FT8 on the ATS mini

[marcocandia]

Good morning, I recently developed an FT8 decoder for the ATS-25. The ATS-25 is already sold with an FT8 decoder, but mine has higher performance. In fact, the decoder on sale only receives on a 1600Hz spectrum, while mine is on 3200Hz, allowing it to decode many more messages simultaneously. I'll make it public soon. I was also thinking of making a version for the ATS MINI, which obviously requires small hardware modifications. Do you think it might be interesting? If I see any interest, I'll get to work right away. Hello everyone, and thanks for reading.

[max-arnold]

Hello!

Do you think it will be possible to overcome the ADC limitations? #162

[marcocandia]

Good morning, and thanks for your reply. In the FT8 decoder I built for the ATS25-Max decoder, or modified ATS25, the code implements software-driven continuous sampling (not "continuous mode" in the hardware sense) using a timer to time out the individual readings of ADC1. The sampling rate is 12,800 Hz with 2,048 samples for the FFT. In practice, I get a resolution of 6.25 Hz, with enough precision to decode many of the FT8 signals I receive. Compared to the commercial ATS25, my bandwidth is double, and I can recognize many more signals. Now, I'm not very familiar with the ATS MINI hardware yet, but from what little I've read, it should be possible to modify the hardware to have an analog input on ADC1. I'll try that soon. As soon as I can, I'll post a video on YouTube of my FT8 decoder for the ATS25, compared to the commercial one.

[marcocandia]

I posted a video below

[max-arnold]

I guess for the initial experiments you can disable Wi-Fi and use an ADC2 pin like IO11

[marcocandia]

Yes, that's true, but the Wi-Fi would be needed to sync the time, which is necessary to decode the FT8. I could try syncing manually anyway, but sooner or later it will lose sync, but it works for a while.

[marcocandia]

I've already experimented with manual sync without Wi-Fi on the ATS25. It's been working perfectly for a while.

[DE8MSH]

Yes! A FT8 decoder 'd be great!

[marcocandia]

I posted a video below

[marcocandia]

This is what I did for the ATS 25

FT8decoder.mp4

[Yuradol1972]

Hi! In order to do this, you need a hardware mod like the one used in the ATS-25, but no one here will modify the ATS Mini's circuit.

[marcocandia]

Yes I know, I do it for myself, then if someone is interested... we'll see.

[nullsignzero]

This is great news! This is what i'm looking for!
Is the source available for public domain?
Thanks!

[marcocandia]

Hi, I'm currently working on the firmware for the ATS25. I can decode FT8 and RTTY so far, but I'm currently working on CW. Are you interested in the ATS25 or the ATS mini?

[marcocandia]

You can check it out here, though it's still under development.

https://marcocandia.github.io/goldenradio-installer/

Let me know what you think, thanks.

Bye

[nullsignzero]

Thank you! Over the next few days I will test the software and post my findings. Just for my understanding: if I add an SI5351 clock generator and a u-blox GNSS receiver (hardware-add is no problem), would it be possible to include a TX function in the software with additional parameters such as callsign and grid and timeslot?

[marcocandia]

Hi. Next Monday, December 22nd, I will upload the new version of the site, which includes FT8, RTTY, and EiBI.

[nullsignzero]

Great!, is it also possible to add a PSK31 decoder with ASCII varicode?

[marcocandia]

Coming back to the ability to transmit, I don't understand what you need the u-blox GNSS receiver for

[marcocandia]

Hi, I think so, but I'll have to evaluate it carefully. The GOLDENRADIO project is still under development. I'm open to any requests; if you think it's useful, I can consider including it in the project. Send me a list of the features you'd like to have in an ATS25, and I'll evaluate whether to include them. Thanks for your cooperation. Marco

[nullsignzero]

In the meantime, the ATS mini has been recoverd.

[marcocandia]

Ok, perfect ! I understood you were trying to upload my firmware to an ATS25. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[nullsignzero]

No its my fault,I should have looked better.

[marcocandia]

Coming back to the ability to transmit, I don't understand what you need the u-blox GNSS receiver for

[nullsignzero]

The GNSS module is for timesync, when using the transceiver for POTA when wifi is not available.