SmartSDR v1.3.8 Available

Steve-N5AC

FlexRadio Systems is pleased to announce the availability of SmartSDR v1.3.8.  v1.3.8 is an update to fix issues that were encountered in v1.3 released last month. The installation package includes the release notes which have important information about the features and important caveats.  v1.3.8 is for all FLEX-6000 Signature Series radios.  A few key fixes are:

CW/CWX: Fixed a number of CW timing and keying issues, some of which were causing distorted CW elements sent under some circumstances.  

SmartSDR-Windows: The positions and sizes of most windows are now remembered and the panadapter line rendering has been sharpened.  

Profiles: Fixed several issues related to naming, recalling and importing profiles  

In all, there are over 50 fixes in this release that make operation of v1.3 more stable and predictable.  FlexRadio Systems recommends that all v1.3 users upgrade to v1.3.8 immediately.  The release notes that accompany the software will give you all the details on what we've added and fixed since the last release.

There are several sub-procedures described below that are outlined in greater detail in the SmartSDR v1.3.8 Release Notes. Make sure you review the Release Notes before updating the FLEX-6000 radio software and SmartSDR CAT. 

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Upgrading SmartSDR for Windows 
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1.  Shut down SmartSDR for Windows if running.
2.  If SmartSDR CAT is running, close it too
3.  Power cycle the FLEX-6000 by pressing the front panel power button, waiting several seconds and then pressing it again to reboot the radio. Wait until the radio has finished booting before continuing. 
4. Run the SmartSDR v1.3.8 Installer (see bottom of post for link)
5. At the end of the installation process, display the release notes (A PDF reader is required) and run SmartSDR for Windows. 
6. You should see your FLEX-6000 in the chooser indicating that an upgrade is required. If you have never done a FLEX-6000 software upgrade, you may what to review the FLEX-6000 Upgrade procedure on page 8 in the Release Notes which can be also found in the Windows Start Menu -> FlexRadio Systems -> SmartSDR v1.3 -> Release Notes folder.
7. After the FLEX-6000 software has upgraded, you should see the radio in the SmartSDR Radio Chooser indicating it is "Available". If after 5 minutes or so and you do not see the radio become "Available" (the yellow Update bar will have completely traversed to the right hand side), power off the radio using the Power button and power it back on. 
8. You can now run SmartSDR v1.3.8

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Upgrading SmartSDR CAT
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1. If SmartSDR for Windows is running, shut it down now. 
2. Follow the procedure "Uninstalling SmartSDR CAT" starting on page 10 in the SmartSDR v1.3.8 Release Notes. Make sure to reboot the PC when done (this is very important). 
3. Follow the procedure "Installing SmartSDR CAT" starting on page 11 in the SmartSDR v1.3.8 Release Notes. 
4. Start SmartSDR CAT by selecting the SmartSDR CAT program from the Windows Start Menu -> FlexRadio Systems program folder 
5. If needed, configure the virtual com ports as per the SmartSDR CAT documentation 

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Release Specific Information
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Please review the Known Issues, Caveats and Limitations section in the SmartSDR for Windows Release Notes on page 5 for a comprehensive listing of release specific information regarding the operation of your FLEX-6000 Signature Series SDR. 

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Where to Download SmartSDR v1.3
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SmartSDR v1.3.8 is approximately 46 MB in size. You can download SmartSDR for Windows from: 

SmartSDR_v1.3.8

See you on the bands!