Random "Transmit Slice Has Not Been Selected Message" - Why??

Al Dewey

I've been running with the Version 3.0.19 software on my 6600M  for a couple weeks now and, for the most part, it has behaved OK.  However , today I started getting a "Transmit Slice Has Not Been Selected Message" whenever I try to key the radio.  The RF Power grays out (i.e. from red to gray) and I get no output from the radio.  The RED TX button IS lit on the radio. When I toggle back and forth between the two RED TX buttons, the problem still remains.


When I press the MIC / SPEED button on the 6600M, there is a red message at the bottom of the screen that says "Inhibit: Out-of-band".  However, the frequency appears to be well within the band based on what I am receiving as well as the fact that N1MM is tracking the frequency correctly.


If I power down the radio, it will sometimes work for a while again but after a few minutes, the "Transmit Slice Has Not been Selected" message re-appears and I can no longer transmit.

Any idea why this is happening?  Is there something I can do short of a master reset or a downgrade back to Version 2?

Sure hope to get up and going again by WPX CW in about 10 days.

73,

Al, K0AD

Tim - W4TME

Are you certain there isn't another client connected to your radio?

Al Dewey

I don't think so.  If I select "multiFLEX" from the front panel, I see ONE entry that says "SmartSDR - Maestro:  FLEX 6600M" .  There is a green checkmark under LOCAL PTT.  I do not have a Maestro.

Although, I run SmartSDR from time to time, it is currently NOT running.  When I do start SmartSDR, I do see an additional entry that says "SmartSDR-Win:DESKTOP-2AROED8" . I assume that connection goes away when I shut down SmartSDR - correct.


Is there anything else I should check to make sure another client is not connected?

73,

Al, K0AD

Andy - KU7T

Are you setup for SO2R? I have seen this sometimes when N1MM+ gets out of sync with the slices in SO2R. If its the same issue, you can fix but hitting CTRL+left arrow or CTRL+right arrow a few times. That forces a change in active RX and TX slice and helps. 

Another time I have seen this is when the radio cannot follow a fast switch because its been transmitting (also in SO2R). In N1MM+ I use 50 ms for SO2R lead and SO2R tail time. That usually fixes it...  Experimennt with these numbers, as your computer speed affects these numbers. 

73
Andy
KU7T

Al Dewey

Andy;

Yes - it occurred while operating SO2R with N1MM+.  I DID try changing active TX and RX slices with the CTRL left and right arrows and that did not help.  I'll play around with the lead and tail times.  I suspect I am going to have to reboot everything first as nothing seems to want to eliminate the "Transmit Slice Has Not Been Selected".


I'll probably give it another try in CWT this evening.  Thanks for the tip.  I'll see what happens.


73,

Al, K0AD

Al Dewey

Tim and Andy;

Another strange things happens which may or may not be related to this problem.

First of all, I restarted the radio and now I do not have the "Transmit Slice Has Not Been Selected" error at least for now.  I am getting ready to try the 1 hour CWT at 10 PM to see how it holds up.

The strange thing is that the MOX light randomly comes on.  The two slices are on 14025 and 7025 and the mode is set to CW.  When the MOX light (randomly) comes on, I notice that when I talk the S meter follows my speech.  It's like someone or something is signed on to my radio and randomly putting it on the air on SSB.   


I temporarily put both slices in SSB mode and note that VOX is NOT checked on either slice.  Yes, if I whistle, the MOX light goes on.  Very confused right now.

73,

AL, K0AD

Al Dewey

I spent about 30 minutes in the 10 PM CWT and It seems to be getting worse.  I can run CW on one band and all works well.  Almost every time I try to change slices (doing CTRL Left Arrow or CTRL Right Arrow), I get the "transmit slice has not been selected yet" message, the RF Power goes gray, and I am out of luck unless I reboot the radio.  When I reboot the radio, it comes up with the MOX button and power button RED.  I turn the MOX off but it randomly comes back on from time to time.  The random MOX issue happens regardless of whether I have N1MM running or not.

I played around with those timings that Andy mentioned in N1MM and it did not help.  Hard to believe it is a N1MM problem although there was an N1MM update today.

I wonder if I should be go back Version 2.4.9 on the Flex?  It's unusable for me right now on SO2R.

73,


AL, K0AD

Tim - W4TME

If you revert to v2.4.9, you must do a factory reset of the radio because the databases are not downward compatible.  Then you can import your profiles exported from SmartSDR v2.4.9 or below.  Do not import an export made from SmartSDR v3 to a radio running SmartSDR v2.4.9 or below.

N9VC

I learned that the hard way, doing just that. Talk about a
nightmare (self-induced) Went back to version 3 and
decided a couple of quirks were not so bad. As always,
heed the advice from Tim, won't steer you wrong.

73, Jim N9VC

Al Dewey

Tim - Reverting back to Version 2.4.9 is a last resort as I am hoping the problem with the random transmit as well as "transmit slice has not been selected" can be found. I think they might be related but am not sure.  Unless you have any other suggestions on what to try, I will go ahead and enter a ticket tomorrow.  

73,

AL, K0AD

Tim K9WX

See this thread for an earlier discussion of this issue:

https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/after-transmit-slice-not-selected-flex-do-not-follo...

Tim K9WX

Al Dewey

Thanks, Tim.

I have been playing with this today and have a new theory of why I am having the problem.  Even though I have  both slices configured for CW (on 20 and 40 meters), I was noticing that the MOX light would randomly light on the 6600M  and the problem would happen shortly thereafter.  I am using the FLEX internal WinKeyer.  I determined that the MOX was going on due to the VOX somehow being tripped even though VOX is disabled and both slices are on CW.  If I talked, the MOX light would go on and I would start having the problem.

So as a simple work around, I simply unplugged the microphone while doing SO2R CW. Now I cannot make it fail even with very quick toggling of TX with the CRTL Right and Left Arrows keys in N1MM while sending messages from the F keys.

I also played around with the radio swap time settings in N1MM as KU7T had suggested and it didn't seem to make a difference.  

I probably won't be able to give it a good test until next Wednesday's CWT which is cutting it a bit close for WPX CW next weekend.

73,

AL, K0AD

Tim K9WX

Thanks, Al, that is interesting. I can't say if that was happening with me but if it was (VOX tripping) I did not notice it. I am in Dayton right now but will check this out when I get back home. My radio is a 6600 non-M so there is that difference to take into account.