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CAT Commands |
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The CAT commands transform control actions of TurboLog 4 into readable commands for the selected transceiver and vice versa. Furthermore data formats between master and slave need to be matched. In order to perform these tasks a set of generic commands was developed which allows us to benefit from all the useful features implemented in recent transceivers.
A generic command is of the following format:
COMMANDACTION =>CIDppppp> <RETURNIDdddddd< ,
where:
COMMANDACTION is the mnemonic name of the action which will be performed in TurboLog 4.
CID denotes the command identifier which the TRX requires to perform the desired action. CID needs to be a command from the command list which the manufacturer has published for this TRX or is otherwise known. ppppp denotes a parameter which the TRX may require to perform the correct action.
RETURNID may consist of characters for various purposes such as an echo confirmation of the received command, transceiver address or just a couple of dummy characters. dddddd finally contains the data which TurboLog 4was looking for. Of course the structure of the data needs to be known in order to decode it correctly.
With respect to the permissible notations of the commands please note the following:
•No blanks are allowed on the right side of the ' = ' sign in any expressions. •Blanks or ' _ ' are unimportant on the left side of the ' = ' sign or as leading blanks on the right side.
A list of the available commands in TurboLog 4 follows. The commands are described and explained by means of examples below:
These commands perform the following actions:
...identifies the manufacturer of the rig for internal purposes. The right side of the ' = ' may be { ICOM, YAESU, KENWOOD, TenTec, ...}
...identifies the name of the rig for the menu and for display purposes. The right side of the ' = ' may be { TS950, IC756, FT1KMP, ....}
...this command will be sent to the TRX to establish CAT communication. A response from the rig is expected. The right side of the ' = ' may typically be: >'FL'> <'FL*******'<
...this command defines the format of numbers for data received from the transceiver. The right side of the ' = ' may typically be: { ASCII, BINARY, BCD, RBCD ... }. BCD is mostly used for YAESU rigs. Reversely BCD has been introduced by YAESU at rigs of the FT8xy...series.
...this command defines the format of numbers for data sent to the transceiver. The right side of the ' = ' may typically be: { ASCII, BINARY, BCD, RBCD ... }. BCD is mostly used for YAESU rigs. Reversely BCD has been introduced by YAESU at rigs of the FT8xy...series.
...this is one of the communication parameters. The right side of the ' = ' may typically be: { 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, ... }
...this is one of the communication parameters. The right side of the ' = ' may typically be: 8
...this is one of the communication parameters. The right side of the ' = ' may typically be: 2
...this is one of the communication parameters. The right side of the ' = ' may typically be: N
...this command defines the address of the transceiver if different equipment can be controlled via a control bus. For the time being this only applies for ICOM equipment. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command defines the address of the bus controller. For the time being this only applies for ICOM equipment. The right side of the ' = ' is typically #$E0 .
.....this is a provisional command. It is currently not used.
.....this is a provisional command. It is currently not used.
...this command controls the 'Narrow' filter setting on the rig's first IF. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command controls the 'Medium' filter setting on the rig's first IF. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command controls the 'Wide' filter setting on the rig's first IF. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command controls the 'Narrow' filter setting on the rig's second IF. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command controls the 'Medium' filter setting on the rig's second IF. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command controls the 'Wide' filter setting on the rig's second IF. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command addresses the rig's LSB mode. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command addresses the rig's USB mode. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command addresses the rig's CW mode. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command addresses the rig's FM mode. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command addresses the rig's AM mode. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command addresses the rig's FSK mode. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command controls whether a software handshake will be performed (XON/XOFF). The right side of the ' = ' is typically YES .
...this command controls whether a trace record for all interface transactions will be generated. The right side of the ' = ' is typically NO since the handshake monitoring is controlled by the CAT Setup.
...this command controls the correct reading of S-meter values from the number string that is sent back from the rig. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. In most case it is simply 1.
...this command controls the correct representation of the frequency that is sent to or received from the rig. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. It can be any value.
...this command controls the correct representation of the frequency that is sent to the rig in case it is different from the other direction. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. It can be any value. The right side of the ' = ' is typically : 1/100
...this command controls the correct reading of the frequency from the number string that is sent back from the rig in case it is different from the other direction. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation ...if available...for the rig's CAT interface. It can be any value. In case of the FT1000KMP : FREQMULTIPLIERRCV = 1/100/16
...this command controls the correct reading of the RIT frequency from the number string that is sent back from the rig. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. It can be any value.
