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Olliter software looks a LOT like Thetis

I called them out on this almost a year ago: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=5020&p=28978&hilit=olliter#p28978

Richie just put out a video on this same subject.

What do all of you think?

How many of these rigs are out there?

Hello!

Last year during the Ham Radio in Friedrichshafen I met the guys from Olliter and was able to get aquiuanted to their software

Yes, it looks a lot like Thetis, but there are differences too. I was very excited about their hardware and software and their future plans and developments. However the price let me down to order it last year. It is expensive. This needs a lot of sleepless nights to decide.

For what I know is Thetis "kind of" open source, in case you don't use/sell it commercially. But I am not an expert on this. I think Richie can judge this much better than I can.

Last year I noticed a lot of differences and add-ons, like features for SWL. But a lot of simmularities too, like the setup.

This is what I can tell you about it, what I noticed last year during a demo of an hour or so. I spoke with the software engineer.

73, Hans PA0Q/OE3JRC.

I think Ritchie is right. They took Thetis and re-designed it for their own SDR brand. Too many similarities and it is not that you write something like Thetis overnight. And if you would design something new from the ground I would expect a complete more modern look and feel.
I have not seen any Olliter SDR's outside with external ham's.

AFAIK, all the openHPSDR software, firmware and middleware is released under the GNU General Public License v2 (GPLv2)

For instance: https://github.com/ramdor/Thetis/blob/master/LICENSE

I am by no means a copyright or intellectual property rights lawyer. However, this link provides a good explanation of how GPLv2 works: https://fossa.com/blog/open-source-software-licenses-101-gpl-v2/

The short answer is, if they used all or part of WDSP, ChannelMaster, or the rest of the Thetis code, then they need to provide public access to 100% of their source code for the entire project, as it is a derivative work as defined in GPLv2. Just like Thetis was based on PowerSDR mRX, and piHPSDR uses WDSP, etc.

It would very, very interesting to inspect a copy of their software distribution to see if it includes any DLLs that, upon internal inspection, contain code that is identical to that found in wdsp.dll or channelmaster.dll, or perhaps even those files wholesale.

And what about their firmware? Where did it come from?

As I understand GNU GPL v2 licensing, you can modify and change open-source software in any way. However, you are only required to provide the source code to those who have received the corresponding binary based on that changed source. In this case, access to the binary is granted after a $5,000 purchase, and they use it as a 'key' to obtain the modified source code.

I have no issue with them placing the source behind a paywall. My concern, however, is their claim—via email—that Thetis code was not used. I believe that statement to be incorrect.

One aspect I am uncertain about, due to the timeline, is the resampling code by Bryan W4WMT. As far as I can tell, it is not present in PowerSDR mRX, since features like VarRatio do not appear in the VAC setup (though I have not reviewed the source code). However, its inclusion in their documentation and videos suggests that if it later appeared in Thetis, along with all the associated buffer settings, then in my opinion, they must have used Thetis source code.

Time will tell if someone sends me the source

It seems that they are using Pure signal, too. I thought that was copywrite protected, too, as Simon (SDR-Console) will not even breach that.

Ed

PureSignal is part of WDSP. Simon wants his code to be 100% proprietary and he has always, and continues to, do the right thing in that regard.

ramdor wrote:One aspect I am uncertain about, due to the timeline, is the resampling code by Bryan W4WMT. As far as I can tell, it is not present in PowerSDR mRX, since features like VarRatio do not appear in the VAC setup (though I have not reviewed the source code). However, its inclusion in their documentation and videos suggests that if it later appeared in Thetis, along with all the associated buffer settings, then in my opinion, they must have used Thetis source code.

Hi Richie!

The variable servo resampler in WDSP was developed ab initio by Warren NR0V for the Thetis codebase. At Warren's request, I retroactively patched it into OpenHPSDR/PowerSDR in the Autumn of 2017. So that was my only contribution. Hope the timeline helps!

73, Bryan

I sure hope Flex doesn't steel Dr. Warren Pratt's code to get pure signal working with the new 8000 Series radios.
Just saying

Richie is right and his typo, not leaving the space is now worth millions $$ to prove that his code was lifted and used and Olliter lied about it.
Everything is okay till someone lie about it. They should admit and be sorry about it and if possible taken to court. Bill should be shared with us all including Apache.

Richie has put much effort and countless hours into the Anan Radios community to make Thetis better with every release.

73
Bhanu
VU2MB

KC2QMA wrote:I sure hope Flex doesn't steel Dr. Warren Pratt's code to get pure signal working with the new 8000 Series radios.
Just saying

Adaptive Pre-Destortion has been around a fairly long time. Flex Radio shouldn't have to steal Warren Pratt's code to implement it in their radios. But, if they were going to steal anything from Warren Pratt's WDSP library, I would hope they grabbed the code for NR2.
James
WD5GWY