West Mountain Radio RIGblaster Advantage Manual
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West Mountain Radio RIGblaster Advantage Manual

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RIGblaster
Advantage
www.westmountainradio.com
1020 Spring City Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186
262-522-6503
sales@westmountainradio.com
©2012 West Mountain Radio, All rights reserved. All trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.

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  • Page 1 RIGblaster Advantage www.westmountainradio.com 1020 Spring City Drive Waukesha, WI 53186 262-522-6503 sales@westmountainradio.com ©2012 West Mountain Radio, All rights reserved. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Introduction RIGblaster Advantage Introduction ....3 Introduction to Digital-Mode Operating ....4 Package Contents .

  • Page 3: Rigblaster Advantage Introduction

    It has many outstanding features which will at the same time enhance and simplify your operating. Some of the features of the RIGblaster Advantage which put it ahead of the competition include; • COM port push-to-talk (PTT) keying.

  • Page 4: Introduction To Digital-Mode Operating

    Introduction To Digital-Mode Operating The DVD is a collection of various digital-mode software programs for use with the RIGblaster Advantage. The software is all Third-Party software programs, however, we have tested our products on the majority of them. Amateur radio software is constantly evolving and we encourage you to visit the author’s website to check for updates for...

  • Page 5: Package Contents

    Package Contents The following is a list of the contents for the RIGblaster Advantage. Verify that all the following items were included: 1 — RIGblaster Advantage Unit Note: Cover is loose so you may easily remove it to install jumpers) 1 —...

  • Page 6: Controls, Connections And Features

    Controls, Connections And Features West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...

  • Page 7: Software Driver Installation

    The RIGblaster Advantage was sucessfully tested with Ubuntu. Drivers and instructions are available online: http://www.westmountainradio.com/adv/drv/linux Macintosh OS X Installation The RIGblaster Advantage will work with OS X 10.5 and above. Drivers and instructions are available online: http://www.westmountainradio.com/adv/drv/macosx Windows Installation The RIGblaster Advantage has been tested on Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Win 7.
  • Page 8 A window similar to the one shown in Figure 1 should appear. There will be a section called “Ports (COM & LPT)” which can be expanded to view by clicking on the + symbol to the left. Fig 1 - Windows XP Device Manager West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...

  • Page 9: How To Renumber The Rigblaster Advantage Com Port

    COM1 to COM4 as special and does not normally use them for USB serial devices. Therefore, it is not recommended to re- number the RIGblaster Advantage COM port to a value lower than 5. Note: Some digital mode software, especially older software, may not allow a COM port greater than 8.

  • Page 10: Transceiver Connections

    Fig 2 - Renumbering COM Port Transceiver Connections Configuring the RIGblaster Advantage with a transceiver is very simple by use of the Instant Setup Connectors (ISC). The baggie included in the package contents has six small printed circuit boards. Each ISC is respectively identified: Icom Round Metal, Icom RJ45 Modular, Yaesu Round Metal, Yaesu RJ45 Modular, Kenwood Round Metal and Kenwood RJ45 Modular. West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...

  • Page 11: Choosing The Correct Isc

    Note: Some radios use a 4-pin round microphone connector, these include some Kenwood and Ten-Tec radios. An adapter will be needed to use the RIGblaster Advantage with these radios. The correct adapter is sku #58136-1000 and available online for purchase.

  • Page 12: Required Connections

    Now hook up the RIGblaster Advantage to the radio. Follow the steps in the next section and refer to the connection diagram at the back of this manual. Required Connections 1. Disconnect the microphone from the transceiver. 2. Reconnect the microphone to the RIGblaster Advantage.
  • Page 13 Hints About PTT & CW/FSK Keying On the front-panel of the RIGblaster Advantage there is a three position switch labeled TX. This controls how PTT is activated (the method by which the transceiver goes into transmit). Postion 1 – COM.
  • Page 14 Advantage – there is no need to use the transceiver VOX setting. Morse (CW) Operation The RIGblaster Advantage has two methods of sending Morse Code (CW). One method is using MCW (Modulated or Tone CW) in SSB or FM modes. Some computer software will only produce this type of The second, and preferred, method is to use serial port keying.

