Radio Drivers Round Table

**FMode** · 09-18-2006, 06:01 AM

Before you read that long thread just scrool to Postings 15 and look - there are Visio drawings !
Radio Drivers Round Table

Hello,

I see a lot of stupid radio driver code in Frontends appearing

1. this is double work (all Frontends do the same more or less well - do you have enough time ? Then continue !

)
2. overall more code is more buggier
3. all Radio implementations I see in frontends makes me laugh because its only 10% of the RDS/TMC/Radio capability

Therefore I openend up this thread !

Question:
How do Frontends access graphic cards ??? Do they peek/poke directly inside the graphic chip registers ?
Isn't it the fact that most use DirectX for that ?
So why do you access Radios directly ??? Why didn't you ask other developers to join forces

?

I started to write a Radiodriver for the HQCT - it appears to Frontends as a "common" radio - it has tuning and it supports a raw RDS output !

What to do with the RDS output ?
A good idea would be to fed my RDSInterpreter - (this RDS Interpreter is 1 library for ALL radios) then you get Radiotext and Stationame and such.

Both modules are based on aeroanderz work. And his work is based on LAMA's work.
And I hope Wickerswammie can do a driver for the Silabs or minimum send me some code to build a driver appearing withthe same interface to the frontends.

My modules/libraries/Assemblies are both written in .NET to be precise in VB.NET (but this doesn't really matter!).
Both modules appear also to the COM World presented by VB6 and stuff !

So drivers could be in .NET 1.1 - Frontends could be .NET and VB6 (more?) - a lot of combinations I think.

What I know want from you is that you post "I have read this thread" - I am now playing around with my Modules to get the Interface Definitions in a final state to present them here - Then we can discuss about to make a final 1.0 interface definition.

Please post "I have read this thread" (if you are Frontends/radio developer)

edit:
This is not "my" source or "my" stuff I would like it if others would join and I would see this as community project !

Areoanderz has done the cool object-oriented view of RDS !

**DarquePervert** · 09-18-2006, 06:20 AM

OK. So I've read the thread. How does that help you?
I really don't care about this, as radio isn't in my plans for the near future and I'm not a code warrior anyway.

It appears to me that you just want a thread where a lot of people are going to respons with "I read it". And that accomplishes what, exactly?

**FMode** · 09-18-2006, 06:26 AM

Glad that you ask !

It should stop frontend-developers from integrating radios - radios which were already integrated in other frontends
So if they have time they can do something useful (for us all) which is currently not existing.

It is not also to prevent double work - also to make radio reception better for all frontends - because there is future expandibility without frontends sourcecode. (2. Tuner concept for better AF Listings, more TMC infos, ....)

edit: what I have done is something like radiator-dll-plugin interface WITH RDS.

so better:
Please post "I have read this thread" (if you are Frontends/radio developer)

**Jeep** · 09-18-2006, 06:34 AM

"I have read this thread"

Still waiting for my HQCT, will start .NET (C# 2.0) coding when I get the box.

Anyway here is a old simple wrapper and C# code I did for the Terratech 600 RDS card: http://kennet.se/dwl/terratecRDS.rar

/K

**FMode** · 09-18-2006, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by Jeep

"I have read this thread"

Still waiting for my HQCT, will start .NET (C# 2.0) coding when I get the box.

Anyway here is a old simple wrapper and C# code I did for the Terratech 600 RDS card: http://kennet.se/dwl/terratecRDS.rar

I choose 1.1 because its more spread (I also have VS2005 for NET2.0) - and you can load my 1.1 sources and compile a 2.0 version - but not the other way around !

http://kennet.se/dwl/terratecRDS.rar
This is only your test-GUI

not the Source (of the interesting part) of the Assembly "RadioIOWrapper.dll".

Is it possible that the Terratec doesn't give you the RawRDSData ?

**guino** · 09-18-2006, 10:18 AM

Ok, so "I've read this thread". Now, let me point out that if I had ANY code or interface whatsoever that I could use to control radio tuners that used some common interface, I would gladly do it. That was the main reason why I added support for controlling Radiator in RR, but as you know, radiator lacks a lot of features, still, it supports a considerable number of cards (even if obsolete). Then when it came to support other cards, I had different reasons to do it, but mostly it's a matter of users requesting (cause I personally love my good'ol HU):

-DLink (was popular at the time, only required a few lines of code)
-Cinergy600 (requested for RDS, and most of the code was provided)
-WinTV (requested because radiator drivers didn't support all FM tuners)
-HQCT (requested from many since it supports AM, plus code is available)
-Blaunpunkt (Hell, I didn't even do this one -- someone else did the code)

Similarly, someone else is working on the SiLabs tuner right now. I don't really care as long as I don't have to re-do anything, but hell, if you give me an interface and it has a driver that adds support to even just ONE tuner that we currently don't have, I'd definitely add support for it keeping in mind the possibility of the same interface supporting new tuners in the future.

**Enforcer** · 09-18-2006, 10:27 AM

"I have read this thread"

Now can I have 10 mins of my life back.

**FMode** · 09-18-2006, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by guino

Ok, so "I've read this thread". Now, let me point out that if I had ANY code or interface whatsoever that I could use to control radio tuners that used some common interface, I would gladly do it. That was the main reason why I added support for controlling Radiator in RR,

I also have a simple driver for Radiator

Originally Posted by guino

but as you know, radiator lacks a lot of features, still, it supports a considerable number of cards (even if obsolete). Then when it came to support other cards, I had different reasons to do it, but mostly it's a matter of users requesting (cause I personally love my good'ol HU):
-DLink (was popular at the time, only required a few lines of code)
-Cinergy600 (requested for RDS, and most of the code was provided)
-WinTV (requested because radiator drivers didn't support all FM tuners)
-HQCT (requested from many since it supports AM, plus code is available)

the AM guys

If they want they can add a Motorola AM Stereo IC to the HQCT - with some lines of changing code in my HQCT driver they can add support in nearly every frontend which uses this interface...

Originally Posted by guino

-Blaunpunkt (Hell, I didn't even do this one -- someone else did the code)

I know wal's driver implementation of Andre's hacked Blaupunkt HU
Interesting thing... is a dual tuner

...

Originally Posted by guino

Similarly, someone else is working on the SiLabs tuner right now. I don't really care as long as I don't have to re-do anything, but hell, if you give me an interface and it has a driver that adds support to even just ONE tuner that we currently don't have, I'd definitely add support for it keeping in mind the possibility of the same interface supporting new tuners in the future.

I have in mind ! DualTuner and more will be possible...

"New" Tuners will be possibly DAB or another digital radio standard - but i don't know how to include this (and if its possible)

May be this will be Interfacespec (not driverversion!) V2.0 - currently I am running to V1.0.
I would like to present such a specification here (in the future) and then we can discuss it...

**Jeep** · 09-18-2006, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by FMode

Is it possible that the Terratec doesn't give you the RawRDSData ?

I think Terratech don't give the raw data just the PS/RT, here is the API for the card: http://kennet.se/dwl/Teratec_radio_API.zip

BTW "FMode", can I have a look at you source for HQCT ?

**FMode** · 09-18-2006, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by Jeep

I think Terratech don't give the raw data just the PS/RT, here is the API for the card: http://kennet.se/dwl/Teratec_radio_API.zip

BTW "FMode", can I have a look at you source for HQCT ?

I will release the source code if its finished !
If you want to have a peak before send me a PM with your email adress...

You will get the build of the minute ! :O