Ron, Your description of the issue is right on target. And, based on our experience with all makers of HF radio equipment, they don't seem to give a rip about the RS232 interface. (The exception was the makers of the K2 who took the time to contact us for input about how they could insure that their rs232 interface worked with DXbase). In the mind of the rest, it is not even a user feature. It is put into the radios solely for the purpose of letting their engineers perform automated testing of the radio. They leave it in the radio simply because it serves as a test access for repair and it would cost too much to remove it. It is up to the user of the radio to take it as is and that's all. This information came directly from Japan when we had one of our "well connected" Japanese customers make a visit to several of the manufacturers. They all think alike, so just because a particular radio might have all the necessary commands, that is no guarantee that future radios by the same manufacturer will.
The ONLY way this saga is ever going to change is for hams to get their pen and paper out and write a letter demanding that the RS232 interface be consistent with past command sets and that it contain the necessary commands to manipulate VFOs, Freq, mode, and split. Unfortunately, most hams will not bother and so, some day, when they decide to purchase a new radio, the chances are pretty good that they will encounter the same problem in the new radio that is being discussed now. Of course, then the emails will repeat all over again, "how can I get xxx logging program to do whatever"?. And the answer will be the same.... you can't! Sorry for my rambling, but this is such a sore subject for us that I just can't pass up the opportunity to once again ask any ham, regardless of where they are located and whether or not they have any plans to purchase a new radio to at least take the time to write to all the makers of radios. Tell them point blank that if their radio does not provide the minimum command se t to allow your logging program to easily interface with it and control basic functions, that the radio will not be considered for purchase. If enough of that happens, the makers of radios will probably wake up and do something about this ridiculous revolving door. Cheers, Jack ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron Stordahl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]>; "Dennis Hall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 12:04 PM Subject: Re: [DXBase] Icom 746Pro VFO B > Dennis > > Although I don't have a 746Pro to test, I have reviewed the programming > information in the 746Pro manual and believe I can answer your question. > > The 766Pro, like the 756, 756Pro and 756ProII provide no way for the logging > program to get the radio to tell the program if the radio is currently in > split or in dual watch mode. This is a very surprising difference between > these radios and some other ICOM radios, such as the 781 which provide a > command '17' to retrieve information as to if the radio is in split and/or > dual watch. Look in your manual on pages 95 thru 99 and you will find an > amazingly long list of computer commands. Determining if the radio is in > split and/or dual watch is not among them! I could be on thin ice, but I > think many other brands of radios do provide a way for the logging program > to determine if the radio is currently in split mode. > > Without first determining if the radio is currently in split and/or dual > watch mode, retrieving VFO B would be generally useless information. Lets > say that you are operating simplex on 28025.0 CW, thus this is the frequency > set in VFO A. VFO B on the other hand is 3.800 LSB from a previous Q. > > What would you want DXBase to do? Should it recover information on VFO B > even though its highly unlikely you are working cross band? The propose of > recovering both frequencies is to permit DXBase to format a dx spot thus: > DX 28025.0 XX1XX QSX 3800.0. Such a spot would be obviously wrong. My > example is perhaps extreme, but what if both VFO's were on 20 CW, would you > then assume that all Q's you were making on 20 be split when in practice few > would be? > > Instead the choice has had to be taken to not recover VFO B's frequency as > in practice it would generally be wrong. > > I have contacted a number of people at Icom America, at the highest level I > could reach, regarding the incredible fact that a way to retrieve if the > radio is currently in split or dual watch mode is apparently not provided. > I had hoped that perhaps there was such a command, but that they had failed > to document it. > > I was told, by the person in charge of amateur radio operations for Icom > America, that he understood my question, regarded it as important, and would > consult with Icom Japan. He contacted me about a month later and said that > he had gotten no satisfaction from Japan. I later met the gentlemen in > person and reviewed the issue. No progress was made, and in my view no > progress will ever be made! > > I don't think this is what you wanted to hear. > > Ron N5IN > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Dennis Hall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 9:49 AM > Subject: [DXBase] Icom 746Pro VFO B > > > > How can I have DXbase retrieve the information from VFO B on an > Icom-746PRO? > > If I do a QSY and the VFO B has a frequency it will change. Is there an > > updated radio.ini that includes the 746PRO? > > > > 73, Dennis - KK7X > > > > > > Webmaster - http://countyhunter.com, http://countyhunter.net and > > http://marac.org > > All outgoing messages scanned by Norton AntiVirus 2003 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > DXBase Reflector - Please visit us on the web at www.dxbase.com > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > To UNSUBSCRIBE please visit: > > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dxbase > > > > _______________________________________________ > DXBase Reflector - Please visit us on the web at www.dxbase.com > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > To UNSUBSCRIBE please visit: > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dxbase
