The receiver freezes when the encoder is reconfigured by frequency

[denchic35]

Hello, sorry for my English, the receiver is very cool, but the problem is that it freezes when you change the frequency, but it doesn't happen immediately, it takes some time, and it seems that the faster you rotate the encoder, the faster it freezes. I'm using the rp2040, and there are no such issues with the firmware from December 5, 2024, but with the updated firmware, it freezes.

[dawsonjon]

Hi,

I have had some reports of lock ups. It's been fairly tricky to diagnose because I can't reproduce he behaviour. That's the main reason why I went ahead with the release but marked it as alpha.

I am hoping that getting some more feedback on the issue would help me narrow things down. Actually this may be slightly different behaviour if it happens when tuning. It's also really helps to know that the behaviour wasn't present in the previous release. Thanks.

If you have the time, could you give me as much detail as possible about the nature of the problem? It could really help with the diagnosis. About how often does it happen? Does it only happen when you are using the radio, or can it happen when you leave it unattended? Was the TFT enabled at the time? Are you using the internal or external oscillator? Does the Pico reset itself after it freezes, or do you need to repower to recover?

A lot of questions I know, but it could really help narrow things down.

Cheers
Jon

[denchic35]

Thank you for your response. The receiver can freeze after one turn of the encoder, or it can work for much longer. If I can configure the receiver, it can work for an entire day without freezing. If I navigate through the menu items, the receiver will not freeze. I have not connected the TFT display. When the receiver freezes, it starts to hum loudly, the display continues to show the frequency, the encoder can change the frequency, but the reception stops, and there are many high-amplitude noises in the spectrum during the freeze.Only powering off helps. Pico does not reboot on its own. I've tried setting different reconfiguration steps, modulation types, and screen types, but the freezes persist.

[denchic35]

I completely disconnected the receiver from the pico, and when I rotated the encoder, the hum returned. I connected a frequency meter, and the frequency of the local oscillator changed when I rotated the encoder. This means that the pico is not completely frozen, but only the audio output.

[penfold42]

Are you using USB audio or analog audio ?

[denchic35]

I didn't touch these settings, and I didn't output audio through USB on my PC..

[mryndzionek]

I don't experience full freezes, but I see worse and worse delay when TFT is active, so I would recommend testing turning off the TFT display (HW Config -> TFT Settings -> Off).

[Tonytti]

The same issue that happens to me. I excluded external vfo, disconnect tft and set to off. If i dont rotate encoder it's ok without freeze, when i rotate, randomly it freezes, I try to change every step of menu, but nothing. I run with pico1 2040 and the latest release.

[dawsonjon]

@Tonytti OK, thanks for letting me know. Its a tricky one to debug so any details you can provide would be very handy. About how often does the freeze happen? Does the audio continue after the freeze, or is it just the UI that locks up? Does the watchdog timer trigger a restart? Did you have the same issue in the previous release? Is the LED on after the freeze? What type of OLED display are you using? (Sorry for all the questions!) Its a bit of a long shot, but you could try the latest development build https://github.com/dawsonjon/PicoRX/blob/tft/binaries-rp2040-pico.zip just in case we accidentally fixed the problem?

[Tonytti]

Hi John, thanks for the answer. I've just downloaded the latest file as indicated. Problem persists. in addition now when i try to open sstv mode it freezes and I had had to reload the binary again. Turning off tft doesn't solve the problem. I use 2040 pi and the cpu works at low percentage and fluent. As I said before if i dont turn the encoder rx works (quite well with exceptional audio), When it freezes i can restart throught watchdog. During the stop rx continues working as software, frequency changes regularly with encoder turning, but you hear a bad buzz or sometimes nothing at all. My oled is the small one bought on line from China suppliers. Gnd Vcc SDL SDA. I suppose LED is on during freeze. My sensation is something about vfo, because often when it starts it doesnt position on LSB as before freezing and I notice on display signal images. They disapperas when i go beyond 7040 KHz or so, There is a kind of switch inside vfo the reset corectly the phase
after that interval. I dont know if all this helps, but it is just what I observed. Thanks again.

[mryndzionek]

@Tonytti and @denchic35 any chance you could post photos of your PCBs and/or exact schematics? Are you sure you're not overloading the ADC?

[Tonytti]

Yes quite sure, i added a couple of capacitor in series to I/q output befor adc pico input, but I cannot deny that could be the cause, anyway following the previous test, I would like to add — please take this with a grain of salt — that the “freezing” issue appears to be significantly reduced when setting the bandwidth to “very narrow.” It seems to occur at roughly a 10:1 ratio compared to the continuous freezing observed when the bandwidth is set to “normal.” I need to perform further testing, but this behavior appears to be related to that setting. I hope this information is helpful and not misleading. It would be useful to hear from others experiencing the same issue.

Kind regards,
Antonio

[mryndzionek]

Yes quite sure, i added a couple of capacitor in series to I/q out...

I would be more interested in knowing what is the opamp Vcc? I'm using the RP2040 firmware daily and not experiencing the issues, so I think this might be related to hardware configuration.

[Tonytti]

Mcp6022. Vcc 5 volt. Voltage on ADC is 0,9 volt, after antialiasing filter made of 5.6 k resistor and 2.2 nF on earth. I eliminate the partition resistors obtaining a more sensitive overall receiver, I didn' worry because voltage on ADC is well below the pico limit Il giorno lun 3 nov 2025 alle 16:50 mryndzionek ***@***.***> ha scritto:

…

*mryndzionek* left a comment (dawsonjon/PicoRX#258) <#258 (comment)> Yes quite sure, i added a couple of capacitor in series to I/q out... I would be more interested in knowing what is the opamp Vcc? I'm using the RP2040 firmware daily and not experiencing the issues, so I think this might be related to hardware configuration. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#258 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BJNECEQCAFQMZZICXFIWGML3252V7AVCNFSM6AAAAACJ3645M6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTIOBRGIZDCMRTHE> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[mryndzionek]

Mcp6022. Vcc 5 volt. Voltage on ADC is 0,9 volt, after antialiasing filter
made of 5.6 k resistor and 2.2 nF on earth. I eliminate the partition
resistors obtaining a more sensitive overall receiver, I didn' worry
because voltage on ADC is well below the pico limit

Il giorno lun 3 nov 2025 alle 16:50 mryndzionek @.***>
ha scritto:
…

0.9V measured with a voltmeter? I think it's a little bit strange that it's 0.9V.

[Tonytti]

Ok, maybe, in-fact I've just ordered new picos But receiver works very well. Could be possibly something demaged into the pico? If you said that you dont have this issues, surely is mi pico. Thanks i'll let you know... Il giorno lun 3 nov 2025 alle 18:55 mryndzionek ***@***.***> ha scritto:

…

*mryndzionek* left a comment (dawsonjon/PicoRX#258) <#258 (comment)> Mcp6022. Vcc 5 volt. Voltage on ADC is 0,9 volt, after antialiasing filter made of 5.6 k resistor and 2.2 nF on earth. I eliminate the partition resistors obtaining a more sensitive overall receiver, I didn' worry because voltage on ADC is well below the pico limit Il giorno lun 3 nov 2025 alle 16:50 mryndzionek *@*.***> ha scritto: … <#m_-5923735021471009547_> 0.9V measured with a voltmeter? I think it's a little bit strange that it's 0.9V. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#258 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BJNECEXWBBALIKOBGLMSSXD326JKHAVCNFSM6AAAAACJ3645M6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTIOBRHAYDKOBSGU> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>