Transmitting SSTV with MultiScan 3B & Mac

Has anyone gotten FLRIG or cocoa modem 2.0 to work with a Yaesu FT-991 on an iMac?

I need one of them to transmit with the SSTV program MultiScan 3B, which doesn't have its own PTT feature.

(I have my radio connected directly to my iMac via USB. I have FLDIGI and WSJT-X working fine.)

I'm having problems using the PPT feature thru the USB Audio Codec? With FLRIG I just keep getting it to activate my 991's mic. I can't get cocoa modem to work at all.


Thanks.

 

Have you tried using VOX?

Except for WSJT-x I use VOX for all other modes on my K3.

***Sorry, I missed you PPT (sic) comment. Guess I am of no help here!


Rick
K6LE

 

Hi Jeffery,

There are a number of different ways to approach keying the rig from any digi programme.

As Rick suggested above using VOX is the most straightforward and you don't need to use a PTT signal with MultiScan. By the looks of things you have the USB Audio Codec working, I'm assume you can decode incoming signals OK? You just need to make sure that in the app's Preference window that you have selected the USB Audio Codec as the audio output, then simply enable VOX on the rig and you should be good to go. It's the setup I use with my FT-1000D and it work's just fine.

It is not normally possible to send a PPT signal via the USB Audio Codec, as the title suggests that interface simply handles audio signals to and from the rig, not radio control signals.

If you want to use hardware PTT with MultiScan you will need to use the CAT port on the back of the rig, it's marked GPS/CAT. This is a standard RS232 interface and is used to send and receive control data to and from the rig, PPT signals, Frequency data etc. You'll also need a copy of cocoaPTT which you can get here http://www.w7ay.net/site/Applications/cocoaPTT/ Assuming you have the proper interface cable to go between the rig and the iMac try the following.

Start cocoaPTT and in the Preference section go to the Serial Port tab. There you will see a popup menu which lists all of the serial ports available on the computer, the one you are looking for is probably named something like "usbserial-AL01B7MF".

Select that and close the Preference window. You should then see a small windows titled cocoaPTT 2.0 this will allow you
to key the PPT line manually to test that everything is working properly.

The final step is to go into the Preference section of MultiScan and in the SSTV tab you'll see the word PTT with a popup menu next to it, from that menu select cocoaPTT and you should be good to go.

As for FLRIG I'm not sure that's going tho work for you at all, from what I remember it doesn't have the interface for the FT-991.

Hope this helps but any problems feel free to get back to me.


Kind regards,



Sean.

 

Good tips, Sean.

As a note, the 991 has been supported in Flrig for some time now.

 

Ah ha, I should have checked flrig

Flirg does indeed support the FT-991.

However while looking through the FT-991 CAT Operating Manual it does appear to suggest that there is a driver available
from Yaesu which will allow a direct USB to USB connection between the computer and the rig, but, isn't there always a but, the driver would appear to be PC only

See https://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?c...8BE5568D7E2B5E2131&DivisionID=65&isArchived=0

To get around that what might be worth trying is getting a USB to Serial converter cable to connected between the iMac and the GPS/CAT port on the rig. From reading through the CAT Operation manual it seems to suggest that you need to select Menu Item "028" on the rig and set it to "RS232". I guessing that commands the rig to use the GPS/Cat port for serial comms rather that the USB port.

Once you have that done launch Flrig, go to the Config menu and select Setup/Transceiver.

Under the Primary tab, select your rig, FT-991, for the Serial Port click on the menu and once again look for something like
"cu.usbserial-AL01B7MF" which will be your USB to Serial interface cable.

Set that and with a bit of luck, fingers crossed you might be working.

Unless that is of course someone knows better?


Sean.

 

You can download the OS X drivers from http://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/pages/usbtouartbridgevcpdrivers.aspx

 

So, if I already have FLDigi and WSJT-X working via a direct USB to USB connection form the radio to iMac, wouldn't I already have some drivers installed? Not sure if I need those drivers...

I do have the audio input and output set to the USB Audio Codec in the preferences of MultiScan 3B. I even have cocoaPTT selected on the SSTV tab. When I transmit in MultiScan 3B, cocoaPTT is set to transmit, but my radio doesn't see the info coming from cocoaPTT to actually go into transmit mode.

I also emailed the developer of MultiScan for help, but have yet to hear back from them.

 

The drivers reference was for G0OAN who wasn't sure about OS X drivers.

Can you put the rig into VOX mode when using digital modes over the USB connection? Once audio is detected, it should key even if you don't have a positive PTT control; not ideal but it should get you on the air.

 

Hi Jeffery,

I think perhaps there might be a little confusion going on here. Do forgive me if I begin telling you something you already know.

It would appear the USB port on the FT-991 is capable of preforming two different functions at the same time, acting as a USB Audio Codec, to provide audio signals to and from the rig and it can also act as a CAT Serial Port to send / receive the data control signals to the rig, get and set the PPT status, frequency data, power levels, memories, receive signal strength readings and a whole host of other things.

The first one, USB Audio Codec you appear to have working however in MultiScan, and indeed any digital software I can think of you can set it up to transmit without the need to send a PPT signal to the rig. In MultiScan simple set the PPT menu to "None".

Then you need to enable the VOX setting on the rig so that the transceiver will automatically start transmitting as soon as it receives audio tones from the computer via the USB Audio Codec. Setting things up this way there would be no need to use cocoaPTT.

The second, the CAT Serial Port provides full functional control of the rig but that will require the driver as indicated by Dave, K3DCW. The driver will let your iMac know that it has a USB data interface connected and how to access it to send control data to and from the rig. That should allow programmes like FLRig to access the frequency data, memories settings, power levels and all that other good stuff.

Hope this helps.


Sean.

 

So far, I haven't used the CAT serial port because I've been able to use the USB port on the radio for FLDigi and WSJT-X. I have gotten FLRig to work with that USB port, but I have to manually hit the transmit button to do so, but even with the virtual serial/USB port it only activates the hand mic from the radio.

So to try out what you all said , I put my 991 into VOX mode and it doesn't hear MultiScan when I transmit.

I really don't know what is up with this program.