The SDR Voice Keyer for SmartSDR has been renamed to xVoiceKeyer and updated for SmartSDR 2.51 and above. The program was renamed xVoiceKeyer in recognition of Doug (K3TZR) the developer of xLib6000. Doug has ported the FlexAPI to the Mac which allowed the development of xVoiceKeyer and for Mario (DL3LSM) xDax and xCat.
Note: Source code is available on GitHub if you are interested.
xVoiceKeyer can run on the Mac with dogparkSDR or FlexRadio SmartSDR running in a virtual PC or even on another Mac or Microsoft Windows PC on the same network. xVoiceKeyer will also work with xSDR6000 and SmartSDR for IOS. You do not need xDax or xCat as the xVoiceKeyer handles all audio and control functions on its own. Please refer to my previous article for instructions. When using xVoiceKeyer you can choose the radio and station to control. You can easily switch between different stations if necessary.
I am having trouble installing this software. I download the software, go to the Download folder, right-click on the file and select Open. After a slight delay, the icon of the file blinks and then nothing. No program starts nor are there any error messages. I had the same problem with xCWMemoryKeyer.
What Mac and OS version do you have?
I have a 2019 21.5″ iMac running macOS Catalina v.10.15.6.
Do you have an icon of a disk drive on your desktop labeled xVoiceKeyer? You can double click on it and it should launch the installer. Then drag the xVoiceKeyer icon to the Applications (Alias) folder.
Yes, I have the icon on the Desktop. I double click it, the icon animates like its going to open and then nothing. Since that failed several times, I tried using the hdiutil command in the Terminal window to open it and received the following error – “hdiutil: attach failed – image not recognized”. I downloaded a second time and had the same results.
In System Preferences -> Security and Privacy -> General do you have “Allow Apps downloaded from:” set for “App Store and identified developers”? If you do I will email you the disk image. I just tried it on a laptop I have never had the apps installed on and they work fine.
Yes, that is the option selected.
I’ll email you directly with a copy that works on both my Macs.
Thanks, I appreciate the quick responses and great service!!
I had some trouble sending. You should get two emails, one with dmg using mail drop and one with the app bundle. Let me know if they do not arrive.
Nothing yet
Thanks for all of your hard work. I’m still not sure what’s up with my system but xVoiceKeyer is now installed and runs!!
Great!
Let me know if you have any other problems.
Love this program. It makes working contests with 100 watts and a vertical a pleasure.
I noticed that it doesn’t function when the radio is operating in the NFM mode. With the increasing sunspot activity, NFM is getting more popular on the 10m and 6m bands. Could you please add NFM to the list of acceptable modulations.
Also, a recent upgrade to Mac SDR has changed its interface to your program. When any of the voice messages is activated, DAX is asserted, the TX goes into transmit mode and stays there for the duration of the selected voice message. It then goes back into RX mode and DAX is released. However, no audio is transmitted.
Now, In order to have audio, I have to manually assert DAX before activating my voice selection. Looks like Marcus inadvertently changed something
I’ll take a look at it. I know why it doesn’t work in NFM, I just didn’t know that mode was used. My only experience with FM is 2 Meters so I didn’t think there would be a need for a voice keyer. I’ll fix that.
Oliver, Marcus has Voice Macros in SmartSDR for Mac now too. I haven’t tried them yet but you might check them out and let me know if I should continue with the Voice Keyer as a separate program.
Unfortunately, the new Voice Macros in SmartSDR for Mac require the new Big Sur operating system. I am running all of my Mac sdr software on an older Mac mini that cannot be upgraded to Big Sur. I expect that my situation is not unique. Lots of older Mac mini’s are available at good prices and the run Smart SDR for Mac without any problems. This is a common configuration.
Good to know Oliver. I was upgrading the voice keyer to newer programming technologies that would have required Big Sur. I’ll revert back and probably make a separate app for Big Sur if I get any demand. It will take me a few days. What Mac OS are you on?
I am using 10.15.7 Catalina. This was version required for SDR for Mac when it first became available.
Oliver, In the downloads on the right hand side you will see xVoiceKeyer 3.05. Please try it out and let me know how it works. Unfortunately due to changes in the timing of replies from SmartSDR (Windows or Mac) you must ensure the DAX button is on. I can no longer reliably turn it on and off myself. You may have to reload your voice files. I don’t have a way at the moment to do a clean install to test. I use to just read the files and xmit. Now with new security requirements in Mac OS I read them when you first select them and copy them to protected AppStorage. Then I always read from there after that. I like your call sign btw.
Hi Peter,
Downloaded 3.0.5 without problems. As a check, I ran 3.0.1 and it had the same problem, i.e. DAX has to be set manually or no audio is transmitted. Deleted the entire 3.0.1 folder.
Installed 3.0.5. It came up and recognized my 6300. The preferences pane showed the same audio files as the previous version. When a file was selected, an error message indicated that the program could not find the audio file although it’s correct address was listed in the note.
I made a dummy audio folder and transferred a copy of one of the audio files to it. I listed this file and new address on the preferences pane. Again, the program indicated that it could not find the file although the correct new address was listed.
The program’s original ability to assert and release DAX was very useful. Just hit the audio file selection and sit back. Looks like the migration of MAC SSDR to OSX 10.16 has killed any prospect of restoring this capability.
As a workaround, would it be possible to add a button in your display to control DAX? This way it would still require two keystrokes but they would be in the same display. Just thinking out loud.
73
Hi Oliver, I have put up a new version in the upload section – 3.07. You may have to reload all of your audio files. I tried adding a DAX button but it runs into the same issue. I tested with SmartSDR for Windows and SmartSDR for Mac and it just gets confused so you will have to turn on the DAX button on the radio. I have an idea why but it is in SmartSDR so I can’t do anything about it. Please let me know how this works.
Thanks for the update. I’ll look at adding the button as you suggested. It isn’t just a problem with Mac SmartSDR, SmartSDR for Windows has the same problem. It is just latency in the system. When you send a command it can be some time before an acknowledgement is sent. Normally that is not a problem but with the VoiceKeyer I can’t have the user waiting while the program waits for the Ack.
I’ll look at the file issue. Why don’t you contact me via email at “support at mycall.com” it’s a little easier to respond for me.