[arm-allstar] COS line lost and frequent spurious Key Downs.

[David McGough]

Hi Glenn,


See my comments, below:


On Wed, 28 Dec 2022, Glenn Lyons via ARM-allstar wrote:

> Version: RPi2-3-4  Version 1.7-03 Allstar - September 12, 2022 - K4FXC
>Driver:  simpleusb
>Duplex: 2
>RIM: RB-RIM-Lite Version 2.1
>Repeater: IC5000

>For some reason I am yet to determine our ASL has lost the COS input. It
>may be a broken wire or a programming error on the IC5000 AUX port. I 
>will diagnose when I am next on site.

>What I am surprised to find is that ASL still functions well for QSO's.
>However, this setup has one not so good side effect. When not in a QSO 
>the repeater goes key down for a second or less frequently. At the worst 
>times this can occur up to 47 times an hour.

> Question 1. Is the simpleusb driver using the RX (audio from the 
>repeater) in the absence of COS to key PTT? There is nothing else it can 
>be using.

In HamVoIP, COS must be asserted from the FOB for any inbound RX audio to 
be repeated or transferred to a network connection.  Note that PTT from 
the FOB can/will be asserted independently from COS whenever incoming 
audio from the network is present or AllStar telemetry / audio 
announcements, etc.

>Question 2. Please confirm that the simpleusb driver ignores CTCSS. I 
>have CTCSS connected and tried to implement that protocol without 
>success.

By default, CTCSS is ignored. However, this signaling is fully supported 
and can be enabled using simpleusb-tune-menu option 'L'.  When CTCSS 
signaling is enabled, the composite COS signaling becomes a logical 'and' 
operation combining the hardware COS 'and' hardware CTCSS signals.

>Question 3. I used  "12 Run Simpleusb-tune-menu application, option
>V) View COS, CTCSS and PTT Telemetry using real-time display" to 
>determine the signals. What is the time interval between refreshes as I 
>may be missing states between refreshes.

simpleusb-tune-menu screen updates when using option 'V' are nearly 
real-time. The update is generated immediately when the simpleusb driver 
detects a change in signal state.  State updates occur every 20mS, which 
is the internal audio frame interval.  Note that ACTUAL screen updates 
will be delayed by network latency or jitter.  

> Question 4. Are there any scripts or code segments available for this 
> very useful utility?  I would like to mod it so it scrolls with a 
> timestamp instead of refreshing in situ so I can follow the changes over 
> time.

In the asterisk software, you can "set verbose 5" which will show
real-time internal state variable updates, which get dumped to the
asterisk console.  These updates aren't timestamped or logged, but will at
least give a definitive indication of whether COS (or composite COS/CTCSS)
are active. The internal COS variable is labeled: RPT_RXKEYED.

Note that the "archivedir" settings will allow telemetry to be logged 
real-time (see below).

> I have implemented logging by setting the "archivedir" parameter in the
> rpt.conf, which was helpful. However, it was the V) View COS, CTCSS and 
> PTT Telemetry using real-time display that alerted me to the cause of my
> problem.

Yes, "archivedir" is very useful in many scenarios.  Note that HamVoIP has 
several customizable settings beyond the stock codebase.  For example, on 
all the hubs I host.  To simply perform a basic telemetry "logging" 
function:

In your /etc/asterisk/rpt.conf file, this example being node [1234]:

[1234]
archivedir = /tmp
archivelogfile=node1234.txt
archiveaudio=0


Then, you can see all enabled telemetry events.  Note that this file can 
get BIG in a hurry!  So, a cleanup mechanism is required.  I'll mention 
that I use FIFOs for these logs, so this data can be used by various web 
apps.  Once the above is enabled, you can review many ways, including:

[root at RPi-Z2W ~]# tail -f /tmp/node1234.txt
20221229095403,1234,RXUNKEY,MAIN
20221229095404,1234,RXKEY,MAIN
20221229095404,1234,RXUNKEY,MAIN
20221229095405,1234,TXUNKEY,MAIN
20221229095405,1234,RXKEY,MAIN
20221229095405,1234,TXKEY,MAIN
20221229095406,1234,RXUNKEY,MAIN
20221229095407,1234,TXUNKEY,MAIN
20221229100025,1234,TXKEY,MAIN
20221229100031,1234,TXUNKEY,MAIN


Note that the first CSV column is the timestamp: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS


>I have confirmed there is no traffic keying the repeater as the uplink is
>silent, so I am left with local "noise" on the Audio into the RB RIM. I
>will know more after visiting the site.
>
>
>Thanks,
>Glenn
>
>Callsign: VK4PK
>Email: Glenn at LyonsComputer.com.au


Happy New Year!

73, David K4FXC