Hello,

a few months ago I bought a Sun SDR2 Pro. I'm very pleased with it. Unbelievably good transceiver.
Now I'm building the Loftur automatic loopcontroller and for it to work I have to connect the loopcontroller's RS232 with the Sun.
Can you give me advice about how I should connect the RS232 RXD, TXD and Gnd with the Ext ctrl connector of the Sun. Problem is the Sun has RS-458 protocol.
I add the pin lay-out of the external ctrl connector on the sun and the loopcontroller schematic.


Many thanks in advance,

Does someone know how to connect the Rx/Tx/Gnd lines of the loopcontroller with a Serial to USB convertor cable (active) to the PC and use SDC to deliver the VFO frequencies on that USB port?
Would be a much more elegant way, but how to set up the software?

Hi,

until the end of 2019 the RS485 was not enabled.
You can send frequency to the loop controller in different ways, it depends mostly on your own setup.
Supposing your USB to Serial converter is on COM20 you can:
1- configure COM20 in the CAT configuration of EESDR program;
2- configure COM20 as a Port in the SDC RigSpider panel;
3- use (improperly) the PA control in SDC.

About the RX/TX/GND lines, I suppose you need a NULL MODEM cable (that is swapping TX and RX lines on one side of the DB9 cable).

73' iw7dmh

Hi,

Thank you for the suggested solutions.
I already ruled out nr. 3 although it works. (In the log window I see each change in VFO frequencies).
So It seems nr.2 is the most practical way to go.
Tonight I'll try to fix it.
I let you know how it goes.

73,s form Henri ON4ABX

Hi,

No succes yesterday night. My rs232-usb convertor seems to be defective. I ordered a new one.
www.sparkfun.com/products/12977
I hope I do not to have to wait for too long.
Will let you know as soon I get the converter.
kind regards,

Henri ON4ABX

Hello all,

the last 2 months I completed my loop antenna and now ithe time has come to connect the loopcontroller . As said before, I ordered a new rs232-usb cable. This one seems to be ok and windows recognises it immediately on Com 10.
In SDC-comspiders I tried to connect SDR2pro to Loopcontroller with no succes. Communication between RS232 port on the loopcontroller and SDR seems to be absent.
So I hope someone can comment on this. I add a screenshots to better see what is wrong.
Help would be much appreciated.

Kind regards

Henri ON4ABX

Henri hello!
Instead Connector for CAT try to make pair COM19 and COM20 (just example),
Make Splitter from COM20 to COM21, COM 21 is now OK for other aps as well.
Put COM19 to CAT in ESDR2,
Then play with SDC. I think that ESDR2 shoud be server.... Not shure. Did not have need for that kind of configuration.
In SDC I use TCI to COM to control my 1K-FA PA.
Just my 5 cents.
Regards with respect!

You do need to be creating virtual com ports and you do not need to be using COM Spider.

Simply use the PA tab in SDC. It will control any peripheral you have.




Above is my setup: SPE amp, Ultrabeam dynamic antenna and 160m receive loop. The latter are via FTDI USB serial adapter (must be FTDI not any other).

If you must use VAC, then on the TCI tab select Rig Emulator to simulate another transceiver type. There is an explanation in the SDC help file.

Hello Pibo,

Many thanks for the reply.
You mean something like this:
Com19 <=> com20 Pair
Com20 => com21 Splitter
Com 24 <=> com25 Pair
etc.
Com21 can be used then for exchanging data to com10 ?
You have to excuse me for my ignorance. I'm an old (73) ham a bit lost in a digital world....
I will try this tonight and let you know how it is going.
Kind regards ,
Henri

Hello Erik,

Did you mean: "You don't need to create com ports and you do not need to be using Com spider..."?
Seems a interesting solution. I'll try it tonight and let you know.
Many thanks
Henri on4abx

Yes Henri - if anyone uses SDC you can forget about VAC because it takes the CAT or PTT from TCI to a hardware port (any number of FTDI adapters). Therefore any peripheral can be controlled (so long as CAT and PTT are defined in ESDR2). This as we know is Kenwood protocol but if you have a complex system using non-Kenwood, then Rig Emulator is the solution. But in your case, just the PA tab should suffice. I am using the TF3LJ loop controller and I have another built on an Arduino - both work perfectly by this method.

Whether COM Spider can work depends on if the data is bi-directional - some of these devices are 'dumb' and don't respond. I am not saying that S58WW is wrong, far from it, but I prefer this method as it is simple. If if fails it is only because of the cable or the port settings (SDC must match ESDR2), there is no worrying over VAC or COM Spider settings.

Hello Eric,

Thank you in advance for the idea of ​​using the PA tab to control external devices. I tried it last night and indeed it works. Data is sent via the RS232 cable to the Loftur loop controller. However, it does not respond. The controller display should now show the same frequency as the SDR2Pro. However, that does not happen. After checking with the oscilloscope, the data pulses appear to be offered. So it is clear that the fault is with the loop controller. Is there any reason why the loop controller does not recognize the data presented? As far as I can verify the controller is working as it should. Baud rate is ok. Any idea?

Oh - that is the same controller that I have I think. It should work. You have all settings the same in ESDR2, SDC and Controller?

You could try via VSPE just to test if any difference. The correct setup in VSPE would be like this:

Example COM 5 is defined in ESDR2 as the CAT port. In VSPE COM 5 is a Connector with serial baud emulation enabled.
Create a Splitter COM 5 to COM 6.
Create a Serial Redirector (your hardware COM number) to COM 6. Ensure it is this way around, not COM 6 first.

You can see an example with picture in the UMA, VSPE section where connection to an amplifier is described.

Adjust COM numbers to suit your settings. Baud is best at 19200 in ESDR2 then it is the same in SDC and the Controller.

This does not use SDC at all.

If this works, something is wrong with the SDC PA tab setting. If this does not work, something is wrong with the controller.

Erik.

Many thanks Erik.
I'll try it tonight.
Kind regards

Hello Erik,

When using SDC, data arrive ok at the pins 2,3 of Teensy 3.2 .
To be sure, I created a serial redirector as per your instructions. This also produced the data signals, but the controller did not react.
Conclusion: My teensy is defective. probably damaged by static.
I immediatly ordered a new one. I let you know in a few days how it goes.
All of you who responded :Many thanks for the help.
Kind regards

Henri on4abx