Maestro Software Improvements suggestions

EA4GLI

I have had the Maestro for a week and I have had the chance to use it and I have several suggestions. They are mainly usability suggestions from my point of view. Some of the design decision do not make a lot of sense to me and I would love to hear WHY those were selected. I might learn from contesters and more experienced HAMS as to why it is better to operate that way. So here we go. In no particular order... just based on my notes.

1. Select a Version screen. I would like to have something that indicates which one is the current one. If I select the not current one it will go through the process of installing. Something like (current) besides the version number will work. 
2. I would like to have a button to Disconnect from the radio. Right now I do that going into Menu>Network>Choose a Wifi Network which disconnects the Maestro from the radio.
3. I would like to be able to create a TNF that I can control with BW Select knob.
4. The PopUp that tells me the MIC Level or AF when I turn a knob could be moved down a bit so it doesn't block the MENU button on the screen. Either that or make its Height smaller. 
5. There should be a PopUp for every slider. It is impossible to know the mount of VOX, Black Level, Delay, Carrier, Tune, etc... that I have selected. In the case of Left and Right... you don't even know when you are centered. You are already doing this if you an in the TX Menu and move the MIC level with the knob. The Level Slider moves and a popup shows the actual value.
6. the <EXIT on the top left inside the MENU is a bit small, I keep hitting the protruding bezel of the screen with my fingernail and have to tap a couple of times. Maybe make it bigger, there is room.
7. Function Buttons. The F1-F6 are not correctly organized in the screen. The columns should be:
   Col1    Col2
   F1        F4
   F2        F5
   F3        F6
   
   As the Longer push of F1 is F4, and the same for the others.
8. There are very limited options for the F buttons. I should have access to more, ideally ALL the functions of the radio. Particularly I would like "Toggle MODE" as opposed to "Set Mode" and one particular mode. It would make sense to me that I can Toggle through the different modes. Toggle VOX is another one that comes to mind.
9. It is very smart that I can "A" Step and it will cycle through the step setting and if I press and hold it will toggle in the opposite direction. This is great. Maybe something like this could be use for MODES.
10. There is no visual clue as to FDX being ON or OFF in the main screen.
11. I would like to have a read out of the Voltage both for the RADIO and for the MAESTRO. There is enough real state for it.
12. I would like to be able to select the transparency level of the on screen menus.
13. If I have FRONT SPEAKER enabled I would like to get sound on the speaker even if I am wearing headphone. That is the point of having an ENABLED switch. This works correctly if you have powered speakers connected, you can have both sound send there and headphone simultaneously.
14. Not sure why LOCK A or B gets a dedicated button. This must be one of this contest buttons that make more sense to experience contesters. I find myself selecting a set passband WIDTH than locking the slices.
15. Not sure why LOCKING A and B together with the long press on the "A>B" button makes sense. That is another design decision I don't understand.

That is my list so far.

DrTeeth

Request number 2 has been requested before for non-Maestro users. The idea being that one easily disconnects from the network and SSDR then displayed the initial connect box so that reconnection is just as easy.

Jon_KF2E

This is really important for folks that leave their system on and when they are remote and try to connect...they can't because they forgot to disconnect the computer in the shack.

Jon...kf2e

David Decoons, wo2x

#1 Select a Version. The latest version is on top and they are numbered so it easy to see which is latest.

EA4GLI

Hi David, I see that but I have no idea which one is the one that will run without having to reinstall. Does it make sense?

David Decoons, wo2x

There will be icons next to the version number indicating if it requires a download or update. Look at the bottom of the select a version screen. Typically the software release will also include a radio software update, so the version that matches what is currently installed in the radio will NOT have a green arrow next to it.

Dave wo2x

EA4GLI

This is what I see:





I I select v1.7.30.14 there is nothing that alerts me that that version will require a downgrade process.

I would like to see v1.7.32.15 (Current)

David Decoons, wo2x

Yes, you are correct. The radio software version will work with either of these Maestro releases. If the radio software were different then you would see a green up arrow to the right of the version indicating it requires an upgrade or downgrade of the radio.

