Getting Started with Icom Transceiver Control

1. connect your Icom transceiver to your PC; if you use one of your PC's USB ports, configure Windows to not automatically power down this port.

2. run Commander, and click the Config button on its Main window to open its Configuration window

3. in Commander's Configuration window, select the General tab and in the Radio panel

   1. set the Model selector to your Icom transceiver's model, e.g. IC-7300

   2. choose hexadecimal radix

   3. specify your transceiver's CI-V address in hexadecimal; this address is documented in your owner's manual's Remote Jack (CI-V) section as a hexadecimal number

   4. using its menu system, set the radio's CI-V Transceive parameter to off

4. in Commander's Configuration window select the Ports tab and in the Primary CAT Serial Port panel,

   1. designate the serial port that is connected to your radio interface

   2. select the baud rate, parity, word length, and stop bits that match your radio's settings

      • do not use your radio's auto baud rate setting, as doing so can result in missed or garbled CI-V commands

      • if your radio's Instruction Manual does not specify parity, word length, or stop bits, select none, 8, and 1 respectively

   3. if an external interface is being used and it derives its power from the serial port's DTR and/or RTS modem control signals, set the selectors for these signals to On

   4. if your transceiver requires an external interface for RX-TX switching

      • if the serial port DTR signal is used for this purpose, set the selector for this signal to TX

      • if the serial port RTS signal is used for this purpose, set the selector for this signal to TX

      • if a parallel port's pin 17 is used for this purpose, select the appropriate parallel port and check the Radio & PTT panel's Enable box

5. on the Configuration window's General tab,

   1. check the Continuous interrogation box

   2. set the Command interval (ms) to 200

      • the Icom IC-751A requires a Command interval of 250 ms

      • the microprocessors in modern Icom transceivers can handle command intervals much shorter than 200 ms, allowing Commander to more smoothly track frequency, mode, and meter changes; after everything is working correctly, try reducing the Command interval to 100 ms, and then in 10 ms steps to 20 ms

      • if the red CI-V indicator appears on Commander's Main window, CI-V bus collisions are occurring; to prevent this,

        1. increase the Command interval by 50 ms

        2. click the red CI-V indicator to reset it

6. On Commander's Main window

   1. the VFO panel should reflect changes you make to your radio's frequency via its front panel

   2. the Mode panel should reflect changes you make to your radio's mode via its front panel

   3. Modifying the VFO panel's frequency display contents and striking the Enter key will set the radio's primary VFO to the specified frequency; see Changing Frequency for information about the other ways you can change transceiver frequency from the VFO panel

   4. Clicking the Mode panel's buttons should change your transceiver's mode; see Changing Mode for additional information

   5. Clicking the Bandspread button will display a Bandspread window; see Bandspread Window for additional information.

7. After your have Commander reliably controlling your transceiver, see Smoother Frequency Tracking with Icom Transceivers.

Notes

• Some Icom transceivers do not inform Commander of certain state changes made via the transceiver's front panel:
  • VFO selection
  • Split enable/disable
  • Dual Watch enable/disable

• Some Icom transceiver models label their VFOs A and B; other Icom transceiver models label their VFOs Main and Sub. When the primary transceiver provides A and B VFOs, Commander assumes when Split is enabled that VFO A specifies the receive frequency and that VFO B specifies the transmit frequency. When the primary transceiver is an Icom transceiver with Main and Sub VFOs, Commander assumes when Split is enabled that the Main VFO specifies the receive frequency and that the Sub VFO specifies the transmit frequency.

Additional Topics

• Changing Frequency

• Changing Mode

• Spectrum-Waterfall window

• Smoother Frequency Tracking with Icom Transceivers

• Using Memories

• Using Frequency-dependent devices

• Using User-defined Command Sequences

• CI-V Bus Collisions

• Controlling an Icom PW1 Amplifier

• Configuring DXLab and the Icom 7610 for simultaneous independent VFO operations with HDSDR and CW Skimmer

• A History of the Icom CI-V Bus

Post a question or suggestion on the DXLab Discussion Group

Connecting an Icom Transceiver to a PC

Getting Started with Transceiver Control

Getting Started with DXLab