[TenTec] USB to serial adapter cable that works with OMNI

KD2KBZ KD2KBZ at earthlink.net
Wed Jan 30 12:47:19 EST 2019 

Good afternoon, Peter:

Di dyou try opening a command prompt and using the mode command to set the
serial port?

MODE COMm[:] [BAUD=b] [PARITY=p] [DATA=d] [ST
             [to=on|off] [xon=on|off] [odsr=o
             [octs=on|off] [dtr=on|off|hs]
             [rts=on|off|hs|tg] [idsr=on|off]

73,

Paul Mondok, KD2KBZ

SkyWarn ID: 17-201NYC

Before printing this document, please think about the environment.

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: Paragon Finals and other woes (Peter Bertini)
   2. Re: Omni VI+ IF board gain: what is normal? (Phil Erickson)
   3. USB to serial adapter cable that works with OMNI VI??
      (Peter Bertini)
   4. Re: USB to serial adapter cable that works with OMNI VI?? (GWP)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2019 13:21:07 -0500
From: Peter Bertini <radioconnection at gmail.com>
To: tentec at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Paragon Finals and other woes
Message-ID:
	<CA+uDY2QGTE4fJOw7wv-gDpy+FjHqRqdD9-wAMjphxbDkW_UnBQ at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

 However, if you want something that just works, I would suggest an IC-7300
and move on with life.

73
Phil W1PJE


Yes, but I'd rather be here trying to fix a thirty year old Ten Ten vs. a
IC-7300 in ten years.  I am sure they are great radios, but I can imagine
the damage that would done if one of those rigs ever encountered a really
good static discharge on the antenna, or even on the operating table when
you shuffle across the carpet and make a spark on the rig... I've seen my
Omni's crash, and recover, from room generated static!

Pete


------------------------------

Message: 2
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2019 14:07:15 -0500
From: Phil Erickson <phil.erickson at gmail.com>
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Omni VI+ IF board gain: what is normal?
Message-ID:
	<CAAZaqEvthxtshRADYkNvsUjwO71uh8+4Ufri1RN6THhYAwtTMw at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

Hi Pete,

  Lunchtimes are useful for making incremental progress.  I've examined LO
drive into a 50 ohm load on the cable labeled 26 which leads to the BPF,
where radio is set in "CW" mode.  Using an Agilent counter, frequencies are
exactly what they should be given the tuning knob, so it's not a problem
with unlocked PLLs.

  Here are the equivalent LO levels grouped into "works" = I get the correct
IF level out of the BPF board, and "deaf" = I get no IF out of the BPF board
at all until I jack the RF in way over to maybe -30dBm.  V amplitude for LO
signals is measured into 50 ohms and dBm = V**2 / 50.  IF level out of the
board is measured with a spectrum analyzer.

Works:
freq, MHz      LO drive, dBm
28.00  10.2
24.89  15.0
21.00  9.9
18.00  7.7
14.20  8.4

Deaf:
freq, MHz      LO drive, dBm
10.10  10.3
7.03  6.1
3.58  7.0
1.80  8.0

    I see no real difference between "Deaf" and "works" here.  HOWEVER, this
is with LO cable unplugged into 50 ohms.  When actually hooked to the board,
it gets amplified by Q10/Q11 and then fed to the mixer.  Using a 10 meg
probe and scope, I looked on either side of R47, one of the resistors
comprising the LO amplifier, and with that information, the signal provided
for mixer consumption is actually quite a bit different depending on band -
for example, it's a solid 13 dBm for the "works" bands but barely 7 dBm for
the "Deaf" bands. [Note that I have verified the RF is getting to the mixer
by examining that signal right at the "TP" point just before entering the
mixer.  That looks strong at the right level across all bands - "Works" and
"Deaf" alike.]

  So I'm stumped.  Is the problem weak LO drive not engaging the mixer
diodes?  Is the problem with the LO amplifier impedance in or out just
pre-mixer?  Is the mixer itself behaving in a strange frequency-dependent
way?  No idea.  Perhaps a reading from your bench on what a properly working
LO drive input level should be, measured in the same way, is the next step
if you are still willing.  (What to do about it would be another
question.)

73
Phil W1PJE

On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 8:57 AM Peter Bertini <radioconnection at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Life's lessons:
>
> 1:  the tiny 100uH ferrite chokes used by TT make great fuses!!!
>
> 2: any TT inductor is a candidate for wiggling and eventually 
> fracturing its solder joint at the PCB pad.
> _______________________________________________
> TenTec mailing list
> TenTec at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>


--
----
Phil Erickson
phil.erickson at gmail.com


------------------------------

Message: 3
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2019 00:17:27 -0500
From: Peter Bertini <radioconnection at gmail.com>
To: tentec at contesting.com
Subject: [TenTec] USB to serial adapter cable that works with OMNI
	VI??
Message-ID:
	<CA+uDY2Tszs4gmfhdjTHcU1=4CC1UCSSWeFaAu+1G9EEJ_Bq8pA at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

Need some advice on selecting a USB adapter to provide a serial port for
controlling my Omni VI.

The Dell machine I am using allows the RTS line to go high when the port is
not in use, so it does not play nice with RTS CW keying interfaces.

Need an adapter that will allow my N4PY programs and others to work with my
Dell.

Pete


------------------------------

Message: 4
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2019 09:31:01 -0700
From: GWP <gm5bkc at gmail.com>
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec at contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] USB to serial adapter cable that works with OMNI
	VI??
Message-ID:
	<CAJAc95ZphqmACuteY1gWNBZKzp9Czv=jojbOL+-eduvxPQwgVQ at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"

The best thing is to use a K1EL compatible USB to CW keying interface, this
eliminated the port timing that Windows messes up for sending CW.  Then you
only need to have a USB-to-serial adapter for the radio control.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CW-Morse-code-USB-transmit-cable-Winkeyer-compatibl
e-1-4-Plug/132921864089?hash=item1ef2c2af99:g:VOUAAOSwbWJcQO0E:rk:28:pf:0

Glenn AE0Q

On Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 10:17 PM Peter Bertini <radioconnection at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Need some advice on selecting a USB adapter to provide a serial port for
> controlling my Omni VI.
>
> The Dell machine I am using allows the RTS line to go high when the port
is
> not in use, so it does not play nice with RTS CW keying interfaces.
>
> Need an adapter that will allow my N4PY programs and others to work with
my
> Dell.
>
> Pete
>
>


------------------------------

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