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

[Mike Walker]

Hi

We have used a TS-690 (clone to the 450 with 6M) and CT 9.27 and 9.23 and
it works fine.  Home built TTL/RS-232.  Band map works, split works.  We
use comtsr with -RTS (make sure you don't have in irq conflicts).

We select TS-850 and have no problems (other than RF).

We have also found that we just select the radio that is close.  ie, since
TS-450 isn't listed, then use TS-850 (same vintage).  With Icom, when we
want to use the IC-756, we select IC-775 and change the hex address of the
radio.  CT does not check the ID of the radio, rather the radio selection
is used to handle which commands are available.

Hope this helps....Mike  VA3MW


At 05:19 PM 13/11/97 +0200, yo3ctk wrote:
>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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>
>
=================================================
Mike Walker VA3MW
Corbeil Contest Club

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