Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
I got all of it to work, EXCEPT audio in to TX from the FlexWire, and I have been beating myself up about why this isn't occurring until I saw Stephen Hicks' email saying you have to open the mixer and select audio input from the FireWire. I'll try it again that way, but all else seems to work (PTT, audio to modem, CAT command from Airmail). KB item on this would be greatly appreciated. Tnx, Tim! Gary AI4IN -Original Message- From: flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz [mailto:flexradio-boun...@flex-radio.biz] On Behalf Of Tim Ellison Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 5:04 PM To: Tim Ellison; Brian Lloyd Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III? I will have a detailed "how to" for setting up Pactor on the FLEX family of SDRs posted in the Knowledge Center later this weekend. I am in the final stages of collecting the graphics and info. -Tim -Original Message- From: Tim Ellison Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 3:31 PM To: Brian Lloyd Cc: Ray Andrews, K9DUR; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III? We were running a Pactor demo @ Dayton on FLEX-3000 using the Flexwire interface, so it does work. -Tim Sent from my iPhone On Jun 20, 2009, at 3:07 PM, "Brian Lloyd" wrote: > On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 11:42 AM, Ray Andrews, K9DUR > wrote: >> Brian, >> >> I apologize. Your are correct. I leapt without looking at the >> manual. I did not realize that Flex had included the audio in/out >> lines on the FlexWire connector. Oops! > > No worries. Now if only they have put PTT there as well ... > > 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL > > ___ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
I will have a detailed "how to" for setting up Pactor on the FLEX family of SDRs posted in the Knowledge Center later this weekend. I am in the final stages of collecting the graphics and info. -Tim -Original Message- From: Tim Ellison Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 3:31 PM To: Brian Lloyd Cc: Ray Andrews, K9DUR; flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III? We were running a Pactor demo @ Dayton on FLEX-3000 using the Flexwire interface, so it does work. -Tim Sent from my iPhone On Jun 20, 2009, at 3:07 PM, "Brian Lloyd" wrote: > On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 11:42 AM, Ray Andrews, K9DUR > wrote: >> Brian, >> >> I apologize. Your are correct. I leapt without looking at the >> manual. I did not realize that Flex had included the audio in/out >> lines on the FlexWire connector. Oops! > > No worries. Now if only they have put PTT there as well ... > > 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL > > ___ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
We were running a Pactor demo @ Dayton on FLEX-3000 using the Flexwire interface, so it does work. -Tim Sent from my iPhone On Jun 20, 2009, at 3:07 PM, "Brian Lloyd" wrote: > On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 11:42 AM, Ray Andrews, > K9DUR wrote: >> Brian, >> >> I apologize. Your are correct. I leapt without looking at the >> manual. I >> did not realize that Flex had included the audio in/out lines on the >> FlexWire connector. Oops! > > No worries. Now if only they have put PTT there as well ... > > 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL > > ___ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 11:42 AM, Ray Andrews, K9DUR wrote: > Brian, > > I apologize. Your are correct. I leapt without looking at the manual. I > did not realize that Flex had included the audio in/out lines on the > FlexWire connector. Oops! No worries. Now if only they have put PTT there as well ... 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
Brian, I apologize. Your are correct. I leapt without looking at the manual. I did not realize that Flex had included the audio in/out lines on the FlexWire connector. Oops! 73, Ray, K9DUR ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 11:17 AM, Ray Andrews, K9DUR wrote: > Gary, > > Do NOT confuse the "Line In" and "Line Out" pins on the FlexWire connector > with any type of audio signals. ... > Bottom line: The FlexWire connector does NOT provide access to any analog > audio signals, either TX audio or RX audio. I could be wrong but I certainly read it differently. For example, in the _Flex-5000 Owner's Manual_ the table listing the pinout for the FlexWire cable has this to say about pin 9: "Line Out (in parallel with RCA Line Out)" That implies to me that the Line Out signal, pin 9, on the Flex Wire connector is indeed the same signal as the Line Out RCA jack. I am going to take a big leap here and suggest that I therefore believe that the Line In signal, pin 2, is the analog Line In signal. But I do agree that one needs to be careful of what one does with the Flexwire connector. There are a number of other signals that one should avoid. Certainly pin 6 and 7 cary the multi-drop I2C digital signal that is not compatible with anything RS232 or analog. 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
