Introducing Maestro!

Gerald-K5SDR

Steve, correction - Republic of Texas. Wink.

Lee - N2LEE

Mike, out of all of the suggestions, I think yours has (had) the most merit. But, after doing some research on PoE limitations I doubt there is enough current available to handle the power requirements for the screen and other components.

It appears that out of the eight 24 AWG cat 5 wires only four carry PoE. And depending on the length there is considerable amount of voltage drop.

Plus if you look at how many people post problems with basic networking I could see how this could create a potential support nightmare for Flex. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_over_Ethernet

Good suggestion and kudos for thinking outside the box.

Lee - N2LEE

Gerald, there is one question I have and this about the lack of USB interface. I would have assume many people would use a USB headset with the Maestro.

Is it a safe to assume that this was an software engineering decision based on the fact that it would require Flex to write a couple hundred USB drivers to support those devices ?

Steve K9ZW

Really exciting product.  Lots of great thoughts.

The mention of PoE would be a great inclusion/option for many.

A way to interface one's usual microphones, hand mic, boomset or audio equipment would be something that interests me.

• Could a dedicated hardcase be configured & offered?
• Curious how Maestro will update/upgrade with SmartSDR evolution?
• What is the plan with the Version 1 and Version 2 mentioned at Dayton?
• Will Maestro be software updatable or is this a physical update to the unit?
• Will colors options be user configured (thinking of high contrast configurations for low light use)?
• Will the F-Keys be user configured and could they control station gear other than the Flex-6x00 itself?
• And can I borrow a prototype for a week?  (Hopeful - and know if you don't ask it is certainly never going to happen!)
• Am I going to hurt it if it freezes?
• What if it goes -25c, is it okay?
• Ditto on if it is exposed to 125 F heat?
• Water resistance?

Very excellent concept looking to be a lovely product.  

73

Steve
K9ZW

James Whiteway

I bet that's a toss up Bert!
james
WD5GWY

Walt - KZ1F

Wasn't it "Grand Old Republic of Tx? I am really not up on my Texas history. I do like Austin very much though.

@Steve, points for that come-back!!!
All seriousness aside, that is huge in my book and I am OK paying extra to keep Americans (ok, even Texans, I suppose) gainfully employed. So part of buying stuff from FRS is all part of the Corey Economic Recovery Act.

Walt - KZ1F

Two mics, so you could transmit, in, you know, stereo? How cool is that. I'll take 2...just because I can.

James Whiteway

But, can you talk in stereo?

Gerald-K5SDR

Lee, Headset is 1/8" Jack. Will also be testing Bluetooth devices. USB is a can of worms. There will not be a USB port on Maestro. Maestro is an appliance.

Gerald-K5SDR

Only one can be selected at a time. Sorry, no stereo.

James Whiteway

So close!! Just kidding,,,,,,,,,I am looking forward to getting my Maestro when it arrives. And I know my wife is looking forward to getting more access to the computer when I'm home.
james
WD5GWY
( Also, hoping to see one in action at HAMCOM in Irving next month!)

Lee - N2LEE

That is what I figured. Writing or getting others to write usb drivers would definitely be a nightmare and something you guys do not need to spend valuable bandwidth on.

I hope the response you received at Dayton on the Maestro was positive.

Of course any positive feedback you received will quickly be a distant memory when people will start whining about when the next Release will be available or why hasn't the Maestro shipped on Oct. 1st. LOL

Gerald, personally I think this move is right on the money and my hope is this will enable Flex to catch the interest of the knob radio users and grow your market share.

If someone has the insight to read between the lines this is just another piece of the puzzle in your long term strategy. It wasn't that clear before but this "appliance" as you call it brings Flex two steps closer to being able to provide a virtual radio environment.

Simply GRAB the Maestro off your desk, throw it in the padded black carrying case with the embroidered Flex logo that is included with each unit (hint, hint) and hit the road.

k3Tim

I'm with you on that Walt - I go out of my way to buy made in USA.  Shoes / boots / clothes, cars etc.

Steve-N5AC

The mention of PoE would be a great inclusion/option for many.

This is an excellent idea.  I'll look into if it would be possible to add this.

A way to interface one's usual microphones, hand mic, boomset or audio equipment would be something that interests me.

