Re: [Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil
Brian: Many thanks for these detailed instructions. I've been postponing the setup attempt for months, wanting to keep from screwing up the Flex 5000. Now, no more excuses Pierce W4ZDI - Original Message - From: Brian Lloyd brian-wb6...@lloyd.com To: FlexRadio reflector flexradio@flex-radio.biz Cc: Stelios Bounanos s...@enotty.net Sent: Friday, January 01, 2010 2:32 AM Subject: Re: [Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil I have promised to write a how-to for configuring fldigi to work with PowerSDR on the Windows platform for the fldigi folks. I run mine without any problems whatsoever but then, I am still running XP. I have no intention of even considering Windows 7 until Microsoft comes out with SP1. I can tell you how to configure VAC, VSPmgr, PowerSDR, and fldigi but if anything is Win7 dependent/specific, I can't help with that. Also, these instructions do not address using ddutil. If you want to do rig control of an amplifier, rotator, or other external device in addition to fldigi, you can add that later. For now follow these steps in order to get fldigi and PowerSDR to play together. It is perfectly OK to add ddutil into the mix later. Here are the steps. 1. Download all the software pieces you need. Here is a list of the software you are going to need: a. PowerSDR (http://flex-radio.com) b. the flex FireWire driver (http://flex-radio.com) c. fldigi (http://www.w1hkj.com/Fldigi.html) I am running the alpha version 3.13BK right now but you can run the production version. d. the PowerSDR rig description XML file for fldigi's RigCAT (http://www.w1hkj.com/xmlarchives.html) e. VAC v4.09 (http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.html) You must purchase the release version. You MUST NOT run the demo version. f. VSPmanager (http://k5fr.com/ddutilwiki/index.php?title=VSP_Manager) 2. Install the Flex firewire driver. I am not going to address which one because it depends on which version of PowerSDR your are running. For the purposes of these instructions you should assume that you are installing the latest released version of the driver. Follow Flex's instructions. I use a buffer size of 2048 and a sample rate of 96ksps. 3. Install PowerSDR. Again, I assume you are installing the release version and it is compatible with the driver you have installed. Make sure that the sample rate and buffer size (SetupAudioPrimary) match the driver. (The new driver may automatically track the settings in PowerSDR. Even so, verify they are set the same.) 4. Make sure that PowerSDR both transmits and receives. It should run normally. 5. Install VAC. Follow the instructions provided with VAC. There are some differences between installing with XP, Vista, and Win7 so be sure you read the instructions, most notably in how to deal with unsigned drivers in Vista and Win7. NOTE: you MUST MUST MUST use the purchased-version of VAC 4.09. You MUST NOT, MUST NOT, MUST NOT use the demo version! Go ahead and buy it. It will work. 6. Open the VAC control program Control Panel and configure VAC. You get to the VAC control panel from the Windows Start button under All Programs. Look for the Virtual Audio Cable menu item and then select Control panel. In the upper left hand corner of the control panel for VAC you want to set it for 2 cables. I left all the other settings alone. Click the 'Set' and 'Restart' buttons. If you want to check, here is what I have all the VAC parameters set for: SR 22050..48000, BPS 8..16, NC 1..2, Max inst 20, Ms per int 7, Stream fmt Cable Range, Volume control (unchecked), Connected source lines line, Clock corr% 100.000. Once you click the Restart button you should see cable 1 and cable 2 appear in the lower section of the Virtual Audio Cable Control Panel (if not sooner). 7. Now set up VSPmgr. For now you will create a single port-pair that will be used for CAT control of fldigi by PowerSDR. Both rig control and PTT will be handled by this single port-pair. Start the VSPmgr utility. It will show you your physical serial ports and offer to create a virtual port pair. Make sure that your virtual port pair starts above any possible physical serial port numbers. It is possible for virtual ports to conflict with physical ports if the physical ports are added later. In my case I created port pair COM6/COM7 for communications between PowerSDR and fldigi. Most of the examples use COM6/COM16 or COM7/COM17 but I discovered that some programs, e.g. WSJT and WSPR, have problems with port numbers above 9. Therefore by creating a port-pair where both com numbers are below 10 means that the configuration may be used later on to communicate with these other programs. Setting up the port-pair is nothing more than selecting the desired values for End 1 and End 2, COM6 and COM7 in this case, and clicking the Create Pair button. 8. Set up PowerSDR to use VAC. With PowerSDR running, click on Setup, select the Audio, and then the VAC tabs to display the VAC
Re: [Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil
On Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 12:40 PM, Larry Rappaport r...@lmr.com wrote: Windows 7 Pro 32 bit, Flex 5000A, both less than a month old. 1. I'm trying to get FLDIGI to run but having no luck. No rig control, no audio getting there. Using a virtual serial port (17 7) and VAC, but no joy with anything. Can someone please send me their settings? I have the XML program from the website, stuck it in the program directory, read it in and saved it, but there must be something more. I have promised to write a how-to for configuring fldigi to work with PowerSDR on the Windows platform for the fldigi folks. I run mine without any problems whatsoever but then, I am still running XP. I have no intention of even considering Windows 7 until Microsoft comes out with SP1. I can tell you how to configure VAC, VSPmgr, PowerSDR, and fldigi but if anything is Win7 dependent/specific, I can't help with that. Also, these instructions do not address using ddutil. If you want to do rig control of an amplifier, rotator, or other external device in addition to fldigi, you can add that later. For now follow these steps in order to get fldigi and PowerSDR to play together. It is perfectly OK to add ddutil into the mix later. Here are the steps. 1. Download all the software pieces you need. Here is a list of the software you are going to need: a. PowerSDR (http://flex-radio.com) b. the flex FireWire driver (http://flex-radio.com) c. fldigi (http://www.w1hkj.com/Fldigi.html) I am running the alpha version 3.13BK right now but you can run the production version. d. the PowerSDR rig description XML file for fldigi's RigCAT (http://www.w1hkj.com/xmlarchives.html) e. VAC v4.09 (http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.html) You must purchase the release version. You MUST NOT run the demo version. f. VSPmanager (http://k5fr.com/ddutilwiki/index.php?title=VSP_Manager) 2. Install the Flex firewire driver. I am not going to address which one because it depends on which version of PowerSDR your are running. For the purposes of these instructions you should assume that you are installing the latest released version of the driver. Follow Flex's instructions. I use a buffer size of 2048 and a sample rate of 96ksps. 3. Install PowerSDR. Again, I assume you are installing the release version and it is compatible with the driver you have installed. Make sure that the sample rate and buffer size (SetupAudioPrimary) match the driver. (The new driver may automatically track the settings in PowerSDR. Even so, verify they are set the same.) 4. Make sure that PowerSDR both transmits and receives. It should run normally. 5. Install VAC. Follow the instructions provided with VAC. There are some differences between installing with XP, Vista, and Win7 so be sure you read the instructions, most notably in how to deal with unsigned drivers in Vista and Win7. NOTE: you MUST MUST MUST use the purchased-version of VAC 4.09. You MUST NOT, MUST NOT, MUST NOT use the demo version! Go ahead and buy it. It will work. 6. Open the VAC control program Control Panel and configure VAC. You get to the VAC control panel from the Windows Start button under All Programs. Look for the Virtual Audio Cable menu item and then select Control panel. In the upper left hand corner of the control panel for VAC you want to set it for 2 cables. I left all the other settings alone. Click the 'Set' and 'Restart' buttons. If you want to check, here is what I have all the VAC parameters set for: SR 22050..48000, BPS 8..16, NC 1..2, Max inst 20, Ms per int 7, Stream fmt Cable Range, Volume control (unchecked), Connected source lines line, Clock corr% 100.000. Once you click the Restart button you should see cable 1 and cable 2 appear in the lower section of the Virtual Audio Cable Control Panel (if not sooner). 7. Now set up VSPmgr. For now you will create a single port-pair that will be used for CAT control of fldigi by PowerSDR. Both rig control and PTT will be handled by this single port-pair. Start the VSPmgr utility. It will show you your physical serial ports and offer to create a virtual port pair. Make sure that your virtual port pair starts above any possible physical serial port numbers. It is possible for virtual ports to conflict with physical ports if the physical ports are added later. In my case I created port pair COM6/COM7 for communications between PowerSDR and fldigi. Most of the examples use COM6/COM16 or COM7/COM17 but I discovered that some programs, e.g. WSJT and WSPR, have problems with port numbers above 9. Therefore by creating a port-pair where both com numbers are below 10 means that the configuration may be used later on to communicate with these other programs. Setting up the port-pair is nothing more than selecting the desired values for End 1 and End 2, COM6 and COM7 in this case, and clicking the Create Pair button. 8. Set up PowerSDR to use VAC. With PowerSDR running, click on Setup, select the Audio, and then
Re: [Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil
