TeensyMaestro

Wow, nicely done! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed mine.

Hi Gareth, that sounds like a good idea. Simon is expecting the boards any day now, so we will get a chance to test them very soon. We will also publish a complete Bill Of Materials (with links) so that you can easily order the correct parts.

I did notice that the Teensy 4.1 boards are on backorder. SparkFun is now manufacturing and distributing them, so watch their website for more info there. So far, they have not given an anticipated availability date.

A quick update on Simon and my progress. We have the code working for the new display, touch controller and MUX boards that will be used with the PC board. The original hardware still works as it did (yay!). We are meeting tomorrow to merge our code and do some more testing on hardware versions 1 and 2. Once we get that all done, we will be in wait mode until the boards arrive (hopefully very soon now). Once they come in, we will build and do final testing before releasing it to GitHub.

I have gotten questions about using other displays, and generally, the answer is no, they won't work without re-working the code. If anyone wants to do that, I do provide the source code (Arduino-flavored C++).

A quick update on PC board progress.

Simon and I took a few days off for Field Day and a few POTA activations. Had a great time!

I borrowed Simon's board to do final testing, and it works great! I still have some functionality to port over from a previous, unpublished release and Simon has some cosmetic changes for the board. That will all be done this week, then once we get the new boards and parts, we will do a final round of testing and make everything available on GitHub.

The new software will be version 2.000. We used compiler directives to create HW versions 1 and 2. So going forward, there will be two load images but only one source code file.

For those builders who will not be modifying the code, you will just pick the load image that matches your version of the hardware (new ST7796 display and I2C MUXs or old HX8357 display and old MUX boards). The PC board will only work with the new components.

We will post again once everything is out on GitHub.

TeensyMaestro V2.000 is now available on GitHub:

https://github.com/KD0RC/Teensy-Maestro-for-Flex-6000-radios/releases/tag/V2.000

*****************************V 2.000 * ***************************   
Fixed bug where spots were not properly parsed from the MMConfig.ini file (Thanks to Simon, NV0E for finding that!).  
New version to accommodate Simon's, NV0E, PC board.  HW_VERSION 2 supports the ST7796S display with
     XPT2046 touchscreen controller.  Also supports 2 MCP23008 MUX boards and an MCP23016 board.  
Added two pedal PTT for SO2R operation. One switch for A, one for B.  (Thanks Ron, WV4P for the idea!)  
Added ability to select a specific Flex on the network.  Connect: ANY will connect to first Flex found.  
Rewrote sections of FlexRigTeensy-2.0.19.cpp to properly parse the UDP discovery packet.  Original code 
     got data positionally.  
Renamed lib to FlexRigTeensy.cpp.  Enzo had the 2.0.19 label to identify the version of SmartSDR.  
     Not really needed in this application.

Here is the software to go with Simon's PC board. There are now two versions of the load image - one for the original design with the 3.5 inch HX8357 display and one for the new PC board with the 4.0 inch ST7796S display.

Simon will open his GitHub to the public shortly. It contains a wealth of information on building the PC board version including the schematic, bill of materials and instructions for ordering PC boards and front panels.

I met Ron, WV4P at the 2025 Flex banquet at Hamvention this year. He asked about the ability to have two foot-switches for SO2R contesting. The idea is to have two slices open, one on the run frequency and one searching for multipliers. Each switch is associated with a specific slice such that stepping on a switch puts the corresponding slice into transmit whether it is flagged as the TX slice or not. This way, you don't have any goofing around setting the transmit slice, just step on your pedal and talk. If the other slice is already transmitting, it holds until that slice stops transmitting. The regular PTT switch still operates strictly off the TX slice.

You don't need to build the entire TeensyMaestro for this to work, you just need the Teensy board, a MUX and a couple of connectors for the foot switches.

Ron also mentioned needing the ability to select a rig to connect to. If you have multiple Flex radios all on one network, you need the ability to choose which one to connect to. That capability is now in the TeensyMaestro and will soon be in my Windows-based Flex utilities.

Note that Simon and I are not providing kits, but are making it (I hope) pretty easy to order all the parts and boards. The BOM has links to all sources of parts except for the very mundane things like stereo jacks, screws and things like that.

Simon has his built and working. Mine is awaiting a few parts and a case. I will post pictures here when I get it all buttoned up. If you decide to tackle this (now much easier) project, please post progress and results here - we'd love to see what you are doing.

Well done Simon!!

It should be noted that Simon designed this board and updated my software to accommodate it without the benefit of a Flex radio. When he needed to do some testing, he wrote a Flex emulator complete with panadapter and waterfall. While I was up fishing in WY, I lent him my Flex 6400 which he used to get through his final hurdles with the UDP waterfall data. Not everything is implemented, but it was enough to verify that the TeensyMaestro was working properly. In the pic above, you can see that no mode is showing on the TeensyMaestro screen - direct evidence that he is hooked up to the emulator and not a real Flex.

Only after he had a working TeensyMaestro did Simon order a refurbished 6400 from FLex. Now I am waiting for my sales commission from Andy, @VA3CW 😁

For anyone building a TeensyMaestro using Simon's boards, I would suggest placing additional panel nuts under the front panel on each encoder (except for the slice tuning ones). Without them, the panel warps and compresses the display when you tighten the panel nuts on the top.

You will still need the 8 mm spacers that Simon shows in his GitHub. To make this work, place panel nuts on each control and s.crew them down far enough that with the panel in place, the nuts don't touch it.

Now place the panel on the controls so that it rests on the spacers and put washers and nuts on the controls. Only tighten them enough to hold the panel with no slack (i.e. just touching).

Next, use a small screwdriver to turn the bottom nuts until they just touch the panel.

Finally, tighten the top nuts hand-tight and you are done.

I believe that the nuts are 1/4 x 32, but I can't confirm that yet (I stole a bunch from my stash of encoders...). I will order some and make sure that is the right size. Once confirmed, I will report back here.

If you elect to build without the additional panel nuts, be careful not to tighten the panel down very much. More than finger-tight will be too much.