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Author Topic: Amalgamated DGPS Software  (Read 18921 times)

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #15 on: November 24, 2016, 0040 UTC »
Hi Chris,

I found another one that just popped up and has been off air since Oct 2014:

#820 Alexandria, VA  It was an engineering test site.


So I guess there still will be the odd false decode. On some of the true Dx I don't think one could ever get 10 or more logs. That is why I have been keeping a log on paper to track them. Maybe as we go in to winter there will be a change.   

It's like that with NDB's too. Sometimes they are there for a few cycles then gone.   

Cheers,

Don

Thanks, I will remove that one as well.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
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Offline KPC6NDB

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #16 on: January 11, 2017, 0220 UTC »
Hi Chris,

I just started using the new windoz version of ADGPS a couple of nights ago. Last night/this AM I logged 90 straight decodes of #971 Gatun Panama! One less in the bucket list.  :D

Also the previous unid (684 on 325 popped up again this AM. It has been identified as coming from Southern Avionics Company in Beaumont, TX. They manufacture mostly NDB's but have an on the air test rig for DGPS transmitters. Apparently it just sends random data to test the transmitter. For my personal log use I named it #SAC as the call sign when they test NDBs on air on various frequencies is also "SAC".

When they were contacted they shut (684 down 31 Oct 16 awaiting word from the USCG if they could use 325 kHz. Don't know as of today if the USCG said it was OK or not.

SACo L/L:   30 03 56 N,  094 08 51 W

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #17 on: January 11, 2017, 1446 UTC »
Gatun started to appear here in the logs a short time ago, I assume it was recently re-activated?

No decodes yet on 325 but I will watch for it, thanks for the tip!
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
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Offline skeezix

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #18 on: January 12, 2017, 0221 UTC »
Interesting. I've never paid much attention to the UNID window... until now.

I have a whole pile from the Jan 11 decodes (Jan 10, 2017 UTC 2320 - Jan 11, 2017 UTC 1625... so far (still decoding)):

Count     ID       kHz      Baud     
16        234      325      100     
14        925      325      100     
10        138      325      100     
8         562      325      100     
6         339      325      100     
6         71       325      100     
6         711      325      100     
6         1023     325      200     
5         299      325      100     
5         879      325      100     
5         340      325      100     
5         208      325      200     
5         913      325      100     
4         701      325      100     
4         411      325      100     
4         255      325      200     
4         407      325      100     
4         39       325      100     
4         961      325      100     
4         1009     325      200     
3         281      325      100     
3         268      325      200     
3         415      325      100     
3         326      325      200     
3         780      325      100     
3         57       325      200     
2         887      325      100     
2         540      325      100     
2         923      325      100     
2         214      325      200     
2         928      325      200     
2         221      325      200     
2         606      325      200     
2         409      325      100     
2         300      325      100     
2         328      325      100     
2         54       325      100     
2         405      325      200     
2         341      325      100     
1         586      325      100     
1         401      325      200     
1         573      325      200     
1         739      325      200     
1         22       325      200     
1         592      325      200     
1         222      325      200     
1         233      325      200     
1         601      325      200     
1         2        325      200     
1         392      325      200     
1         951      325      100     
1         178      325      200     
1         391      325      200     
1         187      325      200     
1         1019     325      200     
1         729      325      200     
1         948      325      200     
1         942      325      200     
1         908      325      200     
1         0        325      200     
1         80       325      200     
1         83       325      200     
1         128      325      200     
1         378      325      200     
1         325      305      100     
1         878      325      100     
1         365      325      200     
1         154      325      200     
1         591      325      100     
1         515      325      200     
1         311      325      100     



Top UNIDs (> 50)
Count     ID       kHz      Baud     
568       1023     317      200     
369       1023     296      100     
354       1023     298      100     
92        1023     296      200     
74        156      311      200     
70        256      298      100     
69        14       317      200     
58        1023     298      200     
53        1017     298      200 
   
   
The list is very long.  Currently 4219 lines.

Minneapolis, MN

Offline GuidoS

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #19 on: January 19, 2017, 1724 UTC »
Hello Chris,

I've been testing the Windows version of the Amalgamated DGPS application on a W10 system. Very nice program !  There are however a few thing that al least makes me puzzled.

- First of all I'm wondering what the difference is between the blue and the black decodes.

- The User defined stations list that comes with the program has a wrong file name : DGPSSTATIONLISTING.TXT while it should be dgps_station_list.txt as per the instructions in the Readme file

- The row sequence in the stations list that comes with the program is not correct and doesn't fit with the instructions in the readme file.

- It would be better to make the "Max zCount error" 6 as advised in the Readme file. Too many newcomers that don't like RTFM'ing drop interest while they think it doesn't work as it should.

- The readme file says "Amalgamated DGPS can decode the entire 285 to 325 kHz DGPS beacon band ". But according to https://www.ndblist.info/datamodes/worldDGPSdatabase.pdf the band starts at 283.5. Are those stations skipped ?

