Direct USB interface to fldigi

Happiness is having a direct USB interface from the Kenwood TS-590S to the 
iMac computer and in turn to fldigi. 

The good news is this direct connection allowed me get rid of both the Keyspan 
USA-28A Serial-to-USB adapter for rig control and the SignaLink USB device 
for audio. Everything now comes into fldigi via the TS-590S USB port. 

The bad news is I lost the PTT option when using the Hamlib for rig control 
within fldigi. I cannot key the rig from fldigi when using the Hamlib option. 
When
I used the SignaLink with its Auto-PTT, I did not need to check the Hamlib 
option 
for PTT via Hamlib command; however, it is required for a direct  USB 
interface. 
The PTT option is dimmed (not active) in the OS X versions of  fldigi-3.21.9 
and 
3.22.0AA. It may have been dimmed before but I never paid any attention 
since it was not needed with the SignaLink device.

The good news is the PTT option within RigCAT works perfect. The even better
good news is the old 9600 only baud rate limitation I had with RigCAT went
away when I ditched the Keyspan USA-28A Serial-to-USB adapter. Now RigCAT,
Hamlib and flrig all work at the 115200 baud rate! 

Since the dimmed PTT option within Hamlib has not been mentioned by others,
it may be unique to my setup. I have no idea what I did to screwup the PTT 
option in Hamlib or my fldigi_def.xml file. The only advantage I noticed when 
using Hamlib (with the SL-USB) over RigCAT was Hamlib reported the frequency 
of VFO-B that came in handy for working DX splits.  

If you are attempting a direct USB interface in fldigi and run into a PTT 
issue, try 
again using the RigCAT option. RigCAT works.

Hopefully, the dimmed PTT in will go away once the new Hamlib version is 
integrated into fldigi. 

73 Dick AA5VU

Ps: A good URL to bookmark is the Silicon Labs USB to UART Bridge VCP drivers 
for the various platforms.  I understand the SL driver is need for the new 
Kenwood 
and Icom rigs. The OS X version worked perfect with my Kenwood TS-590S and
fldigi.

<http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/pages/usbtouartbridgevcpdrivers.aspx>







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