6600 and N1MM+ Issues

Lou Laderman W0FK

I had continuous issues running a 6600 (SmartSDR 3.1.12) and N1MM+ (most recent version) during CQWWDX SSB yesterday and today. Everything was set up and operating smoothly before the contest, although I didn’t run any extensive testing.

During the contest yesterday, I started to notice at least a 1 second delay between clicking or pushing F4 to send my call and F2 to send a report. This resulted in a number of contacts where the station I was calling was responding very rapidly, and I missed some contacts as a result. I also had my VOX simply stop working or cut out intermittently several times. I tried adjusting VOX delay and sensitivity, and worked on mic gain. This resulted in several busted contacts when I tried to use the mic to correct a call or fill in a report.

I tried again today, and initially everything was working well. Didn't last long and the same issues returned. A new one popped up. Although my meter was indicating a voice transmission, the radio wouldn’t transmit. I turned off VOX, tried a foot switch, but the radio would still not key.

I rebooted the 6600 and started N1MM several times, but the problems persisted. On several occasions, I couldn’t quit SmartSDR and had to do a force quit through task manager.

My 6600 and PC are connected via Ethernet cables to the same gigabit hub with under my operating desk. My PC is running Win 10 Pro, and is an Intel i7-9700K at 3.6GHz with 16GB RAM.

I found a couple of threads dealing with these issues, and based on one I ran a latency report, which looks good.

https://community.flexradio.com/discussion/7918141/n1mm-delay 

https://community.flexradio.com/discussion/comment/20343598#Comment_20343598

 

Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs):  595.80

Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs):  3.426344

Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):      590.60

Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs):      1.505357

I finally gave up and continued the contest using my IC-7610, which has had no delays using those N1MM functions, and no issues with VOX or transmissions. It appears that something going on with the 6600, N1MM+ or the combination. Fortunately, I am only participating casually in the contest.

Am I missing something in the settings? Based on prior threads I found, are these known issue?

73, Lou W0FK