Feature suggestions (from v1.0)

1

Great software - thanks a lot guys.
During testing (for a hands-on article in Swedish magazine QTC), I noted the following suggestions on wfview 1.0, mostly on Windows:

  • Split VFO
  • Would be practical to have the preamp sel list in reverse order (more natural when scrolling mouse wheel on it, actually a general remark), so scroll upwards means “more”
  • NB (noise blank) would be nice, perhaps also NR on/off/setting (mouse wheel apply here also)
  • Pull sideways on freq.scale and spectrum/WF moves them, freq.intervall changed
  • Seems to me that rig CW offset is not adhered to when switching CW - USB, perhaps also LSB (check also CW tune direction setting)
  • F2 + x does not give 160m on 7300
  • I could not get the F3 memory function to work well
  • Documentation: more detail needed on SSB / Mic remote.

My 5c

1 Like
2

Hi Poul,

We’re going to work soon on Dual VFO, Split VFO, Main/Sub, dual waterfall, and satellite mode. It will require a lot of changes so that’s something you can expect in v1.2.

The mouse wheel, in general, is an interesting control, and I think we may need some preferences about wheel-reversal. For example, mouse wheel on the VFO, Waterfall, and various sliders may be inconsistent right now. For the preamp combo box, my scroll happens to be “correct” (that is, as you and I expect it to be, like a knob increasing gain). I definitely want to unify the experience here, so I will look into it.

NB, NR, DSP, Notch, etc, these controls are coming. They will likely live in a separate little window since I want to keep the main UI as uncluttered as possible. But we’ll see. It’s always a balance.

The pull (drag) on the waterfall is tricky! I know a lot of users expect that to work. Presently, if you zoom in to the waterfall (this is an experimental feature, FYI, and it isn’t in the released builds), you can drag the waterfall to pan the display. But getting it so that dragging changes the VFO frequency is a bit more involved, as we have to come up with a pixels/hz number, figure out how many pixels (y direction) the user dragged, and then issue a command. It wouldn’t be “real time” dragging since the change happens after the mouse is released. It’s a feature I’d like but I am struggling on the best way to do it.

The shortcut for 160M is F2, followed by “L”. Think “low band”. I’ll update the docs on that one this weekend.

As for the memory… this is a shortcoming for sure. It will get a re-write once we get some more things done. I’d like it to ultimately be like CHIRP, with a nice spreadsheet view and maybe the ability to manipulate the radio’s memories independently of the computer’s set of memories (but with the same kinds of features).

Documentation: What would you like to see with regards to SSB and Mic options?

Please let us know how your testing goes,

–Elliott
de W6EL

That’s a good 5c, keep it coming.

–E
de W6EL

3

Hi Elliott!

May I ask you for implementing the SWR meter? That would be really great to have!
Is there any way to trigger the voice memories on the TRX?

thanks in advance
73s
Rainer, OE1KFR

4

Hi Rainer,

The latest source code has several meters actually!
S-meter, Power Meter (with scale), Voltage, Current, SWR, ALC, and (for the R8600) “Center Tuning”.

We should have some windows builds out soon with these changes. And you can build wfview for linux any time using the script.

–E
de W6EL

5

In which branch can I find these meters? These would be most useful to me because my primary station is operated remotely.

73,
Harry Bloomberg W3YJ

6

Hi Harry,

I think they are in the master branch, but they are definitely in the “ui-enhance” branch as that is where I am testing the feature. Make sure to select your second meter type under the Settings tab.

–E
de W6EL

7

Thanks! Will look for them later today.

73,
Harry W3YJ

8

This is exactly what I need for remote operating. The three parameters I keep an eye on the most are output power, ALC, and SWR. Between Flrig and wfview I can now see all three at once. Thanks!

73,
Harry W3YJ

9

Hi Harry,

I’m glad it’s working! If you’re running flrig at the same time, you might want to press the “Polling” button in the wfview server and set it to something rather high, like 100ms. This is because your client wfview and flrig will be doing most of the polling. Future versions of wfview will address this for you and even cache data to prevent hammering the radio with requests.

Thanks,

–E
de W6EL
PS: Which branch did you end up using, and have you found any bugs?

10

I’m using the ui-enhance branch. So far no bugs. I just finished an MSFK QSO with a ham in Germany that I never would have known was calling CQ without first seeing him on the waterfall.

I was using the default polling interval of 25 ms and all was working well, but I’ve backed it down to 100 ms. So far I can’t see much of a difference.

I’m updating my Raspberry Pi 4 7 inch tablet to run wfview and will soon see how well it works with my IC-705. I installed virtual workspaces so that I can easily switch between wfview and Fldigi/WSJT-X and have all apps at full screen.

73,
Harry W3YJ

11

Hi Harry,

Keep the client end polling at 25. I just recommend backing off on the server polling because it’s redundant with the other clients.

Glad it’s working for you! I appreciate your report.

–E
de W6EL