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Author Topic: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?  (Read 1156 times)

N2DTS

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #15 on: January 11, 2021, 07:37:59 AM »

So a mac would be a good computer to run sdr on?
Say like the new mini?

I have never had an apple computer...
I REALLY hate windows 10.
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N6YWU

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #16 on: January 11, 2021, 08:25:36 AM »

So a mac would be a good computer to run sdr on?

Post this over in the Computers and Software forum here on eHam, and you will probably get a wide variety of answers. 

But note that a few of the key developers of the Hermes Lite 2, and the software that supports it, own and use Macs (as well as other systems). 

A network-connected radio with an open API allows the development of SDR software support for that radio on any networked OS.  For instance, there appear to be ways to run a Hermes Lite 2 from Android and iOS/iPhone/iPad mobile devices, as well as Macs, Windows, and Linux computers.
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OK4FX

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #17 on: January 11, 2021, 09:42:49 AM »

... For the lowest audio latency, most audio professionals (recording studios, etc.) use Macs.  My understanding is that this is because macOS is based on top of a Mach microkernel, which is closer to a real-time OS than either Windows or generic Linux distributions...

There are two big players in pro audio - Avid (Pro Tools) and Steinberg (Nuendo). Both software can run on both platforms (Windows and Mac), but Pro Tools is better on Macs and Nuendo is better on Windows. Software choice (not latency) is the reason why pros are running Macs or Windows. And, it's no problem to have audio roundtrip in order of units of milliseconds on Windows stations.

[I'm pro musician with 30+ recorded albums and vast majority of recording studios I've been to have used Nuendo on Windows (and with very low latency).]
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Mira OK4FX

KD6VXI

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #18 on: January 11, 2021, 10:06:19 AM »

Brett,

You no longer have to use PowerSDR MRX for the Hermes Lite.

Current revisions of Thetis also will hunt for the Hermes Lite and work great.  There are many improvements in current Thetis over PowerSDR MRX.

There is an import function with Thetis to bring the settings from Power SDR.  It didn't work for me.  I had to set Thetis up from scratch.  Worth the hour or so that it took to get my radio functioning with software from this decade.

--Shane
KD6VXI
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N2DTS

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #19 on: January 11, 2021, 10:28:37 AM »

I plan on hooking the Hermes up to the computer directly and use it only in the shack.
I like the way power sdr is set up and the display.
I have my choice of a windows 7 I5, a windows 10 I7, and an Apple mini.

I am looking to get low latency through the system, unlike the 400 ms through the Flex 6400 standalone.

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WB8LBZ

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #20 on: January 11, 2021, 03:47:22 PM »

  PowerSDR is the program I used for my Flex 3000 and my Anan 8000. The 8000 was connected on a dedicated Gigabit network connection. I used it with my older Windows 7 machine (8 core) with no problem. I think my worst latency was 20 ms or something like that.
  I would like to try Thetis at some time in the future.

73, Larry  WB8LBZ
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N2DTS

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #21 on: January 14, 2021, 06:41:14 AM »

Thetis seems to need protocol 2 loaded into the radio, but there is not a lot of info on how to do that.
You really have to dig a bit for info about fringe products...

I got my mac mini and checked it out last night, and ordered a new display with an HDMI input.
Its amazing how quickly things go obsolete in the computer world...
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N6YWU

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #22 on: January 14, 2021, 07:11:30 AM »

The Hermes Lite 2 only uses Protocol 1. 

However, there seems to be a beta version of Thetis that adds Protocol 1 support.  See: https://saure.org/cq-nrw/2020/10/09/thetis-2-8-7-released-thetis-spricht-nun-auch-protocol-1/

For initial bring up, I would suggest SparkSDR, or Quisk.  They have less dependencies than other SDR apps, thus less fiddling with the software is needed when trying to make sure the radio hardware is working.  (Or on a Mac running the a recent macOS version or an iOS device, you can even try my app for some basic testing, but it requires discovering the HL2 IP address on your network first.  If interested, Email me for a free promo code or TestFlight invitation.)
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N2DTS

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #23 on: January 14, 2021, 09:08:51 AM »

I think I will start with Powersdr Mrx which I have already downloaded on my windoze 10 computer.
Once working, I will explore other options.

I got the mac mini because its really FAST but so far only a few programs will run on it, Dogpark and GQRX for rtl type dongles and CubicSDR.
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N6YWU

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #24 on: January 14, 2021, 11:23:23 AM »

I got the mac mini because its really FAST but so far only a few programs will run on it, Dogpark and GQRX for rtl type dongles and CubicSDR.

There are also two apps in Apple's Mac App store for RTL type dongles.  One of them also has support for Hermes Lite 2 receive (Disclaimer: Mine!).  But SparkSDR, Quisk, and linHPSDR (available outside Apple's Mac App store) are also reported to run on Macs.

Did you get the latest Mac Mini?  Or the previous year's model?  The newest M1/arm64 Mac Mini benchmarks significantly faster than any Intel i5 PC, even running translated x86 apps.
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N2DTS

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #25 on: January 14, 2021, 05:18:51 PM »

I got the latest and greatest mini.
Its not intel so does not run windows things (yet).
I also ordered a nice 27 inch hdmi monitor but it arrived broken (surprise!).

Got my radio today and built it and set it up on the I5 windows 7 computer.



Works quite good, very good fidelity, no odd stuff, very low latency out of the box and there are various buffers and settings to play with to make it even less.
CW seems fine, but I have not figured out how to get audio into the radio for TX.

I get ADC overload warnings if I have the attenuator above about 5.
That is to be expected I suppose, even then it still sounds and works ok.

I have no problem with it as a receiver or running the Power SDRmrx software.
No usb latency!

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WB8LBZ

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #26 on: January 15, 2021, 06:31:50 PM »

Thanks N6YWU, I downloaded Thetis-v2.8.11x64.msi and will give it a smoke test in a day or so.

73, Larry  WB8LBZ
El Paso, TX
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N2DTS

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #27 on: January 16, 2021, 09:22:40 AM »

I have tried everything to get audio into the radio and nothing works.
I can record and play back over the air a signal using the software but no audio from the mic into the radio.

The computer see's the audio in the mixer tab, AISO for all does not show levels, and the radio gets nothing....
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N6YWU

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #28 on: January 16, 2021, 10:10:13 AM »

It might be some sort of problem with the SDR app's audio input configuration.  Have you tried some different SDR software? 
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N2DTS

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Re: Who is playing with the Hermes lite 2?
« Reply #29 on: January 16, 2021, 11:16:13 AM »

I figured it out, somewhat...
You have to uncheck allow MOX to override vac for phone.
You can also uncheck allow PTT to override vac for phone.
But then the PTT gets hung up in TX.
Mox button works ok.
A software glitch with the PTT I guess.
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