Maestro will have 1/8" mic and headphone inputs as well as an RJ-45.

• Could a dedicated hardcase be configured & offered?

We are investigating this.

• Curious how Maestro will update/upgrade with SmartSDR evolution?

No promises, but the current thinking is that it will detect an update on the internet and prompt for automatic update.

• What is the plan with the Version 1 and Version 2 mentioned at Dayton?

Not sure what's being asked here ...

• Will Maestro be software updatable or is this a physical update to the unit?

Software of course!  Who do you think we are?? haha

• Will colors options be user configured (thinking of high contrast configurations for low light use)?

It will ship with standard colors.  This is an outstanding request on SmartSDR and if we do it, we would probably do it for Maestro and SmartSDR at the same time.

• Will the F-Keys be user configured and could they control station gear other than the Flex-6x00 itself?

Yes they are configurable.  Initially they will control radio functions that are not on the front panel.  The possibility exists that they could control other things in the shack also.

• And can I borrow a prototype for a week?  (Hopeful - and know if you don't ask it is certainly never going to happen!)

We have received a large number of requests for this.  Today, we are not through with all of the design and the prototypes are needed to continue work.  I can't say yet when we will have more units for testing, but we intend to do testing with the next set of hardware/softa

• Am I going to hurt it if it freezes?
• What if it goes -25c, is it okay?
• Ditto on if it is exposed to 125 F heat?

We have not done environmental testing or a rollup of component temp tolerances.  

• Water resistance?

Maestro is not water resistant.  

Very excellent concept looking to be a lovely product.  

Al_NN4ZZ

Hi Steve,
Regarding this item:

• What is the plan with the Version 1 and Version 2 mentioned at Dayton?

Not sure what's being asked here ...


I'm sure you were bombarded with questions at the booth this week.    But when we were talking about Maestro I asked whether it could be be used "with SSDR" as a control surface only.  In other words use both my PC running SSDR and Maestro connected to the radio at the same time and using the Maestro knobs, buttons and touch display for controlling the radio only and not displaying the panadapter/waterfall.   You suggested that the display on Maestro could be used for additional  radio information and not display the panadapter and waterfall in this mode.   You said this capability and the ability to connect both the radio and Maestro at the same time might, or might not, be available in version 1.  (i.e. it could be in a later version 2 release).    

Several of us were discussing this capability at our table at the Flex dinner and it's a variation on the question that my neighbor asked about the "knobs only"  prototype that was shown at the dinner.   It would be basically a FlexContol on steroids.  There was a lot of interest in this capability / mode (about 40 hands raised if I remember correctly). 

This might be what Steve is referring to:

 Regards, Al / NN4ZZ  
al (at) nn4zz (dot) com

Steve K9ZW

Thank you Steve N5AC for all the info in the reply!

I did pick up on the mention of Ver1 and Ver2 - but perhaps that was simply a way of describing the roll-out feature set become richer with later updates?

There is a LOT of positive to what Maestro will do for a ham - personally I already see how it will open up the possibilities for my vacation QTH site shack design with the LAN removing the need to be in absolute proximity of the radio rack.  I'm thinking to use a Maestro along with a Pad to let me move my operating station to anywhere around the QTH's wireless network footprint.  Rack of gear can remain physically secure in a server room type environment while I operate from the deck enjoying nature while piling on QSOs.  Very fine vision.

Since I'm asking questions:

• Will the configuration of a Maestro be clone-able to another Maestro if I had more than one?
• Will the Flex-6x00 have a timer watchdog or deadman feature to stop transmitting and/or shut down if network to the Maestro is lost?
• Can a Maestro be configured to require a PIN to start a session, or is another security method planned?
• The mention of checking for update via internet, will a non-internet connected private LAN Maestro require occasional internet hookup, or could updates be brought to the private network to seed the update?  (Thinking of my Island efforts - often without much in the way of internet).
• Could a Maestro used in the occasional access to internet seed a SmartSDR version update to the remote LAN?
• Or is there a better strategy for handling potentially a mix of version levels that might evolve?

Again many thanks for putting up with all the questions and hoping Maestro is the success it feel like it should be!

73

Steve
K9ZW

Steve K9ZW

Will the spec sheet we updated as follow up to all these great questions and bits of information?

73

Steve

K9ZW