SysLabs Icom CI-V Receiver/Transceiver Device Driver 1.1 for RadioControl
Since almost 20 years Icom has equipped all major radios with the so-called CI-V interface,
that allows a computer to control the radio. RadioControl has provided support for the CI-V
interface since the release of version 1.0.
The current release of the CI-V device driver has been completely re-written from
ground up and consists of many individual device drivers that can be categorized
into the following two categories:
Universal Device Drivers - they allow each CI-V compatible radio
to be controlled by RadioControl. However, because of its universal nature it can
only support the least common denominator of features (i.e. the VFO attributes
frequency, step, mode, squelch status and signal strength).
Specialized Device Drivers - each of these drivers is optimized for exactly
one radio model or radio model series and therefore supports the special features
of the respective radio too (provided they are supported by RadioControl itself of
course).
Such special features are:
Operation of multiple radios over one serial port - as CI-V is a
bus system, more than one radio can be operated via the same serial port.
However, special software support is necessary to be able to use this feature.
RadioControl allows simultaneous operation of multiple radios starting at the
Standard Edition. Therefore, it was the logical consequence that the RadioControl
CI-V device driver has to allow operation of multiple Icom radios via the same
CI-V bus and serial port (when using the RadioControl Standard Edition). That
places RadioControl in the very small group of software allowing that kind
of operation.
Shipping versions of the radio - normally a radio is shipped in different
versions which normally differ in the provided frequency range only. For example,
there often exists an own version for Germany, France and USA.
Optional IF Filters - many radios allow additional IF filters to be
retrofitted. Depending on the radio, the device driver either detects these
filters automatically or they have to be specified by the user when he installs
the radio in RadioControl.
Extended VFO Attributes like selection of the IF filter, ATT, AGC,
Noise Blanker, AFC, CTCSS, PTT (switching between transmission and reception).
Software Shift Function - this feature allows to switch the current
frequency to a frequency that is shifted by the specified frequency offset.
Normally, this functionality is supported by transceivers only, however the device
driver supports that functionality for receivers too. The shift function is
important for working with/over repeaters e.g. amateur radio repeaters.
The driver does also emulate this function for transceivers not supporting
it via the CI-V interface or generally.
Reading the squelch status and control of PTT - both functions are not
supported via the CI-V interface by almost all older radios. Therefore, the driver
can alternatively access these functions via the status and control lines of the
serial port (RTS, CTS, DTR, DSR etc.) if the radio provides squelch status retrieval
and PTT control on a separate jack like the tape-recorder remote jack or the
Acc socket. Many modern CI-V interfaces like
microHAM are already
equipped with the necessary additional hardware and therefore make usage of these
functions very easy.
Forwarding of frequency and mode changes at the radio to RadioControl
- Icom radios notify the computer whenever the user changes the frequency or mode
directly on the radio's front panel. The driver will forward that special
notifications to RadioControl so that it can, for example, update the frequency
and mode shown in the Frontpanel.
Upload and Download of Memory Channels - most radios allow the transmission
of their memory channels into a RadioControl Memory File and the other way round.
Which data actually can be transmitted, varies from radio to radio. However, most
radios at least support the transmission of frequency and mode. Many even allow
the transmission of an alphanumeric text for each memory channel which is
supported by RadioControl too!
Access to special radio memory banks/channels - beside the conventional
memory channels, most radios also have some special channels, e.g. to store the
edge frequencies for programmed scan or frequencies that should be skipped during
scanning or call channels. The driver allows you to upload and download these
special channels, in addition to the conventional ones. Therefore, you can easily
save and reprogram them too.
Adjustment of radio settling time in device configuration - the
RadioControl-internal scanner has to wait until the radio has fully adjusted to
the new frequency before it can query the radio about signal activity. That time
is called settling time and influences the speed of the
RadioControl-internal scanner when used with an Icom radio. So, with that feature
you can optimize that time for your special scanning needs.
Support of the device-internal scan
and search function (with RadioControl Professional Edition only)
- many Icom radios allow the computer to access their fast internal scanner. This
device-internal scanner can optionally be used for frequency search operations
initiated by RadioControl. Furthermore, the memory channels of an Icom radio can
be scanned from RadioControl by using the device-internal scanner.
It has to be noted that due to some limitations of the Icom radios regarding
resuming a scan or search operation, the device-internal scanner will only support
the following scanner pause modes: "Wait until carrier disappears and resume"
and "Stop scanner on first carrier". A timed pause or no pause at all is
not possible.
However, as most users use the pause mode "Wait until carrier disappears and
resume" for almost all scan and search operations anyway, this limitation is
practically of no relevance.
Supported Radios and their Features
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the range of supported features depends on the
kind of device driver used (universal or special) and on the radio itself. The following
links refer to a page that lists the supported features for each driver/radio.
RadioControl 1.2 (the device driver is part of the product)
Connection Cable: A CI-V compatible connection cable is needed in order to
be able to control the radio. Such a cable can be bought at your local
dealer or you can manufacture it yourself (instructions on how to do that can be
found on the internet). Of course you can use the Icom CT-17 CI-V Level
Converter too. Beside the original CT-17, there exist many third party vendors that
also offer CI-V interfaces. Many of them already provide an USB connector (e.g.
microHAM).
