SDR Icom R8600 use with FLDigi

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t6430gr

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I have been a part time hobbyist as a SWLer for years. In the past I've stuck with mostly old fashioned analog knob tuner radios and such. My flagship radio has been the Icom R70 for about 20 years now. I just purchased my first SDR based receiver (Icom R8600) and trying to learn it's functionality. I can't describe the beauty of how awesome this radio is for me, being now able to monitor a wide frequency range in the waterfall spectrum and actually "seeing" signals appear without the need to spin the knob continuously searching for new signals. A whole new world just opened up to me!

Anyway, perusing the YouTube channels I have found some extremely interesting videos relating to decoding using FLDigi. I have a Windows 8 PC and have downloaded the software. Attempting to set up this radio in the settings, caused my eyes to glaze over. I haven't tried to actually connect my radio to the computer yet, but I'm not sure the best choice. I have heard that it's easier to pipe in the audio signal from the radio than connecting it, but FLDigi has my radio listed. I feel that just connecting the audio will rob me of a lot of functionality that the FLDigi software can provide me.

Do I need to also download the FLRig software to be able to allow the FLDigi to work or control my radio? I wasn't sure if that was necessary if I am only using a receiver and not a transceiver.

Can anybody provide their settings if they have already successfully connected their R8600 to FLDigi? The Icom has a lot of settings available to change for the rear USB ports along with the FLDigi

I appreciate everyone's willingness to help me with this. I'm a bit overwhelmed but excited.
 

ka3jjz

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If no one answers here, this is far and away the best place to go for support questions like this...


Mike
 

t6430gr

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If no one answers here, this is far and away the best place to go for support questions like this...


Mike

Thanks for your link to this. I did visit this group and searched key term 8600 with ZERO returns. I doubt I'm the first to try this, but it sure feels like it!
 

ka3jjz

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Don't be afraid to ask a question. I think the developer is on that group, so he should be able to answer your question. Or if not, he'll be able to tell you when it would be doable.

By the way there are any number of digital decoders out there - specifically what are you trying to see? Mike
 

t6430gr

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Oct 9, 2019
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Don't be afraid to ask a question. I think the developer is on that group, so he should be able to answer your question. Or if not, he'll be able to tell you when it would be doable.

By the way there are any number of digital decoders out there - specifically what are you trying to see? Mike

To tell you the truth Mike, I'm not exactly sure what I want to see yet. I can tell you what I would like to do is start with some basics like CW and RTTY. The Icom R8600 has a built in FSK decoder that I've played with and have some limited success. I was able to decode a signal at 10.100.80 MHz but I've found some others I think are RTTY, but unable to match the signal width. I am hoping the FLDigi has more flexibility in adjusting to the many RTTY signals that would also be able to see and read than on the small Icom display. Also, the Icom doesn't have a CW decoder. That may be considered old school in the modern digital communications age, but I still would like to decode it if possible. There are also other types of satellite signals and such I want to try.

Besides, having an SDR radio and connected software like FLDigi capable of being updated will provide some flexibility to change with new technology to an extent.

Basically I'm like a giddy child looking for more ways to spend time behind my new radio!

Greg
 

ka3jjz

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Outside of the DWD, Dutch Navy and amateurs, there's very little readable Baudot RTTY anymore. Why Icom couldn't have expanded on the digital modes that it can natively cover is anyone's guess. All of the ham related modes could have been put on a chip or two and use a DSP update when new modes come alive, but I guess that wasn't considered

FLDigi will work fine for most (but not all) of the ham modes, and even for FAX and NAVTEX / SITOR-B, but for a lot more coverage of unencrypted modes (there's a ton of encrypted stuff outside the ham bands), you will need different software. See this article for a listing of unencrypted services you will be able to copy with the right software...


What other software is there? Be careful what you wish for - there are free apps going all the way to the kilobuck range.


FLDigi won't work with weak signal modes like FT4 or FT8. For these you need WSJT-X...


Finally the Utility DXers Forum reflector on groups.io has lots of digital logs every month. They even have an extensive website with tons of links



Mike
 
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