3 - WHAT DOES YOUR SOFTWARE DO?

We do not write or supply software for the RIGblasters. We only provide a very up to date collection of ALL of the transmit/receive ham radio sound card software that we could find on the Internet. We do try to work as closely as possible with all the ham radio sound card authors and we have been instrumental in developing new software. We do not have ANY business arrangements with any of the software authors. We only make a hardware interface that is compatible with all 3rd party sound card ham software that we are aware of. Our hardware is greatly software independent, it will work with all present and probably all future ham radio sound card software. This software was written by many very talented and dedicated hams and it comes in the form of demos, freeware and shareware. Almost every operating mode is now supported by freeware. Our CD is included for free with a RIGblaster, as a convenience, simply to make it easy as possible to get started. We are not in a position to properly support all of the software but we try. The original author of the software is the only persons that can really help. Try not to ask us about software as we do not know what the author of the software should know. Usually there is all you need on the authors web site or included in the software's help files. In the spirit of our hobby you should experiment and learn. We do have a good working relationship with most of the software authors and we hope that you support their efforts with your encouragement and/or purchase their software.

There is software on our CD for microphone equalization, noise gating and speech compression for use with the PRO. These programs are available for professional studio use but there are inexpensive and free programs.

4 - WHAT DOES YOUR SOFTWARE COST?

Again, we do not write or supply software for the RIGblasters therefore we do not sell it.

Sound card software that works with a RIGblaster is either free, cheap or expensive, it depends on the author, not us.

Free software is called "freeware", makes sense, doesn't it! There is also beer ware, bet you can't guess what beer ware is. The good news is that almost every mode of operation has freeware available. You should understand that freeware isn't free, somebody put a lot of effort into it and you should at least pay them with your thanks.

Shareware doesn't cost anything to try but you are expected to pay for it if you keep using it. If you are sleazy, and do not pay for it, We hope you at least feel guilty. The author wants you to try his software and like it before paying for it. Usually the program will incessantly remind you until you do pay for it, and you should.

There is also "demo ware", demo ware works great. Sometimes it functions for a period of time and then quits, otherwise it has limited operation of some sort. You must pay for it if you wish to continue using it.

There are no licensed commercial applications on our CD.

Our CD is simply a collection of Amateur Radio - Sound Card Software that we include FREE with every RIGblaster (except the nomic experimenter). You can purchase the CD-ROM separately for about $10 Which is less than our production and manufacturing cost, as we have spent hundreds of hours collecting, updating and organizing our CD. We think you will appreciate that when you get it, and you will understand why we lose money selling it for only $10.00.

We hope our CD makes it easier to get on the air with all of the great ham sound card software that has been written.

5 - WHAT EQUIPMENT DO I NEED TO USE A RIGblaster?

You need a compatible radio: see "Will it work with my radio?". You need a computer in your ham shack with a properly functioning Windows sound card: see; "What kind of sound card do I need?". An available serial port is desirable: see: "Do I need a serial port?".
There is a nice program for a Mac computer and there are even a few Linux applications.

6 - WILL IT WORK WITH MY RADIO?

The RIGblaster pro and Plus models come with cables and instructions for any radio that uses an 8 pin screw on microphone connector or an RJ45 8 wire Modular telephone style jack. To use any of these models with a 4 pin metal screw on jack radio you need to order our 4 Pin to 8 Pin Conversion Kit.

The RIGblaster nomic model is supplied with the microphone cable of your choice.

An important feature of the RIGblaster pro and Plus is that all the features of your microphone will work. All the wires are connected through. The only functions that we intercept are the microphone audio and PTT. The grounding is also maintained for rigs with common or separate PTT and microphone grounds.

You can use any microphone that currently works with your radio with the exception of several Yaesu and Icom radios (see FAQ #7 below).

You may also easily adapt one brand of microphone to another radio by switching our plug in jumpers around accordingly. We cannot guarantee this possibility. Some microphones have built in pre amps or require power from the radio in order to operate properly This may make that mic. incompatible with another brand or type of radio.

Our PRO model has a electret microphone bias circuit built in to all the use of an electret microphone when the microphone is directed to the sound card and it is disconnected from the radio.

7 - WHAT RADIOS WILL NOT WORK WITH A RIGblaster?

As far as we know all model RIGblasters will work for sound with every radio that was ever made as long as the cables fit in to the radio. There are some new radios that work but their supplied microphones do not. These microphones have microprocessor control of PTT that do not use PTT switch contacts to activate the radio. Those microphones will not work with our interface or any other interface. This is not an issue with a RIGblaster nomic model as the microphone must be unplugged to use a nomic (no mic.).

