Kenwood TS570 Cat Control with WSJT-X
28
April 2021 Release Date
There are many problems configuring the Kenwood TS570/TS570S transceivers with CAT Control. I spent tens of hours figuring and configuring and finally could get everything to work fine with WSJT-X; the green box "TEST CAT" lit up fine in WSJT-X and the audio settings worked fine and I could decode incoming FT8/FT4 signals just fine. However, I could never achieve power output, until finally, I hit upon using OMNIRIG to configure my Kenwood TS570/WSJT-X. My final results are posted below. Keep in mind that I had my WSJT-X already configured for my IC-7300 using OMNIRIG1, so with my Kenwood TS570S, I used OMNIRIG2. Therefore, in most of your circumstances, if you use ONLY the Kenwood TS570/TS570S, you may wish to use OMNIRIG1. It really doesn't matter which one you use if you have only one HF rig you configure. Just ensure that you chose the correct corresponding OMNIRIG(1 or 2) in your wsjt-x settings. My interface is a TigerTronics SignaLink USB.
There are many problems configuring the Kenwood TS570/TS570S transceivers with CAT Control. I spent tens of hours figuring and configuring and finally could get everything to work fine with WSJT-X; the green box "TEST CAT" lit up fine in WSJT-X and the audio settings worked fine and I could decode incoming FT8/FT4 signals just fine. However, I could never achieve power output, until finally, I hit upon using OMNIRIG to configure my Kenwood TS570/WSJT-X. My final results are posted below. Keep in mind that I had my WSJT-X already configured for my IC-7300 using OMNIRIG1, so with my Kenwood TS570S, I used OMNIRIG2. Therefore, in most of your circumstances, if you use ONLY the Kenwood TS570/TS570S, you may wish to use OMNIRIG1. It really doesn't matter which one you use if you have only one HF rig you configure. Just ensure that you chose the correct corresponding OMNIRIG(1 or 2) in your wsjt-x settings. My interface is a TigerTronics SignaLink USB.
First - Setup Omnirig for the Kenwood (Note I'm using two rigs so I'm showing both setups)
The COM Port settings for the rigs are determined by the hardware you're using and are assigned when you install the CAT cables or USB cables. In my case, the IC-7300 was assigned COM Port 4 and the TS-570 was assigned COM Port 12 automatically and do not change once they're installed. Follow the baud transfer rate between your rig and computer just as shown.
These settings may not be the most conventional settings or follow some existing "standard" but they work. Also, by using command-line start up (coming later on this page) you can run two rigs simultaneously, such as two running WSJT-X, or one each of WSJT-X and WSPR or any other mode supported by WSJT-X. I frequently run the TS-570S at 1 watt max on WSPR and run the IC-7300 on SSB or FT8 at full power output, simultaneously. Occasionally I will get a little de-sense on the Kenwood when I'm running the full 100 watts on FT8 with the IC-7300.
Next, setup WSJT-X Settings (for both
rigs in my case)
Kenwood TS570S
You need to pay close attention to the details. All of the radio
settings in WSJT-X on the left hand side of the settings are overridden
by the OMNIRIG settings. So also pay close attention to your OMNIRIG
settings. All of the WSJT-X radio settings are critical. The WSJT-X
Audio settings depend upon your particular computer setup. In my case,
OMNIRIG2 Mic & Spkrs are #3 USB CODEC. The
OMNIRIG1 Mic & Spkrs are #8
USB CODEC.
ICOM IC-7300 (For Reference Only...Just trying to show how it differs from the TS570)
Command line to run multiple instances of WSJT-X
(In my case, a Kenwood TS-570S and an ICOM IC-7300)
One must include the dashes and spaces just as shown below, while inserting the
name of your particular rigs, just to be able to keep them straight in your mind.
This opens two instances of WSJT-X, then you need to configure each for the specific
radios and audio configurations for two rigs. You can copy the command line shown below
as a shortcut on your desktop.
{The location on my computer for the WSJT-X executable is: C:\WSJT\bin\wsjt.exe}
C:\WSJT\wsjtx\bin\wsjtx.exe
--rig-name=TS570S;wsjtx.exe --rig-name=IC7300