[ct-user] TS450 and CT9 - report (long)

[yo3ctk]

Hello everybody,

As promised, and per fellow contester request, here is my report
concerning homemade interface (similar to IF232) and its use between
TS450 and CT9:

My computer is a Digital 386 machine, running DOS (no Win95). COM3 is
used for sending CW and COM4 for talking to the radio. Of course, -B4800
-N82 as parameter for COMTSR4. I use CT9.22.

The interface was built as per Feb.93 QST article (thanks AA8DX). I
decided not to use the 5B4WN schematics, since it doesn't include CTS
and RTS signals. Just two minor modifications were made to the AA8DX
schematics: I used TTL inverters rather than optoisolators (no noise
from the computer was heard) and added two LED diodes, driven by two
spare inverters, on TXD and RXD lines on the radio side. I used the
External ATU socket to get +12V for the interface. Everything was
installed into a nice looking, modem-like plastic box.

It works ? Well, sort of. I tried to use TS440 on the pop-up menu, but
I've got "KENWOOD initialization failure" message at start-up, and
"Radio timeout" message at every band change, for instance. The closest
radio seems to be TS850; this is curious, since most of you advised that
I should use either TS940 or TS950. But this is not what I found. Using
TS850, the radio initialize just fine and respond to most commands from
CT9: it changes bands and frequency when instructed to do so. The Band
Map is not working, and unfortunately I went to all the trouble with the
interface exactly for this feature. When started, the black line reads
14175 and stays there, regardless of the actual frequency of the
transceiver. If I change bands from CT9, the readout goes to 7000, 3500,
1800 and so on, and stays there when I change the frequency using the
TUNE button. The radio sends information to the computer continuously
when tuning around (the TXD LED on the radio side is lit), but nothing
happens. When I stop tuning, the computer does not poll the radio ( the
RXD LED on the radio side is not lit). When changing bands from the
radio, nothing happens into CT9: it stays on the old band. I've never
used before the Band Map feature; my understanding is that the frequency
readout on the black line in the center of the map should track whatever
the radio is displaying and this is done by polling the radio. Of course
I may be wrong.

One more thing: using -RTS or -DTR or -XON or nothing as a parameter to
COMTSR4 does not make any difference. I expected that just one of them
will work, since RTS and CTS signals are present on ACC1 socket and
wired inside the radio, but this is not so.

I'm quite puzzled about all this, so maybe someone with more experience
will cast a light upon this strange behavior. On my side, I will try to
communicate with the radio using the computer in terminal mode (for
instance, using Norton Commander) and to command the radio as explained
in the KENWOOD manual. Thus I will be able to determine if the problem
is inside CT9 or it is a communication problem.

I am sorry if this post would be irrelevant for some of you, and for not
being more concise. But probably there are some struggling with the same
problem, and I'm confident that someone will point us the right
direction. Thanks in advance.

73 de Mike, YO3CTK


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