Alinco Help With A New DXR8T

[Osprey1163]

I recently bought an Alinco DX-R8T and am starting to play with it. I bought the ERW7 cable and downloaded KGSDR for the R8. It installed without a hitch. Next, I started to set up so I can receive digital modes and decode CW.

I downloaded WinPSK, DigiPan and CWGet but none of them receive anything from the radio. I did check to be sure it was in "IQ" mode. The laptop I'm using runs Win10 and has an internal mic and a single jack marked for headphones, though it also supports a mic. I plugged the ERW7 into it, but none of the programs communicated with the radio. I tried hooking an audio cable from both the speaker and headphone jacks on the R8 to my laptop, but no luck. I checked the drop-down menus in the programs, but couldn't find anything that helped.

I'm obviously missing something: either the wrong hook-ups or the wrong programs....or it can't be done. I'd appreciate any advice anyone on the forum has to help me out.

Chris
kb3scn

 

[GB46]

The laptop I'm using runs Win10 and has an internal mic and a single jack marked for headphones, though it also supports a mic. I plugged the ERW7 into it, but none of the programs communicated with the radio.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. If it supports a mic, does it have a separate jack for an external mic? If not, I don't see how any audio from the receiver can get to the computer. Which jack have you plugged the receiver into?

 

[ka3jjz]

USB isn't set up to carry audio, so it's no wonder the ERW7 didn't work.

Unfortunately Win8.1 removed support for line in and mic in jacks, but just how much the distributor paid attention to this (and whether your laptop has the chipset to support it) is another matter. Some distributors kept the mic in jack support, but left it dead.

However you're not without options. You *might* be able to use a virtual audio device to route the audio from KG-SDR to the application of choice. These devices set up a virtual path that many programs can recognize. Virtual Audio Cable and VB Cable are 2 popular applications for this...see this wiki article for the links

HF Appendix - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

If this doesn't fly, a USB-Soundcard device will be needed. I don't have any direct experience with these so I'll let others comment on which ones work well...Mike

 

[jhooten]

Did you download and install the driver for the ERW-7 before you plugged it in to the computer?

ALINCO

www.alinco.com

 

[Osprey1163]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. If it supports a mic, does it have a separate jack for an external mic? If not, I don't see how any audio from the receiver can get to the computer. Which jack have you plugged the receiver into?

I have one audio jack on the laptop marked for headphones, but I can plug my gaming headphones into it and both audio and microphone work.

 

[Osprey1163]

Did you download and install the driver for the ERW-7 before you plugged it in to the computer?

ALINCO

www.alinco.com

I downloaded the cable driver and it "talks" to the R8 with no problem using KGSDR for the R8.

 

[Osprey1163]

USB isn't set up to carry audio, so it's no wonder the ERW7 didn't work.

Unfortunately Win8.1 removed support for line in and mic in jacks, but just how much the distributor paid attention to this (and whether your laptop has the chipset to support it) is another matter. Some distributors kept the mic in jack support, but left it dead.

However you're not without options. You *might* be able to use a virtual audio device to route the audio from KG-SDR to the application of choice. These devices set up a virtual path that many programs can recognize. Virtual Audio Cable and VB Cable are 2 popular applications for this...see this wiki article for the links

HF Appendix - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

If this doesn't fly, a USB-Soundcard device will be needed. I don't have any direct experience with these so I'll let others comment on which ones work well...Mike

I'll look into setting up a virtual audio device if I can't get it to work. I'll save the wiki-link you posted, thanks.

 

[iMONITOR]

I'm obviously missing something: either the wrong hook-ups or the wrong programs....or it can't be done. I'd appreciate any advice anyone on the forum has to help me out.

Chris
kb3scn

This might help:

Using and setting up the Alinco DX-R8T/E receiver as an SDR (software defined radio)

Some time ago, I posted a review of the Alinco DX-R8T–a surprisingly capable, flexible and affordable dedicated tabletop receiver. In that review, I explored its capabilities as a tabletop unit, a…

swling.com

 

[ka3jjz]

Great find! It doesn't discuss re-routing the output to another program (that's something that's very commonly done with true SDR programs) so either of the solutions I gave might work.

