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5

 
PANEL DESCRIPTION 

 

FRONT PANEL 
 

 

 
 

 - MICROPHONE CONNECTOR, 8-Pin Screw-on Microphone Connector – connects your radio microphone to 

the 

RIGblaster pro. 

(May be used as mic out on a radio with an RJ45 microphone connector) 

 

 - “mic 2”, an auxiliary mic connector for connecting a microphone with a 1/8 inch (3.5mm) connector. Main mic 

does not need to be disconnected as this jack switches over automatically. 
 

 - COMPUTER MONITOR HEADPHONE JACK – Accepts Headphones with a ¼ inch Jack 

 

 - COMPUTER MONITOR HEADPHONE JACK – Accepts Headphones with a 1/8 inch (3.5mm) Jack 

 

 - “level set” – For adjusting the audio level being fed from the computer audio Line Out or headphone out to 

the Mic input of the attached radio in order to set transmit drive level. 
 

 - “level” LED – A Green LED that indicates the presence of sound card audio in Receive Mode. In Transmit 

mode, it indicates sufficient sound card audio to adequately modulate most radios. 
 

 - “c.s.” LED – A Green LED, when on, indicates computer sound (c.s.) is being fed to the radio. When this LED 

is on, the direct microphone path to the radio is disconnected.  

 

 - “mic.” LED – A Green LED, when on, indicates the microphone is available to the radio.  See STEP 9 

ADVANCED AUDIO PROCESSING CONSIDERATIONS later in this manual for more information. 
 

 - “process” LED – A Yellow LED indicating that the 

RIGblaster pro

 is in Process Mode This LED  will turn on 

only when the “process Switch” is on and PTT is pressed on the attached mic or via an attached PTT switch/foot 
switch or when PTT is activated by software through the serial port connection from the computer.  
 

 - “process” Switch – Turns process mode on or off.  Up is ON and down is OFF.  This switch must be OFF 

when the 

RIGblaster pro

 is turned off for your mic to work normally.  If the “process Switch” is OFF, microphone 

audio is fed directly to the radio.  When the “process Switch” is ON mic audio can be connected via the 

RIGblaster pro

 to the computers mic input and back into the radio.  Please see STEP 9 ADVANCED AUDIO 

PROCESSING CONSIDERATIONS later in this manual for more information about Process Mode.   
 

 - “ptt” LED – This Red LED indicates when PTT is activated by your mic, foot switch or by software through the 

serial port connection from the computer.   

Summary of Contents for RIGblaster pro

Page 1: ...blaster pro the complete computer interface for your radio OWNERS MANUAL West Mountain Radio www westmountainradio com 18 Sheehan Avenue Norwalk CT 06854 tel 203 853 8080 fax 203 299 0232 Rev 8 Dec 20...

Page 2: ...IGblaster pro was conceived as a platform to support all Amateur Radio sound card keying and rig control software even software that has not yet been written CHOOSING A MOUNTING LOCATION The supplied...

Page 3: ...14 STEP 7 FSK CABLING AND SETUP 15 STEP 8 RIG CONTROL CABLING AND SETUP 15 STEP 9 ADVANCED AUDIO PROCESSING CONSIDERATIONS 18 STATION HOOKUP DIAGRAM basic sound card function 19 STATION HOOKUP DIAGRAM...

Page 4: ...ne Cable RJ45 to 8 pin screw on 1 DB9M to DB9F Serial Cable 1 USB Interface Cable 6 1 8 inch 3 5mm Stereo Mini Plug 6 Patch Cords 1 Owners Manual not pictured 1 Patch Cord Label Set 1 Accessories Kit...

Page 5: ...computer sound devices are integrated onto the motherboard of the computer We will stick to the more familiar wording Sound Card The words Radio Transceiver and Rig as used within this document are s...

Page 6: ...LED is on the direct microphone path to the radio is disconnected mic LED A Green LED when on indicates the microphone is available to the radio See STEP 9 ADVANCED AUDIO PROCESSING CONSIDERATIONS la...

Page 7: ...e fsk LED This Red LED blinks when FSK keying is active with appropriate software for FSK keying Under certain conditions this LED may be on without an active FSK program running in the computer if th...

Page 8: ...IN OUT 1 8 MINI JACK for connection to ICOM or TenTec radios with a CI V REMOTE CONTROL JACK for controlling ICOM or TenTec radios with appropriate Rig Control software This jack is also used to conne...

Page 9: ...ernal speaker Used in cases where the radio external speaker output is used to supply audio to the computer sound Line In If you use fixed or line level audio from your radio to AUDIO IN no 11 above t...

Page 10: ...ection options that will be described later in this manual Tune in an appropriate signal for the mode you have selected On our CD you will find a chart of standard operating frequencies for the variou...

Page 11: ...ic Connector on your radio Connect the other end to the to MICROPHONE CONNECTOR F1 on the front panel of the RIGblaster pro Then plug your radio microphone into MIC OUT R15 on the rear of the RIGblast...

Page 12: ...f At this time no other LED should light Boot the computer During the boot process you should see the PTT LED F11 blink on and off at least once The CW LED may also come on and go off during the boot...

