Just a thought,
Since there are no contests that use both FSK and CW why not simply CHANGE
the configuration depending on the contest in question.
I use Writelog for voice keying, cw and rtty with the mmty plug-in
sometimes AFSK or sometimes FSK depending on if computer has a real com
port. I can key cw by either lpt or com port and rig control is via com port
for kenwood rig. AFSK and voice keying to two rigs if necessary are
accomplished via a homebrew interface that cost 10 bucks max.
The interface (for two radios) includes 1 stereo 3.5mm plug, 2 mono 3.5mm
plugs, 4 resistors, 2 audio transformers from Radio Shack, plus 2 metres of
shielded microphone cable. The interfaces are built on a scrap piece of
perforated circuit board - available also at Radio Shack and built into a
35mm film cartridge. The mono 3.5mm plugs interface to the mic input of
Kenwood (or any rig) by going into a Heil interface (type most people have
to use their Boomsets - has 3.5mm jack for mic in, and 1/4 inch jack for
PTT.
The FSK interface is built into the shell of a DB25 connector which
directly plugs into the computer's serial port, it also has the circuitry
for the CW interface and it terminates to a 1/4 in. stereo plug for CW and a
male phono plug for FSK - and is usually plugged directly into the back of
my TS 850. It costs the price of two generic transistors, 2 resistors (1K I
believe) and two 2m lengths of shielded hook-up wire (I use broadcast
industry balanced microphone/signal hook-up wire, which uses two conductors,
100% foil shield and tinned exposed third conductor)
My point is that in the same way you have to do something to reconfigure
Writelog between contests what's wrong with removing a cable here and adding
a cable there from one contest to another.
If your rig or the computer is out of the way - build a simple
interface/patch panel to wire it all up -- I had to do that to use my heil
mike in phone contests by hooking up an extension, so I could effectively
bring the mic input of the computer out to the front of the rig.
Anyway, I hope somewhere in all this is the inspiration for someone to
pull out a soldering gun and save some money for a new rig or antenna.
Most of us won't have an opportunity to build our rigs, so let's build
something like these interfaces and save a few bucks.
73's and see you on the other side of the contests... with Writelog!!
Dean - 8P6SH/8P2K
> I found that my RIGblaster Pro would work fine with FSK and CW from the
same
> port except Writelog which wanted the ports to be different or I had to
> disable the unused one.
>
> Now wanting to reconfigure WL when going from CW to RTTY, I built the
simple
> interface for CW/FSK/PTT at a total cost of $15 from Radio Shack. I use
FSK
> and PTT on COM 1 with that interface
> (http://www.aa5au.com/rttyinterface.html) and now use a different,
though
> shared, port for rig control and CW with the Pro and WL.
>
> It all works fine now, and the Pro handles the routing of the microphone
> with isolation to and from the soundcard, which can be bypassed with a
> switch.
>
> Jim N7US
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tony Osman" <tony.osman@sympatico.ca>
> To: "Bob Naumann - N5NJ" <n5nj@gte.net>; <writelog@contesting.com>
> Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2004 8:45 AM
> Subject: Re: [WriteLog] RTTY Questions
>
>
> Mmmmm, Bob, your comments on using the Rigblaster are interesting. I
spent
> some time yesterday with Peter, VE3HG, trying to setup his RigBlaster
Pro
> for FSK operation.
>
> I found that the RigBlaster Pro would work fine with MMTTY. Then tried
with
> MMTTY plug-in for Writelog and it worked fine with that too.
>
> If I tried to use Rttywrite, I could not get PTT to operate. The
RigBlaster
> Pro was wired to have port A as the CW, Rig Cntrl, PTT functions and
port B
> as FSK. I could see FSK being received by the RigBlaster and if I
switched
> the rig (ICOM 756) fsk sigs could be heard in a separate receiver.
>
> If I tried any of the single port FSK/CW/PTT combinations, writelog
would
> not allow selecting the port for Rttywrite to be the same as for CW.
The
> port had first been selected for CW so that PTT could be used via the
serial
> port. The computer is running XP and currently has no driver installed
for
> the LPT.
>
> I never tried running rttywrite with no com port selected! When you
tried
> that, did it work with FSK?
>
> I think the whole setup for FSK/SSB/CW with RigBlaster is a little
complex
> but I am sure once it is completed, things will work well and without
any
> need to adjust anything.
>
> 73 de Tony, VE3RZ
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bob Naumann - N5NJ" <n5nj@gte.net>
> To: <writelog@contesting.com>
> Sent: Sunday, January 25, 2004 9:22 AM
> Subject: Re: [WriteLog] RTTY Questions
>
>
> Thanks to everyone for the encouragement to stick with the rttyrite
> scrolling. I'll hang in there with you guys for sure.
>
> Now, onto my "rigblaster" situation.
>
> The thing that threw me, was that I had gotten everything working with
MMTTY
> stand-alone and it worked perfectly. I figured I'd be all set with
> Writelog. This proved to be a false assumption.
>
> I have my Rigblaster set up on Com4. I of course, set MMTTY for Com4
and it
> worked just fine.
>
> Writelog is normally set up to do PTT & computer generated CW on LPT1
> through my ZS4TX Super Combo Keyer. (It also serves as my SO2R
switching
> box and the rs-232 interface for my ProII.)
>
> I started rttyrite, and set the port for com4. This is the problem.
This
> does not make rttyrite do ptt on Com4. What I had to do, is leave the
> settings for LPT1 alone, and add that Com4 is a CW port in my Writelog
port
> setup, and contrary to my logic, have no port selected in Rttyrite.
>
> It seems that all is well with the rigblaster after all, but I may "roll
my
> own" anyway to handle all of the variations for SSB hookups and to just
use
> FSK.
>
> 73,
> Bob N5NJ
>
> > ------------Original Message------------
> > From: "Bob Naumann - N5NJ" <n5nj@gte.net>
> > To: writelog@contesting.com
> > Date: Sat, Jan-24-2004 10:41 PM
> > Subject: [WriteLog] RTTY Questions
> >
> > I've spent a couple of hours messing around, and made 59 qsos in the
BARTG
> contest with Writelog, MMTTY, my ProII @100w and a G5RV laying on my
roof.
> Not bad.
> >
> > So far, everything seems to work fine, except that I think my
Rigblaster
> has failed since my afsk tones do not pass through it. I'm not sure
why. I
> think the PTT may not be pulling in. How am I supposed to configure for
the
> PTT on the serial port for the rigblaster? My LPT port PTT is working
> though - go figure.
> >
> > I may toss the Rigblaster and just make my own to clear up this
mystery.
> >
> > I have one complaint, and one bug report.
> >
> > The complaint is regarding the scrolling of the rttyrite screen. How
do I
> make it stop doing what ever it does where when it fills up the screen,
it
> goes back up to the top. I don't know where to look. New text should
> always appear at the bottom, and then the old text should just scroll
up.
> >
> > The bug report is that I tried to do a timed CQ, and Writelog/MMTTY
went
> nuts. It started sending my CQ message over and over. I stopped it,
and
> after that, the memories would not send their contents properly. I shut
all
> the programs, rebooted the computer, and have not tried a timed CQ
again.
> >
> > RTTY's cool.
> >
> > 73,
> > Bob N5NJ
> > _______________________________________________
> > WriteLog mailing list
> > WriteLog@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/writelog
> > WriteLog on the web: http://www.writelog.com/
> >
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>
>
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>
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