TS-890 (and TS-990) with WSJT-X

Well,

I've been asked if I can help out someone who can't get the TS-890 (or maybe TS-990) to work with WSJT-X; they are running Windows 10. I have a video showing the configuration on Win 7 here - this may also be useful.

So here goes:

Download and install the driver from Kenwood from here:

It's the "Virtual COM Port Driver" we are after.

Download the software and install it BEFORE connecting the radio to the PC.

It comes as a ZIP file and (a little confusingly) you need to select the appropriate installer, assuming you have a 64bit version of Windows, then use "CP210xVCPInstaller_x64" - you need to double click on the file to run it.

Once the software has installed correctly, we can now connect a USB cable between the radio and the PC:

Now, Windows 10 is very good (or bad) at trying to do everything seamlessly and failing. So once you have connected the radio to the PC and the computer has finished emitting its various pings and bongs, the easiest way to check for a successfull connection is to open device manager. If you type "device manager" into the search box you should see the option to open it.

Here's mine after the radio has been connected, we have three new and exiting things! We have an Audio device called "USB Audio CODEC" and also two new COM ports. Note I have had to expand the Audio section and the Ports section to see these devices. By default working devices are not immediately visible - only their groupings.

So, now we can go and download WSJT-X from here. At the time of writting thats version 1.9.1 but it is updated frequently so you need to keep on top of the versions.

I've installed with the default selections - I didnt change anything in the installer except selecting for a desktop icon:

Once installation completes, the software will run and we need to make changes in the "setup screen" by pressing F2 or using menu File -> Settings.

Here's mine, in this screen we just need to add callsign and locator:

So now, lets configure the radio on the "Radio" tab of the setup window.

Please NOTE that the COM port selected above (in my case COM 4) may not be the same as yours - you need to select the Standard port (details of how to identify the port in Win 10 are listed on page 1-5 of the TS-890 manual). It's probably easier to try both and see which one works!

You MUST also match the Baud Rate setting above with the setting in the Radio menu item 7 - 01 "Baud Rate (Virtual Standard COM Port):

Then in the WSJT-X setup window "Radio" tab, I have this configuration. Please note the selection of the Rig as a TS-480.

You then press the "Test CAT" button and it turns green when all is successful.

Finally, we need to configure the Audio tab of the WSJT-X settings to use the "USB Audio CODEC" we installed earlier.

Now, on WSJT modes (and all other AFSK modes) it's important to set the Audio levels correctly.

On receive we want the greed audio bar graph to be at about 30dB with no signals (i.e. just background noise) and we can adjust that in the radio using menu 07-08 "USB: Audio Output Level".

Now, the final setting is the modulation source for the radio. If you are configured to use the radio in USB mode (see WSJT setting option 'mode') and you are using the radio USB connection, then you press and hold the "DATA" button when in USB and set it like this:

This means that the audio when the radio is in USB mode and the PTT comes from the CAT control the audio is sourced from the USB soundcard and not the mic.

On TX we want to make sure we have NO ALC and we can adjust that using the menu 07-06 "USB: Audio Input Level".

It's also ESSENTIAL that you set your PC clock correctly for these modes, installing Dimension 4 for clock synchronisation would be a most excellent idea.

Happy WSJT-X ing.

IC-7610 with Writelog

Well,

I am no contester, but I do like to dabble.

Generally I use WriteLog for Windows as my contesting software application.

I could,t find a way to use my IC-7610 with the software 'out of the box' so here's what I did.

Step 1 - change the IC-7610 so it uses the hex address of the 7850/7851 which is CI-V address 8E, thus:

Then configure WriteLog for one of these rigs:

I tend to manually swap between the IC-7610 and TS-890 (I never run them at the same time) but the TS-890 works as a TS-990 in the WriteLog software.

I've only been dabbling in the JARTS test this weekend, but both the IC-7610 and the TS-890 are a pleasure to use in crowded RTTY band conditions. When I first started dabbling in RTTY I was using a FT-920 - the difference in technology and filter/signal rejection capabilities is simply staggering.

I worked VK early Saturday morning on 40M - it must have been a grey line propagation mode as the signal disappeared nearly as fast as it appeared. I was surprised to make the contact, but it was certainly a good QSO.

TS-890 - JARTS RTTY time!

Well,

Today and tomorrow is the JARTS RTTY test; now band conditions are not favorable to be working many JAs, but its a good opportunity to try the new 270Hz roofing filter in crowded RTTY conditions.

So, with the radio configured for decode, I still think displaying BOTH the waterfall and the spectrum scope is unhelpful - I would like one or the other. I am using the visual indication to hunt stations and the spectrum scope is just too damn small to be any use at all.

The 270Hz roofing filter with the APF (its really I notch in RTTY mode I think) selected seems to be exceptionally good at close signal rejection however.

Time will tell.....

