FlexControl connected directly to Flex 6000 radio

DaveC

The Flex 6000 radios have USB connectors on them. I think you should be able to connect the FlexControl directly to the radio instead of to the PC.My PC has an issue with USB serial device, so I can't use my FlexControl with it.

Lee - N2LEE

There are a number of reasons but my guess is that there is no way to install a USB driver for every device on the market. Remember this is not a windows box it is a dedicated OS so that would mean Flex would have to write drivers for all kinds of devices.

Granted the FlexControl is a dedicated device so support for a single device would be a little easier.
But using the device drivers on the PC is much easier all away around.

DaveC

First of all, it wouldn't be for every devices, just those they wish to support.

Second, then why put two USB connectors on the radio in the first place?

My understanding is there is some type of GPU in the Flex Radio, probable an ARM, and it would not be difficult to interface to it. A lot of these GPUs have built in hardware to support these type of interfaces. 

In my opinion, the USBs probable came for free so they decided to put them on the board anyways, even though they had no idea what to use them for.  I suspect all the hardware is there and the only reason not to do it is time and the willingness to do it.

Walt

I thought the USB ports were for the DStar dongle and I suppose the other one would be used for some other digital voice mode I have not heard of yet.

Cheers

DaveC

Proves my point. USB defines not only an electrical interface, but also a universal serial protocol. When you plug a **** USB device into a master device, it can tell the master what it is and therefore the computer/controller set up the interface appropriately.  

KY6LA_Howard

It seems to come down to the point that your USB port on your computer is on the fritz so Flex should drop everything, develop universal device drivers for USB ports so you can use your Flex control rather than you spending $15 to add a new USB port to your computer Frankly if software were so easy to develop it would already be done. But clearly it involves significant resources to develop this USB driver. Those resources can better be spent on many other Likes higher on the wish list.

DrTeeth

What is the problem? Somebody may be able to fix it? If not, USB cards are quite cheap and could easily fix the problem. I would imagine a PC with non-functioning USB ports would be quite a handicap these days.

Bob G W1GLV

Right now one of the USB ports supports a DSTAR dongle if your so inclined. The dongle has some accompanying software that supports that dongle. 

DaveC

OK I will ask a different question:

My FlexControl does not work on my Windows 32 bit machine. It works fine on three other computers I have access to, two Windows 7 64 bits machines and one Windows 10. I also have two other serial USB programming cables for two of my radios that exhibit the same issue.  

I also had this as a bug/service request with Flex. But they were unable to fix it.

I have searched for MONTHS for a solution to this issue and have not been able to find one.

So has anyone else run into this problem, and if so, what did you do to fix it?

My computer is a refurbished Dell Optiplex 740 running Windows & 32 bit. I am desperate for a solution.

Thank you.

P.S. The USB ports are working correctly. Other type of devices work fine. Keyboard, mouse, USB wireless dongles, USB to parallel port cables etc. It is only those that are USB to serial that don't work

Tim - W4TME

Dave - while this is doable, it is a low priority feature.  The operator control point of a FLEX-6000 system is the GUI software or SmartSDR.  It makes more sense to have the FlexControl associated with the actual operator control point rather than with the actual radio hardware which may or may not be co-located with the GUI.  This follows our 80/20 rule which states that we add features that address the 80% first and address the remaining 20% later.  

One of our primary visions for the FLEX-6000 is that of a radio client-server architecture. Ideally, the operator (control point) and the radio hardware need not be at the same location.  We invision remote access as being the predominent emerging trend in operating a station.  So for the time being, you should expect operator control point devices to be either tied to the GUI software.

Tim - W4TME

Dave - you have already isolated your issue to the Dell Optiplex 740 and  not the FlexControl.  Windows is a complex and fickle beast.  I come from a 25 year IT background and it is not uncommon for older Windows to get so mucked up that a reload of the operating system is the only viable solution to resolve the issue.  I suspect you are running XP or Vista.  Both are long in the tooth and XP is no longer supported.  At best, your 740 has an AMD 64 X2 CPU which is below the recommended minimum CPU for running SmartSDR (AMD Phenon II).  It may not be worth the effort to spend the time trying to get this particular PC beat into submission.

DaveC

Computer is about 4 years old running Windows 7 32 bit machine. Sorry if I didn't make this clear.

DaveC

OK thank you. So I am not total ****.

I appreciate Flex's position.