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1992-05-23
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ICR7000
Icom IC-R7000 Receiver Control Program
THIS IS FREEWARE!
by
Bart Wolther
N2PXJ
437 Railroad Avenue
Westbury, NY 11590
IMPORTANT:
To greatly improve the functionality of this program, be sure to use the
Squelch-detect Cable described in this documentation. You can build one from
common, Radio-Shack-available parts.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS:
Icom R7000 Radio Receiver (or other CI-V compatible radio), CT-17 or
compatible radio interface, PC-compatible computer with serial port, cables
OPTIONAL HARDWARE:
Squelch-detect Cable (I tell you below how to make one) and parallel port
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THIS PROGRAM:
This is an Icom IC-R7000 receiver control program. I designed it to work
with the CT-17 computer interface. It allows you to maintain, on your PC,
databases of frequencies, and to download them to your radio.
TO START THE PROGRAM:
Start the program by typing:
ICR7000
CONFIGURING THE SOFTWARE:
The program has a SETU<P> option which allows you to specify several
parameters. Be sure to run SETU<P> the first time you run the program.
SETUP PARAMETERS:
COMPORT: the serial port your radio interface is connected to. This
should be 1 (COM1) or 2 (COM2).
BAUD RATE: the baud rate at which your radio interface is set. This
should be 1200 or 9600.
LPT: the parallel port to which you have a Squelch-detect Cable, if any,
attached. This should be 1 (LPT1), 2 (LPT2), or 3 (LPT3). Instructions
for building your own Squelch-detect Cable are given below.
DATABASE FILE NAME: the name of a text file which will serve as a
frequency database. You can use any path/file name. See below for how to
build a frequency database.
EDITOR NAME: the name of a text editor which you will use to modify the
database. You can specify the name of your favorite editor, e.g. EDLIN,
EDIT, etc.
HOW TO BUILD A FREQUENCY DATABASE:
A frequency database is actually a simple text file. You build the file
using your favorite text editor, such as EDIT or EDLIN. Each line of the
file contains a frequency, mode and, optionally, a description of the
channel, separated by commas. For example:
145.0100, FMN, 2 Meter Packet Radio BBS
The line above specifies a frequency of 145.01 MHz, a transmission mode of
narrow FM, and a description: "2 Meter Packet Radio BBS".
The recognized mode designators are AM, FM, FMN, and SSB.
You can use the <E>DIT command to invoke your text editor (specified in the
SETU<P> command) with your database file (also in SETU<P>), and thereby edit
your database. You must use the <G>ET command (see below) to download your
database into the radio.
DOWNLOADING FREQUENCIES FROM A DATABASE TO THE RADIO'S MEMORY CHANNELS:
There is a memory channel <G>ET option which allows you to load frequencies
from the database file into the R7000. It asks you to specify a search
string, and then loads frequencies from all lines in your database file that
contain your search string. You may optionally specify two or more search
strings separated by commas, in which case an AND search will be performed
in which all frequencies containing all of the search strings will be
loaded.
Once channels are loaded from the database, you can use the PageUp and
PageDown keys to switch through memory channels, and the program will
display the corresponding channel descriptions as you switch.
THE SQUELCH-DETECT CABLE:
This program has the ability to recognize the R7000's squelch status which
allows the program to know if the radio is tuned to a coherent transmission.
To enable this capability, you must hook up a special "Squelch-detect
Cable". This cable is a quick and dirty solution to a major shortcoming in
the R7000's computer interface: an inability to detect the radio's squelch
status. The cable works by connecting your radio's REMOTE jack to your
computer's parallel port.
BUILDING A SQUELCH-DETECT CABLE:
To build the cable, you go (if necessary) to Radio Shack and buy three
things:
- a length of computer cable with 2 or more conductors R.S.#278-777
- a male, two-conductor, 1/8" mini-plug (i.e. an earphone plug)
R.S.#274-286
- a male DB-25 connector (25-pin D-Sub), crimp-type, R.S.#276-1429
Using the computer cable, connect the tip of the mini-plug to pin # 2 of the
DB-25 and the base of the mini plug to pin # 23 of the DB-25. Then plug the
mini plug into the REMOTE jack of your R7000, and plug the DB-25 to the
parallel port on your computer. That's all there is to it.