How do I restore CW side tone on an 8600M after leaving N1MM+?

JimCharlton · July 26

I use N1MM+ (SO2R config) for CW contesting with slices A & B - they are 1 & 2 in N1MM - on the radio. While in N1MM+ everything seems to work properly. But when I exit N1MM+ sometimes (ok, often) there's no cw side tone. The radio transmits, just no tone.

The only way I've found to restore side tone is to reload N1MM+ and send anything in each of the two windows and then exiting N1MM+ again. This usually restores the side tone. The problem occurs about one out of every two or three times. Occasionally it's necessary to repeat the reload and exit process several times.

As far as I can tell, there's nothing wrong with the 8600M. It seems as though the N1MM+ may be sending a command to mute the side tone as it is being unloaded. That's just my guess because I really don't know what's going on.

I hope you do and can offer a solution to this problem.

Jim Charlton AD0AB

Ken Wells · July 27

If you are controlling the radio from the Front Panel:

Open the TX MENU by pressing the Mic Gain / CW Speed / RFD PWR Knob above the VFO B Tuning Knob.
Check to be sure the SIDETONE is ON and the Level and PAN are at the appropriate levels.
Then go to "MENU > AUDIO" and be sure the audio is enabled for the PWR Speakers or Headphones and the respective master gain levels are set.
Enable the "Local Speaker" if desired

JimCharlton · July 27

Ken,

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately, it didn't work probably because I let N1MM control the radio.

I was poking around the Flex website and discovered a new setup guide for N1MM+ called "SO2R with Flexradio and N1MM+ Setup Guide Ver. 2".

This new guide is different from an earlier version that I used when I installed N1MM+ originally. The guide is apparently intended for SSDR installations so it doesn't exactly match the 8600M. I haven't followed it but, I noticed that the version 11 of Windows causes a problem. Luckily, I'm running version 10.

The new setup procedure instructs to use TCP for the CAT ports. Mine are all Serial and FlexVsp for slices A&B with Autoswitch TX enabled. There is a port named N1MM Control with OSTRP protocol and one called Winkeyer with Winkeyer protocol. These are also Serial FlexVSP but don't show auto switch TX. Finally, there is a port I added and named 'UDP N1MM Spot'. It's port protocol is N1MMSpot, Port type: UDP, UDP Port: 12061 and Lifetime: 3600 seconds.

The new setup also specifies the use of slices A&C, not A&B. I'm using A&B, is that important?

Nothing is new, these configurations have been in use since I first installed N1MM+. I've probably had the problem from the very start, but paid no attention because I was learning N1MM.

Do you need to see all the settings I'm using in the N1MM Config file?

I'd appreciate any suggestions.

Regards,

Jim Charlton AD0AB

How do I restore CW side tone on an 8600M after leaving N1MM+?

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