Fldigi on SmartSDR for Mac

basil gillard

Does anyone know the setup to run Fldigi on the Mac running SmartSDR for Mac

Jean_Luc F5JRC

The resolution of the first screenshot maybe too low!

Jean_Luc F5JRC

Hi Basil, look at my settings here (Flex6500 and SmartSDR Marc (fantastic!), MacLogger DX (fantastic!) and Fldigi.

Best results in decoding CW are obtained with pitch around 600 and with APF on (noise reduction Audio Peaking Filter).

For audio I use Loopback.

See screenshots…

73,

Jean-Luc / F5JRC

Jean_Luc F5JRC

By insisting I will get there! :-)

basil gillard

Thanks John

Alan

Jean-Luc

I want to use my Maestro and FLDigi running on my Mac.

I do not recognize the Flex CAT window you show in your configuration screenshot. I have tried using xCat and so far no success.

In your example, what Flex Client and CAT software are you using? Any suggestions how to interface a Maestro Flex Cient with FLDigi on a Mac?

Alan

WA9WUD

Justin W4JTD

Jean-Luc -

Thanks for these setup instructions, they worked perfectly for me! I haven't been on PSK31 for a few years, and now I'm back up and running completely native in macOS Big Sur.

Love SSDR for Mac!!!

73

Justin

KL2D

Ted VE3TRQ

From Alan:

"I want to use my Maestro and FLDigi running on my Mac.

I do not recognize the Flex CAT window you show in your configuration screenshot. I have tried using xCat and so far no success.

In your example, what Flex Client and CAT software are you using? Any suggestions how to interface a Maestro Flex Client with FLDigi on a Mac?

Alan WA9WUD"

-------------

I do this all the time, Alan, albeit with a 6600M, not a Maestro, but the concept is exactly the same. The Maestro is the GUI and "owns" the slices. I use xCat and xDax + Loopback on the Mac to connect to the instance controlled by the "M" front panel. Works like a charm, with up to two slices for two different digital programs (including Winlink Express in a Win10 VM).

I am still using v.2 SSDR because i want reliable profiles and a functioning ATU.

Alan

Ted

Thanks.

Could you also show a screenshot of your Mac FLDigi rig configuration page?

Alan

Alan

Ted VE3TRQ

Sure - just need to fire it up and post it.

Ted VE3TRQ

Sorry about the large size of the screenshots - seems the monitor res I use (4K) results in lots of bits :-( Slice B in use here.

Jean_Luc F5JRC

To Alan

Sorry, I was away from my shack the last few days. Have you solved your problem? I think Ted's explanations are very helpful!

For the moment with the Flex6500 I use (I don't have a Maestro, I'm still hesitating):

- Mario xCat https://dl3lsm.blogspot.com/p/downloads.html

- LoopBack https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/

- Fldigi for Mac http://www.w1hkj.com/

- Wsjt-x http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/K1JT/wsjtx.html

- JT-Bridge http://jt-bridge.eller.nu/downloads/

- RUMlogNG https://dl2rum.de/rumsoft/RUMLog.html

or (between the two my heart swings!)

- MacLoggerDX https://dogparksoftware.com/MacLoggerDX.html

- SmartSDR for Mac https://roskosch.de/smartsdr-for-mac/

Everything works perfectly here, although I would like to have more specialized applications than FLdigi for RTTY. For CW, an application like CW Skimmer is also missing (but this would be harmful to my level of CW which I would like to improve during the next 100 years!) :-)

 73's Jean-Luc

Ken D'Alessandro

I have been struggling mightily with this for quite a while. Dave W1HKJ and Mike W9MDB have been kind enough to work with me last night (January 24, 2021) and this morning to try to help me get fldigi Mac up and running with SmartSDR Mac on my Mac Mini. Dave emailed to me a new fldigi disk image ( fldigi-4.1.17.08_ix86_64.dmg) this afternoon. It incorporates Hamlib 4.0 and has a new Rig choice ("Hamlib NET rigctl (Stable)") in the Use Hamlib Config Window that I used. It worked for me the first time. If I am lucky in figuring out how these comments work I have attached a screen shot of my choices entered into the fldigi Rig Control Configuration Window. This disk image is published at: http://www.w1hkj.com/alpha/fldigi/ for anyone wanting to try it.
73,
Ken
N7KD

Ken D'Alessandro

Whoops. Screen shot now having correct retry and Timout entires.

K3DCW

In theory, Ken, the new Hamlib library in Fldigi for Mac should support the Flex6xxx directly, albeit in "beta" form. However, it kept crashing on me during testing so I just went to the Hamlib NET right (Stable) setup and it works perfectly.

Has anyone else tried the Flex 6xxx setting and had success?

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi Dave,

what is your setup when you use the "Flex6xxx" setting? Are you using xCAT or the inbuild CAT of SSDR for Mac? It should work with xCAT as I have been using this for years with WSJT-X.. And I did compile some versions of Fldigi with a newer Hamlib version for myself to have the "Flex6xxx" rig and it worked as well..

