Cathy Moss' Panoptos or SDRMax III, a beautiful GUI

[W3RSW]

C. Moss originally developed "Panoptos" GUI for the QS1R SDR along with an open GL ver.2.1 Three Dimensional waterfall test (v.2008.10.28.1).

 The Open Gl test had capabilities showing time as a Z axis (out of the page on an oblique angle for presentation on a 2D monitor.)

"Panoptos" or SDRMax3 certainly has a beautiful GUI but unfortunately is no longer supported.  Two tone K3 into a dummy load at 50 watt dissipation and picked up remotely by a QS1R is used in this example.  A video would show the "hauntingly rising and falling" noise floor and signal graphic effects better than this still, but attractive nonetheless.  

Edit:
Attached also is an expanded GUI with some of the panels opened to see some more of her work.  Timings, addresses and a lot of workings can be shown and modified.  Her fractal opening panel is simply stunning.

[KC2TAU]

I've never really found an SDR program that I've really liked to use because so many of the GUI's are rather unpleasant to look at. I remember spending some time doing a Google image search for SDR software, stumbling across a photo of her GUI and wishing that such a GUI could be ported to other SDR applications as it is simply one of the best I've seen. Many could learn a lot from her work.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Looks overly busy to me.

[Steve - K4HX]

Good GUI design is hard to find these days. Too many geeks just slap elements together or populate the screen with crap that appeals to them. Normal people view it as a cluttered mess. Web apps are often the worst.

[W3RSW]

Pete, --Button fields minimized.
Almost all mature GUI's have essential display options.

Note the tabs midway across top and far right that open the button fields on top, right or both respectively.

Reading the buttons on the open fields of previous scans shown will clarify the options.

[Opcom]

I like this best of the ones I have seen screenshots of. I prefer 'busy' options and controls for everything. I hope it can be supported going forward, that she or someone else can continue to develop it.

[W3RSW]

Then you will love one of her later versions, here presented by others
on YouTube.   Some say cleaner graphics, less institutional (e.g., like all the others) and better layout.

Stay with it until the end if you have a little time.
Video certainly shows the 'infinite recycling of grass' better than any still. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nae_M_q-i10

[W3RSW]

Added the Open GL 3D waterfall test frame pix in original posting (above.)
 I believe some of this work was shown in the QS1R wiki site, etc. around 2009 or so, but has been since removed.  Probably already seen by many, e.g., on AB9IL's site, etc. but thought it should be added for completeness since it was mentioned in my 01/25/15 post.

Three fields show in Moss' skeletal 3D work  -- Pan, Waterfall and 3d Section.
  --Waiting for the rest of the GUI's to catch up-- 

[N2DTS]

I am hooked on sdr-radio version 1.5.
Everything I want, easy to use, stable, analog looking meter.

Power sdr was ok after you got used to it, at least for a tranciever.

[Opcom]

I'd have that GUI.

[W1AEX]

Rick,

There is a lot of Cathy Moss's work in the development of CuSDR for the TAPR and ANAN transceivers. Cathy's name is mentioned a number times in the release notes in reference to certain display and control functions that were inspired by her work with SDRMax III. I'm not sure how much collaboration went on but it looks like she contributed a lot of ideas including the "look" of the s-meter and the shading of the panadapter views. If you look at the picture of CuSDR below you will see many similarities. It is possible to adjust the color scheme to match the "theme" of your screenshots but I have not played around with those settings so my display is still set to the default. At any rate, there is a lot to be learned from all that she has done with SDRMax III which is really beautiful.

73,

Rob W1AEX

[W3RSW]

Yes Rob. Tres interessant. Your right.  When Apache labs gets cuSDR working with xmit function and all the features of Power SDR , two receiver phasing, etc., it will be a killer combination. The Anan 100d is right now is the most bang for the buck if one's serious about DDC SDR (thin) transceivers.

