RRC-Micro & RRC-1258MkII setup with HAM Radio Deluxe Communications Issues

[KF5UOJ]

I have been working to setup my Yaesu FT-450 for remote control.  My initial setup used an Yaesu SCU-17 interface.  Both Yaesu PCC-450 and HAM Radio Deluxe both have been configured for a serial ports setup as 38400, 8,1, N.  Both control packages work locally.  When I tried to use it over the Internet the audio and transmit voice did not work well.  To solve this problem I want an independent interface machine that is accessible through the Internet.  The solution I want to implement is based on the RemoteRig hardware and software with HAM Radio Deluxe.

I have RRC-Micro setup and connecting to the RRC-1258MkII.  When I start up RRC-Micro on my PC, it turns-on the FT-450.  I have both audio and transmit capabilities.  When RRC-Micro starts-up the application initializes three virtual serial communication ports which are linked over Ethernet to the RRC-1258MkII.  I mapped the RRC-1258MkII Communication Port 2 to the RRC-Micro Communication Port 0 (COM0) and connected to one of the virtual serial communication port to COM0.  I set the communication parameters to match the standard for the Yaesu radio used by HAM Radio Deluxe, 8-bits, 2-stop bits, and no parity at 38400 bps.

I have not been able to connect either PCC-450 or HAM Radio Deluxe to the FT-450.  I recorded video for the three test to show how the system is configured and the results.  They have been uploaded to YouTube and the links are below:

PCC-450 Test 00with RRC-Micro to a RRC-1258MkII with communications parameters of 38400, 8, 1, N.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi7BNl147as

PCC-450 Test 01 with RRC-Micro to a RRC-1258MkII with communications parameters of 38400, 8, 2, N.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTt3rw9FY_M

HAM Radio Deluxe Test 00with RRC-Micro to a RRC-1258MkII with communications parameters of 38400, 8, 2, N.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb-s5IFYKzo

The fact that the SCU-17 communication ports work with both PCC-450 and HAM Radio Deluxe makes me wonder if there is an issue with the RRC-Micro virtual communication ports or is there an issues with how HAM Radio Deluxe connect to and manages the virtual communication port, or I missed something.
 
Thank you for your help.

[Jan (Microbit)]

To have further information needed to help you I suggest you follow these two FAQ-steps:

http://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=3244

http://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=3200

[KF5UOJ]

Thank you for your response.

I ran MicrobitDeviceManagerV1.4, the log is attached.  During execution, MicrobitDeviceManager failed to find the com port db, errorcode 5,  I am the administrator.

I also ran a session with RRC-Micro debug.  The log is attached

[Jan (Microbit)]

Thank you for your response.

I ran MicrobitDeviceManagerV1.4, the log is attached.  During execution, MicrobitDeviceManager failed to find the com port db, errorcode 5,  I am the administrator.

Being "Administrator" is not the same as running the program as "Administrator". You have to either start a command prompt as "Admin" or right click on the exe file and select "run as administrator". Doing so no error code 5 should appear and the log file will be longer with more info.

[KF5UOJ]

Learn something new everyday....
Please see attached file.

[Jan (Microbit)]

Learn something new everyday....
Please see attached file.

I would blame Microsoft for a bad naming convention in that case. It surely causes confusion 

The log looks not that bad, but the Com Db is not in sync. To make it 100% OK you could follow this step taken from http://www.remoterig.com/wp/?page_id=3200 :

Fix mismatches in the Com port data base. Answer ‘F’ on the question ‘Do you want to fix the Com port database?’ followed by ”C’ to do that. Ports that are installed in the system without being marked as in use in the Com port data base will be marked in use, and vice versa.

Note that this is not likely to fix current problems, but might prevent future ones.

[sm2o]

Hi

are you sure the cable from Radio-RRC com-2 to Radio CAT port is correct ? It should be a straight cable absolutely not a null modem cable.
Yaesu FT450 use 1 stop bit. Be sure that the menu CAT RTS is set to OFF in the FT-450. Also using 38400 is overkill, 9600 is enough, 38400 just increase the need of bandwidth.

73 de mike

[KF5UOJ]

Hi Mike, Yes, I am sure.  I used the same cable with the Yaesu SCU-17.  Both Ham Radio Deluxe and Yaesu PCC-450 work have worked from day one.

[KF5UOJ]

Hi Mike on the point on the number of stop bits, I used one stop bit with the Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) for Yaesu uses two stop bits.... I have not figured how to modify HRD to change the number of stop bits. 

In one of the test I set the 1258 up to use one stop bit and PCC-450 to use one stop bit. With the same results.... then tried with with two stop bits... same results.   Now that I know about the tools I will set it back to one and rerun the diagnosistest again....

[KF5UOJ]

Hi Jan, I will rerun the tool as noted....  Thank you for your help....

[KF5UOJ]

Hi Jan and Mike,

I ran another test where I reconfigured the 1258 communications for for 38400, 1, N.  I started RRC-Micro in debug mode.  The started PCC-450 and it RRC-450 showed COM0 as connected, but could not communiate with the FT-450.  Please see the attached debug file.

Thank you
73's Randy

[Jan (Microbit)]

Hi,

Looking at the log file I see that RRC-Micro sends data on its COM0, without getting any reply. I then looked at the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi7BNl147as

and noticed that you have configured RRC-Micro to use COM0. That is probably what is making it not work as it should be COM2. Try use RRC-Micro's COM2 instead and see what happens.

[KF5UOJ]

IT WORKED!!!!! THANK YOU!!!

In the RRC-Micro setup instruction for the COM Port selection, see below:

RRC Client COM0, COM1, and COM2
•   Select mode for the different RCC Client COM-ports. COM0, COM1 and COM2 is referring to the COM ports of the RRC-1258: Radio-RRC.  Which one you should use depends on where you have connected the serial cable to the radio at the RRC-1258 Radio-RRC.
•   Select which Virtual COM-port you want to use in the Local PC. It doesn’t matter which one you select, but you have to select the same in HamRadioDeluxe or other program.

In first point: I missed the point “Which one you should use depends on where you have connected the serial cable to the radio at the RRC-1258 Radio-RRC”

In the second point: is where my confusion about port selection came from; “It doesn’t matter which one you select”.

What I have learned is the following:

1) The com ports for the RRC-1258MkII are COM1 and COM2
2) In the RRC-Micro connection configuration the following rules apply:
  A) Match the connection COM Port to the RRC-1258MkII COM Port used
  B) The RRC-Micro connection configuration can use any virtual COM port to connect to the RRC-1258MkII COM Port to a PC radio control application
3) The RemoteRig RCC-1258MkII and RRC-Micro is Magic!

Thank you again Jan and Mike for your support! 

[Jan (Microbit)]

  !!