Why won't a newly installed SmartSDR connect to the radio over SmartLink?

m5kvk

My shack is remote and I only access the radio over SmartLink if I am using the Windows client. I usually use SmartSDR for Mac and this is working OK.

I've just added a new Windows 11 PC in my home shack and installed SmartSDR v3.8.20. It can see the radio over SmartLink, and can see if another client is connected, but it won't connect itself.

It's saying that the radio is due for an update, but of course I can't do that remotely. Is this why it is not letting me connect?

KD0RC

What version is the radio running? You need to run the same version as the radio.

m5kvk

The radio is running 3.5.9. so no problem there.

Erika - KØDD

No the radio needs 3.8.20 on it or you computer needs 3.5.9. They need to be the same. I would do the radio to 3.8.20 update as 3.5.x is a real antique these days. How that effects you mac client i dont have a clue.

Mike-VA3MW

If you can't see the radio on your home network, odds are you have 2 unique home networks.

Are you running a MESH or similar?

If you post the IP address of the radio and the IP address of the Latop, we can tell you if that is the issue.

M

KD0RC

Hi Mike, he is on two different versions of SmartSDR and either needs to upgrade the radio or downgrade his computer.

m5kvk

OK. Let me summarize so I am clear.

To answer Mike's point: the radio is 30 miles cross-country from the computer I am using to access it. I use SmartLink to access it. So no, they aren't on the same network.

If the answer is that the SmartSDR version and the Radio version need to be the same at the minor release level (i.e. 3.8) then I am extremely p*ss*d off because that means I have to drive to the remote site just to upgrade the radio. You can't upgrade over SmartLink (that's reasonable), but even with the Zerotier VPN connected, SmartSDR for Windows can't see the radio - the Mac version can!

Mike-VA3MW

Hi Gareth

Ok, thanks I missed that. My apologies for that.

Yes, the Windows Client and the Radio client must be the same version. MacOS does not have this restriction. SmartSDR has been designed like this since version 1.0 and it is by design.

You can do a remote upgrade if you can do a remote VPN connection, but you need that connection to be a Layer 2 connection with both radio and the user client on the same subnet.

If you happen to have a remote PC at the radio end, then you can do an upgrade as a second option.

In order to use the radio today on Windows, you need the PC client to be at 3.5.9. v3.5.9 is a pretty old version as there are many performance improvements from v3.5 to v3.8 that really improve latency and internal (under the covers) performance. You can see all these changes by reviewing the release notes for 3.6, 3.7 and 3.8 that you can find on the web site.

73

WX7Y

I run my station remotely and I sometimes have to redo SmartLink for some reason I have to restart SmartLink which requires a local PTT or CW Key up at the local radio so having a way to send Remotely a local PTT from a Web Switch I can remotely send a quick key-up, I have a node-red control I have it key-down for 10 seconds and it automatically un-keys.

The KEY to running remote is to have more than one way to talk to a computer on the same network as the Radio, Something to do Power Resets and other relay closers NOT using the local computer which may get locked up as well.

Just don't be on the cheep side of things when your running remotely and try to think of and remember what can go wrong will go wrong and you need to do more then SmartLink can provide for remote operation to have a reliable remote station.

73

Bret / WX7Y

m5kvk

Thanks, Mike and Brett.

Brett, you can see what I've done for the remote site on my blog - https://garethhowell.com/wp/pulling-it-all-together/

It's a pretty comprehensive setup with a lot of redundancy. Normally, there is a Windows PC at the remote site for operating digital modes - it's just unfortunate that the SSD failed on the PC and it's sitting at home awaiting a replacement SSD. That should arrive today, so I can restore the VEEAM backup and head over to the remote site on Saturday. I'll upgrade the radio then.