RIGblaster Pro Support

Usb to DB9 serial adaptor driver installation

Use these instructions to install our USB cable for your RIGblaster if, AND ONLY IF, your cable looks EXACTLY like the one pictured below.

Most new computers are no longer supplied with serial ports and all ham radio sound card programs that transmit are written to control PTT with a serail port. Therefore, your RIGblaster, if purchased recently, is supplied with two cables to provide your choice, and full functionality, with both older DB9 RS232 serial ports, or with a USB connection. The supplied USB cable will emulate a DB9 RS232 serial port by converting a USB (universal serial buss) to a RS232 port.

Check your computer to see if you have an available DB9 RS232 serial port. If you do, use the supplied DB9 male to DB9 female cable supplied. Set asided the USB to DB9 cable aside for future use. If you only have an available USB socket, use the supplied USB to DB9 cable instead.

To use this USB cable pictured above, follow these hardware driver software installation instructions.

Windows, 98SE, ME, 2000 and XP ONLY:

USB driver file for Windows 98SE - XP ONLY! To download and save to your hard drive download, Click Here!

1. Download and run the program above to copy the necessary drivers to your hard drive.
2. Plug the USB connector into an available USB socket on your computer.
3. A “New hardware found” window will pop up.
4. Browse to and highlight the "C: RIGblaster USB drivers" folder created by the above download.
5. Allow Windows to complete the “Found New Hardware” installation (Do not cancel, stop or abort the installation: NO MATTER WHAT!)
6. You have completed the USB hardware driver installation at this point.

RIGblaster USB Converter Installation Check:

1. Right click “My Computer” and then left click “Properties”
2. Select the “Hardware” tab.
3. Select “Device Manager”
4. Click the + symbol next to “Ports (COM & LPT)”
5. Check that you see the item: “Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COMx)”
6. Make a note of the what the COM number is for x in (COMx)
7. Setup your ham radio sound card programs to use that COM port number.

If you have carefully followed these instructions and you do not find the Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port under Ports (COM & LPT) you may wish to call West Mountain Radio telephone support. Call only if you ae sitting in front of your ham station computer in order for us to help.

Windows Vista and Windows 7, ONLY

Windows, Vista Windows 7, driver pre-installer download

NOTE: If you have already installed the driver from the DVD that came with your RIGblaster, and the adaptor is working, there is no reason to install this driver.

Do not plug the cable into a USB port!

1. Download the pre-installer download and "Run"
2. When a "User Account Control" window pops up saying unknown publisher left click "Yes"
3. When "Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for PL-2030" appears left click "Next"
4. Left click the radio button to accept the terms and conditions and left click "Next"
5. Left click "Finish"
6. Now plug the cable into a USB port.
7. A balloon will pop up at bottom right that says "Installing Device Driver Software"
8. A balloon will pop up at bottom right that says "Prolific USB-to-Serial Comm Port (COMxx)””Device driver software installed successfully.”
9. Make note of the COM port number assigned (xx) as you will need this to set up Amateur Radio programs.
10. Close all windows this completes the driver installation.

ATTENTION TenTec ORION II & OMNI VII Owners

GOOD NEWS! The TenTec ORION II and the OMNI VII were released with 8 pin microphone connectors unlike previous TenTec radios that incorporated a 4 pin microphone connector.

Here are the jumper diagrams for these radios.

RIGblaster Pro | RIGblaster Plus | RIGblaster M8 | RIGblaster Nomic |

Please note, these jumper diagrams are for these TenTec radios only.

ATTENTION TenTec ORION Owners

In a Manual Addendum for the TenTec Orion, dated October 22, 2003, TenTec released new information regarding microphone wiring.

In this addendum, they stated:

"Please refer to page 10 of the manual. Disregard the wiring diagram for microphones as shown in Figure 2-4. Use Figure 2-5 for proper microphone wiring diagram"

"Please note: The microphone cable shield must be tied to the transceiver's microphone connector shell. That is normally done by clamping the shield runner under the strain-relief clamp of the connector. Refer to Figure 2-5. TenTec microphones and the Heil/TenTec Studio One R9625 cable sold by TenTec are already wired as such -- many cables (such as other Heil cables) are NOT."

When a TenTec Orion is used with a RIGblaster Pro, the optional "4 to 8 Pin Conversion Kit" is required to accommodate the Orion's 4 pin microphone connector. However our 4 to 8 Pin Conversion Kit does not currently connect the shells of the 4 pin connectors thus user modification is necessary. Fortunately we have great customers and one of them, Tom WA1MDO, has sent us a "Mod" that will solve this issue and electrically connect the 4 pin connector shells of the conversion kit. Thanks Tom!

This mod is available in PDF format at www.westmountainradio.com/pdf/Orion_jumpers.pdf.

