On Sat, Dec 7, 2024 at 08:40 AM, Dave Parker WB7WHG wrote:
Not sure which Alinco Model you’re referring to?
Dave
?
I was replying to the OP (SMILEY), who who said he was using a Signalink with his Alinco DR-185, and already was successfully running Packet with that setup.
?
Mark - AD7EF
?
?
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Not sure which Alinco Model you’re referring to?
?
This is from Masters Communications website:
?
Alinco DR-735T (DRA-50M REV2, DRA-52, '80, 'SR or '100 required for proper PTT operation - Maximum transmission speed is 4800 bps. Maximum reception speed is 9600 bps.
--
Dave
WB7WHG
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Re: Windows 11, vara hf and Yaesu FTdx10
Update - based on a post I saw recently in a Winlink applicable to a different radio, I learned that in Winlink Express when the radio name is selected in the PTT Port area, it means that CAT commands are used for PTT. That answers the question I had.
73, Lee K5DAT
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I use a very common, simple, and fairly inexpensive solution to keying VARA FM on most any FM Radio.? ?I use a DRA-30 (other DRA models will work too) to provide the sound card function and the PTT function.? These? ~$80 "Sound cards" provide good bandwidth and separate PTT control to most FM Radios.? I have personally tried it without ANY radio modifications with the Alinco 50Watt DR-135 without any radio mods. I have also used the same setup (with the addition of a 15 pin DIN connector) on a Chinese TH-9000D with good results. Using a dedicated sound card for the application is the key to reliable operation with full VARA FM Wide bandwidth.
Rick Muething, KN6KB? Winlink Development Team
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Re: What sets the Vara modem speed?
No.
Thats from the recording device I connected to the radio input to hear the sound. The problem is the switch to data you hear. Every location beacon I have heard use the tones that start out in the audio clip. They don't switch to the buzz sound which I think the Vara modem is calling data.
Thanks for your suggestion.
Wayne WA5LUY
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On Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 08:43 AM, SMILEY kz4zk wrote:
Unable to set up vara fm with my Alinco DR-185 with Signalink
SMILEY,
?
The radio-specific settings in the VARA FM modem software apply only to PTT activation... and only for those radio models that provide a serial port or USB connector that supports PTT activation through a "COM port" or CAT mechanism. In every case, these are "all-band / all-mode" radios, not VHF and/or UHF FM transceivers.
?
That's why the radio Brand and Model choices only appear on the "PTT" window that is presented by the VARA FM "Settings -> PTT..." selection.
?
Since your SignaLink activates the radio PTT through a VOX mechanism, you should click the "VOX" radio button in the "PTT via" frame on the VARA FM "PTT" window.
?
Mark AD7EF
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Re: What sets the Vara modem speed?
How do you beacon this to the air and what's there to decode it?
Have you followed up the VARA modem TX tuning guidance with ALC leveling etc?
73, Erik OH2LAK N5LAK
I have attached an audio recording of the Vara beacon from my XP laptop running Ui-View and VSPE Emulator. You can hear the switch in tones. I also noticed the data icon on the Vara screen goes green when the tones are switched. When I use this beacon on the air it is not decoded and Igated by any station including my station.
I assume it is a setting in Ui-View but I am not sure. I have tried to delete anything than the system might be data.
Any suggestions?
Wayne
WA5LUY
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Re: VARA HF Disconnects Before Messages Are Sent
Thanks to everyone for some great information and links.? Gave me lots to research and learn since the IC-7300 and Vara are new to me. I figured out how to lower the ALC on the radio, because the slider on the Vara HF Soundcard Set Up wasn't working for me.? I still couldn't connect, so the last thing I did was switch from USB to USB Digital under VaraHF Winlink Session settings, and that seemed to do the trick.? I was able to send a message after making that change.? The transmission was at much faster rate too.? Thanks for all the help!? 73, Patricia
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Re: Kenwood TS890 and USB-DATA mode - VARA rig command issues
On 12/6/2024 11:37 AM, Guy Zebrick via
groups.io wrote:
Hey all. New to VARA. I've gotten it to work with WInlink
Express and my Kenwood TS890 radio with some success. One issue
I can't seem to get to function 100% reliably or repeatable is
when I select a channel in VARA , the radio ALWAYS follows the
frequency so VARA is connecting to the radio, but only SOMETIMEs
switches the mode to the correct USB-DATA mode (which is what I
want). Sometimes, for example, when I select a channel, it goes
to LSB voice. I DO have the USB-DATA mode checked in the VARA
settings, it just
doesn't seem to always work.
Does anyone know where/how? this is configured? Is there an
option to add radio-specific code somewhere in the rig
interface?
I would love to be able to reliably get the VARA channel
selection to always go to the correct mode.
