How Do I Get TX To Work With HRD And FT857D

[enduser56]

Hello.. looking for help and advice. Here's what I can do. I can remote control my FT857D with Ham Radio Deluxe for the control, Logemin.com for the PC to PC connection and Skype for the audio. It works great if all I want to do is monitor. However, I want to go the next step and transmit remotely with a standard PC headset on my laptop and that's where I'm totally lost.

To continue, I bought a serial/usb sound card interface some months ago from a ham radio store that has the two 1/8" jacks on the end (one is labeled "mic input", the other is "speaker out"). It's supposed to let me run PSK31 but it appears I might also use it thru the 857D and HRD to transmit phone as the label on the interface states "sound card interface for PC generated PSK31 and RTTY modes. PTT support on serial port RTS line". It would seem then that I could set this interface to make the 857D route around the radio's mic and instead see audio from my sound card as the transmit audio.. or, am I way off base with that thinking?

HRD does give me a live TX button but when I activate it nothing seems to be going out the radio and tuner. I've plugged the "mic" and "speaker" end of the plugs into my host PC with every arrangement I can think of with no luck. I know there are settings within HRD and on the 857D too that I'm probably not observing.

Anyway, if someone can lead me thru or suggest a helpful tip, much appreciated. By the way, I am able to use the interface successfully to receive PSK31 but again, I can't get the PSK31 transmit going.

Dale - KC0NZM

 

[DaveNF2G]

I can't help you with your voice transmission question, but I (and others) have found that digital modes are easier and more reliable when using the DM780 component of the HRD suite as a standalone application. The HRD controller itself seems to be troublesome.

 

[enduser56]

David,
Thanks for the tip! I've looking at the Digital Master appa bit today. I'll see what I'm able to work out with it.
'73 Dale

 

[kc2rgw]

Route the Skype audio output so it goes into your mic jack on the Yaesu. Set the Yaesu for VOX. Mute/unmute your Skype microphone on the dial-in client side of the Skype connection and you are off and running.

Tigertronics Signalink and some others have PTT/VOX type circuits already built in, so all you have to do is feed your soundcard audio with the Skype output into it and you're off and running.

Just don't forget, your microphone mute button on your headset or in the Skype software is now your PTT. Whenever it's open, you will be tripping the VOX or the interface.

So this is sort of confusing to read.

You on Skype on a remote computer ---> Coming into Skype on a shack computer

Shack computer with all Windows or other operating systems sounds DISABLED. ----> audio output into the mic input of your Yaesu or your external interface device.

Yaesu with VOX enabled...or your external interface one that will PTT like a VOX circuit.

Set the shack Skype account to auto answer only for accounts you approve. Make an account something like you-rigaudio so you know which one it is and authorize your remote Skype user name.

Plug the rig into a dummy load and set the VOX settings and audio output levels for proper ALC deflection. Use the mic mute/unmute on the remote Skype and you should be in business.

I hope that was a bit clearer. It's simpler than it all sounds.

 

[enduser56]

Christopher,
I do appreciate the info and will try out your settings when it's not so late in the day. You mentioned "Route the Skype audio output so it goes into your mic jack on the Yaesu" ..that's where I'm lost. I mean I can unplug the Yaesu from the cabling and I'm looking at the RJ-45 type modular end.. not sure what I do with that. Anyway, thanks for info and I'll keep plugging along. I do the camradio.net thing if you want to get on 80 or 40 sometime where I can show you my existing cabling. Thanks again..73! Dale

 

[kc2rgw]

Yeah you'll need some sort of interface to get the soundcard output from the shack computer into the Yaesu, either into the Yaesu mic jack or into one of the plugs on the back.

The interface has to pass the Skype audio into the Yaesu and the Yaesu audio output into the mic input on the shack computer so it goes back out over Skype.

You also either need VOX or some other way to PTT for the incoming remote Skype audio on the shack computer.

Incidentally, if you do digital modes, psk31 etc, the interface you have for that will do all of this...it's the same thing. You're just pointing Skype to its inputs/outputs rather than DM780/MixW/fldigi

 

[enduser56]

Christopher,
Thanks again for the helpful advice and I especially want to try and at least get the psk31 going with the basic cabling that I have. I ran across a product today made by Glentek called an RTE (radio-to-ethernet) card. It's cost some bucks but maybe it's the less complicated solution. Read about it at RTE Units Basically it lets me add my radio as an ethernet connection to my home network and not have to deal with setting my PC to talk to the radio. In the meantime though I'll try some of your ideas and see how far I get. '73 Dale KC0NZM