Page 13: ...the rear panel via an accessory socket then Method 2 is recommended If your radio has output audio available at the mic connector RIGblaster pro has the capability to use this as a source for audio in...

Page 14: ...provide receive audio to the RIGblaster pro Ground reference must also be provided by jumpering RCV AUD GND on the INPUT side to GNDTIE on the INPUT side also on the P1 jumper block On Icom radios th...

Page 15: ...ted check to make sure your ALC meter is below limiting Even if your radio is rated at full output and continuous duty do not set the audio to full output Note that if you run your computer sound outp...

Page 16: ...SK keying circuit the ring of this connector is not used Make any necessary jumpering on the P16 jumper block as described later in this manual under COM PORT RIG CONTROL JUMPER DIAGRAMS In most cases...

Page 17: ...ge To connect a RIGblaster pro to Yaesu radios with a 6 pin DIN receptacle with TTL level CAT control the following cable would have to be constructed We have found pin numbers vary from Yaesu model t...

Page 18: ...Port Adapter For some radios it may be necessary to connect pins 7 and 8 on the receiver end as illustrated above This is necessary to fool the radio into thinking it sees Clear To Send CTS in respon...

Page 19: ...el to send the audio back in to the radio through the RIGblaster pro Note that this is a different sound card setup than is used by digital mode sound card programs You should also note that if the so...

Page 20: ...19 STATION HOOKUP DIAGRAM basic sound card function See next page for a description of each numbered wire on this diagram...

Page 21: ...the rear of the RIGblaster pro The other end plugs into the Line Out jack on the Computer Sound Card This is a mini plug Patch Cord that connects the Computer Sound Card Line In to the RIGblaster pro...

Page 22: ...21 STATION HOOKUP DIAGRAM all features functions...

Page 23: ...the Computer primary serial port or USB jack It is used for one and only one of the following combinations of function PTT Control CW Keying and Rig Control PTT Control CW Keying and FSK Keying This i...

Page 24: ...plug Patch Cord that routes receive audio from the Radio to the RIGblaster pro It provides half the path for DC isolated audio from the radio to the computer One end plugs into the AUDIO IN R11 jack...

Page 25: ...in 1 White Jumper to MIC OUTPUT Side 2 White Jumper to PTT OUTPUT Side 7 White Jumper to MIC GND OUTPUT Side 8 White Jumper to PTT GND OUTPUT Side ICOM with 8 Pin Screw on Microphone Connectors INPUT...

Page 26: ...te Jumper to PTT OUTPUT Side 7 White Jumper to PTT GND OUTPUT Side 8 White Jumper to MIC OUTPUT Side YAESU with 8 Pin Screw on Microphone Connectors This jumpering is for newer Yaesu radios that have...

Page 27: ...Side 5 White Jumper to PTT OUTPUT Side 6 Blue Shunt Jumper to Pin 6 OUTPUT Side 7 Blue Shunt Jumper to Pin 7 OUTPUT Side 8 Blue Shunt Jumper to Pin 8 OUTPUT Side OUTPUT SIDE Pin 2 White Jumper to PTT...

Page 28: ...Jumper to PTT INPUT Side 4 White Jumper to MIC INPUT Side 5 White Jumper to MIC GND OUTPUT Side Crisscrossed White Jumper RECEIVE AUDIO AVAILABLE ON THE MIC CONNECTOR On some radios output audio is av...

Page 29: ...umper set to disable Radio mic out to computer mic in There are three possible settings for this jumper as follows When the mic LED is on your microphone is connected to both the radio and the compute...

Page 30: ...Control of PTT and CW are not selectable and will be always be done through SERIAL COM RS232 IN OUT A with PTT being controlled by serial port line RTS and CW being controlled by serial port line DTR...

Page 31: ...30...

Page 32: ...The PTT LOOP JUMPER is used to loop PTT directly inside the RIGblaster pro or if desired externally via a sequencer or other device The factory default is with a Direct Blue Shunt jumper installed on...

Page 33: ...puter and the Radio External Speaker The only downside to this method is that the audio level is dependent on the AF Gain setting and thus may require adjustment each time you operate Method 2 In this...

Page 34: ...therefore gets the audio to the RIGblaster pro Once inside the RIGblaster pro audio is routed to the circuitry that goes onto the computer Sound Card via additional jumpers on the P1 jumper block In t...

Page 35: ...the RIGblaster pro is lit Make sure that the RF drive on your radio is set to maximum and your microphone gain is normal Turn up the level set knob until you see the desired output I am stuck in tran...

Page 36: ...8 Microphone Cable 3 MICROPHONE CONNECTOR 5 10 P1 13 27 P1 jumper block 13 27 P16 jumper block 7 15 29 P5 jumper block 31 P6 18 P6 jumper block 28 Patch Cord 3 Patch Cord Labels 3 12 POWER INPUT 7 pow...

Page 37: ...Software Collection is excluded from any and all warranties by West Mountain Radio Note that the programs have been provided as shareware or freeware by the software authors to the amateur radio comm...

Page 38: ...2...

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