My feedback and wish list

I’d like to report my feelings about wfview and what would be nice in future versions :

I’m using wfview tn control my Icom R8600 through internet and a VPN. This works fine using as well VBAudio to route the audio stream to any decoding software. I also own the ICOM RS8600 software so that I can make direct comparison.

  1. no ability to change frequency by clicking on the frequency numbers like left click increases a digit, right click decreases a digit. This would enable fast frequency change rather that having to go into the frequency step dropdown each time which is not usefull at all

  2. when starting again the application it comes to 100 Hz steps not memorizing the previous setting

  3. The filters are not clear (i.e. the frequency width). Could it be possible to adjust it from here ?

  4. I would love a function to immediatly save a wave file from what I’m receiving

  5. I would love as well beeing able to have the frequency displayed when hovering on the spectrum or waterfall, and clicking would select the nearest frequency according to the frequency steps adjusted

  6. in +/- 2.5 MHz span the spectrum and waterfall are not accurate enough but I imagine this is because it’s not processed from IQ but that the receiver sends the data as it. Very difficult to tune a spotted transmission from the waterfall. Not accurate enough

  7. by the way a zoom and pan function would be nice to zoom in a specific signal without having to change the current settings

  8. I would prefer having the frequency tab directly from the View panel. Having to change the tab each time for changing the freq is painful

  9. would be nice to have the squelch adjustment shown on the S meter as the RS8600 software does (I’ve the RS8600 so I can compare)

  10. I love the the ability to tune the frequency from external application, but I did not succeed to use it from WXtoIMG (not exactly wfview related however)

  11. the waterfall is giving a slight effect of glitering which is not very great and which depends on the waterfaal speed

  12. Ability to do some averaging on the spectrum/waterfall would be nice but back to comment #6 I guess this is not processed from IQ

  13. A must would be to have a phase diagram in order to identify phase constellations which requires processing the IQ data.

  14. Generally speaking the GUI could be really improved according to me (I’m working with PYQT on python and QT Designer for my applications and this enables many great things)

Well more to come but have to admit I prefer using this software than the RS8600 in some ways. I would love having newer versions with some functions improved.

Many thanks for the work
Stephane

Hi Stephane,

Thanks for your feedback,

  1. This is certainly something we will consider.
  2. We are aware of this, unfortunately it’s not that clear-cut as the previous step size may not always be relevant for the band/mode selected.
  3. Which version of wfview are you using? The latest (non released) version is 1.59 and this includes much better indication of filter width. For Windows, this can be downloaded from public_builds and please read the FAQ.
  4. We are looking at this, many modern Icom radios also include the ability to record to the SD card, so controlling this is likely something we will do.
  5. Double clicking on the scope will set the current frequency (and momentarily display that frequency on the taskbar). A single click on the waterfall will display the current frequency.
  6. This is completely outside of our control, the scope resolution is what is being sent from the radio.
  7. Similarly zooming the scope would result in significantly reduced resolution, changing the width is a much better option.
  8. This is something we are considering.
  9. This is one of a number of features that likely use commands specific to the ICR8600. It is something we could look at though.
  10. wfview supports a number of remote control options, including rigctld, virtual serial port and tcp server.
  11. This can usually be resolved by altering the LEN slider.
  12. We have no access to I/Q data.
  13. Same as 12.
  14. We have a few ideas with regards to the Ui. It is currently based on Qt Widgets which does limit the flexibility somewhat. Also none of us are Ui designers!

As you have likely realised, there is limited scope with what we can do with the waterfall data as it is generated by the radio and we have no access to raw I/Q data.

73 Phil M0VSE

Hi Phil,
Thanks for your prompt answer.

I’m running v1.50. I have not noticed there was an update. I’m going to download it right now.

Back to my list above

  1. I do understand but then would it be possible to memorize the last settings and then recall them including all the parameters (freq, filters, mode, tunning steps, waterfall settings, …)

  2. As using it mainly remotely, having the ability to save a wave file locally would be great… The SD card is on the receiver itself. Would then require to access the SDcard with a file explorer to retrieve the WAVs

  3. Yep, I’ve seen that. However displaying the freuency when hovering with a marker would be really usefull.

  4. The glitering is negligible at fast speed and becomes quickly unusable for longer speeds.

  5. I’m not as well an ui designer. I simply use QT designer for the general framework of my UIs and then manage the fine tuning in code usually. Colorized buttons or textedits according to status, grouping of information… I can share screenshots in direct to show in case I can help

Thanks again for the great job done !
73
Stéphane, F1TJJ