should slices always be referenced with different com ports ?

SpaceStation22

Looking for programming advice... thanks in advance.

Should programs always reference two different slices with two different com ports ?
I suppose if Com1 is for the RX slice, it would call FR0 to set the RX mode.
And, if Com2 is for the TX slice, it would call FT0 to set the TX mode.
Correct?

Is there any reason a program would want to use the same Com port # against two different slices ?

This is in regard to a satellite tracking program with 2 scenarios:
- split operation on same band
- duplex operation on different bands

Best regards.

Alan

SpaceStation

It appears you are using CAT Kenwood commands to control the Flex Radio from you satellite tracking app. The Kenwood commands available to the Flex are very limited.

Have you considered, rather, to use the TCP API or dot.net command set. These are much more comrehensive.

Alan. WA9WUD

SpaceStation22

Hi Alan,
For the app's current implementation, a couple people say everything is working for them, but there is one person who is getting a new slice VFO C when a current FT1 command is issue - so I think I just want to figure this one code issue out.

Do you have a pointer to the documentation sets for those additional commands you mention ? I will take a look at them.

Alan

Flex API WiKi

https://github.com/flexradio/smartsdr-api-docs/wiki/SmartSDR-TCPIP-API

Alan. WA9WUD

Eric-KE5DTO

I wholeheartedly agree with Alan. But to answer your question, you can put the radio into "Split" mode using CAT. When you do this, it will create another Slice, the Split Slice, which will be set as the transmitter. In that case, there will be 2 Slices that are in use by the CAT system.

This stems from a world where CAT supported radios that had a main and sub VFO and Slices are our best representation of those physical manifestation of control.

To Alan's point, this question gets much less complex when you stop viewing it through the lens of how CAT has always worked and start viewing it through a new paradigm — one where you have flexible resources called Slices that can be tuned indepedently and each set as the Transmit Slice at will. This is the power of the ethernet API and it is much less limiting as a result. Some might argue it is more complex. I would say it is more powerful/flexible/capable.

I hope that helps. I would recommend that you refer to the SmartSDR CAT User Guide (https://www.flexradio.com/documentation/smartsdr-cat-user-guide-pdf/) for details on the Split command or any other CAT commands. Feel free to ask other questions as they come up.

KD0RC

@SpaceStation22 , if you want to see some sample code using FlexLib with C# in the .net environment, search GitHub for KD0RC. There are a couple of fully functioning utilities and some sample starter code.