CW Skimmer- How do I make it work?

Gary Schulz

Seems like this should be simple but I am not having any luck and the associated UI's don't seem to make things easier.  I have read much of what has been posted on the forum and everybody answers that you should just run Slicemaster.  I am having zero luck running that also (says "no connection").  Is there any really simple and basic tutorial to follow?

I wish this radio had built in decoders!

Any help appreciated.
Gary

Don WV5Q

Gary.

I don't know what Flex you are using, but go to KE9NS.com and at the top select PowerSDR.  On the left side column select CW and it should scroll you to the instructions to set both CW Skimmer and your radio up.  The instructions are for the 5000 but would probably work for your specific radio also.

Gary Schulz

I am running the 6700

Gary Schulz

Don't see a menu item on the left side labelled CW...

Don WV5Q

I apologize, it is under Digital Modes, then scroll down to CW Skimmer.

Don WV5Q

Well, wrong again.  This time I looked.  It is under Other Software.

Gary Schulz

Well I managed to get some lines scrolling across the window from right to left and a bunch of dots on the far right side of the screen but not much else.  I can't seem to set the frequency it just says 0.00 in the upper right side.  Not exactly intuitive...

Don WV5Q

In the upper left corner, there is a small "radio".  Click on that to connect to the radio.  Other than that, I am not sure.   It has been a long time since I used it.

Gary Schulz

Yes, I found the icon in the upper left.  Seems like the SW is sort of not fully cooked so I am a little disappointed.  Was hoping it was a bit more friendly and fully featured.  I thought it was supposed to be able to decode multiple streams across the band but I am unable to get anything to decode at all.  Oh well...  I appreciate your help anyway.

Don WV5Q

I wish I could remember what I did to finally make it work.  I do know that I went back to KE9NS a couple of times to check settings, and somehow, the magic took place.  Band conditions are terrible, but with that, I get decodes on signals I cannot see on the screen, and can barely hear.   These are perhaps obvious settings.  Skimmer will only listen to CWU.  And I remember having to go into VAC1 for some settings also.  Don't give up.  Once it works you will be amazed.
Don

Gary Schulz

What is Vac1?

Don WV5Q

Sorry, that is obviously on my 5000 and not on the newer ones.  It is Virtual Audio Channels and allows for multiple paths for audio out.

KD0RC

Hi Gary, look into Slicemaster.  I loaded it on my laptop, started SmartSDR, then started Slicemaster.  It took care of all the settings and started CW Skimmer (you can select how you want it to start - when active, by mode, or not at all).  Now the proper frequency shows in the little window, and I can click on any of the sigs being decoded and the rig jumps right there.  It will also do the same thing for WSJT-X and WSPR.  Without it, there is a lot of goofing around to get things right.

73,
Len, KD0RC

Gary Schulz

Thanks Len.  Slicemaster sounds good but when I try to run it it gives me an error telling me it has no connection. 

W9WLX_Chuck

Have you enabled DAX I/Q on the panadapter and in the DAX app?

KD0RC

You probably need DAX and CAT turned on and set up.  For my set up, I use DAX IQ channel 1.  So on the DAX button on the left side of the SmartSDR screen I drop that down and select 1.  Be sure DAX is started, and if you open it, under RX Streams you should see 1.  Be sure it is set to an active slice (I just use Slice A), turn it on and it should show 'streaming' and display an audio level indicator. 

You will also need CAT running and associated with the same slice you set up for DAX.  On my setup, I have a serial port defined and TCP port 5002, both assigned to slice A.

Give that a try and give a shout if it does not get SliceMaster and Skimmer working.

Len

Gary Schulz

Still no luck.  I have DAX set up and I think that is OK but SmartSDR CAT has a little red box saying "error" for Slice A.  Not too informative....  Needless to say, Slicemaster still says "No Connection". Looks like it is using TCP Port 60003 and Com 4.  Who knows if that is correct? This configuration seems very obscure at best!

KD0RC

Ah, OK I think that is the issue.  If we can figure out the CAT error, I think you will be in business.  From the SmartSDR CAT manual:

If there is a problem opening the Port (Serial or TCP), a red Error indicator will appear to the right of the Serial/TCP line. Hovering the mouse cursor over the error will produce a message that should help to shed some light on the source of the problem. If the Port is in conflict as a result of another program using it or if it is a hardware Serial port (perhaps a USB to Serial adapter) that is powered down or unplugged, simply closing the program, powering up the device and/or plugging the device in should resolve the problem. When the problem is resolved, the red Error indicator will disappear.

Hopefully this will help.

Len

Gary Schulz

Well I reran CAT and the red error is now gone however Slice Master still just says <no connection> down in the lower left.  Not much to go on...

KD0RC

Did you shut down Slice Master and restart it with CAT working?  You may need to shut down SmartSDR and Slice Master then restart SmartSDR and when it is up and running, restart Slice Master.

Len

Gary Schulz

Just tried that sequence and still just comes back with no connection.  Something isn't right somewhere.

KD0RC

Do you have two CAT ports defined?  I have 2, one serial one TCP:
Serial: COM4
Slice: A
Process: (None)

TCP: Port 5002
Slice: A

Gary Schulz

Identical to your setup except the serial port is configured for COM5.  Can't seem to change it on the menu since it is grayed-out.

KD0RC

Well, here is the last thing that I can think of...  If you go to Device Manager, Ports and look at the defined ports, you should have whatever ports you normally have plus:
FlexRadio Virtual Serial Port (COM105)
FlexRadio Virtual Serial Port (COM5)

If you don't have both of the FlexRadio ports, you need to perform the procedure outlined by Tim in another post on the subject of Flex ports.  It is hugely important not to use Device Manager to delete any of these automatically generated Flex ports.

Gary Schulz

Both of those show up except mine says COM15 instead of COM105.

KD0RC

That might be the problem.  I believe the second port is supposed to be client side port (COM5) plus 100 to make COM105.  You might want to send in a helpdesk ticket with this info and see what they have to say.  Did you by any chance use Device Manager to change any port assignments?

Gary Schulz

I have done basically zero configurations with this thing.  I think it is just as it came up when the SW was installed...

KD0RC

OK, well I think a help desk ticket is next.  I think there are instructions somewhere that tell you how to uninstall and reinstall CAT, but that might take some digging and I don't know how old those instructions are or if they are still the right thing to do on the newer versions of SmartSDR.
73,
Len

Gary Schulz

I greatly appreciate the time you spent helping.  I think for now I will just admit defeat with both Slice Master and CW Skimmer.  I didn't realize it was this involved to get these things up and running!

KD0RC

Glad to help!  I did not do anything special to get mine working, so I bet the help desk can get you going really quickly.  Once you have Skimmer working, it is really amazing to watch.  It is very useful even in a casual QSO for those times that you miss something.  Just a quick glance and you can see what you missed without asking for a fill.  I hope you get it working soon.
73,
Len

K1DBO

Gary,

The "no connection" status in Slice Master is caused by one of two things.  The most common is that when you first ran Slice Master, Windows ask you to grant it permission to use your network and you either missed the question or denied the access.  The other cause is that Slice Master must be on the same local network as your radio.  If not, it wont find it an cant connect.  

If it's the first problem, just open your Windows firewall control panel an grant slice-master.exe access to your network.

Feel free to send an email to the support address you see when Slice Master first starts up.

--Don