losing audio on Maestro

John Leonard

I am losing audio on the new Maestro 1.8.23. I reboot and it comes back but then seems to drop out again soon after that. Perhaps it is some how heat related? It seems to work fine for the first 30 Mins or so???

Jim

Go into the Menu and look at Network. What's the percentage of packets dropped and latency?

John Leonard

Zero

Tim - W4TME

If the problem persists, I recommend that you open a HelpDesk support ticket (http://helpdesk.flexradio.com) so we can investigate further.

Ric KV1W

I have the same problem with version 2.0.19.34
Running thru a RaspberryPi VPN
ALL functions of the Maestro, including TX audio work fine
After about 30 minutes RX audio stops
Network is running about 48 msec, 0.04% lost
Only solution, turn off Maestro and restart

OR, if I connect via SmartLink, and cause disconnect with Maestro forcefully
I have no audio in the PC, but I tap REMOTE audio comes on
I then tap REMOTE and it goes dead in the PC, and I exit SmartSDR on the PC
AND then go back to the Maestro and connect to the radio again
It comes to life.
SO, it seems like something in the radio to do with the remote function

Hope that helps
What info can I collect that would be useful??

Ric KV1W

Tim - W4TME

Can you reproduce this behavior without operating remote over a VPN or SmartLink, but by using it and the radio on the same LAN?

Ric KV1W

Not at the moment
The radio is 100 miles north in ME and the Maestro is in MA
It would be in the spring when the Maestro goes to ME for the summer )
Ric

Ric KV1W

As I think about it, I seem to remember this behavior when it was on the same network. But I am not 100% sure.

Ric KV1W

But I would have only done the restart as the other test just came to mind today

Ric KV1W

Tim,

I am working on generating a repeatable scenario. It appears more convoluted than I thought. It will take a bit of time, but will be in touch as soon as I have it.

Ric

Tim - W4TME

RRR

Philip KA4KOE

This is happening to my Maestro on occasion via a hardwired connection using a 6300 and the latest version of SmartSDR. Loss of audio is not frequent and certainly not rising to the level of an annoyance.

Russ Ravella

I'm having this problem too, exactly as Philip describes.  I'd say it happens roughly once in about 8 hrs of use.  I leave my 6600 up but disconnect the Maestro, then reconnect the Maestro and the audio usually reappears.

Jeff ODowd

I am having the same problem in that I use the maestro hard wired to the 6700 via a router. after a while 10-30 minutes sometimes less the audio on the maestro goes off. The only way to bring it back on is turn the Maestro off and on again. Its really starting to get to me.

Jeff G0HUH

Mark Hunter

I am having the same problem too, with the maestro losing audio occasionally and I have  Ver. 3.0.19 software installed. Everything works, the waterfall, all controls, just no audio....this is frustrating since I am a new owner of the 6700 with the maestro. Mark Z KA9OOI

Lee, N2LC

Did this issue ever find resolve?   Seems like lots of folks have been dealing with this.  

As I write, I am at about the 18-hour point of Maestro ownership, brand new from FRS, and the "same thing" is happening - audio cuts out and stays out, and only a reboot will bring it back (tried all 3 methods of restarting).    6500, v2.5.1.130, Maestro plugged in, no battery installed.

I haven't ruled out pilot error, especially since I'm a new owner.

I've gone through various above suggestions, as well as a few of my own (connect external speaker, for one) and am now down to being connected directly Maestro-to-6500 after a factory reset of the radio.  SSDR continues to work as it should - only Maestro issues that I'm aware of.  None of the ideas so far have affected the audio.

At various points in this process I've noticed that

  - It doesn't always do the exact same thing - sometimes the M emits a low crackling sound from the speaker, or maybe a little whine or two, but no rx audio; other times, no noises.)

  - The back of the M is HOT!   I shot it with my wife's IR thermometer, and the plastic right above the key jack is 123F.  The metal of the upper jacks is hot enough I can't leave my finger on them for more than 5 or 6 seconds.    It doesn't seem to take long for this all to heat up.  Minutes.  This surely can't be normal... can it? 

  - When audio does come back after a reboot, I noticed that the audio cuts out when I change bands (sometimes) and when I adjust volume on slice A.  Further twiddling shows that if I turn the control 
v e r y  s l o w l y, maybe 1 to a few digits per second, audio stays on; faster, such as in when the xyl comes in already talking, maybe 20 or more digits per second, it cuts out and stays out.  I also tried Menu -> Audio -> sliders, with the same results.

  - No smoke has come out.   Yet.


Maybe this helps someone somewhere to figure out what's going on.

After another hour, the temp has crept up to 126F.  I'm just gonna shut it down.

Russ Ravella

Hi Lee.  Sorry to hear you're having this problem.

Regarding the overheating issue - It is absolutely not normal for the Maestro to get that hot.  Something unique is wrong.  I assume you've ruled out any obvious causes like the AC transformer being defective and providing incorrect voltage (check it's output with a VOM; verify it doesn't heat up when running on battery alone, etc).  My guess is it would self protect from that anyway.  I know you're going to hate to hear this but you should contact Flex support and they'll probably have you return it.

Regarding the audio drop out, I wasted an absolutely huge amount of time with that and other problems, eventually working directly with Flex via email and later via phone, and never actually got to the bottom of it.  It's a very long horrible story but ultimately I had to return my brand new Maestro (and my brand new 6600 - twice (I'm on my third one now)), they replaced the guts and that resolved the problem.

Despite the very high quality of the support staff (and all the staff at Flex besides, strangely, it's executive management which is absolutely useless) the process was TORTURE and took over 3 months from start to finish.  They're all working under the weight of amazingly incompetent executive management, organizational structure and policies.  My advice is to try to establish a specific point of contact there and stay in contact with that person every single day from day one.  The good news is the actual staff themselves are fantastic and they will fix your problem no matter what it takes despite having to struggle with the obstacles their worthless executive management has created for them.  They're real heros.

Good luck Lee !!

Brian Denley KB1VBF

Are any or all of these users running off batteries?

Lee, N2LC

Hi Russ, thanks.  I don't have any experience with the higher-ups, but everyone I did deal with has indeed been great.  Maybe part of your agony in some way helped them come to a quick determination on what to do with mine, in which case, thank you! 

Brian, I was using the supplied wart, with no battery installed in the unit. 


We don't know yet what the problem with this one is, but Flex isn't going to keep me jumping through hoops while we try to dig into it, they're going to replace it. 

73 gentlemen.

Russ Ravella

Hello Lee,

EXCELLENT - great news !  If they had done that for me, life would have been a whole lot easier.

Their official policy as explained to me by Tim is they don't replace units even for brand new customers like I was until all the orders that have been placed (including those placed after mine) are filled first.  In other words, selling more radios is a higher priority than standing behind their products and customers.

This isn't a policy the employees you're dealing with had anything to do with or even agree with, they're just constrained to follow it.  It's one example of the abominable management at Flex. The same management that has released barely beta level software since version 1. Yet somehow they have managed to hire an excellent staff from one end to the other.  Everyone I've actually dealt with were excellent as well while the one(s) responsible for the mess at Flex hide behind them, letting them struggle with the problems their utter incompetence has created.  Year after year.

It looks like you got lucky and they had stock on hand.  I hope that's the only hardware problem you have (I had several) and we're all hoping they'll finally figure out they have a responsibility to sell at least normal commercial quality software, especially considering their business is SOFTWARE defined radio products.  You'll understand that comment the more you use your new radio.