All of Cathy's work was/is probably liftable a/c Open GL and GNU open requirements.  When I run her Panoptos the buttons change color when activated as shown in the video. Same as CUSDR too. I'm under the impression that she no longer is programming for any commercial outfit but continues to enjoy experimenting. More power to her. Were we all as bright.

Note also the esentially DC to 55mhz scan common to all the DDC SDR GUI's including all the SDR Max qs1r variants. The Max's present it in a separate callable frame that can be moved and sized anywhere on the monitor screen along with the main variable "slice" pan and waterfall. You'll note that rapid recognition and freq. setting are much easier with graduated fill of the pan. You don't have to wait until the waterfall runs enough to show a definite QSO edge.  I'll run up a screen shot showing latest Max5 if you'd like.  It is still true to n8vb's limited use of Cathy's work (if at all).  He's a true gentleman.

[W1AEX]

Rick - I'd love to see what Max5 looks like. I really like the ability to detach any slice from CuSDR and leave it anywhere on your monitor desktop as a fully functional separate receiver. Very slick indeed! I have run as many as 5 separate receivers along with the wideband spectrum display but that is the limit until they uncap the gigabit ethernet which is currently running at 100 Mbps.

The OpenHPSDR developers are finishing up a new communications protocol that is being implemented into OpenHPSDR in steps. When it is finished the option will be present to move all the processing out of the FPGA and into a freestanding ethernet connected SDR server based upon the inexpensive NVIDIA Jetson (192 cores and 1 quad-core ARM processor) CUDA boards. With the SDR server doing all the crunching and heavy lifting and latency across the typical home LAN at around 1ms it should give an enormous performance boost. All the new internals that have been placed into the core of OpenHPSDR are also being migrated into the CuSDR project. It's all moving very fast and hard to keep up with!

73,

Rob W1AEX

[W3RSW]

http://svn.tapr.org/repos_sdr_hpsdr/trunk/DL3HVH/cuSDR64/bin/release/README

Ok, i read those. -- and continuing research.
fascinating.

Meant to add a couple of screen shots of MaxV for Rob.
Just about every button has an expansion screen for options.  Similar to other decent GUI's you can move, minimalize or expand windows and boxes to your hearts content. Note that a click on the Wideband 0 to 65Mhz will bring up the same freq. in the main window 'slice', etc. 

All the Max3 and 5 stuff is run on my QS1R/T.
More info here for those new to N8VB's productions.
http://qs1r.wikispaces.com/
Many have moved on to Apaches (Anon 100's) or Flexes these days because of wanting a full 100 watt DUC transmitter, but the Qs1R is still a useful and flexible 16 bit, 125Mhz clocked DDC SDR with a Cyclone III FPGA.

[Steve - K4HX]

Then there's this.

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/news/cambridge-consultants-reveal-worlds-first-all-digital-radio-transmitter/1020033.article

[ka4koe]

I'd love to see a version for the PowerSDR radios.

[W1AEX]

Meant to add a couple of screen shots of MaxV for Rob.

...the Qs1R is still a useful and flexible 16 bit, 125Mhz clocked DDC SDR with a Cyclone III FPGA.

Those MaxV screenshots are beautiful Rick and thanks for posting them. The flexible layouts make it so convenient to adapt everything to an optimal setup for multi-monitor use or a single monitor with only what you want brought forward. Your QS1R uses the same FPGA (Altera Cyclone III) as my ANAN-100 Hermes based rig. Very capable with plenty of horsepower to get the job done!

73,

Rob W1AEX

[W3RSW]

Yep, the good ol' LTC 2208 (16bit & 125 Mhz clock) and Altera Cyclone III.
Where do you think Phil hung out developing stuff not too many years ago?    Rhetorical of course, as you know.

Great stuff.
HUZ got me started with decent literature references and have learned a lot
from there. N8VB and C. Moss are simply gods in the SDR world along with several others (other Phil comes to mind.)
 Started my QS1R sojourn with a rev. C board in early 2008. Fascinating what you can do with a couple of quadrature data streams.

