A quick guide to MoboControl05


MoboControl05 is used to control the various parameters in the firmware of the Mobo 4.3.
It can also be used for the Softrock USB/I2C interface by PE0FKO, as well as the ATmega168
or UBW derivatives.  When used with the latter 3, a limited number of options are active.

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Frequency control:

Frequency (in Hz) can be entered into the "Frequency" spinbox.  The spinbox can also be used 
to step the frequency up or down, by using the up/down arrows, or by clicking the mouse on 
the spinbox for focus, and then use the mouse wheel for spinning.  Spin steps are set using
the "Spin:" combobox to the right.

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Frequency calibration:

(cut/paste text from Alex), tested and verified OK

The following assumes that you are using PSDR-IQ.

 Check that your IF is at the default 9khz (if not, note down what IF it is).
(2)  Check also that the fcryst (or Xtal, or Fxtal etc.) frequency is at the default 114.285 Mhz.
(3)  Tune to WWV, say 5Mhz.
(4)  Now note down the exact turned freq, say 5.000123 Mhz.
(5)  Close PSDR-IQ.
(6)  Start MoboConfig.
(7)  The tuned freq box should already have 4.991123 Mhz there.  If not, enter the value (which is the freq in step (4) - 9khz).
(8)  In the "real" freq box enter 4.991000 Mhz.
(9)  Hit "Si570 Calibrate".
(10) Close MoboConfig.
(11) Fire up PSDR-IQ, and tune to WWV - and voila, it shold be spot on!!!!!

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Bias calibration:

(cut/paste text from Alex, with a couple of little additions)

The bias values are set to control the operating bias point of the RD16.

Normal setting for bias low is 20 ma, and bias high is normally set at
350mA to 650mA.

Bias is automatically calibrated by hitting the "Bias Calibrate" button.

After bias calibration, the actual bias point is automatically set to
H (ie bias high level).  So if you set bias high to 350ma, this is the
quiescent drain current with no input I/Q drive.  If you set bias high
to 50 ma, it will be the quiescent drain current  etc.

The Default Bias point can be switched between High and Low by pressing
the "H" and "L" buttons.

"Key TX" can be used to verify the current draw during Transmit.

"Bias Raw Low" and "Bias Raw High" can be used to manually adjust the
bias settings.  These values are enacted instantly, the "Bias Calibrate"
button is not used. New settings don't become active if the Mobo is in
Transmit mode.  They will become active as soon as the value is changed,
while the Mobo is in receive mode.  Normally these values are not
modified manually, however this can be useful in a fault finding
situation, for instance if the AD7991 ADC is not working for automatic
measurement of the PA current draw.

For normal operation, we would like to set the RD16 bias to CLASS A,
so the recommended bias high setting is 630ma for best linearity.
However, the heat sink gets quite hot (and may go into thermal
shutdown protection after a few minute).  So I usually set it to
500ma.  Note that in CLASS A, the heat sink gets hotter when there is
NO I/Q drive and power out.  It actually gets cooler (less
dissipation) if you have full power out.  This is DIFFERENT from the
ordinary CLASS AB push-pull PA's.

However, if linearity is not a concern, eg when you are operating CW,
then you can bias the RD16 into CLASS AB or CLASS B, by setting the
bias high to progressively lower and lower levels.  If you set bias
high to 20ma, you are running at CLASS B.  However, the gain at CLASS
B is much lower than in CLASS A, so you will find you need a high I/Q
drive.  The advantage of CLASS B is that the heat dissipation is
minimal with no power output.  It only heats up with key down.  (So
this is the more usual PA situation.)

Now about bias low.  You can change the operating bias of the Mobo to
use the bias low setting instead of the "usual" bias high setting,
using Fred's CfgSR tool, or moboControl tool.  When you do that, the
LCD displays L (instead of H).  So it bias low is set to 20ma, this
will be the operating bias.

Now back to bias high.  In normal operations, the Mobo is set to bias
high, as indicated by the LCD display of H.  Now if there is a high
SWR situation during Tx (eg when the ANT is disconnected
accidentally), the high SWR protection feature kicks in.  LCD will
display R.  This is the "reduced" bias state.  The bias level is
actually set to the bias low, or L level.  After a set time period (a
few seconds to many seconds, configurable), the R state is changed
back to the H state.  If the high SWR situation is still not resolved,
then the protection kicks in a gain an bias is set to R.

So the key to understanding all these is that the Mobo PA is different
from the "usual" PA's:

(1)  It is run in normal operation in CLASS A
(2)  it has software configurable bias settings, H and L
(3)  it has automatic high SWR protection, bias R
(4)  it has thermal shutdown protection

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External PCF8574:

The PCF8574 General Purpose Input/Output Extender is bidirectional.  The PCF is by default with all outputs set
as high, which also makes them work as inputs.  It takes about 100uA to pull a pin down to low.  On the other
hand, if a PCF pin has been written to, changing it to low, then it cannot be used as input.  The low output is
capable of sinking several mA, unlike the high setting, which cannot source any current (open collector like).

"I2C addr" should contain the I2C address of the external PCF8574 to be controlled.  Start by pushing "Read",
to poll the inputs.  This will result in the read input value being shown in hexadecimal format, under "In  hex".
The read value will also be shown in "Out  hex", and in a bitwise notation in the eight check boxes.

To edit the "Out  hex" value, the individual check boxes can be ticked or unticked, or alternately, the value in
the "Out  hex" box can be rewritten.  Write out to the PCF by pushing the Write button.

