peaberry. The problem was discovered and solved by ON7VQ. Windows changes the Documents folder name for different languages, and has no standard way to find it. I added "Mine Dokumenter" to the list. The AGC release time and mic gain control are now parameters in the config file. I added some features from Christof, DJ4CM: additional color control, double click tune on favorites screen, and format changes. Quisk Version 3.6.9 April 2013 ============================== The new config file parameter digital_output_level controls the sound level to Fldigi, etc. I fixed some small bugs in the Windows DirectX sound system. When using the Split feature, Quisk can now receive on both the Rx and the Tx frequencies, and play them in stereo. When working DX, you can now hear the DX in one ear and the pileup in the other. I like the lower frequency signal to be left, and the higher one right. This is controlled by the new config file option split_rxtx that can be 1, 2, 3 or 4. See the file quisk_conf_defaults.py (as usual). This version of Quisk supports the new features in my HiQSDR FPGA firmware version 1.4. If you are using Quisk to set your hardware IP to rx_udp_ip, please be sure that rx_udp_ip_netmask is correct. The default is 255.255.255.0. Quisk Version 3.6.8 March 2013 ============================== The new config file parameter button_font_size can be changed to reduce the size of the button font. This is useful for a netbook when the lower screen resolution results in crowded buttons. There is a new button "Notch" for an automatic notch filter to get rid of carriers in SSB signals. It works in CW too, but is less useful because the sharp filters can get rid of unwanted signals. The "Notch" is an advanced feature based on the FFT and not the LMS algorithm. Quisk Version 3.6.7 February 2013 ================================= I added a check for the correct wx version. Thanks to Mario, DH5YM. Selecting "Config/Favorites/TuneTo" now changes to the configured default_screen instead of the waterfall screen. Thanks to Detlef, DL7IY. The mute button and volume now controls only the radio sound, and not the digital output. Thanks to Mario, DH5YM. Previously, Fldigi XML-RPC control only worked if a digital mode was selected and a digital audio device was specified. Now it is always active unless you turn it off in the config file. The transmit power level and the digital transmit power level can now be adjusted on the config screen. The levels are a percentage of tx_level as set in the config file. The meaning of digital_tx_level was changed. It is now the maximum percentage value for the slider. Thanks to Hubert, DG7MGY. There is a new feature to save frequencies and return to them. When you have tuned in a signal of interest, press the "Save" button to save the frequency, band and mode. Repeat for more signals. Now press "Next", to switch to the next saved signal, and press "Next" repeatedly to cycle through the list. To delete a saved signal, first tune to it with "Next" and then press "Delete". If you save a large number of signals, right click the "Next" button, and you will get a popup menu so you can jump directly to a station. Thanks to Detlef, DL7IY. I had to renumber the columns for the Quisk buttons. That won't matter to you unless you add your own widgets to the bottom of the screen by importing your own quisk_widgets. Then you will need to renumber your columns. See n2adr/quisk_widgets.py for an example. Quisk Version 3.6.6 January 2013 ================================ I corrected the frequency measurement feature so it works with RIT. This feature was successfully verified in the November 2012 ARRL Frequency Measurement Test. I fixed a bug in Fldigi frequency control thanks to Hubert, DG7MGY. The config file has a new parameter mouse_wheelmod to control the mouse wheel sensitivity. Thanks to DG7MGY for the patch. I changed the digital filters so they have a bandwidth up to 20 ksps. This accommodates more digital modes. There are now three digital modes: DGT-U and DGT-L decode the audio as upper or lower sideband. The old DGTL mode is now DGT-U. The mode DGT-IQ does not decode. It sends the I/Q samples directly to the sound card device. It is interesting to listen to the DGT-IQ signal, as it provides binaural reception. Also, the PTT can be controlled by either Quisk or Fldigi, not just by Quisk. There is a new tab on the Config screen where you can enter the frequencies and modes for favorite stations. This can be used to list and tune to repeaters or nets. The page works like a spreadsheet. Fill in the rows with an arbitrary name, the frequency as integer Hertz or decimal megahertz, the mode and an arbitrary description. Right click on the left row label for a popup menu that allows you tune to that row. Thanks to Brian KF7WPK for suggesting this feature. Quisk Version 3.6.5 November 2012 ================================= I added a waterfall method ChangeRfGain() that enables you to keep the waterfall colors constant for changes in the RF gain control. See my n2adr directory for an example