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Inspect each transverter's RF/IF, offset and validity flags for XVTR diagnosis

The Slice Troubleshooting dialog captures a snapshot of every transverter configured on your FLEX-8600 and displays its RF frequency, IF frequency, frequency offset, and validity flags. Use this when a transverter-based slice is misbehaving — wrong frequency, missing reception, or unexpected mode — and you need to confirm what the radio actually reports for each XVTR entry.

Before you start

  • AetherSDR must be connected to the radio. The dialog requires an active radio connection.
  • Any transverters you want to inspect must already be configured on the FLEX-8600.

Steps

  1. Click Help > Slice Troubleshooting... to open the Slice Troubleshooting dialog.
  2. Click the Issue Summary tab. Scan the bullet list for any XVTR validity warnings. The summary flags entries where is_valid is false or has_is_valid is false.
  3. Click the JSON tab to see the full snapshot. Locate the transverter entries in the JSON. Each XVTR entry reports the following fields:
  4. name — the label assigned to the transverter
  5. index and order — position identifiers
  6. rf_freq_mhz — the RF (over-the-air) frequency in MHz
  7. if_freq_mhz — the IF (radio input) frequency in MHz
  8. offset_mhz — the difference applied between IF and RF, in MHz
  9. is_valid — whether the transverter entry is marked valid (Yes / No)
  10. has_is_valid — whether the radio reported a validity flag at all (Yes / No)
  11. rx_only — whether the entry is receive-only
  12. max_power — maximum power in the XVTR entry
  13. If you made changes to transverter settings after opening the dialog, click Refresh Snapshot to re-read the current state from the radio before drawing any conclusions.
  14. To share the findings, click Copy Summary to copy the plain-language issue list to the clipboard, Copy JSON to copy the full JSON, or Export JSON... to save the JSON to a file.
  15. Click Close when finished.

What each control does

Control Kind Behavior
Issue Summary tab Tab Plain-language bullet list of detected problems, including audio routing, DSP, control-device (MIDI) state, audio endpoint state, multi-client ownership, panadapter slice connection status, TX meter liveness, and XVTR validity issues.
JSON tab Tab Full JSON snapshot (schema version 3) containing slices, DAX channels, audio devices, client DSP, control devices, audio endpoints, TX band settings, and all transverter entries with RF, IF, offset, and validity fields.
Refresh Snapshot Button Re-reads slice state into the snapshot.
Copy Summary Button Copies the issue summary to the clipboard.
Copy JSON Button Copies the full JSON snapshot to the clipboard.
Export JSON... Button Saves the full JSON snapshot to a file.
Find: Text field Highlights matching occurrences of the entered term in the active tab (Issue Summary or JSON). Has clear button and placeholder 'Search snapshot...'. Enter jumps to the next match; tab sharing updates highlight counts. Status label shows ' match(es) in current tab.'
Find Next Button Jumps to the next match of the search term in the active tab. Wraps within the current tab. Empty term produces no matches.
Status label Label Shows last copy/export result (e.g. "Copied to clipboard") or the search match count.
Close Button Closes the dialog.

TX meter liveness in the Issue Summary

v26.8.4 adds TX meter liveness detection to the Issue Summary. When the TX meters are not live, the summary includes a warning line similar to:

  - ⚠ TX meters are NOT live (last sample 1234 ms ago) — TX forward power is the last value received, not a current reading, and TX SWR is omitted rather than shown stale.

The warning is only emitted when the TX meters are stale; a live group produces no caveat. This prevents misreading a stale forward power value as a live reading when the SWR correctly shows n/a.

Depending on the state, the parenthetical part reads either last sample <N> ms ago (when a sample has been received) or no TX meter sample this session (when none has been received this session).

Audio endpoint fields in the snapshot

v26.6.1 adds audio endpoint state to the snapshot. Each audio endpoint appears in the Issue Summary with the following details:

Field Meaning
name The endpoint name.
direction Direction (INPUT or OUTPUT).
kind Kind of endpoint (e.g. "endpoint").
operational Whether the endpoint is operational (Yes / No).
running Whether the endpoint is running (Yes / No).
state Current state string.
error Error string, or "n/a" if none.
backend Audio backend name.
device Device name, or "Unavailable".
sample_rate_hz Sample rate in Hz.
channel_count Number of channels.
sample_format Sample format string.
resampling_active Whether resampling is active.
voice_input_normalizing_to_48k Whether voice input normalization to 48 kHz is active (new in v26.8.4).
voice_egress_resampling_to_24k Whether voice egress resampling to 24 kHz is active (new in v26.8.4).
rade_resampling_to_24k Whether RADE resampling to 24 kHz is active (new in v26.8.4).
buffer_bytes Current buffer size in bytes (if available).
buffer_peak_bytes Peak buffer size in bytes (if available).
underrun_count Number of underruns (if available).
note Additional plain-language note about the endpoint.

