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Hacker Chronicles 2
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906.PROCATHF.DOC
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1990-01-04
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14KB
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323 lines
Don's Original Designs
Oceanside, Ca
Don Rasmussen WB8YQJ/6
Don's Original Designs proudly introduces ProCat/HF
user customized software. What you get is computer keyboard
control of your transceiver, user defined command keys, contest
callsign duplicate checking, and transceiver memory loads for the
Yaesu FT747GX. The system works with any Icom or Yaesu
transceiver that has provisions for computer control. You need an
IBM compatible computer with hard drive, serial port, and EGA or
VGA graphics card. An interface is required to connect the
computer serial port to the transceiver, which is available from
the transceiver manufacturer. Interfaces can be easily
constructed, and are generally compatible between manufacturers.
A Yaesu FIF232 interface works great with Icom transceivers by
connecting Yaesu DIN #1 to Icom remote connector center, and DIN
#3 to Icom remote connector ground. Once interfaced, the program
allows instant QSY using the numeric keypad on the computer
keyboard. The control keys are grouped to make tuning the
transceiver EASIER than it would be by using the transceiver VFO
knob. You can also add other commands to the transceiver, and
assign any key you wish to perform that command. The programmed
keys are not available during contest duplicate checking, this
makes the duplicate checking easier. More on contest duplicate
checking later. You can change the on screen colors to suit your
taste, and the on screen GMT clock is adjustable to your time
zone. I hope you find ProCat/HF useful in your shack, as many
hours were spent in design, programming, and debugging.
Best 73's
Don
Special Thanks To:
Edward J. Coan
Yaesu Musen Co. Ltd.
Tokyo, Japan
Roy Kessler
Janet Traylor
PC Globe Incorporated
Tempe, Arizona
A Quick Demonstration
All programs and files should be copied onto your hard disk.
To run the program, key in PROCAT and then press the enter key.
Make sure your transceiver and interface are turned on and ready.
Make sure the NumLock light on the keyboard is on.
The program will show you the opening screen, with the
station clock in the upper left corner, and ten VFO
frequencys listed along the right border of the screen. One of
these VFO frequencys will have a highlighted background. You can
change the highlighted frequency by pressing the cursor up or the
cursor down key, these keys are located just to the left of the
numeric keypad.
NOTE: The transceiver that is currently configured is listed just
below the time display. See configuration instructions to change
the current transceiver.
You can set the transceiver display to the highlighted frequency
by pressing the numeric keypad minus (-) key. You can raise the
highlighted frequency by pressing the keypad plus (+) key, the 6
key, the 5 key, or the 4 key. When you press the plus key (+) the
frequency will only be raised by 25 hertz, so you'll have to keep
it depressed for a few seconds to hear a noticable change in the
received signal. You can lower the frequency by pressing the
keypad (enter) key, the 3 key, the 2 key, or the 1 key. Again,
you'll have to hold down the (enter) key for a couple seconds to
notice any change. Transceiver mode can also be changed by
entering the first letter of the mode. Notice how all tuning of
the transceiver can be easily done with one hand over the numeric
keypad, and very little looking at the keys.
If you want to change the highlighted frequency to something
completely different, press the "b" key to enter a new VFO
frequency.
The TEN VFO's on the screen have a description in the lower right
corner of the screen. You can change this description by pressing
"e" then pressing "l". Or, you can clear this group of VFO's by
pressing "e" then pressing "e" again.
There are up to 20 groups of TEN VFO's, the group number is
listed just to the left of the description. A different group of
VFO's can be called by pressing "r" then entering a new group
number (from 1 to 20).
Main Menu Key Definitions
F2 - adjusts on screen window color.
F3 - adjusts on screen text color.
F4 - adjusts the station clock.
F5 - starts contest callsign checking.
F6 - finishes contest callsign checking.
F9 - clears the contest callsign file.
b - enter a new base frequency in highlighted VFO position.
r - request a different page of VFO's.
e - edit the label or erase a page of VFO's.
o - call the configuration options program.
u, l, c, a, f, n - used to set transceiver mode.
KEYPAD KEYS
4 - Up 100 KHZ
1 - Down 100 KHZ
5 - Up 10 KHZ
2 - Down 10 KHZ
6 - Up 1 KHZ
3 - Down 1 KHZ
(plus key) - up 25 HZ
(enter key) - down 25 HZ
(minus key) - set displayed frequency, no change.
(cursor keys) - select displayed VFO.
Duplicate QSO Checking
Press F5 to start contest duplicate callsign checking. All
keys other than numeric keypad keys are disabled. Use the keypad
to tune in a contest station. Key in the station's callsign and
press return. If the call begins with the number 1 through 6
(this rarely happens) preceed the call with an asterisk. The call
will be added to the list, and displayed in large letters if it
is a good call. Then, try to work the station, use the displayed
QSO number in the exchange. If you can't work him, press the
backspace key to drop him from the list. If the call is a
duplicate, it is not added to the list, and the WARNING LEMON is
displayed. Over 900 calls can be saved. Press F6 to save the log
and return to ragchew mode. Press F9 to clear the duplicate log.
Configuration and Customization
Configuration can be as simple as defining your graphics
card and transceiver brand. Or, you can define custom keys by
looking up the computer command data in your Yaesu transceiver
manual or the Icom C/IV communications manual. An example of this
would be to define the "S" key. First, specify a label for the
key, like "SPLIT ON". Then, look in your transceiver manual to
find the command bytes that perform this function, and key in
that data. When you finish, this will be displayed on the screen
S - SPLIT ON . You can also position this label anywhere on
the screen you want. From then on, whenever you press the upper
case S, the split function on your transceiver will be turned on.
