CAT control

[G3UKB]

HI,
I want to run CAT commands over the RRC to my IC-7100. Am I correct in thinking I connect the base unit USB connection to the radio RRC and the control RRC USB connection to the computer. I guess there is some configuration to do also.

Thanks
Bob

[sm2o]

You also need a CAT connection from Radio-RRC com2 to the Radio-CI-V

http://shop.microbit.se/webshop/catalog/product_info.php?currency=EUR&products_id=190

73 de mike

[G3UKB]

Hi Mike,
Thanks. I reread the manual and I guess it does say that but its not easy to understand. Its a shame the USB port can't be used as that is used for local CAT control.

So to recap. I connect my radio base unit CI-V jack to the radio RRC Com2. At the control RRC end I use the USB connection from control RRC to computer. When I connect this I have COM6,7,8,9. I guess I can chose any of these.

QUERY: In the configuration for the control RRC there is a setting that says 'Use USB COM port as COM2'. This would seem to imply I can use the USB connection although I've not tried it.

73 Bob

[sm2o]

There is no USB host support in the RRCs like in a PC.

Yes if you want to use USB to the PC you set "use USB COM Port as COM2" to yes and you connect the PC software to the PC comport which correspond to RRC COM2 probably PC COM8 in your case.(check device manager)

73 de mike

[G3UKB]

Sorry, still need to clear up a couple of things. I understand the gist of it now.

On the radio RRC I configure Serial Settings COM2 mode to 'mode 2 ICOM CI-V'
On the control RRC do I configure Serial Settings COM2 mode to 'mode 2 ICOM CI-V' as well and also set 'Use USB COM port as COM2'.

The microbit cable you pointed to had a power connection. The cables available over here are powered from the RS232 interface by raising DTR (example http://www.g4zlp.co.uk/unified/IcomCAT.shtml) and are much less expensive. Is it possible to use one of these?

73 Bob

[sm2o]

Yes correct. and same baudrate settings as in the radio and PC program (for example 9600 baud)

Interfaces powered by the Serial port cannot be used, they must be powered separate like ICOM CT-17 or our Interface

73 de mike

[G3UKB]

Got the cable, connected everything and it all worked great. I am using CAT via SDR-Console Satellite Tracking application that uses the OmniRig library.

However, its now not working. I updated the firmware in my IC-7100 to the latest version as there was a fix to the SSB audio drive level I wanted. The radio all seems fine after the update. When I start CAT control it first reported that it can't connect and now its saying 'Port Busy'. I've checked all configuration settings and nothing is changed. Checked all cables are plugged correctly. Checked that COM7 is still mapped to COM2 in RR and the device manager reports its working.

I've run out of ideas.
Bob

[G3UKB]

Just had another idea. The 7100 was set to auto-baud CI-V and RemoteRig to 9600. I set the 7100 to 19200 and RemoteRig to 19200 and immediately it connected. I think Icom broke something in the auto-baud method in the firmware upgrade.

[G3UKB]

Unfortunately this was not a solution as the next time I started up I had to reconfigure to 9600 then back to 19200 to get a connection. The fault remained as 'can't connect' followed by 'port busy'. I am checking with Icom-7100 group to see where the issue lies but I'm guessing they have changed something and caused an incompatibility with RRC.

Anyone else set up with a 7100 using remote CAT?

Bob