SmartSDR CAT com ports, what's up with this?

W5UN_Dave

Are comports generated by SmartSDR CAT independent of com ports shown by Device Manager? On occasion when I generate a new pair of ports with SmartSDR CAT, these will have the same port number as a virtual port previously created by vspMgr. Are these ports clashing? On another topic, The com port created by SmartSDR CAT will disconnect and then later reconnect to 3rd party programs like N1MM, JT65-HF and flDigi. This is very disconcerting. Can we expect this to be fixed in the next version of Smart Cat?

Tim - W4TME

This is part of the problem with all virtual com ports which is collectively known as the "enumeration problem". It is not exclusive with the com port drivers used in SmartSDR CAT. When a com port is created, it does a Windows system call to return all active com ports and will not use a port number that is already in use. What happens is that Windows is not telling the virtual com port driver about existing virtual com ports and a conflict arises. And the answer is YES, if there are multiple com port instances with the same com port number, they are not going to work. As far as your second question, what kind of SmartSDR CAT port are you referring to and describe in greater detail what " will disconnect and then later reconnect" means? Is the radio still running the entire time? Are you running any other PCs on your Network that has the SmartSDR CAT application running?

W5UN_Dave

Tim, I can have SmartSDR, SmartSDR CAT, N1MM, and JT65-HF all running. These 3rd party programs use a mixture of comports created by vspMgr and SmartCat running through DDUtil 3.0.4.15. For instance, JT65-HF will use a PTT port generated by SmartSDR CAT, and another pair of vspMgr ports running between Omni-Rig and DDutil to get the frequency of the radio. This is the one that will drop out and then sometimes return. N1MM uses a port connected via vspMgr generated port pair, and DDutil. This one will also disappear at times, and usually does not return. Perhaps it's all a windows problem, as you say. Ideally it would be nice if DDUtil and vspMgr ports could be done away with, and use only ports generated by SmartSDR CAT for the 3rd party programs. Thus far, this does not work for me.

WA6FXT Mike

Not sure; but, using two different virtual port drivers may be an issue. Any reason you can't use just SmartCAT?

Ned K1NJ

I had some "unusual" behavior involving CAT ports using a combination of vspmgr, which I like very much, and SmartCat. Vspmgr allows selection of specific ports, com5,15 and so on. SmartCat wants to pick its own sequential numbers and wants you to select the function of the port pair. I did a lot of juggling with SmartCat after uninstalling vspmgr, but finally got a group of pairs that allowed both SmartSDR and PowerSDR to use my log, fldigi, and JT-65. The "unusual" behavior stopped, I had to make adjustments in the target programs because of the relative rigidity of the SmartCat selection process, but it all worked out. A hardware port for my amp also worked via DDUtil v3. Ned, K1NJ

Al K0VM

Dave, Exdcept for the ability in VSPmng to assign specific pairs (e.g. com11 paired with com12), SSDR CAT 'shared' pairs can do everything that a VSPMgr pair can do. I use SSDR CAT for all of my com port pairs. To switch, shut down SSDR, DDUTIL, etc. open SSDR CAT and delete all pairs and close SSDR CAT. in VSPMrg, delete all pairs, close VSPMGR, uninstall vspmgr. Reboot. Go into device manager and display hidden ports and delete any remaining rouge ports left over from VSPMGR. Now start over with SSDR CAT AL, K0VM

Ernest - W4EG

I had similar problems with VSPManager conflicting with Smart CAT. AL (K0VM) suggestions is the answer. You not only need to delete all the ports created by VSPManager but you MUST remove then from the computer; otherwise they will return. These ports created by VSPMgr are now Zombies and there is a method for removing then. How to delete Orphan & Zombie ports How to remove Eltima ports (or anything else in Device Manager) 1. Press the Start button. 2. Select Run (Windows 7 users skip this step). 3. Type cmd.exe in the text box and click OK. 4. Type set devmgr_show_nonpresent_**devices=1 and hit Enter. 5. Type cdwindowssystem32 and hit Enter. 6. Type start devmgmt.msc and hit Enter. 7. When the device Manager opens, click the View menu. 8. Click Show Hidden Devices. 9. Click on the + sign next to Ports to see the full list of Com Ports being used. 10. Highlight the port you wish to uninstall/delete and then press delete. 11. Accept when asked if OK to delete. 12. Repeat steps 10 & 11 for any other ports you wish to delete. I am VSPManager free and my computer and I are very happy about it!