Provided by: svxlink-calibration-tools_19.09.1-3_amd64 bug

NAME

       devcal - An FM deviation calibration utility for the SvxLink system

SYNOPSIS

       devcal  [-?|--help] [-h|--usage] [-f|--modfqs=frequencies in Hz] [-d|--caldev=deviation in
       Hz] [-m|--maxdev=deviation in Hz] [-H|--headroom=Headroom in dB] [-r|--rxcal]  [-F|--flat]
       [-M|--measure] [-w|--wide] [-a|--audiodev=type:dev] <config file> <config section>

DESCRIPTION

       devcal  is  a  utility  that  is  used  to  calibrate  the  input  and output sound levels
       (deviation) on an FM SvxLink system. The idea is that it should be possible  to  calibrate
       multiple  parts of a SvxLink system to the exact same sound levels.  This will ensure that
       a system using multiple receivers have the same sound level for all receivers  and  for  a
       repeater  it means that the audio being retransmitted is at the same level as the received
       audio. For an EchoLink system it will guarantee that audio received by the local node will
       be  at  a  proper  level  to  be retransmitted on remote EchoLink nodes, and the other way
       around.

       An RTL2832U based DVB-T USB dongle can be used to measure deviation and the devcal utility
       can also be used to calibrate the receiving frequency correction for such a dongle.

       Deviation  calibration can be done both with and without a DVB-T USB dongle.  Both methods
       are described below.

OPTIONS

       -?|--help
              Print a help message and exit.

       -h|--usage
              Display a brief help message and exit.

       -f|--modfqsfrequencies in Hz
              Use this command line option to set at what frequencies you want to  calibrate  the
              deviation.  Separate  multiple  frequencies  using commas. The default frequency is
              1000Hz.

       -d|--caldev=deviation in Hz
              The deviation value at where to perform  the  calibration.  The  default  value  of
              2404,8Hz may seem strange but it will be explained below.

       -m|--maxdev=deviation in Hz
              The  maximum  deviation  used  on  the  channel.  This is the deviation value where
              transmitters start to limit the deviation  so  as  not  to  cause  interference  in
              neighbouring channels. The default value is 5000Hz.

       -H|--headroom=headroom in dB
              The  headroom  is  the  margin  to  add above the maximum deviation level. Adding a
              headroom will allow SvxLink to handle levels  above  the  maximum  deviation  level
              without  causing  immediate  distorsion. The default is 6dB which mean that SvxLink
              can handle twice the specified maximum deviation. If both maxdev and  headroom  are
              left  at  their  default  this  will  mean  that SvxLink can handle 10kHz deviation
              without distorsion.

              Changing the headroom cause a lot of different effects so don't do that unless  you
              are  prepared  to deal with the problems. For example, increasing the headroom will
              cause the TX level to get lower and the RX level to get higher, which then must  be
              compensated.  The  announcement  levels  will  get  lower  so  they also need to be
              compensated. The EchoLink RX/TX levels will get unbalanced and at the moment  there
              is no way to fix that.

       -r|--rxcal
              Specify this command line option to perform receiver calibration.

       -t|--txcal
              Specify this command line option to perform transmitter calibration.

       -F|--flat
              Perform calibration on a transmitter or receiver that has a flat frequency response
              (no pre- or de-emphasis). If the transceiver has flat frequency  response  but  you
              have enabled pre-/de-emphasis in SvxLink, this option should NOT be specified.

       -M|--measure
              The measurement mode requires the use of a RTL2832U based DVB-T USB dongle and will
              measure the received deviation.

       -w|--wide
              Use wide FM (broadcast) instead of narrow band FM

       -a|--audiodev=type:dev
              Use this command line option to set an audio device to use  for  playing  back  the
              received  audio.  The  default  is  to  use "alsa:default". Disable audio output by
              setting the audio device to the empty string (i.e. --audiodev="").