Yaesu Modular 6 JUMPER DIAGRAM and Cable Wiring

If you are attempting to connect a RIGblaster Pro to one of the Yaesu radios listed in FAQ #7, you will need to order the "Yaesu Modular 6 Custom Mic Cable" and jumper the RIGblaster Pro as shown here ==> Yaesu; Modular 6 Radios

The cable is wired with the RJ connectors, locking tang down and connector end facing away, 1-6 and 1-6 Right to Left (two wires are unused).

Kenwood TS-450S/690S/850/950S & and other Kenwood radios, utilizing TTL Negative logic Rig Control interface.

The Kenwood TS-450S/690S/850/950S and certain other Kenwood radios utilize what is referred to as TTL negative logic for the rig control interface. This logic is opposite to the TTL positive logic used in Icom and Yaesu radios for rig control interface. RIGblaster Pro also incorporates TTL positive logic for its rig control interface and thus will not work on these Kenwood radios without modification and the addition of a special inverting cable. Fortunately one of our customers, Gene Hinkle K5PA, has written a very good article illustrating how to construct the cable and do the modification. It can be read or downloaded here ==> RIGblaster Pro Rig Control Interface to the Kenwood TS-450S.

You can determine if your Kenwood radio employs TTL Negative Logic by referring to the External Control interface specifications. In Kenwood's description of TXD and RXD, the wording used is "TXD: - The transmit data is the serial data from the transceiver to the computer. The output utilizes negative logic. RXD: - The receive data is the serial data from the computer to the transceiver. The input utilizes negative logic." If you see the word "negative" your Kenwood radio utilizes this TTL Negative Logic and thus will not work with RIGblaster Pro

RTTY/FSK using the RIGblaster Pro and Writelog with the MMTTY plugin on a Kenwood TS-450

This User Submitted User Item was submitted by Carey - KI4DVI, President, K4RY, AUBURN UNIVERSITY ARC

RTTY/FSK using the RIGblaster Pro and Writelog with the MMTTY plugin on a Kenwood TS-450

Kenwood TS-480SAT & TS-480HX

We recently learned that Kenwood has reversed two of the pins on the microphone connector of their TS-480SAT and TS-480HX which makes the Kenwood RJ45 jumper Diagram found in our RIGblaster Pro Owners Manual incorrect for these radios.

Here is the correct Kenwood TS-480SAT & TS-480HX Jumper Diagram.

RIGblaster Pro Owners with a Heil Pro Set Plus headset and an Icom Transceiver

Do you want to use your Heil Pro Set Plus on an Icom transceiver without using the Heil AD-1i adapter?

The Heil AD-1i adapter is necessary when the Heil Pro Set Plus has a dynamic element. This adapter has a decoupling capacitor installed to block the DC bias voltage from reaching the dynamic element in the Heil Pro Set Plus.

To do this it is necessary to insert a .47uf capacitor in series with the INPUT Side jumper that goes from Pin 1 to MIC on the P1 Jumper Block inside the RIGblaster Pro.

The Heil Pro Set Plus 1/8 in. mic plug would then plug directly into the mic 2 jack on the front of the RIGblaster Pro.

Please note this only applies to Icom Transceivers.

The jumper diagram would look like this:

Windows/ME WARNING! or "My RIGblaster is stuck in transmit after Windows boots up."

Windows/ME (Millennium Edition) has been reported by many RIGblaster owners as causing a problem. After boot up Windows/Me leaves the DTR line of the com ports in a high state causing the RIGblaster to keep your rig keyed up. If you have Windows/ME, and only Windows/ME there is a Microsoft fix for this problem. It is described on the Microsoft site as Data Terminal Ready (DTR) Line Set to HIGH After Starting Windows Me (Q285894).

The fix described on the Microsoft page referenced above can be downloaded here. The file (285894.zip) is a zip file and will need to be unzipped with any of the many available unzip utilities. Running this will extract (un compress) two files. (285894USAM.EXE and hotfix.txt). Follow the instructions in hotfix.txt to implement this fix on your copy of Windows/ME. Again, this fix applies to Windows/ME only. It will not install on other versions Windows.

HP Computer with Windows/XP Pre-Loaded RIGblaster stuck in transmit after Windows/XP boots

New HP Computers having Windows/XP pre-loaded have been reported by several RIGblaster owners as causing a problem that previously only happened on Windows/ME. After boot up the DTR line of the Com ports are in a high state causing the RIGblaster to keep your rig keyed up. If you have Windows/XP, pre-loaded on a new HP Computer here is a possible fix for this problem.

The solution from HP Tech Support suggests going to the Device Manager and removing all the Communications Port(COMx)s, as listed under Ports (COM & LPT), then re-boot Windows/XP and it will reinstall the drivers and the problem should go away.

This solution was provided by GEORGE MANNING/K1CG who after several tries finally got to the right tech at HP who suggested the above fix.

If you have this problem, we suggest you call HP Tech Support at 208-323-2551 and reference Case Number 1544508374.

