With the passing loopback test I tend to think that the issue has to do with the RTS/CTS hardware flow control signals required by the transceiver and not supported by Digirig (see info re TS-450S CAT issue).
Interesting that it works for Daveās TS690.
It works with TS-690 and the rest of the radios. So far encountered this issue with TS-450 and no other transceivers.
Too bad. I had hoped to use the Digirig instead of the Signalink.
Thank you for your patience as well.
So does this mean there are no TS450 customers successfully using CAT with the Digirig?
TS450 cables sold even though they werenāt tested to work with the Digirig on the TS450?
Please note, I am not challenging!
Just want the darn thing to work.
If the answers to the above questions are yes; then I completely get it and understand.
I have established that:
It is not my home PC.
It is not my rig or itās serial or Acc ports.
I will test the audio out side and decide if I want to keep it. I have yet to test the audio out.
Thanks,
Alan
I havenāt received any solid confirmations of TS-450 used with Digirigās CAT control. Audio/PTT side and corresponding cable alone are enough to run digital modes so it is still compatible, but with an asterisk for the optional CAT control issue.
So setting the CAT aside and focusing on audio only- Audio into PC seems right. Audio shows zero power out on the rig meter. When I plug the headset into the Digirig, I hear the FT8 tones clearly and loud (with Windows audio settings at 50% out or I get a constant loud tone in the headset).
Why does the rig show no power on output?
I am on a dummy load with rig set to 50 watts and WSJT-X slider at full. If I send a CW carrier it shows the correct power out on the rig.
There must be a transceiver setting instructing it to take the audio from the accessory port vs. the mic.
Ok, with the audio confirmed out of Digirig the two possibilities are:
- issue with the cable
- issue with the radio (hardware or settings)
If you can confirm digital modes operating with another interface then we can rule out the radio side. Please try that. As for the cable, here is the pinout that you can ring on the cable with the continuity tester:
Solder side is displayed, the connections are mirrored when testing from the pins side.
Also, looking for the transceiver side settings I came across some that pertain to serial CAT control. It may be worth giving those a try:
- CAT RTS Disable
- CAT TOT 10
- CAT Rate 38400
Good information, thanks.
The rig works fine with my Signalink using the same connection (accy 2).
I will check the cable pinouts and those menu settings.
Alan
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On my cable, compared to your above diagram; Tip goes to pin 11. Ring 1 goes to pin 3.
On the settings you mentioned, can you help with the Kenwood terms? I canāt figure out which settings you refer to based on the menu list I attached.
Thanks,
Alan
Thatās not right, Iāll be re-checking the inventory. Correct re-tested cable is in the mail.
If anybody else experience the same issue, please reach out via DM or email.
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Received replacement TS450 audio cable. Audio immediately worked correctly.
Did you see my question above regarding your comment on the CAT settings?
I would sure like to get CAT working.
As a reminderāIt works perfectly with a 10 year old USB to Serial interfaceā¦
Alan,
Thank you for confirmation re. audio cable. As for CAT control, my reply was that I wasnāt successful at getting it working reliably with TS-450 due to what I think is requirement for hardware flow control signals. I also didnāt get any positive confirmations from other operators.
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This comment. You got my hopes up.
That is still worth a try. I no longer have the transceiver in my possession to continue experimentation.
I couldnāt find those in the programming summary posted above. I think is only 4800 baud.
Hi Alan,
Iām a new Digirig user and forum participant. I just now saw this thread. I have Digirig running with an Inovato Quadra arm64, (which lacks a mic / audio input) / Armbian Linux system so I purchased my Digirig to use with my new home-assembled (tr)uSDX radio.
I have seen your problem running the Kenwood TS-480 / TS-450 CAT commands that my (tr)uSDX supports along with the same wsjt-x error message (more verbose than the related but less useful JS8Call error message).
I could never get CAT or even RTS PTT control to work on any of the official binary builds on several systemsāeither via repository packages or the appimage files or even with Windows 10! I kept seeing the same errors (but had a ādecoder restartingā error continuously with the JS8Call appimage instead).
I could only use VOX until I solved the problem by building my own binaries from source, which enabled me to use either CAT PTT or RTS PTT or VOX. Iām now using CAT and CAT PTT with the Inovator Quadra / Digirig combo.
The problem is a hamlib / TS-4xx / JS8Call / wsjt-x incompatibility. The solution is to custom build your JS8Call, wsjt-x and hamlib binariesāat least it worked for me on the following machines that Iāve tried:
MX-Linux (Debian based) / x86-64 on two different HP Laptops using on-board sound cards.
