RTTY and CW using computer hookup issue

[radio grief]

Also, wondering if I have my Rigblaster here with me...
MINE IS (RIGBLASTER PRO) CONNECTED AND "COPIES"...HAVE TO BE SURE IT WILL "KEY MY ICOM.....

USING FLDIG , I WAS SEEING THE WATERFALL (WF) BUT, NOT SEEING IT ALTHOUGH IS SET TO "ON"....ANOTHER ISSUE IS, I UNINSTALLED IT, USED CRAP-CLEANER, REBOOTED, RE-INSTALLED IT AND IT STILL SEES MY CALL SIGN AND IT SHOULDN'T!...ANOTHER IS AT THE TOP LEFT IT INDICATES A FREQ THAT IS WRONG AND, I DON'T EVEN WANT IT DISPLAYED AND WANT TO GET RID OF IT BUT, CANNOT....

Thought I had it in Nevada. may have to go look out in the garage for it soon. I havent used it since I dont have my Icom 706 MKIIG here. My 756 PRO II I have a separate cable set to make the task easier, but the rigblaster is nice to interface with other radios. I might have to make a Kenwood TS-430 cable for myself and give it a try. This way its a close setup to the way you have it there.
I AM NOT SWEATING ANY CABLES ALTHOUGH, MINE HAS NOT THE USB CABLE....

We will have to prevail!

 

[doffo]

Yep, with the Rigblaster Pro, there is no real way to pull the data off to see what frequency on, so you are having to do that manually. I think mine is the PRO version as well, controlled by the serial port. I am having difficulties with the serial port on this tower with windows 10 lol. Not wanting to work with it or all my cables are null modem cables. I will see what I can get to work.

 

[radio grief]

Yep, with the Rigblaster Pro, there is no real way to pull the data off to see what frequency on, so you are having to do that manually. I think mine is the PRO version as well, controlled by the serial port. I am having difficulties with the serial port on this tower with windows 10 lol. Not wanting to work with it or all my cables are null modem cables. I will see what I can get to work.

####################

I am setting aside the "rig" and gonna work with the "232" until working...
I don't care what that left corner box does at all in FLADIG and, is just a distraction for me.....Difficulties in where the connections go or, the port itself?

 

[doffo]

I had chance to plug in that Kantronics KAM, and it was dead. Thought I might of used the wrong serial cables, but it turns out the devices are notorious for them to just go dead. There was a good page explaining the problem and I was able to change out the 2 capacitors on the front of the device, and the device works great again. That might of explained why it was on the free pile lol.

Your PakRatt should do something similar once you use Putty to see if you can get inside it.

 

[radio grief]

UPDATE----

1)...I screwed around with this headache today for a bit with no good results......I have Putty installed and no action at all appears on the screen.....nada-nothing-ziltch!

2)...I ran an audio cord directly into the computer's sound card (mic input) from the speaker output of the radio and still, nothing on Putty....Com ports in this case will make no difference since not using it...

3)...I ran that same audio cable from the "901" radio to the "audio input jack" of the PK232 (232) and can see the front bar graph (bouncing around" like in the old days using a C-64 computer....This tells me that I have a recognized signal(s).

4)...I ran a cable (rs232) from the rear (as previously pictured) of the "232" to the computer COM port (1) in back of the Dell desktop...

5)...Lastly, I connected the cable with the 4-pin mic connector and "flat" plug connector (as previously pictured)---Mic connector to front of Yaesu FT-901DM and "flat plug" to the rear "radio 1" socket/port in back of "232"....

I know for fact that"232' is working....

6)...Feeding the audio cable directly into the sound card of the desktop should have yielded some results - but, none...

7)...The "232" is in itself as I have read, is basically a computer in and of itself......I did remember that there was a rs232 multi pin connector on EACH end that used to connect to the rs232 in back of the PK232 and into identical port and connector in back of my C-64 if that makes any difference...