  • Page 15: Setting Audio Levels

    XMIT & RCV level controls on the front of the Advantage. Note: It is important not to set the RIGblaster Advantage as the default Windows audio device. This will prevent any unintentional transmissions if operating in VOX mode (Windows audio-alerts, music etc).
  • Page 16 From the menu at the top, choose “Options” and then “Properties”. Select RIGblaster Advantage Audio from the mixer device drop-down menu. Select either “playback” or “recording” and click on “OK”. This will bring up the Windows mixer and allow for setting audio levels. Refer to Figure 4 for assistance.

  • Page 17: Windows 7 Audio Levels

    Windows 7 sound level settings are found in Windows Control Panel. Refer to Figure 5 below. Be sure to set both Playback and Recording audio levels for the RIGblaster Advantage Audio device. Fig 5 – Setting Windows 7 volume levels to 50% for both playback and recording.

  • Page 18: Digital-Mode Operating

    3. Choose “Audio” from the first row of tabs. 4. Choose “Devices” from the second row of tabs. 5. Select the “Port Audio” checkbox. 6. Assign “RIGblaster Advantage Audio” to both of the “Capture” and “Playback” drop-down boxes. 7. Click on “Save” to make the changes permanent. Refer to Figure 6 for assistance.
  • Page 19 Fig 6 – Configuring FLdigi to use the RIGblaster Advantage sound-device. Setting Up FLdigi For Hardware PTT Steps: 1. Choose “Configure” from the main menu. 2. Choose “Rig control” from the popup menu. 3. Choose “Rig” from the first row of tabs. 4. Choose “Hardware PTT” from the second row of tabs. 6. Select the “Use separate serial port PTT” checkbox.
  • Page 20 2. Match the transceiver’s communication settings – check CAT baud rate and CI-V address (Icom). 3. Flow control is not usually needed, but if needed, use XON/XOFF as the method. Never choose hardware CTS/RTS. West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...

  • Page 21: Rig Control: Ham Radio Deluxe

    CAT control. If the radio in use falls into this category, an option is to use VOX mode PTT or take a look at the West Mountain Radio RIGtalk product which will allow CAT control on a separate serial port, freeing the RIGblaster Advantage for PTT.
  • Page 22 From this point on, the transceiver is under the control of the PC and use of the frequency sliders and “push buttons” displayed in HRD will affect changes to the rig. West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...
  • Page 23 HRD has many advanced features which are useful. The following is a list and short description of some of the more interesting features. Bandscope Captures audio from the RIGblaster Advantage while scanning between defined frequencies. The displays is shown on a constantly updating graph. A great way to visually see the activity on any band.

  • Page 24: Rtty: Configuring Mmtty For Fsk

    If the transceiver has a dedicated RTTY mode, chances are it will support FSK RTTY. A special cable is needed to go from the RIGblaster Advantage to the transceiver’s accessory jack. Look on www.westmountainradio.com for a suitable cable for a specific radio.
  • Page 25 Select EXTFSK from the “Port” drop-down. A new window will appear titled “EXTFSK 1.06”. On this window, assign the RIGblaster Advantage COM port and choose DTR for “FSK output” and RTS for “PTT output”. Notice the “Status: OK” message near the top. If it is showing red and “NG”...
  • Page 26 The transmit power level in FSK RTTY is simply determined by the transceiver’s RF POWER control. The RIGblaster Advantage XMIT LEVEL control will have NO EFFECT on transmit power. RTTY is a 100% duty-cycle mode. Check the transceiver manufacturer’s recommendation for a safe power level in RTTY. Good advice is to run half-power or less on solid state radios.

