Remote Rig
RRC 1258 Support in English => General discussion forum => Topic started by: guanaco on 2013-10-08, 13:56:10
-
Hi,
I’m about to order some remoterig equipment for my setup. But to save some extra shipping costs, I really want to be sure I have all I need .
I’d like to control my TS480 and Yaesu rotor (for which I don’t have a controller). I also want to use an expert 1K remotely. Also want to do CW and digital modes (psk, rtty, ..)
I figured I needed this for voice communication:
- set of RRC-1258MkIIs (http://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=1051) + 12V adapters
- webswitch 1216H + 12V adapter
- rotor remote control 1216L
I could make the cables myself. I have another 20V power supply which will be used to turn the rotor CW or CCW. This 20v could be switched by the 1216L.
But I wonder what I actually need to get digital modes working:
Based on the drawing at page http://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=362 I only need a cat cable (Kenwood CAT Cables K14c,K15c ?) between transciever and RRC. Is this the only thing I need? On the controlling side I would only use a PC with HRD. Or am I missing something here?
Could you please confirm this is indeed all I need?
I guess both the Radio-RRC and the RRC-amplifier cables are all documented, so this should be easy to make..
Thanks!
-
Those are a lot of questions and I am in a rush, but I will try to answer best I can:
- Assuming you use COM2 of the RRC to pass CAT through the internet, then this leaves only one port
(COM1) available for controlling another device.
- You can use the Webswitch to control the rotor, or use any generic serial server, such as from Lantronix
or Moxa. (or COM1 on the RRC)
- You can control the SPE Expert either by using COM1 on the RRC, or also using any generic serial server. I
have been doing so for several years now with a serial server.
- To get CAT working, you only need a standard serial cable between the TS-480 and RRC COM2 (plus some settings)
- To get FSK running, you would need to make a cable between the RRC I/O plug and the ACC plug n the
TS-480. If you can live with AFSK, a standard sound card interface on the control side is sufficient (required
for other digital modes)
73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX
-
Hi,
Thanks for your reply!
Ok regarding COM2 for CAT, but since I'm using a rotor controller (1216L) I won't need COM1 for rotor control. So I guess (correct me if I'm wrong) I could use COM1 for the amplifier?
Of for the cable on the radio side..
regarding the RRC I/O for digital modes, could you please provide more info on this (link) ?
Thanks!
J.
-
Basically, it is your choice what you use COM1 for. If you have a Webswitch for the rotor, you can use it for
the amplifier. My point was that it doesn't matter and that you only have one COM port available when you
use CAT with COM2.
As for the digital modes, just refer to the RemoteRig manual. On page 14 is the pinout for the AUX/MIC
connector for AFSK or digital mode sending (take audio from the SP jack). On page 19 is the pinout for
the I/O connector if you want to use FSK. Refer to the TS-480 manual for the ACC pinout.
73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX
-
Hi Mitch,
Thanks for the info. Still 1 thing not clear to me.
Manual on page 13 states "The USB interface is used to initially set up the IP parameters. It can also be used for downloading new software (can also be done via the WEB interface). At the Control - RRC it can also be used for CAT control, PTT, RTTY or CW control via the RTS and DTR signals in the virtual COM - port delivered by the RRC USB device ."
The part in bold isn't clear for me.. I thought I didn't need an additional connector for digital modes then. I thought DM780/HRD would just take care of sending the audio via the USB port. Isn't that the case?
I currently have a microham keyer II, so I wonder how this thing will fit into the remote setup. So far I thought I didn't need this.
-
Check my postings , I uploaded several drawings for this specific setups
Guy ON4AOI
-
Sorry, I have been busy all today (I am on business in Johannesburg this week).
Like Guy say, he has made some postings with details on this and he is the expert.
Some comments: the USB does not carry audio, it is only used for a virtual serial ports.
What is it exactly you want to do with the Microham? CW? Digital modes? FSK?
73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX
-
HI,
Went through all the posts, but 90% of the images seems to be corrupt :(
Well, I guess I'd be able to get voice working, but I would also like to use PSK, RTTY, CW via HRD/DM780.
I currently have a TS850 and microham keyer II, which I'm using for both PSK, SSTV and CW, but I have a hard time understanding/visualizing how to set this up on a remote system.
(Haven't actually bought the remoterig hardware, so I'm not able to play with it yet, first I need to know everything so I could buy all at once :-) )
It would be nice to actually see everything connected on a drawing. I'm sure Guy already posted some drawings, but they suffer from digital mice I guess!
I currently have 4 virtual com ports: CAT, CW, PTT and KEY; I guess I only need 1 of them for the remote setup. As far as I understood, I could use COM2;
COM1 could be used for the expert amplifier control, right?
So how and where is the microham keyer actually connected? This is still located on the control side, right?
-
I will check my backups to find them again and post them on the reflector again
Guy ON4AOI
-
Guy,
Any luck finding back your old drawings?
