How to Use the AutoDX (ADX) Feature

Applies to: FLEX-8000 Series and Aurora radios
License: SmartSDR+ (Early Access feature, v4.3)
Clients: SmartSDR for Windows, Maestro, and M-Models
 

Overview

AutoDX (ADX) decodes received CW signals to on-screen text and can automatically work a split pile-up on your behalf. It listens for the DX station you are hunting and handles the exchange, while the decoded traffic stays on screen so you can monitor the contact and take over manually at any time.

This article covers:

• Requirements before you start
• Opening AutoDX in SmartSDR for Windows and on Maestro and M-Models
• Setting up and running AutoDX
• Reading the status and decoder displays
• Taking manual control, session limits, and profiles

Before You Begin

AutoDX works only in split mode. Confirm all of the following before enabling it:

1. Two Slices in CW mode on different frequencies. One Slice is TX enabled (your transmit frequency), and the other is used for receive. Two Slices on the same frequency are not a split, and AutoDX will refuse them.
2. A callsign is set on the radio. AutoDX transmits this callsign and cannot be enabled without one.
   • Maestro and M-Models: Navigate Menu > Radio > Callsign.
   • SmartSDR for Windows: Navigate Settings > Radio Setup > Radio > Callsign.

There is only one AutoDX window allowed per client. Each client has a single TX-enabled Slice and selects one receive Slice, so each client runs one AutoDX at a time.

Note: AutoDX checks these requirements continuously, not only when you enable it. If a Slice leaves CW mode or both Slices end up on the same frequency, AutoDX stands down, even in the middle of a contact.
 

Opening AutoDX in SmartSDR for Windows

1. Create two Slices on different frequencies and set both to CW mode.
2. TX enable on one of the two Slices.
3. Click ADX in the bottom left corner of SmartSDR. The ADX window opens on the left side of the application.
4. (Optional) To pop the ADX window out of the main SmartSDR window, click the angled arrow icon in the top right corner of the ADX window. Click the arrow icon again to pop it back in.

Opening AutoDX in Maestro and M-Models

1. Create two Slices on different frequencies and set both to CW mode.
2. TX enables one of the two Slices.
3. Touch AUTODX > at the bottom of the screen. The AutoDX panel opens on the right-hand side of the panafall view, in the same way as the Meters panel.

Tip: You can enable and disable AutoDX from an F-Key. Navigate Menu > Function F1-F6, select an F-Key, and assign the Toggle AutoDX action.
 

Running AutoDX: Quick Start

The controls are the same in SmartSDR for Windows and on Maestro and M-Models.

1. Confirm that TX Slice shows your transmit Slice.
2. In RX Slice, select the Slice tuned to the DX station.
3. In Detect, enter the DX station’s callsign. Do not add “Up”; that is handled by Transmit on.
4. In Exchange, enter what you want sent after the DX station comes back to you (for example, TU 5NN).
5. Choose a Transmit on trigger (the default is Call or Up).
6. Review the timing settings (the defaults suit most pile-ups).
7. Turn on AutoDX.
8. Watch the State field and the decoder window. When the contact completes, AutoDX shows Logging, increments the QSO counter, and disables itself.
9. Log the contact in your own logging software. AutoDX does not keep a contact log.
    

How AutoDX Works a Contact

A DX station working split sends its callsign followed by “Up” on its frequency, then listens for callers on the split frequency. AutoDX follows that pattern. With the DX station on your receive frequency and your radio on the split transmit frequency, a typical contact runs like this:

At that point the contact is complete, and the DX station has moved on to the next caller.

• AutoDX does not transmit until it has decoded the DX callsign at least once.
• After that, it transmits on the trigger selected in Transmit on, and keeps calling until the Give up after time passes without the DX callsign being decoded again.
• When AutoDX decodes your own callsign coming back from the DX station, the contact is confirmed, the QSO counter increments, and AutoDX disables itself.
   

AutoDX Controls Reference

Setup

Timing and Retries

Status (display only)

State values

Using the CW Decoder

The decoder reads from the Slice selected in RX Slice. It runs whether AutoDX is enabled or not, so you can use it simply to read CW without handing control to AutoDX.

The window shows both sides of a contact:

• Received CW appears in green, prefixed with <.
• Anything your radio sends, whether using AutoDX or you sent it, appears in red, prefixed with >.

The Decoder line also reports:

Locked means the decoder has a tone it can work with and has settled on a sending speed. The WPM and SNR figures are meaningful, and copy should be good.

Not locked means there is nothing to copy at the moment, or the speed estimate has not settled. Use it as a tuning aid: adjust your filter, AGC, NR or NB, or your tuning, and watch the line respond.

Note: The decoder drops back to Not locked in the gaps between overs. This is normal and is not a fault. The decoder tracks sending speeds from roughly 8 to 45 WPM. Stations outside that range still appear in the window, but the decoder stops reporting Locked.
 

Taking Manual Control

AutoDX stops as soon as your radio sends anything AutoDX did not initiate; so you can take over a contact at any point. Keying the paddle does this, and so does sending with CWX. Re-enable AutoDX to resume using it.

AutoDX transmits through the normal CW and CWX stack, so your keyer speed and sidetone settings apply to what it sends.

Changing the TX Slice While AutoDX Is Running

Moving TX enable to a different Slice does not necessarily stop AutoDX:

• If the new TX Slice is one AutoDX is not using, AutoDX stays armed and carries on.
• If you TX enable the Slice AutoDX is listening on, AutoDX unarms itself and selects another applicable Slice in the RX Slice menu.

Session Limit

An AutoDX session runs for a maximum of one hour, starting when you enable AutoDX. The session ends after one hour whether or not Restart is on and whether or not the DX callsign is still being copied. The Give up after timer does not extend the session, because it restarts each time the DX callsign is copied.

No countdown or warning is displayed as the limit approaches. To begin a new session, enable AutoDX again.

AutoDX Settings and Profiles

• AutoDX settings are stored in the Global profile, not the CW profile.
• Settings are also saved on the radio, with each client keeping its own values, so they survive a restart independently of any profile.
• Loading a Global profile overlays only the AutoDX settings that profile carries; other AutoDX settings are unchanged.
• Loading a CW profile does not affect AutoDX.
• Loading a profile never enables AutoDX.

MultiFLEX Operation

In a multiFLEX setup, AutoDX runs per client. It uses the TX Slice belonging to the client that owns the RX Slice, and only that client’s own transmissions stand it down. Another client transmitting on the same radio does not affect it.

Troubleshooting