Fichten Field Day Radio Kit - FiFi SDR V2.0 and GSDR Software - W1AEX
I stumbled upon the Genesis Radio version of
PowerSDR by accident. After some fumbling around I found that
it's extremely simple to set up for the FiFi SDR plus it looks
great and runs beautifully. It's definitely my new favorite for
tuning around and listening on all the bands. Gotta love the
"analog s-meter" look! As an added bonus, the FiFi SDR appears
to be quite functional up on 6 meters, which is quite a surprise
to me! Here's a screenshot of GSDR running my FiFi SDR:
The main Genesis SDR page is located
here: http://www.genesisradio.com.au/
The software is located here: http://www.genesisradio.com.au/GSDR/new/
Even though both of my computers are running Windows 7 64-bit I started out with the 32-bit version of Genesis SDR. There is a 64-bit version but I did not try it until later. When I got around to installing the 64-bit version I found that it performed very well and showed half the CPU load that the 32-bit version runs with, however, it has not been updated for several years. You can have both versions installed on the same computer as long as you install them into two separate folders. The 32-bit version should be unzipped into a folder in the Program Files (x86) directory and the 64-bit version should be unzipped into a folder in the Program Files directory.
To get started with the 32-bit version all you need to download are two files:
GSDR_install.zip
GSDR_update_21022014.zip
There actually is no an installation procedure, all you do is unzip the GSDR_install.zip contents into a folder of your choice. Then you unzip the GSDR_update_21022014.zip file right into the same folder and allow it to overwrite the files that have been updated. When that's done, look for genesis.exe inside the folder and right-click on it, then select properties. In the compatibility tab set its privilege level to "administrator" so that it has the ability to retain the parameters you will set for the FiFi SDR. When this is done, right-click on the genesis.exe once again and make a shortcut for your desktop. Right-click on the shortcut and check to make sure that it has administrative privileges toggled on. That's all there is to the installation as the Genesis GSDR package has its own copy of ExtIO_si570_usb.dll within its folder.
Power up the FiFi SDR and when it's running start up the Genesis software. It will do a "one-time optimization" and then will go through a setup sequence that asks what radio you are using. Select "QRP 2000". It will ask you if another piece of hardware is installed which should be answered with "No". It will also ask what soundcard you will be using, select "Unsupported Card". Click "Finish" and Genesis will start up in standby mode. Leave it in standby mode and click "Setup" in the upper left-hand corner then find each screen below and set them just as they appear below:
On the Hardware Config page, after checking that "QRP 2000" is correctly selected in the Radio Model list, press the "Get" button so that the software will fetch your FiFi SDR's Si570 Xtal frequency. Yours may differ slightly from mine but it should be pretty close. Make sure everything else is checked just like you see below.
The software is located here: http://www.genesisradio.com.au/GSDR/new/
Even though both of my computers are running Windows 7 64-bit I started out with the 32-bit version of Genesis SDR. There is a 64-bit version but I did not try it until later. When I got around to installing the 64-bit version I found that it performed very well and showed half the CPU load that the 32-bit version runs with, however, it has not been updated for several years. You can have both versions installed on the same computer as long as you install them into two separate folders. The 32-bit version should be unzipped into a folder in the Program Files (x86) directory and the 64-bit version should be unzipped into a folder in the Program Files directory.
To get started with the 32-bit version all you need to download are two files:
GSDR_install.zip
GSDR_update_21022014.zip
There actually is no an installation procedure, all you do is unzip the GSDR_install.zip contents into a folder of your choice. Then you unzip the GSDR_update_21022014.zip file right into the same folder and allow it to overwrite the files that have been updated. When that's done, look for genesis.exe inside the folder and right-click on it, then select properties. In the compatibility tab set its privilege level to "administrator" so that it has the ability to retain the parameters you will set for the FiFi SDR. When this is done, right-click on the genesis.exe once again and make a shortcut for your desktop. Right-click on the shortcut and check to make sure that it has administrative privileges toggled on. That's all there is to the installation as the Genesis GSDR package has its own copy of ExtIO_si570_usb.dll within its folder.
