Re: [amsat-bb] FT-847 and USB-to-Serial Converter

[Margaret Leber <maggie@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Monday 04 March 2002 13:07, Phil Karn wrote in "Re: [amsat-bb] 
FT-847 and USB-to-Serial Converter":

> I've noticed that whenever radio manufacturers design a control
> interface, they toss in the kitchen sink in some ways but still
> manage to leave out crucial features. You'll have dozens of commands
> all relating to the radio's obscure scanning and frequency memory
> features, but you won't have any way to set the FM squelch or the FM
> RF transmit level, for example.

Would that were the case with the FT-847 CAT. There's *nothing* dealing 
with the memories, or with scanning; the only access you would have to 
the memories would be by reverse-enginering the memory-clone data 
stream. The clone funtions still have to be initiated from the front 
panel though. CAT will let you *tune* the various VFOs, and set their 
operating modes modes. 

> If you're going to design for multiple radios, use only the absolute
> basic commands, those likely to be implemented on every radio...

Well, that's basically my intention. In fact, the software uses a Java 
interface defining the generic core radio functionality used by the GUI 
front-end, basically an internal command set. It's left up to the 
author of support for a particular radio to write to that interface. 
Naturally that interface needs to be sparse; it can't use anything that 
*any* supported radio can't do somehow. 

And a number things you cited in the list to be done in software can't 
be done on an FT-847 *at all*. I'm sure that as soon as I crack open 
the ICOM 746 spec, I'm going to see ways the internal interface spec 
will need to be revised.

One motivation for this project was teh fact that while an FT-847 
*will* scan, trying to take control of that scanning in real time is 
very difficult; too many tiny little buttons and menus...  

> You could also do fine tuning (<100 Hz steps) in DSP, again to 
> accomodate radios like the R-7000 that can't tune more finely than 
> that.

Hmmm. Yeah. I haven't tackled any real DSP stuff yet, although that's 
certainly somethink I'd like to do in the future. For satellite things, 
I have John Melton's (N6LYT/G0ORX) nice code for doing satellite 
tracking and doppler calc from JStation; that's one wheel I won't have 
to reinvent. I'll probably lift a lot of how he handle keps and skeds, 
too, although JStation seems to be oriented towards automated digital 
ground stations. And there's still logging to figure out...

 73 de Maggie K3XS 

-- 
-----/___.   _)   Margaret Stephanie Leber    / "The art of progress  /
----/(, /|  /| http://voicenet.com/~maggie   / consists of preserving/
---/   / | / |  _   _   _    `  _AOPA 925383/ order amid change and /
--/ ) /  |/  |_(_(_(_/_(_/__(__(/_  FN20hd / change amid order."   /
-/ (_/   '  K3XS  .-/ .-/    ARRL 39280   /___ --A.N.Whitehead ___/
/____ICQ 7161096_(_/_(_/__AMSAT 32844____/ <maggie@voicenet.com>

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