Massive overhaul of SmartSDR

Trucker

I have been secretly working on a new, simplified version of SmartSDR. I call it " Not so SmartSDR ".

It frees up so much real estate on your desktop. A true breath of fresh air!.

Here's a sneak peek at the interface that I have devoted so much time and energy working on. I hope it doesn't make Flex Radio or the AetherSDR team too jealous that they didn't come up with this first.

No need for a pesky waterfall to get in the way of what really matters!

James

WD5GWY

serialcoder

ASCII spectrum? 😝

Trucker

Okay, here's the updated version. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/YAsrHCbOAAo

Trucker

It may need a little fine tuning yet. But, it is almost there! I can feel the excitement building!!!

Trucker

Wow! One response! This is a tough crowd! I thought a little humor would lighten the mood. Perhaps not.

The program I showed here was an attempt many years ago to try and learn C# and create an interface to my 6500 that I had as well as the 6600M I upgraded to later on. It certainly wasn't intended to replace SmartSDR. But, it was a learning experience for me. I was a long haul truck driver and I really didn't have the time to devote to it like I would have wanted to. So, it got moved to the sidelines and not worked on since. What is funny, recently I asked Google AI how to create a spectrum display for my Flex radio using C#. It churned around a few moments and then displayed some basic code. I compared it to what I had written in my project and I was surprised to see that it used almost the same code that I used in my project. Just variable names were different. Quite a surprise. I had some basic ideas given to me in the API forum years ago. But, just enough to point me in the right direction. That Google AI came so close to what I eventually did that worked, is amazing. But, I think I will stick with JI ( James Intelligence or lack of) if I ever decide to pick it up again. Mostly because I would want to actually learn something.

James

WD5GWY

VE7ATJ_Don

Hi James.. yea.. we're a pretty tough crowd around here :-) Especially when we're not EXACTLY sure whether this is someone's ACTUAL full-on attempt at programming (and we want to be supportive), or whether someone's just having it on with us.

I have to admit, I was vacillating between the two with you, knowing your sense of humour :-)

But I too, am VERY surprised to hear how well the AI did churning out basic code for the interface. Unfortunately, that would have put me out of a job as a programmer when I started out in the late 70's!!

Trucker

Thanks Don. I wondered about the possibility of what you described. My reason for posting this was to try and draw out some humor with the wait for an update to SmartSDR. I thought using my old test program would not only get a few laughs, but also remind us just how nice SmartSDR actually is. ( warts and all) Now that I am retired, I have considered getting back to my test program and continue learning C#. No AI, just what little active brain cells I have available to me. My main hesitation is the interface I started with is old fashioned Winforms. Everything has moved well beyond that. I don't know if I can really wrap my head around the newer interface tools. But, I will try!

James

WD5GWY

John KB4DU

You also have AI-Actual Intelligence.

Trucker

My late wife might have argued with you about that!

K1UO Larry

You know Jim, you are correct, we are probably due soon for a new SSDR release!

Lar K1UO

Trucker

Larry, I am tingling all over just thinking about it! Well, not really. But, I certainly hope it happens sooner rather than later. I really do hope that Flex Radio has made some really nice improvements to SmartSDR and that they will live up to the expectations they set with the new software licensing system. I honestly believe that the appearance of AetherSDR has thrown them for a loop. Especially with the rapid development of it using Claude AI. And the large group of people who have been working on improving it and adding new features. Some, of the new features in AetherSDR, Flex Radio cannot add to SmartSDR because it involves other brands of radios and could create legal problems if Flex Radio offered the same thing through SmartSDR. But, the features that have been added to AetherSDR have been really useful to many users, myself included. I like the simplicity of the SmartSDR interface. This is one of the many reasons I am hoping that Flex Radio will make a release sooner rather than later and that it will be something significant that makes the purchase of SmartSDR Plus or Early Access worth paying. I have Early Access and so far, I have been less than excited about what it has provided to me. I like the noise reduction in SmartSDR Plus/Early Access, I don't care too much about not being able to fine tune it for my local environment. AetherSDR noise reduction features, ( all open source) out performs the noise reduction in SmartSDR. And no fees involved. ( I have donated to the AetherSDR group to help with expenses. And I encourage others to consider doing so as well)

Maybe, Flex Radio will stop keeping us in the dark about the next version of SmartSDR and what we can look forward to. ( if anything)

James

WD5GWY

Trucker

Oooooooh, Mike said maybe this month in another post! Version 4.3.x should fix some bugs. Let's hope that it contains some new features and adds the ability to fine tune DSP functions along with some other much needed improvements.

James

WD5GWY

Trucker

The clock keeps ticking and still no news about SmartSDR version 4.3.x

Maybe next year is the big announcement!

WX7Y

it will be when the early adopters of the plus early access subscription runs out which will be like December.

I for one WILL NOT be resubscribing to it again as I fill a bit like we were miss informed and we should have had several more updates over this time frame.

Trucker

Quite likely you are correct. I feel the same way that you do. I doubt that I will buy Plus, much less Early Access again until something really worthwhile comes along after my one year expires at the end of next January. I also expected more releases as well as more communication about upcoming new features. If Flex Radio really does want people to purchase one of the new licensing systems, they need to follow through and do as they said that they were going to do instead of repeating their previous lack of communication and release cycle.

James

WD5GWY