Power up the FiFi SDR and when it's running start up the Genesis software. It will do a "one-time optimization" and then will go through a setup sequence that asks what radio you are using. Select "QRP 2000". It will ask you if another piece of hardware is installed which should be answered with "No". It will also ask what soundcard you will be using, select "Unsupported Card". Click "Finish" and Genesis will start up in standby mode. Leave it in standby mode and click "Setup" in the upper left-hand corner then find each screen below and set them just as they appear below:
On the Hardware Config page, after checking that "QRP 2000" is correctly selected in the Radio Model list, press the "Get" button so that the software will fetch your FiFi SDR's Si570 Xtal frequency. Yours may differ slightly from mine but it should be pretty close. Make sure everything else is checked just like you see below.
Next, click on the "Audio" tab and in the
"Sound Card" tab make these adjustments to the settings:
Select Complex Baseband (I/Q) FiFi-SDR for the Input and
then select your system's soundcard for the Output. Choose
192000 for the Sample Rate. For the calibration to track
correctly it was necessary for me to select "RX swap I/Q"
and I suspect this will be true for all the FiFi receivers.
If your calibration appears to have an offset then toggle
that choice the other way. My calibration is spot-on
everywhere so it should work for you as well.
The only things I changed on the
"Display" tab were for the Display Grid. The settings
below brought the vertical scale within range for what
my antenna was picking up. You can alter the Max and
Min to values that are optimal for your uses. Make
sure you check the Vertical Grid and Horizontal Grid
settings so that you will have an easier time
interpreting the calibrated panadapter.
In the GUI make sure that the
horizontal sliders at the bottom in the Sub RX
field are centered as they appear below. By
default one is all the way to the left and the
other is all the way to the right. With the FiFi
SDR this results in audio through only one of your
computer speakers or one side of your headphones.
That puzzled me for a bit until I spotted what was
going on.
When everything is set, click on the "Apply" button and then the "Save" button at the bottom of the menu window. When that is done, click on the "Standby" button and Genesis PowerSDR should start right up on 10.000 MHz. Play around with the PowerSDR interface and you'll figure it out quickly. It runs beautifully and in my opinion the performance surpasses any other software out there for functionality, looks, and stabilty. By the way, they have a "Compact Screen" mode that looks very cool and doesn't take up as much of the screen as the "Normal screen" mode. It looks like the picture below:
When everything is set, click on the "Apply" button and then the "Save" button at the bottom of the menu window. When that is done, click on the "Standby" button and Genesis PowerSDR should start right up on 10.000 MHz. Play around with the PowerSDR interface and you'll figure it out quickly. It runs beautifully and in my opinion the performance surpasses any other software out there for functionality, looks, and stabilty. By the way, they have a "Compact Screen" mode that looks very cool and doesn't take up as much of the screen as the "Normal screen" mode. It looks like the picture below:
It is very easy to
calibrate the VFO frequency in GSDR so
that it is spot-on even when receiving SSB
signals. The picture below should make the
explanation that follows a little easier
to follow. Hit the WWV button in the Band
selector keypad of the GUI and press it
repeatedly to step through each of the WWV
stations. Tune to the one that is highest
in frequency and still well above the
noise level. I have also used CHU on 7.850
which is usually quite strong at my
location during daylight hours. Note that
before this adjustment my FiFi was so far
off frequency that none of the frequency
standard stations were in the receiver
bandpass, if that is the case with yours,
set the VFO frequency to where the
frequency standard station should be and
then switch the mode to DSB. Next, open up
the Setup tab to display the "Hardware
Config" page that allows adjustment of the
Si570 XTAL frequency. Watch your
panadapter and then hit the little "up"
button tab followed by the "set" button
for the Si570 XTAL and see if the
frequency standard station moves closer or
farther away. If it's going in the right
direction keep mashing the "up" button tab
and the set button until it is close.
Obviously, if it's going in the wrong
direction, start mashing the "down" button
and the "set" button until the station is
close. When you reach the point where the
up or down button moves you too far, go
back one step, and then start manually
adjusting the smaller numbers in the
frequency box until the frequency standard
station is zero beat. You can really get
it exactly zero beat if you are patient.
When you are done with this adjustment it
might be worth the time to make a
screenshot or at least write the adjusted
frequency down so you can simply enter it
in directly if you ever have to reinstall
the software. When you have got it zero
beat, hit the "OK" button to close the
setup screen.
That's all there is to it. This software really works beautifully and definitely enhances the features of the FiFi SDR to allow it to perform like receivers that cost 10 times as much. In addition to the bonus 6 meter coverage the I/Q - WAV recorder works flawlessly. Enjoy!
