Brian,
I now have the TS480 "remote port" PTT output connected to the FlexWire
PTT in. The PowerSDR Antenna form, Transmit is set to XVTK/COM (with 50 ohm
load). When I key the TS480 the Flex panadapter shows no visible evidence
of a transmitted signal. Works well using semi-break CW on the TS480 too.
Problem solved, CAT not needed for TX/RX switching anymore.
See below for other comments.
-----Original Message-----
From: br...@lloyd.com [mailto:br...@lloyd.com] On Behalf Of Brian Lloyd
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2011 18:10
To: Bill Diaz
Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz
Subject: Re: [Flexradio] RX2 / HFRIO board
On Wed, Mar 2, 2011 at 9:12 AM, Bill Diaz <william.d...@comcast.net> wrote:
I wrote an application to simultaneously control/monitor PowerSDR
and the TS480. Since 2.0.19RC 1 came out, it can now switch the 1500
antenna to the XVTR port automatically when the application detects the
TS480 transmitting and back to the PA port when transmission ceases.
Can't you have your application key the TS480 and let the application
sequence PTT? That way the application could switch the antenna on the 1500
and then key the TX480.
This would require having a PTT button in the application which the user
would access with the mouse or keyboard. Also would have to inhibit TS480
transmit ability to ensure the user did not key the radio with the Mic or
key etc. User could not use the TS480 hand Mic until the application
allowed it. Semi-breakin CW operation would not be possible under this
scenario unless the key was interfaced to the PC and this would, IMO, not be
practical.
Well, I was thinking of a box into which one would plug one's microphone.
The PTT line on the mic would not directly key the radio but would be a
digital input to the computer. You could use a parallel port line for input.
The parallel port could produce several outputs which would drive keying
transistors or relays to sequence all the various devices, including keying
the HF transceiver.
In addition, I would probably put various microphone connectors on the box
to make it easy to switch mics. There could be 8-pin, RJ-45, .208 TRS
(aircraft, Collins), 4-pin, etc.
Yes, would be very versatile.
The .application was designed to allow the user to transmit with the
TS480 at 100 watts and to receive with the Flex 1500. QSY's, can be
performed either via PowerSDR or the TS480 tuning knob. Interconnection
only requires a single serial cable and VSPMgr or similar. All transmit
functions expected to be performed with the TS480. Pretty basic.
I understand. I guess I was thinking about something a little more
comprehensive and general that would work for a lot of things.
Keying the 1500, 3000, or 5000 can be handled through CAT and you wouldn't
even need to connect up the PTT lines in the radio at all.
Just thinking out loud.
I have found that CAT commands sent to PowerSDR take some time to
process and latency may be an issue in some cases. It is certainly
noticeable with my P4 3ghz, 2 GB, XP Pro SP3 system with PowerSDR currently
using about 20% of my CPU capacity. When QSY'ing the TS480 and PowerSDR with
the VFO knob, there is no way PowerSDR can keep up as you spin the TS480 VFO
knob. This is an issue even when the TS480 CAT baud rate is set to 4800
bps. Of course PowerSDR running on multi-core processors may have reduced
latency, but I think it will still be an issue. PowerSDR is doing a
tremendous amount of processing, no doubt about it.
Note that using CAT commands to simply key the Flex radios for Phone and
digital modes will likely not be affected much by latency, but CW is another
matter entirely. The CW improvements provided by 2.0.19RC1 are likely to
garner quite a bit of notice from the brass pounders.
It seems there is a need for a box to manage PTT for several devices.
Not really familiar with flexwire, but the manual indicates it has
both a PTT in port and PTT out port. Seems like the PTT in port could be
used to switch the 1500 antenna connection when external PTT is asserted.
Latency could still be an issue though, since I don't know if the Flex 1500
antenna switching capability is handled in hardware or software.
Everything is actually handled in software or firmware. The 1500, 3000, and
5000 have small internal processors that manage all the signals and do the
actual rig keying.
Yes, appears to work exceptionally well..
In any case this would eliminate the need for an external box to manage PTT
but would require a hardwired PTT connection between the external radio and
the flexwire port. The user could then use the mic and key or keyer
connections of the TS480 as originally intended. Will have to look into
this, thanks for making me rethink the keying issues.
In some ways it is both more complex and simpler at the same time. ;-)
I prefer the simpler approach. Getting too old and cranky to fool
around building hardware anymore.
Bill KC9XG
--
Brian Lloyd, WB6RQN/J79BPL
3191 Western Dr.
Cameron Park, CA 95682
br...@lloyd.com
+1.767.617.1365 (Dominica)
+1.931.492.6776 (USA)
(+1.931.4.WB6RQN)
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