Well, question 2 was answered, but not 1. Is it possible to run FLDigi with the Flex 5000A? If so, how? (I have and have tried the xml file from the KB) (I have the purchased version of VSP Manager and VAC). OS is Win 7 Pro 32 bit, and Flex 5000A was purchased about a month ago. 73, -- Larry Rappaport, W1HJF rapp at lmr dot com -Original Message- From: Larry Rappaport [mailto:r...@lmr.com] Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 3:40 PM To: 'flexradio@flex-radio.biz' Subject: fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil Windows 7 Pro 32 bit, Flex 5000A, both less than a month old. 1. I'm trying to get FLDIGI to run but having no luck. No rig control, no audio getting there. Using a virtual serial port (17 7) and VAC, but no joy with anything. Can someone please send me their settings? I have the XML program from the website, stuck it in the program directory, read it in and saved it, but there must be something more. 2. If I use DDUtil, can I run several different programs for rig control, etc. or just one rig control, one SteppIR, 1 rotor, 1 amp, 1 tuner, etc.? For some reason, I am not understanding this. For example, I would like to be able to run CW Skimmer, DX Labs Suite, HR Deluxe, FLDigi, etc. Thanks and have a merry Christmas. 73, -- Larry Rappaport, W1HJF rapp at lmr dot com ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil
Sure it is possible. I am doing it right now. It works great, but I am biased. I wrote the RigCat control file for PowerSDR :-) I am not using DDUtil with it. I recommend that you get the digital mode program working sans DDUtil with PowerSDR first and then add the DDUtil layer in afterwards so you are troubleshooting one problem and possibly not two or more of them at the same time. -Tim -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Larry Rappaport Sent: Thursday, December 24, 2009 10:41 AM To: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil Well, question 2 was answered, but not 1. Is it possible to run FLDigi with the Flex 5000A? If so, how? (I have and have tried the xml file from the KB) (I have the purchased version of VSP Manager and VAC). OS is Win 7 Pro 32 bit, and Flex 5000A was purchased about a month ago. 73, -- Larry Rappaport, W1HJF rapp at lmr dot com -Original Message- From: Larry Rappaport [mailto:r...@lmr.com] Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 3:40 PM To: 'flexradio@flex-radio.biz' Subject: fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil Windows 7 Pro 32 bit, Flex 5000A, both less than a month old. 1. I'm trying to get FLDIGI to run but having no luck. No rig control, no audio getting there. Using a virtual serial port (17 7) and VAC, but no joy with anything. Can someone please send me their settings? I have the XML program from the website, stuck it in the program directory, read it in and saved it, but there must be something more. 2. If I use DDUtil, can I run several different programs for rig control, etc. or just one rig control, one SteppIR, 1 rotor, 1 amp, 1 tuner, etc.? For some reason, I am not understanding this. For example, I would like to be able to run CW Skimmer, DX Labs Suite, HR Deluxe, FLDigi, etc. Thanks and have a merry Christmas. 73, -- Larry Rappaport, W1HJF rapp at lmr dot com ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ Message delivered to telli...@itsco.com ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil
Windows 7 Pro 32 bit, Flex 5000A, both less than a month old. 1. I'm trying to get FLDIGI to run but having no luck. No rig control, no audio getting there. Using a virtual serial port (17 7) and VAC, but no joy with anything. Can someone please send me their settings? I have the XML program from the website, stuck it in the program directory, read it in and saved it, but there must be something more. 2. If I use DDUtil, can I run several different programs for rig control, etc. or just one rig control, one SteppIR, 1 rotor, 1 amp, 1 tuner, etc.? For some reason, I am not understanding this. For example, I would like to be able to run CW Skimmer, DX Labs Suite, HR Deluxe, FLDigi, etc. Thanks and have a merry Christmas. 73, -- Larry Rappaport, W1HJF rapp at lmr dot com ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil
Larry For windows 7, it's best to use VSPmgr. Virtual Audio Cables are sharable amongst applications as delivered.. So.. you can have multiple programs hooked up to a virtual audio cable .. DDutil allows multiple programs to share the PowerSDR CAT com port. Dave Larry Rappaport wrote: Thanks, Dave, I am running 7 17 - 17 at PowerSDR and 7 at the other end. It just occurred to me, that even if I setup DDUtil, there is no equivalent for the audio. Oh well, I suppose using DDUtil to configure the serial ports makes it one less thing to do. 73, ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil
Actually, I'd recommend VSPmanager for all versions of Windows. It is a must for 64-bit versions of Win7 and Vista because the drivers are signed. -Tim -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of David Beumer W0DHB Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 5:27 PM To: Larry Rappaport Cc: flex Subject: Re: [Flexradio] fldigi Flex 5000A; DDUtil Larry For windows 7, it's best to use VSPmgr. Virtual Audio Cables are sharable amongst applications as delivered.. So.. you can have multiple programs hooked up to a virtual audio cable .. DDutil allows multiple programs to share the PowerSDR CAT com port. Dave Larry Rappaport wrote: Thanks, Dave, I am running 7 17 - 17 at PowerSDR and 7 at the other end. It just occurred to me, that even if I setup DDUtil, there is no equivalent for the audio. Oh well, I suppose using DDUtil to configure the serial ports makes it one less thing to do. 73, ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ Message delivered to telli...@itsco.com ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
