DAX and CAT applications now available for macOS

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi there,

since I’ve got my Flex-6300 last year I missed an equivalent for SmartCAT and SmartDAX on macOS. Using Dougs (K3TZR) xFlexAPI framework for macOS I have written these tools for myself and want to share them with the community.

The apps are called FlexDAX and FlexNetCAT and you can find them in image files (.dmg) here:

FlexDAX:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0diG65rZz0yYmlvOHVxbWx2VEU

FlexNetCAT:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0diG65rZz0yeVFrSjZSOGw2Zjg


The image files include a short PDF document which should help you in setting up and using these applications. Please read these documents to learn about the differences to the equivalent apps for Windows and if they will help you in your operating style and environment.

The applications need macOS 10.10 (Yosemite) or higher.

I hope you’ll find them usefull…

73, Mario DL3LSM

P.S. I don’t want to praise myself but this is neither a question nor a problem or idea. So... :-)

Mike - ZL1MRC

Hello, I will give it a try.
Thank you
73, Mike

Ria

Very nice! I'm going to try them on my MacBook Pro

Michael Coslo

I'll try these and thank you very much!

K3DCW

I hope to get some time to test Monday morning. 

Any idea how (if?) it works with dogparkSDR and/or Fldigi?

Thanks for the effort, Mario!

73

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi Dave,


like I posted on the dogpark list a few seconds ago: I don't use dogparkSDR so the following is second hand information. One of the early testers of the apps told me that at the moment there is no way in dpSDR to assign a DAX channel to a slice and activate/deactivate the DAX for transmit. Nothing else would be needed to use these apps with dpSDR. You could do the assignement of a DAX channel to a slice using another GUI client application like SmartSDR for iOS or Windows in and save the resulting profile using it in dpSDR. This works for receiving. Unfortunately it seems that dpSDR is deactivating the TX DAX setting. Don should be informed about this already.

For Fldigi please see the PDF document. The last version of Fldigi I looked at was 4.0.4 and there was still no "FlexRadio 6xxx" in the rig definitions of Hamlib (that means an older version of Hamlib is used in the code). So you have to resort to rigctl. Which works for the use cases I have tested. I still recommend using the "FlexRadio 6xxx" definition. I have a self-compiled Fldigi 4.0.4 with the newest Hamlib verion. If interested please send me a PN.


Thanks and 73

Mario, DL3LSM

Don Agro

dogparkSDR Version 1.08 b3 does not disable DAX.

K3SF

Mario and Don

Thanks to both you guys for such great work...
from a long time Ipad/Mac user

Paul K3SF

Mario_DL3LSM

From my side I would really like to also thank Doug (K3TZR) for the immense work he has put into his xFlexAPI framework.. His 2 years work created a nearly complete equivalent of the FlexLib for macOS.. Building on this work I was able to create these apps in a relatively short time..

Thanks Doug!

73, Mario DL3LSM

Don Agro

dogparkSDR Version 1.08 Beta 4 allows you to assign a DAX channel to a slice (Slice prefs) and activate / deactivate DAX for transmit (Radio prefs).

Ted_Spiegel_NX6C

Mario,
   This is awesome!   I can now use my Flex radio and listen to my radio as I work!
Ted
NX6C

Lee - N2LEE

Wow this is great news. Everything I own uses Mac's except for SmartSdr and a few other Ham related apps. The more I can move away from Windows the happier I am.

George KF2T

Using DPSDR and Mario’s DAX and CAT is a joy. Work perfectly together. Audio is very clean, control is smooth. Nice to be able to listen and use digital, and have apps on diffrent slices. Two thumbs up!

Mike - ZL1MRC

Wow it works very well, using it together with DPSDR loopback, MLDX, fldigi, wsjt-x and jt-bridge.  Thank you making this possible 

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi there,

thanks for the positive feedback I have received so far.

To avoid misunderstandings and not give the impression that the apps I've created are somehow "official" I decided to rename both applications. The new names are xCAT and xDAX.

Here are the links to the .dmg archives (the old links are not working anymore):

xCAT
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0diG65rZz0yUW03MUd2YjROdVk

xDAX
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0diG65rZz0yQUVvWTJ6RjVmV2c

It would be nice if you could use and refer to these applications instead of the old ones. Functionality is not different as there were no problems communicated so far and no enhancements needed.

Thanks and 73
Mario, DL3LSM

MikeBurns

Let me add my kudos to Mario. Its working great for me also. I've used it to connect to the audio from both SSDR running on another (Windows) computer and from dogparkSDR on my Mac. I've piped it into fldigi on the mac. But best for me is that I can now access the audio directly in real time in the Mathematica program which I use for my own analysis. Excellent!