Ideally I would also like to add commands like to
auto-configure the tx and rx bandwidths by adding appropriate
commands.
?
VARA is strictly a? data-to/from-audio-tones? modem.? It does not
have any control over the radio.??
It is up to the application (winLink, VarAC Chat, APRS client,
etc) to issue radio controls over a designated port and to command
VARA to the appropriate bandwidth (500 Hz or 2300 Hz). ??
Stephen H. Smith??? wa8lmf (at) aol.com
Skype:??????? WA8LMF
EchoLink:? Node #? 14400? [Think bottom of the 2-meter band]
Home Page:?????????
30 Meter?? APRS-over VARA? Frequency Change
Coming 1 Jan 20245.?? Details Here:
???? <
- APRS over VARA? --
??
"Studio B" Ham Shack on Wheels
??
-
?
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Kenwood TS890 and USB-DATA mode - VARA rig command issues
Hey all. New to VARA. I've gotten it to work with WInlink Express and my Kenwood TS890 radio with some success. One issue I can't seem to get to function 100% reliably or repeatable is when I select a channel in VARA , the radio ALWAYS follows the frequency so VARA is connecting to the radio, but only SOMETIMEs switches the mode to the correct USB-DATA mode (which is what I want). Sometimes, for example, when I select a channel, it goes to LSB voice. I DO have the USB-DATA mode checked in the VARA settings, it just doesn't seem to always work.
Does anyone know where/how? this is configured? Is there an option to add radio-specific code somewhere in the rig interface?
I would love to be able to reliably get the VARA channel selection to always go to the correct mode.
Ideally I would also like to add commands like to auto-configure the tx and rx bandwidths by adding appropriate commands.
Thanks. 73s.
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Off topic but too bad they discontinued the Alinco DR-135 with the rear data port.? It works great for VARA FM wide with the Repeater Builder interface.
Bob
Unable to set up vara fm with my Alinco DR-185 with Signalink. Alinco is not listed in the radio brands. Packet Winlink works just fine. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Unable to set up vara fm with my Alinco DR-185 with Signalink. Alinco is not listed in the radio brands. Packet Winlink works just fine. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Re: What sets the Vara modem speed?
I hear a strong hum in the recording.? Wonder if that might be going out over the air, and causing issues?
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On 2024-12-06 10:54, wa5luy wrote:
I have attached an audio recording of the Vara beacon from my XP laptop running Ui-View and VSPE Emulator. You can hear the switch in tones. I also noticed the data icon on the Vara screen goes green when the tones are switched. When I use this beacon on the air it is not decoded and Igated by any station including my station.
I assume it is a setting in Ui-View but I am not sure. I have tried to delete anything than the system might be data.
Any suggestions?
Wayne
WA5LUY
-- Dave, N8SBE, Hamshack Hotline 590-0971, HamsOverIP 101018, AmateurWire 1348
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Re: VARA HF Disconnects Before Messages Are Sent
Patricia,
The vagaries of HF propagation may be at work, here.
1) When you go to any band on your IC-7300, you should see activity in the FT8 channel.? If not, then the band for your location is really closed, as I've found that FT8 activity is about the last to go as a band shuts down.? The FT8 frequencies on the HF bands are:
- 160m 1.84 MHz
- 80m? ?3.573 MHz
- 40m? ?7.074 MHz
- 30m 10.136 MHz
- 20m 14.074 MHz
- 17M 18.1 MHz
- 15M 21.074 MHz
- 12M 24.915 MHz
- 10M 28.074 MHz
- 6M? ?50.313 MHz
all on USB/Digital, 4 kHz bandwidth channels.? You'll notice that for all the non-WARC bands 40m, 20m, 15m, and 10M, the FT8 channel is always 74 kHz from the bottom of the band.
I purposefully left 60m out, as it is technically illegal to use FT8 on 60m, unless you lock your transmit frequency to 1500 Hz above your dial frequency, centering it in the 2.8 kHz passband, which is required for CW or any digital modes on 60m.? That means that everyone would be piling on the same offset, which makes it difficult to make any contacts on 60m if the frequency is congested.? Of course, there are a great many miscreants that are using the whole 2.8 kHz channel there for FT8, but I would advise against it, as various government services share those channels, and we really don't want to look like we don't know what the rules are there.
2) We've had some solar flare activity over the past few days, which can create a total blackout on the lower bands for several hours on the daylight side of the planet. I keep this page open on a tab on my browser and check it often:
Currently, over the past day and a half, I see four M-class flares and a handful of C-class flares.? If these occur during the day, they will cause excessive attenuation on the low HF bands for an hour or so.? An X-class flare can cause a complete blackout for several hours.
3) Also, be sure that you have not moved your USB cable to your IC-7300 to a different port on your PC or USB hub, as that will cause Windows to assign a different COM port(s) and assume that the audio codec from the IC-7300 is now your default PC microphone and speakers.