PALM PILOT WARNING! or my RIGblaster is stuck in transmit after Windows boots up.

Note: Palm Pilot software with any version of Windows will cause the same problem if your RIGblaster is plugged in to the serial port that the Palm Pilot cradle is supposed to be plugged in to. If you have a little Palm Pilot icon with red and blue and arrows pointing towards the center of a circle in your system tray (the system tray is down at the bottom right corner of your screen where the date is) your RIGblaster will not work properly.

To fix the Palm Pilot problem either move the RIGblaster to a different serial port connection or do the following:

1. go to "Start", "Programs", "Palm Desktop", and run "Palm Desktop"
2. From the pull downs in the Palm Desktop software, select "HotSync", "Setup" and go to the "General" tab
3. un-check "Always available [put in Startup folder]"
4. Re-start Windows and the problem will be gone
5. Next time you wish to use your Palm Pilot, just use the Palm Desktop program

JUMPER QUESTIONS?

The microphone jumper diagrams in our manual should be obvious, but in case you are not sure here is an explanation. Note: we supply the enough jumpers so that you have what you will need for any radio, do not be surprised if have some jumpers left over; this is normal.

The small rectangles (not squares) on our diagrams depict the blue colored 2 pin shunts.

The blue jumpers are used to connect across from input to output to pass wiring straight through without connecting to the RIGblaster circuitry or they may be used to connect the ground tie pins together.

The wire jumpers are used separately and symmetrically; half on the input side and half on the output side.

The RIGblaster Pro ONLY intercepts the mic audio, mic ground, PTT and PTT ground pins of your mic. but may be used to connect receive audio if your radio has that available.

Look at your radio's microphone wiring diagram and you should be able to figure out your own jumper diagram and check it against ours. If you are unsure about your radio matching our "typical" diagrams please fax us a clear copy of your radios' mic. wiring and we will fax or e-mail a special diagram back to you. We cannot supply diagrams for radios that have connectors which we do not supply, such as HT's.

Once you have the jumpers installed it is mandatory that you make sure that your mic. works completely normally. If you do not check your mic. for normal operation before trying your computer you may waste a lot of your time. Check all the buttons and switches on your mic. and get on the air reports to make sure it is working properly. Just because the needles move when you talk doesn't mean everything is hooked up correctly. You could have an open or reversed grounds and still get almost normal meter indications. CHECK YOUR MIC OPERATION FIRST before trying the computer!

If you cannot find your owners manual you will find it above online for download.

The computer will not activate transmit.

Assuming your RIGblaster is connected to your computer's serial port and the RIGblaster is properly jumper and connected to your radio's mic. jack, you must do the computer boot up test described towards the end of step 3 in the manual. Turn on your computer and the RIGblaster and boot up Windows, (this test may not be valid for another operating system) Windows tests the serial ports during boot up and you should see your rig key up (PTT activation) momentarily at least once during boot up and then go back off after Windows finishes loading. If this happens you then can be sure that your computer, serial cable and RIGblaster are connected and working properly.

If after doing the boot up test, step 3, successfully you find your that ham software will not key up your rig (PTT activation) you can be sure it must be a software problem, it cannot be a hardware problem. It is usually a setup problem, 7 out of 10 support calls from customers are due to software PTT control setup problems. Make sure that you have gone in to your software setup (configuration, settings, preferences) or whatever it is called and "tell" the program what serial (COM) port that you have the RIGblaster connected to. You also must "tell" the program that you wish that PTT is activated by RTS. YOU MUST DO THIS if you expect the program to transmit with automatic serial control via the RIGblaster or any other interface.

Note that if your program keys both RTS and DTR on PTT transmit activation you will also see the CW LED light. This is not a problem as your radio will ignore CW keying if it is used with a sound card program in the SSB mode. If the program is a multi mode program it will let you configure PTT on RTS and CW on DTR.

If you are not using the serial cable that came with the RIGblaster make sure your serial cable is wired as follows:

The Proper cable is a standard serial extension cable.

SERIAL EXTERNAL MODEM CABLE WIRING

DB9F----------DB9M
1---------------------1
2---------------------2
3---------------------3
4---------------------4
5---------------------5
6---------------------6
7---------------------7
8---------------------8
9---------------------9
shell--shield--shell

Setting and testing receive audio

Read this QST article first: "The In's and Out's of a Sound Card"

Reprinted from October 2003 QST,with permission of the ARRL

In our manual you will see that there are several ways to connect the receive audio from the radio's audio output to the computer's audio input. To check that it is actually connected and working set your sound card so that you can hear the audio from your radio come out of your computer speakers, see the Windows screen diagram below.

If you are having trouble receiving, you may wish to completely disconnect the RIGblaster and put it back in the box and then follow the instructions on the Quick Start guide that is included with the Pro.

Read the documentation, help and manuals that come with the ham sound card software you are trying to use. Also read the Windows help regarding "volume control".

