After getting my CAT control sorted out, my whole rig is working. BUT, I notice my power output in my radio is pretty low, only around 10-15w even after I maxed out every setting that I could find, including this and this troubleshooting guide. Not only that, the audio level from radio is also pretty low, only around 15db on WSJT-X with AGC disabled.
At first I thought it was normal, but then I saw this video, which he was using “signalink”. He was clearly able to max the transmitting power with his signalink.
Now, for receiving audio I have panadapter, which means I don’t have to rely on the audio output the radio. That leaves the audio sending from the computer. I suspect there might be a impedance mismatch, or just simply the power from the digirig is just too low to drive my radio.
The accessory port of the radio shouldn’t be heavily loading Digirig’s output, but even if that was the case, Digirig can drive low impedance loads like headphones. Speaking of which, are you able to confirm the presence of the reasonable level output as shown in this video:
Like I said. I maxed out every settings I could find, both in the recording device and the speaker device. The sound from the recording device is so low that without enable the AGC that mentioned in your video(yes the one that supposed to be “disabled” in your video) , I can’t even hear the radio’s background static noise.
Right now I’m really thinking if I should cutting the audio cable open and break out the RIG_AFOUT to a dedicated and amplified USB sound card(which I’m also a bit concerned about ground loop), or should I just return it and get something else. After all, CAT isn’t working, I don’t need audio in and the the audio out is too low.
Trying with another sound card will help rule out some of the components. You can use your computer’s internal sound card with mic level input. The suspects are Digirig, cable and the radio. It is less likely that the issue is with Digirig because it is improbable that both input and output have the same type of issue.
If you need to return any part of the kit or entire order please PM for arrangements.
I don’t recall audio levels to be a problem when I tested that radio. I would take a note if that was the case. As far as the driver goes, the system’s standard driver should do the business. There is no need for specific driver installation. If you suspect computer not talking to the codec correctly, you can try with another computer.
In case there is any doubt, this is my Mixer screenshot when transmitting. It is full, yet my radio shows the output power barely breaks out at 10w.
I’m going to take a chance and cut open the audio cable, I have an amp for headphone and I’m gonna try to connect it to that amp. Hopefully I won’t make things worse.
Have you turned up the rx/tx level in the TS570D menu for the 13 pin din conector? They are items 33 and 34, You would also need to adjust item 35 to 57600 if going to use CAT on 57600.
PS I don’t know what you mean by this: “Now, for receiving audio I have panadapter, which means I don’t have to rely on the audio output the radio. That leaves the audio sending from the computer. I suspect there might be a impedance mismatch, or just simply the power from the digirig is just too low to drive my radio.” ?
Surely you are using the digital audio in and out plus PTT on the 13pin din plug?
the advantage is that with that PTT your microphone is muted and the audio in, audio out and PTT has a common shield earth, unlike the front microphone and headset output.
The CAT control really doesn’t need high speed, and just like you suggested I have bought a separate USB-RS232 adapter so my CAT is working fine now. I’m not worrying about that anymore.
About menu item 33 and 34, they are 2 and 9, that’s as high as it can get.
Panadapter is a mod, it takes out the 1st IF from the radio(TS-570D) and send it to an SDR dongle. Combined with CAT control, you basically get a very modern SDR radio with waterfall and everything, something normally requires a very expensive rig.
The another advantage about panadapter is, it doesn’t affected by the radio’s 3rd IF passband, which as you know, it is only 2.4KHz wide. I can enjoy FT8 with full 3KHz bandwidth, just like any modern radio does.
Because I have panadapter, I don’t need the audio from radio’s ACC plug anymore. My computer will independently decode the FT8 from the SDR. But I still need to send the audio from my computer to the radio with ACC plug and PTT when transmitting.
As soon as my Digirig arrives I will report back, at the moment I am trying to to gather as much information as possible to help me set it up when it gets here, but I dont think you can can consider your rig as a standard TS570D after it has been modified.
Well. It didn’t appeared to affect the radio itself in any noticeable way, and TX/RX on TS-570D is in a different path, so it really shouldn’t affect transmitting.
I believe there is a reason signalink has an op-amp and a potentiometer for audio level.
Anyway, good luck for you. In the mean time I will try to use a different sound card for audio output to radio…
PS I did experiment with my Log4om CAT setup today, I used to have a problem sending CW with the build in auto keyer when running a CAT connection to Log4om at 9600, The beginning of my CW characters would be chopped randomly, When I use 56700 with flow control the problem is not noticeable, I then ran it at 9600 with flow control and it was just as bad with and without flow control, so I am keeping far away from 9600, it appears that the controlling processor is halted while it is receiving data, at 9600 it takes long to transfer the data.
For those who don’t understand: I cut open the audio cable for digirig, and break out the AFIN and the ground to a second TRS connector. I don’t recommend this method, it is really hard to work that thin wire inside. There are break out adapter available on Amazon.
So anyway, I tried my USB DAC/AMP combo. The radio shows even less output power, I tried my computer’s integrated soundcard, same result. Somehow digirig has the highest output power. To rule out any possible that my radio simply doesn’t like FT8 and limiting the power, I connect the dummy load and played a song, and I got really low output.
I even disconnected my panadapter, nothing changes. I tried a ground loop isolator, nothing.
Tomorrow maybe I will try my phone’s headphone jack. But I doubt it will change anything.
p.s. At one point I shorted the ground with something, and somehow I was able to get a very high audio output from the radio. But that’s the AFOUT from radio, not AFIN. I didn’t dig very deep into that.
@K0TX Did you remember whether your radio was TS-570D or TS-570D(G)? I suspect the problem lies on the hardware revisions. If it is TS-570D(G) the menu item goes up to 51 instead of 46, the rear sticker is also marked differently.
Remember I said I shorted something and got a really high audio level? As a last ditch hail mary, I just keep swapping wires. And when I swap the GND with AFIN, holy cow, it fixes all the audio issues I have. Both for the input and the output.
So, what the heck? I can confirm digirig’s original wiring is matched to the kenwood ACC2 definition.
Not sure what is going on there. The radio’s ground should connect to Digirig’s ground which in turn will connect to computer’s ground which connects to the outlet’s ground as I suspect your radio does, so everything is at the same potential.
You can confirm the ground pin in the radio’s accessory port by checking the continuity to the radio’s chassis.
