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[TowerTalk] LP Rotor Problem Update

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Subject: [TowerTalk] LP Rotor Problem Update
From: "WA3GIN" <wa3gin@comcast.net>
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:23:46 -0400
List-post: <towertalk@contesting.com">mailto:towertalk@contesting.com>
Hi Folks,

Turns out I wasn't the only person experiencing buggy performance when trying 
to use the LP Rotor Control application.

Did some  testing this morning... 

The LP Rotor application has been around for a long time; developed when PC 
CPUs and network speeds were much slower than they are today; before USB, etc. 

I tried many variations of COM port settings to see if the application would be 
more accomidating. No luck.  I've been running the COM port speed at 9600bps  
just because most of the other radio interfaces (ALPHA 87S - 4800 or 9600 
only), Kenwood 9600 (default).  It seemed reasonable to run the rotor at 
9600bps. Well, it was a bad assumption. Apparently, the Rotor EZ interface 
wants a bit more interaction with the application or maybe it was the other way 
around or maybe it was the USB COM port that just was outraged to run at such a 
slow speed. 

I set the COM port speed to 56000 and then 115000.  All the LP Rotor 
application lock-up problems disappeared. The lock-up problem manifested itself 
in 100% CPU utilization.  Now the application just nibbles at CPU cycles, more 
like 1-2% when in idle rather than 45%...when actuated the application now uses 
no more than about 15-25% CPU for a burst then settles down to idle 
comsumption.  All the testing to this point were run with the application 
running stand-alone, no other programs running.

In the real world the station is an Internet/INTRAnet remote operation. The 
TS-480 CAT application is running, VNC, Net Mtg., ALPHA, LP-Relays are all 
running. 

Real world testing showed more issues with the LP Rotor application; when VNC 
is running LP Rotor is not happy. LP Rotor starts sucking up lots of CPU 
cycles, about 50%.  Just for fun I started IE 8 to browse QRZ and once again LP 
Rotor  had a conniption. LP Rotor just doesn't play nice when other 
applications are running on the same PC...

So, I replaced IE8 with Google Chrome and LP Rotor remained happy.  I replaced 
VNC with LOGMEIN and LP Rotor remained happy. Just for grins I ran SKYPE 
instead of Net Mtg. and all remained stable.

The only other buggy application was the TS-480 CAT program which has been 
asking to be refreshed more frequently than I like... I've been running the COM 
port for the Kenwood at 9600bps...bumped it up to 115,000.  So far no more 
refresh requests. The Internet link speed is about 1Mbps and the Intranet link 
speed is 100Mbps. Seems the ham radio gear was developed or perhaps 
underdeveloped  and as it relates to COM ports not very compatible with the 
increased speeds we all now have for networks and CPU, etc. I'm no expert in 
this area just talking out loud...

So, if you are having issues with Rotor Control accessory program reliability 
you might consider running some COM port speed tests as well as applicatoin 
compatibility tests. The WA3GIN Internet Remote system is now runnning fast and 
reliable with LP Rotor in the mix -- never thought I'd get it all working on 
the same PC ;-)

73,
dave
wa3gin 
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