Option to leave radio in RX mode when SmartSDR closed.

Richard G7EIX

Just a thought. During the day I like to tune to a fixed frequency and just listen, perhaps the Maritime net or a frequency of a beacon that lets me know that a band is opening. To do this with the 6500 I have to leave SmartSDR running in the background. What are the possibilities of having a "Leave Radio in RX mode" option when closing SmartSDR so that I can leave the radio in RX and piping audio to the speakers? Just a thought for a "nice to have" but not a top of the list item. *EDIT* And perhaps when in headless RX mode we could have the FREQUENCY and MODE and SIGNAL STRENGTH displayed on the front panel display too! *EDIT 2* Now I think about it...why not a complete HEADLESS mode where you can change bands, frequency, modes etc through the joystick panel ? Ok - back to work... :-)

Ken - NM9P

It would be a very nice option down the pike, to even be able to transmit in the "headless" mode, either CW or Phone...perhaps even using the circular front panel control buttons as a crude tuning control, volume, slice select, or TX enable/inhibit, etc. Something to think about "down the pike." (but not on the immediate/critical list).

Richard G7EIX

And once the TCP/IP API becomes available to all, a simple client to run on ANY smartphone could be implemented to control the radio, not just the iPhone/iPad. Windows Phone / Android would be perfect options.

K9DUR

But, the radio does this already! Remember that with the 6500/6700 all of the signal processing is done in the box. SmartSDR is in 2 parts, the main radio software which runs in the box & the client that runs on the computer for the user interface. The client does NOT have to be running for the radio to function. Simply start SmartSDR, dial in your desired mode & frequency, & then close the client. Now, adding some rudimentary control functions to the buttons on the radio is an idea worth exploring, but it is not necessary to receive and/or transmit with the client not running. 73, Ray, K9DUR

Richard G7EIX

Oh I fully understand how it works, but closing the client does not work the way you describe...well not here it does not. I close the client and the Audio stops and TX is inhibited. So unless you are running a different radio firmware - then there is a difference between the 6500/6700 if this currently works for you.

Joe WD5Y

Richard I have had this happen just as you; when I close SSDR the audio stiops as well but this changed recently. I just installed batch files for startup and exit, I used the "TASKKILL" command in the batch file for exiting. Now when I exit with the batch file the radio stays in receive. Not sure why this is happening now because before the radio did stop receiving. The reason for the batch files is that I wanted one command to start and stop multiple programs. 73's Joe WD5Y

K9DUR

Joe & Richard, Joe hit on the key. I wrote a little program called AppControlPanel which allows me to start/stop several programs from a single interface, similar to the batch files Joe is using. If I stop the SmartSDR client with my program, the radio remains active for both receive & transmit. If I close the client clicking on the red "X" on the client window, the audio stops. I had been shutting down the client with my app. 73 - Ray, K9DUR

Richard G7EIX

Ok, yes...If I terminate SmartSDR is a 'dirty' fashion - such as TASKKILL then the radio does indeed stay in RX and TX is not inhibited - but if closing the application using the Quit or X then it does not. So the client is obviously coded to disable RX and TX on shutdown.

Richard G7EIX

Yup - that would be why then. Well, as an interim solution to allow me to do what I want I can use this as an option. But it would be nice to be able to have this selectable as an option just to ensure that a 'dirty' shutdown does not leave the radio in an unstable state, or affect it on re-loading the client.

W5XZ - dan

which program is 'client' and which is 'server'? could a widows bozo do this in task manager, to just stop the 'client' software ?? tnx guys, 73

Richard G7EIX

Client is the WPF Application SmartSDR.exe that runs on your PC. Server is the RADIO

W5XZ - dan

ok. barking up the wrong tree, i guess....

Richard G7EIX

Stopping the client through the Quit or X causes the radio to go through the shutdown process and turn off audio and disable TX. Stopping the SmartSDR.exe client in its tracks by KILLING with taskmanager, or TASKKILL causes the application to perform no more instructions and simply terminate and disappear.

Ken - NM9P

Ray, I haven't done any Batch file programming for about 15-20 years! I am not sure I even remember how to do it.... Although I had to use XCOPY the other day to salvage my files when my "new" computer crashed..... I guess I need to brush up on DOS commands again. And learn Linux... and....

Joe WD5Y

I'm not sure if this will help but I will list the lines to start and stop as batch files; as an example I have the "wavenode" program listed as the second application: Start: @echo off start /d "C:Program FilesFlexRadio SystemsSmartSDR v0.15.13" SmartSDR.exe start /d "C:Program Files (x86)WN1 version 2_4" wn1.exe exit Stop @echo off TASKKILL /F /IM SmartSDR.exe TASKKILL /F /IM wn1.exe exit I used the "shortcut" generation to make buttons to access these, that way I could change the icon image on the shortcut button. To get the proper paths to the applications I just right clicked on the applications (SSDR and wavenode) and looked at the properties tab. This really makes a fast start stop feature and will allow you the ability to add other programs to start/stop as well. 73's Joe WD5Y

Richard G7EIX

Personally, I always shiver when I see people using BATCH files nowadays - we live in the time of PowerShell where you can write simple or complicated logic processes to do anything and everything you could ever possible do in a batch file and custom applications to sequence the start-up and shutdown of processes and applications. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_PowerShell PowerShell has been around since Windows XP and has many built in functions such as Get-Process and Stop-Process and Start-Process and Wait-Process. If you have some programming savvy you can even write your own command-lets. PowerShell scripts can be run from a shortcut, a command line a registry key or Start-Up folder. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scriptcenter/powershell.aspx No need for TASKKILL or 3rd party apps to do the mundane anymore - its all built in to your Windows OS or downloadable as an update. Each to their own though - whatever works for you is the best option.

Joe WD5Y

Thanks Richard I will check this out also. I was looking for something quick and easy. Joe

W5XZ - dan

i wonder if just unplugging the ethernet cable would do the trick? not very handy, but just a thought....

Richard G7EIX

Try it and let us know what you find! :-)

W5XZ - dan

seems like Steve, N5AC, once said you could un plug the pc and radio could keep working....or something like that...

W5XZ - dan

of course, windows will punish you for shutting it down that way....and I would never consider 'hot plugging' the cat5 line back into my new radio !!!

Richard G7EIX

That is indeed the case. You could throw the power on the PC, or suffer a blue screen - and as long as the SmartSDR did not terminate correctly - then the radio will continue to provide audio and allow TX - the same as terminating the process with extreme prejudice. Now, if you tell windows to shutdown while SmartSDR is running, windows **should** close down all running apps gracefully - in which case audio stops and tx is inhibited. Pulling the ethernet cable - don't know, not tried it - but I would guess that the radio will continue to work and keep hunting for a client.

Richard G7EIX

For today though - I simply killed SmartSDR.exe process and was able to listen to my chosen frequency - and when I then re-loaded SmartSDR it all seemed fine. So as an interim - I will use this method. Job done.