of how to use it. I added the ability to connect Quisk to the hamlib rigctld daemon. This enables Quisk to work with any rig compatible with hamlib. For an example, see quisk_conf_kx3.py. Push the Help button for documentation. I added a feature to measure the frequency of a continuous RF signal. Right click the S-meter window to turn it on. Push the Help button for documentation. It is meant for precise frequency measurement such as would be needed to characterize crystals for a filter. Precision is 0.01 Hertz. Quisk Version 3.6.4 September 2012 ================================== I added Hamlib control to Quisk. Set your digital or logging program to rig2, device localhost:4575. See the Help and docs.html. This is used to control Quisk from other digital mode programs such as WSPR. I added the Y scale to the graph above the waterfall. Quisk can now record the speaker audio and the digital samples to a WAV file. Set the file names using the config screen, and then use the "FileRec" button to start recording. Press the Help button for more information. Quisk Version 3.6.3 July 2012 ============================= Thanks to Steve Murphy, KB8RWQ for the patch adding additional color control, and for his dark color design. I am using Quisk with my AR8600 receiver 10.7 MHz IF output as a general coverage receiver. My config file is n2adr/quisk_conf_8600.py. This covers the VHF and UHF bands, and so I needed to add some FM repeater and scanner features. I added a Squelch button for FM. Right-click the button to adjust the squelch level. The Squech and AGC buttons are combined to save space. The new configuration file items freq_spacing and freq_base are used to round frequencies to channel spacings on VHF. There is scanner logic in my config file. You should look at this if you use Quisk with a transverter for the higher bands. With my hardware it is able to scan known repeater frequencies jumping across bands as it scans. The 960 ksps rate of Quisk and HiQSDR is very useful at VHF and higher. I added tabs to the config screen, and cleaned it up. I added a record and playback button. Press Record to start a new recording of radio sound. The maximum recording length is set in the config file, and the default is 15 seconds. After this limit, the most recent 15 seconds of sound is retained. To play the recorded sound, press the Play button. If you are transmitting, the recorded sound is transmitted provided the microphone and playback sample rate are both 48000 sps. The transmitted recorded sound is not subjected to the usual audio processing. That means that you can play another ham's audio back and give him/her a good idea of how it sounds. Quisk Version 3.6.2 May 2012 ============================ I added a display of the filter bandwidth to the graph screen. This is based on code provided by Terry Fox, WB4JFI. Thanks Terry! See the file quisk_conf_defaults.py. I added detailed information on each sound device to the config screen. The Test button now generates AM and FM as well as CW and SSB. The receive filtering has been re-written to improve the shape of the filters and to reduce the CPU time. Quisk now runs on my fan-less Shuttle Atom machine at speeds up to 480 ksps. The CW filters are particularly nice. Quisk Version 3.6.1 April 2012 ============================== There is a new "DGTL" mode to send Quisk audio to an external digital mode program such as Fldigi. Read the file quisk_conf_defaults.py to see the new config file options available. Use the Help button for basic information, and see docs.html. I changed the 60 meter operation to agree with new FCC rules (for the USA). See the configuration file for items to control 60 meters. Quisk Version 3.6.0 March 2012 ============================== There are no new user features in this release, and no changes to the HiQSDR code. This version adds a new feature for those writing C-language extension modules that need to access C code from the _quisk extension module. Examples are the SDR-IQ and the Charleston extension modules. This feature was requested by Maitland Bottoms, AA4HS, and he also provided patches. Previously, symbols from the _quisk module were linked to sub-modules with the C linker. Now _quisk exports symbols using the Python CObject or Capsule interface. The documentation is in import_quisk_api.c. Only minimal changes to extension modules are required, as most changes are in _quisk. The linker method still works on Linux, but the new interface is highly recommended. Quisk Version 3.5.12 February 2012 ================================== There are no changes to Quisk, but this version includes the new Quisk VNA program that enables you to use my original transceiver hardware and the newer HiQSDR hardware as a vector network analyzer. Use "python quisk_vna.py" to run it. Quisk Version 3.5.11 December 2011 ================================== I fixed a bug that caused the microphone to freeze when sending the mic sound to the SoftRock for transmit. Quisk Version 3.5.10 December 2011 ================================== Lucian Langa contributed