...this command controls the correct reading of the XIT frequency from the number string that is sent back from the rig. The right side of the ' = ' must be extracted from the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. It can be any value.
...this command controls the correct extraction of the RIT frequency from the number string that is sent back from the rig. The right side of the ' = ' must be designed according to the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
...this command controls the correct extraction of the XIT frequency from the number string that is sent back from the rig. The right side of the ' = ' must be designed according to the documentation for the rig's CAT interface.
... this command allows to turn on the XIT control on the transceiver in order to enter split operation. A typical command (e.g. for KENWOOD's TS-990) would be: XITENABLE = >'~RC;~RT0;~XT1;'>
... this command disables the XIT and terminates split operation. A typical command (e.g. for KENWOOD's TS-990) would be: XITDISABLE = >'~RC;~RT0;~XT0;'>
... this command increments the XIT frequency offset on split operation by 1KHz. A typical command (e.g. for KENWOOD's TS-990) would be: XITUP = >'~RU01000;'>
... this command decrements the XIT frequency offset on split operation by 1KHz. A typical command (e.g. for KENWOOD's TS-990) would be: XITDOWN = >'~RD01000;'>
...this command sets the rig into a desired mode. The structure of the string varies considerably from rig to rig. Thus, the right side of the ' = ' must be designed according to the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. A typical example is the following string: SETMODE = >#0#0#0'!RIGMODE!'#12>
...this command sets the rig's bandwidth to the desired status {N,M,W}. The structure of the string varies considerably from rig to rig. Thus, the right side of the ' = ' must be designed according to the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. A typical example is the following string: SETBANDWIDTH = >#0#0#0'!RIGBANDWIDTHIF1!'#140> Please note that this string would command the bandwidth of the first IF. You could likewise select a filter in the second IF. Filtering in the first IF, however, should always be the first choice.
...this command sets the rig's frequency to the desired value. The structure of the string varies considerably from rig to rig. Thus, the right side of the ' = ' must be designed according to the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. A typical example is the following string: SETFREQ = >'!FFFF!'#$0A> Please note: Since most transceivers have 2 VFOs the problem arises which one to select. In principal both of them could be addressed but based on which criterion...? In TurboLog 4 we have by default decided to set the frequency into VFO A.
...this command polls the rig for the frequency of the VFO in use. The structure of the string varies considerably from rig to rig. Thus, the right side of the ' = ' must be designed according to the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. Please note the handshake structure of this command. A typical example is the following string: GETFREQ = >#0#0#0#2#$10> <'*fff************'< In this example the frequency is contained in 3 bytes only. Those 3 have to be extracted correctly. A shift by just one position would spoil it all. Unfortunately two manufacturers like to play this game...for whatever reason .....This is the reason you may find different CAT files for the same model of rig in several cases.
...this command polls the rig for an S-meter reading. The structure of the string varies considerably from rig to rig. Thus, the right side of the ' = ' must be designed according to the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. Please note the handshake structure of this command ( as in all GET... commands ). A typical example is the following string: GETSTRENGTH = >'SM;'> <'**SSSS;'<
...this command controls the sign of a clarifier. The right side of the ' = ' must be designed according to the documentation for the rig's CAT interface. A typical example is the following string: CLARIFIERSIGNED = YES
...this command allows to change the order of control strings being sent to the transceiver. The default order of the sequence is: Mode > Bandwidth > Frequency (= MBF). This works fine for most brands of TRXs. However, the behavior of some KENWOOD TRXs, e.g. the TS-990 requires to select: Frequency > Bandwidth > Mode (= FBM). Thus, the default command is: SETMODEFREQORDER = MBF;
...this command allows to turn ON the transceiver via the CAT-link. This can be achieved by the command Ctrl+click on the TRX status panel on the Status Bar of the main logging window. The command internally sends the command string TRXON=PS1; to the CAT's COM-port. Depending on the start-up time of the rig wait states of more than 2s ( about 40 ~ at 50ms each) This operation is currently 7/3/2023 definitely supported by modern KENWOOD radios.
...this command allows to turn OFF the transceiver via the CAT-link. This can be achieved by the command Ctrl+click on the TRX status panel on the Status Bar of the main logging window. The command internally sends the command string TRXOFF=PS0; to the CAT's COM-port. This operation is currently 7/3/2023 definitely supported by modern KENWOOD radios.
This topic was last edited on Monday, 03-Jul-2023, at 23:57
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