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Re: Is this a factory mod?
Hi Roger, Thank you so much!? Message on page 8352 (document page 55) describes what I am seeing in this radio.? Now I am at peace with this part and may move on to other areas. 73, Wald N4PL
On Sunday, January 17, 2021, 6:55:26 PM EST, Roger VE7LB <roger_ve7lb@...> wrote:
Hi Wald, I did a search of the Fox Tango FT-980 newsletters and found pages 8348, 8349 and 8352 about keying a Heath linear. Does this seem to be the relay mod? |
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Is this a factory mod?
Hi Gang, I am repairing an FT-980 for a friend of mine.? His radio has a relatively high serial number:?3D 010641 I see a multitude of problems with this radio and I wanted to eliminate some "customization" done by the previous owner(s).? I see a strange relay nicely tucked at the back of the ACC-1 connector.? None of my radios, with lower SN, has such relay.? Please see attached photo.? The relay is marked by a dotted line box.? Could someone confirm if this is a factory mod or should I dig around it? Thank for reading this and 73, Wald N4PL |
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Re: USB-CAT Cables: A question for anyone ...
Thanks Wald. I think I will just assume "RTS" for PTT (in case there are any cables that support it, or someone mods their FIF-232C or makes their own version). It seems that RTS is "typically" PTT, and DTS is "typically" key-down or FSK (the FT-980 doesn't support key-down or FSK via the CAT port, but a custom cable could route them into the FT-980 ports that do).
I am uploading a document shortly describing how to use rigctlcom to interface to the FT-980 from a package (ACLog) that doesn't support the FT-980. It seems to work fine. Can you give it a try with HRD and let me know if it works? -- -Mat Breton, N8TW |
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Re: USB-CAT Cables: A question for anyone ...
Mat, I found this message, along with many other emails from the list, in my spam folder.? Interestingly, some went through, some not.? So much for the scanner's AI... On the topic of USB cables: I have two commercially built: Prolific and FTDI chip based.? They can be had from eBay and likely other sources.? Mine do not have the flow control lines routed to the CAT connector so their application is limited to sending/receiving CAT commands. FYI I tested both cables with the MCS program that Roger posted in the Files section.? It runs on Win 10.? The cables also work with WSJT-X 2.2.2 except for the PTT.? I have not tried the CAT PTT.? Not sure if it is even supported by our radio.. My goal was to make FT-980 operational with Ham Radio Deluxe, which is an ongoing effort.? From what I can see the problem is with HRD not initiating the link with the radio properly.? I will post a complete report on that when my bug ticket with HRD gets resolved, one way or the other.? The other being the HRD position that the radio is too old etc.? Even though it is shown in their list of supported radios... but this is a different story. 73, Wald N4PL
On Saturday, January 9, 2021, 8:15:18 PM EST, Mat Breton <i.m.n8tw@...> wrote:
This is for the hamlib CAT library improvement project. Do any of you have one of the USB <-> FT-980 CAT cables (not a FIF-232C interface)? If yes, do you know if it supports PTT (through CTS/RTS pins)? If yes, is it the CTS or RTS? The FIF-232C does support the (you need to add a simple circuit to tie the RS-232 pin to the CAT pin), but since the CAT port does support it I suspect that they may have this support built in. I would like to make sure we define the library to natively support these cables ... Thanks, -- -Mat Breton, N8TW |
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USB-CAT Cables: A question for anyone ...
This is for the hamlib CAT library improvement project.
Do any of you have one of the USB <-> FT-980 CAT cables (not a FIF-232C interface)? If yes, do you know if it supports PTT (through CTS/RTS pins)? If yes, is it the CTS or RTS? The FIF-232C does support the (you need to add a simple circuit to tie the RS-232 pin to the CAT pin), but since the CAT port does support it I suspect that they may have this support built in. I would like to make sure we define the library to natively support these cables ... Thanks, -- -Mat Breton, N8TW |
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Re: FT Newsletters Product Detector upgrade
Would it be possible for you to take before and after audio noise floor and signal measurements? I *think* it could be done with an HF signal generator and an audio analysis program on a PC (I would recommend?DL4YHF's Spectrum Lab because it already has noise floor and peak detection built in ...?).
