Making the Flex 8600 + into a superCW transceiver

Roger G3LDI · April 16

SmartSDR_CW_Parameter_Specification.docx

I had a dream! I composed what I would like to see, as a CW operator, available for all CW ops to be able to adjust their CW to their desired setting. Some of these parameters are already available, but to have them all in one place appeals to me. What do YOU think? OR, is it just a dream?

73 de Roger, G3LDI

John G3WGV · April 23

I would like to support this initiative, especially the ability to adjust RF envelope rise/fall times. I do not use the internal keyer, mainly because I value the physical speed control knob that WinKey gives me, so the built-in keyer features are irrelevant to me. Nonetheless they would be valuable for those that do use in internal keyer.

A very long-term outstanding request is for CW side-tone + RX audio to be available as a fixed level digital audio stream. I wrote a proposal for this way back in 2020 but despite, apparently, being on the to do list, nothing has happened in the intervening ten years. It seems like a pretty obvious requirement, it would be great to have and, I would think, a rather simple job to implement. Ten years is a long time to wait and still have nothing to show for it. A higher implementation priority for CW TX/RX enhancements would be welcome.

73, John, G3WGV

Mimram · April 27

I would like to support this initiative, especially the ability to adjust RF envelope rise/fall times. I do not use the internal keyer, mainly because I value the physical speed control knob that WinKey gives me, so the built-in keyer features are irrelevant to me. Nonetheless they would be valuable for those that do use in internal keyer.

73 gdx de Alan G8OO

Jim G3YLA · May 15

This is a great dream Roger, many rigs allow the keying parameters to be controlled by the user and I agree this would be a good option to build into future SSDR releases. For those not familiar with what's required a simple option to restore factory settings would be a suitable 'get out of jail' card if it goes wrong.

Hope it happens

73 de Jim, G3YLA

g4ivv · May 15

I also support Roger's request for more CW configurable parameters, in particular I would value more control over the APF filter (gain and Q).

The other big issue with CW for those of us that operate the radio via a high speed LAN is that the receiver audio in SmartSDR and Maestro is only available using Opus audio compression. This introduces a level of "mush" in CW pileups and impacts the fidelity and SNR of the CW tone. Obviously for those that operate remote over the internet the Opus compression is required to reduce the data rate, but what I'm talking about is LAN based radios, for example my radio is located in my garage.

Thankfully there are now 3rd party clients that allow the user to stream the high bandwidth, high quality uncompressed floating point receiver audio (SDC RigAudio and AetherSDR). Its a revelation for those of us that can't plug headphones into the back of the radio to switch to uncompressed CW - if you are in this positon and haven't tried it, I highly recommend doing so.

It would just be really nice if the offical Flex clients Maestro and SmartSDR supported the uncompressed receiver audio for LAN based connections. It requires no change to the radio firmware.

73, Jonathan G4IVV

Phil Holt · May 16

I would also like to support Roger’s initiative. The Flex interface for CW control is currently very limited and somewhat confusing.
Some of the sliders also seem to be unable to hold their positions from one keystroke to the next. The idea of having all these options available from a single, user definable and dockable panel is very appealing.
Phil G4LPP

M0YRU · May 22

I agree with all of the above. After a somewhat 'rocky' start, I love my 8600 more every day but to not have these features on a 'top end' rig is disappointing to say the least. To have these features available for a single dockable panel would make the rig perfect in my opinion.

Steve M0YRU

Mike-VA3MW · May 22

this is what I heard so far:

RF envelope control is the most requested item, specifically adjustable rise/fall times on the CW waveform.

Keyer improvements are welcomed, though several members note they use external keyers (like WinKey) so the built-in keyer is less relevant to them personally.

APF filter control (gain and Q adjustment) gets a specific callout from G4IVV.

Uncompressed LAN audio is raised as a separate but related CW quality issue by G4IVV. He points out that SmartSDR forces Opus audio compression even on local LAN connections, which degrades CW tone fidelity in pileups. He notes that third-party clients (SDC RigAudio and AetherSDR) already support uncompressed audio and that implementing it in the official clients would require no radio firmware changes.

A single dockable CW control panel is a popular UI request, consolidating all these parameters in one place rather than scattered across menus.

G3WGV also notes that a CW sidetone + RX audio digital stream has apparently been on the to-do list since 2020 with no progress after five-plus years.

Making the Flex 8600 + into a superCW transceiver

Active · Last Updated April 16

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