Smart SDR software question

espo53

Hello, I just ordered my 8400 M a few days ago and it is supposed to be delivered this weekend. I am confused about the software. Does the radio come with operating software or is the Smart SDR the software needed to operate the radio. I have down loaded the software to my PC so I have it ready when the radio arrives.
This is my first time using SD radios so forgive me for the simple question.
Tony
KQ4SZL

KD0RC

Hi Tony, the radio comes with its software loaded, and because you have an M model, it will operate stand-alone right out of the box.

You can also run SmartSDR on your computer and connect to the radio that way. You can connect up to two GUI clients (Maestro, Front Panel, SmartSDR) at a time, and each will be a separate "station" operating the radio independently (with a shared transmitter).

One operating mode that you might be interested in is called SmartControl. Check out section 9 of the Maestro operating manual. It allows you to control the same two slices (receivers) at the same time, one with SmartSDR and one with the front panel.

Russ Ravella

Yeah Len, that's a much better answer. I missed the "M" in the question. All of that's still true though when not using the radio's front panel which I understand many users sometimes don't (apparently it can be bypassed). And apparently you plan to do so also since you downloaded SSDR so you can always operate that way if you want. Also the radio can be operated by two remote clients simultaneously if desired.

GL 73 Russ KR6W

Russ Ravella

Hey Tony,

Totally reasonable question. The answer is, both. And this gets confused a bit. The radio will come loaded with the latest firmware. Always remember, Flex radios are really radio servers. And as severs, clients are used to communicate with and control them. The software you downloaded is Flex's client software. Both are required. In use, you'll start the radio server which will among a lot of other things launch its server software, then start a client - in this case SSDR - to interact with it.

Something that gets confused with this is, when performing an update, you're running update software on your computer where the client, not the server live. So is only the client getting updated ? What about the server ? Is an additional step required for that ? And the answer is, no, the update package updates BOTH parts of the software together. So when you're done with that, you're done.

It will all make more sense when the time comes and you do it yourself for the first time. But for now, when you get the radio and plug it into your LAN, and start your computer running SSDR which is also plugged into that LAN, they'll see each other and off you go.

Hope that helps. 73 Russ KR6W

espo53

Thank you both. I appreciate both the answers and the way you both made it simple to understand. I really appreciate it and am really forward to getting the radio.
Tony
KQ4SZL

Russ Ravella

You’re gonna love it, Tony !

Neil D Friedman N3DF

Bear in mind that you can view a greatly enlarged version of what’s on the 8400M’s screen, without a computer, by simply plugging an hdmi cable between the 8400M and an external display.