As it turns out, the Genesis SDR software still has the internal hook from PowerSDR that allows you to load a Console.png file. This makes it possible to create "skins" that have textures to enhance the visual look of the GUI. I made a few skins using a beautiful analog s-meter offered by Jeff - W2NBC and compressed them into skin packs. Simply click on the pictures of the skins down below that you would like to install and when each zip file is downloaded, extract it into your Genesis "skins" folder where you have installed your program. Restart the Genesis SDR software and you will be able to load the "Theme" of your choice from the Skins page in Genesis SDR. If you have any interest in designing your own skins be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this page. It's very easy to do if you have a simple graphics program.
Note that because the buttons in the skin packs are dark, you should change the Console Text color to white in the Genesis "Skins" tab as shown in the picture below:
The "National NC-155" Skin
The "National NC-155 Retro S-Meter" Skin
The "ANAN" Skin
The "Sincgars" Skin
The "Black Wrinkle" Skin
The "Metal" Skin
Another thing that I
figured out was how to keep the
s-meter from sitting at S-9 when there
was no signal being received. To be
honest, when used with the FiFi the
s-meter is really just a relative
strength meter so make these
adjustments with that in mind. It may
be possible to calibrate the s-meter
to reflect signal dBm accurately but I
did not bother to go to the trouble.
The second picture below may be
helpful for seeing where this
adjustment is made. Open up to the
Calibration tab and write down the
values that are present in your "Level
dBm" and "SMeter val" fields so you
can re-enter those values if you don't
like the way your adjustments turn
out. Note that larger values inserted
into these fields result in a lower
s-meter reading on the meter. By
playing around with these you can get
the s-meter to display lower with no
signal and reasonably high when a
signal is present. Not a very precise
explanation but you should be able to
make the meter respond in a reasonable
way by messing around with those
values. When you are satisfied, click
on the "OK" button to close up the
setup tab.
That's all there is to it. This software really works beautifully and definitely enhances the features of the FiFi SDR to allow it to perform like receivers that cost 10 times as much. In addition to the bonus 6 meter coverage the I/Q - WAV recorder works flawlessly. Enjoy!
As it turns out, the Genesis SDR software still has the internal hook from PowerSDR that allows you to load a Console.png file. This makes it possible to create "skins" that have textures to enhance the visual look of the GUI. I made a few skins using a beautiful analog s-meter offered by Jeff - W2NBC and compressed them into skin packs. Simply click on the pictures of the skins down below that you would like to install and when each zip file is downloaded, extract it into your Genesis "skins" folder where you have installed your program. Restart the Genesis SDR software and you will be able to load the "Theme" of your choice from the Skins page in Genesis SDR. If you have any interest in designing your own skins be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this page. It's very easy to do if you have a simple graphics program.
Note that because the buttons in the skin packs are dark, you should change the Console Text color to white in the Genesis "Skins" tab as shown in the picture below:
The "National NC-155" Skin
The "National NC-155 Retro S-Meter" Skin
The "ANAN" Skin
The "Sincgars" Skin
The "Black Wrinkle" Skin
The "Metal" Skin
If you have a graphics editing program
available that can manipulate the PNG graphics format
then you can create skins for your Genesis Radio
software very easily. As shown in the image below, all
the skins reside in the "Skins" folder of your
GenesisSDR software installation. Each skin has a
holding folder, which identifies the name of the skin
in the dropdown menu of the "Theme" selection in the
Appearance/Skins section of the Genesis Radio
software. The only thing inside this holding folder is
another folder named "Console". It is the contents of
the Console folder that controls the appearance of
each skin. In the image below, the PNG files on the
right form the buttons, sliders, and console parts of
my W1AEX ANAN skin. I made custom buttons, sliders,
and all the GUI panels to create the ANAN skin. To
make your own, you can copy and rename the Console
folder of any of my skins and then edit the 23 PNG
files to look the way you want them to. It's as simple
as that. The only rule to follow is to make sure you
name each component correctly so that the Genesis
Radio software is able to load the files into the GUI.
As long as you make sure that the folder paths are
correct, when you restart the Genesis Radio software
you will see your custom skin displayed in the "Theme"
dropdown selector. I'm sure that you'll come up with a
GUI skin that is more creative than what I have made
and hopefully, you'll share it!
