Feature request: User-Definable, Custom, pop-out Control Macro Panel

Ken - NM9P

Since it has been announced that SSDR V.2.0 will have pop-out panels, this opens the door, perhaps, to an additional pop-out configuration panel that would have buttons and sliders to adjust many of the other parameters that are currently buried behind a couple of mouse clicks.

Mind you, that on most legacy rigs, and even many newer SDR rigs, there are even more clicks required to change some functions that are required by SSDR.  I find SSDR to be very intuitive in its menu layout and function access.

And Marcus has done a really neat job with the slide-in menus on SSDR-IOS.

In the mean time, I have been able to create a very functional menu panel using DDUtil and an assortment of Macros.  I think my panel currently has about 30 of them, many of them are combinations of at least 4 or 5 related macros.  For example, one button, called my "CW Enhance" Macro, sets the RX filter to 50 Hz, AGC to FAST, Turns NR ON and sets it to 15, Turns APF ON and sets it to 30, and zooms the panadapter to maximum zoom.  If there was a macro available to set RX EQ to my preferred values, I would add that also.  

DDUtil is a very powerful utility.  But I would love it if FRS could add a pop-out panel with the ability to program my own custom macro buttons or add my own custom layout of favorite slide or click controls wherever I want them (with access to all the appropriate commands in the API that are possible), so that I can take full advantage of the power of SDR to customize my rig control panel the way it best fits my own operating preferences.  

It would be even nicer if this pop-out control panel could be saved as a "Control Panel" Profile, so that I can make different versions of the custom control panel for use by different operators, or in different situations.  In essence, I could create my own "Basic," "Expert," "Contesting," or "Advanced" user control panels and save them, exchange them with others, etc.

Just a dream for the future....

Ken - NM9P

Gary Wise

Sounds good Ken. I second your motion!

Question: Is there a way now (via profiles or ddutil) to globally control display FPS and waterfall rate? I operate both Locally and Remotely. For remote I need to back both down. I do it now on a band by band basis. But when I go local I need to crank them up again. Don't mean to hijack your thread but I'm thinking you might steer me in the right direction.

If not possible now, would love to have a Remote/Local button in V2.

73,

Gary - W4EEY

Bob G W1GLV

Ken, I like the way you think. Great suggestion.

Ken - NM9P

Short answer...I don't know.

Longer answer...I will have to re-read the software users guide and operator's manual.  I don't remember if the Display FPS and Waterfall Rate are part of the band persistence, or stored in a global profile, or both.

It might be that you can go through all the bands, changing those parameters for each band, and then save as a Global Profile called "Remote" or something like that.

It may also be that they are independent from the Global Profile.

My memory fails me at this point.  At present I have not found a DDUtil macro for those functions.  It doesn't mean there is none, just that I haven't found one.  I AM pretty sure that those controls are accessible via the API.  If only DDUtil had a way to simply pass API Command text through to the rig.........Oh, the things I could do with THOSE macros....

I am hoping that there may be a feature somewhere along the line in V.2.x that might help with the issue of low bandwidth connections.

Ken - NM9P

Rich McCabe

Gary, Global profiles should save your waterfall info in the current version.

Ken, as you know I am with you on the panels.  Hope Flex understands how important it is to many of us.  Having pop outs allows them to easily break past the current 5 panels.   Need to get something like DDUTIL incorporated too

You got my vote.