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Rig Control Feature of BPQ32 switch.



BPQ32.dll included a Rig Control feature, which allows applications to control the frequency and operating mode of your tranceivers. It has support for ICOM , Kenwood and Yaesu rigs, but not all models are supported.

It also provides a PTT interface for use by the Winmor Module

Several ICOM radios can be connected to a single CI-V interface (just connect the leads to the radios in parallel, and make sure you set Tranceive off in the CI-V menu).

Supports Scanning, including time-based scanning.
Only supported at the moment for Pactor and Winmor.
Supports selecting signal bandwidth for modes such as WINMOR and Pactor III.
Supports an Antenna Switching facility.
Supports selecting Repeater Shift and Data Mode for some ICOM Tranceivers.

Commands can be entered to the node command interpreter, or after an ATTACH command.

Available Commands are: 

RADIO n SCANSTART (n)			// n is an optional delay before starting (in seconds)
RADIO n SCANSTOP

ICOM rigs allow selection of Mode and IF Filter:

RADIO n Freq Mode Filter [Options] eg RADIO 5 14.112 USB 2 W, where 5 is the port with the TNC attached.

Yeasu and Kenwood rigs don't allow selection of IF filter:

RADIO n Freq Mode  eg RADIO 5 14.112 USB [Options], where 5 is the port with the TNC attached.

Note frequency is specified in MHz with a single decimal point - ie 14.1125, not 14.112.5.

Valid Options are:

    N - Select Narrow Bandwidth Mode (eg Winmor 500 Hz, Pactor I/II), or Normal Packet on SCS Tracker
    W - Select Wide Bandwidth Mode (eg Winmor 1600 Hz, Pactor III)
    R - Select Robust Packet on SCS Tracker
    D - Select Data Mode for ICOM 746
    + - S - Select Repeater Shift or Simplex
    A1 A2 A3 A4 - Select Antennas. These switch the DTR and RTS control lines as follows:
      A1  RTS LOW  DTR LOW
      A2  RTS LOW  DTR HIGH
      A3  RTS HIGH DTR LOW
      A4  RTS HIGH DRT HIGH

If you need more than one, combine into a single string, eg RADIO 5 14.112 USB 2 WA1D

After an attach, the port number should not be specified - it is taken from the ATTACH command. Also it would not normally be sensible to issue SCANSTART or SCANSTOP commands when attached to a port. The code does an automatic SCANSTOP when a port is attached, and a SCANSTART 15 when it disconnects.

So the only useful command is the set frequency: 

RADIO Freq Mode Filter eg RADIO 14.112 USB 2 (ICOM)

RADIO Freq Mode eg RADIO 14.112 USB (Yaesu)

So a Mail Forwarding script could have: 

ATTACH 5
RADIO 14.110 USB 2
C CALLSIGN

If you call different stations on different frequencies, but want to return to listening on a single frequency after making a call, enter just that frequency in the scan list.

The driver configuration is specified in the configuration for the corresponding WINMOR/Pactor Port.

Configuration.

For a Port that just provides PTT control via the serial port RTS or DTR Lines, use TYPE of PTTONLY

RIGCONTROL COM2 19200 PTTONLY

For ICOM radios specify Port, Speed, Model, CI-V Address, BPQ Port Number, Scan Rate, Optional Frequencies/Modes to scan

Frequency must be followed by a '/', a Mode Char L=LSB U=USB R=RTTY C=CW F=FM, and a Filter (1/2/3). Check your radio Manual (or select the filter you want and look in the status window).
You can also specify any of the Options mentioned above - N W D + - S A1 A2 A3 A4

RIGCONTROL COM2 19200 ICOM IC706 5e 4 14.103/U1W 14.112/U1 18.1/U1N 10.12/L1

If you want to scan different frequencies at different times of day, put a time (Format hh:ss) between sets of Frequencies, eg
14.112/U1 12:00 18.1/U1 10.12/l1 18:00 3.65/U1 3.66/U1. There is an implied 00:00 before the first frequency. Times are UTC

There is no hard limit on the number of freqencies to scan.
If you want the radio to return to a fixed listening frequency after making calls on another, you can have a single entry in the list

For Yaesu and Kenwood radios, the format is similar, except for not having a CI-V address or a Filter:

RIGCONTROL COM2 19200 YAESU FT474 4 14.103/UW 14.112/U 18.1/UN 10.12/U
RIGCONTROL COM2 19200 KENWOOD TS2000 4 14.103/UW 14.112/U 18.1/UN 10.12/L

For the Yaesu FT2000, you can also specify PU or PL, for PKT-U or PKT-L modes.

If you are using RTS and/or DTR PTT for WINMOR, you can use a different COM port for scanning and for PTT. Add PTTCOMn after the speed param, eg

RIGCONTROL COM2 19200 PTTCOM3 ICOM IC706 5e 4 14.103/U1W 14.112/U1 18.1/U1N 10.12/L1

John Wiseman GM8BPQ/G8BPQ
Updated April 2011