Mute doesn't, well, mute...

[w3kw]

I've been having trouble with the mute either not working at all, or recovering too soon. I use SDR Console with a lower power boat anchor. It worked fine for hours and now won't mute the strong signal from my transmitter which is bleeding through my MFJ RF switch. I have the latest firmware and have tried AGC, RF Gain, and IF Gain variations. Zero help. Ugh. When it works, it works. The, alas, it decides no mute for you!!

It will mute the background or received signals if I set the threshold beyond the receive background, but it still won't mute the transmitter. I can't see any comments regarding this issue. Surely I can't be the only user combining SDR Console with ham radio and experiencing this issue?

Thanks in advance,

Wes

[Max]

I've been having trouble with the mute either not working at all, or recovering too soon. I use SDR Console with a lower power boat anchor.

Wes

Wes, I can see you posted about this before back in February. Just took another look at your screenshots. One thing I can see I missed totally back then is you were using SDRC 3.1. That's an ancient version. Simon has done updates to the muting since then, maybe more than one update plus a ton of other updates. You should always try and run the latest version.

So first things first. If you are still running 3.1 you must update it. I strongly recommend to use the latest Beta. It's always very stable before Simon publishes as it's been thoroughly tested by the Test Team. It can therefore be treated pretty much as full release version and often solves issues which Simon has worked on since the main release version. Latest Beta is Version 3.3 Build 3131. You need to download and install this first. It will not mess with anything that you already have set up so you can install with confidence. Do not uninstall older version. Just run the installer for the new version. It takes care of everything and takes about 30 seconds to do:

https://www.sdr-radio.com/download#Beta

Do that first then report back.

73

Max

[jdow]

Without looking back due to old age and laziness, if the TR switch is GOOD and the TX is real QRP it is possible that the incoming signals will be stronger than the TX leakage. Maybe Max would remember better than I do whether there is an alternative muting method that could tap into the TX's transmit GPIO signal. (I am envisioning a 5W TX and a switch with say 60 dB isolation on 80 meters at dusk or through the night.)

{^_^}

[w3kw]

I am running the latest version 3.3 which I downloaded last night to update version 3.2, which also had mute issue.

My transmit signal is 50-75 dB over the limit I have set for mute and all the settings are as recommended in the mute pane.

I would love to see a longer mute delay. When the mute was working, it recovered too quickly during slow CW (Morse code) transmission.

Thanks all.

Wes

[Max]

I am running the latest version 3.3 which I downloaded last night to update version 3.2, which also had mute issue.

My transmit signal is 50-75 dB over the limit I have set for mute and all the settings are as recommended in the mute pane.

I would love to see a longer mute delay. When the mute was working, it recovered too quickly during slow CW (Morse code) transmission.

Thanks all.

Wes, I know you did it before back in February, but can you please post a full uncropped screenshot once again (v3.3) of SDRC with HOME tab selected, ideally in the problem state i.e. not muting in presence of the TX signal. If possible also post a picture of the mute settings.

Regarding longer unmute delay, that's one for Simon of course. For some reason I thought maximum delay was 1000 ms but I see it's only 500 ms. Yes, I can see how this might be annoying with slow CW. Maybe post that one as a request?

73

Max

[jdow]

"I would love to see a longer mute delay. When the mute was working, it recovered too quickly during slow CW (Morse code) transmission."

Tools->Options->Auto-Mute
(It sounds like you are in there, right?)

This offers you settings for enabling it and two modes with level setting for each.
Below the Peak and Mean checkboxes you have two more settings, "Mute for" and "Restore". The "Mute for" setting runs from 0 seconds to .500 seconds in 5 millisecond steps. That sounds like it should be sufficient. I believe "Restore" sets the rate at which the gain returns to normal receive. That can avoid a loud tick when gain increases back to normal.

So, I am obviously not getting what your problem is. Maybe the requested picture might tell us something useful.

