Messages

1

General discussion forum / Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.

« on: 2012-10-05, 05:18:00 »

"Since you have the same problem from more than one control
location, the problem is clearly there."

I will certainly look into that as a possibility, but would like to play "devil's advocate" (with limited in depth knowledge) and suggest the problem could also lie between the RemoteRig control and the TS-480.  If it was just a remote router, then I wouldn't be able to duplicate the problem in my home using my LAN.  It is quite confusing to me and I wish that there were more tools available to me - e.g. a blow by blow log of everything happening when I turn on the rig.

The remote site is part of Dave Mett's High Sierra Communications and his I.T. person suggested we focus on the RemoteRig Control to TS-480 control head, but I am open to any suggestions on how to debug this problem.

I suppose the next time is to bring the remote radio back to my home, hook it up to the LAN and see if the problem is duplicated here.  If so, then it seems unlikely that the remote site router is the problem.  If that is ruled out, then what would be my next step?  Any other valid diagnostic steps to consider?

Craig, AE7I

2

General discussion forum / Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.

« on: 2012-10-04, 05:38:06 »

I am still having challenges with RemoteRig and my TS-480.  The control head locks up when I first turn it on.  The "HELLO" flash screen remains unchanged, a few seconds later the red light on the left of the Aux/MIC lights up, and I am unable to turn off the rig with the power button.

There are two ways I have managed to get it to turn on at this point:
1. Wait about 60 seconds, when the red light goes out, then unplug the TTL plug (control goes dead), then plug it back in, at which point the rig turns on normally.
2. Unplug the power to the RemoteRig Control unit, plug it back in, wait for it to fully boot, then turn on the rigs control head.

I made a video showing how it turns on AFTER I have power cycled the RemoteRig.  At that point, I turn the rig off, then try to turn it back on which shows the lock-up phenomenon.  http://www.ae7i.com/RemoteRig.html

This isn't just happening to me, but also to K7UI.  It happens regardless if we have it on a LAN or connected with a high speed data access (48 Mbs).

I suspect something between the TS-480s control head and the RemoteRig Control Unit has somehow changed with firmware revision.

Is it possible to use an older version of firmware to see if it corrects the issue?  Other suggestions??

Thanks,

Craig, AE7I
(and Dave, K7UI)

3

General discussion forum / Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.

« on: 2012-09-27, 06:40:49 »

I will look into that possibility.  We are connecting into a microwave channel bank, so my knowledge of the system is not strong.  There may be a microwave hop that is somehow creating a problem.  It is my friend's communication site.  I will explore that possibility further.

Craig, AE7I

4

General discussion forum / Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.

« on: 2012-09-24, 02:20:21 »

I am connected to a communications port located on a mountain top communication site.  When I ping the IP address, I get a reply turnaround of 39-43 ms, average 40 ms. 

I have tried setting audio quality to 0, RTP to continuous, jitter buffer to 12, jitter delay to 10, audio packet 20 .  All COM ports are off and not utilized.  I used a friend's RemoteRig units and had the same phenomenon.  All units had already been upgraded to 2.62 firmware.

This problem seems very reproducible.  The first time I try to turn on the control head after the RemoteRig has had a chance to fully boot up and connect (solid green power light), I get the "Hello" screen on the TS-480 immediately and then the green light to the right side of the AUX/MIC jack lights followed a few seconds later by the red light.  If I remove and reinsert the power cord, wait until the green power light is solid, then turn on the control head, there are several seconds before the "Hello" screen appears and a few seconds later I have full function of the rig.  If I turn the rig off, wait 30 seconds, then try to turn it back on, the same lock up occurs.  Once again, I need to remove power from the RemoteRig, wait until boot up is complete, and then power up the rig.

Any other ideas to try?

Craig, AE7I

5

General discussion forum / Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.

« on: 2012-09-05, 05:06:56 »

I suspect more is going on than simply a loss of internet connection as this is a new behavior.  The FIRST time I turn on the TS-480, the head display has "HELLO", the two lights on either side of the AUXMIC are illuminated, and nothing happens.  About 45-60 seconds later, the red light goes out and the green light remains illuminated.  However, the rig still displays "HELLO" and there is no audio or control functions available.  Even holding the power off button for several seconds does nothing.  The only remedy is to remove power temporarily and once the steady power light is evident (plus a bit of time beyond that presumably for additional information exchange), I can successfully turn on the rig.

