Profile Manager overview¶
The Profile Manager lets you create, load, rename, and delete the three profile types stored on the FLEX-8600: Global, Transmit, and Microphone. Use it to save and restore complete radio states, switch between operating configurations, and control whether transmit changes are saved automatically.
Before you start¶
- AetherSDR must be connected to the radio. The Profile Manager requires an active radio connection.
- The Profile Manager dialog remembers its size and position between sessions.
How it works¶
Open the Profile Manager from Profiles > Profile Manager.... The dialog contains four tabs — Global, Transmit, Microphone, and Auto-Save — plus a Close button at the bottom.
Global, Transmit, and Microphone tabs
Each of these three tabs has the same layout:
- A Profile name text field at the top. Type a name here before saving or creating a new profile, or select an existing profile from the list to populate this field automatically.
- Load, Save (or Create), and Delete buttons. Load and Delete are disabled until you select a profile in the list. Selecting a profile also copies its name into the Profile name field.
- A Profile list showing all saved profiles for that category. The active profile is highlighted. Double-clicking a profile in the list loads it immediately, equivalent to selecting it and clicking Load.
- On the Transmit and Microphone tabs, an informational note below the buttons explains the autosave model for these profile types.
When you click Save on the Global tab, the radio saves the current state under the name in the Profile name field, overwriting an existing profile if one with that name already exists. If the field is empty, the currently selected profile name is used instead.
When you click Create on the Transmit or Microphone tab, the radio creates a new profile under the typed name. It cannot overwrite an existing transmit or microphone profile — if a profile with that name already exists, a dialog appears asking if you want to enable Auto-Save so your changes to the existing profile are captured automatically.
When you click Delete, a confirmation dialog appears before the profile is removed.
The profile list updates automatically when the radio reports a change, so additions or deletions made elsewhere are reflected without reopening the dialog.
Auto-Save tab
The Auto-Save tab contains a single checkbox and a short description. When Auto-save profile changes is checked, changes to TX and microphone settings are written back to the active profile automatically. This state is persisted as AutoSaveTransmitProfile. When unchecked, you must use Save or Create explicitly to preserve any changes.
The checkbox synchronizes automatically with the radio's auto-save state. Changes made from any source — the profile dialog's "Enable Auto-Save" confirmation, TCI clients, profile loads, or remote SmartSDR clients — are reflected in the checkbox without reopening the dialog.
What each control does¶
| Control | Kind | Behavior | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global (tab) | Tab | Manages global profiles. | — |
| Transmit (tab) | Tab | Manages transmit profiles. | — |
| Microphone (tab) | Tab | Manages microphone profiles. | — |
| Auto-Save (tab) | Tab | Controls automatic profile saving. | — |
| Profile name | Text field | Name used when saving a new profile. Populated automatically when a profile is selected. | — |
| Profile list | List | All profiles for this category; active one highlighted. | — |
| Load | Button | Loads the selected profile onto the radio. Disabled when nothing is selected. | — |
| Save | Button | On the Global tab only. Saves the current radio state under the typed name, overwriting an existing profile if one with that name exists. | — |
| Create | Button | On the Transmit and Microphone tabs only. Creates a new profile under the typed name. Cannot overwrite an existing profile; if a name collision occurs, a dialog offers to enable Auto-Save. | — |
| Delete | Button | Deletes the selected profile after confirmation. Disabled when nothing is selected. | — |
| Auto-save profile changes | Checkbox | When enabled, TX and mic changes are written back to the active profile automatically. Synchronizes with the radio state from any source. | AutoSaveTransmitProfile |
| Close | Button | Closes the dialog. | — |
Tips¶
- Double-clicking a profile in the list loads it immediately without needing to click Load.
- The Profile name field is filled in when you select a profile, so you can load or overwrite a profile without retyping its name.
- On the Transmit and Microphone tabs, the Save button is labelled Create because the radio cannot directly overwrite existing transmit or microphone profiles — changes are captured via Auto-Save while the profile is active.
- If you see a dialog when clicking Create on a transmit or microphone tab saying a profile already exists, you can click Enable Auto-Save to turn on automatic saving without switching to the Auto-Save tab.
- The Auto-Save checkbox updates automatically when auto-save is enabled or disabled by any means — a profile load, a TCI command, a remote client, or the confirmation dialog on the Transmit/Microphone tabs.
- When loading a transmit profile, the radio uses the
profile tx loadcommand internally. This change is transparent and does not affect the user experience.