CW Skimmer / SDR-Bridge setup

Chris DL5NAM

Al NN4ZZ has updated his :

NN4ZZ Cw Skimmer  and SDR - Bridge setup – A quick start guide

new version: 18- Feb - 2016 



Tnx Al for your work

73 Chris

DH2ID

Thanks, Chris. Yes, Al did a very good job with his tutorial.
SDRBridge 1.5 is so much better than the old version.
You can dowload SDR Bridge here:
http://www.qrv.com/sdrbridge.html
73, Alex - DH2ID

Al_NN4ZZ

Thanks Chris and Alex,
Ed's SDR-Bridge makes using CW Skimmer with the Flex radios a pleasure.   And he keeps improving it, like the recent addition to support multiple FlexControl knobs.  

I'm glad to hear the quickstart guide is helpful.   As we see changes to CW Skimmer, SDR-Bridge and SSDR I'll continue to teak it as needed.  

Regards, Al / NN4ZZ  
al (at) nn4zz (dot) com
6700 - HW.................... V 1.6.21.77
SSDR / DAX / CAT...... V 1.6.21.159
Win10

DH2ID

Al, CW Skimmer and SDR Bridge are great programs, as they allow
me to decode CW that is faster than my abilities. I'm good to up to
25 WpM, but after that... I'm just now decoding at 39 WpM on 7,027...
Regards, Alex - DH2ID

G4NRT

If I have CW Skimmer do I really need SDR Bridge in order to make it work on my FlexRadio 6500? I was playing with it yesterday and it seemed to be working OK so I'm a little uncertain as to what SDR Bridge brings to the set-up. I had set it up using Al NN4ZZ's document as a guideline but without SDR Bridge. I'd be very grateful for some advice on this. David G4NRT

Al_NN4ZZ

Hi David,
The SDR-Bridge provides a very reliable connection between the radio and CW Skimmer.  It doesn't require a CAT com port and the omnirig program.  It also has a number of additional features  (up to 4 skimmers, splits, FlexControl support, etc).  

FRS recommends it as the way to go.  Here is a snapshot from about 8 months.  The post was from someone having connection/setup issues.

 

Regards, Al / NN4ZZ  
al (at) nn4zz (dot) com
6700 - HW.................... V 1.6.21.77
SSDR / DAX / CAT...... V 1.6.21.159
Win10

 

G4NRT

Thanks Al. Setting-up SDR Bridge will now be my next job for the coming week! Thank you for your first-rate document as well! Incidentally, I'm doing all this from scratch on a new Surface Pro 4 Tablet purchased just for the purpose of running my FlexRadio 6500. David G4NRT

EA4GLI

Thanks Al for the write up!

dlwarnberg

Well done.. first time user walked me right thought it.. all setup and working in under 20 minutes

G4NRT

David. I see from your screenshots that you're using DDUTIL. What function is that performing in your setup? David G4NRT

KY6LA_Howard

DDUTIL is the traffic cop.

G4NRT

Thanks Howard.  Since I have no rotator, amplifier or any other external devices, I think that I will probably not need to use DDUtil .. We will see .. 

David G4NRT

dlwarnberg

Howard is correct.. ddutil right now only has my lp-100a integrated, it will be used to integrate a kta-500 and a kpa-500.. (elecraft amp and auto antenna tuner)

Norm - W7CK

Thanks for the instructions for installing and configuring CW Skimmer and SDR-Bridge.  I happened to be at the Yuma Hamfest last weekend and Chris showed me both applications running on a Nook.   I had never seen either app before and was totally jazzed about getting home and installing them.  Had it up and running in less than 20 minutes.

I've been using DDUtil along with my 6700, KPA500 and KAT500.  It works flawlessly and I can't imagine not having it.   If any of you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend you give it a try.  Its the best traffic cop out there!

The Yuma hamfest was lots of fun.  Flex had a 6300, 6500, 6700 and 2 Maestros not only on display but available for anyone to actually play with.  The 6700 was hooked up to a Pixel Loop that Chris brought over from Surprise, AZ.  I was really impressed at how well the loop performed under the noisy conditions of being in the vicinity of tall metal buildings, 60+ RVs, motor-homes, air force base next door and the plethora of electronic equipment running everywhere!

Steve did a great presentation on Flex SDR on Saturday and it seemed there were quite of few people in the room that didn't own a Flex yet but had heard them on the air and had heard how well owners liked them.  Several new people were saying how impressed they were with the panadapter and they really liked seeing a portion of the band.  I tried to explain to them that while the 6000's have one of the best panadapter/waterfalls out there, the advantages of the 6000's over conventional radios and even other SDRs are much more than that.  Its way more than just a pretty panadapter!   Of course I don't need to say that here......

