home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- March 31, 1996
-
- A Computer Aided Tuning program for the Yaesu FT-767GX
- Eugene L. Langberg WA3AKK
- P. O. Box 176
- Gwynedd Valley, PA 19437
-
- This disk has the following programs on it:
-
- CATCOM1.C Source and Binary files for
- CATCOM1.EXE use through PC serial port COM1
-
- CATCOM2.c Source and Binary files for
- CATCOM2.EXE use through PC serial port COM2
-
- LISTING.TXT A listing of CATCOM2.C with line
- numbers and an index to
- functions to facilitate finding
- one's way through the code.
-
- GENERAL.DAT A sample list of stored General
- stations.
- REPEATER.DAT The same for repeaters.
-
- README This file.
-
- The Hardware Setup
-
- The Yaesu FT-767GX is connected to a Yaesu FIF-232C
- through the transceiver's 6 pin Din Cat Jack on the rear
- panel. The FIF-232C converts the receiver's TTL levels
- to RS-232C levels. An AT type PC's serial port is
- connected to the FIF-232C's 25 pin connector which only
- uses 5 lines. The FIF-232C uses pin 2 as TXD, pin 3 as
- RXD, pin 5 as CTS, pin 6 as DSR and pin 7 as common.
-
- In my setup, the computer was about 75 feet from the
- FIF-232C but still worked well. During program
- development I used a 486 AT machine because I used a
- Microsoft C/C++ Version 7 compiler which requires at
- least a 386. I also went into the computer through its
- COM2 port. (There is a mouse connected to its COM1
- port.)
-
- Since the program was developed I use an AT 286 Compaq
- portable through its COM1 port. It too works well.
-
- The nature of the Software
-
- The program was first developed in 1990 to operate on a
- PDP-11/23. It was developed using the old DECUS C
- compiler whose last release, that I am aware of, was in
- 1981. It was a K&R compiler with a very limited
- library. The program was limited to tuning the FT-
- 767GX using all of the commands made available by Yaesu
- in the set's protocol. The program worked very well and
- never ceased to amaze me in the speed with which the set
- responded to my commands.
-
- In 1994 I decided to port many programs from the PDP-11
- to the PC. (The PDP-11/23 is getting to be a very old
- machine.) Among them this program, which was ported in
- 1995. The first roughly 1200 lines of code are from the
- original program with many changes required to get it to
- compile under the ANSI C/C++ compiler. The rest of the
- code was added to increase the memory for stations from
- 10 in the FT-767GX almost as many as you want. At this
- point the program is set to remember 100 general
- receiver stations in the GENERAL.DAT file and 25
- repeater pairs in the REPEATER.DAT file. Without
- changing the memory model under which the program is
- compiled, (the default model) the GENERAL.DAT memory can
- be extended to about 450 stations and the REPEATER.DAT
- memory can be extended to about 250. I selected 100 in
- one and 25 in the other because these seemed to be
- enough for my area and the way I operate.
-
- The program's operation in general
-
- On startup the program does some checking. The program
- requires ANSI.SYS for correct displays. Therefor, its
- first action is to check to see if ANSI.SYS was loaded
- when the machine was booted. If it was not you are told
- to add it to your config.sys file and reboot, and the
- program exits to DOS.
-
- If ANSI.SYS is present a help screen appears. The help
- screen lists 19 commands and their modifiers of the 20
- given in Yaesu's protocol. The program assumes that if
- you are running the program you will want to turn CAT ON
- when you start and OFF when you quit, and so does this
- for you and hides the CAT command from you.
-
- Three additional commands have been added. The first is
- help. Entering help at the prompt brings up the help
- screen to assist you in recalling the commands and what
- they do.
-
- The second is diskmem. Entering diskmem at the prompt
- takes you into the part of the program that allows the
- manipulation of the GENERAL.DAT and REPEATER.DAT files.
- This allows you to create the files, add or remove
- stations from them by hand, add the station you are
- tuned to automatically or read through the files to see
- what is there. You also have the option to recall
- stations listed in the DAT files and doing so
- automatically tunes the set to the selected station.
-
- The third is edit. When you save or store a station you
- are tuned to the program automatically records the
- information in the VFOs, frequency, mode etc. but it
- asks you for the station's call letters and location.
- Often I do not know these, therefor I will enter some
- question marks. Edit is available only when you first
- bring the program up and it allows you to edit the call
- letters and location fields to correct them or add them
- when you learn what they are. You are allowed to use
- edit even if the radio is not turned on.
-
- If you do not enter edit but press return the program
- proceeds to initialize the port to meet the requirements
- of the FT-767GX. It then checks the port to see if it
- is live. If it is not, a message is displayed telling
- you to check the cable connections and turn on the
- interface device, and then exits to dos. If the port is
- live, (CTS & DSR are asserted) the program sends a check
- command to the FT-767GX and displays the information
- returned by the radio. You are up and running, the
- cursor moves to a corner bracket prompt symbol in the
- lower left corner of the screen and all is ready for
- your commands.
-
- Some general remarks
-
- The program code is not greatly commented. I hate
- obfuscated code in any language and therefor tend to
- write code in simple form. I find that I can go back to
- the code after some time and still understand it. This
- code is not difficult to follow. However, some of it
- may appear to be meaningless without reference to the
- protocol listed in the last three pages of Yaesu's
- operating manual for the FT-767GX. I have included
- copies with the disk.
-
- For ease in finding ones way around in the code I
- suggest that one read the file LISTING.TXT rather than
- one of the *.C files. The code in both CATCOM2.C and
- LISTING.TXT is the same. The difference is that in
- LISTING.TXT there are line numbers in front of each line
- of code and an index list at the start. If you want to
- find main for example, look in the index list for main.
- Note the number in front of main. Then look for that
- line in the code by number and it will be main.
-
- Have fun.
-
- DISCLAIMER
-
- I release this software to the public domain for use by
- anyone who wants it. It's not copyrighted, comes with no
- support and I disclaim any responsibility for any
- consequential damages resulting from its use, correct or
- otherwise.
-