SmartSDR v1.4 Update Posted

Gerald-K5SDR

My wife and I are LOL about beating the sack full of snakes! 

k3Tim

It's easier herding cats than overseeing Software developers.

 :-)

Gerald-K5SDR

I home roast my own java every week.  

Dave - W6OVP

Hello Gerald-

I love my 6300 and am not about to sell it out of frustration or impatience, but I do have a few thoughts. Having been part of difficult projects which are taxing in the extreme with unknowns that threaten the very premises I am not about to snipe at the time schedule slippage.

However, SmartSDR feels like it was written on a sterile government contract in response to some obscure RFB. May be good solid engineering, but dull, and appears to be wandering in the wilderness. Neither user friendly nor much fun to use.

When demonstrating SDR I use the 1500 or 3000 with PwrSDR rather than the 6300 because it shows MUCH better and is easier for all to appreciate. PwrSDR generates immediate excitement while Smart does not. I also like to use PwrSDR far better for my simple casual hamming needs and wish a PwrSDR "face" was available for the 6300!

The forum is full of esoteric suggestions to improve SmartSDR but I have some elementary ones. I'm concerned that way too much time is being spent on very advanced features which are of critical interest to only a small minority of 6000 users rather than simple features and good ergonomics. Reminds me of both car and computer companies that had too much fun pursuing their own dreams rather than those of their customers, and they are now gone.

The air may be better at the top of the mountain but most people live closer to the base. That's where most customers live too.

Here are some specific but very basic suggestions:

  1) Bring back the frequency scroll by mouse roller on every frequency digit.
  2) Bring back the station scroll feature on the WWV and GEN buttons.
  3) Bring back all the Panafall type options.
  4) Bring back features that invite new users to try, instead of seeing how deep they can be buried.
  5) Make it easy for newbies to sit right down and use Smart rather than wonder what to do with it.
etc etc, etc, ...

My 6300 runs beautifully, but it would be much more fun to use if it was less like work and more like play. .

Best 73   Dave  W6OVP

Richard G7EIX

I love and am thankful for my ever evolving radio. Thanks to you all at Flex for the effort and long hours. These delays are a small price to pay for quality coding and excellent pre-release testing ethics.

Stu Phillips - K6TU

****, but I hate my modern car....

The Model T had firm seats and nice black paint...  my new car has plush seats that are much more comfortable and is gun metal metallic gray that the ladies just love.

The Model T belched oil whenever I started it with the hand crank.  **** new car I can barely hear after I hit the start button.

The Model T was stiff as **** - I got to appreciate every bump in the road.  **** new car has hydro gas suspension and holds the road perfectly but I don't feel anything...

Its called progress.

I dislike almost every feature you miss....

Let's just leave Gerald and the team to hold their course and focus.

I guarantee every last hater who commented on this issue that Gerald and Team feel FAR WORSE about this than YOU.

Give the team a break - please.

Product development is a challenge and delays don't excuse breaching civility.

If you don't like it - sell your radio - there are plenty of buyers.

If you aren't prepared to sell your radio... well you have answered the question yourself.

Peace be with with you...

Stu K6TU

KM6CQ - Dan

One of the things I really like about Smart SDR is that it is all about the content. All of the clutter of buttons and other stuff is gone. I like having most of the screen given over to the spectrum. PSDR was good but the layout of SmartSDR is much nicer. I guess I would like to be able to make the control boxes (mic, EQ, etc) disappear and then reappear by hovering the mouse over them. But skin effects is probably better suited for 2.0 and beyond. 

73,   Dan  KM6CQ

Dave - W6OVP

I guess I would like to be able to make the control boxes (mic, EQ, etc) disappear and then reappear by hovering the mouse over them.

Me too.

Dave - W6OVP

RULE ONE: Read before venting.

Takeshi Yamada

Please do not be too hot, guys!
I think I can concentrate to Navassa DX pedition, K1N for a while though it is not new for my DXCC.   I hope that I can renew SSDR by Cocos DX ped. that is new to me for confirmation.

Take it easy. 
1.3.8 works OK, and delay of 1.4 does not **** any.

73 de JI1BNU, JA2IYJ/1
Ken Yamada

G4YDO

bert grow up.

SteveJ

Burt, is that your baby photo?

Jay -- N0FB

I read it Dave, I just happen to disagree with your assessment.  SmartSDR is clean and allows the Operator to focus on the task at hand.  PowerSDR is a kludge. Buttons everywhere, copius hidden menus.  I used it as I had a 3000.  You could tell that it evolved to what it became instead of being fully planned.  It was not as well thought out as SmartSDR has been.