Please do not call or e-mail us at West Mountain Radio with software questions, we have nothing to do with the software or it's support. You should e-mail the software author if you can not get their program to work. The most direct way to solve a software problem is to try a different program from a different author. If several programs do not work you may no receive audio connected or you have a problem with your sound card adjustments, or it's Windows installation.

Refer to the sound card control panel diagram below to set your receive audio that should be fed in to your software. This is a typical diagram, yours may differ.

Don't forget the obvious: you should hear signals if you expect to copy any; the bands may be dead or your antenna isn't working.

If you hear hum or noise that is not coming from your radio check your connections try your radios speaker output instead of line output. If you use a low level audio output of radio fed in to the mic input on your sound card you will have to have the proper grounding. If your computer is plugged in to a different branch of the AC wiring in your house you can expect problems. Plug your computer in to the same AC outlet strip so it is grounded together with your radio.

Setting and testing the transmit audio.

Read this QST article first: "The In's and Out's of a Sound Card"

Reprinted from October 2003 QST,with permission of the ARRL

Assuming the software you are using correctly activates transmit (PTT Activation) when you "tell" the software to transmit, continue reading otherwise go back and fix it.

With the RIGblaster powered on and the process switch off put the software you are using in to transmit. Make sure that the RIGblaster keys up as indicated by the digital C.S. LED on, the MIC LED off and the PTT LED on, along with PTT transmit activation of your radio. This must happen in order for audio from the computer to be transmitted. If this does not happen go back and read "THE COMPUTER WILL NOT ACTIVATE TRANSMIT" on this support page.

When software is in the transmit mode it should generate a transmit audio signal. You should be able to hear that tone coming from your computer speakers and/or with headphones plugged in to one of the RIGblaster's headphone jacks. You should also see the RIGblaster "level" LED light indicating that you have audio coming from the computer at an adequate level to feed your radio via the RIGblaster. If the RIGblaster level light does not light un-mute and turn up your sound card wave and master level controls, see the diagram above.Your radio should be set to your normal mic. gain setting for you and your mic.. The speech compressor should set on or off depending on the mode you are running, see the software help files. Set your radio's RF Power (drive control) at maximum with in USB. Set your computer's sound card control Volume control panel Volume and Wave output sliders both about half way up and a little above where they light the RIGblasters "level" LED. The RIGblaster's audio level control should be set as high as needed to drive your radio to the desired output. The RF output should something less than full RF power output. Never set it to full power, approximately 50 % power is safe, not only will your signal be distorted and wide but you may overheat and damage your radio. You should end up with your computer sliders set between 1/4 and 2/3 of the way up.

If moving the Wave or Volume (far left) sliders have no effect on the audio level you have a improperly installed sound card. Refer to the manufacturer of the sound card's Web page. Fix this by downloading the CORRECT driver installation file for the specific make and model sound card in your computer. Carefully follow the Windows instructions for updating a driver and re-installing hardware. Do not attempt to re-install a sound card unless you are sure you have the correct driver software. Be aware that if your sound card doesn't work it is probably good, you probably have a software driver installation problem, don't go out and buy and new sound card unless a proper software installation fails.

Having computer speakers that are turned up too loud has caused many people to set their sound cards too low to transmit. If your computer speakers are too loud turn them down with the knob on the front of them and turn up your sound card so the "level" LED on the RIGblaster comes on. If your computer speakers have no volume control un-plug them or turn them off and turn up your sound card.

If you use low impedance un-amplified speakers or headphones plugged in to the RIGblasters rear panel "COMPUTER: AUDIO, SPKR. OUT" or a front panel headphone output you will effectively short out the audio from your sound card. Doing this may not provide enough audio for your rig to transmit. You may be trying to use the wrong output on your sound card. Some sound cards have both line and speaker outputs. You must use proper speakers or headphones designed for use with the particular sound card output that you have available. If your computer is so equipped it is usually better to us a sound cards speaker output not its line output. This will also prevent the susceptibility that most amplified computer speakers have to RFI. The only drawback is that un-amplified speakers do not have internal volume controls.

It was mentioned before but make sure you have the RF power (drive) control of your radio set at maximum. You must do this even if you wish to run 1 watt with your 100 watt rig. Your power output should be set with the audio level that is fed in to the mic. jack. It is just like speaking softly in to your mic., your radio will show less power.

Note that most rigs will not run digital modes at full duty cycles and full power. You set your sound card audio level to 50% RF power output or less to keep your rig from overheating.

Setting and testing the transmit audio with an FM transmitter

Read this QST article first: "The In's and Out's of a Sound Card"

Reprinted from October 2003 QST,with permission of the ARRL

With an FM transmitter you do not normally have mic. gain, speech compressor, ALC meter or power output meters to watch or set. FM audio level should be set either with a deviation meter, AC millivolt meter or by listening on a second receiver. If you lack the equipment or technical experience simply listen to your signal on a second receiver. Set your audio level so that your radio sounds as loud as other stations. Do not confuse how loud the audio (modulation) is with how strong your RF signal is. This is easily done on packet as there are usually several stations on the same frequency. With voice or SSTV it is going to be harder to find a signal to match to. You should, with some practice, be able to set the audio to your radio to match another good signal.

