[OKDXA] FT8 Setup: Conclusion

[Peter Laws N5UWY]

On Thu, Jan 5, 2023 at 12:12 AM Kim Elmore <cw_de_n5op at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> As I know you've all been sitting on pins and needles about this...

A little ...

>
> I finally got a USB sound card interface that works! And it is truly
> nice to have a sound card dedicated to the particular radio. I may also
> use one for my TS930S, just so I don't need to reset anything when
> switching between radios.

What did you get, finally?

I did the RigBlaster to PC Soundcard thing for years and even had the
West Mountain ACC(1) cable for my IC-746Pro that had the separate line
for FSK (in order to remain *pure* ...).

I noodled around about a different interface cable for the RigBlaster
for a long time and then decided that I would instead build a
breakout-box for the ACC(1) and run it to a different audio chip (no
doubt after reading about someone else's adventure).  Finally did that
a few years back and now run it into the cheap USB dongle thing we
talked about.  Two of mine are branded "VIA USB" ... or I assume
that's the brand showing up in Windows because it *is* connected "via
USB" ...

I run audio through an isolator card first, though, just to eliminate
any ground loop issues.  The boards are in the $10 range on eBay or
were when I bought them.  Purpose-built by hams, probably in small
quantities, but usually available.

For my IC-910, I bought a much fancier Behringer USB interface
(UCA-202, I think - used off eBay) that has L and R RCAs for transmit
and receive (or "input" and "output" as they call them).  I did this
because the 910 has two receivers and operates full-duplex for
satellites ...  Have I used it for digisats?  No, of course not.
Though I have made some terrestrial FT8 QSOs with it.  Did the same
thing with a break-out box but instead of using the ACC(1) on the back
of the 910, I used the "MAIN" and "SUB" 6-pin mini-DIN DATA ports.
Those ports were standard on several makes of radios in the 90s/00s
and have the signals needed, including PTT (I use CI-V commands to
turn the transmitter on, so moot for me).  More on the "DATA" port
here:  http://wa8lmf.net/6-Pin-MiniDin-Data-Connector/index.htm ...
made obsolete by USB ports on radios like my IC-705.

Getting back to the 746, I also built some MORTTYs, one for FSK RTTY
and one for CW.  The former was my main interest because there was
growing realization that bit-banging through a serial port, which is
how most people including me keyed FSK, put out a pretty ugly signal.
The MORTTY is built around an Arduino Nano and does a much better job
of bit timing resulting in a cleaner signal.

Also, and much more importantly, while I haven't got FT8WW in the log
yet, I did get 3C3CA last night and he's already confirmed via LOTW
which gives me 200 confirmed

--
Peter Laws | N5UWY | plaws plaws net | Travel by Train!