Alinco SR8 cat control issues

[w5rhr]

I was able to cat control my alinco when it was one piece with a clone ew7 cable and driver8 software successfully.

Now that I am operating remote it cannot find the radio. The cat cable plugs into he speaker jack and the usb cable is recognized by my PC but the software cannot find the radio. R* or HRD or anything else

I believe the processor is in the head unit so it should be talking to it directly and not to the radio over the network(I am assuming)

[dj0qn]

Are you saying the the radio works fine remotely, but only CAT doesn't work?

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX

[w5rhr]

yes that is correct I cam make voice and data contacts remotely, but when I plug the ew7 clone cable(with fdti chip) into the radio head it times out . The PC recognizes the cable but software programs dont see the radio

[dj0qn]

I have never used that rig, but the manual indicates it is similar to how the TS-480 works. Here is my
CAT checklist for the 480, see if this helps:


CAT CHECKLIST
---------------------
IMPORTANT: In both scenarios, you MUST first install a standard serial cable between the TS-480 body and COM2 of the radio RRC!

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 problem 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

[w5rhr]

Thank you for the suggestion however the radio does not contain any usb or serial ports on the body, the only way into the rig is through the speaker jack on the front panel.
I am assuming i was wrong about the microprocessor being located in the panel, it must be in the body of the radio

[dj0qn]

I just now got around to taking a look at the manual. It looks like this is the only radio sold within
the last 25 years that does not have CAT available. The speaker method appears to be only to clone
the rig with another one. Even if it could be used for CAT, then it may or may not be possible to put
the audio output into the RRC using a Y-cable at the same time.

So I would highly suggest buying a different rig if you need CAT control. The most reliable one out there
that you can buy used that is relatively inexpensive is the TS-480.

73,
Mitch DJ0QN / K7DX