What can be causing my smart link to a Flex 6600 to be freezing up?

f.r.harris

I have been having a recurring lockup of the link between the SmartSDR for Mac and a friend's Flex 6600 (he's been kind enough to let me use his remotely until mine is made and delivered).

I thought it was just internet problem or wifi problem until i started timing it. 5 minutes every time. And I'm using ft8 primarily.

Is there a timer to never the connection or a timer if not recognizing the link?

I'm at a loss.

f.r.harris

[{"insert":"Net gear router is the culprit. Junk it. \nI updated to Eero mesh router and problem solved. \n\nRon\nKN4AND\n"}]

Pat_W5WTH

My opinion...... you have RF getting into the LAN cable. See if the problems goes away at low power. I had to “choke” the LAN cable in a few spots.

Mark_WS7M

In my opinion:

1) Hardware, no WiFi as far as you can possibly go

2) Sniff out and solve RFI problems on the LAN. Use shielded cables, cores, etc.

3) High quaility (EXPENSIVE) WiFi access points if you have to go WiFi. Mesh is great but it is NOT GONG TO BE IDEAL for the amount of data the SmartSDR passes. Buy multiple hardwired access points. Don't rely on mesh.

Make sure your local WiFi and LAN are working perfectly before you expect smartlink to work well.

Then look at your internet provider.

John KB4DU

If the radio is remote to you, the potential for RFI is most likely at the remote end, so the RFI hunt should probably start at that end.

f.r.harris

Ok, i think this is sniffed out. Been working with Marcus at SmartSDR for Mac. Man is a genius.

I was having power drop offs during FT8 transmission cycles.

First step was to turn on "transmit on waterfall" and it showed horizontal lines across the transmit stream. Also by turning up the volume, I could hear the volume wavering like it was getting repeatedly interrupted. Not good.

Took my MacBook to a friends house who runs a 6600. His setup was working perfectly. My problem came with me, so it is in my MacBook.

To verify, I brought my friends Maestro with me and added it to my system in parallel. My waterfall showed numerous horizontal lines and the Maestro was clean, so not the Flex 6400 and not my network.

Next, added a usb to lan adapter to my MacBook and connected to Flex by ethernet cable. Worked fine once i remembered to turn off the wifi on the MacBook, and force connection to the lan adapter. So, not the software in the MacBook.

So we have narrowed it down tho the wifi circuitry in the MacBook. Not a result i was hoping for. I can find no other answer.

So my options are use the existing MacBook (2015 vintage) on lan cable (kinda defeats the purpose of a flex, don't it?), or i can get a new MacBook. I was gonna try the software on my wife's iMac, but its too old for the SmartSDR software. Too bad.

When this setup works, it's magic. But there is a fertile area for gremlins. Might just have too much computer in my radio.

AND OF COURSE, this happened right before ARRL Field Day. Just my luck.