Problem opening Ham Radio Deluxe

[Fred VE3PIE]

At my control RRC site I am trying to open Ham Radio Deluxe.
I am running the yaesu  twin setup and everything else seems to be working. 
During the initial testing phase I used a different computer  and HRD opened up.  Now the control RRC is in a different city and I cannot hookup the original computer. The original computer had a serial port (assigned COM1), but on the new computer I am using a usb to serial converter.
On this new computer my ports show:
RRC1258  COM0  (COM6) 
RRC1258  COM1  (COM7) 
RRC1258  COM2  (COM11) 
RRC1258  COMFSK  (COM5) 
Prolific USB-to-Serial COMM Port   (COM12)
All the ports were initially set at 9600 baud,
and I changed  all the ports to match the RRC baud rate -38400

I have set HRD to auto detect  the port at 38400 baud. Does not work.
Which COM port is the correct one ? COM12 ?

Is the problem the cheap usb to serial converter ? Should I install a serial port card in the computer ?
I would consider a Star-Tech serial card 2 types - one with 16550 UART and the other with chipset PLX/Oxford-OXPCIe952.   Or is there a better card to get ?

I would appreciate anyone's help
73, Fred VE3PIE

[dj0qn]

Hi Fred,

You have yourself very confused on this; it is actually very simple:

The ports you listed are virtual serial ports that you can use when plugging a USB cable into
the control RRC. This replaces the need for either a serial cable or a USB to serial converter.
In other words, just use the COM1 (which is COM7) on your PC for CAT over the USB cable.

To use it, go into the RRC's serial settings. You need to set it to mode-6 or mode-7, change the
baud rate to whatever you need for HRD (it doesn't have to be the same as CAT/COM2!) and
make sure to set use USB as serial to yes.

Then you can use HRD with your setup.

Note to other users: this way of using CAT is only necessary for a Twin setup on Yaesu and
Elecraft K3. All other installations pull CAT off differently.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX (currently at Florida home)

[Fred VE3PIE]

Hi Mitch,
When I tried this with the computer at home HRD would not work when connected with usb cable. that is why I had to use a serial port.
I will try again with the usb cable. The usb cable is already plugged in for the EXTFSK port. I will try changing the settings on the control RRC and give it a try.

[Fred VE3PIE]

Hi Mitch,
I will email my control RRC settings to you.
I am having the same problem in florida as I did at home
The COM1 mode is set to Mode-7. The USB com port as com1 is set to off.
With these settings I was able to use the serial port with  a serial cable attached to the front of the RRC.

When I tried to set the USB com port port as COM1 to "yes" it did not work, and still doesn't. I tried both Modes 6 and 7 with the usb as COM1.
thanks, Fred

[dj0qn]

Hi Fred,

Thanks for the separate mail, glad you got things working after all. Will go pff
the forum for the rest.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX