Behringer CMD Micro DJ Midi Controller for use with Flex 6000

Bob W7KWS

LOL Ken... I'm just glad that you & William are skilled at this. After looking at some of the source, I think that I'm now too old to learn new tricks in such a way that I could "look at the code for a while" and "start to get it". It all seems upside down & backwards compared to what I did so many years ago. Bob

W4WHL

touching the metal place disengages the slowdown routine.  spinning (value > 68) fast engages the stepx5.

In order to disengage the stepx5 it takes 100 consecutive ticks less than (value < 68).  This sound like a lot, but its a split second with these high resolution encoders.

W4WHL

Here is a new version to test.  Here are the changes from 2.0c;

1. Updated the delay count to make Stepx5 easier to maintain. Also lowered the speed required to engage Stepx5.
2. Added band switching.  Center encoder dial is now band switching when shift off, mode when shift on.  Also now it take 2 indent ticks to register a change, as I felt it was too touchy.

The graphic in the app window is becoming a hack job.  I will update it at some point when I'm done adding functions.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/am5fx5j8i8qevgo/CMDMicroFlex6k_v2_0d.zip?dl=0

W4WHL

oops forgot - Also added ANF and **** ANF = lock

And swapped RF and HP vol.  HP volume is primary RF power is shift.

Hope all you have plenty of brother labels  Hehe

Bob W7KWS

I'll try this in a bit, William.  Thanks!

Here's a picture of my newly attached knobs.  Clear silicone works well for attaching them and, hopefully, removing them if I decide that I ever need to change. Fingers are crossed in that case.

Bob

W4WHL

That looks cool, but wont this affect the touch sensitivity of the wheels?  You may be stuck in slow mode.  You will still have all step sizes, but it will be slower.

William

Bob W7KWS

The knobs are aluminum and seemed to work with 1.9.  That was so long ago (day before yesterday) that I'm going to have to recheck.

If touch sensitivity becomes a preference for me, I will wrap the perimeter of the knob with special "grip" shrink tubing made for fishing rods.  It is available in various sizes up to 45mm which might have worked for 40mm knobs but I found one source in China at 50mm.  It's on its way.  See it here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171643895391

Bob W7KWS

William,

A quick test on 2.0d before I go to lunch and shopping.

I swapped the A & B knobs and that is working well.

I can't tell if the touch sensitivity is playing a part but the gear shift is working flawlessly after 1-minute of testing.  More later. Thanks!

Bob

W4WHL

bob,

The gear shift will work fine with your knobs, but you will be stuck in slowdown mode.  The sensor is capacitive so even if the knobs are metal the touch sensor will not function.  Slowdown mode is just a tad slower to make the knob less touchy.  Without it you will just be in slow mode.  All this means is that, you will not be able to go as fast across the band. 

All that matters is you are happy with the speed.  So if your happy with it, then that is all that maters.

William

Bob W7KWS

William,

After lunch, I bagged out of shopping so I could get back to this.

I don't think that the aluminum knob by itself is enough to activate the touch sensor in the platters.

I've gone back and tried 1.9e.  With the step button activated to blue, I turn the knob A with a plastic pen cap and the frequency changes slowly.  Then, while still turning knob A at the same speed with the cap, I touch knob B with my finger and tuning speeds up.

It appears to me that it takes more capacity than the knob alone to trigger it.

This is what I had seen last week before choosing these knobs.

Bob

W4WHL

Yep that is what I expected.  You could disable the slowdown, but the knobs may then be too touchy

Bob - W7KWS -

But if I put insulating wrap on the perimeter of the knob then it will act just like the platters without the knobs added.  Touch the surface or finger hole and go fast, touch the perimeter with the grip insulation and go slow unless I turn it fast.  Right?

W4WHL

Its worth a try, if you say touching the b knob speeds it up, maybe it will work.  So if you turn your knob with your finger it is fast?  and with a pen its slow?  If that is the case, maybe it will work.

William

Bob W7KWS

Yes, that's how it is working.  A couple layers of electrical tape around the knob allows me to turn it with my finger and it is slow.  As soon as I touch the top portion of the metal it runs fast. 