The grad prize at the hamfest was a Flex 6500!  All in all it was a great time to be had at Yuma.

Al_NN4ZZ

Hi Norm, Agree that Flex, Sdr-bridge and CW skimmer is a great combination. As more hams get a chance to see an SDR in action, many more wiil take the plunge. Glad to hear you found the quickstart notes helpful. Regards, Al / Nzn4ZZ

DrTeeth

Reading this thread, I do worry what state the Flex ecosystem would be in without these in-the-middle programs.

Paul F6EXV

Hi all
Any update on Skimmer 1.91 setup with SmartSDR 1.10.16 ? Again cannot get it to work properly, the skimmer does not communicate with the Flex (6500).
When I click on "Enable Telnet", it won't remain, even though I do have a TCP port configured on the SmartSDR CAT and have the correct port number entered.
Help !

K1UO Larry

Hi Paul,  Please go back and click on the link mentioned in the very first post of this thread by Chris DL5NAM.   You do not need CAT to run CW Skimmer with Flex but you will need to use the SDR-Bridge program as described in the CW Slimmer / SDR-Bridge Tutorial by NN4ZZ.  This should be very helpful to you.
Regards.

Al_NN4ZZ

Paul and Larry,
There is a newer version of the setup notes with a few minor changes but either version is still valid with the current versions of SDR-Bridge and CW Skimmer.  The changes are some new troubleshooting tips.    

The new version in available from my web page at:

http://www.nn4zz.com/Data/NN4ZZ%20CwSkimmer%20Bridge%20setup%2025-Mar-2107.pdf

Ed will update his link on the SDR-Bridge page at some point.

 Regards, Al / NN4ZZ  
al (at) nn4zz (dot) com
SSDR / DAX / CAT/ 6700 -  V 1.10.16
Win10

Andrew O'Brien

I stopped using the bridge  some months back because of too many "issues" that occurred intermittently . I'll happily look at the updated troubleshooting notes.  Thanks

Al_NN4ZZ

Hi Andrew,
As you noted, there are some issues but overall CWS works well when using SDR-Bridge to link to SSDR.  Here is an update from another forum about what we can expect to see regarding CWS over the next year or so.  The update is based on an email from Alex. 

***********************************  Update from Jan 2017 ****************************

The current version of CW Skimmer is V1.9 and there have been some questions about whether there will be any more updates.  While no more updates are planned for the current program, Alex / VE3NEA is currently working on a new and improved skimmer program.  It will be a multi-mode Skimmer with support for many SDR radios.  

No more details are available and it will likely be late in 2017 or 2018 before it is released.  This is a complete re-write.  Keep in mind that the original CW Skimmer took him about 8 years to develop.  He plans to add some of the various enhancements that have been requested over the last few years so this is exciting news. 

Details will be announced on the DX Atlas Yahoo forum when it is ready.  

*********************************************************************************************

Regards, Al / NN4ZZ  
al (at) nn4zz (dot) com
SSDR / DAX / CAT/ 6700 -  V 1.10.16
Win10

Andrew O'Brien

the new re-written CWS will indeed be something to look forward to. I'm not in full agreement that the bridge "works well" with SSDR.  It works... but "well" is a very subjective term.
Andy K3UK

Tim - W4TME

Without SDR-Bridge, there is no way to sync the two degrees of tuning freedom (panadapters can tune and the slice can tune) that is inherent in the FLEX-6000 because CWS was not designed to handle it.  Other than the occasional loss of sync that is easily recovered by manually tuning the panadapter, I have no issues at all with SDR-Bridge.  However, if you are running the CWS waterfall with SmartSDR on the same PC, you need to make sure you have sufficient CPU to handle it because CWS dows not use any type of graphics hardware acceleration for rendering its waterfall.

Al_NN4ZZ

Hi Andy,
Agree the new CWS is something I'm also really looking forward to.  I use CWS and SDR-Bridge almost daily since I'm CW only and aside from a few minor glitches it works very well for me. 

It would be really great if Alex and FRS would collaborate and implement the idea below to add the spots directly to the SSDR display.   

https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/pfskimer_what_is_the_possibility_for_a_smartsdr_dis...  

This would be a great option to eliminate the redundant CWS spots screen and  provide an integrated experience as well as show more spots than currently available.  

Regards, Al / NN4ZZ  
al (at) nn4zz (dot) com
SSDR / DAX / CAT/ 6700 -  V 1.10.16
Win10

DH2ID

Al, thanks for the great news about the new skimmer program, although I must
say that I have no problems with CW Skimmer and SDRBridge. I can even run
these programs on an old pentium machine as long as I use not more than 30
detectors. 
Alex - DH2ID