  • Page 27: Cw: Using Mrp40 For Cw

    1. Choose “Options” on the MRP40 window. 2. Move the mouse cursor to “Show...” and then choose Soundcard...” 3. Assign “RIGBlaster Advantage Audio” in each of the RX and TX drop-down boxes. 4. Enter the preferred sidetone frequency. In most cases this should match the transceiver’s sidetone frequency (or narrow filter center...
  • Page 28 Fig 11 – Setting up MRP40 to use hardware keying with the RIGblaster Advantage. Other Ideas For CW (Morse Code) • If you want to try a freeware CW decoder then take a look at FLdigi as it’s CW performance, while not as good as MRP40, is certainly good enough to copy the stronger stations that send well-formed Morse Code.

  • Page 29: Jt65: Configuring Jt65-Hf

    Follow the steps below to configure JT65-HF. Refer to Figure 12 for assistance. 1. Click on “Setup” on the JT65-HF main window. 2. Select the “Station Setup” tab at the top of the configuration window. 3. Assign the RIGblaster Advantage Audio to the sound-card input & output device drop-down boxes. 4. Ensure “Enable Automatic RX/TX Sample Rate Correction” is checked. 5. Be sure to enter your callsign and Maidenhead grid locator.
  • Page 30 Fig 12 – Setting up JT65-HF with the RIGblaster Advantage. Time Synchronization The PC’s clock must be synchronized to an accurate time source. In practice, this is accomplished by using Third party software which will update the clock with an Internet time server. It has been reported that the synchronization utility in Windows does not have an acceptable level of accuracy for JT65.

  • Page 31: Winmor: Using Rms Express/Winlink 2000

    Advantage. To learn more, we recommend starting at the Winlink 2000 website: http:// www.winlink.org/, especially http://www.winlink.org/GetStarted. Configuring RMS Express Refer to Figure 13 and complete the steps that follow to configure RMS Express with the RIGblaster Advantage. Steps: 1. Select Winmor WL2K from the drop-down box on the RMS Express main window. 2. Click on “Open Session” (to the left of the dropdown).
  • Page 32 Icom IC-756proII. 5. Select “WINMOR TNC Setup”. A window titled “WINMOR Setup” should appear. 6. Assign the RIGblaster Advantage Audio device for both of the capture & playback drop-down boxes. 7. Click on “Update”. 8. From the “Setup” menu choose “Radio Setup”.

  • Page 33: Packet/Aprs: Configuring Agw Packet Engine

    For radios that do not have CAT, use VOX in order to preserve rig- control (CAT). Remember to place the TX switch to VOX on the front- panel of the RIGblaster Advantage and select “External” in the “Serial Port to Use” drop-down within RMS Express. Make sure the VOX DELAY control is fully counter-clockwise.
  • Page 34 Rossopoulos (SV2AGW). Packet radio is a layered technology. One layer is the actual hardware, (in this case the radio and the RIGblaster Advantage), on top of that layer is a packet driver (the AGW program) and on top of that layer would be the APRS program itself.
  • Page 35 Fig 14 – Initializing a new port in AGW Packet Engine. Fig 15 – Defining AGW to use the RIGblaster Advantage’s serial port (for PTT) and integrated sound-card. The packet “port” created is a single, 1200 baud (VHF) channel with KISS emulation.
  • Page 36 If applicable, specify a digipeater path. Before entering a generic “WIDE” it is recommended to take a look at http://wa8lmf.net/DigiPaths/ for current “best practice” for a particular circumstance. Refer to Figure 16 for help with configuring AGWTracker. Fig 16 – AGWTracker station configuration. West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...
  • Page 37 The other method of operating packet radio is the connected mode which is really beyond the scope of this manual but it is possible to use the RIGblaster Advantage in this manner and even access a Winlink 2000 RMS using a combination of the AGW packet engine and the Outpost PM software.

