RadioMail and varanny with (tr)uSDX

varanny
1

Help needed using Varanny with (tr)uSDX. I’ve successfully used RadioMail/varanny with my VX-6R and IC705. It works as advertised which is to say very well. Having made most every wrong turn available so far, I am very close to getting RadioMail/varanny to work with (tr)uSDX, perhaps the ideal combination for small footprint portable field Winlink ops.

Using a Beelink T4 mini computer and Digirig Mobile with the (tr)uSDX, I have one remaining obstacle. When the (tr)uSDX transmits in response to an HF Winlink connection attempt there is no audible multitone modulation. The display cycles correctly between “R” and “T”. Not being an electrical engineer or IT person I may have the terminology wrong… but using another radio to monitor the Winlink transmission attempt I can hear the frequency ‘go quiet’ during the transmit period, return to receive mode, and back to ‘go quiet’ during the next transmission attempt, etc. At no time are the multi-tone sounds of WInlink heard. Nor have any connection attempts been successful.

I’m using the Beelink T4, Windows 10, Digirig Mobile, the CH341 and CP210x drivers, and RadioMail on an iPhone 10, and the (tr)uSDX. The (tr)uSDX, Digirig, and associated cables have all worked perfectly with a MS Surface GO2 with Winlink for about two years and continue to do so.

I suspect a software setting. Or maybe a corrupted file (I’ve reinstalled the drivers and varanny). Though I suppose it could be a hardware incompatibility but that seems unlikely. Bottom line: I don’t know.

Should anyone look, I had posted on the varanny Github site, and the (tr)SDX forum about different issues I encountered and since solved. This request is new and hopefully the last hurdle. We’ll see. Thanks, Mark.

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Success using RadioMail, Varanny, and (tr)uSDX. Two changes were made. I switched from Hamlib 4.6.4 to the fresh release Hamlib 4.6.5; and selected “Ignore Rig Set Mode” in RadioMail’s app settings in the iphone Settings section.

The Hamlib update from 4.6.4 to 4.6.5 may or may not have changed code relevant to the still unknown root issue I was experiencing. I suspect, but do not know, that whatever changed was enough to coax Windows 10 on the headless computer to get itself unstuck. “Unstuck” is an official engineering description. Upon updating Hamlib, I noticed the (tr)uSDX was finally transmitting, as monitored on a separate radio. However the mode was best described as monotone pulses, not unlike continuous dashes at perhaps 7 WPM. That’s when I selected “Ignore Rig Set Mode”. From that point forward everything worked.

Now RadioMail, Varanny, a Beelink T4 headless PC, and (tr)uSDX transmit and receive Winlink together, including CAT control of the (tr)uSDX, in a truly compact package.