Presently the EchoLink^® system does not have detailed instructions on how to do this. Understand that if you are setting up an EchoLink system link station or repeater link that you must have a an audio signal (VOIP) coming from remotely from the Internet to your computer and then out of your sound card through the RIGblaster and then to your radio. You must have two computers and two Internet connections to test this audio level or use the EchoLink system test server. Also consider that if the other computer is set too loud or too soft your radio's modulation level will be incorrect even if you set it correctly.

The function of the process switch

The process switch is primarily to be used for microphone transmit speech processing but it actually has several uses.

When the process switch is on, your microphone is disconnected from your radio and the computer audio is connected to the radios mic. input. This allows routing of your mic. to the computer, through the computer and back in to your radio. Having this audio path available allows you to run audio equalization, speech compression or any real time audio processing software that is available to enhance your speech quality.

For the mic. to be routed to your computer you must set the mic. mode jumper P6 to do this, see page 28 in the manual. Some microphones are electret condenser mics. that require DC bias supplied from the radio. The mic. will be disconnected from the radio in the process mode so we have a P6 jumper provision to bias the microphone. Use the bias setting only if you know your mic. is an electret type that requires bias.

You may also use the process switch when operate sound card software to take advantage of a muting circuit. When the RIGblaster Pro is in the process mode it will mute the computer speaker output whenever PTT is activated either by the computer or your PTT button. This is nice for sound card operation if you wish to hear the receive signal but not your transmit signal.

You may also use the process switch to play anything from a computer wav file or a program does not control the RIGblaster's switching via the serial port. Simply put the RIGblaster in "process" play push your PTT button and play the sound with your computer.

Processing your mic. audio

Read this QST article first: "The In's and Out's of a Sound Card"

Reprinted from October 2003 QST,with permission of the ARRL

Read the section above on the function of the process switch.

You must have a full duplex sound card to run real time equalizer or processing software. To tell if your sound card is full duplex, open up both the Recording and Playback sound card control windows as shown on this page. Move your microphone slider on the Playback control panel if the slider doesn't move on the recording control panel then your sound card is full duplex.

Select and run a simple equalization program to start and figure out the virtual control functions. Most programs have a EQ on / EQ off button. With the equalizer off you should be able to select and turn up your mic. input and turn up your master Volume output and hear your microphone audio come out of your computer speakers. This will not happen unless you run software which passes the sound card mic. input to the sound card's output.

Set your sound cards mic. gain and output until you hear good sounding mic. audio coming through your computer. You may wish to plug computer headphones in to the front of the RIGblaster and turn down your computer speakers to monitor and set up the sound card for mic. audio.

Once you are satisfied with the sound of your mic. being passed through the computer, turn on the equalizer and experiment with setting the equalizer. You will probably find when the processing software will delay the sound slightly, this depends on the processing speed of your sound card, computer and the software implementation. Other stations will not be aware of this as it is a fraction of a second. You may wish to get in to the habit of holding your PTT button down a bit after you stop talking. You may also find that when you adjust the virtual adjustments on the equalizer that you will notice a slight delay before you hear the change.

Once you have everything working put your radio on the air by pushing your PTT button and set the sound card output like you would for any sound card program for the same modulation as when your mic. is connected with the process switch off.

I don't think we can explain how to get the audio you desire, it is very subjective. The telecommunications industry as spent millions of dollars researching this and I am sure that there are papers on it. We hope that your are trying to adjust your audio for maximum intelligibility, you may have some other idea. Basically it is just as easy to adjust your audio to sound better as it is to sound worse, the problem is that you do not know how you sound, only the station on the other end does.

If you have a communications microphone you probably are pretty close to having high intelligibility and you may only need fine adjustments to your audio. If you wish to have so called HiFi audio your will have to boost the bass on a communications mic.

If you have a HiFi mic. and want communications quality you need to cut the bass and boost the highs. This is a great oversimplification but you get the idea. Think along the lines of do you sound better or do you sound clearer, which do you want, perhaps they are the same.

You must realize that since you are using the mic. input of your sound card you must change the input and output settings of your sound card, accordingly, the are not the same as for general multi mode sound card software. You should also realize that it is possible to adjust a sound card to feed it's output back in to its input causing an audio feedback loop. You can also get acoustic feedback from your headphones if your are monitoring your audio, your computer speakers will mute in the process mode so that they will not cause acoustic feedback.

Rig control connection and setup

Rig control is easiest with an Icom radio. Icom uses only two wires and we supply the cable you need and we ship the RIGblaster with the rig control jumper set for the Icom or Ten Tec CI-V control system. The only problem you may encounter is the CI-V address or baud rate is not matched between your software and radio. If you double check the software setup and the radio's setup menus to correct this it should work fine.

