frontpanel headphone output via dax

K1DBO

I'd like to access the audio stream that is fed to the front panel headphone jack through a DAX interface.  SmartSDR has some really nice features for controlling how that stream is mixed from the slice receivers, but unless you are sitting in front of the radio (and I rarely do) you lose out on those features.  If DAX had an option to route the "mixed" headphone output to the default system audio card, remote users would get all the benefits of SmartSDR's built-in mixing interface.

Jim Gilliam

I have successfully used the line-out on the rear of the 6500. level-wise it is perfectly compatible with the line-in of my computer. However, I was disappointed to see that Flex probably did not put an isolation transformer on the audio output (duhhhhh). I had to connect an external small Radio Shack transformer to get rid of the hum. Other than that, it works great.

Jim, K6QE

Tim - W4TME

I am not sure you are aware of it or not, but DAX was not intended or designed to be a solution to facilitate remote access.  Although with a little "creative" third-party software integration ingenuity you can do rudimentary remote access using DAX.  

DAX was developed specifically to allow digital mode operation with third-party applications that use a Windows sound device as the audio interface. 

We will be delivering a better feature set for doing remote access in a future version of SmartSDR.  The first step will be LAN remote access (not over the Internet) and then we'll expand the capability to access your radio remotely and securely over the Internet.  So I don't think we'll be adding many interim features that does not get us closer to our intended remote access solution; that would not be the best use of our development resources in the short term.

And the more efficiently we use our development resources, the faster we can deliver a full and robust feature set for the FLEX-6000 Signature Series family of radios.

Jim Gilliam

Remoting, to me, is the potential outstanding features of this radio if only it could be accessed outside a LAN (WAN). In order to use the radio as a stand-alone remote, it will need to have it's built-in CODECS so that there is no need for an accompanying computer to provide the WAN audio transmission over the Internet. I hope these features are part of your great scheme.

Jim, K6QE

K1DBO

Perhaps I should have left the word "DAX" out of the idea?  The real issue is remote access to the mixed audio as it is presented to the headphone jack.  It just seemed to me that DAX was the audio interface to SmartSDR, hence the wording.  

The promise of complete remote access was a big selling point.  I am very interested in seeing how it all works out.  My current set up makes good use of RDP to access the radio.  It really wont matter to me if Flex does any thing more to distinguish between LAN or WAN access.  I'll always be going through RDP.  I'm sure others will feel differently.  But, my thinking is that for digimodes, I want the modem software near the radio (same LAN).  Pumping multiple audio streams over a poor internet connection with sufficient quality to keep the digimode modems working smoothly seems a bit much to hope for.  Using RDP over a poor internet connection works well enough for the UI and with the modems running remotely (same LAN as the radio) they dont even notice.

Yes, there are workarounds... third party mixer software can be used to mix the DAX output much like the internal mixer already does.  RDP also presents some audio challenges that I've dealt with by using skype and VAC.  The point of this "idea" is just to let the developers know how at least one of their current users is getting by and what might make for a more seamless integration.  As it stands, remote access to my 6500 is far better than any I could have managed with my last rig. I just cant help but notice how it might be even better and am eagerly awaiting the updates!