8)...I am not even remotely sure as to how to do the "switching" in/on the PK232 or even to key the transmitter should I get that far!....Seems to me that this craploa should work.....I have a recognized signal into the PK232, can read cw, have read RTTY......

9)...I decided to start from scratch and I uninstalled all associated programs (these programs came on a disc with I got my RigBlaster Pro, some free and some trial)...Will try again tomorrow or this weekend and hope for better luck. (**NOTE - I noticed when I uninstalled 1 program and reinstalled same, it somehow "hung on" to my call which should have been wiped clean after deleting the program and rebooting!**

 

[radio grief]

I had chance to plug in that Kantronics KAM, and it was dead. Thought I might of used the wrong serial cables, but it turns out the devices are notorious for them to just go dead. There was a good page explaining the problem and I was able to change out the 2 capacitors on the front of the device, and the device works great again. That might of explained why it was on the free pile lol.

Your PakRatt should do something similar once you use Putty to see if you can get inside it.
View attachment 68317

***I hate you!....GRIN

 

[doffo]

***I hate you!....GRIN

We will figure your setup out. I assure you that. Just needs to be an easier way to talk real time and be able to view what you are connecting. I have a Discord, but otherwise no real way for me to get a hold of ya and help you troubleshoot.

 

[radio grief]

Yeah, THANKS for hanging in there...To most, this may seem to be a waste of time and, I apologize for that......I will reinstall all the programs on disc I mentioned today. (Friday)......Is there a website showing all the free-ware for digital?.....

The old C-64 was very simple using a plug-in module with the program in it...Had a "printer-port" cable with large identical connectors on each end - 1 to printer port (LP-1?) port of computer and the other to port on C-64 , and one cable from C-64 to mic socket/jack on radio....The radio was keyed using an RCA cable to PTT jack on back of "901" to the C64 back panel...

(Re: PK232) - I am stumped!...

A)....The 901 radio speaker output feeds the "PK232" using the "radio input jack on back.....

B)...A large RS-232 cable runs from back of "PK232" to COM PORT 1 of the dell desktop computer....(**I wonder how the C-64 used the printer port for data?...I have a cable for that if required**)....

C)...A cable runs from mic socket on front of 901 radio and connects to the rear "flat" radio 1 (I tried radio 2 also) socket input of PK232....

D)....I have experimented with running 901 radio speaker output directly into the desktop computer sound card mic input and get display on screen, I can do the same with the PK232....and get bar graph "action" there.....

E)....The PK232 is supposed to be a computer in itself....If that is how I read it, there should only(?) be a simple connection to the computer to access the software (any damned software at this point!) and "loop back" to the PK232 to tell it what mode to go into and, to key the transmitter....

I think I will go into the radio room and curse at my equipment while I drink my 2nd cup of coffee!

 

[doffo]

When you open with Putty and turn on the PK232, does anything ever come up? It should be outputting something at least to sign in, maybe pressing enter? But from what I gather, it may print junk up until it actually shows a * on the screen, then you press shift+8 on the keyboard to get the * character. For sure do you click on the serial button and then click open?

 

[radio grief]

When you open with Putty and turn on the PK232, does anything ever come up?
NO - JUST A CONFIGURATION SCREEN...THERE IS ANOTHER PART OF PUTTY THAT, WHEN I CLICK ON IT, PULLS UP A BLACK WINDOW BUT, PRESSING KEYS ETC DOES NOTHING.

It should be outputting something at least to sign in, maybe pressing enter?
SEE ABOVE

But from what I gather, it may print junk up until it actually shows a * on the screen, then you press shift+8 on the keyboard to get the * character. For sure do you click on the serial button and then click open?
YES...I HAVE IT CONFIGURED FOR SERIAL COM 1 AND NOTHING HAPPENS....

