Amateur Radio Station VK4SN

FT-450

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FT-857D

Contents of this page:

1. Interface Unit 2. Mic Pinouts 3. RS232 Interface 4. Squelch failure fix

Updated 2nd March 2008

Mods/Manuals etc can be found at http://www.ham.dmz.ro/yaesu/ft-857d.php

My FT-857D INTERFACE UNIT

I wanted the flexibility to switch PC's, head phones, morse keys, etc.
The project was built using readily available parts. I used a circuit from the
AR mag for the sound interface and a simple RS232 interface for CAT control.
I also wanted to have the ability to use headphones and headset microphone as
well as the hand mic. A CW key input, switching between sound card and TNC
was a must as well. Also added was as 1200/9600 baud change and Tune switch
and SWR/SIG meter on the front panel. The mic input is switchable between the
hand mic socket and the headset socket. When the mic is switched to headset,
the controls on the mic are still usable..
Please excuse the poor photos as the phone camera is not the best. hihi.

Settings for TRX Manager, Ham Radio Deluxe, OmniRig, N1MM Logger, FTBasic
moved to my software page.

Other Information

Microphone Pins

Pin Function RJ45

1 FAST
2 Ground (control)
3 PTT
4 Mic
5 Ground (Mic)
6 +5v
7 UP
8 DOWN

Numbering is in
reverse order to
a standard RJ-45

The RS232 Interface I used.
For all the information, go to..
http://www.ssiserver.com/info/pskmeter/interfaces.pdf

FT-857D Squelch Failure

If you have squelch turned on and no sound is heard until the knob is turned
anti-clockwise thereby disabling it, then the following may fix the problem.

Background
Searching the internet found only one other person experiencing the same problem.
After a few email exchanges, it was found that we both were using HF with tuners
prior to the squelch fault. I was using the FC-30 ATU, and Dennis N8BMB was using
a manual tuner. Is it possibly RF associated with high VSWR while tuning up?
If so, then maybe a component has changed value resulting in the final menu
value of almost 90 units away from the default CPU value in menu 13 (for example).
I'm not sure, but the problem was not fixed by resetting memories or the CPU.

The Fix - by the book

You will need a VHF Signal Generator. (or read below how I did it)

1. Tune the radio to the 144MHz band and turn off the radio.

2. Access the tech menu by holding in A, B and C buttons while
turning on the radio with the squelch turned fully counter-clockwise.

3. Inject an RF signal from the sig gen at -15dBu output, with
+/-3.5kHz deviation FM Modulation of a 1 kHz tone.

4. Select menu item "13:FM-TH1" and press the A key.
5. Select menu item "14:FM-TH2" and press the A key.

6. Increase the sig gen output level to 0dBu.

7. Select menu item "15:FM-TI1" and press the A key.
8. Select menu item "16:FM-TI2" and press the A key.

9. Hold the function key in long enough to accept the new data.

Here is what I had to do.

I don't have a signal generator so I improvised with a hand held and a dummy load.

I pressed the A key for menu 13 and 14 while on low power and whistling into
the mic and pressed the A key for menu 15 and 16 while on high power.
This did not work, although values were entered about 80 higher than the
original value.

WHAT DID WORK was to put the squelch knob up at about 3/4 clockwise and did the
same and now I can actually use the squelch quite successfully on all modes / bands.

Menu Number - Orig Value - New Value
13             90           178
14             95           179
15              4            170
16              4            170

These new values are possibly not correct, but will update when I can do the
fix with the proper signal generator.

Well the sig gen was no improvement. !!