But customers are never quite satisfied: any chance that you could extend it to the DAX I/Q outputs? That would allow for greater bandwidth, and in my particular use give me access to both phases of the signal for analysis.

Which in no way subtracts from my happiness with the way it works now. Thanks Mario!

Mike, AB1LD

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi Mike,

thanks for your feedback. I left DAX-IQ out as I could not see a use case (most people use it for Skimmer which is not available on macOS). But for a future project I might need it myself and then it will show up in xDAX.. Maybe I even start with is in preparation of my project.. :-)

Thanks and 73
Mario, DL3LSM

K3SF

hi mario

well one use case is feeding the IQ to SDRDX s/w (http://fyngyrz.com/?p=915)  which is a sdr receiver s/w derived from cutesdr that runs native on the mac. This would add a pseudo-slice. So if you have flex 6300 with two slice capability, you would now have three slices ..

I know kind of  a stretch but 'If you build it , they will come"...line from a Movie , Field of Dreams

keep up the the great work

Paul K3SF

Lawrence Kellar KB5ZZB

How did it turn out?

Rick, K7FYI

I'd like to try xDAX on my Mac Mini (10.11.6 currently) to run WSJT-X, but am hung up with the "Audio MIDI Setup".  xDAX is connected to the radio, I can see in it's window that the slice is streaming, but all combinations of selections of the soundcard in xDAX, in WSJT-X and in the Audio MIDI setup aren't getting audio into WSJT-X.  Am I supposed to be setting up a new "aggregate device", or just verifying that the existing input / outputs are set to 48000 Hz, or...?  

Things are peachy with my Windows setup (ducking...).

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi Rick,

as I wrote in the short manual there is one major difference between the Windows and the Mac version. It's the way they interface to other applications. SmartDAX presents several sound devices (virtual soundcards) to other applications. To do this on the Mac you have to write kernel modules which is beyond my expertise and also my available time for these things. xDAX outputs the RX data to a sound device and gets the TX data from a sound device. To connect to another app you will need a virtual sound cable. I'm using Loopback by Rogue Amoeba. The "Audio MIDI Setup" you would only need to check that the sampling rate of your virtual sound device is 48000 Hz.

Hope this helps.

73, Mario DL3LSM

Rick, K7FYI

Thanks, Mario!  Off to figure that out.

Rick

Michael M

I still have problems to connect fldigi via xCAT. Maybe you could share your fldigi with recent hamlib version with me? 

Thanks and 73
Mike, DL2SBS

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi Mike,

I don't find you on qrz.com for an email address.. Please send me an email so I can send you the link.. You can find my address in the PDF document..

73, Mario DL3LSM

Mark_WS7M

George, are you using sound siphon or the loop back thing?

Craig Haggerty

Mario

Thanks you so much for making Flex Radio more useful and enjoyable on MacOS.  One small thing though.  The xCAT file contains the pdf for xDAX.  You made want to correct that.   

I have xDAX working well with Loopback audio, but haven't yet found the correct parameters to use xCAT with WSJT-X.

Thanks again and 73's

Craig, W0CHH

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi Craig,

thank you very much. Yes, like you and someone else pointed out I lapsed when I created the archives and put the wrong PDF inside. Problem with Google Drive is if I make a new .dmg it will have a different link and then it's getting confusing for people because of the non-functional links. There will be another way of hosting the applications.

You can access the correct PDF via the Help Menu of the application. I have also put it on the drive to read before starting the app:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0diG65rZz0yX2RIZHhmRW5udkU

Thanks and 73
Mario, DL3LSM

George KF2T

Using Loopback, but should work equally well with Sound Siphon.

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi there,

to provide access to these apps (xDAX, xCAT) outside of the community postings I have created a simple blog (don't know if it's ever going to be a real blog) here:

http://dl3lsm.blogspot.de/

The xCAT.dmg linked there has the correct PDF inside.

But I will also inform about new versions here in the community..

Thanks and 73
Mario, DL3LSM

Burch - K4QXX

SSDR version 2 seems to have broken DAX.  Thats a bummer as I have been having a ball at the office working digital modes with my MacBook Pro.

Mario_DL3LSM

Sorry to hear this.. I did not have any information before the release about changes.. How does it break and do you use it locally? SmartLink is definitely not possible now.. I'm on a holiday trip now with just the Smartphone so it may take some time.. See also here: dl3lsm.blogspot.de Thanks and 73 Mario, DL3LSM