For the rest, I'm really astonished what this little piece of software is doing.  I'm using it together with Perseus IQ files.  It saves such a lot of time of decoding frequency by frequency. Really great work !

Greetings from Belgium.

73,

Guido.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2017, 1308 UTC by GuidoS »

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #20 on: January 20, 2017, 1554 UTC »
Hello Chris,

I've been testing the Windows version of the Amalgamated DGPS application on a W10 system. Very nice program !  There are however a few thing that al least makes me puzzled.

- First of all I'm wondering what the difference is between the blue and the black decodes.

Black means the station is being presently received, blue means it has not been received in a few seconds. It's a handy way to see which stations are still being heard right now.

Quote
- The User defined stations list that comes with the program has a wrong file name : DGPSSTATIONLISTING.TXT while it should be dgps_station_list.txt as per the instructions in the Readme file

I think I did that so the software would not default to using the external file, but instead the built in list.

Quote
- The row sequence in the stations list that comes with the program is not correct and doesn't fit with the instructions in the readme file.

I am not sure I understand what you mean?

Quote
- It would be better to make the "Max zCount error" 6 as advised in the Readme file. Too many newcomers that don't like RTFM'ing drop interest while they think it doesn't work as it should.

Yes, that is a good idea.

Quote
- The readme file says "Amalgamated DGPS can decode the entire 285 to 325 kHz DGPS beacon band ". But according to https://www.ndblist.info/datamodes/worldDGPSdatabase.pdf the band starts at 283.5. Are those stations skipped ?

Yes, I would have to see if the software can be extended to starting at say 283 kHz. Thanks for pointing this out.

Quote
For the rest, I'm really astonished what this little piece of software is doing.  I'm using it together with Perseus IQ files.  It saves such a lot of time of decoding frequency by frequency. Really great work !

Greetings from Belgium.

73,

Guido.
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
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Offline GuidoS

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #21 on: January 20, 2017, 1630 UTC »
Thanks for the clarifications Chris.

Quote
I am not sure I understand what you mean?

In DGPSSTATIONSLISTING.TXT the row sequnece is
Freq;Baud;Station ID;Ref1;Ref2;Location;Country;Lat;Long

But according to the Readme file it should be
Station ID;Ref1;Ref2;Freq;Baud;Lat;Long;Location;Country

The latter one is working as it should.

73,

Guido.

Offline GuidoS

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #22 on: August 30, 2017, 1255 UTC »
In fact this piece of software is really outstanding! I'm wondering if something similar can be build to extract RDS signals from Broadcast FM IQ/WAV Files ?

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #23 on: August 30, 2017, 1305 UTC »
In fact this piece of software is really outstanding! I'm wondering if something similar can be build to extract RDS signals from Broadcast FM IQ/WAV Files ?

Yes, it certainly could be done from an IQ file. Not an audio WAVE file as the RDS signal is not present.
Chris Smolinski
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Offline GuidoS

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #24 on: August 30, 2017, 1337 UTC »


Yes, it certainly could be done from an IQ file. Not an audio WAVE file as the RDS signal is not present.
[/quote]

Thanks for the prompt reply. The future looks bright.

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #25 on: February 16, 2018, 2154 UTC »
I've released a beta of version 1.1.0, it can be downloaded from the bottom of this page: https://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/dgps_decoding_software_sdr.html

Changes:
Added timestamp of last decode to the main window.
Bugfix - Windows version would produce duplicate decodes using the step frequency option.

As always, keep a copy of your existing version, in case this breaks something  :D
Chris Smolinski
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Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #26 on: February 21, 2018, 1204 UTC »
I've uploaded a new beta to the ADGPS page, the decode range has been extended to 283-325 kHz to cover the 283-285 Hz range used by some European beacons. Maybe I will eventually hear one of them on this side of the pond  :D   

Be sure to download the beta at the bottom of the page, the release version is still 1.0.9, I'll push out a new "official" release in a few days.

http://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/dgps_decoding_software_sdr.html

Chris Smolinski
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Offline GuidoS

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #27 on: February 21, 2018, 2214 UTC »
Great news Chris ! Tnx

Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #28 on: February 21, 2018, 2238 UTC »
Just released yet another beta, 1.1.0b4, which adds a new window, where you can create a list of stations to ignore. No more fake decodes from India  ;D
Chris Smolinski
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Offline ChrisSmolinski

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Re: Amalgamated DGPS Software
« Reply #29 on: February 22, 2018, 1706 UTC »
Beta 1.1.0b5 out now, this version keeps track of the last used directories for loading I/Q files, and saving decodes.

Download from https://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/dgps_decoding_software_sdr.html
Chris Smolinski
Westminster, MD
eQSLs appreciated! csmolinski@blackcatsystems.com
netSDR / AFE822x / AirSpy HF+ / KiwiSDR / 900 ft Horz skyloop / 500 ft NE beverage / 250 ft V Beam / 58 ft T2FD / 120 ft T2FD / 400 ft south beverage / 43m, 20m, 10m  dipoles / Crossed Parallel Loop / Discone in a tree