  • Page 38: Sstv: Using Mmsstv For Analog Sstv

    11025Hz which may not work properly with the RIGblaster Advantage in some earlier Windows operating systems. (Windows Vista and Windows 7 will use the 11025Hz rate properly.) IT is necessary to specify MMSSTV to use a sample rate compatible with a modern sound-card.
  • Page 39 Click the lower edge of the line and then click the upper edge of the line. 17. Notice the “Clock” value change slightly. 18. Click on “OK” and the new clock value will be shown in the configuration window. Save these changes. 19. To confirm this calibration, bring up the calibration window again and observe the WWV station. A perfectly vertical line should appear this time (shown in Fig. 19B). West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...

  • Page 40: Sstv: Using Easypal For Digital Sstv

    Images received are very high-quality and do not suffer from typical analog SSTV noise. The RIGblaster Advantage is capable of operating digital SSTV in conjunction with the “EasyPal” software created by Erik Sundstrup (VK4AES). The latest version of EasyPal is available to download from:...
  • Page 41 11. Click on “OK”. 12. Be sure to enter your callsign! Fig 20 – Configuring EasyPal With The RIGBlaster Advantage. At this point it should be able to receive digital SSTV images. Try tuning to 14.233(usb) which is the main 20m frequency in use.
  • Page 42 Fig 21 – A correctly tuned digital SSTV station Looking at the EasyPal waterfall while receiving a transmission, notice that the three “green markers” line up with the three “transmitted carriers”. This indicates correct tuning. West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...

  • Page 43: Rigblaster Advantage Connection Diagram

    RIGblaster Advantage Connection Diagram West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...
  • Page 44 West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...

  • Page 45: Isc & Jumper Wiring

    GND TIE Blue Shunt Jumper GND TIE OUTPUT Side Pin # 6 White Jumper to PTT - OUTPUT Side 7 White Jumper to PTT GND - OUTPUT Side INPUT 8 White Jumper to MIC - OUTPUT Side West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...
  • Page 46 PTT - INPUT Side * 5 White Jumper to MIC GND - OUTPUT Side INPUT Note: Wires from Pins 4 & 6 6 White Jumper to MIC - INPUT Side * are criss-crossed * - Criss-crossed White Jumper West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...
  • Page 47 MIC GND - OUTPUT side are criss-crossed * - Criss-crossed White Jumper P2 Jumper Placing a jumper on P2 (2 pin header pointed to below) will attenuate transmitted audio when finding the input to the transceiver is too “hot”. The factory default position is open.  West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...

  • Page 48: Digital-Modes, Software And Frequencies

    3.576MHz (usb) 7.039MHz (usb) 7.076MHz (usb) 14.076MHz (usb) 21.076MHz (usb) 28.076MHz (usb) Hellsch- FLdigi, MultiPSK, MixW, 14.063MHz (usb) reiber DM780 Olivia FLdigi, MixW, MultiPSK, 14.074MHz (usb) DM780 14.1065MHz (usb) APRS AGW + AGWTracker 144.390Mhz (fm) International APRS frequencies vary. West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...

  • Page 49: Troubleshooting

    MIC GAN and RF POWER controls are not set too low. 5. Wrong sound device 5. Make sure the digital selected mode program is using the RIGblaster Advantage Audio device and not the default sound-card. West Mountain Radio Operating Manual...
  • Page 50 4. Wrong sound-device 4. Make sure the digital selected mode program is using the RIGblaster Advantage Audio device and not the default sound-card. CW keying not working 1. CW keying cable not 1. Connect the optional CW...
  • Page 51 Radio stays in transmit after 1. RFI 1. This is usually caused by PTT activated RFI. Try re-positioning the RIGblaster Advantage away from your radio and tuner and ensure the equipment is properly grounded. Transmitted audio is dis- 1. XMIT LEVEL control set 1.
  • Page 52 Repaired or replaced items are warranted for the remainder of the original warranty period. You will be charged for repair or replacement of the RIGblaster Advantage or accessory made after the expiration of the warranty period.

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