CALIBRATING AN RTL2832U BASED DVB-T USB DONGLE

       All RTL2832U based DVB-T USB dongles requires calibration so that the specified  receiving
       frequency  is  correct.  Most  dongles  are way off in frequency. 50-60ppm is not uncommon
       which translates to more than 20kHz on 434MHz.

       Most dongles are sensitive to temperature change so start by plugging the dongle into  the
       computer and let it warm up for like 15 minutes before doing the calibration.

       Devcal  need  a  receiver configuration file to work so such a file must be created before
       this utility can be used. Read the Ddr Receiver Section and the Wideband Receiver  Section
       in the svxlink.conf(5) manual page for information on how to set it up.

       A first coarse calibration should be done in wideband mode so that the calibration carrier
       is easy to find. You can use any FM carrier to calibrate on that you know  is  correct  in
       frequency. It does not matter if the carrier is modulated or not. Use your own transceiver
       or a repeater for example. If the frequency calibration is  unknown  for  the  transmitter
       being  used  it  may be wise to test with multiple transmitters. The command line may look
       like this:

         devcal -Mw /path/to/svxlink.conf RxRtl

       The utility will print, among other things, the  carrier  frequency  error.  It  may  look
       something like:

       Tone dev=7.30  Full bw dev=39198.90  Carrier freq err=-27713.53(-64ppm)

       We ignore the first two values for now and concentrate on the carrier frequency error. The
       -64ppm mean that the dongle is receiving the transmitted carrier about 27kHz below the set
       frequency.  To compensate for this, set the FQ_CORR configuration variable in the wideband
       receiver configuration section to 64. Do another measurement to verify that  the  received
       carrier frequency is now closer to the expected one.

       Now  we  can  do  the  final  calibration in narrow band mode. Remove the "w" command line
       option from the command above and do another measurement. Adjust  FQ_CORR  until  a  value
       around 0ppm is shown.

CALIBRATING THE TRANSMITTER

       In  order  to  calibrate the transmitted deviation we need a way to measure it.  There are
       multiple methods to do that. If you have a deviation meter you're in luck but most  people
       does not own one of those. Fortuantely there are other ways.

       One  way  is to use a RTL2832U based DVB-T dongle with the devcal utility. First calibrate
       the DVB-T dongle according to the instructions in the previous section. The devcal utility
       can  then  be  used  in  measurement  mode  to  measure  the transmitted FM deviation. The
       measurement mode is activated using the "-M" command line option.  Use  the  "-f"  command
       line  option  to specify the audio frequency to calibrate at if the default of 1000Hz need
       to be changed.

       Another way to measure FM deviation without a deviation meter is to use  the  Bessel  null
       method.  It  makes  use  of  the  fact  that the FM carrier will go down to zero power for
       certain combinations of modulation frequency and deviation.  The deviation divided by  the
       modulation  frequency  give  something  called the modulation index. Bessel nulls occur at
       specific modulation indexes where the first one  is  at  2.4048.  So,  if  we  choose  the
       deviation  to  2404.8Hz and the modulation frequency to 1000Hz we should get a Bessel null
       when the transmitter is calibrated. These are the default modulation parameters in devcal.

       So how can we detect when the carrier power goes down to zero?  If you own  some  form  of
       spectrum  analyzer the spectrum can be watched to see when the carrier falls down to zero.
       If you own a CW receiver that covers the frequency of interest you can use that to  listen
       to  the carrier. Start devcal in transmitter calibration mode using a command looking like
       the one below.

        devcal -t /path/to/svxlink.conf Tx1

       In another window, start the alsamixer utility or some other utility to adjust  the  audio
       output  level.  Set  the output level to zero. Go back to the devcal window and press 0 to
       set MASTER_GAIN to zero. Press T to start transmitting.  Since we  set  the  sound  output
       level to zero only a carrier will be transmitted.  Adjust the CW receiver to center on the
       carrier. Use the narrowest filter that the receiver  support.  Now  start  increasing  the
       audio  output  level  in alsamixer.  Listen to the tone to find the first minimum. Use the
       +/- keys in deval to fine tune the output level to a  minimum.  You  have  now  found  the
       calibration values for the transmitter. The printed value of MASTER_GAIN should be entered
       into the configuration section for the transmitter.