I disagree with your statement "Bring back features that invite new users to try, instead of seeing how deep they can be buried."  Frankly, I am not sure what you are talking about.  Almost everything in SmartSDR is out in the open unless the Operator intentionally hides it.  

The other displays in PowerSDR (you called waterfalls) did absolutely nothing for the average operator.  They were novelties that you would have open for a moment, and then immediately return to the PanaFall display.

In my opinion, SmartSDR, from a GUI standpoint, is hands down a superior and engaging environment.  It makes the data of the radio signals the primary focus...as it should be.  Everything else remains, as it should, on the periphery.

L.Kubis

Well it looks like the 6500 goes back in it's back where it's been for what seems like several years now. There was a glimmer of hope that I finally may have been able to operate it on my remote site as I am not permitted to have an antenna at my condo. Looks like that is not likely to happen soon at the rate things are progressing. 

Not good! The customer has been forgotten.

Lloyd
VE3ERQ

Lee - N2LEE

I love to read all these suggestions and whining from people who have NO idea what they are talking about. 

I get that people want bell & whistles and every feature they think they need NOW but all this shows is their short sightedness and lack of understanding of what Gerald and the team is trying to do.

Business
Flex is working to build a business. This is very different than simply building a science project like other products on the market. Their approach is to build a long term solution that they can build a company around not simply throwing code against the wall to see what sticks. 

Platform
Remember Flex made a very strategic and difficult decision to start from scratch with the 6000 series. The decision was made in order to build a software platform NOT just not another version of what was previously used. The demands this puts on a software team is something very few (and almost none of the people on this forum) have ever been involved with or understand.

Microsoft is a multibillion dollar company with 1000's engineers and I don't think ever met a release target with a bug free product and every feature every user asked for.

The reason they are focusing on the basics is because if you don't have solid code base you can't add the sizzle. GUI and other basic features asked for will be much easier and faster to release once they have a platform. This requires a different method of coding than just "oh yea lets add this...".

Product Development
I spent 20 years in software product development & marketing and it is an amazing and frustrating process. Customers (and Sales & Marketing) have a list of features a mile long "they have to have". Engineering on the other hand has the difficult job of holding expectations of what is actually able to provide in a set time frame. These groups are often at odds but regardless EVERYONE wants to get the best product in the hands of the customer as soon as possible.

Think about it... Wouldn't it make sense that Gerald and the team would want to deliver every feature on everyones' wish list as soon as possible ?  Of course they do. Put yourself in Gerald shoes, he is representing a company, a group of fellow hams and a team who is passionate about SDR technology. They eat, sleep and drink SDR. Does anyone here realize how painful it is for him to step up and tell existing and potential customers a product will be delayed ???

I could go on and on but the point is I think most of us jumped into SDR because we believe it is the "future" of ham radio. If you expected anything different you might want to consider a different hobby or radio. 

fu·ture adjective ˈfyü-chər
: coming after the present time : existing in the future
—used to say what someone or something will be 

Lee

Jay -- N0FB

Amazing Lloyd....your assumptions are simply amazing!

Jay -- N0FB

Lee....awesome post!!!

Lee - N2LEE

Jay, thanks. I hate to be so "in your face" but I believe Gerald is doing his job, he is being a leader and that means telling people the truth. Even if its not what you know they want to hear. 

I have been fortune enough to work at a number of start ups that went global and I can tell everyone at Flex feels they are doing something important. I also know the feeling that you have an impossible task but you know you are on the right track, it just takes time.

There are very few people who know what it is like to compete against companies like Icom, Kenwood, etc.  Their annual advertising budget is probably larger than Flex's entire revenue. BUT, they believe they can give hams something more then the current technology if only they can reach the momentum they need as quickly as possible.

I wonder how many people on this forum are willing to put their house, their savings and everything they own on the line because they believe in what they are doing ?

Its easy to sit back and complain but very different situation when you have your **** in the fire.

I should add I am not a attempting to be a cheer leader or making excuses for Flex, I am simply applying real world parameters to a job that very few understand.

Gerald-K5SDR

Lloyd, you may not realize this but LAN remote is the prerequisite for WAN remote. Most of v1.4 is a lot of the hard work that is also required for WAN to work.  Too bad there is so little appreciation for how much effort and expense it takes to get this right.

PD1CT

Gerald,
Why not release whats working like FM etc?
Like they say in Spanish;Poco a Poco!

Stu Phillips - K6TU

There are plenty of ways of operating your 6500 remotely - look at the many postings by Howard KY6LA as one example.

Is it off the shelf, plug and play? - No.

Does it require effort, thought and a willingness to actually do something rather than just open a box? - Yes.

Lloyd, if you are really motivated, there are plenty of people who can help you.

Where there is a will, there is a way.  Where there is no will, there is only darkness.

