Rig Control Page 1 Troubleshooting Rig Connection Issues There are many reasons HRD can not or will not connect to your radio during initial setup of the software. This document will walk you through some of the checks you can do yourself prior to contacting technical support for assistance. Read and follow the instructions carefully and you should be up and running in no time. The above image shows the Rig Connection screen and indicates the important areas which need to be configured correctly for HRD to connect to your radio. Points #1 and 2 are given. We certainly know the manufacturer and model of our radio. The rest of the information needs to be gathered from several different places. #3, the COM Port. Be sure your radio is connected to the computer by what ever cable you are going to be using. Next, open your Windows Control Panel and in the Control Panel, select Device Manager.
Rig Control Page 2 Your Device Manager may not look exactly like the one pictured above, but you will soon get the idea of how it works. Move down the list of items in the device manager until you see "Ports (COM & LPT). If you don't see this "Ports (COM & LPT)" in the listing, that means the cable you have connected to the radio OR the radio itself requires a driver to be installed to create a virtual serial port that will show up in this area. If you purchased the cable from a vendor, it should have come with an installation CD or instructions on how to install the driver for the USB/Serial converter inside that cable. If you don't have that CD, but know the manufacturer of the cable, you could check for a website and possibly download the correct driver. If your radio is connected directly from a USB on the back of the radio to a USB port on the computer, you need to look in the manual or go to the manufacturer's website, find your radio model and download the proper driver to install on your computer. In most cases, you need to have your radio disconnected from the computer PRIOR to installing the driver. Once the driver is installed, plugging the USB cable back into the computer, COM Port will be assigned and it will show in the device manager. Now, if you see several ports listed in this section and are not sure which one is for the radio connection, if connected by a USB cable to the computer, just unplug the USB cable from the computer and one of the ports will disappear. Make a note of the remaining ports, then plug the USB cable back in and the port that shows back up in addition to the others will be the one that is connected to the radio. Make a note of this port so it can be entered in the Rig Connection Screen of HRD. If for some reason it can not be determined what COM Port the radio is connected to, you can, as a LAST RESORTE, use the "AUTO-DETECT" function from the dropdown port menu.
Rig Control Page 3 #4. Speed. The speed is the rate at which the CAT data is transferred to and from the radio. The default rate set by the manufacturer in the radio should normally be the optimal speed to set here. To find that speed, you will need your radio's owner manual. Most modern radios have some sort of internal menu system. Some are called menu items, some Set Mod items, others something else. No matter what they re called, these are settings within the radio, some of which have multiple functions or settings, and they need to be checked and/or set to specific values in order to connect to HRD. What you are going to look for is something that indicates a "COM PORT BAUD RATE" (Icom uses the term CI-V Baud Rate) and has settings anywhere from 1200 bps up to 115,000 bps. Most radios default to 4800 or 9600 bps for the COM Port speed. Some default to an "AUTO" setting. You should go through your manual until you find the Menu Item or Set Mod that pertains to COM PORT Baud Rate and regardless of the default setting, we recommend a setting of either 4800 or 9600 at the most. Many people feel that faster is better, but it's NOT!. Faster speeds, in some cases, can create more problems than they solve. Once you have selected either 4800 or 9600 in the radio itself, that must be set in the speed field of the HRD Rig Connect Screen. #5 CI-V Address. This is for Icom only. This is automatically set when you select the radio in steps 1 and 2 above. #6 Flow Control / Interface Power. In general, if you are connecting a Yaesu or an Icom radio, you will need to check the RTS only in this section. Kenwood and other similar radios use RTS and CTS. Few if any need to have the DTR checked. If you know the COM Port and Speed are correct, sometimes it takes playing with different combinations of RTS, CTS and DTR until you get the right setting to connect to your particular radio. Once you have all the above options checked and configured, you re ready to connect to your radio. Just press the "CONNECT" button and in a few seconds you should see the black Rig Control Screen. If you selected the "Auto-Detect" in the COM Port field, you will see in the window to the right of the configuration, HRD will check ALL the COM Ports connected to your computer until it finds the one the radio is connected to. This might take a few minutes depending on how many ports are installed on the computer. Still Can't Connect? Another common problem for those who use a serial cable with a DB-9 connector on both ends is having the wrong type of serial cable. There are two types of cables. There is a "straight through" cable in which all pins are connected pin to pin from one end of the cable to the other. There is also a "null modem" serial cable in which pins 2 and 3 are crossed inside the cable so that pin 2 on one end is connected to pin 3 on the other and vice-versa. Again, your radio manual can be your best friend. It should indicate, when a serial cable is needed, whether you require a null modem cable or a straight through cable. If you aren't sure which one you have, you can easily check the pins for continuity using an
Rig Control Page 4 ohm meter. If you aren't sure which you need, contact the radio manufacturers Technical Support for assistance. They should be able to tell you which serial cable you need for your radio. If you are using a USB/Serial converter type cable/interface, and are still having problems connecting we need to check one more thing. If you purchased your cable from e-bay, Radio Shack, an office supply store, discount house, flea market, or other place not specializing in ham radio products, there is a possibility you have gotten one with a Chinese knock-off of the Prolific Chipset in it. These chipsets are very problematic for not only our software but many others who have gotten hold of them by mistake. They are made of poor quality materials and the drivers are poorly written. Problems like inability to connect at all, and if you do manage to connect, the comport can just stop working for no reason, you can get the Blue Screen Of Death for no apparent reason are among just a few of the many issues created by the use of these chips. How can you tell if you have a Prolific chipset in your adapter? That's easy. There are two places you can check: First is in your HRD Rig Connection Screen. Just click on the "Serial Ports" tab. If you see "PROLIFIC" listed in the Manufacturer column in the display, especially if it is on the COM Port you are using for the radio connection. The other place to check is in your Device Manager in the beginning of this document and look for the Ports (COM & LPT). Find the COM Port that's connected to your radio and right-click on the port number, then select Properties. The Properties page should show the manufacturer of the chipset in that USB/Serial converter. If you find a Prolific chipset in either location you may want to consider purchasing a
Rig Control Page 5 new cable/converter with the FTDI or Silicone chipset. The following vendors are recommended for purchasing any of your cable needs. Computer Cables TimeWave: http://www.timewave.com Phone: 1-651-489-5080 RT Systems: http://www.rtsystems.com Phone: 1-800-921-4834 ZLP Electronics: http://www.g4zlp.co.uk In the United States, give Timewave or RTSystems a call. Tell them what radio you have and let them know you need a CAT control cable with a USB/Serial converter and they will be able to fix you up with the proper one for your radio. Their reasonably priced also for what your getting. If you have followed the instructions here, have the proper cable connections and still find you are having problems connecting HRD to your radio, please contact HRD Tech. Support for further assistance. You can enter a Support Ticket from our website, or give us a phone call during normal business hours and we will be happy to get you up and running.