Icom V-8000, IC-2100H, IC-2200H, IC-2800H, IC-207H, IC-208H, IC-2710H, IC-2720H, & IC-2725E using the stock microphone such as the HM-133V, and the Icom IC-7000 using the HM-151 mic, have a peculiar PTT circuit. When they are plugged into the radio they disable the conventional PTT wiring on the radio's microphone jack and control PTT by a digital signal. This causes the RIGblaster to be able to control PTT only when the microphone is unplugged from the RIGblaster. The microphone works through the RIGblaster but the RIGblaster cannot activate the radio's PTT terminals as they are disabled by the digital mic. The RIGblaster works perfectly when the microphone is unplugged from the RIGblaster. The work around for this problem is to use any normal microphone such as the Icom HM-118 or HM-103 that has a conventional PTT circuit. Also you can simply unplug the High Function ICOM microphone when using the RIGblaster in digital modes. The Icom mics that incorporate this digital method of PTT are the HM-98, HM-133 & HM-151 however there may be others. Icom only told us about these two microphones.

The Yaesu FT-90, FT-100, FT-1500, FT-1802, FT-2600, FT-2800M, FT-7100, FT-7800R, FT-8000, FT-8100, FT-8500, FT-8800 & FT-8900 have a Modular 6 microphone jack so our standard cables do not fit. These are the only radios we have seen that use this somewhat unusual microphone jack and PTT circuit. The optional Yaesu Modular 6 Custom Microphone Cable is necessary to use a RIGblaster with these radios. You will not be able to plug the microphone that matches these radios into the RIGblaster, however your computer will be able to pass audio to the radio and you will be able to operate digital modes. The Yaesu Modular 6 Custom Microphone Cable will only allow you to plug the RIGblaster into the radio's microphone connector.

8 - WILL MY COMPUTER WORK WITH A RIGblaster?

The question should be, will my computer work with ham radio sound card software. The RIGblaster only needs to be compatible with the audio output of your computer. It also is automatically controlled by the simple on/off signal of a serial port for PTT control and audio switching, no data flows, just on or off. The software compatibility has the much more complicated task of communicating with your computer Far and away the best way to tell if your computer will work is to install some software and try it!

Download whatever software for whatever mode you are interested in from the links here on our web site or search the web. You will be able to install and run software without a RIGblaster with a simple receive audio connection between your radio's audio output and your computer's audio input.

Make sure you try "transmitting" with the software. You will not actually be on the air but you should be able to hear the transmit audio tones coming from your computer. If you can receive signal and hear the transmit audio tones with your computer, it works. We highly recommend doing this before buying a RIGblaster. You will be all ready to go when you get your RIGblaster and you will know what to expect when you actually get on the air.

Note: if you are interested in PSK31 try WinPSK or WinPskSE; for RTTY try MMTTY; for SSTV try MMSSTV; for MFSK16 use IZ8BLY's Stream. If you are unsure about what to try, try them all, but that will keep you busy for some time. If you would like our recommendation there isn't a bad one in the bunch. All the programs on our links are great.

9 - CAN I USE A USB PORT IF I DON'T HAVE A SERIAL PORT?

Yes, and all of our RIGblasters are USB capable, that is they either plug directly into a USB port (RIGblaster Data Jack plug&play and the RIGblaster duo) or they are packaged with a USB to Serial Port Adapter (RIGblaster nomic, RIGblaster plus and RIGblaster pro). All of the software was written for serial port control so it will work directly with a USB to Serial Port Adapter as well. With the USB to Serial Adapter you can add the function of a serial port to a computer that doesn't have one.

10 - WHAT CABLES DO I NEED TO USE OR HOW IS A RIGblaster HOOKED UP?

Unlike the competitor's products we really supply everything you need to get on the air. We include a plug in microphone cable, two audio cables, a serial cable and a power supply. Check the competition carefully!

In addition to what our other models come with the PRO comes with a microphone to computer microphone input cable, an extra receive audio cable, 3 mini to mini plug cables you can use to connect CW, FSK or rig control. The extra cables may need adaptors or different plugs installed on the other end to match your radio CW, FSK or rig control connectors. Icom CI-V rig control jacks will accept a mini plug.

Right out of the box you will be able to get on the air without making anything, finding anything or downloading anything. The other brands don't give you a power supply or even the power supply cable. One of them does give you a power supply plug but you have to solder it on and figure out how to eliminate the power supply ground loops. We give you an isolated power supply ready to plug in.

Since we are fully isolated from the computer's serial port and radio microphone circuits our audio connections are easier and simpler than our competition.

We supply a stereo mini cable for the receive connection to your radio's audio output. You may use any audio output on your radio: speaker, headphone, data, monitor, record, phone patch, whatever is more convenient. Most radios have a mini jack speaker output so our supplied mini plug cable is compatible. You may wish to have a "Y" cord when using an external speaker on your radio's speaker output, you may decide to use another connection with fixed level audio.

With the connection between your radio and computer, you can now monitor your radio using your computer speakers. You will also be able to use high performance DSP filtering, recording and equalization software. Our Plus model gives you two audio outputs, one for computer speakers and another for computer headphones to take advantage of this.

The use of a fixed level output on your radio, if available, is usually more convenient. You will have to provide the appropriate plug or adaptor to adapt the mini plug cable we supply or purchase a ready made fixed level accessory cable from us.

Check our order page for any custom accessory cables that you may need or want.

11 - DOES A RIGblaster WORK WITH THE JACKS ON THE BACK OF MY RADIO?

