Setup UZ7HO’s SoundModem

Posted on May 30, 2016 by robert

UZ7HO’s SoundModem program is automatically installed when you install UISS.  It’s a program that converts the audio tones sent/received into AX.25 data that can be understood by UISS.  To use SoundModem requires a few simple setup steps.

When you first startup UISS, it defaults to using SoundModem and starting it automatically as shown in this UISS Setup screenshot:

UISS SoundModem setup

When you first startup UISS, you will see the SoundModem program, and that is your opportunity to do a setup.  If you missed your chance, either startup UISS again, or find the SoundModem icon in your system tray:

SoundModem in Toolbar

Click on Settings/Devices to setup your sound cards.  In my case the IC-9100 internal sound cards show up as “USB Audio CODEC”.  Pick those choices for Output Device and Input device as shown below.  Also be sure to leave the AGWPE Server Port set to 8000 and the Enabled checkbox checked. Without server identified and running SoundModem will not communicate with UISS (This Port Number is what AGWPE would need to know — AGWPE is not actually installed or running).

SM Devices

You must identify the COM port that is being used for PTT control. In my case that is COM7 as shown above.  I believe the “Dual PTT” says that RTS is used for one port and CTS for another — I left it checked.  See my earlier post on installing CAT7200 to deal with PTT.

Still in SoundModem, click on Settings/Modems to bring up the Modems settings menu.  The Mode defaults to HF AX.25 packet for both channels A and B.  I set channel A to be VHF 1200 baud as shown below:

SM Modems

Posted in APRS, ARISS, Digital Mode, ISS, Packet, Satellite | 4 Comments

Installing G8BPQ’s CAT7200 for IC-9100 PTT Control

Posted on May 30, 2016 by robert

If you plan on using UISS with SoundModem on your IC-9100, then you are going to need to obtain a copy of the CAT7200 program by John Wiseman (G8BPQ) to deal with the PTT function.

  1. First, obtain a copy of CAT7200 here
  2. Create a directory on your computer like C:\CAT7200 and copy the files out of the ZIP file you downloaded above.
  3. The Virtual Com Port Driver must then be installed.  I’ve taken the liberty of converting John Wiseman’s (G8BPQ) instructions from html format on his website to a PDF that can be found here.  Be sure to use the correct version for your OS (32 or 64 bit).  These instructions document how to install the Virtual Com Port Driver on Win 7 and up.  It worked just great on Win 10 32 bit version.

After following the instructions above, you will see a COM port appear under Device Manager.  In my case it was COM7:

DM Vir Com port

Now run the CAT7200.EXE program, and you will see a screen like this:

CAT7200

On the left hand side, select the same COM port as you saw in Device Manager — in my case COM7.

On the right-hand side, select the COM port where your IC-9100 gets its CI-V commands.  In my case that is COM5, the lower port # when the Icom drivers were installed (see the Device Manger shot above showing the two SiLabs USB to UART Bridges at COM5 and COM6).

Select the CI-V Baud Rate (See IC-9100 Menu #60), and the CI-V Address (See IC-9100 Menu #61).  In my case that was 19200 baud and 60h.

Finally click the “Open” button.  That’s it.  You can minimize the screen or leave it running in the background.

When you are all done, and have shut UISS down, you can then click close the CAT7200 window.

 

 

Posted in APRS, ARISS, Digital Mode, IC-9100, Satellite | 5 Comments

Using UISS with an Icom IC-9100

Posted on May 29, 2016 by robert

The program UISS is designed for satellite communicators to use UI packets to communicate with other stations on the ground, while using the Space Station or other packet satellite as a packet repeater.

UI  (Unnumbered Information) packets are handled specially — they are never acknowledged,  so they can be lost, but this is necessary for a busy RF channel that can’t support guaranteed delivery of all packets  This is especially true when the target is a satellite that is only visible for 10 minutes or less and is subject to deep fades.  By the way, the highly successful APRS system uses UI packets to send position and other data.