Do a Windows-R and then type mmsys.cpl in the Open: prompt and click OK.? This will launch the legacy Windows sound control panel, and then you can ensure that your IC-7300 audio codec is NOT marked with any green checkmarks.? Green checkmarks should only be on your PC Mic and Speakers, to make them the default Windows sound source and sink.
Check the Playback and Recording tabs on the Windows sound control panel to get everything set up.? On the Communications tab, check 'Do nothing' to prevent Windows from tinkering with your volume controls if it 'detects communications activity'.
It's helpful to go into the properties for your IC-7300 audio codec on the Windows sound control panel, and rename the input/output to an easily recognized name that will be easy to distinguish when selecting the audio codec in various digital programs, like WSJT-X and VARA HF.? Remember that those names will only show up if your IC-7300 is connected to your PC and the radio must be turned on.? WSJT-X in particular, has a bad habit of returning your audio selection to the Windows default in its preference panel, if it doesn't find your IC-7300 audio codec when you open the WSJT-X preferences panel with the radio off or disconnected.
Also, make sure that for your IC-7300 audio codec device properties in the Windows sound control panel that all compression and other sound enhancements are turned off, as they will interfere with your digital encoding/decoding.? Likewise, use the USB/digital mode on your radio, instead of just plain USB.? That should turn off any compression or Tx/Rx equalization that you may have set up for SSB audio modes on your radio.
Hope that helps.
73,
-- Dave, N8SBE, Hamshack Hotline 590-0971, HamsOverIP 101018, AmateurWire 1348
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On 2024-12-06 09:20, Patricia Dominguez via groups.io wrote:
I am new to VARA HF and to the group.? Last week I set up my W11 computer and IC-7300 radio. I was able to start sending messages using Vara HF.? I didn't use Winlink for a couple of days.? When I tried to send a message a few days ago I could not connect to any station. I checked every sound setting I could find on my computer and reduced my transmit power. I don't know what changed.? Yesterday I connected to two different stations, but both dropped the connection after more than 5 minutes into transmitting the message. The send rate was extremely low.? I would appreciate any suggestions you may have.
?
Patricia
WA4WSZ
?
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Re: What sets the Vara modem speed?
I have attached an audio recording of the Vara beacon from my XP laptop running Ui-View and VSPE Emulator. You can hear the switch in tones. I also noticed the data icon on the Vara screen goes green when the tones are switched. When I use this beacon on the air it is not decoded and Igated by any station including my station.
I assume it is a setting in Ui-View but I am not sure. I have tried to delete anything than the system might be data.
Any suggestions?
Wayne
WA5LUY
|
Re: VARA HF Disconnects Before Messages Are Sent
For propagation information, I highly recommend www.voacap.com/hf
Once you learn how to use it, and how to interpret the info, it can be very useful!
I use it regularly for point-to-point comms.
Ken W7EKB
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone
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-------- Original message -------- From: "Rick Muething via groups.io" <rickmuething@...> Date: 12/6/24 07:10 (GMT-08:00) Subject: Re: [VARA-MODEM] VARA HF Disconnects Before Messages Are Sent
Patricia, Its all antennas, distortion,? and propagation.? Vara (and all protocols for that matter) have mechanisms for measuring the S:N and frame success rate (How many SUCCESSFUL bytes transmitted per minute.? If that number falls below a certain threshold the protocol?killls?the link rather than taking many minutes of airtime up with low probability?of passing a complete message.? What can help?? Several things: 1) Pick a frequency band and distance which have better propagation.? e.g.? Some bands are better at night or day.? Generally longer distances are weak....but not always.? 2) Short messages of course transfer faster ....avoid big attachments. 3) Check and optimise your antenna. Height, SWR etc. 4) Make sure your radio drive is set to optimum.? Too much audio drive can result in distortion (due to ALC)? ?For the 7300 you want the ALC no more than about 1/4 scale.? Almost all protocols work best with minimal distortion and near optimum power settings.? 5) Select stations and bands based on propagation (history and propagation maps)? ?Also make sure the stations are running (e.g 24/7 etc)?
Good Luck
Rick Muething, KN6KB? Winlink Development Team
On Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 9:27?AM Patricia Dominguez via <WA4WSZ= [email protected]> wrote: I am new to
VARA HF and to the group.? Last week I set up my W11 computer and
IC-7300 radio. I was able to start sending messages using Vara HF.? I
didn't use Winlink for a couple of days.? When I tried to send a message
a few days ago I could not connect to any station. I checked every
sound setting I could find on my computer and reduced my transmit power.
I don't know what changed.? Yesterday I connected to two different
stations, but both dropped the connection after more than 5 minutes into
transmitting the message. The send rate was extremely low.? I would
appreciate any suggestions you may have.