Check this one out.
HDSDR on the qs1r, uses far less computer resources.
running right now.

.. and here's the corner of the galaxy where SDR icons lie.

If I were starting over, with what I know now I'd acquire an Anan 10E.
https://apache-labs.com/al-products/1044/ANAN-10E--HF---6M-10W-All-Mode-Transceiver.html 
A good value for the buck and normally no discernible difference in reception from a 16 bit machine. The beautiful CuSDR Gui would be stellar on the 10E for receiving.
You'd have a 10 watt xmtr to play with too. 

If one has more of a budget, your 100D is just the ticket. 

[W3RSW]

If you'd like to see how Cathy Moss' work has developed or morphed beyond "Panoptos" and what Rob, W1AEX, gets to work with check out this YouTube video.
Rob has also posted similar vids from his machine, closely related in a YouTube search.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hMmVbJGig2A

This one's over a half hour long so skip along to what portions you like. It gets a little busy and tedious at times.  At minute 12 some interesting frame jostling occurs.  My computer display shows little preview frames along the timeline to enable picking out differing portions.  It looks a little dim to start with but go to full screen. After a few moments it'll burst forth in all its glory. Just wish some of the button fonts were a little more legible.  I think if I were running it, I'd reduce the pan and waterfall to a smaller portion of the overall screen and make the text windows and buttons a little larger.

e.g., this only five minute vid. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gVFQVzoeNjA

To those who favor function over form, my artists eye really is happier with
this presentation over the Flex's flag and stuff, as novel and useful as it is. 

Flex has just released v 1.4 of their presentation, and slowly but surely are leveling out the rough spots, but I sure prefer CuSDR on the Anan at this point.  Two different hardware animals though so 'apples and oranges' at this point.

Hey, maybe I can see if n8vb will offer CuSDR as another QS1R GUI.

[KF1Z]

It's too bad things went south with Cathy and the QS1R forum.....

We had new updates and fun things to try almost DAILY for a while.

But people being what they are, started making demands of her, so she got fed up and left.

[W3RSW]

I wrote to Phil n8vb. He'll see if he can port CuSDR to the Qs1r. If successful , even with part of features,  Should be very nice.  Many similarities between the Mercury receive portion of the Hermes board and the QS1R.

Bruce, long time no see OM.   Still have your QS1r?
Love those bright red Genesis boards. Hooked up with the Aussies now eh?

Rob, found your NVIDiA Jetson info.
http://lists.openhpsdr.org/pipermail/hpsdr-openhpsdr.org/2014-August/045909.html
Also see the follow up posts for "kudos" and limitations.

Whew. John G0ORX and Phil VK6PH are up to big things.

[KF1Z]

Yup, still use QS1R/QS1T as test instruments....
However the QS1R has really lost any sensitivity it had... ( was never great to begin with above 6mhz )
Have not determined the cause yet.

Been "hooked up with the Aussies".. for about 5-6 years selling kits etc.....  :-)

[W3RSW]

Recent inquiring about the possibility of getting CuSDR ported over to the QS1r has elicited a response from the originator, Herman, DL3HVH,  on the Apache Laps Yahoo forum regarding his origination of CuSDR for the Anan. I want to be sure credit is where credit's due.  Cathy Moss' work is credited as well as several others in what was steered from SDRMax III to CuSDR in our above thread.

FollowingHerman's response:

HermannApr 25
Hi Rick, all,

the work on cuSDR is continued but it is slow because of lack of time. cudaSDR is a branch of Berndt, VK5ABN, where the fftw is replaced by cuFFT.

Contrary to some beliefs I have (again) to correct the following statement:


Hide message history
On Sat, Apr 25, 2015 at 1:28 AM, Ken N9VV n9vv@... [apache-labs] <apache-labs@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
 
Hi Rick,
well the funny thing is that SDRMAX-III *WAS* the basis for cuSDR <LOL>
the original source code has N8VB's attribution in it and Hermann was
very thoughtful to credit Phil and Cathy Moss when he began his coding
of cuSDRxx.

