Icom R-75 Software and RS232 Port
 

Soliloquy wrote:
Now that it has been established by 2 of the popular posters to this NG
that RS232 protocol and ports go back in history to Noah's time, I was
wondering if anyone knows what software I can use to control my Icom R-
75.

Everywhere I look, there is some Caveat, such as these:

Of the Icom RS-R75 Radio Control Software.
Windows 95/98 (not XP!) PC Software CD and DB-9 Serial Cable. [Requires
CT-17].
Apparently it doesn't work with Windows XP, AND it needs the CT-17 level
converter (at $129) to connect the Radio to the computer RS232 Port.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...rxvr/0175.html (Look for the
reference to RS-R75)

Another program, called Commander, requires an "interface".
http://www.qsl.net/civ_commander/

http://www.qsl.net/civ_commander/Help/Prerequisites.htm
"A serial port connected to your radio via an appropriate radio interface
"

Icom RS-232 Interface.
http://www.qsl.net/civ_commander/interface.jpg

I thought that all I had to do was to connect my computer serial port to
the radio's serial port. Why all the "interfaces" needed? Why is Windows
XP excluded?

I notice that the Commander's web address is CIV commander, and
understandably the need for the interface, but I am surprised over the
dearth of software for the Icom R75

Anyway, anybody have a link for software available for computer control
of the R-75 as a direct connection of the RS232 computer serial port to
the radio's RS232 port?

Thanks.

Soliloquy

http://www.qrz.com/download/controls/siw32_32.zip

--
Sel ........ :)

Icom R75 E
Icom PCR1000
Sangean 909
Sangean 404
Uniden UBC9000XLT
Uniden UBC120XLT

http://sel.enternet.co.nz/weathersat.html

Sel wrote in
:

Thanks, I have downloaded it, installed, it, and it is running fine. Some
of the database functions of the program seem interesting as well.

I use a laptop with USB ports only, so I have a USB to serial port
adapter, and it seems to work flawlessly with this program.

I know that some other software manufacturers for radio control programs
steadfastly warn against using the USB to Serial port adapters. Why, I
don't know?

I have used it successfully with several programs from RT Systems Inc.
for my Yaesu handhelds and mobile.

Thanks again. At least I can tinker with Computer control without
building the interface.

Soliloquy.


Soliloquy wrote:
Now that it has been established by 2 of the popular posters to this
NG that RS232 protocol and ports go back in history to Noah's time, I
was wondering if anyone knows what software I can use to control my
Icom R- 75.
http://www.qrz.com/download/controls/siw32_32.zip

Bob Parnass wrote a program called TK-75. It can be downloaded from
http://parnass.com/tk75/ .

If you are using it with Windows, it requires the free tcl/tk program to
work which can be downloaded at
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/tcl/tcl832.exe .

I've used it and it's a decent program.


--
Tom Sevart N2UHC
Frontenac, KS
http://www.geocities.com/n2uhc

"Tom Sevart" wrote in
:

I visited that page, and was unsure of the relationship between the
TK-75 and the tlc/tk, especially concerning the need to create specific
directories on the main drive (under c: ) rather then the ability to
place the files where I desired them. Can you enlighten me a little on
this issue? What does the tlc/tk do?

Thanks.

Soliloquy

Bob Parnass wrote a program called TK-75. It can be downloaded from
http://parnass.com/tk75/ .

If you are using it with Windows, it requires the free tcl/tk program
to work which can be downloaded at
http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/tcl/tcl832.exe .

I've used it and it's a decent program.


--
Tom Sevart N2UHC
Frontenac, KS
http://www.geocities.com/n2uhc

Sel wrote in
:

Actually, it's rather useful. Maybe not in terms of glamorous programs
with all the bells and whistles, but the program features a PAN function.
You set (on the radio itself) the squelch to max, assign a frequency to
VFO A and another to VFO B, and set the radio to search between these
values. (such as 7.00 and 10.00 Mhz). Even though you initially won't be
able to hear anything due to the MAXed squelch, the PAN function builds a
graph representing the areas of greater and lesser signal strength. When
the scan is complete, turn the squelch down, and using the left mouse
button, click on any peak that seems likely to represent a signal. Viola,
the radio tunes to that frequency. It might not be real time, since the
scan takes a while, but a little experimenting even now shows that the
scan continues even when the squelch is turned down all the way. (I do
believe that the programmer recommends a higher squelch setting).

