Hello All, I was asked about the current ARRL QST, April 2006 and the ad on page 26 for the new LDG external AT-200PC ATU with the phrase "MARS/ALE Compatible" is used. Yes, LDG is referring to MARS-ALE software in the form of the latest beta release, B001A8g5, which directly supports this new ATU via an RS-232 connection. They have made a clearer statement at http://www.ldgelectronics.com/at200pc_description.html, support for the new tuner has not yet been added to PC-ALE yet however. I am sure that over time more and more Amateur Radio digital mode programs will add support, some ham radio control programs have already done so as listed in the LDG advertising.
The AT-200PC can be used with other ALE controllers, such as PC-ALE or ALE hardware controllers or any digital mode program where the new AT-200PC is not directly being controlled, however such operation will then be similar to any external memory ATU, such as the LDG AT-200PRO when the unit is placed into full auto/memory operation. The tuner will require pre-configuration in conjunction with the LDG utility software to place it in the correct modes and then the use of the LDG software in conjunction with the other software tools if one is not using a program coded to directly support the new ATU. I have been using the new AT-200PC units since last November, first as a prototype that LDG developed within months of the idea being proposed and then as production model, its an entirely new class of ATU and just perfect for ALE operations. As far as I know, no one has yet taken the time to write software to take full advantage of all AT-200PC features, such as graphically plotting a smith chart (my Kachina 505DSP software does that from data stored from its internal ATU) from all the saved data on up to 8 different antennae types, or perform trend analysis on all that data to denote when an antenna is starting to change to alert the user to performance maintenance, hopefully I will find the time to do so in the not to distant future. Sincerely, /s/ Steve, N2CKH/AAR2EY www.n2ckh.com Need a Digital mode QSO? Connect to Telnet://cluster.dynalias.org Other areas of interest: The MixW Reflector : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/themixwgroup/ DigiPol: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Digipol (band plan policy discussion) Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalradio/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
