A PSK Setup
This setup works for me, using the RigBlaster Pro interface. Unfortunately, the RBP does not quite have the flexibility to work with the Orion without a little hassle.
[Readers should know that many hams have worked PSK with the Orion without a RigBlaster or any other special interface. It is certainly true that most of the RBP's flexibility is not needed in this application.]
This is the picture of how it is running at AA6E:
There are several matters to consider:
- The RigBlaster Pro microphone input connector is not compatible with Orion's microphone wiring (using the shell as a conductor). This is not too serious, since we can use the AUX I/O jack on the Orion for audio and control signals. In fact, I prefer not to insert the RBP in the mic audio path, because it only adds another source of noise and hum.
- I am using the Ten-Tec supplied AUX I/O cable. Thanks, guys.
- The Orion transmitter keying input wants an open-collector pull-down for control. The RBP provides this for the FSK and CW outputs, but not for transmit keying - a bummer. I made a modification in the RBP that lets me route rig control to the FSK output jack. That works, but I later observed that, with my software at least, the CW line (serial data out) is asserted along with rig control (RTS), so I could have used a jumper in the RBP without the mod.
- My software is KPSK, which runs under Linux.
- The Orion AUX audio input is high level. I wanted to use the low-level RBP Mic Out jack, partly because it is controlled by the "level set" knob on the RBP. The audio level on this output is low, but with maximum SoundBlaster output (just shy of 4 v pp without clipping) the level was adequate with Orion's AUX input level set to 100. I also had to build an RJ-45 to RCA phono adapter cable -- one of the stranger cables you will see.
- If you're using the AUX audio input, you need to remember to enable it in the MODE > SSB menu with "Tx Audio Source" = "AUX" or "BOTH". I set my LF Rolloff to 130 Hz and Tx Filter BW to 2700 Hz, but I don't know if these are really optimum.
- My approach works for PSK, but I haven't faced the question of what I would do if I wanted to run true FSK or computer-generated CW. For now, it's not a problem.
The Great Modification
Take a RigBlaster jumper wire and clip off one end. Strip and solder the free end to R26, on the side closer to J17 (DB9 connector). Connect the socket end of the jumper to P16 pin 11. This connects the incoming RTS control line to the FSK output driver. No other jumpers are needed on P16. And your warranty is now void, thank you.
Audio Routing
The RJ45 pins you need to use depend on the RigBlaster's jumpering on P1. I had my jumpers set for Kenwood 4-pin mics, so the audio output was jumpered to P1-1 and P1-4 jumpered to ground. That is, the only 2 jumpers that matter are on the output side: 1 to output and 4 to ground. Then at the RJ45, pin 1 is signal and pin 4 is ground.
After all this, PSK works nicely for me, and I'm really enjoying the PBT controls. The one feature I'd like on the Orion to make PSK a little easier is a button to instantly open up the passband to 3 kHz without spending time to set the PBT high & low settings.
PSKmeter
The neat little PSKmeter from KF6VSG is also mostly running at AA6E. I works fine with the companion Windows software under VMware on my Linux machine, but I prefer a native Linux solution. I have tried WA5ZNU's pskmeter.c program, which works, but which could use a bit of polishing. This might be a good Python project.
I am finding that I can't really drive the Orion into saturation in PSK mode, even running 100 W power. The old TS-520S was fairly touchy this way - you couldn't get more than about 30 W without having the distortion creep up. I don't know why the Orion is so forgiving, but I'm not complaining.
I'd be happy to have your comments or suggestions: email to martin /at/ aa6e.net.