UISS comes with a Software Packet TNC (UZ7HO’s SoundModem) that works with any soundcard to do all the AX.25 packet modulation/demodulation.  The IC-9100 has built-in soundcard interfaces, so it can work with UISS.  But there is a limitation; UISS can only control the PTT function via a COM Port hardware interface  — typically wiggling CTS (or RTS) on that port causes the PTT line to be asserted.

Another piece of software called CAT7200 was designed to provide TX/RX control via CAT commands used by the Icom CI-V interface (USB connection on some radios like the 9100). To the rest of the world, the program appears to be a COM port that is controlling a CTS line.  CAT7200 is known to work with the IC-7100, IC-7200, and IC-9100 — probably others too.

For CAT7200 to do its job, another piece of software must be installed; a virtual com port driver written by G8BPQ (CAT7200’s author as well).  That virtual driver must be manually installed.  Once that is done, then CAT7200 configured to talk to the radio via its CI-V COM port (need to know what COM port that is on, the speed setting and Icom port address of the radio — in my case it is COM5, 19200 baud, and 60h).  Finally, CAT7200 is set to the virtual COM Port number that appears after the virtual com port driver is installed.

It sounds complicated, and no doubt it required brilliance on the part of ON6MU, UZ7HO, and G8BPQ, but the good news is that when you install it and set up all the pieces properly, everything works like a charm, even on a Windows 10 machine.

Details on the menu settings that need to be used for the IC-9100, as well as setup of the CAT7200, SoundModem, Virtual COM Port Driver and UISS program will follow in a subsequent post.  For now, I’m just happy to say that everything seems to be working fine, as can be seen in the following two tests that were run on the APRS 144.390 frequency:

Shows APRS report via APRS.fi of WB4SON location (Satellite Dish Icom) sent via 144.390 APRS network.

Shows report on APRS.fi of WB4SON location (satellite dish icon) sent using UISS position function

It was also easy to send a short Email to myself via the APRS system using the UISS Email function.  It took a bit over a minute for the Email to find its way to my computer’s inbox:

Email

Posted in APRS, ARISS, IC-9100, Packet, Satellite | 1 Comment

Holding Breath for STMsat-1 Reboot at Midnight

Posted on May 23, 2016 by robert

STMsat-1, a CubeSat built by elementary school students at the Saint Thomas More Cathedral School in Arlington VA, has been silent since its launch from the ISS on May 16. It has been tracked/identified and assigned the International Designator 1998-067HW, or NORAD ID 41476.  It can be clearly seen in the NASA photo along with two other birds (a pair of NODES satellites) launched at the same time.

STMsat1 Photo

After listening for a week with no luck, the powers that be have decided it is time for a Reboot, which is due to happen tonight at midnight EDT.  Hopefully SSTV signals on 437.800 MHz will appear shortly after that.

Since it was launched from the ISS, ejected into a slightly lower orbit, its path is very similar.  In fact it simply appears about 7 minutes BEFORE (gaining about a minute a day since launch) the ISS will pass over the same location. The image below shows how close the orbits are a week after ejection from the ISS:

Screen Shot 2016-05-23 at 2.20.33 PM

Posted in Satellite | Leave a comment

Worked AMSAT Demo Station at Dayton Hamvention

Posted on May 21, 2016 by robert

I had a Fox-1 QSO today at 20:10 UTC with John Papay, K8YSE operating portable at the AMSAT Demonstration Station at the Dayton Hamvention.

Less than an hour later, at 21:01 I also worked him on SSB using AO-7.

K8YSE

Posted in AO-7, AO-85, Satellite | Leave a comment

Another Old Friend – AO-7

Posted on May 20, 2016 by robert

Although I’ve worked AO-7 during several Field Days (using our club call W1LY), I hadn’t made an AO-7 QSO since last summer.  Today I worked W4VAS, notably on SSB (my first voice QSO on that bird).

It is simply amazing that a satellite launched in November of 1974 is still working 15,162 days later (41.5 years).  A fortunate happenstance allowed the dead batteries, which had shorted out back in 1981, to go open circuit in 2002, allowing the ancient satellite to spring back to life whenever it is in sunlight.