It's simply up to you.
Stu K6TU

Robert -- N5IKD

Gerald,
I don't understand the problem, just hire 2,846 programmers and you will have time to spare. ;-)

Jay Nation

When demonstrating SDR it is essential to provide plenty of donuts and cookies. I guarantee you will get better feedback. My first wife had plenty of eyecandy just like PowerSDR. You should see her now. One of her biggest downfalls was the very limited supply of donuts and cookies she provided. Eye candy gets old. Donuts and cookies get old and stale too, Get a fresh batch when that happens.

Dan -- KC4GO

I have had my 6500 about 3 months now and last week took a half a day and figured out how to operate remote from my Android tablet. I can also operate from my Android phone, but screens a bit small to control well...(Just having fun). Not bad for a high school dropout 
Dan KC4GO

Dave - W6OVP

My first wife had plenty of eyecandy just like PowerSDR.

I suppose part of this is knowing what is "eyecandy" and what is real. My first wife and I are still going strong after 60 years; Eyecandy, Ham Radio, and all.

Bill -VA3WTB

I over heard a QSO the other night. A guy had to send his 6500 back to Flex for a problem. The other guys thought he was going to rake Flex and complain. But to their surprise he said, I don't really mind, I still have my Flex 5000 here to use till the 6500 comes back. And he said, I look at it this way. I'm the sort of guy that always has to have the latest and greatest, the cutting bleeding edge with anything. But the problem is he say's, is that the bleeding edge stuff is never perfect and it is evolving all the time. And as a customer I know that going in.

I thought about what he said. When we buy a Flex 6000's we buy the bleeding edge of tech, some people don't care to wait and watch as these things develop and be part of it, But others find it interesting and fun. Which person are you?

L.Kubis

Gerald I do understand that LAN is a prerequisite for WAN,  this is why this additional delay is so discouraging. It suggests that WAN is still well over the horizon.

Lets remember,networking was a major capability touted at the introduction of the radio. After several years of waiting patiently it is still not available.

I am also aware of being able to remote the Flex with a local computer. But I can not do that reliably as my station is at a remote site exposed to an uncontrolled environment in a location not easily accessible for about 4-5 months of the year due to a winter lockup.

I have managed to get by using my current network capable radio (no computer) for the last 7 or so years without any disruption. However it is getting old and it has no spectral display so it is time for a replacement. The 6500 was to be it.

Lloyd
VE3ERQ

KY6LA_Howard

LLoyd

I know from the old days (VE Land) and our various email discussions we have had that you are more than competent enough to figure out how to operate remotely using a PC or a tablet Local and a PC at the Remote to run your 6500 in the interim until the Native V2..0 arrives..

Is it as good as Native?.. Likely NO.  

Can you ragchew and work roundtables? - Yes
Can you work DX Remotely Now? - Yes
Can you bust Pileups on rare DX? - Most of the time ..but I have a BIG station at home and with practice you can learn to handle the turn around latency
Can you work contests?  - Yes
Can you win Contests?  - No... too much turn around latency.
Is it as easy as just sitting in front of the station and talking - No

I use remote for Digital (PSK, JT, RTTY) and SSB with few issues.. 

( I am not a CW guy)

Because the XYL and I want to do as much international travel as we can while we still physically can, I have been remoting my 6700 (prior to that my 5000) for several years now ...even worked DXCC remotely over a weekend during a WPX and an ARRL DX contest ...

So it does work more than good enough for my needs..

I have heard that some people who like CW use "RemoteRig" but I have no experience there. 

John n0snx

G4YDO  it will be released in 2015.... OK now you have your date but I bet you still aren't a happy camper.

Ken - NM9P

Bert, e. al...I use Panafall extensively.  It gives me a visual history of the band activity.  It is especially useful when working 6 meters, and when hunting for a "hole" on a crowded band, or searching for weak signals over time.  It is also very helpful as I use my display to analyze sources of interference around the shack because the time-domain aspects are much more revealing than the panadapter trace all by itself.

I find the human interface in SSDR much more intuitive overall, although a few functions are easier to operate on PowerSDR.  The Display is much superior - the pan and waterfall tracks together with a simple click and drag.  The scale is adjustable with a simple drag, etc.

Yes, the selection of bands and modes takes an extra mouse click, but a couple of excellent memory programs using the API have made this a non-concern for me.  

Occasionally I return to the 1500 to play and be nostalgic.  And I find that I have gotten so used to the SSDR interface that It is almost a chore to operate compared to my 6500.  Can SSDR be improved?  Certainly.  I have published extensive lists of suggestions.  Would I rather be locked to the fixed display and interface in PowerSDR?  Absolutely not!

Ken - NM9P