[TenTec] RX-320 PC Radio $260

[Mark Erbaugh]

Bill,

I've had my RX320 since the TenTec hamfest (actually since the Wednesday
after as I let them ship it to me). I've been impressed with the reception
(especially when connected to my tri-band beam <g>). Sometimes it's a
distraction in getting the software developed - I try a new program feature
and while testing it hear something interesting on the radio..

It sound's like you're interested in programming the beast, which was one of
the reasons I got a RX320.   There is a "Programmer's Reference Guide"
avaialble for download from the TT website. It explains the calls to the
radio. It's only 13 pages, including 3 pages of a sample BASIC program
listing, a title page and a blank page at the end. The protocol is pretty
simple as radio interfaces go, there are are only seven commands, and only
two of them (get S-meter and get DSP version) return any data.  If you're up
to speed on serial port programming, it is a piece of cake to get your own
software working.

The radio interface was pretty simple, but then I've had a lot of experience
with serial port programming.  The challenge is coming up with a user
interface.  Personally, while not knocking what's out there, I think all the
current computer based control software radio (I've seen offerings from
Kenwood, Icom, Kachina and TT) is concentrating too much on looking like a
radio on the screen - it's cute but unnecessary.  IMHO, they should
concentrate on looking like a computer program, which is what I've done with
mine. One of my design goals is to make the radio control window as small as
possible to leave room on the screen for other programs.

One suggestion, in the programmers guide, the calculations needed for
setting the radio tuning parameters use floating point arithmetic. They're
pretty easy to translate into integer arithmetic, especially if you use long
integers and deal with the frequency in Hz. In today's world of 1 GHz
computers, that's probably not an issue, but I'm used to writing process
control software on 8088's, so I prefer integer arithmetic when possible.

73,
Mark, N8ME


----- Original Message -----
From: <Bill_Ames@hyperion.com>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2000 9:17 AM
Subject: [TenTec] RX-320 PC Radio $260


>
>
>
> How about that! Just ordered it. Now, can anyone tell me if there is
anything I
> should look for, perhaps someone has special software? Do they expose the
API?
> Any tips?
>
> Bill Ames
> KB1LG
>
>
>
> --
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