Matt,
If you have removed the little plastic cover from over the jacks, the
one on the left is a 1/8 jack for external speaker, the one in the
middle is a mini din for data (this is where the interface connects),
and the one on the right is a mini din for connecting an amp.
Without looking it up, I think the data jack is a 8 pin mini and the
amp jack is a 6 pin mini. The amp jack also has the pin for FSK rtty,
but that's not an issue if you are using the sound card to generate
AFSK RTTY.
If you go the Signal Link route, be sure to request the cable for the
480. It will have a square RJ type plug at one end for the Signal
Link, and a small round mini din to plug into the radio.
If you just want to test with an audio connection, you can use either
the headphone jack or the external speaker jack to feed audio to the
sound card in the pc. To keep from over driving the sound card you
would set the radio volume way down and tweak with the pc's mixer
controls. If you get the interface, the audio is routed via the usb
cable to the interface and through the din connection to the radio.
No need for an extra audio connection in this case. Once you've
followed the installation procedure for the interface on the pc, all
your audio in and out levels are controled via the front panel knobs on
the interface.
BTW, there are other interfaces oute there with a built in sound card,
but the SL USB is well reviewed, reasonably inexpensive, and used by a
few on this list. Of course with a radio like the 590, with it's built
in sound card, an interface isn't needed, so mine is currently not in
use.
73, Steve KW3A
On 7/15/2015 5:58 AM, Matthew Chao wrote:
> Hi, Steve. Thanks for the info. How do I figure out which DIN port
> to use on the 480? And would running a patch cord from the headphone
> jack into the PC's input work? Thanks in advance.--Matt, n1ibb.
>
> At 10:04 PM 7/14/2015 -0400, you wrote:
>> Matt,
>>
>> The Signal link USB is nice. I have one and others on the list do as
>> well. cheapham.com has it for $89 plus shipping. This price
>> includes 1 radio specific cable to go from the unit to the radio. In
>> your case, it will plug into one of the mini din jacks on the front of
>> your 480. These are behind a little plastic cover that needs to be
>> removed just to the left of the serial db 9 connector.
>>
>> If you go the SL USB route (no matter where you get it) you should
>> spend the extra $5 bucks or so and get the plugin module for the 480.
>> The SL USB can be configured for a lot of radios, and comes with a
>> bunch of little wire jumpers that need to be plugged into a header
>> inside the unit. The optional, radio specific modules plug into the
>> header as a single piece, instead of 8 little jumpers. When I got
>> mine years ago, the modules weren't around, and I had to do the jumper
>> thing. Not the end of the world, but spend the extra money and get the
>> plug and play thing.
>>
>> The unit does have knobs on the front for audio in and out levels, as
>> well as vox delay.
>>
>> Sorry you couldn't make any sense out of the articles on
>> hamradioandvision.com I thought that seeing what other people are
>> doing might give you pointers.
>>
>> Before spending money on an interface, maybe just try some rx and see
>> how it works. To receive, all you need is a audio cable between audio
>> out of the radio, and line in on the pc's sound card. I know you want
>> to work all modes, but maybe just pick one for starters. Download
>> software for it and see if you can get the rx side to work. The
>> biggest problems for digital operation by the blind are getting the
>> signal tuned in, and getting your screen reader to speak out something
>> that makes sense. If you can't make the rx work to your
>> satisfaction you might be wasting your money on an interface.
>>
>>
>> I think the MixW software John uses isn't free, but has a free trial
>> period. It never worked for me. MMTTY for RTTY and Digipan for psk are
>> both free. In digipan, set the menu option to "use arrows for seek"
>> and the arrow keys on the keyboard will jump between signals on the band.
>>
>> 73, good luck, Steve KW3A
>> On 7/14/2015 7:15 PM, Matthew Chao wrote:
>>> Hi, Folks. Now that I've gotten my question answered regarding
>>> splitting the sound card duties (Window-Eyes on one card, and digital
>>> mode on a USB card) I have a few questions.
>>>
>>> 1. Someone recommended a Tigertronics USB system to me to interface
>>> with the radio. Does anyone know anything about this system?
>>>
>>> 2. What software is likely to work best with Window-Eyes? I'm
>>> interested in doing PSK31, RTTY, and JT65.
>>>
>>> 3. I was up on the Web site recommended to me by one of you folks,
>>> and only got totally confused on how to get digital modes going. I
>>> think the site was hamandvision.com.
>>>
>>> 4. Of all the digital modes, which one is the least difficult to
>>> start with and grow?
>>>
>>> Sorry for all the questions, but this mode sounds interesting, and a
>>> new challenge. Thanks in advance for your help.--Matt, N1IBB.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>
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