Couple of basic questions CW/Winkey questions

Andy - KU7T

I am new to Flex 6700. Setup with N1mm+ last night. Here are my questions/issues:1) Setup Winkeyer in SmartSDR CAT, but timing is very off. What could be wrong? Do I need an dedicated hardware Winkeyer? 2) The radio has an audible relay click on ever CW dit.  I would like to set it up so there are no relays clicking... 3) Can I adjust power somewhere? I only get 90 Watts out. 4) When I briefly played with So2R (driven by N1MM+), for every audio transition from one slice to the other, I get a nasty audio pop/scratch. I can live with it, but it seems odd for a radio of this caliber... Wondering if something is setup wrong. 5) How to add line breaks in the description text box :-)? Thanks, Andy

AH0U

I assume you are using QSK... look in the P/CW on the dude bar and Se if BREAKIN is highlighted if so increase the delay time so it takes longer to switch over to RX that will stop all the relays clicking... for example mine is set to 486 which gives ameniugh time to copy the next transmission but not so dad as it switches between duts and dahs For power settings look at the TX window on the right hand sidebar and move the slider with your mouse.... don't mean to be rude but these questions are answered in the very first part of the manual and reading it will help you a lot... there is a lot going on in the rig and trial and error experimentation will make you miss a lot of what the rig can do....I tried that and finally went to the book and it made my life much simpler 73 Bruce

ctate243

Ok.. are you ready.. here we go.  Tim may chime in as well..

Q: 1) Setup Winkeyer in SmartSDR CAT, but timing is very off. What could be wrong? Do I need an dedicated hardware Winkeyer? 

A: Depends.  There are some nuances to the WK emulator that can be a bit confusing and there are a couple of issues with it still. What do you mean by timing off?  there are a couple of things to look at.  try adjusting your delay in your logger, follow the SO2R setup document closely I and mirror the settings assuming N1MM and see if you get a better result.  As far as the hardware winkeyer, if you have one available probably the best at this time if you are looking for precision timing with no burps.  hoping the programming team has some bandwidth soon to take another look at the WK emulator, lots has gone into it thus far but some elusive issues have popped up with power users.

Q2: The radio has an audible relay click on ever CW dit.  I would like to set it up so there are no relays clicking... 

Raise the delay timing in SSDR/Maestro as Bruce has shared above.  Sounds like you are in full QSK.. but it probably should not click like that I will take note of that for discussion with the programming team


Q3:Can I adjust power somewhere? I only get 90 Watts out.

Well yes.. there is an rfpower adjustment right below the RFpower/SWR meter.. ;-).  But.. please be aware the radio needs a full 13.8 vdc on keydown to put out 100w and the radio is tolerant at 14v. taking into consideration voltage sag on longer cables, you can also peak the voltage of your powre supply with the objective on keeping it around 13.8vdc on keydown.  Check your power pole connectors, shorten the cable run to your power supply and adjust as needed.  

Q4:When I briefly played with So2R (driven by N1MM+), for every audio transition from one slice to the other, I get a nasty audio pop/scratch. I can live with it, but it seems odd for a radio of this caliber...

First assuming this is in SSB? second, assuming that your WNB is on.  try this. turn off the WNB and see if the scratch goes away.  This is a known defect that has been recorded for remediation.

Q5 How to add line breaks in the description text box :-)?

I am not sure what you mean??  what description text box

Ken - NM9P

What software version are you using?

Q2..I would suggest checking if the RX is on one ANT and TX is on another ANT.  Under certain circumstances, with one of the releases, this sometimes caused relay clicking while in FSK mode on my 6500.  (It may have even been a glitch caused by a bad profile loading.)

If I remember correctly, it clicked if I had RX on ANT1 and TX on ANT2, but not the other way around.  

I also recall that taking Delay off of Zero solved it.   There was something going on that a total Zero setting messed up, but even as small as 2 or 5 worked OK.

Ken - NM9P

Andy - KU7T

Thanks for everyone's replies. My questions are all for CW. QSK sorted out, I just had to up the Delay setting.   WinKeyer is definitely not usable. I did the CWT with the Flex and software WinKeyer, and lots of munged calls. Will have to invest into an external one. The power is still only 92W on 14 V, I guess I have to live with it. 

Whats is still weird to me is the raspyness/scratchiness when the slices are being switched in So2R mode (N1MM+, OSPTR). The same happens if I just do So1R, and scroll through the packets spots in N1mm and one of them is split. There seems to be switching in the audio path that does not sound right. Am I the only one seeing this?

Andy

ctate243

Hi Andy..  First regarding the mungled calls.  can you please tell me what version of SmartSDR or Maestro version?  In later versions of the software many bugs were worked out.  Its not 100%, but usually only manifests itself as a truncated first dit.. minor stuff like that.  I may consult with another alpha who regularly does cwt as well.

 but.. glad you have some of this sorted out.  

I am curious about the raspy/scratchiness you are encountering with teh OTRSP.  We are aware of excess relay clicking noise, but I have not had a complaint of raspiness.  Is the noise you are hearing in the audio stream from the radio?  are you using Maestro or SSDR?  are your speakers plugged into the transceiver?

just a bit more info.. so I can try and duplicate it.

Andy - KU7T

Chris,
The scratchiness is in the audio that I hear in the head set, the headset is connected directly to the Flex. I am using SSDR, the lastest. I have also speakers plugged in. 

It is easily reproducible:
1. configure N1MM+ for SO2R
2. set entry window 1 to 14025, set entry window 2 to 14035
3. In N1MM+ use to switch RX focus, or use Pause key to switch TX/RX focus
notice that the receive audio switches but with a raspy/scratchy noise.

It is not a big deal first, but I cannot imagine working a longer contest this way. My MK2R+ (not used in this test) works nicer this way.  I am not sure how easy it is to record it, but I could probably record it if needed.

Andy

ctate243

I will try and duplicate this and I have asked K9CT also to try and duplicate it, if it is indeed a defect we will record it for remediation when the team can look at it.

ctate243

Ok this is a confirmed known defect.  There are other programming tasks ahead of it, but it is confirmed and documented.  Cant commit on an ETA at this time