You *might* be able to get to your microphone settings using the Stereo Mix application. This is something built into Win10 but once again, might or might not have been installed by the distributor. If you already have it, it's free, but it's a little tricky to get to. This will help...

How To Access Sound Settings in Win 10 - The RadioReference Wiki

wiki.radioreference.com

Note at the bottom there's a YouTube search for Stereo Mix.

**BEWARE** There is an app called Stereo Mix Plus, but Malwarebytes has identified it as a threat (has a Trojan). Do NOT use this app!

Mike

 

[iMONITOR]

Great find! It doesn't discuss re-routing the output to another program (that's something that's very commonly done with true SDR programs) so either of the solutions I gave might work.

Mike

What about this part?

Troubleshooting tips

If you change the tuned frequency on KGSDR from, say 5,000 kHz to 10,000 kHz, but your Alinco receiver does not change frequencies (it still displays the centered frequency on the front panel), then the USB driver has not been installed or configured properly.

If the receiver tunes, but the audio is garbled or non-existent, you will need to check the audio cord connections. First of all, make sure it’s plugged into the microphone input on your computer (not the speaker/headphone port!) and the IQ port on the back of the Alinco. You cannot plug the patch cord into any other port port on the DX-R8T/E. The plug will fit in the headphone jack, for example, but the IQ port is the only one that sends interpretable analog information to your PC.

 

[ka3jjz]

This doesn't address rerouting the audio to another application (say from KG-SDR to WiniPSK), but of course, that's not the purpose of the article. It's still a valuable find as it gets the user halfway there - getting the audio to the PC.

The rest of the way is somewhat similar to what you would do with a true SDR, except in this case, there's the possibility of being able to use a USB/Soundcard device.

Mike

 

[Osprey1163]

This might help:

Using and setting up the Alinco DX-R8T/E receiver as an SDR (software defined radio)

Some time ago, I posted a review of the Alinco DX-R8T–a surprisingly capable, flexible and affordable dedicated tabletop receiver. In that review, I explored its capabilities as a tabletop unit, a…

swling.com

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Chris
kb3scn

 

[Osprey1163]

What about this part?

Troubleshooting tips

If you change the tuned frequency on KGSDR from, say 5,000 kHz to 10,000 kHz, but your Alinco receiver does not change frequencies (it still displays the centered frequency on the front panel), then the USB driver has not been installed or configured properly.

If the receiver tunes, but the audio is garbled or non-existent, you will need to check the audio cord connections. First of all, make sure it’s plugged into the microphone input on your computer (not the speaker/headphone port!) and the IQ port on the back of the Alinco. You cannot plug the patch cord into any other port port on the DX-R8T/E. The plug will fit in the headphone jack, for example, but the IQ port is the only one that sends interpretable analog information to your PC.

I wasn't able to clear up the signals I was hearing through KGSDR, but I'm not sure if that's from communications problems between computer and the Alinco or not. Poor reception may be an issue too, I live in Grand Junction, Colorado in The Grand Valley. I'll have to check and see if the display on the Alinco corresponds with KGSDR's freq or not. We'll see!

Thanks
Chris
kb3scn

 

[ka3jjz]

It would appear you will be something of a trailblazer, Osprey. A cursory Google search on KG-SDR came up with nothing about rerouting audio from it to another decoder program (regardless of which one). I would suggest keeping careful notes on your experiences and we can write it up for the wiki.

Mike

 

[Osprey1163]

I'll let you know what happens. On thing I'm going to try is using the audio cable for the gaming headset I have. The one audio jack on my laptop can serve as both a mic and headphone jack, as testified to by the fact the mic on my gaming headphones works just fine. The first audio cable I used only has 3 contact rings, the gaming cable has 4 contact rings. I'm hoping having the "mic" contact will do the trick.

It might work, or I might have no idea what I'm talking about. I'll let you know.

Chris
kb3scn

 

[Scan125]

As you have a DX-R8 then you may like to check my free *charity ware* program out.

See DriveR8 Control Program