SDRMAX3 was NOT the basis of the cuSDR code. The basis was the SharpDSP package written by Phil, N8VB, as used in the KISS console, e.g.,
and the KISS code in general. I took the SharpDSP package and converted it to a Qt version. This now has been replaced by Warren's, NR0V, unbeatable
wdsp package (cuSDR with wdsp is not yet published).

The GUI of SDRMAX3 was indeed an inspiration for cuSDR. I also reused partly the code of the zoom-able scales from SDRMAX3.
I have the personal permission to do so from Cathy Moss. I'm a little tired of having to explain this again and again, and I would
suggest doing a diff of the SDRMAX3 and cuSDR code. If you see similarities in the code it is because of the Qt-style of coding,
and the use of OpenGL code, e.g. As a simple example: Cathy used Vertex buffer objects for the waterfall implementation, I use
Framebuffer objects. I have NEVER seen a waterfall implementation in OpenGL using Framebuffer objects before, etc. etc.

I have always expressed my respect for the work of Phil, N8VB, and Cathy Moss, so don't get me wrong!


I am very well aware that many people are looking forward to new versions of cuSDR. I also receive many many emails from folks asking for
support of this or that hardware, etc. Due to job and family obligations I simply don't have much more time currently.

There is progress, definitively:
 
- wdsp is already integrated
- many improvements of the GUI are made
- many parts on the Tx part are already implemented
- updates to Qt5.4.x are done
- I try to follow changes people have made on the Linux side
- I had some cuFFT replacement of fftw a long time ago, but that was Cuda 2.0. I'm glad that Berndt, VK5ABN did that again for the newest Cuda 6 !
  At the early time of Cuda 2 it wasn't really a benefit (computationally) just replacing fftw by cuFFT. This seems to different now.

Thanks for your time.

73s,
Hermann DL3HVH

[W1AEX]

Rick,

Hermann is doing a beautiful job with the coding in CuSDR and he is always careful to make sure people know what's inside it and where the ideas for various modules came from. Anyone who has used OpenHPSDR will no doubt love the fact that the WDSP core written by Warren NR0V is being utilized in CuSDR. I have to laugh every time I hear someone say that OpenHPSDR is simply a hacked version of PowerSDR. Other than a similarity in the GUI appearance everything under the hood is generations beyond the last version of PowerSDR (v2.7.2) and there is NO comparison as far as the performance goes. The next version of CuSDR should be spectacular and if Phil N8VB can port it over for the QS1R guys that would be very cool.

The links below are a couple of videos I made with CuSDR running on my ANAN-100. The video at the first link shows the full HF spectrum from below the AM BCB to 66 MHz along with some long haul aircraft communications between flights working with NY Advisory on 8.846 MHz. The second one shows the full HF spectrum display along with 3 RX slices with one RX parked on the AM BCB, another RX on 40 meter AM featuring Brett N2DTS, and the third RX slice is monitoring NY Advisory long haul aircraft communications on 8.846 MHz.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dblUl7qvBw4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlJZEft1Ci4

73,

Rob W1AEX

[W3RSW]

Thanks Rob.  Saw one of yours earlier on a Utube search.
So far I've gotten the GUI up, but no link to QS1R probably cause the GUI's looking for a  high speed connection to a URL, etc.  Need a patch to the server like HDSDR has.  Probably mass confusion when trying to patch in Mercury's 10mHz clock which doesn't exist on the QS1R along with the main 125mHz clock not to mention confused "personalities".
Am I a Mercury or a Hermes... 

Pix of how far I've gotten with CuSDR and with SDRMaxIII running below it.  Um, the CuSDR field is sort of blank.

We are pretty much stretching limits of "QSO" on this board and probably ought to carry on in the Anan board; hope others are not bored to death.
If all else fails I can buy the Hermes board and populate it (..yeah, right)  if Herman, et. al. opt for more development rather than port it to my QS1R.