I was able to successfully setup the digirig lite with my HT and use winlink and vrafm. Now I’m trying to set it up with my AT5888UV-III. Unfortunately, I have been unsuccessful in being able to connect to any VaraFM node. I would switch back and forth between my HT and used the same antenna with both and was able to connect to the same node with the HT consistently. I’ve also tried using the audio/ptt cord from both Digirig and Les on the At5888UV-III with the same unsuccessful results. Anyone had success mind sharing their radio and varafm settings? Thank you.
Thanks for the help. The specific issue is that I can’t get a connection to the Winlink node via VaraFM. Every time I try to perform an autotune I get a result of “no signal”
It seems to be transmitting fine as I am listening to the frequency on another radio and can hear it. I have the VU at 1 o’clock. PTT set as RA board 1. ‘Left’ is selected for channel and Speakers level set at 23. Mic Level set at 75. These are the same settings from a successful connection using my HT.
After the failed connection, I would immediately switch to the HT and use the same antenna and same VaraFM/Windows settings and make a successful connection. So,I’m figuring it must be a radio setting, but I’m not sure what others settings to change. I’ve tried changing the speaker and mic levels with no luck.
I also tried using a Radioddity QB25 and a cord from Les using the same antenna and settings with no success.
I would love any other advice on what to change…
I am using the Digirig Lite for my HT with these mobile radios instead of a Digirig Mobile. But that wouldn’t make a difference right?
having a working setup with the ht should help in troubleshooting.
a ‘lite’ digirig should be just fine with the mobiles and probably used more often than the serial remote control capable ‘mobile’ version with the vhf/uhf users.
so, looking at the mobile radio vs working ht radio;
audio levels? tx audio too low/high, rx audio too low/high
i read you adjusted these without success but:
listening with the ht when working with the mobile radios may help you ‘hear’ low or overdriven audio levels
ptt;
are you getting positive PTT activation?
ste (squelch tail elimination);
when the mobile radio keys up, can you ‘see’ how long it holds PTT after the pc tells it to stop?
the mobile radios may be holding PTT long enough for the receiver to ‘miss’ the beginning of the responding packet/transmission.
that’s where i would start if i were scratching my head over why one radio works and another doesn’t.
(you eliminated the ‘not enough RF power’ by connecting with low power radio first)
@Constrainted Thank you for the reply and suggestions. I confirmed #1 and #3 but had a question regarding #2. What is RFI lockup? I’m a new technician, so I’m still learning quite a bit. Apologies for the newbie question. Thanks again!
Hi @webmonkey thank you for the reply. I wanted to share a quick progress report.
-The PTT activation looks good.
-I’m not sure how to check the STE. How do I see how long it holds PTT after the PC tells it to stop? (I’m a new Technician and still learning. Apologies for the newbie question).
Overall still no success with the mobile…but the HT is working like gangbusters!
ok, i’ll try to expand a bit.
the at5888uv-iii may not even have a menu setting for ste ‘squelch tail elimination’
you can check this out by the hand mic and visual observation.
press the ptt button while watching the radio, or even better watching a tx power meter or receive ‘meter’ of another radio on the same frequency.
release the ptt button and ‘see’ or ‘hear’ if the radio continues to transmit ‘dead air’ for a split second after YOU release the ptt button/key.
many moons ago, there were several ‘solutions’ to eliminate the ‘SSSKKKKKKKTTT’ noise when your QSO partner turned over the conversation to you.
your radio’s squelch circuit would take a split second to ‘close’ the receive audio and the noise was loud static.
so all my ramblings are to find out:
how fast does the 588 start receiving AFTER letting go of the ptt button.
if it is too slow, it will always miss the answering packet/data/response.
(missing just a bit of the header counts as a complete fail)
‘turn around time’ was crucial when ‘we’ were doing 1200/9600baud packet all over the place. early 90s is when the ‘off the shelf radios’ really caught up with switch time/audio bandwidth accessibility)
kb0wlf
