Remote Latency (RTT) change with Maestro CW keying

K9SO

I've been receiving reports of bad keying when I try to operate my Wisconsin station remotely from my North Carolina home. I have mirrored systems at each location so I can listen to my Wisconsin signal from North Carolina and vice versa. I have confirmed that my Wisconsin CW is broken ("stuttering"?) when I key it from the NC Maestro. Keying settings are correct since on occasion, keying is just fine. 

I operate via a VPN and not via SmartLink. The system has operated flawlessly for over 5 years this way. 

Since I'm running SmartSDR v. 3.0.27 at all sites, I have the capability of logging into the Wisconsin radio via a PC and via the Maestro simultaneously and I can see network diagnostics on both links. The two access points are side by side and plug into the same network switch. 

Here's the issue causing the bad CW (I think): I normally see a consistent average RTT latency of about 72 mS. When I key the Maestro via the paddle, the Maestro diagnostics shows the latency rising from 72 to nearly double that (130-140mS). The connection "quality" bars go from 3 yellow to 1 red. I do not see any change in latency on the PC connection to the same radio (simultaneously). I see no change in the PC "quality" bars either when I key the Maestro or via CWX.  I believe this rapid change in latency in the Maestro connection is causing the keying problems.

Keying via CWX on the PC is fine, is not distorted, and it does not affect the latency of the connection as does keying on the Maestro. All of my tests on the network itself show no problems. 

I'm puzzled by this one other than to say there's some defect in the Maestro here. Ideas?

Equipment involved:
Wisconsin: 6600 and PowerGenius XL amp
NC: Windows 10 PC and 1 year old Maestro.
PFSense router/VPN and 10/100 unmanaged switch.

 

JohnSweeney

K9SO

JohnSweeney

JohnSweeney

K9SO

JohnSweeney

chris1165

K9SO

chris1165

chris1165

K9SO

I think at this point you should open a trouble ticket. The engineers are very good at diagnosing issues like this. 

chris1165

K9SO

chris1165

Fred, I'm back to using v3 with no issues except for the battery. Just an FYI.

chris1165

Let me correct myself. No issues at all with battery or plugged in with version 3. What should I look out for?

K9SO

Does anyone know if this CW keying "known defect  #7378 " mentioned in this very old thread was ever resolved? Is it safe to move to 3.x (which I paid for long ago) from 2.4.9?

Fred, K9SO

Ted S

Many users have reported improved CW timing with 2.7.3 or 3.2.34, however not every user has reported that their CW issues have been fully resolved. Since Flex is rushing out an emergency update to fix SmartLink, you might want to wait until those are released. But be prepared to downgrade back to your current version if your issue is not resolved. Some have reported full resolution of CW timing bugs, however the issues have not been resolved for all.

Also, keep all your old profiles backed up for the downgrade as once they are upgraded to the new schema, I don't think you can save them in the older format.

Here are some of the reports:

Improved CW Operation - Version 2.7.3 — FlexRadio Community

CW Too Fast — FlexRadio Community

New release of SSDR & CW — FlexRadio Community

CW Bug with 6400M internal keyer. Ver. 2.6.1 - Page 2 — FlexRadio Community

3.2.31 Maestro CW Keying Slow RX Recovery — FlexRadio Community

Ted, WR4T

Erik Carling EI4KF

If you are a SmartLink user without a contingency, you will be locked into the new updated versions. "Downgrading" for you to your current version will not be an option.

Ted S

I agree any downgrade after this emergency update is released will break SmartLink. If you are using 2.4.9 to avoid some of the CW timing bugs, SmartLink is already broken for those users and will remain broken. The option for those folks will be to use a VPN solution for remote operation as a workaround for SmartLink no longer working with old releases (SSDR for IOS excepted).

Fortunately, based on the reports it appears the new releases have resolved the CW timing issues for many.

Ted, WR4T

K9SO

Ted,

"If you are using 2.4.9 to avoid some of the CW timing bugs, SmartLink is already broken for those users and will remain broken."

I am aware of the ongoing SmartLink issue, but have not seen any announcement that 2.4.9 SmartLink access will not be fixed ... ever ... as your post implies. Where may I confirm that information?

Fred, K9SO

Ted S

Well the problem is the Windows version of SmartSDR is using a authentication method that was deprecated by the SmartLink cloud service provider. In order to authenticate with SmartLink going forward a code change is required in the SSDR application, existing versions of SSDR are no longer able to authenticate with the SmartLink service. I don't think their is anything Flex can do with the legacy software versions as it was a change implemented by their third party service provider. Welcome to the Cloud...

Ted, WR4T

For confirmation of the above, read the first 5 posts from Flex staff on this thread:

SmartLink Login Issues — FlexRadio Community

Ted S

And here is another user confirming CW timing improvements in the latest releases:

CW TIMING WITH NEW SDR 3.2.31 — FlexRadio Community

Ted, WR4T

K9SO

Ted,

Thanks for the response.

Yes, new versions will be needed to fix the SmartLInk issues but I'm hopeful that the existing 2.x performances won't be affected. The last post says:

"Over the past two days, we have released two alpha versions of both Smart SDR v3 and V2 for Windows desktop clients. The feedback from the alpha testing team is excellent, especially with the latest version."

When I can, I'll try the latest 3.x version remotely with high expectations.

If not, I'll stick with my current version of SmartSDR and go back to my old VPN. When SmartLink was introduced, my radios only connected through SmartLink and stopped seeing the radios via the VPN for some reason. Since SmartLink worked so well, I never spent the time to investigate why.

But now ... .

73,

Fred, K9SO