Time for an update on my "receiving QRSS on my Mac" project. But first, will say that I agree with many other recent posters that LW propagation (heck MW and SW as well) has been way down the last few weeks. My sense is that it tanked with the first major solar storm/CME a few weeks ago (first time I had ever seen a Kp value of almost 9 before), and simply has never recovered.
OK, QRSS/Mac update. I preface this by thanking all of the folks on this board who have made recommendations to help me get up and running. I won't be thanking individuals here since I would be in danger of missing and thus offending some folks. But you know who you are - thank you for your help!
I have a functioning RSPdx-R2 SDR receiver. This works fine via the SDRplay-provided SDRconnect software, which is multiplatform (PC, Mac, Linux) and works well on my Mac. I can easily pick up/see a lot of the usual suspects from LW to MW to SW to VHF, all vertically oriented in the waterfall, with no way to go horizontal that I can find.
It seems most folks here have recommended ARGO software for QRSS visualization. Unfortunately, ARGO only runs on PCs, not Macs, but stay tuned here...
I picked up (for $) Parallels Desktop software, which is a Windows (PC) emulator that can run on my M1 MacBook Air and our iMac desktop. When installing Parallels Desktop, you have the option to let Parallels itself install Windows 11 within it, an option I took. So I am running Windows 11 within the Parallel Desktop emulator.
This is a pretty slick package and looks very much like the PC I ran in the science/corporate world until 6 months ago (start menu, dock, PC "feel," etc.). The Parallels "desktop" looks like a regular window within my Mac environment, but you can "step inside" this "PC window" and bingo you're in a PC. You can go back and forth from PC to Mac simply by clicking in whatever window you want.
I downloaded ARGO software which only runs in a PC environment and easily got that installed with Windows 11, and can open it with Windows 11 running within Parallels Desktop.
I downloaded VB-Cable, both the PC and Mac versions. Easily got the Mac version installed, and was able to set the audio output of SDRconnect to the input of VB Cable. Unfortunately, I cannot find the VB Cable output from within ARGO (even with sound confirmed going into VB cable, even though I believe I'm looking in the right place within ARGO to do this. I de-installed the Mac-installed version of VB Cable, and reinstalled the PC version, but cannot locate exactly "where it went" and still cannot see a VB Cable output when I try to set the ARGO input. Essentially, I can only get confirmed working VB cable if I install it with the Mac installer package.
So currently I seem to have all the component parts working fine but cannot complete the RSPdx-R2 receiver to SDRconnect software to VB-Cable input to VB-Cable output to to ARGO input. Individually they all seem to work fine, but the glitch is VB cable output to ARGO input, i.e., getting ARGO to "see" the output of VB cable, while that same VB cable software has one foot in Mac (SDRconnect software) and its other foot in Windows environment.
And the beauty of writing up this long-winded update is that as I wrote the last sentence, I had an epiphany - I could try reinstalling the SDRconnect software using its Windows "face" instead of its Mac "face", perhaps by opening the SDRconnect software dmg installer within Windows, instead of within Mac environment, which is how I previously installed SDRconnect.
Part of me says I should just buy a dedicated el cheapo PC to run my SDR but hey I need something to do these days with the 2' of snow we just got and the single or negative digit temperatures.
Any comments or suggestions welcome - and thanks again for previous guidance to everyone who has weighed in!
73, Bruce WA1HGJ