CALIBRATING THE RECEIVER

       To calibrate the receiver we need a transmitter with a known calibration. If possible, the
       transmitter  that  was  calibrated  above  can  be  used.  If  it's  not possible, another
       transmitter can be calibrated in the same way to be used  as  a  calibration  transmitter.
       Start the devcal utility something like this:

         devcal -r /path/to/svxlink.conf Rx1

       Start  alsamixer  in another window and adjust the input level to get as close as possible
       to the expected deviation. Use the 0, + and - keys to  adjust  PREAMP  to  fine  tune  the
       deviation  that  is  shown.  When satisfied, enter the PREAMP value into the configuration
       file in the receiver section.

EXAMPLE: CALIBRATING USING A DVB-T USB DONGLE

       This is an example of how the calibration procedure may be performed  using  a  DVB-T  USB
       dongle and an arbitrary transmitter, like a handie transceiver.

       The  calibration  transmitter, a handie transmitter for example, must be able to send some
       form of modulated tone for this procedure  to  work.  The  1750Hz  tone  burst  that  many
       transmitters  are  equipped  with  is a good one to use. It is also possible to use a DTMF
       tone but the results is not as good as when using a single tone, it seems. If using  DTMF,
       try  using  the code "A" (1633Hz) or "3" (1477Hz). In this example, the use of 1750Hz tone
       burst is described.

       Use the DVB-T dongle to measure the deviation of the 1750Hz tone.

         devcal -M -f1750 /path/to/svxlink.conf RxRtl

       Start transmitting with the calibration transmitter and wait for the values to stablilize.
       Take a note of the value for "tone dev". It may be something like 3200Hz, which is used in
       the example below. Leave deval running since we will need it later on.

       On the system being calibrated, start the receiver calibration.

         devcal -r -f1750 /path/to/svxlink.conf Rx1

       Transmit using the calibration transmitter and adjust the input level using alsamixer  and
       PREAMP to the correct level for "tone dev".

       Make  sure  that  devcal  is  started  in  measurement mode like when the deviation on the
       calibration transmitter was measured above. Then, on the system  being  calibrated,  start
       the transmitter calibration.

         devcal -t -f1750 -d3200 /path/to/svxlink.conf Tx1

       The  value  of 3200 was the one we measured in the first step. Adjust it to match your own
       measurements. Adjust the output level using alsamixer and MASTER_GAIN to get  the  correct
       reading for "tone dev".

       To  check  the calibration, use devcal in measurement mode to measure the deviation on the
       transmitter when retransmitting a received signal. For a repeater that is easily  achieved
       by  transmitting on the receive frequency using the calibration transmitter. The deviation
       measurement should show the correct value being retransmitted.  For  a  simplex  link  the
       parrot can be used to achieve the same thing.

       NOTE:  The retransmitted deviation may not be exactly the same for some transceivers. This
       is an issue that remains to find the cause of.

ENVIRONMENT

       ASYNC_AUDIO_NOTRIGGER
              Set this environment variable to 1 if you get an error  about  ioctl:  Broken  pipe
              during devcal startup when using OSS audio.

       ASYNC_AUDIO_ALSA_ZEROFILL
              Set  this  environment variable to 1 to make the Alsa audio code write zeros to the
              audio device when there is no audio to write available. This may be needed for some
              audio devices that take a long time to recover from an underflow condition.

AUTHOR

       Tobias Blomberg (SM0SVX) <sm0svx at svxlink dot org>

REPORTING BUGS

       SvxLink Devel <svxlink-devel at lists dot sourceforge dot net>

SEE ALSO

       svxlink(1), remotetrx.conf(5), svxlink.conf(5), siglevdetcal(1)