Note:  If an external PCF is being used for Cooling Fan Control, then the same PCF can also be controlled with this
utility.  The firmware does not alter or care about the settings of other bits than the Fan control bit (normally
bit 0).

Note: If this command is set to the I2C address of the built in PCF8574 (PCF8574 Mobo, normally address 63), then
the current output of that PCF can be read by using the Read button.  If a new value is written out using the Write
button, then this value will be overwritten by the firmware next time it writes to the PCF, for instance when
changing between Transmit/Receive, or changing Filter settings.

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Temperature Settings:

The Temperature Alarm function shuts the transmitter off if the temperature goes one degree above the setting
contained in "Tmp Alarm".

The Fan kicks in once the Temperature goes one degree above the one contained in the "Fan On" setting.
The Fan shuts off again once the temperature cools down to the setting contained in "Fan Off".  Note that if 
Fan Off is larger than Fan On, then the fan will never shut off.

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Bells and Whistles:

Rotary Encoder Resolution contains a value which is normally 4 times the specified Pulses Per Revolution (PPR)
value for the Encoder.  This will result in 1kHz frequency change for each turn of the Encoder.  Note that the
Encoder function has two speeds, 1x and 100x.  The 100x function activates if the angular turning speed of the
Encoder is faster than a certain trigger value.  This value is dependent on the Rotary Encoder Resolution value.
Therefore, some experimentation may be in order to get best results.

"LCD frq offset for PSDR-IQ" is a LCD display frequency offset feature used with SV1EIA's PSDR-IQ.  When in
receive mode, PSDR-IQ has a fixed IF offset, normally 9kHz.  However when in transmit mode, the offset changes
to 0kHz.  As a result, when in receive, the LCD will show a frequency which is offset from the actual tuned
frequency, while the transmit frequency displayed on the LCD will be correct.  By entering the receive offset
into the "LCD frq offset for PSDR-IQ" value, the LCD will show correct frequency, both during transmit and
receive.

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Power Meter and SWR Alarm:

"Scale":  		Power meter bargraph full scale setting, both LCD and the builtin MoboControl power meter.

"Cal":			Calibration value for the Power meter.  Nominal value is 1000.  Adjust this value, using an
			accurate external meter as reference.

"PEP Sample window":	The Power measurements from the Power/SWR board is sampled 10 times per second.
			This is the sample size of a sliding window function, which uses the largest value within
			the window to derive the measured power.  A sample size of 1 sets the window size down to 0,
			only one sample used for each measurement.  A sample size of 20 results in a PEP measurement,
			showing the largest value measured within a 2 second period.  Default is 10, for 1 second.

"SWR Alarm": 		Sets the trigger point for an SWR Alarm function, which switches the bias from the High
			setting to the Low setting (Reduced), if SWR goes above the trigger point.  Output P33
			on the Mobo, PTT2 is an SWR Alarm protected PTT output.  If SWR alarm, then this output
			deactivates.

"Alarm Latency":	Sets the time period it takes to revert back from an SWR alarm situation.  Unit size is 10ms,
			largest possible value is 65535, which would be awfully long.

"Valid min PWR trig":	Sets the minimum needed Power input to activate the SWR alarm.  Value is in mW, largest
			value is 65535, which is 65.5W.  Setting this at a high value will deactivate the SWR Alarm
			function.

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Filter Crossover Function:

The first Filter/Crossover table shows the Crossover frequencies for the builtin Band Pass Filters (BPF).
The lowest filter will be active below the first Crossover frequency shown, the second filter will become active
once the frequency is equal to or larger than the first Crossover frequency, the third filter when the second
crossover frequency,... etc...

The second Filter/Crossover table shows the Crossover frequencies for the external Low Pass or Band Pass Filters.
The lowest filter will be active below the first Crossover frequency shown, the second filter will become active
once the frequency is equal to or larger than the first Crossover frequency, the third filter when the second
crossover frequency,... etc...

Note: On the LCD, first line, on the right hand side, the current filter settings are shown.

To read the current Filter settings, press the "All Filters Update" button.
To modify one filter crossover point, on either the internal BPF or the external LPF, enter the crossover point number,
and the freuqency in kHz and push Update.

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I2C Address Control:

Here the individual I2C addresses can be modified.  The default addresses are usually OK, correspond to all
switches on SW1 being in the Off position.

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Read From Firmware:

"Poll":			Read live measurement from the firmware, one read only.
"Loop live":		Continuous poll of all live measurements, one poll per 1/5 seconds.  Some SDR software which
			regularly polls the USB is tolerant of MoboControl doing concurrent polls, but no guarantees,
			things may misbehave. PSDR-IQ 1.12.2x may not work well with MoboControl running concurrently.
			PSDR-IQ 1.19.x.x appears to work well with MoboControl running concurrently.
			Rocky and MoboControl coexist without problems on some PC platforms.

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Configuration Maintenance:

"Save":			Save all settings to a file on disk.
"Restore":		Restore all settings from a file on disk.
"Reset":		Resets the firmware, same as a power cycle, no settings are changed.
"Factory Reset":	Factory Reset of firmware, all values and settings are reset to default.

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Firmware Control:

"Start USB":		Connect to USB device, or Reconnect to USB if connection had been lost.
"Quit":			This command doesn't really belong here.  Exits MoboControl.


First draft, 2010-04-18, TF3LJ.  Any updates and improvements are most welcome.

