Basic Radio Control Interfacing

Regardless of whether you want to operate phone, CW or digital modes, the most useful and important interface is the one between your computer, N1MM Logger and your radio. Fortunately, most radios now incorporate a serial port to enable them to swap information and commands with the computer.

A first step is to look up your transceiver in the manual section titled Supported Radios. Assuming you find your radio there, look for any specific settings or peculiarities that need to be addressed and make a note of them.

Many modern laptops and a growing number of desktop computers lack both RS-232 serial ports and an LPT parallel port, having replaced both with one or more USB ports. If your radio has a standard RS-232 serial port, once you have purchased a USB-to-serial converter and installed the drivers for it, MM can work with your radio just fine. If your radio uses either Icom's CI-V standard or another non-RS-232 serial port, you'll need an appropriate converter cable to get from either USB or RS-232 to your radio.

Once you have the hardware hooked up between your computer and your radio, start N1MM Logger and open the Config menu in the Entry window. Choose Configure Ports > Telnet Address, Other. Ignore all the other stuff for now.

That brings up the following, rather intimidating dialog. Don't worry, we'll walk you through the part you need now.

You may want to select SO1V if this is your first experience with N1MM. SO1V allows N1MM to control VFO A in your transceiver. If you are an experienced contester and understand how to operator in split mode (for example, working DX on 40 meter sideband) you may want to select SO2V. It allows N1MM to simultaneously control both VFO A and VFO B in your transceiver. If you are an advanced contester, whose station is configured with TWO transceivers (one for running contacts and the other for searching for new multipliers), then you will want to select SO2R.

Now identify which port you have physically connected between your computer and the radio (or in the case of USB, the virtual serial port it has created). Click the drop-down arrow under Radio, and select your specific radio model. For this example, I've assumed COM3 and a Yaesu radio. Virtually all Kenwood models use the one common radio configuration, while Yaesu and Icom radios are generally designated by the specific model number - refer to the manual under "Supported Radios" for more information. Icom radios require a Radio Address (Hex Code) - see the manual for more information.

Now click the "Set" button next to the port you have chosen.

That will bring up this dialog, with connection details. Normally, N1MM Logger chooses the parameters in the first two rows for you, and does a good job. You might want to verify them with your radio manual, just in case. Radio/VFO number should be 1, so that your main VFO will be displayed in the main (first) entry window. The rest of the stuff on this dialog is not important right now, so just click OK to get back to the previous dialog, and then OK again to return to the Entry Window.

If all is well (you did turn your radio on, right?), when that big multi-tabbed dialog closes and the Entry Window reappears, the title bar of the Entry Window will display the radio's frequency and mode. It's magic. The "+0.00" simply means that RIT is turned on, but set to zero (no offset)

Now that you have radio control, you can do a lot of neat things, but one of the most basic is that you will never again have to worry about accidentally logging QSOs on the wrong band or mode.

With an interfaced radio, you will find it useful to open a Bandmap window. Click Window, then select Bandmap, and the Bandmap corresponding to your entry window will be displayed.

In the example at left, I have filled the bandmap with spots from a packet cluster, just to illustrate how spots are displayed. The stuff in the top bar is pretty self-explanatory. The SH/DX button, when mouse-clicked, sends that request to the cluster (which you don't know how to set up yet). The button labeled Wide toggles filters in your radio, though you may have to set it up first (the process is explained in the manual). In any case, clicking on it switches TO the filter mode shown. The red RIT means that RIT is on, and the number left of it is the amount of offset. The black XIT means that XIT is not selected. Turn on XIT and you'll see it turn red.

The color-coding of spots in the Bandmap is the same as in the Entry Window, so each of those red calls represents a new multiplier in the contest. If you want, you can mouse over a spot, and the program will tell you more about it. The “635 min tells you how long ago the spot was posted. Generally, you won't want to keep spots displayed that long, and a little later I'll explain how to clear spots after a certain amount of time has elapsed.

In a busy contest, certain parts of the band can get pretty crowded with spots. Pressing the numeric keypad + key will zoom the bandmap in and spread the spots out, like this:

Pressing the numeric keypad - key will have the opposite effect. You can also zoom the bandmap using the scroll wheel on your mouse, if it has one.

Another useful thing about the bandmap. If you single -click on a spot, your radio will automatically be sent to that spot. If, instead, you click on the frequency scale (anywhere within the width of the frequency hash marks), the radio will go to that frequency. There are also keyboard shortcuts that will move your radio from spot to spot up and down the band. More on this later.

When you single-click on a spot, something else useful happens - “ the call sign of that station is copied to the Call-Frame of the Entry Window, like this. This is done this way so that if you discover that the station on that frequency isn't OK1XJ after all, you can just type in the correct call. This does happen now and then with packet spots.

However, let's assume it's OK. In that case, all you have to do is call the station, get him to answer you, and hit Space. Here's what happens - the call sign is pulled down into the Call-sign field, and the QSO is all set for logging, once you complete the exchange.

Another good thing can happen on the band-map when you complete a QSO and tune off the frequency - the spot's color code turns to grey, so that you know at a glance that you have worked the station already, and won't waste time when you come back to that frequency again.

To turn on this feature, click Config, and then, in the dropdown menu, click on the two items checked (see below). You need them both because grey spots are regarded as non-workable, and they will disappear unless Show non-workable spots is checked. If you don't work a station, and tune off his frequency, his call sign will appear in the appropriate color to denote whether he's a new multiplier or simply a valid QSO; either way you know to go back and work him later, if he's still there.

By the way, even if you never plan to use packet spots, the Bandmap is a very useful window. As you S&P your way up and down the band, each station you've worked will be marked with a grey self-spot, so you can skip by them the next time even if you have no packet spots.

You may be wondering how to move quickly up and down the bandmap, hitting only the workable spots, or those that represent multipliers. This might be a good time to introduce another very useful section of the Manual. N1MM Logger makes extensive use of "hot-keys" to largely or entirely eliminate the use of the mouse during contest operations. There is a very useful section in the manual titled "Key Assignments" which explains each and every such key combination. For example, under "Active Radio/Bandmap Key Assignments" it lists:

Jump to Spots Note: If you are operating single mode, your mode won't change when jumping between spots.

• Ctrl+Down Arrow - Get next spot higher in frequency.
• Ctrl+Up Arrow - Get next spot lower in frequency.
• Alt+Ctrl+Down Arrow - Get next spot higher in frequency that is a multiplier.
• Alt+Ctrl+Up Arrow - Get next spot lower in frequency that is a multiplier

Try these and see - with a full bandmap and these keystrokes, it is easy to work 100+ search and pounce QSOs per hour, something that used to be regarded as impossible.

As we're finishing up this introduction to the Bandmap, it might be a good idea to offer another general hint when you're exploring the program. Be sure to right-click on each new window (other than the Entry Window), to see what options involving that window might be available to you. Each of these options is explained in the section of the manual dealing with that window.

If you do this with the Bandmap, you'll see this right-click menu:

Of the choices here, Packet Spot Timeout is perhaps the most useful. Click there and set the timeout interval in minutes - “ both self-spots and spots from packet will disappear after however many minutes you choose.

The Reset Radios command is also useful in case, for some reason, you lose control of your radio. Click it, and the program resets the connection.

Again, if you go to the manual, you'll find much more exhaustive discussion of each menu option, but that's enough for us right now.

So really, that's all you need to operate contests with N1MM Logger controlling your radio - the Entry Window, the Check Window, the Log Window and the Bandmap. Of course, there are a zillion more capabilities you'll want to explore, beginning with the capability for sending stored messages, but I have to stop somewhere, at least for now.

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