EZDV from TAPR

Mike-VA3MW

I picked up an EZDV from TAPR on the weekend.

It is a LAN base device that beautifully integrates with a FLEX-6000 (and 8000) radio. It provides a FreeDV codec (Waveform) directly to the radio.

https://tapr.org/product/ezdv/

The documentation was excellent. The highlight steps are:

1. Watch the video —- great education:

https://www.youtube.com/live/31KjMKXDR0k?si=ArMAhmEsh7BRQmoy&t=11720&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

1. Power up the EZDV with a USB-C cable
2. Follow the simple steps to configure it for a FLEX-6000
   https://tmiw.github.io/ezDV/#flex-6000-series
3. Use a browser to configure the unit (a few small steps — outlined in the video)

Once done, you see 2 new modes in SmartSDR.

The beauty of it is that you use your regular Mic / Headset / PTT. You don't need to connect a headset to the device.

I had a QSO with W4WKU last night who also picked one up at Hamvention. He said it was about 10 minutes of work to set it up the first time.

Follow the webpage to see who is on:

https://qso.freedv.org/#/

73, Mike va3mw

km8v

Will this be available as a custom waveform in SmartSDR without an external box?

KD0RC

Hi Mike, I was listening to you and Dave on FreeDV on 20 last night. Your audio got better when you moved from 700D to 700E. You guys sounded a bit robotic on 700D. When you moved to 700E, propagation favored you (and pretty much dropped Dave) and I could clearly identify your voice.

WX7Y

This is Great to see a Hands ON Preview, My ezDV will be here tomorrow so hopefully I can get it installed and configured on Saturday if I get my Electrical wiring done on my new shop by then.

I'm excited to have it back available and hopefully stable like it was YEARS ago.

To answer KM8V's question, I think the day of the FreeDV standalone Wave Form is past with the fast paste updates that is happening with FreeDV and horse power / memory required by the Radio.

Mike-VA3MW

@km8v Who knows! I shared my results with N5AC and he was impressed with the integration to a LAN based accessory.

That isn't news for us, but he was happy someone else did it.

Mike-VA3MW

Len

I was really stretching it. I was running SmartLink to my remote. The EZDV was at my house so I direct IP addressed the radio over the VPN I have.

The audio path might have looked like this in TX

Mic<>Maestro<>SmartLink<>6600<>VPN back to EZDV<>EZDV<>EZDV to Radio over VPN<>On the Air :)

This was at prime internet time for the area, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was a lot of packet drops.

The good news is that I can install it on the radio LAN and use it seamlessy remotely, although for changing modes, I will have to use the onboard Web interface.

I really really like how he designed this.

KD0RC

Very cool Mike! Well, I just got FreeDV for Windows working tonight. I don't think I have my mic audio levels correct yet, but I am close. Hope to hear you on DV again!

David Decoons, wo2x

you all are going to “make me” order one! I didn’t get to go to Xenia this year due to a heart procedure so didn’t buy any toys.

TAPR, here I come!

Dave wo2x

!

KD0RC

Hi Dave, If you want to try it before you buy it, get FreeDV. It is a bit more fiddly to get working, but is a good way to see if you want to use it going forward.

WX7Y

Received my ezDV today and I set it up with no problems other then getting the WIFI enabled until I pushed the on Board RESET button then it took right off and was VERY easy to set up and had it in operation in about 10 minutes, Made a couple contacts on the 3 different MODEs and I do have to say 1600 did have the best signal between my location and the station I was talking to.

NICE UNIT and well worth the $ for a Plug and Play FREEDV solution. It's so nice to not have to use a separate soundcard MIC, it's like the old days and work great even on the Maestro.

themindiswatching

(Originally posted to the FlexRadioSmartSDR email reflector, but I figured I'd post it here too.)

Hi all,

As the creator of the ezDV device, I'd like to announce the release of firmware version 1.0.4. This version of the firmware contains the following changes:

1. FlexRadio support:
a) Updated the manual and web interface to reflect the announcement of the Flex 8000 series radios.
b) FDVL mode: Fixed bug preventing filters from properly being set.
c) FDVL mode: Updated underlying mode to DIGL (formerly LSB).
2. Icom support: optimized implementation to reduce CPU usage.
3. Fixed issue where voice keyer transmitted one more time than configured (for example, if configured to transmit 10 times, ezDV would transmit it 11 times instead).

More information and download links can be found at  https://github.com/tmiw/ezDV/releases/tag/1.0.4 . Typically people can upgrade ezDV by uploading the ezdv-1.0.4-ota.tar.gz file through the "Firmware Update" tab in its Web interface; more information on this can be found in the User Guide at  https://tmiw.github.io/ezDV/#updating-firmware .

Please let me know if you have any questions. Additionally, you can visit the GitHub and create an issue (https://github.com/tmiw/ezDV/issues/new) to propose new features or report a bug.

Thanks,

-Mooneer K6AQ

Russ Ravella

Thanks Mooneer, when will the next batch be ready for shipment and will you be able to service everyone currently on the waiting list ?

Thanks, Russ KR6W

themindiswatching

Hopefully within the next month or so. It's going to depend on how quickly the various vendors can ship parts over to TAPR for final assembly and testing.

-Mooneer K6AQ

themindiswatching

BTW, ezDV is back in stock now at TAPR: https://tapr.org/product/ezdv/. . Currently 26 in stock as I write this. TAPR also has a blog post about it (https://tapr.org/ezdv-back-in-stock-briefly/).

-Mooneer K6AQ

themindiswatching

Also, this month's FreeDV Activity Day is tomorrow through Sunday, which is a great time time to try out your ezDV! More info about that is over at https://groups.google.com/g/digitalvoice/c/YIK0oU9nfA4 . It's always the third weekend of the month if you miss it this weekend, though. :)

-Mooneer K6AQ

Don Pezet

I just got mine yesterday. Dead simple to setup with my Flex 6600. I missed FreeDV Activity Day this month, but I'm looking forward to it next month.

AA0KM

Good hardware and easy to use and update. Nice to turn on little block box and go with wifi no wiring at all.

Put the box anywhere to receive wifi and have FlexRadio connected to wifi or wired into router via lan cable and all works magically.

Highly recommend. Less software settings to mess with once setup. Click on mode button and talk.

Thanks to the software developers and all who works on this in the back ground

and to TAPR.

K6AQ great job and love your YouTube video.

Now if the band would get better.

themindiswatching

Thanks for the kind words, AA0KM!

BTW I forgot to mention that there's a 1.1.0 version of the firmware out as well: https://github.com/tmiw/ezDV/releases/tag/1.1.0. Among other things, this adds Ethernet support (board modification required; see User's Guide) and reporting to PSK Reporter. Let me know how well this works out for everyone.