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In this category, you can discuss different ways of connection between EE radios and external Power Amplifiers.
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TOPIC: SS2DX to Acom 1200s

SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 06 Sep 2020 14:58 #1

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Does any one this forum have a SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier That you can share.

Thanks you very much
Ed
Kk4x
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 05 Mar 2021 15:56 #2

i Ed,
I have a Sunsdr2 dx and an Acom 1200S.
I have connected everything without problems using the cat of the amplifier and I can also read Log4om.
Regards.
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 13 Apr 2021 19:25 #3

  • n0rf
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Could you please be a little more specific? Did you make a cable or did you just use a straight through serial cable? If you made a cable, where did you find the pinouts? What settings did you use on the amp? Etc...
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 14 Apr 2021 08:38 #4

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I suppose he will tell you. There are choices: band data from the transceiver or Kenwood protocol serial from the computer as per the DXE-600S-KWD-5 cable from DX Engineering.

If he does not see your follow up question, assuming you still need the information, I am sure he'll answer you in a direct email.
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 14 Apr 2021 16:29 #5

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I really feel dumb. This all doesn't make much sense to me. I thought there would be a simple kenwood protocol cable which I have, that would go from the rig to the amp that would allow the amp to follow the rig whenever the band changed from any computer on the network. At least that is what I want to happen.
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 15 Apr 2021 06:51 #6

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Does the cable that you have fit a socket on the rig? I would think not because you would already know it. Ask IW8KNI what he did. What I would do is connect it from the computer to the amp. If the computer lacks a serial port, just add a cheap USB serial adapter.
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 15 Apr 2021 13:45 #7

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I have the DX Engineering Kenwood cable. One end is the DB15 and the other is a female db9. The amp has a FEMALE db9 as well. I have a gender changer, but I don't want to risk damaging anything. Also, I don't understand what the setting should be in the software. I'm getting to be not very happy with this whole rig, software stuff. It seems to be so damn fiddly and fussy.

I have no computer connected directly to the DX, just the ethernet cable. I bought the amp key cable from NSI and that works fine with my other amp, which is an ACOM 1000. I got the 1200s to be able to have automatic band switching from any computer on my local area network. I'm getting hot switching errors, erratic output, and other errors that I can't bring to mind right now. I have the ecoder plus and it constantly stops working and has to be removed from the usb jack and reinserted for it to work again. I need it for cw. I can send cw for a short time, say a half minute or a minute, then the ecoder stops working, or the amp quits because of hot switching error.

Everyone used to complain about the Japanese radios and their crappy english translation. Well this rig is just as bad. I've been a ham for 45 years and have used just about every rig since the 70s so I'm not a beginner at this. This software uses terms that I've never heard before. The posts to the forums are also barely understandable. Most guys will answer a question with a simple YES with little or no explanation. I don't know if people think everyone knows what they are talking about or what.

This should not be this hard. If nothing else, I'll go back to using the Acom 1000 and use the 1200s with one of the other rigs and forget about the auto band switching. That sort of defeats the whole purpose of getting this rig, though. I got rid of a Flex 6400 because of the constant fiddling around, poor documentation and poor software and expected this radio to be better. It isn't.

You can probably tell I'm not a happy customer as of this morning.
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 15 Apr 2021 14:15 #8

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The schematic for the connection of SunSDR2 DX and ACOM PA is published on the TRX page in the Documentation section, as well as BAND-data settings you need to set in ExpertSDR2 - eesdr.com/en/products-en/transceivers-en/sunsdr2dx-en#documentation

Link to the cable schematic - eesdr.com/images/Document/SunSDR2_DX/SunSDR2DX-ACOM.pdf
BAND-data settings - eesdr.com/images/Document/PDF/BAND%20DATA%20Settings.png
Роман, Roman
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 15 Apr 2021 22:58 #9

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UNLESS that Kenwood Band Date cable is pinned out at shown in what ROMAN posted and is available in the manual
it isn't going to work -

as far as USB issues with the E-coder unless the connector is loose you shouldn't have issues with the E-coder or possibility is your getting RF on a cable to the usb port or bad device drivers for the USB

Also are you using the USB directly to the computer USB PORT or you passing through one of those USB multi extenders-

What terms are you referring too?
Please do not email me and ask for help I no longer will be part of this, If I could delete /remove my profile I would do so.
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 16 Apr 2021 02:42 #10

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Hi Rick,

I had a band data cable made (for my ACOM 700S) from the schematic Roman posted.