In v26.8.4, the endpoint details line includes three additional flags when the underlying audio system reports them: voice input normalization to 48 kHz, voice egress resampling to 24 kHz, and RADE resampling to 24 kHz. These indicate whether the audio system is actively resampling for those purposes.

Remote audio RX fields in the snapshot

v0.9.4 adds remote audio RX state to both the radio-level and per-slice sections of the Issue Summary and JSON snapshot. These fields help diagnose problems where AetherSDR has requested a remote audio stream from the radio but audio is not flowing.

Radio-level remote audio RX

In the Issue Summary, look for the line beginning Remote audio RX:. It reports the following:

Field Meaning
stream_id The stream identifier assigned by the radio, or — if none.
stream_expected Whether AetherSDR expects this stream to exist (Yes / No).
create_pending Whether a create request is still outstanding (Yes / No).
status_seen Whether a status update for this stream has been received (Yes / No).
owned_by_us Whether this client owns the stream (Yes / No).
compression The compression type in use, or — if not reported.

A second line, Remote audio route note:, contains a plain-language note about the routing state, or — if none was generated.

Per-slice radio stream route

In the Issue Summary, look for the line beginning Radio stream route: remote_audio_rx. It reports the following:

Field Meaning
remote_audio_rx_stream_id The stream identifier for this slice's remote audio RX, or — if none.
remote_audio_rx_expected Whether the stream is expected to exist.
remote_audio_rx_create_pending Whether a create request is still outstanding.
remote_audio_rx_remove_requested Whether a remove request has been sent but not yet confirmed.
remote_audio_rx_status_seen Whether a status update for this stream has been received.
remote_audio_rx_owned_by_us Whether this client owns the stream.

If remote_audio_rx_expected is true but remote_audio_rx_status_seen is false, the radio has not yet confirmed the stream. If create_pending is true for an extended period, the create request may not have reached the radio.

Panadapter slice connection status in the snapshot

v26.6.1 adds slice connection status information to the panadapter section of the Issue Summary. When a panadapter has slice connection details available, the summary line for that panadapter includes a slice_connection_status block with the following fields:

Field Meaning
state The connection state (e.g. "connected", "disconnected", "unknown").
summary A plain-language description of the slice link state.
connected_slice_ids Comma-separated list of slice IDs currently connected to this panadapter, or "none".
active_slice_ids Comma-separated list of active slice IDs, or "none".
attention_required Whether the connection status requires attention ((attention) appended).

Client DSP snapshot fields in the JSON tab

v26.7.4 adds additional NR2 (Noise Reduction 2) configuration fields to the JSON snapshot. The client DSP section of the JSON now includes:

Field Meaning
nr2.gain_method The current NR2 gain method name.
nr2.gain_method_id The numeric identifier of the gain method.
nr2.npe_method The current NR2 noise power estimation method name.
nr2.npe_method_id The numeric identifier of the NPE method.
nr2.ae_filter Whether the adaptive echo filter is enabled (true / false).
nr2.gain_max The maximum gain value.
nr2.gain_floor The minimum gain floor value (new in v26.7.4).
nr2.gain_smooth The gain smoothing factor.
nr2.qspp The quasi-stationary power percentile value.

Note: The legacy_geometry_and_gain_mapping field, which appeared in snapshots from v26.7.4, has been removed in v26.8.4 because the legacy geometry option was retired and no longer has a user-facing control.

Tips

  • If has_is_valid is No for a transverter, the radio did not report a validity flag for that entry at all. This is distinct from is_valid being No, which means the radio reported the entry as explicitly invalid.
  • Click Refresh Snapshot after adjusting transverter settings in SmartSDR or on the radio before re-reading the values. The snapshot is not updated automatically.
  • The offset_mhz field should equal rf_freq_mhz minus if_freq_mhz. If it does not match your transverter configuration, that discrepancy is a likely cause of frequency errors on the slice.
  • When investigating missing audio, check the remote audio RX fields first. If owned_by_us is No and stream_expected is Yes, another client may have taken ownership of the stream.
  • When investigating panadapter connection issues, check the slice_connection_status field. If attention_required is true, further investigation is needed.
  • Audio endpoint underruns indicated by a non-zero underrun_count may point to performance or buffer configuration issues.
  • When the TX meters warning appears in the Issue Summary, do not trust the displayed forward power for tuning or matching decisions — it is the last value received, not a live reading.
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