You may want to define the lower case "s" as SPLIT OFF. There are
20 keys available for definition.
The options screen is available by pressing "o" from the
main menu. Then press return to select configuration from the
options menu. Here is the list of options and the responses
required.
Change Basic Configuration? - enter Y to specify a different
brand of transceiver than that listed under the time on the main
menu.
Configure Icom Transceiver? - enter Y to select an Icom transceiver.
Did you modify your rig for 9600 BPS operation? - All Icoms come
from the factory configured for 1200 BPS. There is a jumper in
the transceiver that can be moved to enable a higher speed
transfer. Enter Y if you've enabled this option. (A Good Idea.)
Command Data is 5 Bytes Long, is the command byte sent last?
(Yaesu Only) - All Yaesu commands are 5 bytes long. Depending on
your model the command byte may be the first byte, or more often,
the last byte of the string.
Frequency set command byte? (Yaesu Only) - is usually 0a, look in
your manual and remember to enter zero and not the letter "O" in
these hexadecimal responses.
Setup Operating Modes? - enter y to define the keys used to set
transceiver mode.
Mode set command byte? - Icom users enter 00. Yaesu transceivers
that have one command byte and four dummy bytes for the mode set
command (this is rare) enter 00. For all other Yaesu's enter the
value that will be first or last in the 5 byte string (this byte
is also called the "instruction byte" by Yaesu.).
Configuration and Customization
(Continued)
AM mode set command byte? - Icom users enter 02, Yaesu users
enter the AM command byte, also called the mode set "parameter
byte" by Yaesu.
CW mode set command byte? - Icom users enter 03, Yaesu users
enter the CW narrow parameter byte.
FM mode set command byte? - Icom users enter 05, Yaesu users
enter the FM narrow parameter byte.
LSB mode set command byte? - Icom users enter 00, Yaesu users
enter the LSB parameter byte.
CWN mode set command byte? - Icom user enter 04 (RTTY), Yaesu
users enter the CWN parameter byte.
USB mode set command byte? - Icom users enter 01, Yaesu users
enter the USB parameter byte.
Suggested values were listed for Icom because all Icom radios use
the same values, Yaesu values should be taken from the
transceiver manual.
OTHER CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
Adjust memory loading delay?(Yaesu FT747GX only) - enter a large
enough value in this delay to ensure that memorys are not loaded
into the FT747GX too fast, when this happens memorys are lost
after the transceiver is powered down.
Use auxillary serial port? - enter Y to use Comm Port 2.
Use VGA graphics? - enter Y if you have VGA graphics.
Change the programmable keys? - enter Y to see a list of the
programmable keys that have been defined, and to change them if
you wish.
Programmable keys available 20 - Press an alphabetic key. You
Press Esc to finish will redefine the key if it is
on the custom key list that
borders the left side of the screen. You can define a new key
if it does not appear on the list. Remember that upper case and
lower case are different keys. Press Esc to finish.
Enter key label - Enter a short description of the key you want
to define, such as SPLIT ON, SPLIT OFF, WWV, CLARIFIER ON, etc.
This description will be seen on the main menu. The letters are
small, using upper case improves readability.
Configuration and Customization
(Continued)
Enter Command (10 digits) - this is where you will enter the
actual byte string from your transceiver manual that will perform
the function you described in the (Enter key label) procedure.
For example, in the Yaesu FT747GX manual the SPLIT ON command
consists of these 5 bytes ( 00 00 00 01 01 ). In this example,
these are the exact 10 digits to enter (there are always
two digits in one byte). Remember that although the values you
are entering are in hexadecimal, there is no conversion required
by you!. Simply plug the ten digits in the way they are listed in
the manual. All Yaesu commands are 10 digits (which is also 5
bytes) long. Whatever you put in this ten digit field will be
sent directly to your transceiver, with no changes in byte order
etc. Icom commands are not always ten digits long, here is the
format for Icom commands. In the Icom CI/V manual (available to
anyone, free from Icom) on page 13 there is a sample FM Mode
command. It looks like this ( FE FE 04 F1 01 05 FD ). Every
command in Icoms manual starts with FE FE 04 F1 , and ends with
FD. Since that is true, the program will provide these characters
to the transceiver for you. In this example, if you ignore the
characters that the program adds for you, ( 01 05 ) is all that
is left. These are the digits for you to enter. When the program
asks for ten digits, key this in ( 01 05 FD FD FD ). Always use FD
to fill out the ten digit field. As an added example, the command
on page 12 looks like this ( FE FE 04 F1 00 10 32 54 21 FD ) for a
frequency set of 21.543.21 MHZ. You enter this ( 00 10 32 54 21 ).
Arrange key labels onscreen? - enter Y if you want to display
your key labels in another part of the screen.
Move which key? - find a custom defined key somewhere on the
screen that you want to move. Press that key to select it.
Use the cursor keys to position the label - move the key label
wherever it looks good, then press Esc to paste it in position.
FINAL NOTES
If the main file CATBASE.DAT is damaged, etc. Just remove the
damaged file and execute ProEdit.exe A new file will be built.
ProCat.EXE - main program ProEdit.EXE - options program
Catbase.dat - database ProCatHF.DOC - documentation
EGAPCA.DAT - EGA SCREEN 1 EGAPCB.DAT - EGA SCREEN 2
VGAPCA.DAT - VGA SCREEN 1 VGAPCB.DAT - VGA SCREEN 2
TT747.EXE - FT747 program PT747.EXE - prints the database
I can accept no responsibility for damages caused either directly
or indirectly from the use of this free program. If you like
ProCat/HF please pass it on to a friend, and remember your pal,
Don Rasmussen, Oceanside Ca. January 1990