Here is what I see when the rig is clearly locked up (note all looks good from the standpoint of the RRC):

Name   Value
Control panel   ON
Radio   ON
Connection status   OK
SIP status   Connected/transfering
Last SIP error   None
RTP status   Excellent(60)
UDP cmd status   OK(45)
SIP command timeout   0
Rx Jitter buffer size   4
Rx Jitter delay   3
Dual Rx   0
Current audio packet size   20
Current audio quality   2 - Linear 16 bits 8 kHz
SIP Out port   5080
SIP In port   5080
Audio Out port   11000
Audio In port   11000
Command Out port   12000
Command In port   12000
External SIP In port   5080
External Audio In port   11000
External Cmd In port   12000
Other party   ***.***.***.** (intentionally blanked)
Input 0   High
Input 1   High
Input 2   High
Output 0   High
Output 1   Low
Output 2   Low
DNS status   OK, remoterig.com = ***.***.***.** (intentionally blanked)
Active profile:   Default
PTT status:   OFF

In conclusion, I think there is something else I am  missing since this appears to be new behavior.

Thanks, Craig AE7I

6

Configuration of Routers, Firewalls, etc / Able to connect via Uverse 2-wire 3801 HGV

« on: 2012-09-04, 01:40:19 »

Others have noted problems using RemoteRig with U-verse and suggested a hardware solution, however I have found it possible to connect with tweaks to the SIP address and residential gateway firewall.

I use U-verse for  internet, TV and telephone (therefore their VOiP).  I initially had trouble connecting to my remote TS-480 and attributed that to the residential gateway's firewall blocking SIP.  I tried to set up the RemoteRig Control with DMZ Plus, but for unclear reasons the gateway simply gave me an error message.  So,  my solution was to change the address for SIP from 5060 to 5080 on both remote and control units,  and then create three pinholes in the firewall for 5080, 11000 and 12000.  Now it seems to be working fine for me.

SIP Out port   5080
SIP In port   5080
Audio Out port   11000
Audio In port   11000
Command Out port   12000
Command In port   12000
External SIP In port   5080
External Audio In port   11000
External Cmd In port   12000

73, Craig AE7I

7

General discussion forum / Re: control unit locks up when powering it on.

« on: 2012-09-04, 01:27:55 »

I have discovered the same issue on my setup with the Kenwood TS-480 and 2.61 software version.  As with the others, I have connected all of the cables to the control unit, applied power, and waited until the power light stopped blinking and became solid (confirming Ethernet connection).   When I power the rig the first time, there is an immediate beep, the screen reads "Hello" indefinitely, and the AUXMIC lights both light up.  If I then remove the power plug, wait 5 seconds, and reapply power and await connection, the following is noted when I turn on the control head: immediate beep, "Hello" screen about 3 seconds later, then full radio functionality at about 4 seconds.  I am hopeful that the solution will be found.

73, Craig (AE7I)

8

Hardware, Cabling, Installations / Challenge attaching 6-pin connector for TTL on TS-480

« on: 2012-05-29, 19:40:14 »

I am in the process of connecting a new TS-480 to RemoteRig.  It was suggested that two cables should be fashioned out of the ~12-foot long Kenwood data cable.  I cut one end short (for the RRC-Radio).  The cable has a foil shield and 6 conductors and the pin layout appears to be (from 1 --> 6): white, black, bare ground wire, red, green and yellow.  I purchase "Ideal RJ-11 6P6C" modular telephone plugs as I already owned a crimping device for them.  The wires are stranded wire, all with insulation except for the bare ground wire.

Somehow, I managed to keep these flexible wires in the proper order and made up one cable that works.  However, I have failed several times with the second one.  I find it near impossible to keep the wires in the proper order when trimmed to 1/4" and the ground wire somehow distorted on insertion and grounded out the adjacent pin on subsequent VOM continuity checks.

QUESTIONS:
1. Am I using the wrong modular connector?
2. Are there any tricks to getting flexible stranded wires to maintain order on insertion?
3. Is it mandatory to use a shielded cable?  E.g. could I use flat cable with ferrite beads on each end?

Thanks for any assistance,
Craig AE7I