OK, so I admit I am not a brain surgeon, but then again this is not brain surgery.
I have been trying for a week or so to get a DVK (Digital Voice Keyer) of some sort to work with the equipment I have.
I thought I had everything I needed as far as equipment goes:
Yaesu FT-100D
MD-100 Microphone
MH-42 BJ6S Hand Mic
MH-36 BJ6S DTMF Hand Mic
RigBlaster Pro
Astron RS-50M Power Supply
PwrGate & Battery Backup
RigRunner 8-Port
Various USB to Serial converters
IBM T-60 ThinkPad (no serial port) running XP 32-bit
DELL D630 Laptop (COM1 serial port) running Vista 64-bit
I thought I had all the software I needed as well…
N3FJP Field Day Logger v.2.8
N1MM Logger v.9.5
Ham Radio Deluxe v.4.01
Apparently, every piece of software that I have uses a different method of rig control and PTT keying.
All I want to do is press F1 and have it key the rig and play a .wav file, and then repeat after 4-5 seconds ‘till I press escape or key the mic.
Do any of you have any experience with this? Any tips that can help?
Anyway – I have tried 2 different laptops, and both act differently. Get this – I tried to record a .wav file with the Dell running Vista. Simple task. Except for the fact that Vista no longer records things with Sound Recorder in .wav format any longer. It now records in .wma format, which logging programs won’t play. You have to start Sound Recorder from the command line with a /recordfile .wav modifier in order for it to do this with Vista…
But on to Serial port issues… WestMountainRadio had a link (http://lists.contesting.com/pipermail/writelog/2004-April/019714.html ) to a forum article I found interesting… Anyway it is becoming apparent that all serial ports are NOT created equal. The IBM T60, with NO serial port whatsoever needs a USB to Serial converter in order to interface to the RigBlaster Pro, and seems to work well as far as rig control goes. Problem is, the IBM ThinkPad T60 is a piece of crap I lifted from school. No wonder why we were getting rid of it… Next thing I wanna do is try the DVK aspect of things, I have not explored this yet. The Dell running Vista 64 is a bit more complicated, only certain USB to Serial converters will work, because of the ‘Vista 64-bit’ thing. Still looking for drivers for one Serial to USB device, I think I have another that will work but haven’t tried it yet.
My main concentration has been on the Dell D630, really nice laptop, 8G RAM, 9-pin COM port and 64-bit OS. You would think this would be adequate for logging at Field Day… Well you thought wrong. N3FJP won’t do rig control, it won’t even read the frequency and mode from the FT-100D, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get the DVK to work, as it won’t even recognize the COM1 device (RigBlaster Pro / FT-100D) attached to it. Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) works just fine, rig control is great and I can key the rig fine, except there is no DVK built into HRD. I don’t even know how the logger works, as I haven’t got to that yet… Add to that the lack (seemingly) of support for .wav files on the Dell and it appears hopeless. N1MM Logger keys the rig, and seems to read the frequency and mode, but when you push F1 to initiate the DVK the rig keys OK, but the .wav file stutters and spits and goes real slooooow thru everything. Frustrating at best…
At least when I attach one of the 3 microphones to the rig, and then attach an antenna to the output, I can press the PTT button and speak and it actually works. I worked a special event station from Ukraine on 40M like shooting fish in a barrel. I know Ukraine on 40 barefoot is no big deal, but it fuckin works!
Why can’t the rest of this crap be as easy?
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Field Day is not for lightweights...
Here is the 2nd installment of the trials and tribulations of a Field Day station…
I may have things setup and working properly… Time will tell.
I haven’t had a lot of time to test things ‘on-the-air’ yet because a breakthrough just occurred with my setup.
After diddling with EVERYTHING last night after I got home from school, I think I found the answer to the three or four nagging problems that have been plaguing my setup for the past week or so since I pulled everything outta the shack and set it up on the kitchen table.
First let’s review the setup:
Yaesu FT-100D interfaced to a
RigBlaster Pro connected to an
IBM ThinkPad T60 running XP 32-bit
The RigBlaster Pro is the heart of the setup. Connected to it is everything needed to interface a system together. Currently I have a Yaesu MD-100 desk mic attached, as well as a Heil ProSet headset. This also connects the IBM laptop via soundcard Line in and Line out 1/8 inch stereo connectors. Rig control is accomplished via USB to Serial on COM4, with a Targus adapter. In a nutshell, this is all you need to get working, everything else I will describe here is extra ‘fluff’.