AO7 Image

 

Posted in AO-7, Satellite | Leave a comment

AO-73, It’s Been Ages

Posted on May 19, 2016 by robert

My last AO-73 QSO was about 10 months ago.  Part of the reason is laziness — it is time consuming to relocate the uplink offset each time I try to work the bird.  I’ve read that the uplink passband is unstable with temperature changes (like going into eclipse after being illuminated).  The downlink is very stable by comparison.

The good news is I had a QSO with W8IJ in PA tonight.  The better news was I found my signal fairly quickly, only about 1.5 KHz from the Uplink Offset I used last August.

Tonight I was sending a CW signal on 435.161.38 (at the satellite) and hearing it on a downlink of 145.957.42 (from the satellite).  When I say “the satellite”, I mean what the frequency would be at the satellite taking into account Doppler adjustments.  This is critical because the frequencies of operation of a satellite are specified at the satellite.

If you look at FUNcube website, the published info on the transceiver is:

Funcube Specs

Right off the bat you can see something is wrong!  Supposedly the uplink ends at 435.150. But I was transmitting (at the satellite) a frequency of 435.161.38.  According to the published spec, it should have been 435.142.58.  That’s a 19 KHz discrepancy!!!

MANY people have reported this, but I’ve never seen it acknowledged officially — No doubt expert satellite users simply integrate the required offset into their process and never think about it again.  But it sure as heck throws off someone who doesn’t expect it to be that far off.

 

Posted in AO-73, Satellite | Leave a comment

Log Shows QSOs With Ten Different Satellites

Posted on May 19, 2016 by robert

I went through my logbook since I got back on the air five years ago and discovered a bunch of confirmed satellite QSOs.  In that time I’ve worked the following:

  1. AO-7 Confirmed by eQSL
  2. AO-27 (Four QSOs but no confirmations – bird off air in 2015)
  3. AO-73 Confirmed by LotW and eQSL
  4. AO-85 Confirmed by LotW
  5. FO-29 Confirmed by LotW and eQSL
  6. SO-50 Confirmed by LotW
  7. VO-52 Confirmed by LotW and eQSL (bird off air in 2014)
  8. XW-2A Confirmed by LotW
  9. XW-2C Confirmed by LotW and eQSL
  10. XW-2F Confirmed by LotW

My first satellite QSO was with OSCAR-6 back in 1973

Posted in AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, ARISS, FO-29, ISS, Satellite, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2C, XW-2F | Leave a comment

A Bit More Satellite DX

Posted on May 19, 2016 by robert

During a FO-29 pass over the Atlantic I worked two European stations:  Francisco EA1JM in Spain, and Graham, G3VKV in England.
EA1JM QSL May 19 2016

Posted in DX, FO-29, Satellite | Leave a comment

Another Great Satellite Day

Posted on May 18, 2016 by robert

I’m feeling guilty for neglecting DX, but I’ve been having a bunch of fun with satellites recently.

Several QSOs on FO-29 with calibration of both SSB and CW uplink performed.  Not much CW action on these days, but I’ll be using that during FD.

I had a QSO on SO-50 where the 436.795 downlink seemed wrong — had to shift it lower by about 3 KHz to get decent audio.  436.792.  Some publications suggest SO-50 shifts 5 KHz lower from time to time.

I was able to calibrate AO-7 on CW today and heard my downlink loud and clear.  Called CQ for the entire pass (~18:30 UTC) with no responses.  Calibration was also verified on XW-2A (CW) and XW-2F (CW and SSB) but with similar results.

I made a single SSB contact, and verified the CW and SSB uplink calibration on XW-2C.

Attempts to raise AO-85 even at point of closest approach were frustrating today.  Even with the youthful male voice identifying “Fox 1” booming in at S9, things were spotty. Every once in awhile I would get into the bird but there were no responses.  I think I’ve read something about the subtone being hard to trigger.

Finally I added several hundred more data packets to the AO-73 warehouse.

 

Posted in AO-7, AO-73, AO-85, FO-29, Satellite, SO-50, XW-2A, XW-2C, XW-2F | Leave a comment