New features in firmware and Software version 1.10

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