Yaesu twin CAT setup issues

[HA7GN]

I am a new kid on the block. I have recently (last week) purchased a set of Yaesu twin units with wifi boards.
I was able to set them up to communicate wireless with no problem.

First trials were with FT2000 and FT1000MPMkV in twin mode; was only able to switch off/on the FT2000 thru the CAT connection. Changed order of control & "radio" with not much success. There is no CAT communication. I have found a post mentioning ft1000mp; it looks this set up is not a real twin.. can somebody confirm?
I did additional tests with FT2000 and FT897D in both directions.. no CAT and they don't look twins either..

After three long nights with my twins I was trying to set up a single radio two rrc - controlled by HRD (as well as with FT2000RC from DF3CB). Hooked up the control RRC COM2 to COM1 on my PC and radio RRC COM2 to the FT2000. I have tried several settings of program modes and COM1/2 settings inside the RRCs but I was unable to set an operating connection between HRD and the radio.

I use factory cables from the original twin package. I was setting the parameters as per the suggestions of the Manual. (stop bits are set to 2 instead 1.) now I need help and a good sleep.
Please refer to both topics:
- is there a chance to make the above radios to be twins? ..any two of the three
- please help in configuring CAT for FT2000 as a single radio controlled by PC and HRD thru the twin RRCs.

Thanks.
73
Gabor
HA7GN

[sm2o]

In the manual you can see which combination of radios you can use in twin mode. FT-897 and FT-1000 can not be used. When controlling a FT-2000 with HRD from a PC, check the chapter about Yaesu in General, You should NOT use the Twin mode then, you should use program mode 4.

73 de mike

[HA7GN]

Hello Mike,
thanks for the fast respond.
In the manual it is not listed as a tried combination, true. But this is the gear i have and wanted to try it first before buying a new radio. I was trying to find a post sharing experience with ft1000mp, but could not find such.
I have tried several program modes and their combination; twin, ...yaesu..., ft897, FT1000X with all the radios. I could not achive the CAT operating. I have seen in several posts that there is a checklist available for CAT configuration; would that be available for me, please? And/or some hints to set HRD?
tnx
Gabor
HA7GN

[ON4AOI]

Gabor
Ask Mitch DJ0QN for this checklist

FT897 or FT1000MP are not OK for TWIN operation

Guy ON4AOI

[dj0qn]

The reason that theses rigs don't work for the "Twin" mode is that Yaesu started a new command set
for CAT starting with the FTdx-9000, then with the FT-2000, FT, 950, Ft-450 and FTdx-5000. The older
rigs use a completely different command set.

Here is my general CAT checklist. It was written for the TS-480, but can be adapted as needed. For rigs
using the "Twin" mode, you need to make some modifications, so contact me if this is the case.

CAT CHECKLIST
---------------------
USING A STANDARD SERIAL CABLE
============================
1) Change the CAT rate on the TS-480 to 4800 baud (menu 56). This rate keeps traffic over the internet to a minimum and faster is not necessary for CAT.

2) Change the COM2 serial settings of the radio-RRC to mode-4, 4800 baud, data bits 8, stop bits 1 and submit/apply changes.

3) Change the COM2 serial settings of the control-RRC to mode-4, 4800 baud, data bits 8, stop bits 1 and submit/apply changes.

4) Plug a serial cable in between your PC and the control-RRC COM2

5) Set your software to use the correct COM port on your PC at 4800-8-1-N

USING A USB CABLE
=================
1) Change the CAT rate on the TS-480 to 4800 baud (menu 56). This rate keeps traffic over the internet to a minimum and faster is not necessary for CAT.

2) Change the COM2 serial settings of the radio-RRC to mode-4, 4800 baud, data bits 8, stop bits 1 and submit/apply changes.

3) Install the Microbit Setup Manager if you already haven't. You don't need the program for this, but this installs the correct drivers on your PC.

4) Change the COM2 serial settings of the control-RRC to mode-4, 4800 baud, data bits 8, stop bits 1, "use USB Com Port as COM2" to "Yes" and submit/apply changes.

5) Plug a USB cable between your PC and control-RRC. Make sure you do NOT do his before step 3 above!

6) Find out the correct port in your Windows Device Manager to use by looking for the "Microbit RRC Virtual COM Port (COM2)"

7) Set your software to use the this COM port on your PC at 4800-8-1-N.


