Third Party interface question sharing com ports.

Steve Blankinship AG4SO

Using three third party programs Win-link Expresses, Fldigi and WSJT-X . Radio is a 6400 remote,Operating SmartSDR 2.6.1 on a windows 7 computer. Can I share the same com ports. PTT ports with all the programs or should I create separate ports for each program. Also in Winlink Expresses I operate Win-more and ARDOP which have operate configurations so same question there. 
Thanks Steve AG4SO 

Erika - KØDD

Steve each application requires its own port for each function. Erika DD

K5CG

In fact this is one of the primary advantages of Flex Radios over non-Flex radios. You can add a CAT port anytime you need another.

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Steve

The Flex 6000 series of radios do something you can't do with any other radio.  You can create as many CAT/Com ports as you need and then share each unique CAT port with each and every software program you wish AND run them all at the same time.

Other HF radios, you need to shut down that program and then start the new program you want to use since it wants to share the same Com port.  

As an example, you can have:

• Com 2 - N1MM
• Com 3 - HRD
• Com 4 - FLDigi
• Com 5 - WSJTx
• etc.

You create them 1 at a time in SmartSDR CAT as you need them.  They don't go away and each time you start your program it just connects to the radio.

I hope that helps

Mike

K9DUR

Steve -- This is a limitation imposed by Windows, not Flex.  The OS will only allow one program to have a COM port open at a time.

73, Ray, K9DUR

Ha Gei

Steve is right, you can add several ports in the CAT module . But it also works fine with Com0Com to distribute them. 
My crazy setup here is 
1 Flex6400 , remote via Wlan   ( CAT to DXLAB and UCXLOG via com0com bridge ) 
1 FTDX1010D , local at my desk
1 PC with SDRPlay on the remote antenna port of the FTDX
UCXLOG a logger  and a premature homebrew CAT control software 

all linked with com0com and DXLab commander  and running syncronously , regardless where is change frequency, mode , VFO a/b  etc. etc..  

Steve Blankinship AG4SO

Good morning folks interesting & I am learning thank you. Which leads met to a a question about multi mode programs. In particular Winlink Expresses I am alos trying to get working along with the other programs. I have the Winkink VHF now set up as com 4 and the HF modes as com 5. Winmor works fine but ADROP and Vera do not. Intermittent connection and not passing messages. I am therefore assuming each mode with in win link expresses needs a separate com port as well?
Steve

LZ2BE

I'm using VSPE by Eterlogic. I have COM26 and COM27 ports created by Flex6600 for Slice-A and Slice-B and two Splitters created by VSPE
COM26-COM6
COM27-COM7
All 3rd party applications are connected to COM6 or COM7. In this case I don't need to remember which Flex port to which 3rd party software to be connected
73 Boyan

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Boyan

Can I ask why you are using a VSPE when you can use SmartSDR CAT?  I can't think of any reason that you need to when you can dedicate ports as required to each application.  The VSPE adds a an additional level of complexity not really required.

I can see why you do that on any other HF rig, but not required on a Flex 6000 series.

Here is how mine looks:



This video might help explain it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXeMMayB3-o

Ha Gei

in my case i use a vspe to be consistent in the ever changing setup. This means, for VHF i swap the FLex with a K3 on the same COM #, just using a different VSPE setup. also some times i use another SDR Board as the second receiver, also on the same COM#  , so i do not need to change anything in DXLab setup.  
Of course, and i wrote that, it is not really needed to use a VSPE with the flex

Mike-VA3MW

Ah, got it.

The reason I want to be very clear is that new customers will read this and then call us saying they need a VSPE since this person is doing it.  It can result in a point of confusion for some customers.  Yours is a unique situation.  

Mike

LZ2BE

Hi Mike,

the reason is similar to what Ha Gei explained. I have different setup when I want to work DX, or contesting SO2R or MS with one or two PC's.
I'm already using VSPE since many years when I had 2 x K3 before 6600 and I always know COM6 is Radio-1, COM7 is Radio-2.
30 and 31 are rotators, 32 is Steppir.

Of course I can configure it like your suggestions - unique port for each 3rd party apllication.

73 Boyan

N2WQ

The benefit of using a third party virtual port splitter is the ability to define port splitting at the OS level and have these ports properly configured at startup, regardless of whether or not SSDR is running. You can also configure them to run as a system service and give them a different level of access from the rest of the ham apps running on the computer (as I rule, I do not trust any ham created piece of software).