With a Yaesu it is a little more complicated. Yaesu's CAT system uses three wires, they have different connectors and pin wiring arrangements between different models. Older Yaesu's require the rig control TTL (5 volt) to RS232 level converter built in to the RIGblaster Pro. Newer Yaesu radios have DB9 RS232 CAT jacks.

For an older Yaesu CAT system you must set the RIGblaster Pro rig control jumper J16 to Yaesu/Kenwood as shown on Page 29 of the manual. You must also change the plug on one end of one of the supplied mini plug cables to match your Yaesu's DIN jack. You must make sure that the tip of our plug comes from the data out of your radio and the Ring goes to the data in of your radio.

Note: we found on the web that some of the wiring diagrams printed in the Yaesu manuals was incorrect, we have not heard back from Yaesu as yet regarding this issue. We did discover that two similar model Yaesu manuals had completely different wiring charts for the same type of DIN plug but on closer examination we realized that they actually were wired the same, the pictures of the same type of DIN plugs had different numbering making it so the charts were actually the same.

You must set your software to match the correct Yaesu model, the correct baud rate, the correct parity and the correct stop bits to match the radio. If your wiring or any ONE of the software settings are wrong it will not work.

Older Kenwood radios that have provisions for TTL control are NOT possible to control with a RIGblaster Pro. These Kenwood radios utilize what is referred to as Negative Logic and are not compatible with the Positive Logic used in the RIGblaster Pro TTL to RS232 converter. Positive logic, as employed in most computer interface circuitry, represents a logical one with a positive voltage and a logical zero with a zero voltage. See the item in this section titled "Kenwood TS-450S/690S/850/950S & and other Kenwood radios, utilizing TTL Negative logic Rig Control interface." above for a work-around.

You may have to set your software to match the correct Kenwood model, you will have to set the correct baud rate, the correct parity and the correct stop bits to match the radio. If your wiring or any ONE of the software settings are wrong it will not work.

If you are using a Heil mic. with a Yaesu be aware that the Heil mic. with their Yaesu adaptor may have the PTT and mic. audio ground leads wired incorrectly. If this is the case the RIGblaster may not work with that mic. unless you fix the wiring error by changing the RIGblaster wiring to correct the Heil wiring error. You will have to take the Heil adaptor apart or check it with a meter against the pin numbers in the Yaesu manual.

If you have a Yaesu or other brand of radio with an RS232 level control jack you should not use our rig control output (CTL IN/OUT). You may use the RIGblaster Pro's RXD & TXD on A passed through to B option. This will allow both sound card operation, CW and rig control with a single serial port using software such as HamScope, MixW or WriteLog. If you wish to use separate sound card and rig control programs at the same time you will have to make a direct connection from your computer to the radio's RS232 control jack. If the radio is equipped with a FEMALE DB-9 RS232 connector for Computer Control (CAT), the following cable will be necessary from the B Port on the RIGblaster Pro to the radio RS232 DB-9. Both DB-9 connectors shown here are MALE connectors.

If you have a newer Kenwood (Example TS-570/870/2000) radio or an Icom IC-7800 with a FEMALE RS232 CAT/Rig Control jack you should not use the CTL IN/OUT jack on the RIGblaster Pro. You may use the RIGblaster Pro for both sound card operation, PTT, CW and Rig Control with a single serial port using software such as HamScope, MixW, WriteLog, etc.. For these radios you should use our Optional DB9M to DB9F Serial/Extension Cable or equivalent connected from the B Port of the RIGblaster Pro to the radio?s FEMALE RS232 DB-9 CAT/Rig Control connector. The wiring on this cable is straight through. You should not use a cable with TXD and RXD crossed over commonly referred to as a "Null Modem Cable".

My audio is not perfect when i have my computer monitor on

CRT computer monitors have strong AC magnetic fields, not a problem with alaptop or LCD display. Make sure that the RIGblaster and all the associated cables are not too close to your computer monitor. If your reports are notidentical to the reports you get without the RIGblaster and it's cables, turn off your computer monitor and leave the computer on. If turning offthe monitor fixes the problem you must move the RIGblaster and it's cables further away from the monitor.

If you are using a Heil mic. with a Yaesu be aware that the Heil mic. with their Yaesu adaptor may have the PTT and mic. audio ground leads wiredincorrectly. If this is the case the RIGblaster may not work with that mic. unless you fix the wiring error by changing the RIGblaster wiring tocorrect the Heil wiring error. You will have to take the Heil adaptor apart or check it with a meter against the pin numbers in the Yaesu manual.

Especially when using the Pro's mic. bridging to the computer you may pick up hum from an AC transformer power supply. Determine what the sourceof the hum is by turning off near by equipment. Move the RIGblaster away from the magnetic hum source, all microphones, mic. wiring and microphonetransformers are subject to picking up hum from near by magnetic fields. If you do not intend to use the RIGblasters computer mic. output put theRIGblasters P6 mic. mode jumper back to the default position as shown in the manual.