I've also got the new Icom radio, the IC-7610 and this is also an excellent S&P RTTY rig:

The spectrum scope is better for signal searching without the waterfall as well....

It's quite hard to draw any conclusions; both the TS-890 and the IC-7610 are both fantastic at close signal rejection in crowded RTTY band conditions. The TS-890 needs the 270Hz roofing filter for very close strong signals, but the IC-7610 is excellent out of the box.

The waterfall and spectrum scope being displayed together on the TS-890 when in decode mode (CW, PSK or RTTY) is an issue for me; the spectrum scope is just too small to be of any use. I very much like the fact that I can play with the spectrum scope on the IC-7610 including the colours, fill, averaging et cetera. The TS-890s ability to set output power by band is a very big plus for me when using the linear. When using the IC-7610 I keep having to manually tweak the output power when I change bands.

I am no contester, but swapping between these two over the last day or so in the JARTS test has shown me that they are both a pleasure to use. I was never going to do anything than casual participation, but the station works:

Interesting, don't you think?

TS-890 - Optional Roofing Filter

Well,

You may have spotted my horror in an earlier post that the shiny new TS-890 has an optional narrow roofing filter - 270Hz to be exact.

Well, my radio had it fitted today:

Step one, remove the base:

Step two, remove the larger of the two cover plates:

Step three, install the new filter in the empty slot:

Step four, stick the supplied 'cushion' to the underside of the cover plate as clearly marked:

Step Five, bung it all back together.

Simples!

Here's our two enjoying a bit of winter sun (Elmo is lazy and leaning):

TS-890 - RTTY Time!

Well,

This weekend is the CQ WW RTTY Contest - perhaps the grand daddy of all the RTTY tests.

The TS-890 has built in tuning and decode features that are really neat. You can have a number of different selections on the screen at any one time, but this is my preference:

I very much like the X-Y scope above, but you can also have the more traditional mark and space audio peak display:

Note the clear "dip" in between the mark and the space in the image above; that's the APF in RTTY mode creating a perfect notch between the two tones. The OPTIONAL 270Hz roofing filter will also help a little more in very strong signal rejection in RTTY mode.

Now, let's do a quick comparison with the IC-7610 in a similar configuration:

So I very much like the fact that only the spectrum scope is visible above; the TS-890 displays both the spectrum and waterfall - the spectrum is so small it's quite useless. You are going to use this visual indicator to hunt signals on the band; the TS-890 is a bit harder to see what's where.

I happen to use WriteLog for windows as my contest software, the TS-890 works perfectly with the software configured as "Kenwood" - note that I can't get the IC-7610 to talk to the software without changing it's Hex address to make it mimic another radio.

This is part of the WriteLog screen for RTTY contesting:

Above I am just running in search and pounce mode, but you will see there are 2 RTTY decoders (one is MMTTY and the second 2Tone) plus I have the monitor connected to the 890 as a 3rd screen of decoded text.

Unfortunately I've been at the Newark HamFest this weekend so not much time for the contest. But still, another tick in the box for the Kenwood.

TS-890 - CW Decode

Well,

I've had my TS-890 a few days now and I am more than impressed.

I've used it as low in frequency as Top Band and made a few CW QSOs last night using this antenna. Nothing very special at all but its nice to work the band from time to time.

I'm trying very hard to improve my CW skills, but this radio does loads to help me with this.

It has a built in CW decoder which actually seems to work extremely well:

The other thing that the rig does, is that it also decodes my sending - so this is excellent for practice and also to check that my characters and more importantly spacing is correct when I send.

You can also ask the radio to log the decoded text in both send and receive and you end up with a text file that looks like this:

Once you are done with your log file, you can open it up on the radio or ask the radio to make the files available to the connected PC. The PC then alerts you to the fact that there is a new device connected and you can copy off whichever files you want.

In my case I am saving the radio config and copying it into my cloud storage for safe keeping - it couldn't be easier:

I've also bought a very cheap wireless USB dongle keyboard from Amazon (its this one) and it works perfectly with the radio with the dongle plugged into the front panel USB socket. I can use the keyboard for sending PSK, RTTY and even CW.

Simply fantastic!

TS-890 - 5MHz Mod

Well,

My new shiny TS-890 didn't transmit on 5MHz out of the box. Kenwood have released a modification procedure to the dealers explaining how to rectify this - it is marked as not for public release so I don't have a copy. I do, however, know what needs to be done. You would imagine that the dealers will apply this mod to any they have before shipping or it will be performed by Kenwood themselves on the UK models. But mine is an early one, so here we go:

Step 1 - turn radio upside down and disconnect all DC supply:

Step 1 - remove bottom cover:

Step 3 - remove the smaller of the two cover plates:

Step 4 - for 5MHz coverage you need to snip the R57 link highlighted below before and after:

There are also clearly 4 chip type 0R resistors (or space for) on the board that determine the version of the radio:

Here are the different combinations these 0R resistors give:

Local conditions.