Chris Thompson has officially released version 1.07 of FoxTelem. A
test version has been out for a while, but it had several issues,
including a lower decode rate than 1.06. That prevented release for
a while. Those issues (and something like 65 other defects) are now
all fixed and this decoder performs better than 1.06. Feel free to
test them side by side and report back if that is not the case for
you. We are always interested in any comparative results.
In addition to defects in FoxTelem 1.06 and earlier versions of
1.07, this also introduces Doppler calculation with automatic
adjustment of the decoder frequency. This is especially useful for
decoding beacons and has been helpful in testing for Fox-1A / AO-85
and Fox-1Cliff / AO-95 which are both in SAFE mode. Decoding from
Doppler takes a bit of configuration to get right. Have a read of
the new sections in the manual or ask for help if you want to give it
a try. There are pros and cons vs “Find Signal” for sure.
Version 1.07 changes the core SDR within FoxTelem to use a
Numerically Controlled Oscillator (NCO) rather than an FFT Filter for
the conversion to base-band. This produces better decodes and will
allow the support of wider bandwidth SDRs in the future. The old
decoder is available still if needed from the settings screen. Read
the manual for details.
Version 1.07 also introduces two new BPSK decoders in advance of the
Fox-1E launch. (Chris has no inside information about when that will
be, but he has the decoder ready Chris also wrote some notes on
the comparison between the two decoders, which you can read if you
are interested in BPSK decoding performance, or just wonder what I do
with my time in the evenings:
http://www.g0kla.com/workbench/2019-03-09.php
The releases are here:
http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/windows/foxtelem_1.07y_windows.zip
http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/linux/foxtelem_1.07y_linux.tar.gz
http://amsat.us/FoxTelem/mac/foxtelem_1.07y_mac.tar.gz
KEY CHANGES in 1.07
- Ability to add a new spacecraft from the menu. You can also
remove them. - Doppler calculation and tracking as an option instead of “Find
Signal” - A better SDR based on a Numerically Controlled Oscillator, ready for
wider SDRs - Two new PSK decoders – Costas Loop and Dotproduct
- RTL dongle implemented for testing, though more work to do
- Stops downloading keps when position calc is off
- Allows toggling of high speed / DUV display when in auto mode
- Fixed plotting issues for Earth plots
- Fixes several crashes and bugs
- Fixes copy paste issues with tables
- Respects left/right audio preference when processing wav files
- Implements formats for later spacecraft – Fox-1E and HuskySat
- Linux and Mac launch script updated to locate the JVM (especially on
Mac). Please report if when this works/does not work - MEMS gyro calibration updated
- Fixed a bug where AO-85 data from the server could not be stepped
through
And many other bug fixes. Full list of changes here:
https://github.com/ac2cz/FoxTelem/milestone/12?closed=1
Let Chris know any feedback, chrisethompson (at) gmail (dot) com.
[ANS thanks Chris G0KLA / AC2CZ for the above information.]