Auto bypass is an experimental feature which automatically puts the WOLFWAVE into bypass mode when the noise level is below a certain threshold. This can be used to reduce latency to just a few milliseconds when listening to the transmit sidetone. Bypass latency is approx 3ms, normal filtering latency is approx 60ms.
This relies on the assumption that the sidetone has a lower noise level than the audio produced when receiving.
This feature is not considered ready for public release yet, as the method by which the noise level is estimated could do with some improvement, but beta testers have still found it useful in its current form. To use this feature, you will need to load the following test firmware onto your WOLFWAVE:
Download test firmware
The test firmware is exactly the same as the latest normal firmware, except with auto bypass added.
See the firmware page for the firmware download program and instructions.
Settings for auto bypass can be found in the menu under "Other settings > Auto bypass".
The current noise level estimate is shown at the bottom of the auto bypass menu. The displayed noise level values are relative to the typical noise level with bandwidth set to max and the audio input disconnected (this noise level is shown as 0 dB).
When auto bypass is enabled and has been triggered by a low noise level, a flashing "AutoBYP" message will appear in the bottom left corner of the display, and all filtering will be bypassed, including effects like binaural mode and hearing loss compensation. Features such as the spectrum display, volume control, and morse decoder will continue working as normal.
If your radio includes a bandpass or lowpass filter for the output audio, then the bandwidth of that filter may be a good first value to try for the noise bandwidth setting. Otherwise, just experiment with a range of different values until you find one which works (gives a consistent difference between transmit and receive).
None of the filtering on the WOLFWAVE (including the bandpass filter) affects the noise level estimation for auto bypass.
There is no minimum numeric value for the difference between transmit and receive levels, and the difference and the noise levels for transmit vs receive do not need to be constant. A "consistent difference" just requires that the transmit and receive levels are consistently on opposite sides of a value which you can set as the threshold.
If the audio seems to stutter when auto bypass is triggered, and the "AutoBYP" message flickers instead of being constantly visible with a flashing background when auto bypass is triggered, then the noise level is likely hovering around the trigger threshold. Try increasing the threshold. If this does not help, try adjusting the noise bandwidth to get a more consistent difference in noise levels between transmit and receive (including when there are signals present).
If auto bypass does not work well for you, it would be useful if you could send recordings of the audio input to the Wolfwave, containing both transmit and receive in each recording, to support@sotabeams.co.uk please. This will help us to test improvements to this feature and hopefully make it work better with your radio in future firmware versions.