I don't know how old this program is, but it is listed as a "Legacy"
program on this page: http://tinyurl.com/4nlrq and no price is listed.
Exactly what is Legacy software?

Anyway, the program also has a data base of established broadcasters,
Listed as Utility, Shortwave, and AM Broadcast. Click on the Broadcaster,
various frequencies are show that would be in use by that broadcaster,
click on the desired frequency, and you are tuned to that frequency. I
don't know how valid the data base is, but when you tune to a frequency
that is represented in the data base, the program lists details of the
broadcaster/s.

More than I expected, and I am still learning.

Thanks.


http://www.qrz.com/download/controls/siw32_32.zip

"Hatfield" wrote in
oups.com:

Looks good to me, COLORFUL was an understatement, and you can't beat the
price. A little Googling revealed the following:

http://www.shortwavelog.com/default-english.html

I believe that this is the one.

Thanks, I'll be downloading it.

Soliloquy

Bob Sillett's colorful Shortwave Log has a lot of bells for being
freeware.

Requires no interface, just a standard cable.


I control my ICOM R75 via Shortwave Log with a cheap laptop PII 300MHz,
128 MB RAM, Win98SE, although with XP Shortwave Log has sound support
too!

"Soliloquy" wrote in message
. 3.44...
"Tom Sevart" wrote in
:

I visited that page, and was unsure of the relationship between the
TK-75 and the tlc/tk, especially concerning the need to create specific
directories on the main drive (under c: ) rather then the ability to
place the files where I desired them. Can you enlighten me a little on
this issue? What does the tlc/tk do?

It's been a while since I've played with it, but the tlc/tk program is
needed in order to run the tk-75 program. If I understand it right, the
tk-75 program was designed for Linux, and the tlc/tk program lets it run
under Windows.


--
Tom Sevart N2UHC
Frontenac, KS
http://www.geocities.com/n2uhc

"Lucky" wrote in
:

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll download it and give it a try.

Soliloquy

One of the BEST software for the R75 is RXplus. It's not free but you
have a 30 day trial. Download it and try it. It has so many features
like auto ECSS and decoding, but too many too mention. I worked with
the coder of this software for the Kenwood R5000.

He controled my computer thru remote desktop from Canada to here in
Florida. It took him a couple weeks and he added the R-5000 to the
list his software works with. You'll love it and won't be able to stop
fooling aound with it. It even works on the Drake R8a/b.
It also can do DRM in some cases with it's built in 12Khz IF.

He
http://www.cam.org/~noelbou/RxPlus/

Have fun
Lucky

"Lucky" wrote in
:

I downloaded it and am using it on and off. It's a little buggy. It
crashed my system and I had to ctrl/alt/del the system to shut the
process down. It also generated an "Exception Error" once, when I was
attempting to use the tune up/down arrows below the tuning knob.

The crash happened when I was tuning the radio by hand despite being
connected to operate via the program. Since then, I have ceased changing
the radio settings while the program had control, I have had no more
problems.

I wasn't expecting the ability to control the volume of the radio speaker
from the program, a nice feature of this software. It can give you the
impression that something is wrong with your radio when you realize that
the radio volume knob is turned up, but no sound ensues. It took me a
little longer than usual to get used to the program's features, but they
look impressive.

I especially like the ability to "sound process" the signal that is sent
to the PC speakers. This necessitates turning the volume down on the
radio, since there is a slight delay between the radio speaker sound and
the PC sound.

I did a post earlier in this group concerning a numbers station. I found
it while controling the radio with this program, using the scan function,
and was also impressed with the sound processor clearing up the signal.

Overall, very nice.

Thanks.


One of the BEST software for the R75 is RXplus. It's not free but you
have a 30 day trial. Download it and try it. It has so many features
like auto ECSS and decoding, but too many too mention. I worked with
the coder of this software for the Kenwood R5000.

He controled my computer thru remote desktop from Canada to here in
Florida. It took him a couple weeks and he added the R-5000 to the
list his software works with. You'll love it and won't be able to stop
fooling aound with it. It even works on the Drake R8a/b.
It also can do DRM in some cases with it's built in 12Khz IF.

He
http://www.cam.org/~noelbou/RxPlus/

Have fun
Lucky

"Soliloquy" wrote in message
. 3.44...
"Lucky" wrote in
:

I downloaded it and am using it on and off. It's a little buggy. It
crashed my system and I had to ctrl/alt/del the system to shut the
process down. It also generated an "Exception Error" once, when I was
attempting to use the tune up/down arrows below the tuning knob.

