I recently switched from using a RigExpert USB interface to a MicroHam MicroKeyer II. The new interface works flawlessly but ever since I made the change, I find that the frequency display in the transceiver control widows loses "comms" after several minutes and reverts to 00.000000 (I see a similar action in my LOGic Band Map). The MicroHam MicroKeyer II has a window and it continues to show the correct frequency. All I have to do is move the dial slightly or do a "Reset or turn on radio and rotor interfaces" and the frequency shows up again in the window. I know it's not RFI as it will do it even if I do not transmit. Cabling is the same as before, just a different interface box. Any ideas?

I'll check with MicroHam next. Pretty sure the USB=> RS232 is FTDI, but will also check. No USB hubs. Windows 7 64 bit.

No error message in LOGic...just 00.0000 in display.

I'll post this to the MicroHam forum...the support is pretty good there, too.

Yeah, if a COM port disappears, LOGic definitely complains. You can test this by yanking the plug on a USB interface. LOGic must be receiving a data packet of a valid length with the proper headers etc but with 0 in the frequency data area. I know it sounds far-fetched. What radio do you have? On some radios, there is minimal header and footer data with the packets so if it were sending anything, LOGic would be happy.


It depends on the radio. What rig do you have. Icoms & Kenwoods, generally no. Yaesu, yes. Actually, LOGIc just talks to the Windows .NET COM port interface. It doesn't know or care about MicroHam per se.


If you get zeros, do they zeros go away when you QSY?

Tnx & 73,

DH

Hello Allen,

I am looking at the microham microkeyer II and was wondering if the issue you had has resolved.

Thank you,
Vin, 73
K1VC

Thank you Allen. I'm running Win7 (still). I have too many small boxes (keyer, SignaLink USB, etc) and I want to clean up the clutter. The MicroHam Microkeyer II seems like the only alternative for me.

Thank you again.

Vin, 73
K1VC

What rig do you have? When using an Icom or Kenwood, LOGic normally depends on the rig to send the updated mode and freq to LOGic. It normally does not poll repeatedly to keep the real-time display updated. However, when you log a QSO or LOGic actually needs the current freq & mode for something, then it polls rather than relying on the last auto-update from the rig. Your interface is losing the auto-update info from the rig, and that's why you see what you see.

However, you can force LOGic to poll by clicking the Poll checkbox in radio setup. Give that a try.


This sort of thing is why we recommend simple level converters and FTDI USB=>RS232 adapters if necessary. They work. If LOGic works on one piece of hardware but not another, how can it be Logic's fault????

DH

Ok, not sure why I have the Poll checkbox grayed out. The Elecraft driver is a subclass of the TS-850, which allows you to set it. (The Elecraft has some funniness when setting the freq and mode -- you have to set the freq first apparently. I think you helped me with this.) Hopefully it is an error and I didn't override it for a reason.

Anyway, please download the attached and put it in the LOGic install folder. It will let you use the Poll setting.

Let me know!

Tnx & 73,

Dennis WN4AZY

I took a chance and dropped logic.exe into the logic root folder, so far it seems to be working. Sometimes it takes quite some time, so I will know in the morning if it worked.

Thanks,

Yeah, still seems to be working. Thanks, Dennis.

Just out of curiosity, wondering if you can adjust the poll frequency?

Dennis, the display now shows the frequency all the time, good job.

The reason I asked about changing the polling rate is that I have had a few more crashes than usual since I turned the polling on, and thought reducing the polling rate might also reduce the frequency of the crashes, but it hasn't happened in a few days, so that's good. Crashes seemed to happen either when changing frequency or clicking on SET RIG or double clicking on a spot in the spot log. It doesn't happen as much as it used to, but still occasionally.