Your request to indicate the current version loaded in the Maestro makes sense.

Dave wo2x

Steve K9ZW

Wasn't there something special about the 1.7.30.14 and 1.7.30.15 pair being identical but had to have two numbers for a background reason? Thought Tim had passed on some info about the oddity? 73 Steve K9ZW

EA4GLI

Anyone feels like chiming in about the decision to use dedicated buttons to Lock A and Lock B as well as the Moving both VFOs simultaneously with the "A>>B"? I am trying to figure out why those are so important to merit a dedicated button.

I don't even know where I can use the locking of both VFOs together....

Gerald-K5SDR

The decision to allow locks for both A and B are to maintain full symmetry between VFO A and VFO B.  For example, you are chasing DX in split you can put the DX station on VFO B and lock B down.  You can then use the larger VFO A knob to tune through the pileup.  The same goes if you are DX.  

If you are running simplex on VFO A, you may want to lock A so you don't accidentally bump the frequency.  You also might have VFO A on one band and VFO B on another.  You can lock both.

The "A>>B" (B tracks A) was requested by 4O3A during the design process.  He had a very specific reason that I have since forgotten.  

EA4GLI

Thanks Gerald for the explanation. I am not criticising the decision, yet , but looking for the logic behind it. I also wonder about the dedicated ATU one.

Gerald-K5SDR

The ATU button is so that you can quickly engage, tune and disengage the ATU.  

EA4GLI

He he he, I get that, I am trying to see how often I am re-tuning an antenna in a contest. Maybe it is something that gets done more often than not. In my radioshack everything is tunes on installation and I hardly ever touch a  tuner until I am trying a new antenna.

EA4GLI

When I enable "A>>B" with the long press it lights up green, but if I DISABLE Button backlight  in the Power Management screen the green light goes off. It is the only button that does that. It might be a bug.

Gerald-K5SDR

ATU or Tuner is a common button on virtually all knob radios.  In a contest you would leave it on and have the memories tune it automatically.

Bob - W7KWS -

There are a number of things I'd have done differently but on the whole the current Maestro software seems pretty good for a first public release. One thing I would like is a fully automatic boot sequence. I'd like to push the power button & have Maestro boot automatically without me having to make any choices. Since most of us only have one radio, having to choose it every time doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The most recent version of software can be default for most of us. I've never chosen the older version. If choices are needed due to multiple radios or for other rare occations, an escape sequence could be selected by holding some other button while the the power button is operated resulting in the current manual sequence. Of course, a faster boot would also be nice so that rare spot can be worked before it gets away. If there is a sleep or hibernate mode, I haven't found it yet.

EA4GLI

Adding to the whole booting. I was using the Maestro out of the radioshack with the USB battery. I had a good time with it. I turned it off and returned it to the radioshack and plugged it back into the 12v. The Maestro was OFF and as soon as I plugged it into the 12v source it turned ON. I had to wait for the complete loop to turn it off. I don't think the Maestro should do that.

Also, I was thinking that the Maestro would benefit from a APO function to be set by the user. It could be a hibernation vs completely OFF state as suggested by Bob.

Steve K9ZW

Would be nice to see some use of color in the settings.

Would be nice to see the current setting values highlighted.

Would be nice to be able to rotate through all the settings menus from each other if desired.

Have some ideas on indicating "stored values" drawn from profiles vs. "user set values" not yet saved that I will work to put into words later.

Fantastic initial release of SmartSDR for Maestro and the huge upside of the updatability of an SDR will certainly improve the breed with each revision!

73

Steve K9ZW

Steve K9ZW

Would also be useful to bring out both local and UTC time displays on the Maestro screen.

A couple configuration items should remain unaffected by momentary network (typically wireless) hiccups including Transmit inhibit, power settings and volume/mute settings. 

I'd like to suggest a non-obvious key sequence to toggle Transmit Inhibit, as I'd like to leave a Maestro run in my office, but would like to avoid someone accidently keying-up (even though they shouldn't touch, I've observed that the draw is pretty hard to resist.)

73

Steve  K9ZW