a patch to return the primary display size for dual displays. If you decreased graph_width for dual displays you will need to change it back to 0.80 (or similar). I improved the transmit audio filters to reduce spurs and decrease processing time. The mic sample rate can now be either 48000 (as before) or 8000 samples per second. The plan is to make Quisk run effectively on small laptops or even tablet computers. Remember to adjust mic_clip and mic_preemphasis in your config file. Quisk Version 3.5.9 November 2011 ================================= I fixed a bug in Windows that occurs only when using the mic for transmit. Quisk Version 3.5.8 October 2011 ================================ The Windows version is now equal to the Linux version, and transmits properly. I added a parameter agc_off_gain to the config file. It controls the audio gain when AGC is off. Reduce it if sound with AGC off is too loud. Note that even with AGC off, the output is limited to the clip level. I made some other improvements to AGC. I added FM transmit. The modulation index can be set in your config file. I made some improvements to demodulation, and to the SSB transmit filter. I fixed an array out of bounds bug in transmit. Quisk Version 3.5.7 September 2011 ================================== This is a quick release to fix two bugs in 3.5.6, the message "expected integer" and faint audio for FM. I also added a new parameter agc_max_gain to the default configuration file to control the scale of the AGC slider. Quisk Version 3.5.6 September 2011 ================================== The Spot button now has a level adjustment instead of fixed values. Right-click the button to adjust. There are now three buttons with a slider adjustment, namely AGC, Spot and the right-most filter button. I added a feature to measure and remove any DC component in the UDP samples. I fixed a problem with the waterfall display when zoomed and using band up-down. There is a new adjustable AGC control. Right click it to show the slider adjustment. The full up position corresponds to the old AGC 1. I removed the 1650 Hertz offset when transmitting SSB. It was not necessary and cluttered the code. Quisk Version 3.5.5 July 2011 ============================= These changes only affect the N2ADR 2010 transceiver and the improved version, the HiQSDR. I moved all the files into a new package directory hiqsdr. The old n2adr directory has only the special files I use at my shack. Please change your config file as follows: from hiqsdr import quisk_hardware # Special hardware file use_rx_udp = 1 # Use this for the N2ADR-2010 use_rx_udp = 2 # Use this for the HiQSDR The sample config file quisk_conf.py in hiqsdr can be used as is for the HiQSDR. There is a new dictionary tx_level in the config file to set the transmit level. See quisk_conf_defaults.py for other features that can be set for the HiQSDR. There is a new FPGA firmware version 1.1 available to support the new HiQSDR features. Note that your firmware version is shown on the Config screen. It is not necessary to update your firmware unless you use the HiQSDR and you want the new HiQSDR control lines to work. If you do update your firmware, you must run Quisk 3.5.5 or later. Quisk Version 3.5.4 June 2011 ============================= I added another slider labeled "Zo" to zoom (expand) the graph screen scale so that narrow signals can be examined. The center of the graph is changed to the tuning frequency when zoom is turned on. To cancel zoom, move the slider back to the bottom position. You can tune as usual even if zoom is on. I put the band buttons on one line so I could add more control buttons. Quisk Version 3.5.3 May 2011 ============================ I added "Documents" as a possible config file location (for Windows 7). These changes are specific to my 2009/2010 transceiver hardware: I now detect and display the firmware version. The files conf_transceiver.py and hardware_transceiver.py are now the basic config and hardware files for my transceiver. The spot button now appears without a special widgets file, so no widgets file is necessary. The file quisk_hardware.py is still the hardware file used in my station, but it is mostly useful as an example of what is possible, not as a starting point for use by others. Quisk Version 3.5.2 April 2011 ============================== I added code from Ethan Blanton, KB8OJH, to provide direct frequency control of the Si570 chip in many SoftRocks. I added AM transmit and improved AM receive. I added FM de-emphasis to receive. I added a noise blanker. It is now possible to delay samples (tx_channel_delay) and correct the amplitude and phase for the sound card play device (SoftRock transmit). Unfortunately receive sound card corrections will need to be re-entered. The filter bandwidths for each mode can now be set in the config file. And you can right-click the right-most filter button to adjust its bandwidth. Quisk Version 3.5.1 February 2011 ================================= The phase correction control has been improved to allow multiple correction