I've never seen this done with any of the germanium->silicon diode replacement articles, and the guy who did the FT-980 mod took no measurements whatsoever.? This would be relevant to all sorts of older rigs, not just the FT-980 I think; if the passivation creates enough noise to show up in the 8mV (typical) signal level at Q3038, I think it has application in other rigs as well. If done carefully, this might be the basis for a QST or QEX article ... -- -Mat Breton, N8TW |
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Re: FT Newsletters Product Detector upgrade
I've always found these diode-type articles interesting, and have wanted to actually take some before/after measurements. I found the QST article in the FT Newsletter that discussed this change as having a better low-frequency (AF) distortion (thanks for pointing it out!), although the FT newlsetter also mentioned lower audible noise. Both were anecdotal and didn't give any testing results or other evidence.
The 4082-2900 was HP's MPN for a 1N5711 Hot-Carrier Diode. You could buy them in "matched" lots. Do you know if there were any differences to a general 1N5711 part? Note: if you are looking for a "lower noise" mesh-diode, the HP 5082-2903 was likely "screened" from general 1N5711 production for 1/f noise.
Back in the 60's and 70's HP's semiconductor division made some parts that no one else in the world did at the time for their test & measurement group, as well as general sale. But they spun it off with Agilent, which split it into Avago, which then merged with Broadcom. A lot of the old specialized parts are not available anymore (try to find a matched pair of detector diodes for a classic HP spectrum or power analyzer). But like capacitors, technology has moved forward from that period. I suspect there are even better diodes available nowadays.? Certainly for mixer diodes (nowadays more likely to be passive MESFET mixers). Please keep us updated: this one is really interesting to me ... -- -Mat Breton, N8TW |
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Re: CAT Interface: Hamlib Library Interface
Had a great evening:
1. Got git working (git is the distributed/team source control system that is used). Created my own fork from the origin, cloned that repository to my PC, created a branch, fetched updates (these are all terms and processes that I have just become familiar with).
2. Got the GCC toolchain working: bit of a struggle on this one, as the developer's instructions are a bit out of date to the actual code. A bit of reverse engineering requiring, but I got it compiled and working.
3. Fixed the bug I found in the Alpha code
4. Submitted it back to github hamlib origin with a pull-request, which was accepted by the team. It will appear in the next tarball release (or you can get it now if you want to compile it yourself)
Summary: I can now make changes to the hamlib FT-980 backend and submit them to the open-source project. I also wrote the instructions and can pass them along to anyone else who wants to. Onward and upward: I will now be starting to add new features to hamlib. These will start appearing to the general public when official releases are done (at least twice/year). -- -Mat Breton, N8TW |
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Re: 4 files uploaded
#file-notice
It was a draft doc in case I ever got around to trying this out. Just a bunch of notes on VHF roofing filters, things to watch for, etc. No one else would understand the stream of consciousness writing style except me :)
Much better: read AC0C's nice presentation on roofing filters:??. He has a couple pages on VHF/upconversion architectures. There may be unintended consequences of installing this roofing filter in the FT-980. For example, the inrad filters have a measurable insertion loss (as you'd expect from a 6-pole filter), and no onboard amp to compensate. The result is that you are depending on the AGC system to compensate for this loss by increase the gain. Since the FT-980 AGC wasn't specifically designed for this, I'm not if there are any negatives beyond the obvious. I would love to see before/after results on certain things like receiver sensitivity, blocking, IMD3, etc. This would be a good way to tell if the mod is a net positive or no. These are some efforts to do just this on other radios to varying degrees: -- -Mat Breton, N8TW |
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Re: CAT Interface: Hamlib Library Interface
Update: progress is slow since I work during the day, but this is still moving forward.
I've been making a linux? Since I didn't want to add another PC to the mix, I decided to dual-boot my shack PC. I purchased two 256GB SSDs, reinstalled W10-64 on one and put Ubuntu on the other. Configured grub2 as a triple boot for now (Ubuntu, Old win-hd, New win-ssd) until I can get everything copied over/reinstalled/reconfigured on the Windows half. Lesson learned: make a "backup' through TSQL of your TSQL certificates. They are "married" to your PC config and you can't copy them over. You need to use TSQL to make a special backup, copy the backup over, and then restore from the backup. Good to know to keep a backup copy JIC you ever lose your PC/laptop.
Tomorrow I'll load the necessary programs (Git, GCC, astyle, etc) and files to compile hamlib. I'm thinking of using "Atom" as my IDE (development environment) ... I'll give it a go at least.? That is it for now. -- -Mat Breton, N8TW |
N4PL
Mat Breton N8TW