Like I said earlier, the software is now flawless in this regard.

W4WHL

In that case I need the link to those knobs

Bob - W7KWS -

Knobs are here.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321693862187

W4WHL

What is the diameter of the top of the knob?  Need to figure out what size grip.

DH2ID

William, I like 2.0d, works well here, especially band switching.
Now if you could just give me back tune without shift ;-)
73, Alex DH2ID

Bob - W7KWS -

William,

The skirt is 2 inches.  The top is 1.6 inches or 40mm. I ordered 50mm Rod Grip from China but 45mm from a couple of domestic eBay sources should work, at least for one or two layers.

The seller is an old Drake employee who deals in all kind of knobs, particularly Drake. 

Now that I think about it.  I had asked him for these sizes and he said at the time that they were plastic with a metal weight.  However all three of mine came in Aluminum with the weight insert.  The are very nice. 

I'm just concerned that he may stock both and selected mine to meet my requirement.  You might want to clarify this with him.

Sorry I didn't think of this a few minutes ago.

Bob

DH2ID

William, one small thing: RF Power is still unshifted, while HP VOL is shifted.
But you could leave it at that, I'ts good enough for me as I often change RF power.
73, Alex DH2ID

W4WHL

opps forgot about the ex tune version, I will get you a version soon.  I'm away from my main PC, but will upload you a version either tonight or first thing tomorrow. 

DH2ID

No problem here, William :-) But I would be most grateful if you could leave RF power unshifted, as it is at the moment, for "my" version....

W4WHL

sure,  i plan on adding that as an editable option at some point again.  The onscreen toggles were cool, but not that realistic long term.  So I plan on going back to the text file option to change things.  I will make a version for you, and the next release I will make it an option to edit the txt file so I don't have to keep making special versions.


Steve W6SDM

With the CMD Micro controller, I have a new tag line for Flex advertising:

Flex SDR: BYOB (Bring Your Own Buttons)

W4WHL

lol

W4WHL

Alex,

Here is the version for you.  Tune and RF power are non shift, HP vol and ATU are shift.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ohygvsxomllnvf/CMDMicroFlex6k_v2_0d_Extune.zip?dl=0

DH2ID

William, that's great! Thanks a lot. Works absolutely fine.
73, Alex DH2ID

W4WHL

your welcome

Clive - G4KCM

William, 

Fantastic piece of work. Just started using it on my 6500 and love it.

Thank you for all the hard work you are putting into this and your other projects.

73, Clive G4KCM

Ken - NM9P

Bob, it isn't as hard as it originally looks, once you start to get the syntax.
Commands end with a ";"
The curvy brackets { } enclose nested levels of commands.
Variables are defined and initialized at the beginning of the program.  (are they integer, floating point, string, or Boolean variables?)
Variables are manipulated with simple statements....vfo=25;  sets the VFO value to 25...

IF(VFO==25) {do this function....} ELSE {Do THIS function.....}  
  asks IF VFO is equal to 25.  if so, do one function.  If Not, do a different function.

(there is no THEN statement needed, as was used in older languages.  it is assumed, and the Right Hand bracket ends the first conditional statement.  The ELSE { begins the second conditional statement, or statements, which ends with another }   )

VFO++;    increments the VFO value by one
VFO--;       decrements it by one.

VFO=VFO+Step;  bumps the VFO value up by the amount in the variable STEP.

and on it goes...

Most of the software is to sense which command control or button is pressed, based upon the MIDI code the controller puts out. 

IF ((Channel==0) && (Pitch==20))


Then using IF/THEN statements to determine what API command to associate with the button or control pressed or turned.

Throw in a little Boolean logic for command toggles, control flip-flops, etc.
Or use count-up/count-down stepping to index things like band, mode, filters, etc.
Then there are statements to send the API commands out to the rig, and to toggle the lights on/off on the controller.

If you programmed "back in the day" you already know the logic.
All that is left is to learn a new syntax.

THere is a nice tutorial on the "Processing" website at
https://processing.org/
and the syntax and command reference at 
https://processing.org/reference/

Check it out.  It is nice.

Ken - NM9P