points per band. Unfortunately this will require re-entering corrections. I added mic_preemphasis and mic_clip to the config file to control Tx audio processing. Quisk Version 3.5.0 January 2011 ================================ Starting with this version, a Windows version of Quisk is available (alpha code). I changed the amplitude/phase correction control, and added config file options (rx_max_phase_correct) to control the maximum available correction. Quisk Version 3.4.14 January 2011 ================================= The "alsa:" names can now be used for mixer settings. I added simplified config and hardware files for my 2010 transceiver hardware. I moved the one sample delay for some sound cards into the config file instead of using the #define FIX_H101 (which remains for backward compatibility). I added more buttons "GraphP2" to the Graph button to activate a peak hold function. There are config file options graph_peak_hold_1 and _2 to control the time constant. Quisk Version 3.4.13 December 2010 ================================== I decreased the microphone speech processing preemphasis and clipping. I added a config parameter key_poll_msec to control the SoftRock USB poll for key status. I improved the config screen. Alsa names can now be strings like "alsa:NVidia" that match the card/device info. Thanks to Joachim Schneider, DB6QS, I made some improvements to SoftRock USB control. Quisk Version 3.4.11 November 2010 =============================== Thanks to Sid Boyce, G3VBV, for sending me SoftRock hardware to work with. The "mic_play" logic was re-written so that transmit I/Q samples can be sent from a sound card to hardware that uses QSD up-conversion. I added USB access through pyusb to control recent SoftRock models. A new package "softrock" directly supports several SoftRock models. Change Spot Button to transmit at carrier frequency. Add a Split button to enable split receive and transmit frequencies. Fix band change data for pan adapter users. Try to make easy_install work better. Quisk Version 3.4.8 August 2010 =============================== A new config file option "playback_rate" can set the radio sound play rate. I added a button to the config screen to change the decimation rate for hardware that supports this. See the new "VarDecim" methods in quisk_hardware_model.py. I added this feature to the SDR-IQ hardware file sdriqpkg/quisk_hardware.py, and to n2adr/quisk_hardware.py. Thanks to John Nogatch AC6SL for a bug fix. Quisk Version 3.4.6 July 2010 ============================= I improved the mouse tuning by eliminating a tendency to tune backward. I made the sdriq extension and my n2adr code into packages in the directories "sdriqpkg" and "n2adr". The new package architecture will make it easier for authors to write Quisk extensions. See the example config files quisk_conf_sdriq.py and quisk_conf_n2adr.py to see how to change your imports: from sdriqpkg import sdriq from sdriqpkg import quisk_hardware from n2adr import quisk_hardware from n2adr import quisk_widgets Thanks to Terry Fox, WB4JFI, for improvements to Quisk: Code to support the Charleston hardware (libusb-dev required). Code to add a third FFT data block. Quisk Version 3.4.3 June 2010 ============================= The hardware open() method now returns a string for the config screen. If you have a custom hardware file, create a string or return the base class string. I made the SDR-IQ code into a separate Python extension module "sdriq". This module can serve as a model for other hardware extensions. It is the model for the Charleston hardware extension module. The sdriq.so file needs _quisk.so, so put both in the same directory. I corrected the decimation for sample rates greater than 240 ksps, and improved the filters for all decimations to reduce "images". The following changes are only relevant if you use the SDR-IQ for capture: You need to add these lines to your config file (see quisk_hardware_defaults.py): import quisk_hardware_sdriq as quisk_hardware display_fraction = 0.85 There is now a special hardware file for the SDR-IQ. If you have a custom hardware file that uses the SDR-IQ you need to use quisk_hardware_sdriq as its base class (instead of quisk_hardware_model). [See version 3.4.5 for further SDR-IQ changes] Quisk Version 3.4.2 May 2010 ============================ The config file has a new option to add an external demodulation module. I I added the ability to play in stereo, and corrected the sidetone logic. The config file has a new option to add a full duplex button. I added the ability to use PortAudio for sound card access. PortAudio can also be used to connect Quisk to other programs. I added a key up delay to the is_key_down() serial port code and fixed a sound card CW bug. A new config file entry can make amplitude/phase corrections independent of band. This is needed for a panadapter. I fixed the compressed graph labels at high sample rates. Quisk Version 3.3.7 April 2010 ================================= If you get samples from a UDP port, you can specify the decimation rate in the