SmartSDR 3.1.8 loses signal sharpness, then cannot copy FT8

Al K0VM

Close and restart the SSDR DAX GUI..
AL, K0VM

AB4EJ

John KB4DU

Actually, in my sleep last night, I was wondering if this could be a sound card issue, frequency or something?

Larry Benoit

Bill W2PKY

One more experiment to try is using an audio jumper cable take audio from radio headphone jack into mic connector on the laptop. Configure WSJT-X on laptop to receive input from mic input. Run WSJT-X on both computers when you see the issue on the tower computer see if laptop displays the same issue.

AB4EJ

John - there is no "sound card" per se.   In the Flex, everything is done in software, after the A/D converters in the Flex, and I have not seen any issues that suggest a problem with those.

AB4EJ

Jay N1AV

AB4EJ - did the adjustment of the DAX gain setting fix the issue?

I am at the point of having to restart DAX multiple times an hour.

Larry _ NY8T

SmartSDR 3.2.34 Fixed this DAX issue for me.

AB4EJ

I developed a Python application that runs every 15 minutes, which kills and restarts DAX. That was my only solution I found that would reliably get the Flex to run overnight without the loss of signal problem. Actually it looks like something is introducing a large amount of jitter into the clock, thus causing it. I see that NY8T reports that an update to 3.2.34 fixed it; will try that...

Larry _ NY8T

I have had this problem happen again running 3.2.34 so I spoke to soon.

Mark_WS7M

I saw this issue on Win10 on one computer, switched to a different computer and it went away. I reformatted the original computer, did a very clean install of Win10 and it worked well.

In my long experience as a developer under Windows the old term "DLL ****" applies to more than just DLLs... Things get out of whack at times in Windows and the more software you load the worse things can get. Sadly, sometimes it is your favorite program that causes the muck.

I switched over to a Mac which is a BIG change. I mean new software everywhere and this particular problem does not exist there. Running SmartSDR Mac using the built in FT8 tool it is possible to carry on FT8 QSOs all day long with no need to restart anything.

Anyway, I get that switching to Mac is not for all, but for me since I work in Windows as a developer I've learned to keep it simple. Install only the bare minimum.

davenelson

I'm also having this problem, restarting SmartSDR and WSJT-X brings everything back. It happens to me after about 1.5 hours. Latest version of Windows 10 with a clean install that is only a couple of days old.

Larry _ NY8T

You should be able to close DAX and restart it to clear the problem, I understand it will come back and I experienced the same thing in the past. To me It seems like DAX is not playing well with windows.

I used to get the dax corruption untill I did a fresh install on the same PC with windows 10 pro (was windows 10 home) and I am not saying it was the differance between home and pro but a fresh install solved it 100%, I never get the DAX corruption any more. I believe the current state/condition/health of your PC operating system is a big factor.

I am doing something differant this go around after reinstalling windows 10 Pro on my two main dell pc's, the radio pc has only the software on it I use with the flex to operate and my other pc is for everything else, trying new software, learning, basic interneting and so on. For all I know the DAX issue could return but since June its been 100%. This is my personal experience and this may not be true for others.