micro Keyer III and anan 100d

ea8tk
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micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Sat May 02, 2020 2:49 pm

Following Scott/w-u-2-o recommendation transfer to the forum the query that I have made through the mailing list:

I am trying to configure a micro Keyer III with my anan 100d, I have created a virtual port I have configured and I see that it recognizes that the port is open (open 38400 8N1) but I cannot establish the reading of the equipment.
In CAT Control I have selected the ID as: TS-2000.
What else can I do since the radio doesn't have rs-232?

I have received two responses that I post here:

1) I use the microHAM CW Keyer with CAT port.

Josef sent me this message:

If you want to use CAT part of CW Keyer and virtual serial port for CAT control, you have to loopback CAT port back to PC's hardware serial port controlling Anan using CAT-RS232-YX cable. Jumpers inside CW Keyer have to be set to RS232 levels. Power SDR transceiver emulation port has to be set to HW serial port where is connected CAT-RS232-YX cable using TS-2000 emulation. This way you can use CAT ports in Router SW for external CAT control of Anan from logging software.
73, Hans.

2) The problem would appear that you think your radio is the box you bought from Apache Labs. That box is only 20%, give or take, of the radio. 80% of the radio is the software that runs on your PC. Together they make a complete radio.
Your PC certainly has USB ports, and that is where you plug in the micro Keyer. No virtual ports are required. When you plug in the micro Keyer it presents several physical COM ports over that USB interface to the PC. You then go into PowerSDR (or Thetis, if you are using that) setup and assign the correct ports to the correct functions (CW key, CAT, etc.)
Similarly, the micro Keyer will present an audio device to the PC over the USB interface. That device is what you assign in PowerSDR VAC setup so that audio can flow between the micro Keyer and PowerSDR.
73, Scott/w-u-2-o


Indeed when I bought the Anan I already knew what I was buying and it is true that you have to treat the configuration in a different way than a conventional radio.
Regarding the audio, I have no problem because if it works correctly, I will try as you tell me to do the configuration through the COM port that has been assigned to the MK III, but it is only a single COM port so I do not understand how to assign to that port all the configuration (cat, cw, etc) without making use of virtual ports?

Today I tried to assign the COM port that was created with the MK III but it does not appear inside the MKIII USB Device Router, I can only see the virtual ports that I created at first.
So I am waiting to receive an RS232 / USB adapter to try to establish the physical connection between Anan and the PC.
I appreciate any help to continue the installation.

73`s Rafael
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w-u-2-o
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat May 02, 2020 3:41 pm

First of all, you will NOT have to use any third party, virtual serial port software. The virtual serial (COM) ports the microHam Router software creates will be sufficient.

Second, the discussion here has nothing to do with the hardware being an ANAN-100D. All of the connections are made to PowerSDR, so this will work for any hardware that uses PowerSDR (or Thetis).

Third, on the microHam side all of the answers you need are in the micro Keyer III manual, Chapters 9 through 12.

On the PowerSDR side, yes, there is very little documentation.

1. Perform the steps listed in the micro Keyer III manual in Chapters 9 and 10. This will get the microHam software setup and the audio device configured.

2. Referring to Chapter 11, enable and assign the ports you wish to use with both the keyer and PowerSDR. Probably this will only be CAT, PTT and CW.

3. Set up the CAT connection in PowerSDR. Go to Setup > CAT Control and select either the primary CAT port under the CAT tab, or one of the extra ports under the CAT+ tab. It makes no difference. Match the port number to the one you assigned in the microHam software for CAT. Set the rest of the port parameters appropriately. Enable the port via the checkbox. Test that that works per pages 33 and 34 of the microHam manual.

4. Set up the PTT port. Go to Setup > CAT Control > CAT and assign and enable the PTT Control port just as you did in (3) above. You will have to choose RTS or DTR signaling. I'm not sure how microHam defines those standards so you may have to experiment a bit.

5. Set up the CW port. Go to Setup > DSP > CW and assign the secondary connection to the COM port you assigned for CW in the microHam software. Choose "none" for PTT line. Choose RTS or DTR, as appropriate (you may have to experiment) for the key line.

6. If you wish to use the audio features of the keyer, then you will need to go into Setup > Audio > VAC1 and assign the appropriate audio devices and settings that match up with what the keyer and the microHam software create. Then you will need to enable VAC1 operation from the PowerSDR main console user interface.

That should get you the basics. I don't have a microHam product anymore (I did once upon a time before I owned an SDR) so I can only provide general guidance based on looking the manual.
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Sat May 02, 2020 4:04 pm

Hi Scott,
In the steps that indicate everything right to point 3), I had already carried out all the steps according to the manual and as you indicate.
The MKIII recognizes the port indicates the data CAT 15 open 38400 8N1 the problem is that there is no data reading.
When I ask for a CAT communication log:
0078603328: Log enabled, (urouter v9.2.5, micro KEYER III v2.8)
0078603328: CAT settings: "Kenwood TS 2000", 38400 bps 8N1 (controlled by COM15 38400 bps 8N1 , router queries enabled)
0078603656: R: (1) oldest tx query (FB;) discarded, waiting to answer exceeded 1000 ms
0078604656: R-TX: (1) IF; (read trasceiver status)
0078605671: R: (1) oldest tx query (IF;) discarded, waiting to answer exceeded 1000 ms
0078606671: R-TX: (1) FA; (read VFO A frequency)
0078607687: R: (1) oldest tx query (FA;) discarded, waiting to answer exceeded 1000 ms
0078608687: R-TX: (1) FB; (read VFO B frequency)
0078609578: CAT settings: "Kenwood TS 2000", 38400 bps 8N1 (controlled by COM15 38400 bps 8N1 , router queries enabled)
0078609578: Log disabled, (urouter v9.2.5, micro KEYER III v2.8)

