Aurora - Anyone else experiencing bugginess?

K4WAX · March 25

I received my Aurora in January. When it works, it's great. But rarely a day goes by when my radio exploits aren't interrupted by some glitch or bug; some more serious than others. Here is a brief summary of what my experience has been:

1. Frequent “Return loss fault occurred” and “Interlock is preventing transmission” errors. I am running two antennas (EFHW and Vertical), each of which tuned up fine with my Yaesu FT-710, and I have these errors with both of them.

2. My power output meter often stops showing my power output. Keying the mic and starting a QSO shows nothing on the power meter or SWR. Oddly, when I reboot the radio, this functionality comes back.

3. When I start SmartSDR, most -- but not all - of the time the CAT and DAX programs load at the same time. CAT will sometimes load but show no connection and sometimes CAT will not load at all. I have to reboot SmartSDR to get everything to load properly.

I am running on a fully updated version of Windows 11. In short, my radio is buggy. Are others having this sort of experience? I have created a HelpDesk ticket but have not heard anything yet.

Mike58 · March 26

Yes I have also experienced “Return loss fault occurred” and “Interlock is preventing transmission” errors" as well.

I reached out to support and they had me send the unit back, which they tested and found it to be performing as designed. They concluded the following, and returned the Aurora back to me.

Corrective Action Taken or Service(s) Performed:
The following corrective actions were performed to resolve the issues noted above.

To avoid these issues while using an external tuner, please ensure to follow these steps:
Set the Aurora ATU to Bypass mode at all times while using an external Tuner.
Set the TUNE PWR slider to 3% or less.
Follow the standard tuning procedure for customer's external Tuner.
You may find the formal document at this link:

TGXL Info: Aurora software integrates the TGXL tuner with the radio; however, tuner performance is still a “work in progress”. You may encounter situations where the TGXL fails to find a match or aborts the tune with low power, high power, or radio faults. We are working to correct this situation in a future software release.

Arnold Goldman · March 26

I'm using a 520M don't know if that makes a difference; so far so good and just using the internal tuner; seems to be much quicker than my 6600M or 8600M ; i do use the tgxl with the 8600M but have not tried it with the 520M due to issues i'v been reading about especially setting power out to 3%

Tom C · March 26

No problems at all with my AU520. Best radio I will ever have. I don’t use it with my TGXL because of the issues but I don’t need it right now anyway. Hope they get the compatibility sorted soon.

Tom

N9RU

David Decoons, wo2x · March 26

@Arnold Goldman It is the TUNE power you set to 3 or less. RF Power can be run from1 to 100%.

So, 3% TUNE power is about 15 watts. I've been running the TG XL successfully with the AU510 on B side and 8600 on A side.

I did find on 10 meters I reduced TUNE power to 2%

73 Dave wo2x

K4WAX · March 27

Thanks for the comments so far. I am not using an external tuner. I have the TUNE power set to 10 which is what I understood was recommended. Not sure if setting it to 3 or less without a tuner will make a difference but I will give it a try. I have been using two antennas and both tuned up fine with my FT-710. Also, it's been a week since I submitted my ticket and I have heard nothing. Any know how long it takes for them to get back?

David Decoons, wo2x · March 27

10 is the default for 6000/8000 series which is 10 watts on those radios.

10 on Aurora is 50 watts.
I would try a setting of 5 which is 25 watts.

If you have access to an antenna analyzer, it would be interesting to know actual native SWR on each band.

The Aurora tuner goes to about 3:1.

73

Dave wo2x

Arnold Goldman · March 28

tnx for comments re power; will try it in the future with the TGXL so far so good with a windom and a COBRA Lite antenna; tuner in 520M seems a little quicker and no problem going GREEN on all bands; will probably sell my original 6600M just back from service; stay safe everyone

K8JK · March 31

My 8600M was a complete nightmare - several trips back and forth to FlexRadio with fan noise issues, and some annoying Ethernet connectivity bug, that did all finally get resolved.

By comparison (and by the way, the only FlexRadio issue I had ever faced in all the rigs I have purchased from them), The Aurora 520M I now have has been a delight - no setup issue, made a handful of SSB and CW contacts , even made a few FT8 contacts. Give me a minute or so though, it arrived yesterday at 10:35 AM and I had it up and running before 11 AM… stayed up well past my bedtime exploring it.

One strange encounter I had, when I first powered up the radio I had another menu item below GPS titled DIAGNOSTICS. It allowed you to verify the operation of the controls on the M panel display. In searching other posts I am led to believe this is a "hidden menu option", but I would love to know how to turn it back on…

73

Jim K8JK

Arnold Goldman · April 3

have not seen that one; my VFO knob was a little stuck was told that in shipping the knob did get jammed up against the front panel; just took off rubber ring and adjusted set ****; so far so good; had same problem with my 8600M re fan noise that had to send back right out of the box; I have not seen diagnostics; will keep looking for it; but so far so good to point where i have not used my 8600M/PGXL/TGXL; internal tuner on 520M works fine with my antennas have not tried it with the TGXL with recommended power setting to 3%; have a good holiday

K4WAX · April 4

I started this post and thought I would share an update. After working with my Aurora 510 some more, I somehow stumbled on a solution, although I am not sure what it was. One step I took was to clear out the ATU memory. I had previously tuned 3 different antennas (2 EFHWs and 1 vertical) and wondered (without any basis for thinking so) that maybe the radio was getting confused by similar memories. I then re-tuned my one EFHW that I use. Things seem to have improved.I have no idea if that had anything to do with it or it was some other fiddling I did.

The only issue I still have is whenever I transmit at or above 14.247, I immediately get interlock and return loss errors even though my antenna analyzer is showing a 1.93 SWR at that frequency. I have been exchanging emails with tech support and the ball is in my court to try a few things.

Very impressed with tech support. Tim has been helpful.

Aurora - Anyone else experiencing bugginess?

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