New versions of xCAT and xDAX with multiFLEX support

Hi there,

it's been awhile since the last update..

A lot of things happened during the last 2 years (health, job and family wise) which took not only my time away but also my motivation to do any coding.. In this situation I could not even justify shelling out the money for the v3 upgrade as it would have been only for updating the apps..

I'm still not back to normal but I have slowly started again..

With a very positive result - I can now release the updated versions of xCAT and xDAX (versions 2.0) which do work with SmartSDR versions 2.5.1 and newer. When Flexradio switched to multiFLEX there was a significant change in the API so my existing applications did not work anymore.

So if your are running SmartSDR version 2.4.9 and lower on your radio please continue to use xCAT/xDAX version 1.0. If you are running SmartSDR 2.5.1 and higher on your radio you have to use xCAT/xDAX version 2.0.

Many thanks for all the support, especially Doug, K3TZR for his excellent Library which makes accessing the radio so easy and all the testers which helped me to find the bugs in the apps.

You can see the new versions in action in these videos of W1MSG and K3SF.

The new versions are as always available on the Downloads page.

I want to thank all members of the community for their patience in waiting for this update.

Thanks and 73
Mario, DL3LSM

Existing versions of xCAT and xDAX do not work with SmartSDR V3

Hi there,

today FlexRadio did release V3 of SmartSDR but xDAX and xCAT will not work with V3.

I did not expect such a big change at this time. My Flex is at my parents place since Xmas (I don't have any antennas where I live so I can either develop or operate remotely) and only after the Easter holidays I will be able to bring it here to do something with the apps. And I don't know how long it will take as my life is more than busy at the moment.

So if you need xDAX and xCAT for your operating you might have to stay with V2.4.9. Even V2.5.1 will not work as it uses the same changed API like V3.

Sorry about that..

73, Mario DL3LSM

New versions of xCAT and xDAX with SmartLink support

Hi there,

this post should have come 3 months ago but a long unplanned stay in hospital and the following regeneration delayed this release.

There are new versions of my apps available. The main addition to the apps is that they now support remote operation via SmartLink.

There are minor bug fixes as well but I did not keep a change log.

You can find the details about how to use SmartLink in the updated documentation.

The new versions are as always available on the Downloads page.

Thanks and 73
Mario, DL3LSM

New versions of xCAT and xDAX for the new radio models

Hi there,

as the new radio models are shipping I tried to anticipate what changes are needed to make xCAT and xDAX usable with these models (FLEX-6400(M), FLEX-6600(M)). As I don't have one of these models and I don't know someone who has and is a Mac user I could not test these changes.

So if you are using one of the existing models there is no need to change but if you've got one of the new models it is worth a try (and please report your success/failure to me). As there are no real changes I have also not updated the documentation (there is a major change in the works).

There were some reports in the community that existing versions of WSJT-X (on Windows) would not work with the new models. I guess this will be the case on macOS as well as the Hamlib version used in WSJT-X 1.8.0 does not recognize the IDs of the new models. In xCAT you can work around this if you set "Mask Flex-6300" in the "Setup" menu. With this your Flex will id as a FLEX-6500 to an asking CAT client application.

The new versions are as always available on the Downloads page.

Thanks and 73

Mario, DL3LSM

New bug fix version of xDAX

Hi there,

some users made me aware that there is a bug in xDAX 0.9 which prevented streaming if the audio stream was the second (or third, ...) stream requested from the radio. 

This bug is fixed in the latest xDAX version 0.9.1 (available on the Downloads page) so please use this version if you want to use more than one RX audio stream.

Thanks to Mike (ZL1MRC) and Burch Akin for their help in finding this.

Thanks and 73

Mario, DL3LSM

New versions for xCAT and xDAX available

Hi there,

new versions (0.9) for xCAT and xDAX are available now on the download page.

Here are the main reasons for the new versions:

On the request of several users I implemented the IQ streams in xDAX. Now you can pipe raw IQ data from the radio to applications like CubicSDR, GNU Radio or SdrDx to use the demodulators there.

In xCAT I implemented the CAT commands to initiate the transmission of Spectrum Display data from the radio. This feature is new in SmartSDR 2.0 and was introduced to use the Spectrum Display in N1MM+ logger with the FlexRadio. I created a small app for the Mac which uses this feature which you can see in action here (0.4 GB video file!):

For now it is more an app for testing this feature but quite usable though. And maybe there will be more additions to it.. xmlScope is also available on the download page.


Changes in xCAT:

• Implementation of the ZZPA and ZZPE commands (see FlexRadios manual for SmartCAT here) to use the Spectrum Display Feature added in version 2 of SmartSDR.
• Changed the user defaults to a more future proof structure.
• Several fixes for bugs nobody reported so far.. :-)

Changes in xDAX:

• Implementation of IQ streams.
• Facelift of the UI to use less screen estate.
• Changed the user defaults to a more future proof structure.
• several fixes for bugs nobody reported so far :-)

Very important, please read and follow the advice before using the new versions for the first time:

The structure of the user defaults has changed significantly to a more future proof approach. If you use the app with your existing user defaults it will most probably crash.

So please make notes of your existing setup in version 0.8.1.

And then delete the user defaults BEFORE you run the version 0.9 of xCAT and xDAX for the first time.

Open the Terminal.app and type/copy these lines (pressing return at the end of each line :-):

defaults delete de.dl3lsm.xCAT

and

defaults delete de.dl3lsm.xDAX

When you run the app the first time you have to do the setup again once.

Enjoy!

73, Mario DL3LSM

New xCAT and xDAX versions

Hi there,

it was not the best experience to be on a holiday trip when FlexRadio released version 2.0. Especially when the mails were received that 2.0 broke xDAX and there was nothing to do but to read the mails and think about it.

But now new versions (0.8.1) for xCAT and xDAX are available which support SmartSDR 2.0 but only locally or via VPN. SmartLink support is not (yet?) possible.

Changes:
- SmartSDR 2.0 support
- App Nap is prevented in xDAX when there are active streams
- auto-connect functionality (see Documentation)
- bug fixes

You can download the new versions from the download page.

Enjoy!

73, Mario DL3LSM

xDAX and xCAT with SmartSDR 2.0

Yesterday FlexRadio released SmartSDR 2.0. I just wanted to inform that xDAX and xCAT were only tested with SmartSDR 1.x. They might work with 2.0 on the local network they might not.. Being on a holiday trip at the moment without computer and only limited internet (writing this on my Smartphone) I have no way to check if it works or what has changed. I don't even know if and when I will upgrade myself. So be aware that you might have to make a decision between 2.0 and using xCAT/xDAX for now..

Thanks and 73
Mario, DL3LSM

DAX and CAT applications now available for macOS

Hi there,

since I’ve got my Flex-6300 last year I missed an equivalent for SmartCAT and SmartDAX on macOS. Using Dougs (K3TZR) TCP/IP API framework for accessing the FlexRadio 6000 series on macOS I have written these tools for myself and want to share them with the community.

The apps are called xDAX and xCAT and you can find them in image files (.dmg) here:

xDAX.dmg

xCAT.dmg

The image files include a short PDF document which should help you in setting up and using these applications. Please read these documents to learn about the differences to the equivalent apps for Windows and if they will help you in your operating style and environment.

If you want to have a look at the PDFs without downloading and opening the image files you can access them here:

xDAX.pdf

xCAT.pdf

The applications need macOS 10.10 (Yosemite) or higher.

I hope you’ll find them usefull...

73, Mario DL3LSM