Version 1.10 brings a couple of new features to my WSPR transmitters.
Prefix or Suffix to the Call Sign.
The user can now chose to use either a Prefix or Suffix to the call sign.
Prefix The Prefix can be up to three characters long and use any combination of letters or numbers.
The use case for the use of a Prefix is when you are out of your normal region or country and want to signal that.
To use this feature tick the Prefix option and type in 1 to 3 letters or numbers.
Suffix
The Suffix is a single letter or number and can be picked in the list that will show up if you enable this option.
The use case for this option is when you want to distinguish transmission from several transmitters operated by the same user.
For example, you might operate two transmitters using two antennas. If one transmitter that has antenna “A” sends the Suffix A and the other transmitter with Antenna “B” sends Suffix B it will be possible to filter out the transmissions for each antenna and compare their performance based on the signal strength as reported by the receivers in the WSPR network.
Another use case is if you have a stationary transmitter in your home and another that is mobile.
Scheduled transmission.
It is now possible to use a few options to transmit at a specific minute on the hour.
For example there is a ten minute schedule that can be used to transmit on one of these minute Schedules: Schedule 0 = 00, 10, 20, 30 ,40 and 50. Schedule 2 = 02, 12, 22, 32 ,42 and 52. Schedule 4 = 04, 14, 24, 34, 44 and 54 etc..
The use case for this schedule is primarily for use of automatic Altitude calculations in Balloon flights, For example the Web page http://lu7aa.org/wspr.asp can make use of this schedule to do an exact altitude calculations sent as two transmission when the option “Send a more precise location” and the “Encode Altitude as Power “ option are both ticked.
There is also an option that has been asked for by some users that is called Band Coordinated schedule.
This schedule ties each band to a few specific minutes every hour. This way of listening or transmitting on certain bands at certain times was introduced in the WSPR software version 2.21 by Joe Taylor. The idea is that users collectively will jump from band to band on a common schedule to maximize the chances of being heard.
This schedule is also used by the transmitters that make up the International Beacon network. There is an information page in the software that explains more on this feature, you will open it by clicking the circled information i.
Better Serial communication..
The configuration software also has some bug fixes that makes the serial communication more robust. In case not all settings has been read in when the serial port was opened, a re-read of all values can now be triggered manually by a button.
To use version 1.10 you need to update your transmitter using the Arduino IDE and the source code that can be found here.
73
//Harry
Thanks Harry,
all upgraded successfully and running 1.11. Also updated the PC software to the new version. Will be interesting to see how the serial port comms are handled. I did have issues on the old version with it losing sync and having to kill WSPR_TX_Config from the Task Manager. Hopefully this one will be better. Have set it to beacon according to 'Band Schedule' so will see what results we have in the morning. Hopefully even better (although I was already being picked up in Australia and Hawaii to name a couple of distant locations so who knows. Would love to get some spots from Africa and the Middle East but I guess WSPR is no…
Well done fixing all the dependencies on your own Adam! Now it's just a matter of using the upload button. The chance of bricking it using the Arduino IDE is minimal as it does not replace the serial bootloader, only the flash code. If you get it to compile then make sure you have set the correct serial port, that the microcontroller is set to Pro mini 3,3V and then click the upload button, that's all. The tricky part is getting the compiler to compile so you have done 95% of the work already. The code is to large for XLoader, it will fail with an error message. That's why I have not created Hex files for this version Of the 32k Flas…
Harry, I usually wait for you to release the pre-compiled hex files but my curiosity has got the better of me so i downloaded Ardrino IDE and grabbed your source code (1.11) and after a few minutes of playing around I've managed to set up the correct processor and board type, download the additional GPS libraries, update the NMEAGPS_cfg.h file with the references in the comments and successfully compile the code. Now I obviously do not want to brick my shiny new unit. Can you confirm what steps are needed next in Ardrino IDE to push the compiled code onto the transmitter? Or alternatively how to create the hex file which can then be uploaded with the other tool which…