Of course, all of the equipment you have needs to have certain ‘features’ in order for things to work. For example, I want to have a Digital Voice Keyer (DVK) connected so that I don’t wreck my voice over a 24-hour period of a contest. Not only is it physically challenging, it is mentally exhausting as you get into the wee hours of any contest. The ability to record audio and then play it back is key here, add to that the audio levels you must control and this by itself is quite challenging. In addition, you will need to key the rig, and then pass audio into the transmitter. Simple statement ‘eh? Well as you know it is not quite as simple as that. Let me list some requirements:
Audio interface between the computer and rig – RigBlaster Pro. The rig must be able to be keyed by the computer (rig control) and the audio must be sent from the computer to the rig after it is keyed up (DVK) The Blaster handles this easily, but not without extensive configuration and testing. Not only must you insure the unit is interfaced correctly for rig control, you must insure the mic wiring is correct as well. This is well-documented in several manuals, but one must research and put together your own ‘manual’ of sorts in order interface radio ABC with computer XYZ. In my case, I could not have chosen two more incompatible products.
The key, as it turns out is to have full-duplex audio within the computer you choose. This is more a function of the Operating System (OS) then it is with the computer itself, as Microsoft Windows XP Pro seems to handle this extremely well, and Microsoft Vista does not. The ability to ‘un-mute’ the mic input on the computer is critical to the success of the RigBlaster Pro interface. If you cannot pass-thru the audio from the radio thru the soundcard and back to the RigBlaster Pro, you will not hear any audio in your headphones that are plugged into the front of the RigBlaster Pro. You also may not be able to use the soundcard as a ‘processor’ to fine-tune or hone your audio characteristics passed back into the rig. (I have not tested this yet, maybe by Part 3 I can get to it…)
For the life of me I cannot get Vista to pass-thru mic audio. Maybe it is a function of the soundcard, maybe it is the OS, maybe it is God trying to tell me to stay off the friggin’ radio. Apparently this isn’t the only annoying Vista glitch, the first one I came across was the apparent inability to record .wav files. Vista (Business Edition) wants to record things with the Sound Recorder in .wma (Windows Media Audio) format. While I don’t know the differences between the two formats, and I personally don’t care, this is yet another blunder by Microshaft that will add Vista to the likes of Windows Millennium (ME). Jesus I can’t wait for Windows 7…
There is a workaround though… but I don’t know why I am telling you this, as I don’t think Vista will work as far as setting it up to use as a DVK and rig control computer. From the Run command, start Sound Recorder like this: SoundRecorder /recordfile=.wav and you will be able to save in the .wav format. You just cannot rename a file extension and expect it to work. Such a shame, as I have a really nice Dell D630 running Vista 64-bit with 8G RAM and a 250G HD. Even worse is I have a duplicate laptop just like this one (except with a faster processor) as a spare that I use daily for regular stuff at home. Not only can I not get full-duplex audio, I can’t find drivers for any of the Serial to USB adapters I own. Thanks again Microshit for offering a wonderfully stable 64-bit OS with virtually no support whatsoever.
OK, so I have temporarily resolved myself to the fact that I need to use 32-bit XP as the OS of choice for Field Day. At first I thought FD was an exercise in emergency preparedness… Why all this fuss about computers and digital this and interface that? Well, as it turns out, anyone with a radio and antenna can plunk it all down on a table and operate Field Day. Apparently it is some sort of contest requiring a set of rules 30 pages long that you need an engineering degree in order to interpret. Back in ’91 when I got my license, all we needed for logging was a pencil and a ‘dupe sheet’. Sure you may have needed a sharp knife in order to sharpen your pencil after a couple hours, but you could use the knife for other things that weekend. Who could have predicted that this ‘exercise’ would turn into the nightmare it has become? With about 5 weeks to go, I still am not ready for this. Don’t get me wrong, as it stands now I could drag all this crap out, set it up and operate and still have a good time. But I want to do it right. I want to use this technology for something good rather than horde it all in my shack to make evil contacts on my own in the dead of night. Turns out, Field Day is not for lightweights…
I may have things setup and working properly… Time will tell.
I haven’t had a lot of time to test things ‘on-the-air’ yet because a breakthrough just occurred with my setup.
After diddling with EVERYTHING last night after I got home from school, I think I found the answer to the three or four nagging problems that have been plaguing my setup for the past week or so since I pulled everything outta the shack and set it up on the kitchen table.
First let’s review the setup:
Yaesu FT-100D interfaced to a
RigBlaster Pro connected to an
IBM ThinkPad T60 running XP 32-bit
The RigBlaster Pro is the heart of the setup. Connected to it is everything needed to interface a system together. Currently I have a Yaesu MD-100 desk mic attached, as well as a Heil ProSet headset. This also connects the IBM laptop via soundcard Line in and Line out 1/8 inch stereo connectors. Rig control is accomplished via USB to Serial on COM4, with a Targus adapter. In a nutshell, this is all you need to get working, everything else I will describe here is extra ‘fluff’.