You can use the nomic with back panel jacks but we do not supply ready made cables for that purpose. You may wish to make your own using one of our stripped and tinned cables. If you go in to a line input on the back of your radio your will probably have to remove a 100 ohm voltage divider resistor R2 to increase the audio level.

The rear panel connections on some radios may work, but others will have certain problems. Rear panel data, phone patch or auxiliary jacks may leave your microphone hot while transmitting with the computer causing illegal emissions the CW/data portions of a band. This problem is avoided, with our standard direct microphone jack connection. Rear panel inputs may not function with VOX and they may not work on many modes. Some will work on FM but not SSB others may work on LSB not USB, beware of this before spending time making your own cables for rear panel connections. As we recommend the microphone jack will always work properly!

You can see why we use the microphone jack in order to make the "standard" and "plus' model RIGblasters compatible with all rigs by avoiding problems with rear panel jacks. A microphone connector interfaces also allows us implement our special microphone Override and PTT Interrupt features. The nomic will work properly into your microphone jack but you may want to go into your rear panel connections if you know your rear panel jacks are designed to work properly and you know how to make your own cable. We do not support connections using your own home brew cables or connections.

12 - WIll A RIGblaster DO CW OR TRUE FSK?

You can copy CW with a RIGblaster station hookup or without a RIGblaster, a RIGblaster is only for transmit. All RIGblasters will transmit keyboard CW using sound card transmit such as "HamScope" by KD5HIO. This software sends a pure CW audio tone to the microphone jack with your radio in SSB mode. This will work very well provided you set your transmit audio level for a clean linear output (less than full power). With the nomic there are no relays so the nomic's optoisolator PTT output may be used for serial port controlled CW keying direct to your radio's straight key jack, instead of PTT keying. You may purchase our ready made CW cable for that purpose. You must use NON sound card transmit software such as CWtype by UA9OSV.

Our PRO and Plus models do sound card CW and RTTY by directly keying your radio's straight key jack. Get our plus model if you wish to do true keyed CW. Get a pro model if you wish to have your station permanently set up to do both CW and FSK, the PRO has two keying outputs one for CW and one for FSK, plus has one jack that may be used for one or the other not both.

13 - WILL A RIGblaster WORK WITH MY SEQUENCER ON MY HIGH POWER VHF STATION?

If you microphone's PTT button works with your sequencer the RIGblaster will also. The RIGblaster simply does the same thing as your mic's PTT button.

The RIGblaster PRO has two PTT RCA jacks, in and out, they may be separated by removing a jumper to accommodate a sequencer control loop.

If you are not sequenced and have been doing it manually you may run WSJT safely. WSJT was written by an avid VHF operator; Joe made sure that his software has transmit and receive delays built in to eliminate the problem. WSJT will operate safely with a station that should be sequenced, but isn't. WSJT will also work properly with a station that is sequenced. This is not necessarily the case with other sound card programs, be careful if you run any other software and you station needs sequencing.

The RIGblaster can make it easier to hook up a sequencer as it provides header pins to easily intercept the PTT line to your radio's microphone jack. Be aware that a sequencer connected only to a microphone jack PTT connection is NOT SEQUENCED for break in CW or MOX button operation!

14 - WHAT ABOUT GROUNDING AND WHY IS A RIGblaster EASIER TO CONNECT?

Unlike our competition there is never any need to connect any extra grounds or experiment with grounding. One other sound card interface actually needs an extra ground connection in an attempt to get it to work without hum or feedback.

All RIGblasters are totally isolated from microphone ground loops. There is ONLY ONE GROUND connection, your microphone jack. The power is isolated with a isolated wall supply and the computer serial connection is totally isolated with optoisolators. The isolated circuitry allows a simpler station hookup with less connections. You receive connection may be direct from your radio to your computer as there will not be a ground loop for the microphone transmit circuit. Microphone audio is at a .010 volt level and is very sensitive to ground loops, the receive connection is at about 1 volt making it 100 times less sensitive to ground loops. There is no need to isolate your receive connection as your computer should be grounded to the same AC outlet as your station's power. Having your computer on a different house wiring circuit is a bad thing for your ham station in many respects, especially lightning damage.

The PRO model has many more connections than our other models so it has much more extensive ground isolation. It uses an isolated wall supply, a isolated DC to DC converter, three optoisolators, three shielded audio isolation transformers and three relays!

15 - WHAT PRECAUTIONS SHOULD I TAKE OPERATING THE RIGblaster FROM 12 V DC?

This is not an issue with the nomic as it is powered directly from the serial port. With the RIGblaster pro and Plus, as with any 12 VDC station accessory, it is extremely important to have a solid and reliable 12 V negative return connection for your radio's power feed. If the negative lead powering your radio accidently becomes disconnected and a RIGblaster or other station accessory is connected directly to that same 12 V power supply negative connection, 20 amps or more will go through part of the RIGblaster and through a circuit in your radio that wasn't designed for that much current. That may burn out the RIGblaster and possibly your radio, voiding warranties. Carefully follow the simple precautions on our support page and the instructions provided with our DC cord set.

Using the wall cubes that we supply with 120V and 230V RIGblasters you do not have to worry about this. Wall cubes are separate power supplies, independent of your other power supply providing full ground isolation.