Y ya desde este punto no he podido avanzar.
73`s
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat May 02, 2020 6:19 pm

Post screen shots of your microHam and PowerSDR setup screens that show the port settings, please.
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat May 02, 2020 8:32 pm

Posting images is easy: viewtopic.php?f=39&t=2529
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Sat May 02, 2020 8:44 pm

In the microHam app your radio control port is set to "none". Set it to COM15.
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Sun May 03, 2020 11:54 am

It does not allow me to assign any port, I can only change Baud rate
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun May 03, 2020 12:10 pm

Please post a screenshot of the ports tab in the microHam software.
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Sun May 03, 2020 2:07 pm

mkIII_4.jpg
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun May 03, 2020 4:50 pm

With PowerSDR running, when you select COM15 on that screen and press the Set button, do the arrows light up?
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Sun May 03, 2020 5:10 pm

They do not light, it only indicates that the port is open and the data of the same OPEN 38400 8N1
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun May 03, 2020 5:31 pm

I'm sorry to say I'm stumped. Perhaps if I had one. But I'm 100% software here, no outboard devices used (or necessary) for signal processing.

You might try here: https://groups.io/g/microHAM

If you do get an answer there, please cross post it here.
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Sun May 03, 2020 5:51 pm

I have received this response in the MicroHam group, since I receive the rs232 to usb adapter and carry out the tests, I will also post the result here.

microHAM Interfaces *CAN NOT* connect to an SDR via a virtual port
under *any* circumstances. The virtual ports in Router are for
a *logging program* to connect to Router. The interface *MUST*
connect to the supported transceiver with a hardware connection.

In the case of Flex, Anan, etc. SmartSDR or PowerSDR must expose
a hardware serial port defined as CAT that emulates Kenwood TS-2000
and the microHAM *hardware* connects to the serial port typically
via a null modem connection. The microHAM factory offer DB37-AL-100
cable for connecting Apache Labs Anan-100x, 200x see:
www.microham.com

73,

... Joe Subich, W4TV
microHAM America
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Sun May 03, 2020 8:52 pm

What a dumb design on microHam's part. It makes me wonder if you can fix the problem using com0com or VSPE virtual serial cable software. Put a virtual port pair in between the microHam virtual port and PowerSDR.
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Mon May 04, 2020 8:36 am

I am afraid that the Micro Ham is not really intended for use with SDR radios, although it is possible by using the cables and adapters, a matter of course, because we can also use it.
I hope that some day all the radio and accessories will be able to incorporate TCI / IP connections so that their use is easier, although SDRs work with IP anan does not bring this protocol.

73`s Rafael
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Mon May 04, 2020 10:51 am

Ham radio remains almost exclusively an RS232 serial world so the lack of IP connectivity is not an issue. All the most popular app's and equipment use serial comm's. There are exceptions, of course, even within PowerSDR, for instance the N1MM Focusmaster feature.
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Wed May 13, 2020 2:18 pm

Good afternoon,
Returning to the subject I have received the rs232 to usb adapter, I have put it and it has assigned me COM9.
My question now is how do I emulate the TS2000 in OpenHPSDR, since I don't know if I'm doing it right, in the CAT control in ID as: I put TS2000, then I assign the COM9 port and enable CAT.
In the MKIII router I have selected the TS2000 but in CAT only the COMs that I have created through the Virtual Port appear and it does not allow me to assign the port.
Any idea what I can do?
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Rafael EA8TK
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Wed May 13, 2020 3:36 pm

I'm afraid that none of what you are writing makes any sense (to me, anyway). There is no need to change any settings in PowerSDR to achieve Kenwood TS-2000 protocol. That is its native protocol for simple things like VFO settings.

The micro KEYER III hardware should attach to the PC via it's USB connection, and the microHAM Router software should recognize it's presence. There should be no need for an RS232 to USB adapter.

You have said that the virtual ports will not work to communicate with an SDR. That doesn't sound right to me. Nevertheless, being admittedly unfamiliar with exactly how the microHAM Router software works, I have suggested that perhaps you need to use third party virtual serial port software to work around this limitation. Install com0com or Eterlogic VSPE, create a port pair, say "COM20 & COM21" (just as an example), point the microHAM CAT virtual port at COM20 and PowerSDR at COM21.

Failing that, you will need to create or buy a cable that attaches to the Radio DB37 connector and brings out it's serial port, which you would then have to connect to a hardware serial port on your PC. You would then point PowerSDR at that serial port using the options available in Settings > CAT Control.
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Wed May 13, 2020 6:54 pm

little by little it seems that this is coming to fruition, I have finally managed to communicate the MK III with the Anan.
I have also managed to connect the HRD and configure the DM780
Now the next challenge is to configure the Win-test, something that I think will be more complicated.

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73`s Rafael
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Wed May 13, 2020 7:41 pm

You might tell us the steps you took to make it work, just in case someone else would like to do the same thing.
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Thu May 14, 2020 9:49 am

I have connected the DB37 AL100 cable from MicroHam to RS232 to RS232 / USB adapter, when connecting windows it assigns a COM port in CAT Control to activate that port and automatically the USB Device Router recognizes it.
The problem I had is that I had the K5FR vspMgr installed and I don't know the reason that caused a conflict with the port management when uninstalling it and without removing the ports created with the vspMgr, the connection problem was solved.

73`s Rafael
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby w-u-2-o » Thu May 14, 2020 10:06 am

FWIW I have always found the K5FR VSPM software to be unstable. You might try Eterlogic VSPE or com0com instead.
ea8tk
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Re: micro Keyer III and anan 100d

Postby ea8tk » Thu May 14, 2020 10:16 am

I will try it, thanks

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