BTECH 50x2 Gen. 1 Digirig and AllStar Link

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1

I have a Btech 50x2 Gen 1. My question is about using this radio as an AllStar node.

Are there any special solder traces that need to be cut/made on the Digirig board itself due to the Btech 50x2 not having a real COS/COR. Or is the digirig a plug and play interface for AllStar Link and Echolink?

Thanks,
Adam KE8ONK/WRDQ257

2

So I picked a couple of these premade cables from the link below. I’m gonna have to replace an RJ45 plug with a 3.5 trrs plug to work with the Digirig, but maybe I won’t have to gather the parts to make one from scratch.

https://www.argentdata.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=209

The RJ45 jack on the front panel provides all radio interface connections. Looking into the front of the connector, the pin functions, from left to right, are as follows:

8- Power in (typically used with radios that provide a +8v output)

7- Unused

6 - Audio in (from radio’s speaker output)

5- Push-to-talk output

4- Ground

3- Audio out (to radio’s microphone input)

2- Ground

1- Squelch / COR input The Squelch / COR input is optional. When this signal is available from the radio (usually from an accessory or data connector) it allows the repeater to be operated without the VOX delay.

3

I’ve installed and set up AllStar in a laptop I had sitting around. Fabbed up cables to work with the radio, and the Digirig. Verified with a multimeter there are no shorts in the fabbed cable. I’ve tried the Digirig with several USB cables, and several programs, and 3 different devices. Can’t get anything out of anything.

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4

You have put in a lot of work to get to this point. I do not know about all-star. You might be able to test the audio chain from computer ↔ Digirig ↔ BTech by putting a tone from the computer to the radio and monitoring. Perhaps use an APRS client or fldigi to put the tone out while the radio is in a standard mode on a simplex frequency.

Denis K0TX has a guide Troubleshooting Digital Modes – digirig.

73 Constrainted

5

So I’ve spoken to an engineer about this. His opinion is radios without a proper COS are just not suitable with any FOB for use with AllStar.

6

@Adam That is disappointing. If you do resume the project with another radio, there is a discussion about Digirig’s COS implementation.

73 Constrainted