WinPCD - New version available

[dlr]

WinPCD v1.610 is now available. A number of additions/changes have been made.

The two major additions are two new tab sections.

1. Duelund Filter Targets
2. Vertical Polar Response Graphs

There are far too many changes to list here, but the major ones are shown below. For a complete listing of the changes go to https://speakerdesign.net/WinPCD/Win...scription.html.

These are the major changes:

1. Front hemisphere power has a new calculation with a hemispheric weighting scheme that provides a more accurate result.
2. The power response graph now includes a listening window response calculated from front hemisphere data that is the power for a window that is +/- 10 degrees vertical, +/-30 degrees horizontal.
3. Complete re-do of uncorrelated power response. Uncorrelated Power is calculated using only on-axis data.
4. Many changes to reference angle treatment for Bessel calculation correction.
5. Frequency range upper limit is now 50000 Hz.

A new section with basic instructions has been added to the web site. These are for new and current users. New users should find them helpful for getting started, both in how to use WinPCD and the basics of setting up a project (session). Current users will find info on some improvements to current functions such as initializing textbook values. I had planned to do some training videos for this release, but decided that the instructions at the web site would be a better start. I may add videos at some point. It's not comprehensive and certainly not verbose, but with the screen captures will, I hope, serve as a good reference.

https://speakerdesign.net/WinPCD/ins...ons/index.html

My hope is that the improvements/bug fixes (many, many of those) will make it easier to use.

I've had this ready for quite some time, but did not want to release it without some sort of guide due to the extent of the changes. Many other things in life took precedence.

dlr

[jimbones]

thanks for sharing dlr

[jhollander]

WinPCD v1.610 is now available. A number of additions/changes have been made.

The two major additions are two new tab sections.

1. Duelund Filter Targets
2. Vertical Polar Response Graphs

There are far too many changes to list here, but the major ones are shown below. For a complete listing of the changes go to https://speakerdesign.net/WinPCD/Win...scription.html.

dlr

Nice, I'm looking forward to trying the Duelund filter targets. Does that mean the Duelund slopes will be coming to WinFilters?

[jhollander]

Where's the link to download version 1.610?

[dlr]

Where's the link to download version 1.610?

Oops, forgot to download the updated page. It's there now (Installation page). Thanks for catching that.

dlr

[dlr]

Nice, I'm looking forward to trying the Duelund filter targets. Does that mean the Duelund slopes will be coming to WinFilters?

No, that would require expanding the program from 2-way to 3-way. Could be done, but the Duelund page in WinPCD has an option to export the Duelund target curves if you want to use them in another program.

dlr

[wogg]

New Windows 11 PC... Getting this on installation regardless of compatibility mode, location, administrator privileges etc. Hope this is an easy one from the error detail log, looks like it's trying to go out and download the file that sitting right there in the same directory:

ERROR DETAILS
Following errors were detected during this operation.
* [11/12/2022 4:16:22 PM] System.Deployment.Application.DeploymentDownloadEx ception (Unknown subtype)
- Downloading http://www.speakerdesign.net/WinPCD/...CD.application did not succeed.
- Source: System.Deployment​

[dlr]

I've occasionally seen different errors at times with the ClickOnce install that is built in Visual Studio. I get different ones depending on where I execute the install from, such as unzipping into the a temp directory. I am getting errors this way as well, but I have only directly run the program from the release folder (C:/WinPCD) that the build creates.

What has been common, though, is that the files are all in the unzipped folder. If you haven't done it, try copying all of the files (or unzipping it) into the C:/WinPCD folder. Create it if it's not there. You should be able to run the exe from there. The install is very basic, it doesn't use entries in the registry and isn't supposed to do any downloads from my site, it simply runs directly from the top level WinPCD directory.

Let me know if this works out. I've been researching this issue again (did so many years ago as well) to see if there's some sort of new ultimate fix for this, but so far no luck. I haven't changed the install options going back to the early releases.

dlr

[dlr]

I've done more digging into this. Three things resulted. One, I had recently added a new gif file to the app. It had a "%" in the name, worked fine for the build and the release testing. But the install treated that differently, causing it to fail. I've changed that, the install seems to work fine now.

Second, I was wrong about the registry. I don't do anything myself, but evidently the ClickOnce function does. It creates a folder in your user area. I had always simply run it from the C:/WinPCD folder that was the buld target. It can be run both ways, either unzip to a temp file from which you run the setup or just unzip to a folder of your preference. The latter doesn't add references in the registry. In fact you can run an older version of the program by having it in it's own separate folder, if you aren't sure about going to the latest version. But you also get no entry in the Start menu and don't have the option of uninstall. But you would only have to delete the folder that you created if you went that route.

Third, I've updated the build for the filename problem, will put that in the download at my site soon. That should clear the problem with running the install option.

dlr

[wogg]

I've occasionally seen different errors at times with the ClickOnce install that is built in Visual Studio. I get different ones depending on where I execute the install from, such as unzipping into the a temp directory. I am getting errors this way as well, but I have only directly run the program from the release folder (C:/WinPCD) that the build creates.

What has been common, though, is that the files are all in the unzipped folder. If you haven't done it, try copying all of the files (or unzipping it) into the C:/WinPCD folder. Create it if it's not there. You should be able to run the exe from there. The install is very basic, it doesn't use entries in the registry and isn't supposed to do any downloads from my site, it simply runs directly from the top level WinPCD directory.

Let me know if this works out. I've been researching this issue again (did so many years ago as well) to see if there's some sort of new ultimate fix for this, but so far no luck. I haven't changed the install options going back to the early releases.

dlr

Thank you! I did run it from the C:\Temp directory the extracted files are saved. Without registry entries I'll just drop it where I want to and create a shortcut.

I really appreciate your time on this program!

[Billet]

I don't run the installer. I just copy the WinPCD_1_6_1_0 folder from the zip file to somewhere where I can access it. Then I find WinPCD.exe and right click on it and select pin to start menu.

[wogg]

That's the plan Bill!

[dlr]

Thank you! I did run it from the C:\Temp directory the extracted files are saved. Without registry entries I'll just drop it where I want to and create a shortcut.

I really appreciate your time on this program!

I'm glad to continue to enhance it. These changes took a lot of time, a lot of time. But I (mostly) enjoy working on it. Still have lots of other ideas, either for WinPCD or new, small free-standing programs to work with it.

dlr

[dlr]

Something that I failed to note in the Help for the Polar Plot section. The graphs are not normalized. The outermost graph ring is set to 90db, so anything higher than that will plot outside. Most graphs show normalized response, but I decided that being able to see the movement in/out with sensitivity would be more useful. The relative polar response is then the same for any frequency, but the on-axis is not the absolute reference. You can see how the off-axis sensitivity changes with angle, but still easily see the lobing behavior.

dlr​

[dlr]

I've added a new form window that the user can call up from the System page. It displays a set of csv file data with inductor info by manufacturer/vendor. It shows the inductor value/DCR (mH/ohms). This should make it easier to finalize a design with actual inductors, especially for the DCR values that a key part of a design.

More details at my web site.

dlr

[dlr]

My web site has some updates to provide a more useful layout with a few changes. The index page has been made into two with release history separate. The index is more a short description, taken from the program About page. At the bottom will be any topics of discussion that I think will be informative. There is one to start on Hemispherical Integrated Power Response. This has some general discussion on the topic with details of the calculations in WinPCD.

A page on off-axis (polar) response and how it's handled is now there as well. This is important for the power response calculation. It details the System tab polar setup and use.​