[TRLog] NAQP Experiences - Omni VI+ & TRLog 6.72

[K4SB]

In a previous message Ron Rossi made some comments on the difficulty
of interfacing some radios, and "undocumented" features. Maybe you
guys with newer manuals know this, but mine doesn't even hint about
it.

You guys without an OMNI VI go away.

As background, about a week ago, my OMNI VIB+ just started refusing to
return the frequency on every contest program I have. Nothing would
make it work, so I called on
good ole TenTEC. They sent me this 3 page letter.

It seems ALL OMNI VIs and ALL upgraded versions have this feature.

To test the interface port on the OMNI, connect a cable as follows:

   DB9  DB25 on the Omni
Pin 2  - 3
Pin 3  - 2
Pin 5 -  7

For a DB25 on both ends, Pin 2 goes to Pin 2, 3 to 3, and 7 to 7.

Now, on the OMNI end of the cable, if you short 2 and 3 together, you
will create a 
"loopback" circuit, and anything you type from the computer will echo
back. Good way to check out the cable.

TEN TEC says you can use any Windows or DOS terminal program for this.
This test REQUIRES that both the computer and the OMNI be set for
1200, N,8,1!!!!!

Surprise!

Press the FM key, and then the ON switch of the Omni.
This Message should appear: ( actually, the following box is
surrounded by *****

                       Hello
 You have activated the OMNI VI+ Interface Test Module

1) Restart Test
2) Echo Test
3) EXIT

The numbers above refer to the keyboard on the Omni.

Now we press 2, and this message appears:

 Characters sent to the radio will be echoed back. If the
 characters are the same, the radio connection is fine.
 To end echo test, press (ENTER) or (RETURN)

You should now see a double echo of your typed characters. For
example, if you type
"abc" the echo test will display "aabbcc"

Pressing 3 will "quietly" ( Ed..I swear that is what it says ) back in
normal operational mode. ( Ed: I would have at least expected a
trumpet sound!)
At this point, if the Omni menu option "Cde" (matrix mode) is turned
ON, enabling automatic transmission of knob and mode changes, you may
see "garbage" on the computer screen. What you are seeing is the CIV
protocol.

Now they go on about problems such as trying a different device on the
comm port, IRQ conflicts, ect.

Problem: For logging packages, the radio address is set incorrectly.
Solution: CT and DXBASE among others, require a computer address other
than the Omni default of 04. In addition, some software vendors use
hexadecimal ( Ed: Base 16 ) notation to describe the address. Be sure
to set C-Id: in menu 2 to the correct value.

Problem: For certain software packages, "matrix mode" must be turned
ON.
Solution Menu #2, option "Cde" may need to be "on" in some cases.

Problem: The Omni VI "handshaking is too slow for some control
programs.
Solution: In the Omni VI, important transceiver functions such as CW
keying and
frequency switching take priority over the serial port communication
options and the radio does take some time to respond to certain
commands. Fortunately, some programs allow you to set the delay they
will allow for the transceiver. Look for a parameter in your software
for "timeout" or "retries."

Note: for many logging/control programs, failure of the transceiver
appears as a "time
out" error, even though the cause could be anything that prevents
communications, not just a timing problem.

END OF TEN-TEC LETTER

Now if you smart guys will tell me what that all means, maybe I can
get mine working again. ( I'm pretty sure the chip is bad )

73
Ed

PS For those of you not familiar with hexidecimal notation, 01h
through 09h equals the same number, OAh=10, OBh=11, OCh=12, ODh=13,
OEh=14 and OFh=15. The highest number possible is FFFFh which is
somewhere in the neighborhood of 64000+ in 16 bit numbers.

Of course, when we go to 32 bit, the number is astounding. ( which
means I forgot it )