INTERFACE REQUIRED

For any transceiver to be able to be used with a PC to decode and send the various data modes that are available for amateur radio use some kind of external electronic interface is required to connect the radio to the computer.

This can be done by constructing a DIY interface that connects the AF in, AF out, PTT and Key connections on the radio to the PC's sound card and data interface, eg RS232 serial port.

To make connections to the radio easier, the ICOM IC706MK2G has dedicated sockets on the rear for this purpose. There is a 6 pin mini DIN socket for connection to a TNC for packet operation, and a 13 pin 'Accessory Socket' that allows all the necessary connections to an external interface unit that will be used for connection to the PC so that all the data modes can be used.

There are a variety of  external interfaces available, but the best value ones seem to come from Tigertronics. http://www.tigertronics.com/ I chose their SignaLink USB sound card product. This offers the easiest method of connecting the Icom transceiver to a PC. The SignaLink is supplied with a cable specifically wired for many different transceivers and wiring diagrams are supplied for many models.

I bought my SignaLink USB with a cable suitable for connection to the Icom IC706MK2G, of course. What makes the process so much easier than some other products is that there aren't lots of separate cables and plugs to hook up to the PC's sound card input and output and the serial port. In fact the PC does not even need a sound card. The SignaLink takes care of all that on-board and simply connects to the PC with a single USB cable. All it took was a few moments for Windows to identify the necessary drivers and it was ready to configure.

There are some sound card settings to take care of, but the SignaLink instructions covered the necessary details.

http://www.tigertronics.com/


SOFTWARE REQUIRED

Before it is possible to use any data modes it is necessary to install some software onto the PC that will do the job.  Fortunately there is a wide variety available, much of it free to use. e.g  HamScope, MultiPSK, MMTTY, MMSSTV, Ham Radio Deluxe + Digimaster 780. These free programs have been written by some extremely clever radio amateurs / computer programming experts and have been very kindly offered free of charge for others to take advantage of. Thank you!!

Of course there is also commercial paid-for software available at various price points from reasonably priced to very expensive. e.g. MIXW and SkySweeper.

The Tigertronics SignaLink is supplied with a CD rom containing a huge array of free data software so this saves downloading time. I just chose the software that I needed and installed it from the disk. I found that, as expected, each individual software program also needed a certain amount of configuration too.

As at August 2008 I have merely experimented with a few of these programs. MultiPSK seems very comprehensive indeed, but has a very daunting user interface. Hamscope is quite simple to set up and use. My favourite so far is Digimaster 780. Digimaster 780 is very comprehensive and seems quite straightforward in use and has a modern looking user interface.

That's as far as I've got so far, and I will continue persevering with Digimaster 780 as my favoured digital modes program.





Links:

Digimaster 780 with HamRadioDeluxe: http://hrd.ham-radio.ch/

HamScope: http://www.qsl.net/hamscope/

MultiPSK: http://f1ult.free.fr/DIGIMODES/MULTIPSK/digimodesF6CTE_en.htm

MMSSTV: http://amateur-radio.ca/

MMTTY: http://mmhamsoft.amateur-radio.ca/mmtty/

W1WC's Featured Software page: http://www.w1wc.com/software/



THE DATA MODES:

The data modes that I would like to get to grips with in the future are CW (morse code), PSK31, RTTY and perhaps SSTV too.