73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[HA7GN]

Hi Mitch,
thanks for the checklist and for the fast feedback.
I have tried both standard serial and usb cable between pc and ft2000 with all settings you listed.
I was able to hear the audio coming thru the units, but still unable to get CAT connection in HRD..
Please let me know if there are ideas to go on.

I have the Yaesu twin RRCs factory wired accordingly. Is this what you referred when saying it is somewhat different?
tnx
Gabor
HA7GN

[dj0qn]

Yes, Gabor, running a "Twin" (Yaesu or Elecraft) is different. The CAT port is dedicated to connecting
the two rigs together, so it is not available as it would be on other setups. There is however an easy
solution: change COM1 on both RRC's to "mode-7". This causes the CAT signal to be duplicated over
COM1, so then you can use COM1 for CAT locally, instead of COM2. Just set HRD or whatever program
you use to use COM1 instead.

Note that if you use a "real" serial cable instead of USB, that the pinout of COM1 on the RRC is essentially
"backwards" from COM2. Refer to the manual for pinout in this case.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[sm2o]

Hi

use com2 for the CAT connection as described in the manual, pin 7-8 has to be tied togehter which it will be if you have JMP3 installed. Also check that RTS is set to No in the FT-2000 menu. If you make port forwarding in your router and email me the IP number etc I can set it up and test from here.
73 de mike

[HA7GN]

Hello Guys,
a long night again with trying all the latest proposals with no success. I started to lose confidence in some of the settings i have been confident so far.. i will clear my thoughts tonight and restart during the weekend.  Pretty sure I do something wrong either on the RRC side or at HRD or both..

The RRC's are connected to the same wireless network at the moment so i did not need to set the port forwarding yet.. it will be the next challenge.

I will try to copy the settings in the RRC's and email it to you; if you could recognize some trivial mistake i don't see.

Early this week i ordered an USB RRC-micro PC client ..if that is the correct name. I hope it will arrive tomorrow/Monday and will continue with that one.

Cheers,
Gabor
HA7GN

[dj0qn]

Gabor,

I can take a look for you and even take over using Teamviewer and fix it. However, I am on my
way to Friedrichshafen today, then will be on business trips the next few weeks. If you can't get
it sorted out, I can try to look at it from my hotel room one evening next week in Dublin or the
week after in Kiev.

My direct e-mail address is dj0qn (at) darc.de if you need my help.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[HA7GN]

Hello Guys,

I was able to get an FT450 for the weekend. The good news is that with the original twin setup (no PC) and the configuration suggested by the manual, it looks all the basic functions are working flawlessly (all DSP are OK except Contour switch on/off, IPO and ATT with certain limitations). Managed to do the first two remote CW contacts with it on 20m..!!!!

The HRD issue will still need to be resolved when only PC is at the control end, I will wait for the RRC-Micro to arrive and will try that one.

Regards,
Gabor
HA7GN

[HA7GN]

I need to add some comments after testing of the FT450 (Control) & FT2000 (Remote Radio) yaesu twin during the weekend... for the ones who interested in this special pairing of yaesu radios..

The setup was working properly with 3G mobile internet service on both ends with no latency.
The FT450 was a new rig to me and needed some time to get familiar with its capabilities and functions.The fundamental functions are working adequately, the ones necessary for a basic cw qso. When it gets to the point of working a dx in a pileup the limitations of the setup is clearly there.
- The FT 450 handles DSP differently than the FT2000; the 450 is adjusting DSP WIDTH in three steps resulting in the FT2000 jumping fom max 2700Hz to 25Hz immediately (nothing in between) which makes the signal rejection impossible in a crowded band. Was only able to work with DSP Width wide open..
- The other limiting factor is the FT450's ability to handle split operation. The 450 is displaying one frequency at a time and it does not indicate whether it is VFO A or B..at least I did not find the setting in the manual to switch on. The real problem is though, when you need to tune sub rx frequency to follow the traffic in the pileup the 450 is setting the VFO A in the 2000 to the same frequency as the VFO B (loosing the main rx frequency) first and then let you tune tx freq. finally it sets the original rx frequency in the 2000 back again.. but without seeing the remote radio's display it is just simply impossible to understand what is going on at the radio end..
Anyhow, it was a great fun trying it.. and was enough to make a few Japanese, US and New Zealand qso's within normal circumstances.

In the meantime received the RRC micro PC client. I have already installed and was able to get the HRD - CAT to Radio RRC issue sorted out.

Thanks for all who tried to help.

73/DX
Gabor
HA7GN