[WT-support] OFF Time bar and CW stutter

[Andy Cook, G4PIQ]

Thanks Bob. Also Direct X 9.0c here. 
 
Nick F5VIH gave me the big clue - do NOSOUND and the stuttering goes away.
Note that I was hearing the stuttering both on the sidetone from the
computer AND on the actual CW sent via LPT1 (PCMCIA plug-in card), but
turning off the sidetone on the PC gets rid of it - I'd previously just
muted the PC sidetone with the PC audio controls, but killing it at the
WinTest level did the trick. CPU is still high, but not giving any problems
now. 
 
Slowly getting the gear together for Moscow - have finally nailed a
USB-SERIAL adapter that works as well now - no luck with the Prolific
chipset or the real generic cheapies that are around, but the FTDI chipset
seems to play ball. 
 
73,
 
Andy, G4PIQ

-----Original Message-----
From: rawilson at gmail.com [mailto:rawilson at gmail.com] On Behalf Of Bob
Wilson, N6TV
Sent: 23 May 2010 20:10
To: support at win-test.com; Andy Cook, G4PIQ
Subject: Re: [WT-support] OFF Time bar and CW stutter


On Fri, May 21, 2010 at 9:50 AM, Andy Cook G4PIQ <g4piq at btinternet.com>
wrote:


While trying to get WinTest configured on an old laptop I've run across a
problem with stuttering CW (both as sent from the LPT port and in the
sidetone generated by the PC). The computer isn't fast (Toshiba R100 1.1 GHz
Pentium-M, Win XP SP3, 1.2Gb RAM), but itbs not an old dog either. I've done
al the usual stuff of running ccleaner, defrag the disk, checking the disk
cache isn't partitioned etc.



I just tried WT 4.4 on a very similarly equipped IBM ThinkPad X40 (1 GHz
Pentium-M, WinXP SP3, 1.2 GB RAM) using a real docking station LPT port for
CW (as well as the DTR line on COM1).  No stuttering heard (except in the PC
speakers, which is "normal").  Try NOSOUND [Enter] and listen only to your
rig's sidetone.

Is your rig in QSK mode or semi-breakin VOX or is it relying on PTT from
Win-Test?  Did you try rebooting the PC?  Disabling AutoProtect?


I find that I can get the CW to go normal if I turn off the 'How many
minutes since last QSO' bar in the status window. Importantly I also find
that running that bar raises the CPU utilisation on the computer from around
4% to around 25% which seems an inordinate amount of CPU to just display
that bar.



Interesting.  Maybe there's a graphics library or DirectX dependency.  Run
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dxdiag.EXE to display the current version.  My X40 is
running DirectX 9.0C and all pages report "No problems found."

Perhaps your display resolution or limited no. of display colors is causing
excessive CPU time to calculate the colors for this bar?  Does it work any
differently if you use only an external monitor?
 

As a reference, I don't see this problem (or the high CPU from the status
bar) on a P4 1.6 GHz desktop. Win Test version is 4.4.0 in each case.



Open up Windows Task manager, click on the Processes tab, then click on the
column header labeled CPU (not CPU Time, but CPU).  The click on CPU again.
This will sort in reverse order, telling you which processes are currently
using the most CPU time.  That will give you important information.

While CW is sending and the timer bar is moving on my ThinkPad X40, I see
very little CPU being used by Win-Test.


I presume Win-Test doesn't place any requirements on the Java version on the
PC (this machine has had a few different versions of Java for work -
otherwise it's pretty normal).


Win-Test doesn't use Java at all; it's written in C++.  But it may have a
dependency on DirectX or the Windows Graphics libraries or the color
settings of your display.  I'm using 1280 x 1024, 32-bit color.  Are you
driving two displays at once or only the Toshiba laptop display?
 

Or maybe I just have to build that WinKey unit I have in the cupboard... But
then I have to sort out another working USB-serial adapter!



Win-Test usually sends good well-timed CW via LPT or COM port, but you still
need to hook up your paddles to a separate keyer wired in parallel.  The
only time I've heard any kind of stuttering is if I tried to use the menus
while Win-Test was sending via LPT.  Other than that the CW timing always
sounds great, though I wish it offered WEIGHT and Keying Compensation
(K-Factor) options while keying via LPT or COM pins).

73,
Bob, N6TV

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