Mic Extension Cable (or, "I'm not beaten, just heading to try mobile...")

Mark K9BOO

Hello Flex Community!

As a new Flex 6300 user, I deeply appreciate the help of the community members past & present (I've be trying to catch-up on relevant posts from the past to present).  I have a challenge and some ideas about which I'm a hoping you might have some helpful comments or suggestions.

1.  Is it reasonable to seek/make a 15' mic extension cable for my 6300 hand mic?

2.  Is there any way to get the audio output (normally to the speaker or headphones) somehow carried by the signal on my Ethernet connection and decoded at the computer to allow me to listen through the computer?  I am looking for 1 less cable as I am already using my computer "audio in" from the 6300 "line out".

I live in an urban forest of steel and concrete (high-rises all around), and am struggling with HF DX due to environment and antenna restrictions.  Relatively speaking, the Pixel 1B helped tremendously.  But--trying afternoons to early morning--I still can discern only some signals and only on 80 & 40M--and all of those are generally coming from nearby states.  I suspect those are powerful stations. 

Though I would not be able to regularly get away with these "violations" off the balcony, I tried  30'+ end fed and a tunable "balcony whip" antennas with identical, extremely poor reception results.  The noise level is high. 

Thus, to launch my DX adventure, I'm suspecting I'll have to "take it on the road."  I'm not sure how far I'll have to drive outside of downtown Chicago, but I'm going to give it a try!

Thus, my questions about the cables relate to a potential mobile installation.

Thanks much.

Mark KD9CDF

Jim Gilliam

The DAX is what was born in heaven to transport the audio of your 6300 over the Ethernet to your computer, which in turn could be connected to an internal/external speaker or Bluetooth to wirelessly transmit the audio to a Bluetooth speaker system.

However, the trick is to use a program which can intercept the DAX and direct it to your computer's speaker or other audio device. I use a program called Romac which is a 10 band equalizer not unlike the W2IHY box. You set Romac to receive the DAX and direct it to output to your computer's speaker or some other device like Bluetooth. I am sure there are other ways to skin this cat, but this is how I listen to my 6500.

Jim, K6QE

K9DUR

Jim,

You are making life too difficult.  Right-click on the Speaker icon on the system tray and select "Recording Devices"..  Find the appropriate entry for the DAX channel you are using (you want the one with the picture of a pair of RCA plugs), and click on it and then click the "Properties" button. In the window that pops up, select the "Listen" tab and check the "Listen to this device" checkbox.  You will now hear the DAX audio through your speakers.  This works in Windows 7.  There should be a similar procedure in XP & Win 8.

73, Ray, K9DUR

Jim Gilliam

I find the DAX too flat for my hearing and like using the equalizer to tailor the audio to my hearing taste. As I said, I know there is more than one way to skin a cat. You would be amazed how much better the audio sounds. Thank you for your input, however.

Jim, K6QE

George KF2T

There should shortly be a SmartSDR release featuring audio over IP,, designed to help remote operations in the same LAN. A dual input speaker (PC & radio) is probably best now, though. I used to live on the 30th floor in Streeterville (Chicago) and had fun on the higher bands with a dipole in the window. Noise is a toughie. A small loop (like the MFJ) might help . They are surprisingly effective. 40, 80, and 160 will be really tough. If you can get a really good earth ground, a mobile whip might be a reasonable compromise.

Jim Gilliam

I have a Icom 7800 and the company recently released firmware/software upgrades so that the radio can be a stand-alone remoted radio over the WAN without any additional equipment or accompanying computers. I hope this feature will be accomplished soon by Flex. I wonder if they plan to send the panoramic display data also. Since all the I/Q work is done in the radio itself, rather than a computer, I wouldn't think it would require too much bandwidth to send both the audio and graphics data.   

Jim, K6QE

Tim - W4TME

Mark,

Here is my recommendations to your questions

"1.  Is it reasonable to seek/make a 15' mic extension cable for my 6300 hand mic?"

Reasonable? Yes.  But be forewarned that long cables that carry audio into the radio that are not properly shielded make good RFI "antennas".  The front mic connector is essentially unbalanced so make sure you wire it appropriately.  Also there will be a slight signal drop (Ohms' law applies) and the hand mic is not a high output device.  You may want to investigate using a condenser mic element that provides higher output. 

"2.  Is there any way to get the audio output (normally to the speaker or headphones) somehow carried by the signal on my Ethernet connection and decoded at the computer to allow me to listen through the computer?  I am looking for 1 less cable as I am already using my computer "audio in" from the 6300 "line out"."

Yes.  Currently if you are using Windows Vista or above, you can use DAX to re-route the audio to your computer speakers as indicated by @Ray.  But, DAX was not intended for this purpose.

In SmartSDR v1.4, you will be able to stream audio from the radio to your PC without using DAX and also use a PC connected microphone as an audio input device.  This is collectively known as LAN Remote.  This is a much "cleaner" way of accomplishing what you want to do

Rick Hadley - W0FG

Tim, is v1.4 going to allow SSDR to be running on two LAN networked PCs at the same time?  I'd love to be able to operate from the laptop on the porch without shutting down the multi-screen version that runs 24-7 down in the shack.

Ken - NM9P

I am looking forward to that, Tim.  It should be much more efficient than sending wide band DAX audio back and forth when it is not needed.  

Will there be less latency this way as well?  I find there is as much as 200-250 ms delay when sending audio from my USB mixer to the computer, processing it with software, and sending it back to the rig via DAX.  Most of it, I am sure is due to the USB link and Stereo Tool processor.  But every little bit helps.  

Jim Gilliam

Does anyone have a time line when the radio can be used over the internet (WAN)?

Jim, K6QE

KY6LA_Howard

It's Version 2.0 on the Roadmap

Jim Gilliam

Where does one get a copy of this roadmap? Thank you.

Jim

KY6LA_Howard

http://www.flexradio.com/downloads/smartsdr-product-roadmap-pdf/

Jim Gilliam

Thank you! This is really starting to get exciting. Looks like I'll be buying another in 2015 for my Big Bear Lake, Ca. location. I have a 3000 set up there now with a Dell XPS 8500. It will be so nice not to have a radio tethered to a Firewire cable! You can see my remote on QRZ.com

Jim, K6QE

KY6LA_Howard

I run remote 90% of the time on my 6700 via my iPad... from 18 countries so far.. #19 Ireland at the end of this month...

Here is how to do it

https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/remote_ipad_operation_of_6000_series_using_parallel...

Jim Gilliam

I've tried Parallels Access with my iPhone. I'll be darned if I can get the audio to come through my iPhone. There doesn't seem to be any controls to get it working. Maybe it just works on the iPad. However, the audio comes through great using the iPhone app on Teamviewer.

Jim

Tim - W4TME

I am closing this post because it is starting to venture off topic.  Please search for other posts on remote access using Parallels Access or start a new post.