The crash happened when I was tuning the radio by hand despite being
connected to operate via the program. Since then, I have ceased changing
the radio settings while the program had control, I have had no more
problems.

I wasn't expecting the ability to control the volume of the radio speaker
from the program, a nice feature of this software. It can give you the
impression that something is wrong with your radio when you realize that
the radio volume knob is turned up, but no sound ensues. It took me a
little longer than usual to get used to the program's features, but they
look impressive.

I especially like the ability to "sound process" the signal that is sent
to the PC speakers. This necessitates turning the volume down on the
radio, since there is a slight delay between the radio speaker sound and
the PC sound.

I did a post earlier in this group concerning a numbers station. I found
it while controling the radio with this program, using the scan function,
and was also impressed with the sound processor clearing up the signal.

Overall, very nice.

Thanks.


One of the BEST software for the R75 is RXplus. It's not free but you
have a 30 day trial. Download it and try it. It has so many features
like auto ECSS and decoding, but too many too mention. I worked with
the coder of this software for the Kenwood R5000.

He controled my computer thru remote desktop from Canada to here in
Florida. It took him a couple weeks and he added the R-5000 to the
list his software works with. You'll love it and won't be able to stop
fooling aound with it. It even works on the Drake R8a/b.
It also can do DRM in some cases with it's built in 12Khz IF.

He
http://www.cam.org/~noelbou/RxPlus/

Have fun
Lucky

I have been using it for like 1 year with no system crashes. If you want,
find the Exe file for the program in the proper folder. Right click on the
Exe file and go to the "compatibility" tab. Choose to "run this program in
compatibility mode" then choose another operating system like windows 95 or
to the OS you're using.

You can also download "pictures" with RXplus. That's SSTV which I'm not
familiar with at all. I mean I never used it yet.

Oh it's great for audio. Once you get over the learning curve which is
pretty simple, this is great software. I can use it with 3 of my radio
collections so far.

1] Kenwood R-5000
2] Ten Tec 320-D
3] Icom R-75

I could use it with my JRC NRD-525 also but I need to buy the computer card
for it from France. It's really very compact and cheap at $80 compared to
the other software on the market. So, if you have more then one radio that
this software works with, you really harvest all the benfits. I tried to
convince Noel to give it away for free but it didn't work :)

Anyway keep working with it. There is a Yahoo group started by him just for
his software. Address all bugs directly to him there since he supports it
vigorously.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RxPlus/

Lucky

"Soliloquy" wrote in message
. 3.44...
"Lucky" wrote in
:

I downloaded it and am using it on and off. It's a little buggy. It
crashed my system and I had to ctrl/alt/del the system to shut the
process down. It also generated an "Exception Error" once, when I was
attempting to use the tune up/down arrows below the tuning knob.

The crash happened when I was tuning the radio by hand despite being
connected to operate via the program. Since then, I have ceased changing
the radio settings while the program had control, I have had no more
problems.

I wasn't expecting the ability to control the volume of the radio speaker
from the program, a nice feature of this software. It can give you the
impression that something is wrong with your radio when you realize that
the radio volume knob is turned up, but no sound ensues. It took me a
little longer than usual to get used to the program's features, but they
look impressive.

I especially like the ability to "sound process" the signal that is sent
to the PC speakers. This necessitates turning the volume down on the
radio, since there is a slight delay between the radio speaker sound and
the PC sound.

I did a post earlier in this group concerning a numbers station. I found
it while controling the radio with this program, using the scan function,
and was also impressed with the sound processor clearing up the signal.

Overall, very nice.

Thanks.


One of the BEST software for the R75 is RXplus. It's not free but you
have a 30 day trial. Download it and try it. It has so many features
like auto ECSS and decoding, but too many too mention. I worked with
the coder of this software for the Kenwood R5000.

He controled my computer thru remote desktop from Canada to here in
Florida. It took him a couple weeks and he added the R-5000 to the
list his software works with. You'll love it and won't be able to stop
fooling aound with it. It even works on the Drake R8a/b.
It also can do DRM in some cases with it's built in 12Khz IF.

He
http://www.cam.org/~noelbou/RxPlus/

Have fun
Lucky

I just wanted to add I bought the remote control option for the R-75 and
it's fantastic.
It has features you don't have from the radio control panel itself!

