[WriteLog] WriteLog and FT1000MP

[John E Bastin]

Just a note to say that I have been successful in getting the rig control functions of WL to work with my FT1000MP. The frequency-related functions are working well. I want to thank everyone who sent me e-mail with suggestions and tips; some of them were conflicting, and not all of them were correct, at least for my setup, but they all were helpful in providing me with choices and information that was useful.

When I originally posted my question, I left out some details of my setup, because I didn't want to confuse the issue with facts that I felt were unrelated to the problem but that would possibly obscure the search for a solution. Now that I have things working, I want to fill in the blanks on my setup and let everyone know what worked.

The setup: I'm running a Macintosh PowerBook (FireWire) G3 400MHz laptop. On that laptop I'm running Virtual PC 4.0, software that lets the laptop emulate a PC, running Windows 98. This is where I have WriteLog installed.

This computer has no serial ports, so the interface is a Keyspan USA-19 USB PDA adapter, plugged into a USB port on the laptop and providing a DB-9 serial connector for connection. The Keyspan USB-serial adapter for the Macintosh has two serial ports, but they're mini-DIN 8 style connectors, so the DB-9 connector provided by the PDA adapter makes cabling solutions a little easier. The pin-outs of the DB-9 connector are the normal RS-232 pins, so the fact that it's marketed as a 'PDA and graphics tablet' adapter is a non-issue.

The Yaesu manual says that this setup should use a 'standard serial cable, (NOT the so-called "null-modem" type)'. Nevertheless, one suggestion I got was that I needed a null-modem cable, even pointing me to a web page with the pin-outs of same. I tried that cable, without success. Two other individuals said that I needed a straight, pin-for-pin extension cable. That was the correct solution for me. I'm using a Radio Shack 26-117B shielded RS-232C cable, which is a six foot DB-9 male to DB-9 female pin-for-pin straight cable. The female end is plugged into the USB adapter, the male end plugs into the FT-1000MP through a female-to-female gender changer.

I'm using version 2.2 of the Keyspan USB adapter drivers for Windows 98, and I have the USB adapter assigned to Comm 3.

I have the WriteLog setup set to connect to the FT1KMP on Comm 3, rig control, auto speed, poll checked, no PTT. Thanks to those who helped with this. My ports settings in writelog.ini are as follows:

[PORTS]
dvkechomic=1
dvkstoploop=1
COM1:=9600,n,8,1,x
COM2:=9600,n,8,1,x
COM3:=9600,n,8,1,x
COM4:=9600,n,8,1,x
LPT1=0x378
LPT2=0x0
LPT3=0x0
dvktype=1
dvkport=0
cwtype=1
cwport=1
Comm3Used=USED,POLL,18
Comm3RigManager={D0DE9422-0517-11D4-9D1B-00105AA43DDF}
Comm3XmitControl=NEVER

My experience with this setup has been that speed doesn't seem to be an issue, everything is set for 'auto' or 'default' and the fact that the 1000MP wants to operate at 4800 baud isn't a problem. My guess is that the important thing is that everything is set to run AT LEAST 4800 baud or faster, thus the connection is free to run at the speed of the slowest unit on the bus.

Hopefully some of this information may be helpful to others who are making this connection to the FT1000MP.

My next project will be to get the CW operation in WriteLog connected to the radio and working. Virtual PC in the laptop emulates a SoundBlaster 16 sound card, and it checks at 7f using sbrdchk. I just have to work out the connections.

Thanks again to everyone who provided help and suggestions as I worked on this project. I'll probably be asking more questions as time goes on, hopefully I'll also be able to help some others as much as the users on this list have helped me.

73,
-- 
J o h n   B a s t i n           K 8 A J S
jbastin@sssnet.com         K8AJS@arrl.net
    http://www.geocities.com/~tarquin

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