Flex CAT Control

App Help & How-To
1

I am brand new to WRL and trying to get my Flex 8600 to work with WRL CAT ver 1.0.7

Using Mac iBook with Marcus SmartSDR - port set to 5010 in SmartSDR and WRL

Shows connected but no frequency displayed

Flex 8600 remote but on my local network

FlexRadio SmartSDR … Slice A selected

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Cat Control FlexRadio Maestro (not SmartSDR)
2

@WW4GA I’m not familiar with the flex but other users on here have it setup and working.

Here is a link: CAT for Flex Radio

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3

Which radio option did you select? I’m using the Flex Radio 6xxx option and was able to connect. Then set your port to SliceA in your cat control in the radio.

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4

Thanks Patrick

I had it set using the FlexRadio SmartRadio Slice A as the Radio Model

Changing to FlexRadio 6xxx it now is working

I appreciate your help

Ryland

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5

Anytime!

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6

Does the S meter work on your installation?

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7

If you are refering to the S meter within the WRL Cat Control app then no, not really. I’m not sure if it was intended to actually work. I think it goes down to S0 when the radio is actually connected and then the frequency populates.

8

@W7IB it must be something with Flex radios - the S Meter does work for my ICOM 7300.

9

I submitted a bug report on this and it was suggested I check into one of the Flex CAT control threads for help.

I’m using the WRL Desktop Logger and its built-in CAT control.

It’s connected using the FlexRadio 6XXX setting, TCP port 5002 on localhost, which is served by the SmartSDR CAT program. SmartSDR is not running on my Windows PC, but a Maestro is connected over the LAN to the Flex 6600M.

I am connecting fine, frequency and mode are displayed in WRL Desktop.

Double clicking a spot in WRL Desktop will change to that frequeny.

Here’s the problem:

a) The radio is in LSB mode. I click a CW spot. The radio changes to the correct frequency, but the mode stays LSB. It does not change to CW.

b) The radio is in CW mode. I click an SSB spot. The radio changes to the correct frequency and the mode changes to LSB.

I am not using Slicemaster or any other intermediary, just the Flex CAT control program running on the Windows PC that runs WRL Desktop.

Thanks for any suggestions.

73,

Rowland K4XD

10

@HI8O or @W7IB or @W0MET any thoughts on @K4XD 's post above? i know you’ve guys got this working

11

I would suggest a reboot of the radio first as it’s changing direction. One way but not the other. It tell Me that the radio has a bit of a conflict with its info in the software. I worked for flex for about a year. This happens from time to time.
I cannot test it on my side as I do not have a Maestro, but I almost believe you need SDR running or at least the SDR CAT on tbe windows side for that to work.

Check out those two options s and let me know if either one works.

12

Thanks for the reply.

Rebooting the radio did not change the behavior.

I am running the Flex CAT program on the Windows PC. That’s what WRL Desktop is talking to.

I can change the radio back and forth between LSB and CW (or any other mode) using DXLab’s Commander program. It is just with WRL CAT control in the WRL Desktop app that it only changes into LSB, but not back to CW.

I tested it with DXLab Commander in the two different modes that program supports, directly to the radio’s IP address and port, and using the Flex CAT program running on the local PC. Both are able to switch modes freely between any supported modes on the radio. This is not 100% the same as WRL Desktop app’s CAT, which connects to a TCP port on the local PC. It “shouldn’t” make a difference but just pointing that out.

A head scratcher!

73,

Rowland K4XD

13

Good afternoon. I tested it on my set up: Flex 6400, MacMini and running SmartSDR for MacOS and WLR Desktop for Mac. I have WRL Desktop connected on port 5003 (Flex Radio 6xxx).

  1. It is working fine, if I click on a spot the radio changes frecuency and mode to the selected spot station.
  2. I was able to notice that if I have JTDX opened and connected to the Flex at the same time as WRL Desktop, the radio only changes frequency but not mode.

Dont know if it helps.

73, Santiago HI8O

14

@HI8O That would make sense with JTDX open as JTDX/WSJTX controls the mode

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15

Thanks all.

Rebooted the radio and my Windows PC. There is nothing running but WRL Desktop and SmartSDR. I turned off the Maestro. Same problem still - if the radio is in the CW mode and I click an LSB spot, the radio switched to LSB. If the radio is in LSB mode and I click a CW spot, it changes to the frequency of the CW spot but the mode remains as LSB.

If I start DX Commander at that point, I can change the radio’s mode to CW by clicking the CW mode command in that app, so there is nothing preventing the radio from switching modes. I’ll use that as my workaround for now.

It might be worth adding DXLab Commander to the list of supported “rigs,” that’s what I use from WSJT-X. Nice because Commander acts as a multiplexor, rather than tying up a COM port from WSJT-X.

73,

Rowland K4XD