VARA-HF and PTT not working

RadioMail
1

Aloha,

let me first tell what is working before what is NOT working.

What is working:

- iOS RadioMail -> Mobilinkd TNC4 -> HT
- Windows 10 Winlink -> VARA HF -> IC-7300

What is not working:

- iOS RadioMail -> VARA HF -> IC-7300

I configured VARAHF in RadioMail (set IP address of my WIndows 10 machine, set the ports 8300/8301) without enabling rig control, and when trying to connect to a station, I see that RadioMail finds the modem, then waits for a reply.
In the VARA HF softmodem on Windows 10, I also see the same attempts in the status bar, to connect to the desired station, BUT there's no attempt to set the frequency or do a PTT, thus the connection attempt eventually fails.

So, the VARA softmodem works fine with Winlink as the client, but does not with RadioMail as the client. I have no issues with any application (WSJT-x, JS8CALL, FLRIG, VARA-C) to control my rig, except for RadioMail using VARA HF.

I don't know what pieces I am missing here to make this work. By means of elimination, this seems to be a RadioMail issue.

Thanks for any help!
Stefan

2

Stefan,

Sorry to hear you're having trouble. I believe your statement contains the answer: "without enabling rig control". VARA HF does not perform rig control on its own, except if you have RA-Board soundcard where VARA will be able to activate PTT by itself (if this is the configuration you're running let me know and we can explore other reason why it's not working).

This means that in a VARA HF configuration, the client application has to perform the rig control tasks. I suspect that your Winlink Express client is configured for that (in Winlink Express, go to your VARA Session and look for Settings -> Radio and I suspect you'll see the configuration you're using)

Because RadioMail can't connect to a radio directly, rig control is performed via TCP/IP against an agent. Currently only rigctrld is supported. If you run it on your host computer that's connected to the radio and add the host computer ip to RadioMail, RadioMail will use that channel to perform QSY (if supported) and PTT. https://radiomail.app/help/vara#rigctld

Hope this clarifies.

Georges

3

Thanks, Georges. I was afraid this was the answer. I guess I should find out if rigctld even works on Windows.

4

Stephan:

Rigctld (part of Hamlib) does indeed work on Windows. I use it with GPredict and satellite communications. You’ll likely have to run a small batch file.

Install Hamlib in a folder. Right-click on the desktop and make a new text file. Do something like the following :

cd \Program Files (x86)\hamlib-w64-3.2\bin\
cmd /k "rigctld -m 120 -r COM15 -s 38400 -T 127.0.0.1 -t 4532 -vvvvvvvv"
Save As something like rigctld.bat (use the drop down and select all files instead of .txt file).

At some point, I put the location as an added environmental variable - basically the PATH includes the Hamlib location. Then you only need the one line for your rig bat file.

73, Jamie
WB4YDL

5

Forgot to mention - run this batch file First and As Administrator !! Just minimize the CMD window to the task bar.

73, Jamie
WB4YDL

6

I believe it does https://github.com/Hamlib/Hamlib/releases/tag/4.5.5

Support for flrig has been suggested and is on the roadmap and you can vote for it https://starter.productboard.com/radiomailapp-starter/1-radiomail-product-roadmap

I don't know the landscape well enough to determine what would be second most common rig ctrl agent on Windows. Suggestions welcomed.

7

I installed https://github.com/Hamlib/Hamlib/releases/download/4.5.5/hamlib-w64-4.5.5.exe, created the .bat file.

I had to change the IP address from 127.0.0.1 to my machine's actual IP address for RadioMail -> rigctld to work.
It even worked without having to run as administrator.

Thanks !