Digipan problems

If you are having trouble with DigiPAN stop using it and try WinPSK! We have had numerous reports of DigiPAN having a blank waterfall display. In QST there is a report of this which was cured by increasing the display colors to 256 colors or higher. We have experienced this but we were running high color and we fixed it by re-booting the computer. We have also had reports, and experienced it ourselves, of, DigiPAN not working with the serial port. We do not know what causes this but they are aware of the problem. We fixed this by completely removing and re-installing the program.

The mysterious missing transmit audio

Read this QST article first: "The In's and Out's of a Sound Card"

Reprinted from October 2003 QST,with permission of the ARRL

This is a good one and has gotten many. It goes like this, you hook it up and the rig doesn't get any transmit audio, a week of evenings later you call West Mountain Radio and we usually help discover the problem was one mouse click away, literally a week of evenings and it was a mouse click.

This should not be a problem with the Pro, if you turn up your sound card on transmit and the level LED on the front of the Pro lights you will transmit if the radio is set for full output and normal mic. gain.

The following paragraph has evolved from many phone calls. Many of the problems may be a mouse click but they turned out to be obscure and subtle.

CHECK THE FOLLOWING AND DO NOT MISS OR IGNORE ANYTHING!

Make sure you are plugged in to the OUTPUT of the sound card to feed the "COMPUTER: AUDIO, LINE IN" of the RIGblaster. In the dark corner behind your computer it is very hard to see the infernal "international symbols" that label the output jack. Make sure you have the audio output not one of the inputs!

Make sure you use a STEREO 1/8" 3.5 mm mini plug cable like the ones we supplied. The kind with a plug EXACTLY like the ones on Walkman style headphones. They must have three connections commonly referred to as tip, ring and sleeve. Make sure you have the same plug on BOTH ends. DO NOT USE RCA phono plugs, don't laugh someone did this. An RCA phono plug is NOT a phone plug, notice phone/phonO...... If you use a mono cable with 2 connections just tip, sleeve you will be shorting out one channel of the sound card and the other channel will be pulled down by the attenuate network inside the RIGblaster due to the short circuit created by the wrong plug. It may work with a mono cable but you will get less than half the audio for transmit that you normally would. ABT mono is OK for the receive connection.

TOO MANY volume controls, yes you may have as many as 7 adjustments between the computer the RIGblaster and the radio. If any of which are turned down too far or muted will make it appear that you have no transmit audio. You have to adjust them all for the best compromise to end up with proper mic. audio level. Look for the RIGblaster's level light to light with computer transmit audio. On your radio you probably have mic. gain (set it for your mic. to work normally and properly), your speech compressor (usually off for digital modes with some exceptions). Your RF drive/power adjustment should be all the way up and you should use the audio adjustments to set the sound card mode RF power output.

The RIGblaster has only one audio level adjustment on the front back and it is intended to achieve a balance between your computer and your radio. Turning it clockwise gives you the maximum audio drive. If the RIGblaster control is all the way up and it's level light is on and you still do not have enough RF output simply turn up the wave and/or volume output of your sound card.

Here is where Bill Gates gets in the act and gets people messed up. Remember you have to push the "START" button to turn off your computer! Think like Microsoft when adjust you sound card. There are many hidden virtual controls for your computer sound. Take your mouse and "double click" the little yellow speaker icon that is usually located in the bottom right corner of your computer screen. You will find a nifty little virtual control panel that is poorly labeled. Some of the adjustments you need may be hidden and have to be dug out with terms like "Properties" and "Advanced". If you get your RIGblaster transmitting without understanding the Volume Control panel then it is just dumb luck.

Sound card volume control panel and they ARE different from computers to computer. The horizontal balance slider should normally be set in the middle. The far left vertical "Volume control" is the master output which controls transmit audio and everything that comes out of your sound card, it must be pushed up and un-muted to get anything. The vertical "Wave" slider controls the output of your sound card software and it is the primary transmit audio adjustment but it can be defeated by the master.

Note: if you don't see the "wave" adjustment you may have to go to the volume control "Options" and then "Properties" to select the missing ones. It is a good idea to mute, turn down or de-select the ones you are not using, like midi, CD, telephone mic. (on a desktop).

HERE IS ONE THAT GOT US AND OTHERS: Several RIGblaster customers seemed to be doing everything right but they had no audio with popular PSK31 programs.

Here is what it is: if you select less than 500 Hz or, too high, more than 3000 Hz on your DigiPan or WinPSK program by clicking on the far left or far right sides of the waterfall tuning screen, IT WILL NOT WORK.