Armbian Linux (Debian based) arm64 Inovato Quadra using Digirig.
Armbian Linux arm64 Pinebook Pro using on-board soundcard (but still having other problems with JS8Call on it)
If the JS8Call instructions or KM4ACK howto for the RPi are followed, the process also produces wsjt-x. I recommend following the JS8Call instructions as much as possible (read the JS8Call INSTALL file in the src folder). However, use KM4ACKās guidance to enable sources along with āsudo apt-get build-dep js8call -yā to satisfy dependencies. In the end, I still had dependency problems on some systemsāboth when building the binaries and also when trying to install the .deb file with dpkg. You donāt need to make or use the .deb file at all, BTW.
https://groups.io/g/KM4ACK-Pi/message/6369
Following the above instructions will result in static linking of your applications to the hamlib libraries (instead of dynamically relying on the hamlib library files installed on your system) . The application files will be a lot larger with hamlib ābuilt-inā but they will be compatible!
It can be a bit of a challenging build though. Only my MX-Linux build went smoothly. Iām still trying to finish a Manjaro / Pinbook Pro build.
Iāve only tested JS8Call but Iāll test wsjt-x too and report back here. Itās far from the worst applications build that Iāve ever done but it can still be challenging.
I suspect that both JS8Call and wsjt-x are cured on my Quadra and HP systems but JS8Call is my main interest so I still have to check wsjt-x functionality.
If you are running Windows, I canāt help you. I only tried JS8Call on Windoze because I was desperate! Many years ago, my job required me to write some Windows software, but normally I only boot Windows to run tax-prep software, which Iāve only barely been able to stand since WinNT days!
If youād like to attempt a Linux build, I suggest using a Debian-based OS. Tell me a bit about your OS
73,
Cal ā AD8Q
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Thank you very much Cal for your input. The insight you present is way over my head. I am sure it will help others with knowledge in that field.
One thing that goes unanswered, although I have presented the fact a few times is why does my older usb to serial adapter control CAT on the TS450s while the newer more advanced Digirig does not??
Alan
Alan,
After reading this thread more carefully, I now think you have a different problem than I experienced with both JS8Call and wsjt-x. I just now confirmed that wsjt-x is working on my Quadra too, after my JS8Call/hamlib source build.
One thing that goes unanswered, although I have presented the fact a few times is why does my older usb to serial adapter control CAT on the TS450s while the newer more advanced Digirig does not??
Both Windows and GNU-Linux can keep switching COM Port / ttyUSB or tty/ACM port numbers around every time a machine is booted or a USB control or USB audio connection is made. From my experiences, Windows doesnāt even always assign the same numbers when boot and USB connections are duplicated exactly! Are you sure that the wsjt-x settings are for the correct COM port? Opening Device Manager under Windows will reveal the assigned COM-Ports. Itās probably best to check right after lunching wsjt-x and then change settings in wsjt-x as indicated.
My (tr)uSDX rig supports a fully adequate subset of TS-450 / TS-480 CAT commands and/or RTS PTT via its USB port so I really only needed to buy the Digirig to provide audio capture for my Quadra computers, which feature only audio output (no mic or line input). A cheap audio soundcard dongle that I tied didnāt work very well but Iāve found the Digirig soundcard feature to work perfectly in testing on several computers, despite not presently needing the Digirig CAT capabilities with other rigs.
So my Quadra / (tr)uSDX / Digirig setup requires a USB connection to the computer for CAT and a second USB connection for USB audio, which is the same as the setup that works with your Kenwood (using both your older USB to serial adapter along with the DIgirig USB connection). I understand how youād like to eliminate the old USB to serial adapter but it sounds like you have something that works.
Double check the COM port vs. wsjt-x settings assignment each time you launch wsjt-x for a while. Iām running an MX-Linux live boot SD card with persistence (it remembers OS and application changes) on an x86-64 computer . I could make an image for you to try. Itās not difficult to burn the image to an SD card or flash memory fob using Balena Etcher and boot it. It should make it easy for you to test wsjt-x (and JS8Call) and perhaps better assess the problem. Iāll need to de-customize a few of my settings and logs and such, but you should be able to complete the settings setup rather easily. If you really like it, it also supports installing MX a hard disk (again, with the changes youāve made)āincluding dual boot with Windows, last I checked. I wish the Andyās Ham Radio Linux CD (Sourceforge) was based on MX-Linux with persistence instead of Ubuntu, but thatās another subject.
The MX-Linux live boot should work for you with Digirig CAT and only a single USB cable. If it does work, we can keep digging into your Windows setup.
73,
Cal - AD8Q
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