I want to buy the UT-102 voice synthesizer so I can announce the frequency,
S-Meter strength, mode etc from the remote controller in the dark like a kid
:)

Lucky

"Lucky" wrote in
:



Thanks for the suggestions, it seems to be working fairly well now. I try
not to change the settings on the radio while the program is in control,
and I haven't had any problems since.

Thanks again.

Soliloquy

Anyway keep working with it. There is a Yahoo group started by him
just for his software. Address all bugs directly to him there since he
supports it vigorously.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RxPlus/

Lucky

Lucky wrote:

I just wanted to add I bought the remote control option for the R-75 and
it's fantastic.
It has features you don't have from the radio control panel itself!

I want to buy the UT-102 voice synthesizer so I can announce the frequency,
S-Meter strength, mode etc from the remote controller in the dark like a kid
:)

Lucky

Can you control the volume with the remote?

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"starman" wrote in message
...
Lucky wrote:

I just wanted to add I bought the remote control option for the R-75 and
it's fantastic.
It has features you don't have from the radio control panel itself!

I want to buy the UT-102 voice synthesizer so I can announce the
frequency,
S-Meter strength, mode etc from the remote controller in the dark like a
kid
:)

Lucky

Can you control the volume with the remote?

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News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+
Newsgroups
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=----

Can you control the volume? Hell yeah! Mute also.You can also adjust the
PBT. It has features the radio doesn't have like PBT IF shift, both PBT in
the same direction with the press of one button.

PBT in opposite directions with one button.
NR, ANF, etc..everything.

Read:
Features
a.. Turn receiver on and off.
b.. Set a sleep time.
c.. Control receiver volume with VOL+/-.
d.. Mute receiver/return to previous volume.
e.. Enter frequency directly to 1Hz in the range of 30kHz to 60MHz.
f.. Increase or decrease frequency using CH +/- in steps of 1Hz, 10Hz,
100Hz, 1kHz, 5kHz, 9kHz, 10kHz, 100kHz, and 1MHz in the range of 30kHz to
60MHz.
g.. Set up to five (5) User Tuning Steps. Useful for detuning frequencies
by one half of filter bandwidth or use a very small frequency step to
quickly zero-beat in SSB mode.
h.. Recall last directly entered frequency.
i.. Directly select memory channels.
j.. Move up and down through memory channels using CH +/-.
k.. Start and Stop programmed and memory scans.
l.. Move memory frequency and mode to VFO.
m.. Write VFO frequency and mode to currently selected memory.
n.. Toggle between AM, S-AM, LSB, USB, FM (configurable), or CW
(configurable).
o.. Select VFO or Memory mode.
p.. Control of RF gain and SQL.
q.. Control of Inner and Outer PBT independently and together. Both PBT
controls can be moved together in the same direction as an IF bandpass
shift, or in opposite directions to adjust IF bandwidth. This only works
with certain IF filter combinations.
r.. Enable NR and directly set the level. Only works with DSP (UT-106)
option installed.
s.. Enable NR and move up and down through the levels. Only works with
DSP (UT-106) option installed.
t.. Move RF Gain, SQL, and PBT to full CW, CCW, and default settings
independently.
u.. Set up to six (6) User Definable settings each for RF Gain, Squelch,
Inner PBT, Outer PBT, and Both PBTs.
v.. Select Fast AGC, Slow AGC, or AGC off (configurable).
w.. Select Normal, Wide, or Narrow filter.
x.. Select Preamp 1, 2, or none.
y.. Select ANT 1 or 2.
z.. Toggle RF Attenuation on or off.
aa.. Toggle ANF on or off. Only works with DSP (UT-106) option installed.
ab.. Toggle NB on or off.
ac.. Toggle Memory Label display on and off in memory mode.
ad.. Announce with speech synthesis. Only works with Speech Synthesis
(UT-102) option installed.
ae.. Adjust LCD Backlight brightness.
af.. Settable parameters:
a.. CI-V address.
b.. Radio baud rate (1200, 4800, 9600, or 19200).
c.. Enable/Disable FM and CW modes in mode selections.
d.. Enable/Disable AGC off in mode selections.
e.. Frequency pacing. You can control the pacing of frequency up and
down. This is how fast the frequency changes when you hold the CH+/- keys.
f.. Define up to five User Tuning Steps.
ag.. Status LED that shows communications status, center position of
RF/SQL and PBT controls, settable parameter entry, and clear key operation.