Welcome to the FlexRadio Community! Please review the new Community Rules and other important new Community information on the Message Board.
Need the latest SmartSDR or 4O3A Genius Product Software?
SmartSDR v4.1.3 | SmartSDR v4.1.3 Release Notes
SmartSDR v3.10.15 | SmartSDR v3.10.15 Release Notes
The latest 4O3A Genius Product Software and Firmware
If you are having a problem, please refer to the product documentation or check the Help Center for known solutions.
Need technical support from FlexRadio? It's as simple as Creating a HelpDesk ticket.

Flexradio 6700 and Acom 700s amplifier

Robert PA5A
Robert PA5A Member ✭✭
edited June 2021 in Peripherals & Station Integration
I own a Flexradio 6700 and an Acom 700s amplifier with an Acom O4AT antennatuner.
Bought and made several USB to serial cables to make a CAT connection, but nothing will work. Changing the frequency on the Flexradio wil not result in changing the frequency on the Acom amplifier.
I've seen the movies on the internet how to connect and config the amp and the flex, RS232, BCD etc. they don's work. The usb cable works fine according the flex (HI),
My question: does anyone have a configuration above and does the CAT connection work?
PSE tell me how.

Comments

  • Mark K0JM
    Mark K0JM Member ✭✭

    I use a 600s and assume the 700s would be similar. I have followed this procedure:

    https://morsetutor.com/2016/12/flex-6500-usb-serial-to-acom-600s/

    Be sure to use a FDMI USB to serial converter!

  • Robert PA5A
    Robert PA5A Member ✭✭
    [{"insert":"Mark, I have seen this video but it does not work. \n\n"}]
  • halmassey
    halmassey Member ✭✭
    I'm running a 6600M and CAT controlling my Acom 700S which in turn controls my Acom 04AT tuner. Let me know how I can help.
  • Robert PA5A
    Robert PA5A Member ✭✭
    Problem is solved, tested a new cable with different PIN connections
  • Paul_M0AIA
    Paul_M0AIA Member ✭✭

    Good to see the problem was resolved with a new cable wired to the right pins

    Is it possible for the 6600 radio to power the ACOM amp on and off ? via the RS232 port I guess as the 6600 radio is turned on and off the ACOM amp also powers on and off / or is there another way


    I have tried ACOM Director Plus and it can turn the ACOM amp off but not back on


    73

    Paul M0AIA

  • Hal Massey
    Hal Massey Member ✭✭
    Paul, checkout Acom Director Plus software. A Flex was not designed to be a computer providing overall control of other devices. The Flex architecture expects some other computer running Windows, MacOS, etc. to control the Flex and other station accessories...
  • M0MDS
    M0MDS Member ✭✭

    Hi,


    I have a Flex 6500 and and Acom 700S, plus the O40T ATU / antenna switch. In reply to the above comments, I have found the Acom controller software works much better than director for the 700S

    I noticed recently the atu tune function no longer works as it should, has anyone else had similar issues.

    In order to get the Acom ATU to tune, I have to set the cat feature to off in the amplifier, and then tune manually.


    Mike

    M0MS

  • Luis
    Luis Member ✭
    Hello everyone, I work with a Flex 6400, an Acom 1200s and the 04 tuner. The combination 6400 and Acom 1200s works very well with the CAT interface! There were problems when connecting the tuner! When controlling the tuner via the Acom 1200, the 6400 was controlled directly. The flex was set to 30W and went on the air...without power! After that, any frequency was set on the TX and the Smart SDR software froze. A restart has not been possible since then :-( Does anyone have an idea 73
  • dl6cq
    dl6cq Member, Unconfirmed ✭
    Hi!

    @Luis You have to perform a factory reset with the Flexradio.
    I went into the same trouble. Only resetting to factory defaults made my Flex work again.

    Andy, DL6CQ
  • mnewbill
    mnewbill Member ✭✭

    I am battling the same issues here looking for any way to get the acom amp+ 04at to tune "automatically" by pressing the tune button on the amp, and let the cat request the tx.

    I have the cat cable working.- all bands switch, etc.

    (someone ask for a remote on - you can do that by attaching pin 11 on your cat cable to 5v from a usb plug on your pc :) - I used a 200 ohm resistor in case of any shorts, mis wirings - works like a charm, pc on, amp on (or the flex radio usb port also will work to control it. - it is OK to leave the signal on constant, even though the manual says pulse )

    I can manually tune the 04at turning off the cat as described - works ok, but painful.

    I want to have an automated way.

    I tried a test tone from a RTTY program, set up in dax, get the signal, and rf will come in tune mode.

    it sends rf to the amp, but I don't know if the modulation is affecting it, but it never tunes. it could be the ptt line on the amp is never activated when the amp requests the tx? I found if you don't have a ptt sig, it wont manually tune (found this when i forgot the check mark in the tx band settings).

    anyone have any luck using this method to get it to tune automatically?

  • mnewbill
    mnewbill Member ✭✭

    update:

    I found that I can set the tune to @30 watt power and just hit the tune button on the acom as usual, with the cat cable still enabled, (normal way - not the disconnect the cat way) and when I notice the mox activate on the flex, I press immediately the tune button, and send about 30 watts and the acom tuner will tune. this is a lot better than removing the cat cable.

    the only remaining issue is more times than not, the tune will be successful, but for some reason I dont know, the cat signal from the acom to the flex works reliably for all other functions

    the issue is when the tuning is complete and successful, apparently the acom 1200s amplifier / 04at tuner sends a command to the flex to change to frequency "@770 Khz". I don't know why this happens, but its at an annoyance more than anything as long as you tuned up on a "memory channel" and you can just quickly go back. the screen on the amplifier indicates a successful tune, and the screen on the amplifier is still indicating the previous band. it doesn't try to go to 777khz, probably because this is not a tx band, and the flex doesn't tell it to change. if it was not a memory channel, its a headache. so one work around is to set some tuning memory channels maybe.

    I think its also other radios with amplifiers/tuners using "kenwood protocol" have the same issues sometimes it seems according to the research I did, with auto tuners and cat control. so maybe it would have been better to implement another radios strategy perhaps?

    Note: I did try many different baud rates, byte spacings, etc. none of which seem to have any affect. it is not RF getting into the system, as tuning is only at 30 watts, and the cat commands continue to work well at 1kw for me, and I also have beads on the cables for extra effort. I just left it on the flex suggested settings I found.

    think that was 38400, 500ms spacing, 800 polling time.

    tried 9600 and it works fine, but no improvement on the random send to 7khz after tune up.

    using the gearmo usb to rs232 that was recommended.

Leave a Comment

Rich Text Editor. To edit a paragraph's style, hit tab to get to the paragraph menu. From there you will be able to pick one style. Nothing defaults to paragraph. An inline formatting menu will show up when you select text. Hit tab to get into that menu. Some elements, such as rich link embeds, images, loading indicators, and error messages may get inserted into the editor. You may navigate to these using the arrow keys inside of the editor and delete them with the delete or backspace key.

Comment As ...

Categories