Gary, Do NOT confuse the "Line In" and "Line Out" pins on the FlexWire connector with any type of audio signals. They are communications lines for a firewire-type communications port. The FlexWire connector is for communicating with 3rd-party peripherals, such as the Universal Controller Board (UCB), which will extend the hardware capabilities of the FLEX-3000/FLEX-5000 series of transceivers. There are no such 3rd-party peripherals available yet. However, some are in development, including a FlexWire version of the UCB (If I am mistaken here, someone please let me know). Bottom line: The FlexWire connector does NOT provide access to any analog audio signals, either TX audio or RX audio. It only provides for communication with 3rd-party peripherals, support for which will have to be included in PowerSDR when they are released. 73, Ray, K9DUR ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 10:14 AM, Gary Strong wrote: > Brian: > Thanks. The Flex-3000 has a "FlexWire" Bus jack on the back, whose > pin-out table in the manual shows that it has a "line-in" (pin 2) and > "line-out" (pin 9). (There is also a separate PTT jack on the back. > But, I suspect your suggestion of making Airmail do PTT with a separate > virtual com port to PowerSDR is better than sending it through the SCS > modem as you said.) Good point on using the line-in and line-out on the FlexWire jack. But you *must* use a hard-wired PTT line between PTC-IIex and the radio since the AirMail software does not generate a PTT signal of any sort, not even in the software. That is generated in the PTC-IIex hardware. (As a point of general interest and having nothing to do with this thread, can anyone comment on the latency introduced by the CAT transmit command vs. using a hard-wired PTT?) > Do you think these FlexWire line-in/line-out pins are what I need for data-in > and data-out for the modem? Um, maybe. When you say data-in and data-out are you talking about the digital signals to the computer or the audio signals to the radio? On my PTC-IIpro the interface to the radio is labeled "HF-transceiver Audio". It is an 8-pin DIN connector (compatible with 5-pin DIN). The connections there are as follows: 1 - audio output from PTC to transmitter (connect to line-in on radio) 2 - ground 3 - PTT 4 - audio input from receiver to PTC (connect to line-out on radio) 5 - 13.5V in (to power the PTC-II from the radio -- you can use 13V on pin-8 of the flexwire to provide this) I downloaded the PTC-II installation guide from SCS. It covers both the PTC-IIex and PTC-IIpro. (My manual is for the PTC-IIpro only.) They use the same interface to the HF transceiver on both devices. > If so, that > would work a lot easier than my suggestion. The manual doesn't offer a > detailed description of the FlexWire Bus, but says specifications are > available to home brewers. I wonder where they can be seen somewhere? Yes, the signals of interest on the FlexWire connector are: 1. ground (connect to pin 2. line-in (connect to pin 1, audio-out, of the PTC-IIex) 8. +13.8V (connect to pin 5, power in, of the PTC-IIex) 9. line-out (connect to pin 4, audio-in, of the PTC-IIex) Too bad that there is no PTT signal on the FlexWire connector. That would have been just too easy to have everything on one cable between the radio and Pactor controller. You are going to have to cook up a connection from pin 3 of the HF interface DIN connector to the PTT-in RCA jack on the back of the Flex 3000. At least that is not too painful. I recommend that you double-check this with Flex. Regardless, this is how I plan to connect my PTC-IIpro to the F5K except that I will be using the line-in, line-out, and PTT RCA jacks on the F5K instead of the FlexWire connector. (Hmm, maybe I *will* use the FlexWire jack as that will allow it to work the the F3K as well as the F5K.) 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
Brian: Thanks. The Flex-3000 has a "FlexWire" Bus jack on the back, whose pin-out table in the manual shows that it has a "line-in" (pin 2) and "line-out" (pin 9). (There is also a separate PTT jack on the back. But, I suspect your suggestion of making Airmail do PTT with a separate virtual com port to PowerSDR is better than sending it through the SCS modem as you said.) Do you think these FlexWire line-in/line-out pins are what I need for data-in and data-out for the modem? If so, that would work a lot easier than my suggestion. The manual doesn't offer a detailed description of the FlexWire Bus, but says specifications are available to home brewers. I wonder where they can be seen somewhere? Gary AI4IN -Original Message- From: Brian Lloyd [mailto:brian-wb6...