No Signal returned in auto Tune

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1

Kenwood -tmV71A. Winlink and VaraFM. Digirig Mobile configured for RS232 and digirig cables. I get no Signal returned when I Auto Tune. Screens below. Squelch turned off, no AGC, Have tried 2 different repeaters, 2 different radios. com port set at 9600 and radio is the same. Radio is configured for data and frequency is set correctly. Transmits ok. I can monitor the tune on my HT. Just no signal returned. Appreciate any help..

Thanks

John K0JHL

Ports
Ports466Ă—323 63.9 KB

VaraFM
VaraFM753Ă—615 147 KB

tx levels
tx levels400Ă—455 31 KB

Soundcard
Soundcard471Ă—377 36.8 KB

rx levels
rx levels400Ă—455 24.5 KB

PTT
PTT425Ă—466 21.5 KB

2

Without Digirig involved, do you hear other stations’ traffic on your radio when tuned to the repeater frequencies?

3

Yes, I check in with regular net weekly. The digirig mobile I have is the logic level model, but I bridged the solder pads and cut the 2 traces to make it an RS-232 so i could use it on my Kenwood TM-V71A and Kenwood TS-480HX. I bought separate cables for those.

Just reviewed video on converting to rs-232 and I have revision 1.11 board. Is it still the same as 1.09 as video states?

4

Yes, the configuration pads are unchanged since rev 1.9 so no issue there. Also, the serial port configuration has no effect on audio or PTT so that’s a separate matter.

I should have been more specific with the question. Do you hear the third-party traffic including digipeater’s responses to other stations on the frequency you are using with Digirig?

Possible reasons for you not getting a reply from the digipeater are:

  • Digipeater doesn’t hear your station (RF link quality or audio settings)
  • You don’t hear digipeater’s response (RF link quality or audio settings)
  • You are tuning against the digipeater using wrong callsign (Software configuration)
  • Digipeater is not a Vara station (Protocol mismatch)

You can rule out RF link quality by bringing your station close to the location of the digipeater.

5

OK, figured it out finally. The repeater I was connecting to (which I have used for over 2 yrs), was relocated by the owner. He not only changed locations but reduced the height significantly. Had a club member from down there check his winlink email while I monitored and could here his connection fine. I could not however get a response no matter how high I set the speaker volume in sound card settings. I was also trying another repeater to the east of me which had connectivity a year ago during our disaster exercise and could not get a response there either. Turns out they changed the call sign. After making that correction I could make contact with it. The setting on the speaker volume is touchy. At the lowest setting for contact (which is 43%), I still get overdrive message saying speaker volume is too high. It is in yellow so have to live with it. My mike volume setting is at 2. That is the setting that gives me a 1 o’clock vu meter reading. I can set it at zero and it is still a little high. Should I cut the trace for attenuation or let it be?

On another note I have both cable plugged into my Kenwood TM-V71A but have no cat control. Do I assume correctly that is a function of the software and winlink does not have it?

Appreciate your support on this,

Thanks,

John K0JHL

1 Like
6

Thanks for the update. Glad to hear you are making progress with your troubleshooting.

Re. CAT control: yes, all parts need to play along for this to work, including radio, interface and the software.