Good to see that the fldigi releases finally switched to a recent Hamlib version.. :-)

73, Mario DL3LSM

K3DCW

Mario,

I was trying it with the built-in CAT of SSDR for Mac. I haven't tried it with xCAT although, as you said, that does work great with WSJT-X. I'll do some more testing with xCAT to see how it works. It may just be a configuration issue on my end.

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi Dave,

yes, it could be a configuration error.. You should check against the manual (https://manuals.roskosch.de/smartsdr-mac/#external-software-cat-and-dax).. Be aware that you can switch between TS-2000, Flexradio and RigCtl in SSDR.. Your config in Fldigi should match.. I would be interested in your testing of xCAT..

73, Mario DL3LSM

K3DCW

Mario,

Fldigi crashes right away if I try to use the Flex 6xxx (beta) hamlib selection in Fldigi, both with SSDR own CAT as well as xCAT. However, the RigCtl option is rock-solid and steady which is good enough for me. I currently have SSDR's CAT set to FlexRadio CAT for CAT Control 1 on port 5001 for use with WSJT-X, and to RigCtl/Hamlib on CAT Control 2 using port 4532. It just works and I'm satisfied with it.

Mario_DL3LSM

Hi Dave,

ah ok.. So the problem is related to Fldigi and/or Hamlib.. Not SSDR for Mac or xCAT.. Thanks for the clarification..

73, Mario DL3LSM

K3DCW

Exactly. WSJT-X works perfectly with the Flex 6xxx HAMLIB configuration with both SSDR and xCAT while Fldigi crashes in the same configuration with both: definitely a Fldigi problem, but one that is easily circumvented by using the RigCtl option.

toddlc1

Hello, can somebody look at these screenshots and tell me what I might be doing wrong. I have DAX control on Fldigi but can't seem to get CAT control to work....... I've followed the screenshots above to the best of my ability but still a no go.....

K3DCW

TL:DR version: set your Cat Control port to 4532 and your Fldigi "Device" to 127.0.0.1:4532.

Longer version:

Your "port" setting is incorrect. If your local address is 192.168.1.126, then you need to specify further a port, such as 4532. So, your port in the CAT control will be 4532 (or whatever you want it to be) and in Fldigi your "Device" will read 192.168.100.126:4532. HOWEVER, you don't need to list your Mac's IP address if you're running everything on the same Mac. In Fldigi, simply set the device for 127.0.0.1:4532 as 127.0.0.1 means "the local machine."

toddlc1

This is exactly the information I needed, I am now connected and I will provide a screenshot for people who may come along later. K3DCW is a Genius!!! I have worked on this for a month and this was the final piece of the puzzle. The only thing I would add, is make sure you restart Fldigi after you make the changes to CAT and then it will connect. Thanks again K3DCW!!!

WX7Y

It would be really great if someone could put this in a step by step you-tube video for both the DAX and CAT setup.

Your Emails and screen grabs will help me a ton, I am NOT a regular MAC user so this has been difficult for me to get figured out, BEING newly retired I should have more time to work on the MAC and try to get it working.

Thanks so much

W4JBB

While I have finally (mostly) gotten SmartSDR for Mac working with Fldigi, I cannot figure out why in the world, when using macros:

1. Filter settings don't work at all (i.e. <FILWID:3000> does nothing) and
2. I have to set <RIGMODE:PKTUSB> instead of <RIGMODE:DIGU>.

RIGcat doesn't work at all on SmartSDR for Mac. When reading through the XML, it appears that Tim wrote it exclusively for a serial connection. That's not a dig at Tim, it's just what I discovered. Since discovering that, I quit trying to use it. No serial connection shows for the radio on a Mac when connected via Ethernet and I don't know enough about XML or the format needed to make RIGcat work. However, RIGcat works excellently with SmartSDR on my Windows VM - all filter and mode settings work correctly in Fldigi.

I am honestly beginning to think this is a hamlib issue with the Flex commands. I'd dink around in the hamlib libraries but, again, I don't know enough about it to even be dangerous.

However, there is a box in the Hamlib section of Fldigi for "Advanced configuration." I have looked for any radio commands online but that documentation seems to have been deprecated. When I found the page and downloaded the document, the document took me to the same page locally - I wind up in a loop. Does anyone have a copy of the radio commands or know where I can find a copy?

Thanks,

Joel - W4JBB

Arizona Mike

For many of the same reasons I have given up on SSDR Mac. Perhaps one day, I’ll try again.

Chip Swett

Anybody still following this stream?

I am trying to use fldigi to do digital modes with SmartSDR Mac. Cat and Dax seem to be good...fldigi shows the correct frequency and when I transmit via loopback, I see Dax Tx Streaming activity, but I don't transmit anything. I thought Vox would do PTT, but not so. I see a momentary red border around the panadapter which I take to indicate a PTT pulse, but nothing is transmitted. There is a brief flash of the MOX button.

Ted VE3TRQ

I use SmartSDR for Mac with Fldigi all the time. I’ll try to dig out the specifics - works perfectly for me, although I certainly don’t ask Fldigi to play with filters (I don’t find it is necessary).

Chip Swett

You are the best Flex Mac resource I know Ted. I feel like I'm close if I can just get the PTT working right. My ultimate goal is to use the RumlogNG contest module for RTTY by way of Fldigi.

Thanks.