@lloyd.com] Sent: Saturday, June 20, 2009 12:24 PM To: Gary Strong Cc: flexradio@flex-radio.biz Subject: Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III? On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 8:30 AM, Gary Strong wrote: > > I have had my Flex-3000 for a few weeks now and am extremely pleased > with it. No setup issues, and the new PowerSDR release 1.18.1 is > fantastic! Question: Has anyone successfully tried using PACTOR-III > with the Flex 3000 or 5000? I have an SCS PTC-IIex modem that I have > been using with an Icom 706mk2g, but I'd really like to use it with > the Flex-3000. Some time ago, I tried this with my SDR-1000, but > there was too much TX-RX turn-around latency, but I suspect it's time > to look again at trying to do PACTOR-III with the Flex, especially > after hearing from Gerard about the long expected life-times of the > relays. I too have a PactorIII controller (an SCS PTC-IIpro) that I have been meaning to connect to my Flex 5000 to try out. > Besides > latency, I'm wondering about the best way to connect the SCS to the > Flex-3000 for data in/out. VAC won't work because the SCS is a > physical modem, not a virtual one. I can't build a Serial > Port-to-modem connector and use VAC to that Serial Port because there > is only one serial port on this computer and it would be used for the > Airmail program to communicate with the SCS. I suspect I have to > build a cable between the MIC and Speaker Out jacks of the Flex-3000 > and the SCS to support data flow between the SCS and Flex-3000. For the Flex 3000 you are probably right. For the Flex 5000 you can make the connections to the line-out, line-in, and PTT jacks on the back. As for software interface, I would use a physical connection (serial or USB port) to the PTC-II so that AirMail can control the PTC-II. AirMail offers the option of controlling the rig using a second serial port instead of doing it through the PTC-II for rig control. In that case, set up com0com to let AirMail talk to PowerSDR for rig control. You can use ddutil so that you don't tie up the CAT port in PowerSDR. You just need to configure PowerSDR and AirMail to agree on a common set of CAT messages. The Kenwood 2000 ID is probably the best way to accomplish this. > Suggestions anyone, > and will the Flex-3000 support the required low turn-around latency? Well, the CW ops seem to think that QSK is working really well so I would suspect that it is. The only real answer is to try it and see. >I suspect the dataflow issues, however, are generic to anyone wanting >to use their Flex with an outboard, physical modem or TNC. I think you are correct. 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
Re: [Flexradio] Flex-3000 and PACTOR-III?
On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 8:30 AM, Gary Strong wrote: > > I have had my Flex-3000 for a few weeks now and am extremely pleased > with it. No setup issues, and the new PowerSDR release 1.18.1 is > fantastic! Question: Has anyone successfully tried using PACTOR-III > with the Flex 3000 or 5000? I have an SCS PTC-IIex modem that I have > been using with an Icom 706mk2g, but I'd really like to use it with the > Flex-3000. Some time ago, I tried this with my SDR-1000, but there was > too much TX-RX turn-around latency, but I suspect it's time to look > again at trying to do PACTOR-III with the Flex, especially after hearing > from Gerard about the long expected life-times of the relays. I too have a PactorIII controller (an SCS PTC-IIpro) that I have been meaning to connect to my Flex 5000 to try out. > Besides > latency, I'm wondering about the best way to connect the SCS to the > Flex-3000 for data in/out. VAC won't work because the SCS is a physical > modem, not a virtual one. I can't build a Serial Port-to-modem > connector and use VAC to that Serial Port because there is only one > serial port on this computer and it would be used for the Airmail > program to communicate with the SCS. I suspect I have to build a cable > between the MIC and Speaker Out jacks of the Flex-3000 and the SCS to > support data flow between the SCS and Flex-3000. For the Flex 3000 you are probably right. For the Flex 5000 you can make the connections to the line-out, line-in, and PTT jacks on the back. As for software interface, I would use a physical connection (serial or USB port) to the PTC-II so that AirMail can control the PTC-II. AirMail offers the option of controlling the rig using a second serial port instead of doing it through the PTC-II for rig control. In that case, set up com0com to let AirMail talk to PowerSDR for rig control. You can use ddutil so that you don't tie up the CAT port in PowerSDR. You just need to configure PowerSDR and AirMail to agree on a common set of CAT messages. The Kenwood 2000 ID is probably the best way to accomplish this. > Suggestions anyone, > and will the Flex-3000 support the required low turn-around latency? Well, the CW ops seem to think that QSK is working really well so I would suspect that it is. The only real answer is to try it and see. >I suspect the dataflow issues, however, are generic to anyone wanting to > use their Flex with an outboard, physical modem or TNC. I think you are correct. 73 de Brian, WB6RQN/J79BPL ___ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kc.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
