I used this fine interface with great success, however, last week it blew its fuse.

The many months of great service include the following:

CAT Interface
I worked the Virginia QSO Party and made good use of the CAT connection with my N3FJP software; It is so nice watching the contest software automatically update the band and frequency information as I operate the transceiver.

Digital
PSK31 was also an easy thing for the Navigator during the QSO Party. Later my first Olivia contacts were a breeze.

CW Reception
I am not very good with CW yet so rely on CW Skimmer to help. It connects to the sound card interface of the Navigator with ease and works great so long as you remember to Calibrate your sound card settings with your software (like MixW).

CW Sending via Winkey
The Winkey IC is my favorite Morse keying solution for computer sending of CW and the Navigator kindly has one. It totally relieves the computer from any real-time timing requirements and handles the keying of the radio straight off. It also accepts the paddle inputs allowing either the computer or the paddles to operate the radio with no switching. I used it with success during the QSO Party and the CQWW CW contest the following week. Perfect.

RTTY
I worked a RTTY contest using the Navigator. This was my first RTTY contact ever. Worked great.

Essentially, every thing the Navigator promises it delivers.

The only problems I have with this assembly include:

• When initially plugged into a USB port, the unit screeches and squeals its internal speaker for several seconds before the PWR light turns on. After a few moments, the PWR light turns yellow then green and all is well for as long as the unit remains attached to an active USB port.
• During the above “squeal event” the Navigator keys up the transceiver via the PTT line. You must remember to have the radio off while you power up the Navigator.
• During the above “squeal event” the Navigator pulls well over 800 mA of current – 300 more mA than the USB 500 mA maximum allows. The unit settles into well under 10 mA after this starting issue.
• Last week the Navigator refused to power on at all. I tried it on different USB ports, but no go. An email sent to the tech support of US Interface suggests the power input fuse near the USB jack has blown. Sure enough, the fuse is rated for 1/2 amp and is open circuited; It is no surprise it blew because of the squeal current noted above.

I discussed the possibility of replacing the fuse myself with tech support, but he encouraged me to send it in for warranty repair suggesting the high current is certainly an issue and the squeal issue has a work around. The three year warranty is quite remarkable and, as told to me by tech support, is valid for all except surge/lightning issues where damage to the board is obvious. My board is clear of any such damage so my unit is off to tech support.

The Navigator is one of the few interfaces completely powered by the USB port current. The USB specs suggest a maximum of 500 mA. However, laptops and some desktops don’t provide the full amount of current. I have long wondered about the practicality of powering a unit with this much circuitry off of the USB, but the folks at US Interface seem to think it will work fine. I would be delighted to provide an external source of power for this interface as I have seen far too many issues with USB ports in regards to meeting the 500 mA current. By the way, I have used this interface with a laptop, laptop + powered USB hub, and a desktop. All three solutions squealed, but always worked just fine in ten seconds or so.

Anyway, the unit is off to the factory for warranty repair.

I will report the results.

Investigating the free offerings I experimented with Ham Radio Deluxe and a non ham radio related application from Eterlogic.

Preface

I just purchased, installed and setup a Navigator from US Interface which created a slew of new serial ports including one used for CAT control on Com 6. This thing works quite well and, so far, can recommend it as a great way to mop up lots of gadgets and cables into a much more sleek system.

After much operating this weekend it became apparent I desire to have multiple applications access the radio’s CAT control parameters at the same time. Classic examples include ACLog and MixW, Contest Logger and CW Skimmer, Ham Radio Deluxe and Contest Logger, etc.

Ham Radio Deluxe N8VB vCOMM

Ham Radio Deluxe offers a built in set of utilities which communicate with the radio’s CAT port and then provide, though another com port, a copy of the radio’s interface, but changed to a Kenwood interface language.

While configuring the serial port redirect parameters with the utilities, available in the Tools menu, a command line window is opened to run some DOSlike utilities (these are clearly not DOS utilities though).

Ham Radio Deluxe always beautifully communicated with and displayed radio settings on that spectacular radio control layout.

However, while trying out different port re-assignments, something happened to me that has not occurred in many years… the dreaded Windows Blue Screen O’ Death. Wow.

Obviously I was doing something a little out of the ordinary and it may be no coincidence all this happened while the Navigator drivers were loaded too.

I remain optimistic, but have no time for this so I rebooted and moved to the next serial port virtual splitter called…

Eterlogic Virtual Serial Port Emulator

This is a free application from a company that makes their money selling other types of software. Apparently they see this free application as a gateway for you to learn more about their other products. Cool.

The install went smooth.

This application provides numerous ways of linking one com port to the next: Virtual to Virtual, Real to Virtual, Real to Virtual with many connections, etc.

I selected the mode where one real port is mapped to one virtual port that allows more than one program to connect to it. In my circumstance the Navigator puts my Icom 746’s CI/V port on Com6. I used Eterlogic to map this to an unused port number at Com9. I connected N3FJP ACLog and CW Skimmer to it and…

…it works. Both programs are polling the radio and receiving the desired strings. I can right click a callsign in the ACLog spot window and the radio will tune to that frequency. I can click on a decoded CW signal in CW Skimmer and the radio will tune that too.

The only quirk I have seen so far is the radio frequency field in ACLog sometimes shows the wrong number.

I don’t know what Eterlogic is doing to manage the traffic between the two applications and my rig, but I have got to think this is a little too good to be true. Time will tell. For now, however, I have a solution that I will test aggressively and hopefully use for the upcoming contests.

Conclusion?

Apparently modern Windows operating systems allow a fair amount of Com port trickery, with the appropriate applications, which is a benefit waiting to be exploited by amateur radio operators… the last great users of com ports.

Also available for use are handy CW decoders like CWGet and CWSkimmer.

To complete the computer to radio marriage I purchased and built a WinKey and Winkey USB kit from K1EL.

By this time, the number of cables between the computer and the radio was getting a little out of hand. I sought a new approach that connected to the computer with just one cable.

Last year I reviewed many models of sound card radio interfaces from several manufactures. I put together a traditional systems engineering trade study by…

• Creating a list of attributes to examine as evaluation criteria
• Find a selection of products to compare
• Comparing them all to one baseline product
• Picking a winner

The details of this analysis are available on the QSOParty.com web site at…

The analysis was never quite completed leaving the Rig Blaster Plus wanting of critique and no analysis of operating systems. Still a winner emerged with sufficient clarity to suggest a purchase.

Finally, in 2009 one year later, I purchased a Navigator Interface from US Interface.

This article will start a series where various aspects of this device are critiqued.

For now let’s just get the box, open it up, and see what is inside…

For some reason, I thought the unit was quite a bit smaller than it really is. I guess I missed comparative size clues. Oh well no big deal.

This Navigator is remarkably light. It is just like a cardboard box full of air. However, I did verify the case is aluminum and construction feels OK.

If you think there is something critical missing you have good eyes. Yes, the cable that connects this unit to the radio is not in this package. I did order one, but Glenn from US Interface says it is coming from a third party straight to me. I ordered the Icom White cable set for use with my Icom 746.

I wait with baited breath.