DAB DAB+ FM Digital Radio Development Board

[Shonky*]

Mickz:

Are you writing in C# or VB? I'm having an issue getting the file name passed back properly. It's creating the files no problem and saving them somewhere (not my preferred location but I can move/delete it I want I guess). I just can't get the filename properly. It seems to be maybe a Unicode issue. When using the exact same method on say GetProgramText this method works fine.

I have:

// Get the filename of the SlideShow image.
[DllImport(DABFMMonkeydll)]
public static extern void GetImage(StringBuilder ImageFileName);

and then something like

StringBuilder buffer = new StringBuilder(250);
GetImage(buffer);

.... to get the filename.

Any hints or ideas?

[Mickz]

Hi, I'm using VB.NET for this. I stopped coding in various C languages 30 years ago so can't be of any help.

Strange one, I checked my code and as you say the code for both is identical. What does the name being returned actually look like.

[Shonky*]

For others playing at home, I figured it out. I had it on the other DllImport lines but hadn't twigged I needed it here too.

        // Get the filename of the SlideShow image.
        [DllImport(DABFMMonkeydll, CharSet = CharSet.Unicode, CallingConvention = CallingConvention.Cdecl)]
        public static extern void GetImage(string ImageFileName);

[Mickz]

Hey glad you sorted it, as you are writing your own code, I found that MotQuery should be polled faster than 40ms else some Stations with fast updating Slideshow images may not be signalled.

[Shonky*]

Thanks. Yes I noticed that note. I was doing 50ms and it seemed to work OK, but maybe I was missing some things. I notice a couple of the stations have incrementing file numbers e.g. 12031.jpg then 12034.jpg then 12037.jpg. So I'm not sure if that means I'm only getting every third one or not.

I've bumped it to 25ms and see how it goes. The basics of my code are working. Now it's more a case of getting the UI right for my CarMedia software. I'm having some issues with font size etc. Will put up some screen shots when I'm done. I have limited resolution (BMW screen is only 400x234) so not sure how well these images will display since I wasn't planning on doing full screen so there are time, date, indicators around the place.

[Mickz]

Ok, image names on some stations increment by 3, some are sequential and others use only one image file (at least that's what I'm seeing here), for now I just coded to remove the image file as soon as it's loaded. The timing issue really shows when you have a station sending images 3 to 5 seconds apart.

Those last two images on page 22 were captured from the Work PC with the APP sized to around 590 X 370 and of course different installations don't have all of the fonts that make it look nice, but I managed to allow for selection of all fonts, font size and colour to be changed in settings, and in the end I'm glad I did as I run the Car-PC screen at around 1000 x 600 and the workshop can be at 1600 x 1000.

EDIT: For anyone interested, latest version of my APP with Slideshow is available at the bottom of the 1st post.

[Shonky*]

Ok. Good seems like I'm getting everything then (I was only using 50ms at the time but currently have 25ms). Yes I've noticed those differences in terms of naming. I'm also seeing some files that are apparently PNG but are named as .JPG. A .NET PictureBox doesn't seem to care though which makes it nice and easy.

Do you know if the images are fixed to 320x240 pixels in size? And 4:3 aspect ratio? So far I think everyone I've seen has looked like that. My layout is much more restrictive so I do need to consider other situations.

[Mickz]

Hi great news on getting everything working, I believe the suggested standard is 320 x 240 with ideally a file size < 23K.

JPEG, PNG and APNG images supported.

Just finished adding BBE-EQ to my APP, the APP also saves both BBE and EQ states across Module Power downs, I think that's the last I have to do now until JP comes up with a new feature for us.

Just Uploaded APP but BBE-EQ save-settings not fully tested yet.

EDIT - BTW Press the Speaker level Icon in Setup to Open BBE settings.

EDIT - Updated Post 2 with a pic of BBE-EQ setup screen, also updated APP download.

EDIT - Found a BUG in BBE Save - Fixed and uploaded.

[Mickz]

Fixed another glitch when saving BBE state.

Basically you can switch between Pre-set EQ Settings and manually configured BBE settings without loosing the settings. This includes turning BBE and EQ off and then restoring all BBE settings at later time and across Module Power cycles. Saved BBE - EQ settings are automatically reloaded into the DAB module at every power-up. Anyway looks ok now - new APP uploaded.



NOTE: The APP size was set to 550 x 340 for this screen capture so some text is slightly cramped. The APP scales from that low res to 1920 x 1200 and above.

[swissdealer]

Hi Mickz,

congrats on your app, really looks and works great. I'm working on a customized version with your demo as the source, which by the way makes it quite easy to get an understanding of how it works.

I'm wondering if the new Pro Board has improved RDS capabilities, with the "old" board I can't get any info out. Since you seem to have the new one for quite a while, could you let me know your observings?