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1

Hardware, Cabling, Installations / Can't get virtual COM1 (COM7) & COM2 (COM5) to work via usb

« on: 2014-12-16, 17:00:55 »

Hi,

I have a working setup on my RRC-1258 MkII pair, as follows:

COM1 is a physical connection at both ends, providing FT857D CAT - this is working fine (Mode3, 4800 8-N-2, no rts/cts).
COM2 is a physical connection at both ends, providing Rotator control - this is working fine (Mode3, 4800 8-N-1).
COM3 is being used via usb at the control end as USB-COMFSK in "Mode8, Winkeyer" - working fine using virtual port COM8.

I decided to remove the physical hardware (usb-serial) connections for COM1/2 at the control end and use all three ports via the box's usb connection. I changed the control settings so that "Use USB Com Port as COMx" was set to yes for COM1 and COM2, but neither virtually-assigned port (COM7 and COM5) will work with the same software that works fine using the hardware connections. I checked that the physical ports on the control box stopped working when they were configured for usb, as expected. I also tried changing the properties of the virtual ports to match the hardware port settings, but no luck.

I've tried to get this working on WinXP and W7-64 machines using the latest firmware and setup manager software as of today, but no joy. Any ideas please?

Regards, Mark

2

Hardware, Cabling, Installations / FT857D - 5V (or 8V) routed to Control AUX/MIC connector?

« on: 2013-06-27, 18:58:46 »

Hi,

The FT857D provides +5V on pin 3 of its RJ45 mic socket, which is useful for low-power accessories. This doesn't get replicated on the RRC1258MkII Control AUX/MIC socket with the standard strappings (I have the FT857D "bundle"). Is there an easy way to do it, i.e. does one of the unused pins have a voltage capable of supplying a small amount of current (say 10mA), so that it would simply be a case of adding one more strap? If that's not possible, any other suggestions please

Regards, Mark

3

General discussion forum / Deteriorating setup (FT857D)

« on: 2013-06-05, 11:16:17 »

Hi,

I've had an FT857D remoterig setup working well and in constant use for about 6 months.

In the last few weeks I've noticed it's becoming more and more difficult to get the rig to power on. When I press the faceplate's power switch I get the three cycles, (some ethernet packets too) then nothing. On the shack webcam I can see what looks like a red LED from somewhere (it's too far to view) also cycling three times. After what seems to be an increasing number of attempts (sometimes some minutes) the rig will eventually come on.

I can (and do) remotely recycle the rig's 12V PSU. I also tried changing the PSU (from SMPS to linear) but that made no difference.

One thing I might be doing wrong is powering the radio remoterig box from the same 12V PSU as the rig - could that be the problem? I'm trying to narrow down where to look before randomly changing things!

Thanks,

Mark