SmartSDR and N1MM, or: How I learned to contest remotely
Last weekend, myself and KI6RRN ran the Florida QSO Party using the Flex 6400 at the Tampa Amateur Radio Club, connecting via SmartSDR and using club callsign N4TP. We took alternating 2-hour shifts, myself on SSB and Axel on CW. Our benefactor Lu W4LT (owner of the Flex, and trustee for N4TP) did a great write-up on the 3830scores.com posting!
During the contest, we ran into a few snags here and there (ie: a power outage due to breakers tripping in the UPS), but overall the rig performed great: I logged 647 QSOs from 47 states (missed Hawaii, Idaho, and Utah), and had a great time doing it! Getting used to the slight (40-50ms) delay between pressing the PTT footswitch and actually keying the receiver took a while, but overall I was very pleased!
As most people do, we ran the contest using the great N1MM Logger+ software. While this won't be a blog entry about getting N1MM set-up in general, I will talk about interfacing N1MM with SmartSDR to:
A) have CAT-control inside N1MM control the radio via SmartSDR (ie: click a spot in N1MM, and the VFO changes in SmartSDR)
B) Have spots reported in N1MM show-up on the SmartSDR waterfall
** NOTE: Getting the Flex's waterfall/scope activity to display inside N1MM's Spectrum Display window *only* works if you're on the same LAN (local area network) as the physical Flex radio. If you're not, it won't work, so don't waste the time trying.
Ok: so first, lets open and connect via SmartSDR and SmartSDR CAT.
In SmartSDR CAT: add a COM port for CAT by clicking "Add" button, and setting it to the following settings:
a. Name: N1MM-CAT
b. Port Protocol: CAT
c. Port Type: Serial
d. Serial Port: FlexVSP
e. Client COM: COM10 (pick the next available port)
f. VFO A Slice: A
g. Auto Switch TX Slice: Enabled
h. Split Mode: SO2R (normal)
In SmartSDR CAT: add a N1MMSpot port by clicking "Add" button, and setting it to the following settings:
a. Name: N1MM-Spot
b. Port Protocol: N1MMSpot
c. Port Type: UDP
d. UDP Port: 12061
e. Lifetime (s): 3600
Now, lets go into N1MM:
In the N1MM Configurer menu (Config-->Configure Ports, Mode Control, Winkey, etc...) under the "Hardware" tab, configure the settings as shown:
a. Port: COM10 (whatever the SmartSDR CAT serial port is**)
b. Radio: FLEX-6000 Series
c. Digi: greyed-out
d. CW/Other: checked
e. Details: click the "Set" button to move to the next step
** NOTE: if you want to run N1MM and WSJT-X via SmartSDR at the same time, make sure the N1MM CAT serial port is different than the WSJT-X CAT serial port: they both need their own.
In the N1MM "Set" menu, configure the settings as shown, then click "OK" to return to the "Hardware" tab:
a. Speed: 115200
b. Parity: N
c. DataBits: 8
d. Stop Bits: 1
e. DTR (pin 4): Always On
f. RTS (pin 7): PTT
g. Icom Code (hex): 0
h. Radio Nr: 1
i. PTT Delay (msec): 30
j. PTT via Radio Command SSB Mode: Checked
k. Two Radio Protocol: none
l. FootSwitch (pin 6): none
m. Radio Polling Rate: Normal
** Leave all other check-boxes un-checked/empty.
In the N1MM Configurer menu (Config-->Configure Ports, Mode Control, Winkey, etc...) under the "Broadcast Data" tab, configure the settings as shown then click "OK" to close the N1MM Configurer:
a. Spots: checked, and set it to the IP address and port below:
a1. IP Address and Port: 127.0.0.1:12061 (or whatever port you set SmartSDR CAT's N1MMSpot device to)
Now: close N1MM and SmartSDR/SmartSDR CAT. Then, open them up in the following order:
a) SmartSDR
b) SmartSDR CAT
c) N1MM
The VFO settings should be the same in both N1MM and SmartSDR, and as spots are populated in N1MM, they will be displayed on SmartSDR's Waterfall like below:
Also: the spots (aka: call signs) in the SmartSDR Waterfall are clickable, and will tune the VFO to that exact frequency that the station is on. A few notes:
A) If you see a number with a + in front of it (ie: +7), you can click on it to have it expand the stations on that frequency (just like the pic for "+8" to the left)
B) If you want more info on a spot (ie: timestamp of spot and/or any text note about the spot from the cluster), just hover your mouse cursor over the spot (just like the pic for IZ5CMI)
During the contest, we ran into a few snags here and there (ie: a power outage due to breakers tripping in the UPS), but overall the rig performed great: I logged 647 QSOs from 47 states (missed Hawaii, Idaho, and Utah), and had a great time doing it! Getting used to the slight (40-50ms) delay between pressing the PTT footswitch and actually keying the receiver took a while, but overall I was very pleased!