{^_^}

[w3kw]

I have the mute and restore at maximum duration. It still restores too quickly during QRS (slow) Morse code.

It appears the entire waterfall does indeed mute, but the strong signal of my transmitter still shows over an S-20+ signal on the display. Despite using the MFJ-1708B (which is working perfectly) AND a receiver guard from DX Engineering. I’m using a 30 watt transmitter. The 1708B RG switch rating is 100 watts.

The SDR Console works sometimes. And then, it just doesn’t. Very strange.

Again, if I set the mute dB too high, it will mute the entire waterfall as it should. (It works). The issue is just MY signal blasting through the mute all the way to the highest peak on the display.

I’m running the latest version.

I’ll try to post a pic when it’s doing it. I’m not sure what that will change. I’ve tried every AGC, RF and IF combo and every mute setting combo.

[jdow]

What is the length of a dit with slow CW? You may be stuck with effective break-in keying.

It occurs to me that I don't know if the muting simply mutes audio or it also mutes the whole receive chain. I suspect the former given its original intent to prevent microphone feedback when transmitting.

{^_^}

[Max]

It appears the entire waterfall does indeed mute, but the strong signal of my transmitter still shows over an S-20+ signal on the display.

I’ll try to post a pic when it’s doing it. I’m not sure what that will change. I’ve tried every AGC, RF and IF combo and every mute setting combo.

You say waterfall does indeed mute but then you say still shows S9-20+ "on the display". If the waterfall is muted I don't understand what you mean by the last bit. Surely if waterfall is muted the receiver is muted? By "still shows S9+20 on the display" what does that mean if waterfall is muted? If the waterfall is muted

I've just tested it here with my Hermes Lite 2 transmitting at 5W and receiving another instance on RTL-SDR. The muting on the RTL works perfectly (yes maybe delay could be longer for very slow CW I guess) with no antenna plugged into the RTL of course.

Joanne. Simon stats on the Auto-Mute setup page inside SDRC that when auto-mute operates it sets radio data to zero, so whole RX chain is muted, not just audio.

Wes, we really do need to see that screenshot of it misbehaving. Can you take the screenshot with the Auto-Mute config window over the top of the main SDRC window so that we can see that simultaneously with the "fault" condition. Also make sure "Home" tab is selected so that we can also see the radio settings of the RSP-Duo. In the last screenshot you posted in the original thread you had the RSP RF gain at 9 (max). In my experience with the RSP receivers this is far too high. Those RSP receivers overload very quickly. I think without a screenshot we will get no further with solving this issue.

Max

[jdow]

Um, "Duh" moment here. The RTLSDR dongle has a VERY limited dynamic range as transmitted through USB, 8 bits. That means it's dynamic range, even with averaging effects from narrow bandwidths, he may not be developing enough overload signal to effect muting properly. It really will be interesting to see what his picture might show.

FWIW I am phasing out all active rtlsdr.dll dongles (about 6) here as "just plain junk that barely works enough to give beginners a taste of SDR potential." The next best thing is somewhat pricey but well worth it, the AirSpy HF+ Discovery. They just work. You never have to unplug and reinsert an AirSpy because the dongle's internal engine locked up. It has a much better real dynamic range.

A picture that clearly shows the failure and the settings is quite important for diagnosing problems. I'm dropping this issue until I see usable pictures.

{o.o}

PS: Back of the napkin analysis.
8 bits sampling is about 50 dB of dynamic range for the raw sampling.
At 2.4 Mbps (the one true usable sample rate) and a 100 Hz RX bandwidth you get another roughly 44 dB, So there is a total 94 dB of dynamic range. So it is very likely that being able to receive a weak signal in a system with perhaps an effective 30 dB noise figure, depending on operating frequency, means reception down to about 124 dBm and an overload signal well above -34 dBm has hte rtl dongle overloaded badly on transmit. It has quit sending useful or accurate data to properly trigger mute on a 1W signal with 60 dB isolation, -30 dBm.