-
Anyone could help me out with this please?
On the radio side, I just need to connect RRC with radio via DB-9, but what do I need at the control side?
-
Hi
it's no problem t control the Expert from a PC via the RRC:s, see links below. To get automatic bandswitching you need a cable between the Expert and the TS-480 CAT port, that cable is shown in the Expert User manual
73 de mike
http://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=426 (http://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=426)
http://new.remoterig.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Expert-Cable-Ex1.pdf (http://new.remoterig.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Expert-Cable-Ex1.pdf)
-
Hi,
Thanks a lot for reply!
the puzzle is getting more clear now. Still miss some pieces.
Ok, so the expert cable will do the trick, except for automatic bandswitching.
So, then there's one question remaining: CAT (hrd for logging and digital modes).
I need to connect radio with radio-RRC via RS232 cable (COM2), but what is needed on the control side? I do have a microham keyer II, so I guess I need to make my own DB37 -> control-RRC cable? Or can this be done via the USB interface?
It would be good to be able to do automatic bandswitching as well, but since COM2 (CAT) and COM1 (expert -> RRC) are both in use, I don't have other options, right?
Once This thing is sorted out I'll put everything on a drawing, to make life easier for other people with the same setup :-)
-
Hi
The cables on our drawing plus the CAT cable from Expert to the Radio for Bandswitching is the plain solution to be able to use the Expert PA
I can't help you with the Microham connections, I have no experince of it. I hope Guy or someone else can help you with that
73 de mike
-
Ok. Thanks again for the reply!
Guy, (or maybe someone else?)
Do you know if automatic bandswitching for the expert AND CAT control for the Transciever can be done simultaneously?
I mean, CAT control requires the CAT connector for the TS480 to be connected to COM2 of the Radio RRC, but automatic bandswitch would also require the very same connector on the TS480, so how would this work?
On the control part, CAT could be done via the virtual ports, but we still need to make an interface for audio, right?
(maybe Guy posted it somewhere on his drawings, but most of them are lost on the server)
-
You can use COM1 of the RRC (either serial or over USB) as well for CAT. Changing the serial mode of
COM1 to mode-6 (or mode-7 if needed) will combine the CAT signal and allow you to sync another
device or software over CAT.
This doesn't help your Microham interface to be used, but would solve your problem.
73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX
-
Hi,
And thanks again for the reply :-)
But I only have 1 CAT interface on the TS480, but I need a cable from expert to CAT of TS480 to get bandswitch working AND I need a cable from RRC to the same CAT port on the TS480..
Or can this be done in parallel?
-
This is easy:
- Run a real serial cable between the TS-480 and RRC COM2
- Run the Expert serial cable between the RRC COM1 and Expert
On the control side, you can use COM2 and even COM1 as well for two programs for CAT control.
That's it!
73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX
-
Indeed, that's what I initially thought, but - according to Mike - you would also need a cable between expert and TS480 for band detection.
Or would you rely on the build in frequency counter on the expert to do the automatic bandswitching?
-
Do the Microham stuff have some banddata output ?
I have solved this problem with the K3 in the way that I use the banddata ( 4 parallell wires) output from the K3 to the Expert then I don't need ant CAT to the Expert.
/mike
-
Mike, Need to figure that one out.
Anyhow, maybe it's interesting to have some sort of knowledge base with user config examples. 'cause once it's figured out, everything is simple, right? It's just a matter of gathering all the info that takes a lot of time.
In any case, I'll document my own config in detail and post it somewhere - once it's finished.
-
Indeed, that's what I initially thought, but - according to Mike - you would also need a cable between expert and TS480 for band detection.
Or would you rely on the build in frequency counter on the expert to do the automatic bandswitching?
Read my last message again....I wrote that you add the serial cable between the RRC COM1 and Expert (DB25).
73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX
-
Hi all,
Everything seems to be working ok, except the digimodes.. Using a Signalink USB at control side I can send and receive, but the rx audio is very distorted.
If I look at the waterfall screen of DM780 for instance, I see that all signals are much broader then they are supposed to. RTTY should be 2 vertrical lines but instead I see very thick noisy lines, also PSK looks much thicker and not clean.
Also when listening to the signal myself, I hear it's not sounding like a clear RTTY or PSK signal.
Voice also sounds a bit more aurora-like. Not disturbing, but this clearly has an effect on digimodes.
Tried with different jitter settings, but no difference at all. Also tried another codec, without luck.
Anyone has an idea what this might be?
73
J.
-
Should work ok. Did you change RTP to "continuous"?
73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX
-
Hey Mitch,
Yes RTP is set to continuous on both ends..
I increased the jitter buffer size to 7 and jitter delay to 6, even tried the max. values without any improvement.
J.
-
went to the remote site, unplugged all cables, and connected everything again. Also performed a hard reset of the radio.
PROBLEM SOLVED! Amazing.