I agree with both you and Jack. That there are few companies that really support rig interfacing is a shame.
But if I may suggest, with the new computers eliminating both serial and lpt ports, you may want to urge rig manufacturers to implement USB or FireWire interfaces. Take a look at the computers being sold today, Many have just 1 com port but have 6 USB ports. And a lot of the newer motherboards already have onboard LAN, Sound, Video and have fewer slots available for add-on cards. Price of advancement may make our rigs difficult to converse with very soon. Already many laptops have no com ports at all. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Jack" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Ron Stordahl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]>; "Dennis Hall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 12:43 PM Subject: Re: [DXBase] Icom 746Pro VFO B > Hello Jack: > > I agree with you. We should all get a writing campaign going to get this feature added/improved. > > Could you provide us with the email addresses at each of the 3 or 4 major radio manufactures where > we should send our emails. It's important that we all send email to the right person. If we send > them to the wrong email address at the manufactures, it will just get ignored. > > Tnx and 73, > > Tom, N0YD "Yankee Doodle" > > **************************************************************************** ********************* > --- Jack <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Ron, > > > > Your description of the issue is right on target. And, based on our > > experience with all makers of HF radio equipment, they don't seem to give a > > rip about the RS232 interface. (The exception was the makers of the K2 who > > took the time to contact us for input about how they could insure that their > > rs232 interface worked with DXbase). In the mind of the rest, it is not > > even a user feature. It is put into the radios solely for the purpose of > > letting their engineers perform automated testing of the radio. They leave > > it in the radio simply because it serves as a test access for repair and it > > would cost too much to remove it. It is up to the user of the radio to take > > it as is and that's all. This information came directly from Japan when we > > had one of our "well connected" Japanese customers make a visit to several > > of the manufacturers. They all think alike, so just because a particular > > radio might have all the necessary commands, that is no guarantee that > > future radios by the same manufacturer will. > > > > The ONLY way this saga is ever going to change is for hams to get their pen > > and paper out and write a letter demanding that the RS232 interface be > > consistent with past command sets and that it contain the necessary commands > > to manipulate VFOs, Freq, mode, and split. Unfortunately, most hams will > > not bother and so, some day, when they decide to purchase a new radio, the > > chances are pretty good that they will encounter the same problem in the new > > radio that is being discussed now. Of course, then the emails will repeat > > all over again, "how can I get xxx logging program to do whatever"?. And > > the answer will be the same.... you can't! > > > > Sorry for my rambling, but this is such a sore subject for us that I just > > can't pass up the opportunity to once again ask any ham, regardless of where > > they are located and whether or not they have any plans to purchase a new > > radio to at least take the time to write to all the makers of radios. Tell > > them point blank that if their radio does not provide the minimum command se > > t to allow your logging program to easily interface with it and control > > basic functions, that the radio will not be considered for purchase. If > > enough of that happens, the makers of radios will probably wake up and do > > something about this ridiculous revolving door. > > > > Cheers, > > Jack > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: "Ron Stordahl" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > To: <[email protected]>; "Dennis Hall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 12:04 PM > > Subject: Re: [DXBase] Icom 746Pro VFO B > > > > > > > Dennis > > > > > > Although I don't have a 746Pro to test, I have reviewed the programming > > > information in the 746Pro manual and believe I can answer your question. > > > > > > The 766Pro, like the 756, 756Pro and 756ProII provide no way for the > > logging > > > program to get the radio to tell the program if the radio is currently in > > > split or in dual watch mode. This is a very surprising difference between > > > these radios and some other ICOM radios, such as the 781 which provide a > > > command '17' to retrieve information as to if the radio is in split and/or > > > dual watch. Look in your manual on pages 95 thru 99 and you will find an > > > amazingly long list of computer commands. Determining if the radio is in > > > split and/or dual watch is not among them! I could be on thin ice, but I > > > think many other brands of radios do provide a way for the logging program > > > to determine if the radio is currently in split mode. > > > > > > Without first determining if the radio is currently in split and/or dual > > > watch mode, retrieving VFO B would be generally useless information. Lets > > > say that you are operating simplex on 28025.0 CW, thus this is the > > frequency > > > set in VFO A. VFO B on the other hand is 3.800 LSB from a previous Q. > > > > > > What would you want DXBase to do? Should it recover information on VFO B > > > even though its highly unlikely you are working cross band? The propose > > of > > > recovering both frequencies is to permit DXBase to format a dx spot thus: > > > DX 28025.0 XX1XX QSX 3800.0. Such a spot would be obviously wrong. My > > > example is perhaps extreme, but what if both VFO's were on 20 CW, would > > you > > > then assume that all Q's you were making on 20 be split when in practice > > few > > > would be? > > > > > > Instead the choice has had to be taken to not recover VFO B's frequency as > > > in practice it would generally be wrong. > > > > > > I have contacted a number of people at Icom America, at the highest level > > I > > > could reach, regarding the incredible fact that a way to retrieve if the > > > radio is currently in split or dual watch mode is apparently not provided. > > > I had hoped that perhaps there was such a command, but that they had > > failed > > > to document it. > > > > > > I was told, by the person in charge of amateur radio operations for Icom > > > America, that he understood my question, regarded it as important, and > > would > > > consult with Icom Japan. He contacted me about a month later and said > > that > > > he had gotten no satisfaction from Japan. I later met the gentlemen in > > > person and reviewed the issue. No progress was made, and in my view no > > > progress will ever be made! > > > > > > I don't think this is what you wanted to hear. > > > > > > Ron N5IN > > > > > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > > From: "Dennis Hall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > To: <[email protected]> > > > Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2003 9:49 AM > > > Subject: [DXBase] Icom 746Pro VFO B > > > > > > > > > > How can I have DXbase retrieve the information from VFO B on an > > > Icom-746PRO? > > > > If I do a QSY and the VFO B has a frequency it will change. Is there an > > > > updated radio.ini that includes the 746PRO? > > > > > > > > 73, Dennis - KK7X > > > > > > > > > > > > Webmaster - http://countyhunter.com, http://countyhunter.net and > > > > http://marac.org > > > > All outgoing messages scanned by Norton AntiVirus 2003 > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > DXBase Reflector - Please visit us on the web at www.dxbase.com > > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > > > To UNSUBSCRIBE please visit: > > > > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dxbase > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > DXBase Reflector - Please visit us on the web at www.dxbase.com > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > > To UNSUBSCRIBE please visit: > > > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dxbase > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > DXBase Reflector - Please visit us on the web at www.dxbase.com > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > To UNSUBSCRIBE please visit: > > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dxbase > > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! 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