Thursday, May 12, 2016 — Well, it is time for a Zed Man rant. My apology to the eBay seller whom I won’t name because I’m not sure its all his fault. More on that later.
I just boxed up my Yaesu DMU-2000 and its gone to ham gear storage in the attic. This was by design of course — my goal was to use the panadapter kit I picked up on eBay to replace the DMU with something faster.
The panadapter kit uses a USB RLT2832U SDR digital tuner/receiver, and it connects to one of the same connections the Yaesu DMU interface uses inside the transceiver.
The problem is that this kit has never worked since I bought it some four months ago. The instructions seem to make a number of assumptions — mostly that everything will work perfectly the first time.
Now I have an older PC running Windows Vista, and I’m not ruling that out as part of the problem. The instructions are contained in a 12-page PDF document with handy hot links to allow the user to download necessary files; unfortunately, at least one of the links to a needed file was broken.
The instructions include photos, but leave out some important details.
The kit includes an RG-174 cable that connects inside the radio and has to exit and connect to the RTLT2823U dongle. The instructions say to run the coax cable through “a convenient vent hole.” Well, that narrows it down (not!). None of the options for vent holes looked “convenient” … each looked like a cut or damaged coaxial cable waiting to happen. I took my chances and got it routed ok (I think).
Another omission was that the instructions didn’t fully explain that the end of the cable that connects inside the radio uses an adapter that you must apply heat shrink over the connector/adapter assembly to in order to insulate the adapter to prevent it from shorting something out. OK, I did that — only to find that the other end of the connector would NOT fit where I needed it to so I could route it through the rig and out a “convenient vent hole.”
My mistake was that I connected the adapter to the cable and applied heat shrink before trying to put the cable in the radio. Why? I didn’t really want to have a heat gun blowing into my rig, so used the heat shrink tubing on the bench away from the radio’s innards. To get the RG-174 through the radio, I had to cut the heat shrink off and then re-insulate it with electrical tape after routing it through the radio. Go figure.
As noted, at least one link in the instructions is broken, which complicates things. And unfortunately, the eBay seller does not have a website for support, though he does offer help via email or phone. I’m upgrading my shack PC this next week, so I’ll give it another try then. But so far, I have been unable to get the rig any of the software to do what it should do.
In fact, the only thing I’ve been able to make work so far is the Yaesu CAT cable and rig control software unrelated to this entire pandadapter package. I have the FT-2000 Remote control software, and it works very well. My shack computer serves as a server and allows you to connect to the computer and operate it that way. I’ve used the keyboard keyer from my place in our library to check into a CW net. That software is straight forward and works flawlessly.
It is just really, really aggravating to have purchased this package and have been unsuccessful so far in getting it working.
I’m just about ready to chuck it all in the garbage and write it off as a lesson learned. I have my Flex 3000 to get up and running, though I still want the panadapter for my FT-2000. I may have to dig out that DMU before its over with.
Again, the newer PC may make a difference. Here’s hoping, anyway!
73 es CUL de KY4Z SK CL … dit dit …