RIGblaster Plus II
12
NOTE:
If you wish to do both rig control and sound card operation at the
same time, you need a single program that does both of those functions.
If you wish to use two different programs, one for rig control and one for
sound card you must have two interfaces. Programs that do both rig control
and sound card operation include Hamscope and MixW.
NOTE:
Separate programs such as HRD and DM780 require two COM
port interfaces, one for rig control and one for PTT or CW, as Windows®
will not allow two programs to access the same USB COM port at the same
time. The work around is to set the
RIGblaster Plus II
to the VOX mode to
permanently connect the PC audio for transmit, and then use CAT or CI-V
transmit activation.
If you have purchased a rig control cable from West Mountain Radio cable,
connect it between the RIGblaster Plus II “RIG”, “RIG CTL” jack and the
radio’s CAT or remote (CI-V) jack as described in the instructions that came
with the custom cable for your radio. Make sure the radio end of a CI-V
cable is correct. If you wish to make your own cable you diagrams are as
follows in this manual or available on our support page.
CAUTION:
When interfacing electronics between various products that
are connected to the outside world you must be careful to avoid damage
due to ground loops. A PC with a case grounded through its line cord and
a radio grounded to an antenna system can have tremendous AC leakage
between these two grounds. During a thunderstorm with a near-by lightning
strike, not just a direct hit, several thousand volts can be induced into the
loop antenna formed by this type of ground loop. It is important that every
piece of equipment in your ham station is connected with a star ground
system to a single point ground (no loops).
Step 2c: Setting Up the Radio for Rig Control
Most radios have settings for the rig control communications interface, which
may include baud rate, parity, stop bits and CI-V addresses.
It is recommended to check that the radio has these settings set to the default
or standard settings. Consult the owner’s manual for your radio to be sure
it is set correctly to the default and make a note of what these settings are.
Turn off any automatic baud rate detection as it is usually incompatible with
the automatic baud rate detection in software programs.