What is going on is you can't hear 150 Hz come out of a 1" laptop speaker and worse yet your SSB transmit audio filtering in your radio can't "hear" it either. It will appear that your RIGblaster isn't hooked up. Do not get caught by this trap. We stumbled on it by accident with a customer after going through everything step by step.

If anyone has figured out another way to make their RIGblaster not work please tell us and the author of the sound card software.

REMEMBER you must hear audio coming out of BOTH channels of the RIGblaster's "COMPUTER: AUDIO SPKR.OUT" from your computer speakers and you should see the RIGblaster level light lit. You should also hear it from headphones plugged in to the front of the RIGblaster. If you do not hear transmit audio you do not have any sound card audio going in to the RIGblaster, you will not transmit!

Precautions operating the RIGblaster from your stations 12 VDC instead of the wall supply

It is extremely important that you have a solid and reliable 12 VDC ground connection for your radio. If the negative lead powering your radio accidentally becomes disconnected and the RIGblaster is connected to the same 12 VDC power supply negative lead, the 20 amps used by your transmitter will go through the RIGblaster and your mic. circuit. You will burn out the RIGblaster and possibly your radio's mic. circuits. This is not covered under warranty. You must follow the simple precautions that follow.

Do not to connect the negative supply lead for the RIGblaster at all. The RIGblaster will get it's DC ground return through your PTT ground. The current the RIGblaster draws can easily be handled and you will eliminate any possibility of damage or a ground loop. If you must connect the DO NOT EVER CONNECT THE RIGBLASTER DIRECTLY TO YOUR STATION'S 12 VDC POWER SUPPLY NEGATIVE TERMINAL. This good advice for any type of 12 VDC powered accessory connected to your radio that shares the same power supply.

When using one the wall cubes that we supply you do not have to worry about this. You will have full ground isolation safety.

Always make sure your 12 VDC is solidly and permanently connected to it's power supply. You should consider a West Mountain Radio RIGrunner!

You may order a DC cord from us for your RIGblaster. Radio Shack has a plug called an Adaptaplug "D" 5.5mm O.D.x 3.3mm I. D. part number 273-1707 If you wish to make your own cable. The Radio Shack part is a just a plug, you still need their cable to go with it. Do not buy or use an un-fused cigarette lighter plug, you may smoke your radio and the RIGblaster instead of a cigarette.

RF feedback in your mic audio.

If you install your system according to our manual and use a microphone that is made by a radio manufacturer you should not have a problem.

Make sure that you have NOT added any extra ground connections to the RIGblaster. Make sure that your computer is plugged in to the same house wiring circuit as you station, switch of that circuit breaker and make sure everything in your station goes off including the computer.

If your antenna is close to your station you will have more RF in the shack. Also if you are using an antenna tuner with a non resonant antenna you will have more RF in the shack. The RIGblaster cables and all cables act like antennas with different lengths and resonance which can increase or reduce the amount of RF on the microphone cables. We have had reports of RIGblasters actually curing RF feedback problems.

A microphone RF feedback problem can be identified by listening to your audio with headphones with your radio in the monitor mode. If turning down your RF drive eliminates the problem you can be sure you have a microphone RF feedback problem. Check the RIGblasters mic. jumpering and your mic. wiring, be suspicious of after market microphones and their wiring.

If you hear RF coming out of anything besides your radio's monitor output you have some other type of RFI problem. Amplified computer speakers are very poorly shielded and bypassed and usually pick up RF especially at VHF frequencies. The extra wiring to these speakers changes the "antenna":

If you are using a Heil mic. with a Yaesu be aware that the Heil mic. with their Yaesu adaptor may have the PTT and mic. audio ground leads wired incorrectly. If this is the case the RIGblaster may not work with that mic. unless you fix the wiring error by changing the RIGblaster wiring to correct the Heil wiring error. You will have to take the Heil adaptor apart or check it with a meter against the pin numbers in the Yaesu manual.

Sequencing with high power VHF stations

Sound card software should have sequencing delays written in to the program such as K1JT's, WSJT. If computer software is going to automatically key up your station you need to consider proper transmit receive sequencing just as if you were controlling PTT manually.

The RIGblaster Pro has nothing to do with proper sequencer operation and you should need any changes if it was already properly sequenced. The RIGblaster simply mimics your PTT switch with a set of relay contacts. If your PTT switch was sequenced properly the RIGblaster will be also, whether or not you are keying PTT via software or you mic's. PTT button.

If you have not yet set up a sequencer, the RIGblaster will easier to connect a sequencer. You may intercept the PTT control line by connecting the sequencer between the "RIG: AUDIO/PTT, PTT IN and PTT OUT" jacks. You must remove the blue PTT loop jumper at P5.

The following has nothing to do with a RIGblaster: connecting a sequencer to a mic. PTT switch alone is not fool resistant, much less idiot proof. If you use the MOX button on your radio or break in CW transmit you may be bypassing your sequencer. If you ignore those PTT control options it is just a matter of time before push the wrong button and toast your preamp or relays.

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