Hello Steve and others,
[Recap: I was trying to get MMTTY to work with my TS-590 using AFSK. I was
able to decode RTTY but not able to send. Menu settings on the Kenwood
appeared to be correct.]
I finally made the time to look into this, and I'm glad I did, although I'm
a little embarrassed by what I missed wen I was looking into this earlier.
The problem was that the output for the "Speakers (USB audio codec)" on the
PC was set to mute. Oops. So, the radio didn't hear any audio, even though
the menu settings were correct. Thanks to everyone who gaved pointers and
suggestions.
I have a few more questions though.
Is there an accessible way to adjust the MMTTY software squelch? MMTTY is
trying to decode atmospheric noise, so I'm receiving a lot of gibberish
between legit data. I worked around this by adjusting the squelch on the
radio, but it blocked out too many weak signals. I found a better
workaround; I turned off the rado's AGC, and backed off on the RF gain. This
improved the S/N ratio in some cases, which definitely helped. How do others
on the list minimize the RTTY gibberish?
My other question concerns setting the input level from MMTTY to the radio.
The tutorials and documentation I have read warn against overdriving the
input. Can I use the spoken ALC meter readings to determine whether my audio
level is at least in the ballpark? What value or range of values are okay
here?
I thought of another possible workaround, but it is just a guess. Using an
external wattmeter and an external dummy load, measure the CW key-down power
output. Switch to LSB-data, and start sending "diddles". Adjust the input
level to the radio such that the power output is a few watts less (5 to 10%
perhaps?) than the CW power output. Assuming MMTTY is working correctly,
would this ensure that the radio is not being overdriven? What do you think?
Thanks, as always, for your time. I am glad I'm part of this list.
--Doug, AC7T
-----Original Message-----
From: For blind ham radio operators [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Steve Forst
Sent: Sunday, March 18, 2012 7:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: TS 590: Can Rig Control and Sound data share USB Port?
To whom it may concern: This is a pretty long one, if the subject
doesn't interest you, delete now or forever hold your peace.
Hi Doug,
Here are some more odds and ends for what ever it's worth:
Probably a good idea to try and get MMTTY running stand alone, just to
get any quirks in N1MM out of the equation.
You might want to look in the "set up mmtty" menu under the "tx" tab
and set port to "none". You are using the 590's data vox to key the
radio, not a comm port. In fact, you really don't even need the virtual
comm port driver installed just to use the sound device function of
the radio. The computer will recognize the sound device with just the
usb cable connected, but the only way to get rig control is by
installing the virtual comm driver.
Selecting the sound card in MMTTY 1.68 is more of a pain than in
previous versions, but if you use jaws, the jaws cursor can help.
If you still have problems, go to the "misc" tab instead of the
"soundcard" tab. Tab down about 16 times and you will be in the
area"device identifiers". There is one for RX and one for TX, each
with a single digit number. You can use arrow keys to change the
number. -1 is the pc's onboard sound card, 0 is the next added sound
device, and numbers 1 and following are aditional sound devices in the
system. You might be able to see what is selected by looking in the
"soundcard" tab, and make the change under the "misc" tab, if need be.
On a different note: Something about the Kenwood's(at least the 2000
and 590 - maybe others) is that if ptt is asserted on a comm port, the
front panel mic jack is used, and not any external audio. There is a
setting in the Writelog software I use for "disable comm ptt". If I
don't have this set right, I can't get any audio into the radio for
transmit - either from the usb port, or acc2 jack.
While I don't do AFSK keying, I do use the Kenwood sound device for
canned voice, like CQ's and such. If the disable comm ptt isn't set
right, I get no transmit audio out. This may have no bearing on your
thing, but worth keeping in mind.
I'm also using a usb to serial 4 port box and control 3 rigs via their
serial ports (including the 590). My usb connection to the 590 is for
audio only, although I do have the virtual comm driver installed. I
don't know for sure if the comm ptt thing mentioned above is a factor
when using the virtual comm portfor rig control, but I think it might.
Lastly, you may want to be sure you can receive, decode, and have your
screen reader give you a good read out before you gove nuts over the
TX side. If you can't receive, no sense going nuts over the TX.
73, Steve KW3A
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