With SmartSDR v1.6, can N3FJP Contest S/W's Voice Keyer work in conjunction with a Heil ProSet Heads

Wheelin Rev

With SmartSDR v1.6, can N3FJP Contest Software's Voice Keyer work in conjunction with a Heil ProSet Headset on the Balanced Input of a FLEX-6500? I can get the voice keyer portion working with the FLEX-6500 using the "PC" mic input function but then I have to switch back to the "BAL" mic input to use the headset. Is there a way to have both connected and work similar to the N1MM capability where you do not need to switch mic inputs? Or is it still a N3FJP software limitation where it cannot access the virtual sound card's output as stated in earlier threads using SmartSDR v1.5? This should be applicable to all FLEX-6000 series radios. Thanks in advance (TIA) for any help/advice that you can offer! 73, Dave K4EET

Ken - NM9P

I haven't figured out how to do voice keyer from N3FJP yet.  I haven't tried a lot, though.

But if you are using a voce keyer that sends audio to the TX DAX input, then your BAL mic input will override the DAX input when you hit the PTT or Footswitch.  But you cannot use VOX when the DAX button it activated in the transmit panel.

I have, on the other hand, used the voice keyer function to good effect on N1MM+ which is a better and more flexible contesting program anyway.  

Ken - NM9P

ctate243

I have to chime in and agree with Ken on this... I need to get a copy of N3FJP so I can experiment a bit, but I was doing quite a bit of platform testing of N1MM, Wintest and Writelog over the last couple of months, N1MM logger + was by far the most versatile and stable platform with flex.. and the price is right.  I was able to claim second place world in the SOHP Assisted RTTY RU a couple weeks ago using N1MM.. its a good app and I would have a hard time not recommending it for flex users.  I started out with N3FJP's software and still use it for VHF/UHF tests. It is a great starting point,  but felt moving to N1MM and other big 3 loggers was a graduation to the next level.  Totally understand why you would want to stick with N3FJP, his interfaces are very user friendly.

Ken - NM9P

Indeed, N3FJP is probably the MOST user friendly logging and contesting program suite I have used.  In fact I STILL use his ACLog program as my day-to-day logger for rag chew, WAS & DXing.  

But for most contesting, I moved to N1MM+ a couple of years ago and have been very pleased with its power and flexibility.  After a contest I export an ADIF file and import it into ACLog so I can upload those contacts into LOTW and track them for awards.  It is the best of both worlds.

Ken - NM9P

Steve-N5AC

SmartSDR is designed so that you can do but voice keying and use the mic interleaved.  The way this works is:

1. Setup DAX for the voice keying.  It will need to use a "software" key meaning that PTT needs to be initiated through CAT
2. Have your other microphone wired to the MIC or RCA PTT inputs on the radio.

Normally, the radio will use DAX for audio provided the PTT is from a software source.  When you key a microphone, however, the microphone will override the DAX input and take precedence.  I see no reason why this would not work for N3FJP, but I've not tested it there.  You will also have to have the correct MIC selected in SmartSDT, of course.

Craig_KØCF

This is fine if you use a footswitch or PTT. I do not -- I am strictly a VOX operator. To make this work the way I would like, VOX should work exactly like PTT to override DVK audio through DAX. This would enable effortless interleaving of live mic audio with DVK. If the Flex 6500 is to be a serious contest radio, it simply must work this way, in my humble opinion. As it is, it forces me to learn a whole new operating style.

Craig - KØCF

Steve-N5AC

Excellent point, Craig.  I know when we had the discussion about this, we neglected to discuss VOX.  There's a good possibility that the engineer that worked on the code thought of this and enabled the same functionality fox VOX, but I've not tested it.  If you've verified that it does not work, I'll add an issue and we'll go look into fixing this.

Craig_KØCF

I have tested it and it does not work.

Steve-N5AC

OK I have entered this as an issue (#3158).  Thanks, Craig.

Ed.G

Craig, 

Are you using N1MM? If so then there is currently a solution on how you want to operate. 

In N1MM if you setup the DVK and select the "Internal Radio Codec" checkbox in the Playback tab of the Logger+ Audio Setup. This will make N1MM send a CAT command to enable DAX for transmit whenever the voice keyer sends audio. If I understand correctly the setup would be as follows. 

VOX Enabled
DAX Disabled
N1MM setup as DVK with "Internal Radio Codec" selected

When you talk into the mic VOX will key the radio. When N1MM is used as the voice keyer, it will enable DAX for TX and transmit the N1MM audio. When the audio clip is finished N1MM will turn DAX off and you can continue to use VOX. 

Is this an acceptable solution ?

Craig_KØCF

Ed: Great solution -- however I use WriteLog. May I forward  your note to Wayne Wright, W5XD, to see if he can build this feature into WriteLog?