multiflex/ssdr 3 pushed to its

ctate243

Ok.. last one for Saturday - testing day at the good shack N6WM. Pushing the 6600-M with multiflex to the contesting Max. 2 computers, 2 operators 2 bands 4!! Virtual radios(modified so2v or single band so2r x2).... 1 transceiver and 1 amp. Whew

https://youtu.be/HIon6m4cpBI

Jon_KF2E

I tried to watch this but it is so far removed from any operating I would do I lost interest. I really wish we could get some support for the average ham instead of trying to figure out how to get 20 people contesting on a single radio.

ctate243

Jon, I am a contester and the management of FRS assigned me to champion contesting functionality in the flex ecosystem many years ago.  What would you like to see? have you checked you tube?  folks like N9MP and many others have done all kinds of videos in support of regular day to day ham use.. I am also a dxer, and dont always use the radio in this application.. just when I compete. 

Bill -VA3WTB

Chris, like Jon, I too wish the same as he does,, But I found your videos interesting and I do respect what amazing things Flex is doing, I only hope others weather they are contesters or not can grasp how much a game changer this is for ham radio.

Rick - W5FCX

I like to chase DXpeditions across FT8 and CW on multiple bands, which today requires lots of context switching. So the ability to operate both FT8 and CW simultaneously is very appealing. I also want to make use of my Maestro and PC at the same time on a single transceiver, so yet another appealing use case. Looking forward to 3.0 being available!

Al Dewey

Chris;

Amazing video and interesting possibilities.  One question.  In your example, I assume it is not possible for the 6600M to transmit on 20 and 40 meters at the same time. Right?  If so, how does one N1MM user know when the 6600M is available to transmit?  Just wondering?

73,

Al, K0AD

N9VC

Riley Hollingsworth said it best, 'You could learn
a lot from a contester.' What is wrong with seeing
what he is doing and learning to adapt it to your
situation. Not everything should have to be laid out
for an operator step by step. I am not a contester,
but that should not stop me from thinking for myself
how I might use a feature, whether or not it was as
designed.

ctate243

Al, great question.  The 6600-M could not transmit on 20/40 simultaneously on 2.49, since it only has one transmitter, so of course in a multiflex scenario you cannot transmit on 2 bands simultaneously as well. If you look at the 2:37 mark in the video, you will see the local ptt indicator box that says what client has ptt at that moment. This first version will most likely require careful co-ordination in a multi-op contest(and shared station scenario). So for now it is first tx wins.  In a typical contest station, your right there with your partner to co-ordinate, and in a Smartlink/multiflex situation, there are plenty of free mainstream applications out there that can help facilitate such communication, like slack and skype. It will be quite interesting to see how this new technology is adopted by folks.

 

ctate243

Gang.. what I was doing here was taking my Saturday fun day and trying to share with you some of my experiments to show some capabilities with this new version of the flex radio software... Yes.. I am a contester and member of a major multi-op station, and work with flex on contesting capability feedback in alpha -but- I am also a dxer, a shared hilltop DX station stakeholder, a dxpeditioneer(did we get you in the VP6D log?), contributing QST author, radio club officer and an Assistant section manager, and like testing and playing with my toys and giving back to the amateur community just like most of you. 

 K4ZDH esq.(Riley) is right... you could learn a lot from a contester and others who experiment to push transceiver and station automation capabilities to the edge.  out of that comes all kind of cool ideas and possibilities that can be used throughout all aspects of the hobby.  There are all kinds of possibilities for multiflex beyond the contest world that I can see....   Take a close look, put on your thinking cap and you might see it as well.  

I am hoping we can all do our best to take the high road, stay positive and enjoy ownership of a platform that is paving new possibilities for us all, and magically turning our hardware into new radios every couple of years for the cost of a nice dinner. 

Chris
N6WM-N6WM/KH6-ZF2CT-VP6D_2018

Rick - W5FCX

Chris, Is it possible to have both Maestro and SmartSDR both connected to and controlling the same SCU and panadapter ? What is the granularity of each user’s access to the radio, asked a different way?

ctate243

Hi Rick.

Is it possible to have both Maestro and SmartSDR both connected to and controlling the same SCU - so yes. Lets take a 6400 for the fundamental example.  you can have 2 clients connected to the 6400, both utilizing the same single SCU with their own instances of virtual radios, obviously if they, say went to different bands, functionality of the radio will follow suit, for instance, disengage the preselectors so both bands could be in operation, jus the same if you did so with 2 panadapters in 2.49.

and panadapter ? - not at this time.  a control mode, or the ability to have the Maestro or M panel on an M model control say an instance of SSDR for windows remains a highly requested feature.  The FRS team is aware of this.

I hope that answers your question?

Rick - W5FCX

I think so. Sounds like each client device operates on its own panadapter so changing the frequency on Maestro on a 6700 would not be visible within SmartSDR as they are treated as two distinct radio instances. So it’s multi-user not radio sharing.

Al Dewey

Chris;

Thanks for the reply.  It's an interesting capability.  I need to think a bit about how it might be used in an actual contesting situation.  Wouldn't really work well in a Multi-2 as you really want to be working guys on two bands at once. Maybe the guy on the second band could be looking for mults or something.   Maybe it could be used in a Multi-Single if, like you say, there was some way of communicating via Skype that you "need to xmit". 

Maybe there is a scenario in which it could be used to remotely train or elmer new contesters.  The elmer could monitor what the trainee is doing and, perhaps, jump in if necessary.  Just a thought.


Like you say, it will be interesting to see how the new capability is adopted.


73,

Al, K0AD 

ctate243

Al, just some initial musings.. Multi-Single at a competitive level for sure..   also at the competitive level at the N6RO M/M station, opening up some possibilities on having a same band run/mult operation going on, we never really do that out at Radio Oakley, and this will open things up to experimenting with a separate Run/Mult op on the money bands, as leveraged in the largest of contest stations.  probably M/2 on a less competitive or experimenting level for folks just jumping in to have some fun with the hardware they have.... io applying the same run/mult operator philosophy to a 2 transceiver M/2 setup.. we shall see.