Of course, all of the equipment you have needs to have certain ‘features’ in order for things to work. For example, I want to have a Digital Voice Keyer (DVK) connected so that I don’t wreck my voice over a 24-hour period of a contest. Not only is it physically challenging, it is mentally exhausting as you get into the wee hours of any contest. The ability to record audio and then play it back is key here, add to that the audio levels you must control and this by itself is quite challenging. In addition, you will need to key the rig, and then pass audio into the transmitter. Simple statement ‘eh? Well as you know it is not quite as simple as that. Let me list some requirements:
Audio interface between the computer and rig – RigBlaster Pro. The rig must be able to be keyed by the computer (rig control) and the audio must be sent from the computer to the rig after it is keyed up (DVK) The Blaster handles this easily, but not without extensive configuration and testing. Not only must you insure the unit is interfaced correctly for rig control, you must insure the mic wiring is correct as well. This is well-documented in several manuals, but one must research and put together your own ‘manual’ of sorts in order interface radio ABC with computer XYZ. In my case, I could not have chosen two more incompatible products.
The key, as it turns out is to have full-duplex audio within the computer you choose. This is more a function of the Operating System (OS) then it is with the computer itself, as Microsoft Windows XP Pro seems to handle this extremely well, and Microsoft Vista does not. The ability to ‘un-mute’ the mic input on the computer is critical to the success of the RigBlaster Pro interface. If you cannot pass-thru the audio from the radio thru the soundcard and back to the RigBlaster Pro, you will not hear any audio in your headphones that are plugged into the front of the RigBlaster Pro. You also may not be able to use the soundcard as a ‘processor’ to fine-tune or hone your audio characteristics passed back into the rig. (I have not tested this yet, maybe by Part 3 I can get to it…)
For the life of me I cannot get Vista to pass-thru mic audio. Maybe it is a function of the soundcard, maybe it is the OS, maybe it is God trying to tell me to stay off the friggin’ radio. Apparently this isn’t the only annoying Vista glitch, the first one I came across was the apparent inability to record .wav files. Vista (Business Edition) wants to record things with the Sound Recorder in .wma (Windows Media Audio) format. While I don’t know the differences between the two formats, and I personally don’t care, this is yet another blunder by Microshaft that will add Vista to the likes of Windows Millennium (ME). Jesus I can’t wait for Windows 7…
There is a workaround though… but I don’t know why I am telling you this, as I don’t think Vista will work as far as setting it up to use as a DVK and rig control computer. From the Run command, start Sound Recorder like this: SoundRecorder /recordfile=.wav and you will be able to save in the .wav format. You just cannot rename a file extension and expect it to work. Such a shame, as I have a really nice Dell D630 running Vista 64-bit with 8G RAM and a 250G HD. Even worse is I have a duplicate laptop just like this one (except with a faster processor) as a spare that I use daily for regular stuff at home. Not only can I not get full-duplex audio, I can’t find drivers for any of the Serial to USB adapters I own. Thanks again Microshit for offering a wonderfully stable 64-bit OS with virtually no support whatsoever.
OK, so I have temporarily resolved myself to the fact that I need to use 32-bit XP as the OS of choice for Field Day. At first I thought FD was an exercise in emergency preparedness… Why all this fuss about computers and digital this and interface that? Well, as it turns out, anyone with a radio and antenna can plunk it all down on a table and operate Field Day. Apparently it is some sort of contest requiring a set of rules 30 pages long that you need an engineering degree in order to interpret. Back in ’91 when I got my license, all we needed for logging was a pencil and a ‘dupe sheet’. Sure you may have needed a sharp knife in order to sharpen your pencil after a couple hours, but you could use the knife for other things that weekend. Who could have predicted that this ‘exercise’ would turn into the nightmare it has become? With about 5 weeks to go, I still am not ready for this. Don’t get me wrong, as it stands now I could drag all this crap out, set it up and operate and still have a good time. But I want to do it right. I want to use this technology for something good rather than horde it all in my shack to make evil contacts on my own in the dead of night. Turns out, Field Day is not for lightweights…
Monday, December 17, 2007
Watson - 200 lbs. of stupid...
Here is one of the very first images I shot with my 1st DSLR.
Nikon D70, 1/250 @ F8. 18-70mm lens @ 70mm. No post-processing.
He likes to plow snow with his head, and although he stays inside alot, he loves the outdoors, especially in winter. Too bad he is afraid of his own shadow...
As goofy as he may act, I have never seen a more loyal dog.
View our pet galleries here...
Sunday, December 16, 2007
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