As most people do, we ran the contest using the great N1MM Logger+ software. While this won't be a blog entry about getting N1MM set-up in general, I will talk about interfacing N1MM with SmartSDR to:
A) have CAT-control inside N1MM control the radio via SmartSDR (ie: click a spot in N1MM, and the VFO changes in SmartSDR)
B) Have spots reported in N1MM show-up on the SmartSDR waterfall
** NOTE: Getting the Flex's waterfall/scope activity to display inside N1MM's Spectrum Display window *only* works if you're on the same LAN (local area network) as the physical Flex radio. If you're not, it won't work, so don't waste the time trying.
Ok: so first, lets open and connect via SmartSDR and SmartSDR CAT.
In SmartSDR CAT: add a COM port for CAT by clicking "Add" button, and setting it to the following settings:
a. Name: N1MM-CAT
b. Port Protocol: CAT
c. Port Type: Serial
d. Serial Port: FlexVSP
e. Client COM: COM10 (pick the next available port)
f. VFO A Slice: A
g. Auto Switch TX Slice: Enabled
h. Split Mode: SO2R (normal)
In SmartSDR CAT: add a N1MMSpot port by clicking "Add" button, and setting it to the following settings:
a. Name: N1MM-Spot
b. Port Protocol: N1MMSpot
c. Port Type: UDP
d. UDP Port: 12061
e. Lifetime (s): 3600
Now, lets go into N1MM:
In the N1MM Configurer menu (Config-->Configure Ports, Mode Control, Winkey, etc...) under the "Hardware" tab, configure the settings as shown:
a. Port: COM10 (whatever the SmartSDR CAT serial port is**)
b. Radio: FLEX-6000 Series
c. Digi: greyed-out
d. CW/Other: checked
e. Details: click the "Set" button to move to the next step
** NOTE: if you want to run N1MM and WSJT-X via SmartSDR at the same time, make sure the N1MM CAT serial port is different than the WSJT-X CAT serial port: they both need their own.
In the N1MM "Set" menu, configure the settings as shown, then click "OK" to return to the "Hardware" tab:
a. Speed: 115200
b. Parity: N
c. DataBits: 8
d. Stop Bits: 1
e. DTR (pin 4): Always On
f. RTS (pin 7): PTT
g. Icom Code (hex): 0
h. Radio Nr: 1
i. PTT Delay (msec): 30
j. PTT via Radio Command SSB Mode: Checked
k. Two Radio Protocol: none
l. FootSwitch (pin 6): none
m. Radio Polling Rate: Normal
** Leave all other check-boxes un-checked/empty.
In the N1MM Configurer menu (Config-->Configure Ports, Mode Control, Winkey, etc...) under the "Broadcast Data" tab, configure the settings as shown then click "OK" to close the N1MM Configurer:
a. Spots: checked, and set it to the IP address and port below:
a1. IP Address and Port: 127.0.0.1:12061 (or whatever port you set SmartSDR CAT's N1MMSpot device to)
Now: close N1MM and SmartSDR/SmartSDR CAT. Then, open them up in the following order:
a) SmartSDR
b) SmartSDR CAT
c) N1MM
The VFO settings should be the same in both N1MM and SmartSDR, and as spots are populated in N1MM, they will be displayed on SmartSDR's Waterfall like below:
(Click photo to enlarge)
Also: the spots (aka: call signs) in the SmartSDR Waterfall are clickable, and will tune the VFO to that exact frequency that the station is on. A few notes:
A) If you see a number with a + in front of it (ie: +7), you can click on it to have it expand the stations on that frequency (just like the pic for "+8" to the left)
B) If you want more info on a spot (ie: timestamp of spot and/or any text note about the spot from the cluster), just hover your mouse cursor over the spot (just like the pic for IZ5CMI)
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