SmartStreamer4

Modernizes CW Skimmer integration with FlexRadio DAX-IQ streams using a dedicated Avalonia desktop app. License: MIT (see LICENSE).

1) Quick Start

First-Time Setup / Get Started

• Launch SmartStreamer4.exe. If Windows prompts for firewall access, allow the app through Windows Firewall.
• Click the streamer's Config tab and set the local path to CwSkimmer.exe and the associated INI file.
• Before first streamer launch on a machine, run CW Skimmer manually and configure the Audio tab: set Soundcard Driver to MME (the only mode SmartStreamer4 currently supports reliably for multi-channel — WDM is experimental, see notes below), set Signal I/O Device to DAX IQ 1 (FlexRadio DAX), and set Audio I/O Device to any local audio output (not a DAX device). Exit CW Skimmer to save CwSkimmer.ini.
• In the Operating tab, click the radio and press Connect. After a few seconds you should see the available slices and IQ streams needed to launch CW Skimmer.
• Once CW Skimmer is running, view settings and verify the Radio, Audio, and Operator tabs are correct for your station.
• Click Start in the CW Skimmer toolbar to begin decoding.
• Finally, click the streamer's Logs tab to see real-time events from [STREAMER], [SKIMMER], and [TELNET] to verify connect, launch, and sync direction (VFO vs Skimmer click-tune).

When to Reset Channel INIs

Generated channel INIs (CwSkimmer-chN.ini) are seeded once from the master INI and then preserved across launches to protect your settings. Most upgrades do not require a reset — the streamer rewrites the [Audio] and [Telnet] sections on every launch.

Use Config → Streamer INI Files → Reset when:

• You changed Soundcard Driver (MME ↔ WDM) in the master INI.
• You changed Signal I/O or Audio I/O device selection in the master INI.
• A beta release explicitly notes an INI schema change.
• CW Skimmer hangs on launch after upgrade and other causes are ruled out.

The Reset button is disabled while CW Skimmer is running, and only deletes generated channel files — your manual CwSkimmer.ini baseline is untouched.

Logs are separate and not affected by Reset. They are append-only diagnostic data under artifacts/logs/; delete them manually if disk usage is a concern.

2) Technology Stack

• UI: Avalonia (net8.0-windows)
• App pattern: MVVM (CommunityToolkit.Mvvm)
• Radio integration: FlexRadio FlexLib API v4.2.18.41174 (SmartSDR 4.x)
• CW decoder integration: CW Skimmer process + Telnet control channel

3) High-Level Architecture

• MainWindowViewModel orchestrates discovery, connection, DAX stream state, CW Skimmer launch/sync, and spot publishing.
• src/SmartSDRIQStreamer.FlexRadio isolates FlexLib-specific discovery/connection and radio operations.
• src/SmartSDRIQStreamer.CWSkimmer isolates CW Skimmer INI generation, process launch, Telnet control, and spot parsing.
• UI is organized into tabs:
  • Operating: radio target selection + stream/launch operations + live event line
  • Config: CW Skimmer paths + spot controls + Telnet INI view
  • Logs: consolidated streamer status output + quick open to logs folder

4) FlexRadio Integration Approach

• Use local-network discovery and a single-radio connect model.
• Track panadapters, slices, and DAX-IQ streams via FlexLib events.
• Publish CW spots through FlexLib spot API with app-defined text/background color and lifetime.

5) CW Skimmer Integration Approach

• Build channel-specific managed INI files from a user-selected template.
• Device mapping model is MME-only auto-derivation:
  • operator calibrates the manual CwSkimmer.ini once with Soundcard Driver = MME, Signal I/O = DAX IQ 1 (FlexRadio DAX), and Audio I/O = any local audio output,
  • streamer resolves each channel's MmeSignalDev independently at launch by looking up DAX IQ {N} in the live WinMM enumeration — no per-channel offset, no calibration anchor required for ch 2-4,
  • generated channel INIs always set UseWdm=0 regardless of the master INI setting, because CW Skimmer's WDM device list uses an opaque kernel-streaming enumeration that cannot be replicated programmatically (see issue #19).
• WDM is experimental: if a user chooses to operate in WDM mode they must launch each channel manually once, manually pick the correct device in CW Skimmer's Audio tab, and exit to save the per-channel INI. The streamer cannot auto-derive WDM indices for ch 2-4.
• If operator corrects channel device selections in CW Skimmer and exits, streamer preserves existing channel INI [Audio] values on later launches.
• Launch CW Skimmer per DAX-IQ channel and connect a Telnet client.
• Runtime sync model:
  • Slice frequency updates drive channel-matched SKIMMER/QSY.
  • Pan center or band changes trigger channel-matched SKIMMER/LO_FREQ plus an immediate effective-RX SKIMMER/QSY re-assert.
  • A short delayed QSY stability resend follows pan/band-driven LO updates to keep CW Skimmer VFO display aligned after transient UI/state shifts.
• Parse DX de lines and forward valid spots to radio when spot forwarding is enabled.
• Preserve CW Skimmer-owned config sections while writing runtime-managed sections ([Audio], [Telnet]).

