Displaying currently received time slot information

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KI5GZK
Posts: 129
Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2020 6:27 pm

Displaying currently received time slot information

Post by KI5GZK » Sun Mar 28, 2021 1:08 am

Would it be possible to have the radio display the time slot of the current call when the TS filter is off?
It would be interesting to be able to see the actual time slot in use when receiving a signal from a repeater.

Thank you for all your hard work as always.

VK3KYY
Posts: 7478
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Displaying currently received time slot information

Post by VK3KYY » Sun Mar 28, 2021 2:12 am

We are limited in the space to display this.

If the TS does not match the Tx TG the display will be shown in inverse video.
However it also shows in inverse video if the TG does not match the Tx TG.

So this is not a guaranteed way to know that TS, unless the incoming signal is always on the Tx TG

KI5GZK
Posts: 129
Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2020 6:27 pm

Re: Displaying currently received time slot information

Post by KI5GZK » Tue Mar 30, 2021 6:28 pm

Do you mean there is no space on the display or in the code?
On the display it would just use the existing space where it currently displays the TS information.

When you turn off the CC filter, it displays the CC of the current incoming signal.
The idea is to do the same thing with the TS information if possible.

VK3KYY
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Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Displaying currently received time slot information

Post by VK3KYY » Tue Mar 30, 2021 9:26 pm

KI5GZK wrote:
Tue Mar 30, 2021 6:28 pm
On the display it would just use the existing space where it currently displays the TS information.
That position on the display shows the TS number you will transmit on when you press the PTT.
The Tx TS is critical information and can't be removed or replaced with other information.

VK3KYY
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Re: Displaying currently received time slot information

Post by VK3KYY » Thu Apr 01, 2021 3:03 am

I'm curious why you need to know the TS of the Rx signal.

If the TG is shown in inverse video, either the TG or the TS is not the same as the Tx TG or TS, and you need to press button SK2 while receiving the signal if you want to change the radio to transmit on the same TG & TS.

KI5GZK
Posts: 129
Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2020 6:27 pm

Re: Displaying currently received time slot information

Post by KI5GZK » Thu Apr 01, 2021 5:01 am

Well, it's not really something that I need to know.
I just thought that when monitoring a repeater with the TS filter turned off so that I can hear both time slots, it would be nice to know which TS i am currently listening to.

VK3KYY
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Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Displaying currently received time slot information

Post by VK3KYY » Thu Apr 01, 2021 5:10 am

OK.

Ideally we could display this, but as the screen is so small, its difficult to shoehorn any additional texts onto the screen without making the existing texts less readable.

And generally people are quite used to the existing location of the texts and would not be happy if they were moved, especially if its to make room for something the are not interested in.

KI5GZK
Posts: 129
Joined: Sat Apr 11, 2020 6:27 pm

Re: Displaying currently received time slot information

Post by KI5GZK » Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:57 am

I agree that adding any additional information to the screen would not be good idea, and I wasn't suggesting doing so.

My idea was that it could be done similar to how the Color Code function is done.
When the CC filter is turned off, the CC portion of the display shows the detected color code instead of the one that is saved in the code plug for that channel.

Could the TS function be configured to work the same way?

I am just trying to make sure I am being clear enough to avoid any confusion.

If you don't think this is feasible or desirable, then by all means consider this thread closed.

Thank you for listening and for all that you and your team do for the ham radio community.

VK3KYY
Posts: 7478
Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 3:25 am
Location: Melbourne, Australia

Re: Displaying currently received time slot information

Post by VK3KYY » Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:23 am

The Colour Code filter stuff is not really what it says it is.

The DMR chip does not have a feature to disable the colour code, so what happens in this mode is similar to the Tone Scan feature, where the radio constantly scans for the CC, and once it finds the CC it sets the radio to that CC.

This is not the same as the TS, as the TS never automatically changes to the incoming TS, as that would be very confusing to operators.
Also the firmware does not automatically change to the received TG.

On commercial DMR radios they have a feature where if you press the PTT while the last TG / DMR user details are still being displayed, the radio temporarily switches to that TalkGroup.

However, this is very confusing, as it means you can accidently transmit on a TG you didn't expect to.
The complex work-around for this "feature" in the offical GD77 firmware (and most other commercial DMR radios), is that you have to create a Rx Group list for every TG you want to use and you must create a channel for each TG / Rx Group.
So that the radio can only receive the TG assigned to the channel, and hence you can't accidently transmit on a TG other than the one assigned to the channel

This system suits commmerial operators but its a nightmare for Ham radio operators.

Hence. In this firmware, apart from the CC filter, which is highly confusing, the radio does not change TS or TG.

Originally the CC filter was actually a separate function like Tone Scanning, and I think probably we should put it back to that mode of operation again, as the current situation is missleading and inconsistent with all other aspects of the firmware

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