config file. If you send samples to a sound card for transmit, CW now works (as does SSB). Quisk Version 3.3.6 February 2010 ================================= I added BandEdge to the config file, and added code to Quisk to make the frequency and band changes more rational. I changed the config file attribute freqTime to bandTime (see changes). You can now define a class named "Hardware" in your config file, and then you don't need a separate hardware file. This is only recommended for simple hardware needs. See docs.html. If you use the microphone and send samples with UDP, the audio is now centered at 1650 Hertz, and you must add/subtract this offset when setting the transmit frequency. A number of valuable patches were submitted by Andrew Nilsson, VK6JBL, and these were incorporated into Quisk: The band buttons displayed can be changed in the config file (bandLabels). The 6 meter band was added (change bandLabels to show it). Turn on add_imd_button in the config file to generate 2-tone test signals. The two new functions QS.capt_channels(i, q) and QS.play_channels(i, q) will set the capture and playback channel numbers at any time. If you set the key method to "", the new function QS.set_key_down(1) will set the key state up or down. This enables you change the key state using either C or Python; for example, to add a "MOX" button. The microphone samples can now be output to a sound card for transmit. See the additional items in the config file. The new config file parameter mouse_tune_method causes mouse drag tuning to change the VFO frequency, not the Quisk tuning frequency. I moved microphone_name and tx_ip (for the microphone) to the config file from the hardware file so that all the mic parameters are together. Quisk Version 3.3.1 December 2009 ================================= For sound card input, I added controls to correct amplitude and phase balance. Press the new button on the config screen. A different correction is saved for each band. See the help file. I added the new band "Audio". It sets the VFO frequency to zero and is meant to be used with a sound card. I changed the WWV and CHU bands to a new Time band. The time frequencies are named freqTime and can be changed in your config file. In the file quisk_conf_defaults.py I changed the default for persistent_state to True, and added graph_width=0.8 to specify the graph width. A period "." in the frequency entry box means megahertz. Quisk Version 3.3.0 November 2009 ================================= I fixed a bug in the SDR-IQ decimation that produced slight audio distortion at decimations other than 500. If the play device is the null string "", Quisk no longer tunes and demodulates the signal. This saves CPU cycles when Quisk is used as a panadapter. I added decimation (reduction of sample rate) before the filters so that Quisk can handle higher sample rates or slower computers. I made the waterfall into a splitter window with a graph display at the top. There are new attributes in the config file to control this feature. The numeric value of Ys and Yz are now shown so that the values can be added to the config file more easily. There is a new config option to save the state (band, frequency, etc.) on exit, and restore it on startup. Only certain bits of state are saved; the others are still taken from the config file. The default config file sets fft_size_multiplier to zero, and this specifies that Quisk should calculate it for you. Quisk Version 3.2.3 September 2009 ================================== Fixed a bug that prevented tuning the SDR-IQ when using the default hardware file. Started adding code to capture sound from a UDP socket. Quisk Version 3.2.2 June 2009 ============================= The microphone access was re-written to make it work with more sound cards. The config file has a new parameter "mic_channel_I" to specify which sound card channel is used for the mic. Added Documentation.html. Fixed lack of poll to ReturnFrequency(). Quisk Version 3.2 May 2009 ========================== Quisk now uses wxPython instead of Tkinter for its graphical user interface. You must install the python-wxgtk2.8 package. Get the latest version available. If you still want to run the Tkinter version, it is quisk_tk.py. The wxPython version is much faster. Quisk now runs in two threads; a GUI thread and a sound thread. I moved the colors to the config file so you can change the colors more easily. Quisk Version 3.1 April 2009 ============================= New hardware file to control the AOR AD8600. I added filtering to FM audio to remove CTCSS tones and provide -6 dB / octave de-emphasis. I removed the tkdirect C-language module and replaced it with a pure Python equivalent. This reduces compilation problems. I improved the speed of the screen updates so that Quisk will run without clicks on slower computers. Quisk Version 3.0.0 April 2009 =============================== Thanks to Leigh L. Klotz, Jr. WA5ZNU, my special hardware control was removed to separate files so that Quisk now has a cleaner design that is more useful to others.