6) Development Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11
• .NET SDK 8.x
• SmartSDR + DAX installed and running
• CW Skimmer installed
• FLEX-6x00/8x00 radio reachable on local network
• Local radio required in the current implementation (SmartLink/VPN deferred)
• FlexLib API package downloaded and extracted to FlexLib_API_v4.2.18.41174 in project root

7) Build, Run, Test

Build

dotnet build SmartSDRIQStreamer.csproj

Run (development)

dotnet run

Run (Release executable)

dotnet build SmartSDRIQStreamer.csproj -c Release
.\bin\Release\net8.0-windows\SmartStreamer4.exe

Release Packaging

# 1. Bump <Version> in SmartSDRIQStreamer.csproj

# 2. Build the release exe and zip (script prints the SHA256 and gh command at the end)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\publish-release.ps1 -Configuration Release -Runtime win-x64

# 3. Add the SHA256 line printed by the script to artifacts/release/SHA256SUMS.txt

# 4. Commit release assets
git add SmartSDRIQStreamer.csproj
git add -f artifacts/release/SHA256SUMS.txt
git commit -m "Prepare v<version> beta release assets."

# 5. Push and tag
git push origin main
git tag v<version>
git push origin v<version>

# 6. Create the GitHub release — attach the ZIP, use --latest, NOT --prerelease
gh release create v<version> \
  "bin\Release\net8.0-windows\win-x64\publish\SmartStreamer4-v<version>-win-x64.zip#SmartStreamer4-v<version>-win-x64.zip" \
  --title "SmartStreamer4 v<version>" \
  --notes "..." \
  --latest

Notes:

• Always attach the zip file, not the raw exe — browsers may block direct exe downloads.
• Always use --latest (never --prerelease) so the new release becomes the default download on the GitHub releases page.

Tests

dotnet test tests/SmartSDRIQStreamer.CWSkimmer.Tests

8) Project Layout

SmartStreamer4/
├── SmartSDR-IQ-Streamer.MDC
├── SmartSDRIQStreamer.csproj
├── README.md
├── SmartSDRIQStreamer.slnx
├── Program.cs
├── App.axaml / App.axaml.cs
├── AppServices.cs
├── MainWindow.axaml / MainWindow.axaml.cs
├── CwSkimmerWorkflowService.cs
├── FooterStatusBuffer.cs
├── src/
│   ├── SmartSDRIQStreamer.FlexRadio/
│   └── SmartSDRIQStreamer.CWSkimmer/
├── tests/
│   └── SmartSDRIQStreamer.CWSkimmer.Tests/
└── artifacts/

9) Phase Status

• Phase 1 (Foundation): COMPLETE
• Phase 2.1 (CW config + INI write): COMPLETE
• Phase 2.2 (CW launch): COMPLETE
• Phase 2.3 (Runtime sync): COMPLETE (including fine-tuned LO/panadapter/slice synchronization hardening)
• Phase 3 (Polish / hardening): COMPLETE
• Phase 3.1 (Bridge spots): COMPLETE baseline (forwarding, controls, diagnostics)
• Phase 3.2 (RIT fine tuning sync): COMPLETE
• Phase 3.3 (Network quality monitor): COMPLETE
• Phase 3.4 (Configuration pages): COMPLETE
• Phase 3.5 (Operating page simplification): COMPLETE

10) Notes

• FlexLib_API_v4.2.18.41174 is intentionally excluded from version control.
• Download FlexLib API (SmartSDR v4): https://www.flexradio.com/software/smartsdr-v4-x-api-flexlib/
• Build may emit legacy FlexLib warnings on net8.0-windows; tracked separately.
• Phase status and roadmap tracking are maintained in SmartSDR-IQ-Streamer.MDC (single source of truth).
• Runtime artifacts:
  • artifacts/cwskimmer/ini for per-channel INI and diagnostics
  • artifacts/logs for runtime status logs

11) FlexLib 4.2.x Upgrade

SmartStreamer4 targets FlexLib 4.2.18 (FlexLib_API_v4.2.18.41174). This section summarises what changed from 4.1.5 and what is needed to build against the new library.

Radio / firmware prerequisite

FlexLib 4.2.x requires radio firmware ≥ 3.3.32.8203. Update the radio before connecting with a 4.2.x-built application.

Files changed in the upgrade

File	Change
src/SmartSDRIQStreamer.FlexRadio/SmartSDRIQStreamer.FlexRadio.csproj	ProjectReference updated from FlexLib_API_v4.1.5.39794 to FlexLib_API_v4.2.18.41174
SmartSDRIQStreamer.csproj	Added <EmbeddedResource Remove> and <None Remove> glob exclusions for both FlexLib folders so the SDK does not auto-include .resx and other assets from the unbuilt library tree

No application source code changes were required. The breaking API changes in FlexLib 4.2.x (HAAPI.AmplifierFault rename, HAAPI.AmpIsSelected removal) do not affect this app; Radio.InUseIP / Radio.InUseHost deprecations are internal to FlexLib and produce warnings only in the library build, not in application code.

Getting the FlexLib package

FlexLib_API_v4.2.18.41174 is not included in version control. Download the FlexLib API source from FlexRadio and extract it to the project root so the folder exists at:

SmartSDR-IQ-Streamer/
└── FlexLib_API_v4.2.18.41174/
    └── FlexLib/
        └── FlexLib.csproj

Migration reference

Flexlib4-2-Migration-Guide.md in the repository root documents the full 4.1.5 → 4.2.18 API surface change, including all breaking changes, deprecations, and new features.