LAST NIGHT, I ATTEMPTED TO TRY USING MY AEA CP-100 FOR WHATEVER REASON:

I RE-INSTALLED FLADIGI AND IS "READING" (USING YAESU FT-901DM) BUT, WHEN I PLUG IN THE CORD (PREVIOUSLY PICTURED) WITH ONE END TO THE FRONT PANEL MIC INPUT OF RADIO AND THE OTHER SIDE OF CORD WITH THE "FLAT END" TO THE "TTL" PORT ON CP-100, THE RADIO GOES NUTS AND KEYING WITH EVERY SOUND RECEIVED....( I JUST DID THIS TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN)....

GETTING BACK TO THE PK232 UNIT,

YA KNOW, THIS SHOULDN'T HAVE TO BE THIS DIFFICULT....

A) RADIO SPEAKER AUDIO OUTPUT TO COMPUTER MIC INPUT,

B) COMPUTER AUDIO SPEAKER OUTPUT TO AUDIO INPUT OF PK232,

C) SERIAL CABLE FROM BACK OF PK232 TO SERIAL COM 1 PORT OF COMPUTER...

D) "PATCH CORD WITH 4 PIN MIC CONNECTOR TO RADIO MIC INPUT JACK AND OTHER SIDE TO RADIO 1 (OR 2) BACK PANEL INPUT OF PK232...

 

[radio grief]

Wow....Things got quiet here---I can hear the crickets "chirping"...

Still tinkering here...

*a side note question.....
I dl'ed Fldigi 4.1.13 and the menus of it appear to be German or similar....Is there an ENGLISH" version of it

 

[doffo]

Wow....Things got quiet here---I can hear the crickets "chirping"...

Still tinkering here...

*a side note question.....
I dl'ed Fldigi 4.1.13 and the menus of it appear to be German or similar....Is there an ENGLISH" version of it

For some reason I am not getting notifications here. This is the 2nd time this happened to me. I was on the lookout for your thread but I missed it.

Is there some other serial device we can hook up to at least to see if you can even get any data coming out of your serial port? At any rate, any other computer with a serial port will do, even those generic USB to Serial adapters if we need to use a computer without a serial interface. You should be getting some data coming out when you power up the device, but nothing at all, something is wrong.

 

[doffo]

Even an old dial-up external modem can work to test lol. To see if we can punch in commands to the modem. Just need to rule out the serial port is actually communicating.

 

[radio grief]

For some reason I am not getting notifications here. This is the 2nd time this happened to me.
I AM NOT GETTING NOTIFICATIONS EITHER...

I was on the lookout for your thread but I missed it.
I CUT AND PASTED THE LING TO A NOTE PAD DOC AND JUST COPY AND PASTE INTO A BROWSER FOR SIMPLICITY.

Is there some other serial device we can hook up to at least to see if you can even get any data coming out of your serial port?
DID THAT ALREADY...PORTS ON MULTIPLE DEVICES ARE "TURNED ON AND WORKING"...

At any rate, any other computer with a serial port will do, even those generic USB to Serial adapters if we need to use a computer without a serial interface.
I CAN BUY A SERIAL TO USB ADAPTER??

You should be getting some data coming out when you power up the device, but nothing at all, something is wrong.
I HAVE BEEN ALTERNATING BETWEEN THE "PK232" AND RIGBLASTER (rb)......I CAN GET "RB" TO SHOW DATA AND SOMEHOW GOT IT TO KEY RADIO......HAVE NOT ACTUALLY TRANSMITTED FROM IT (USING ICOM 730)......(THIS IS IN PART, HOW I KNOW SERIAL PORT IS WORKING ON MY DESKTOP).....I HAVE A FEW PROGRAMS ON DESKTOP - SOME WORK AND SOME SIT BACK AND "GIVE ME THE FINGER".....I HAVE (UNTIL I UNINSTALLED IT A FEW MIN AGO) Fldigi 4.1.13 BUT, IS IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH...

 

[doffo]

Ahh. So at least you got the rig blaster to key the radio, that is about half the battle. Least the serial port is needing to do what it needs to do. As of now, the PK232 is just refusing to do anything as its not even sending data back to your PC. Best we focus on your Rigblaster. Least you were able to key the radio so it was transmitting mode, but now to just hook the audio cables up so we can feed it audio.