Ramblings of yet another nerd…
ok – this should be the final post…. I did one more batch of updates… this time I designed for EMI. Not only did I ensure I had full isolation between the radio and computer, I also added some ground plane breaks to control noise. I also did some trace routing to keep signals routed …
Read More Soundcard Interface: Design For EMI
Over the past couple weeks, I have been tinkering more with the soundcard interface. I started using FreePCB (http://www.freepcb.com/) – which is a VERY nice PCB drawing program with gerber file output, and, well, i couldn’t complain about the price! Once I got the “as built” drawing done, I ended up ordering a set of …
Read More USB Soundcard Interface… update 4
Today, I tackled interrupts. I’m not so sure I tackled interrupts, so much as i worked on determining the dynamic tuning step timing. I needed a routine to wait for an encoder pulse, and then determine how long since the last pulse. This isn’t too bad, but the previous attempt was sampling loop timing more …
Read More CI-V EXTERNAL VFO CONTROL, PART 4
Many years ago, Sam, K9SD, added some interesting functionality to his Icom 781 radios – an external encoder wired in parallel to the VFO control. This may seem trivial, but his modification actually wired an encoder in parallel to the radio’s internal encoder. The benefit and beauty to this arrangement is that the radio could …
Read More CI-V External VFO Control, Part 1
after much work, I got the VX1700 interface working. It would appear that the connection convention is a bit strange. From the service manual, Data OUT on the Data Jack (6 pin mini-Din) should be connected to the computer’s speaker jack. This is how I had it wired originally. The Data IN jack was connected …
Read More Soundcard Interface Update
So, after much fussing and messing around with a rigblaster, I had had enough – I knew there must be a better way to interface to my FT1000. First, with the radio being rack mounted, cables routed around the back of the rig were a hassle to make look GOOD. Second, I didn’t want to …
Read More USB Soundcard Interface
I previously added (as “comments” to my post on RS-232 to TTL cable) the fact that I had purchased some USB to TTL converters, intending to remove the middle man (RS-232) – and hopefully lighten my programming kit a little. The challenge to using these cables is that most radios use a single bi-directional line …
Read More A new take on the generic programming cable
Many years ago, programming the memories in an amateur radio was a “neat” feature. As the capability was included in more radios, the radio manufacturers also began charging a hefty sum for the cables to do so, because they contained “Circuitry”. Many amateurs quickly learned that these adapters were little more than RS-232 to TTL …
Read More A generic radio programming cable