At the end of last year I announced the “proof” that Software Defined Radios also can have buttons and knobs. At that stage the software was still a prototype and not ready for a public release. In the meantime I was working hard to eliminate bugs and implement further improvements. By today I'm happy to announce the release of PowerSDR-UI beta. This is a call for beta testing. Please feel free to download the software and participate in the beta testing phase!

Description

PowerSDR-UI is a fork of FlexRadio Systems PowerSDR. It comes with all the features and bugs of that version but with one important difference: Support of an inexpensive, versatile User Interface with real knobs, sliders and buttons. On each element of the User Interface, a function of PowerSDR can be mapped (e.g. AF Gain, Filter Width,…etc). A detailed description can be found in the article I wrote about why current SDR solutions lack of a proper User Interfaces.

The following two videos have been created by PowerSDR-UI users and demonstrate the integrated DJ Console with PowerSDR:

English:

Japanese:

Release note

PowerSDR-UI is currently at beta status. This means that it is not perfect and that errors might appear. The intention of this release is to get feedback from the community with their various SDR based radios.

From a licensing point of view it is important to understand that FlexRadio Systems has divided PowerSDR in two parts. The application PowerSDR is open source (GPL license) but various drivers are closed source and may not be distributed by third parties (here: me, DH1TW). This is the reason why I can not offer an automated installer as you would expect from any program today. Instead a bit of manual work is needed. But with basic PC knowledge and the installation instruction below I'm sure you will be able to install PowerSDR-UI.

The content of the PowerSDR-UI Zip file is:

PowerSDR-UI x.xx.exe

Sanford.Collections.dll

Sanford.Multimedia.dll

Sanford.Multimedia.Midi.dll

Sanford.Threading.dll

The DLLs are part of the C# MIDI Toolkit which I'm using to communicate with the various DJ Consoles.

The following functionality can be mapped onto buttons:

A > B

A < B

A <> B

Split

0 Beat

RIT

XIT

Clear RIT

Clear XIT

MultiRx

VFO Sync

VFO Lock

MOX

VOX

Mute

NB1

NB2

ANF

NR

SR

BIN

Wider Filter

Narrower Filter

Next Mode

Prev Mode

Tuning Step Up

Tuning Step Down

Band Up

Band Down

Start

Tuner

CPDR

DX

DEXP

RX2 On/Off

RX2 PreAmp

RX2 NB1

RX2 NB2

RX2 Band Up

RX2 Band Down

Enable Rx EQ

Enable Tx EQ

Squelch

BCI Rejection

AGC Mode Up

AGC Mode Down

Preamp (Flex5000)

AVG

Peak

Show TX Filter

Display Mode Next

Display Mode Prev

Zoom Step Up

Zoom Step Down

Quick Mode Save

Quick Mode Restore

Send CWX Macro 1

Send CWX Macro 2

Send CWX Macro 3

Send CWX Macro 4

Send CWX Macro 5

Send CWX Macro 6

Send CWX Macro 7

Send CWX Macro 8

Send CWX Macro 9

Stop Sending CWX Macro (immediately)

MON

Center Pan Slider

VAC On/off

I/Q to VAC1

I/Q to VAC1 use RX2

VAC2 On/Off

ESC On/Off

ESC Form Open/Close

Mute RX2

TUN

Tuner Bypass

160m

80m

40m

30m

20m

17m

15m

12m

10m

6m

2m

160m RX2

80m RX2

40m RX2

30m RX2

20m RX2

17m RX2

15m RX2

12m RX2

10m RX2

6m RX2

2m RX2

Mode SSB (automatically selects USB/LSB

Mode LSB

Mode USB

Mode DSB

Mode CWL

Mode CWU

Mode DIGU

Mode DIGL

Mode SPEC

Mode AM

Mode FM

Mode DRM

Mode SAM

The following functionality can be mapped onto potentiometers:

RIT

XIT

Shift

AF Gain

Volume Rx1

Volume Rx2

Ratio Main/Sub Rx

PreAmp Settings

CW Speed

AGC Threshold

Drive Level

Mic Gain

CPDR Threshold

Vox Gain

DEXP Threshold

Squelch Threshold

AGC Threshold RX2

TX AF Monitor

AGC Mode

Zoom Slider

Volume RX2

Pan RX2

VAC RX Gain

VAC TX Gain

VAC2 RX Gain

VAC2 TX Gain

Waterfall / Grid Low Limit

Waterfall / Grid High Limit

Stereo Balance RX2 (PAN)

The following functionality can be mapped onto rotary pulse encoders:

Frequency VFOA

Frequency VFOB

Filter Bandwidth

RIT

Zoom Slider

Upper Edge of DSP Filter

Lower Edge of DSP Filter

PAN Slider

Supported devices

Hercules DJ Control MP3 LE Hercules DJ Console MP3e2 (not sold anymore) Hercules DJ Console MK2 (not sold anymore)

Download

PowerSDR-UI has been deprecated. The code has been donated to serveral authors of other forks. Please check out KE9NS’ fork.