ICOM IC-718 CAT control

I’ve had a slight interest in using CAT control with my 718.  Past research from a number of years ago had shown that you needed an ICOM IC-CT17 Communications Interface to accomplish this task.  The problem is that they hover around $140-$150.  I decided that I didn’t need CAT interface that badly.

My interest in CAT control has been re-ignited with my recent foray into digital modes.  A bit of renewed research resulted in the purchase of a CT-17 USB FTDI Chipset CI-V Cat Control Programming Cable from Valley Enterprises.  The price was significantly less than the ICOM CT-17 and it’s USB.

Order processing and shipping was fast and efficient.  The cable arrived in just a few days.  I plugged it in, the USB device was recognized, and Windows 7 found the correct driver for it.  I plugged it into my radio, downloaded DXLab Commander, set the Primary CAT Serial Port to 5 and the software instantly started working.

Nice piece of hardware, nice piece of simple software, and now I have CAT control for my 718!

 

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WSPR @ 1 Watt

WSPR 1 Watt

WSPRing

What is the best hobby of all possible hobbies…that’s right AMATEUR RADIO!

After all these years I’m finally starting to dabble with the digital modes.  After an extended period of time (measured in years since they were first released) I finally bought a Signalink.  I picked up the Signalink USB at the local candy store, Amateur Electronic Supply.

What finally drove me to get the Signalink was learning about WSPR from a post on G4ILO’s site (http://www.g4ilo.com/wspr.html) that I came across while searching on some propagation topics.  This post led to some searches for more on WSPR which resulted in a bunch of information including this post on AA7EE’s site: The Awesomeness That Is The Signalink USB Sound Card Interface which clinched both the Signalink purchase and WSPR.

While there are a lot of ways in which to WSPR my current setup is the Signalink USB, an ICOM IC-718, my Cobra UltraLite Senior antenna, and a Dell Optiplex 760 running Windows 7.

After connecting the Signalink to the radio (using the 13-pin DIN cable that comes with the Signalink SLUSB13I for ICOM radios) and a USB connection to the PC the configuration for the WSPR 2.0 software was as follows:

WSPR Station Parameters

Once configured and switched out of idle the WSPR software started to receive its first WSPRs at my station.

With the confirmation that receive worked I dialed down the power and tuned up for transmit, moved the Tx fraction slider to 20%, and let the WSPR software take control.  After a wee bit my spots were showing up on the WSPR map:

And the software has been WSPRing along now for over two hours:

Including a WSPR station in Antarctica, OC3HHY:

This is very cool!

Part of what make WSPR tick is time synchronization (+/- 1 second) with UTC. While there are many ways to accomplish this I’m using NISTIME 32.  Be sure to “Run as Administrator” if your not using an account with admin privileges in Windows 7 otherwise the app won’t be able to update the PC clock.

More information on WSPR is located at the WSPR site and the WSPRnet.