SMARTSDR FOR ANDROID DEVICE

I think the reason no one has developed an Android app for the Flex is due to the many variations of the Android OS and hardware. Even the variations of the Linux OS make it harder to target Linux as well. It is quite possible someone could do an Android app or a Linux app. That did happen several years ago. But, the person who created the Linux program, didn't want to deal with maintaining it and he never shared his work. He did post a video of it working and it looked quite good.

James

WD5GWY

If you want to operate your Flex radio remotely with an Android device there is an option. It works but it is not an optimum solution we would all like.

You can use an application called RCForb. You can find out more about it by looking on the Remotehams.com website. Briefly, you run an RCForb server application on a computer at the Flex radio location and you can use the RCForb Android application to operate it. Lots of other things can be done with this configuration once you set it up. It has been around and in use for well over 5 years so it has been well-vetted and used with Flex radios.

You won't get a panadapter to view but the other functions and capabilities of the Flex are available.

Some of you already know about this solution so I post it just for the benefit of those who may not but still want a solution to evaluate on an Android device.

Flex didn’t create an iOS version (Marcus did). Seems unlikely it would create an Android version .

I posted a YouTube video of my evolved version of for remoting my Flex Radio from an Android phone.

I've upgraded to a Flex 6600 but all 6xxx models should work the same. The cell phone you are watching in the video is a Samsung S22 on Verizon's Visible $45/month prepaid priority unlimited data plan using Verizon's towers and their premium 4G/5G network.

I prefer Samsung phones for this split screen project. I've tested other Android phones and find their implementation of split screen is very cumbersome to get started.

RCForb is shown in the lower portion of the S22's screen. RCForb is a native Android Remote client in the Play Store for $9.99 and is the only software cost for this project.

The preferred RDP server is Chrome Remote Desktop. It and RCForb server for my Windows PC at the station are both free and are available at remotehams.com and remotedesktop.google.com respectively.

The Remote Desktop (RDP) client is running on the phone and is shown in the top half of the S22's screen. The RDP content is of the station PC. In addition to SmartSDR, it shows PST-Rotator which controls the antenna rotator, antenna switch and SteppIR in three separate windows. Also showing is the remote software for my Elecraft amplifier.

Some might find things small in the RDP portion of the phone's screen but most functions are performed in RCForb which works quite nicely with its menu arrangement. For those few functions needing access in the top RDP screen, it's easy to zoom up and down when needed, but muscle memory is usually all I need. Watch the video closely for my finger taps and rotation of the knob.

To show the finger action on the phone, for this video demonstration only, I used Remotix as the RDP client on the phone. My preferred RDP app is Chrome Remote Desktop, particularly on a slow connection. The Chrome RDP client is available in the Play Store. Chrome RDP doesn't interfere with the PC's sound drivers on the PC like Microsoft's RDP server does, and Chrome is more bandwidth efficient than most other RDP solutions.

Bandwidth requirements vary with waterfall rate and frames per second settings in SmartSDR. I keep the spectrum scope at five and the waterfall at around 65 for a 2-megibit/second overall data rate and these settings work fine for me.

Note, RCForb is operated using your finger, including rotation of the tuning knob. Tapping the top or bottom of the knob will move the frequency by on step which is selected to the left of the knob. I use 5KHz. steps. The RDP curser arrow is also moved with your finger using the screen as a trackpad. No mouse is used or needed.

I hope you find this update useful.