Unfortunately, as you noted, the cable does not work. I would be very grateful if you could give me a tip on how to get it to work.

Kind regards

Mathias, DD5MD
73 Mathias, DD5MD
2x SunSDR2 DX
ExpertSDR2 Update 11
MacBook Pro (16", 2023), Apple M2 Pro, 32 GB RAM, 500GB SSD
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 16 Apr 2021 05:00 #11

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I took the easy way out. I connected my 1200S to my TS990. In about 5 minutes I had the rig talking to the amp, the rig keying the amp, and the amp following the rig. I really don't think it even took 5 minutes.

It should be this easy with the DX as well. You shouldn't have to jump around to this chart or that diagram or this matrix to set up a simple amp connection. I have an FTdx5000 and VL1000, same deal, hook up a couple cables and away you go. I have an FTdx10 and Ameritron 1300. Same deal, a couple cables and it works.

The DX is now driving my Acom 1000. No band following or auto tuning, but also no hot switching, no special wiring or cable.

Over the next week or two I will be evaluating whether or not to keep this rig. Some things I really like about it, but others not so much.

As far as I'm concerned, this tread is closed.
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 16 Apr 2021 07:10 #12

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The DX Engineering cable is a CAT cable, not a band data cable. I have one. 2 minutes it takes to set it to send data to the amplifier.

With band data Mathias, you have to correctly program the matrix in ESDR2 or it will not work. Yaesu protocol is supposed to be configured for it but if there are even slight variations, the programming has to be adjusted. It can be done of course but using CAT instead of band data is far more simple.

There are explanations of BCD in the UMA, written by Ray G3XLG and Terry N1KIN, designed to help alongside advice from Roman.
Last Edit: 16 Apr 2021 07:33 by g0cgl.
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 16 Apr 2021 07:32 #13

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Hi Erik,

Do you mean a USB to RS232 cable with FTDI driver to the computer and then enable the Cat interface in the SunSDR? Or do you mean from the DSUB15 socket of the SunSDR to the Cat interface of the ACOM power amplifier?

I have configured the table under "Ext Ctrl" as shown in the picture.

Kind regards

Mathias
ext_ctrl.png
73 Mathias, DD5MD
2x SunSDR2 DX
ExpertSDR2 Update 11
MacBook Pro (16", 2023), Apple M2 Pro, 32 GB RAM, 500GB SSD
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 16 Apr 2021 07:45 #14

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Hello Mathias,

I edited my message above to try to add some meaningful information about BCD. I cannot tell you if your matrix is correct but it is identical to the example given by Ray G3XLG. If the cable is made correctly but does not work, the Acom might need different programming.

Yes I do mean the FTDI USB serial adapter. You can enable the CAT interface but that would then need routing CAT from that interface to the adapter. More straightforward is to enable TCI and then use SDC and its PA tab.

Capture_2021-04-16.png
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SunSdr2 DX control of The Acom 1200s amplifier 17 Apr 2021 09:39 #15

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Hi,

Yesterday I assembled and tested the "Band Decoder MK2" from "RemoteQTH".

Success to transmit the band data to my ACOM 700S I have finally managed. However, on the part of the "SunSDR2 DX" again only via the supplied USB cable with activated Cat interface in the SunSDR2 DX.

Receiving band data via BCD from the SunSDR2 DX was also not possible with the "Band Decoder MK2". I have tried all variants in the Ext Ctrl. As if the pins in the SunSDR2 DX were not connected at all.

I got it with the help of Billy from hamcables.co.uk and several cable variants already not realized.

On the side of the ACOM 700S everything works immediately. Connect pin7, pin8, pin9 and pin10 for band data 0 to 3, select BCD in the menu and that was it.

I think until I find someone who has made it I will tick off the topic.

Kind regards

Mathias, DD5MD

band_decoder_mk2_2.jpg


band_decoder_mk2.jpg


sunsdr2dx_cat.jpg


arduino_band_decoder_mk2.jpg
73 Mathias, DD5MD
2x SunSDR2 DX
ExpertSDR2 Update 11
MacBook Pro (16", 2023), Apple M2 Pro, 32 GB RAM, 500GB SSD
macOS Sonoma 14.0
Last Edit: 17 Apr 2021 09:51 by DD5MD.
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