SmartLink Data Useage

DaveM

Has anyone studied/compiled typical data consumption for the Flex 6000 series, TGXL, PGXL, say for an average hour of operating time? Obviously, a wide variation is to be expected.

I have not been able to find any discussion on this question. Not important with no data cap, could be important with low data cap.

Dave

N4CQ

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Dave

There are a number of discussions in the forum regarding it. However, it is hugely variable based on your personal settings.

As an example, to just use the Radio, it can vary from as little as 300kb/sec to 1.6mb/sec depending on the settings of your personal waterfall and panadapter. This is on the upload from the radio to the end user.

If you start to add DAX audio streams, it does increase even more.

The Meters on the TGXL and PGXL do add some more data, but it is trivial when compared to the WaterFall/Panadapter/DAX data.

If you are a user on a metered connection, you want to make sure you do the following:

• Panadapter FPS set to minimum (all the way to the left)
• Waterfall RATE set to minimum (all the way to the left)
• No DAX - this can consume a lot of upstream data. Consider using a PC local to the radio for digital modes and then a Remote Desktop Tool to connect to it for digital modes. This will give you a much more reliable experience. https://www.flexradio.com/videos/hf-remote-why-a-pc-at-the-remote-end/

Good quality routers give you the ability to monitor data flow from specific IP addresses (such as the radio).

The short story is that if you budget a rate of about 1.5mb/sec. That is about 187KBytes/dec.

If my math is correct (questionable :) ), 187KB/sec and with 3600 seconds in an hour would burn through about 675MB in 1 hour.

If you dial it down to 300kb/sec you would use up about 90MB of your data cap.

Again, I would ask those that play with these numbers all the time to double-check my math.

I hope that helps a bit.

73

DaveM

Hi Mike

Thanks for the info. I did scan the forum for info on data usage but came up short. I will check your math, but it seems to reflect what I have observed in my situation. I do have a data cap on my internet connection, but it is very high, so I am not worried about running out. It just seemed odd to me that my usage with the Flex was much higher than on my old Remote Rig setup (which I still like - knobs you know 😁). Now I can appreciate why the usage is much greater with the added waterfall and panadapter. Both of these elements do add a lot to the operation. 73

Dave

N4CQ

Mike-VA3MW

Yes, your usage will be a LOT higher.

You have to consider that Panadapter and the Waterfall is actually a movie that you are constantly playing as you said.

73

DaveM

The streaming is great, but the audio is terrible

DaveM

On FT8 that is!