Patricia WA4WSZ
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30M APRS-over-VARA - Activity Increasing
I am seeing more stations today on the new
30-Meters APRS-over-VARA channel at 10.148.20 MHz USB
"dial frequency".? The screen capture below from UIview shows
what I was seeing here in central Michigan as of about 09:54 US
Eastern (1454 UTC) 6 Dec 24.
Note GM4HYG in northern Scotland in the
upper-right corner. The green circle is the radio footprint, on
the ground, of the Space station.? KJ4ERJ's hamshack computer
system generates the space station object and inserts it into
the APRS Internet System? Apparently it is still running on
"autopilot" even though KJ4ERJ passed away several days ago.
This is a temporary second 30m APRS-over-VARA?
receive/igate setup running at WA8LMF-6? --? until my main VARA
APRS receive/igate on the currrent 10.147.60 USB channel moves
to this new channel on 1 January 2025.???
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Re: VARA HF Disconnects Before Messages Are Sent
Patricia, Its all antennas, distortion,? and propagation.? Vara (and all protocols for that matter) have mechanisms for measuring the S:N and frame success rate (How many SUCCESSFUL bytes transmitted per minute.? If that number falls below a certain threshold the protocol?killls?the link rather than taking many minutes of airtime up with low probability?of passing a complete message.? What can help?? Several things: 1) Pick a frequency band and distance which have better propagation.? e.g.? Some bands are better at night or day.? Generally longer distances are weak....but not always.? 2) Short messages of course transfer faster ....avoid big attachments. 3) Check and optimise your antenna. Height, SWR etc. 4) Make sure your radio drive is set to optimum.? Too much audio drive can result in distortion (due to ALC)? ?For the 7300 you want the ALC no more than about 1/4 scale.? Almost all protocols work best with minimal distortion and near optimum power settings.? 5) Select stations and bands based on propagation (history and propagation maps)? ?Also make sure the stations are running (e.g 24/7 etc)?
Good Luck
Rick Muething, KN6KB? Winlink Development Team
On Fri, Dec 6, 2024 at 9:27?AM Patricia Dominguez via <WA4WSZ= [email protected]> wrote: I am new to
VARA HF and to the group.? Last week I set up my W11 computer and
IC-7300 radio. I was able to start sending messages using Vara HF.? I
didn't use Winlink for a couple of days.? When I tried to send a message
a few days ago I could not connect to any station. I checked every
sound setting I could find on my computer and reduced my transmit power.
I don't know what changed.? Yesterday I connected to two different
stations, but both dropped the connection after more than 5 minutes into
transmitting the message. The send rate was extremely low.? I would
appreciate any suggestions you may have.
Patricia WA4WSZ
|
VARA HF Disconnects Before Messages Are Sent
I am new to
VARA HF and to the group.? Last week I set up my W11 computer and
IC-7300 radio. I was able to start sending messages using Vara HF.? I
didn't use Winlink for a couple of days.? When I tried to send a message
a few days ago I could not connect to any station. I checked every
sound setting I could find on my computer and reduced my transmit power.
I don't know what changed.? Yesterday I connected to two different
stations, but both dropped the connection after more than 5 minutes into
transmitting the message. The send rate was extremely low.? I would
appreciate any suggestions you may have.
Patricia WA4WSZ
|
New 30M APRS-overVARA Freq Uptake Starting!
I'm starting to see stations on the new
30-meters APRS-over-VARA channel already.??
I've setup a temporary second radio/computer
setup to monitor and igate the new channel? on 10.148.200
MHz USB "dial frequency" until the main igate
switches over on Jan 1st, 2025.??
The setup is my TS-2000, an Acer 11.8"
"netbook" mini-laptop and a SignaLink USB interface connected to
a 40' tuner-fed vertical.
The screencap below shows UIview and VARA
running as of 10:50 AM US Eastern Time (15:50 UTC) on 5 Dec
2024.?? Note the narrowed noise bandwidth in the VARA
waterfall.? I have set the DSP variable IF of the TS-2000 to 900
Hz - wide enough to pass both the APRS-over-VARA channel and the
classic packet APRS channel just below the VARA channel.?
??? In this cap, a classic 300-baud AX.25 packet APRS
transmission has just been made just below the VARA channel.
About 4 hours earlier this morning, I was
seeing G4HYG at the tip of the UK in the far upper-right of this
screen.?
[Once the switch-over to the new channel
becomes complete on Jan 1st, you will be seeing this map on my
main 30M VARA APRS webserver.? I suspect that due to VARA's? --VASTLY--
superior performance compared to classic AX.25 packet, we will
be seeing far more stations from the other side of the Atlantic.
?
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Mark Davis
wa5luy
Erik Finskas OH2LAK
SMILEY kz4zk