TCI with RF Kits RF2K amplifier

[Dave30019]

This is just an FYI post, I'm not complaining just passing along some info.

Just installed 2.9.0.3 and all seems to be fine. I configured TCI with Log4OM & JTDX, the CAT I/F is working. I turned on TCI logging and both Log4om & JTDX are sending/receiving commands.
The problem is my RF2K-S amp is still not communicating with Thetis via TCI. I receive no commands from the amp while monitoring the TCI log. I've set the amp to my PC ip address & same port in TCI Thetis (per RFKit instructions). The amp is set for TCI interface. I believe the TCI client in the RFkit amp is OK because users have it working with there EESDR Sunsdr rigs.

I know TCI is not fully implemented, and it's a work in progress.

Thetis 2.9.0.3 is working fine for the last 2 hours, I've found no issues, just the TCI & amp.

Thanks to everyone,
Dave
k4em

[w9mdb]

Hey Dave -- got a question for you.
On your RF2K amplifier is the common DC terminal tied to the chassis?
I'm on the warpath to get manufacturers to stop doing that along with NOT tying USB pin 4 to shield.
I've found one power supply so far that floats the DC common like they all should be doing.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ZZ1VH0?re ... 520_dpLink
And the Elecraft KPA500 amplifier has been reported as floating the DC common too which is one of the only ones I've found so far that does it correctly.

[oe3ide]

This is just an FYI post, I'm not complaining just passing along some info.

Just installed 2.9.0.3 and all seems to be fine. I configured TCI with Log4OM & JTDX, the CAT I/F is working. I turned on TCI logging and both Log4om & JTDX are sending/receiving commands.
The problem is my RF2K-S amp is still not communicating with Thetis via TCI. I receive no commands from the amp while monitoring the TCI log. I've set the amp to my PC ip address & same port in TCI Thetis (per RFKit instructions). The amp is set for TCI interface. I believe the TCI client in the RFkit amp is OK because users have it working with there EESDR Sunsdr rigs.

I know TCI is not fully implemented, and it's a work in progress.

Thetis 2.9.0.3 is working fine for the last 2 hours, I've found no issues, just the TCI & amp.

Thanks to everyone,
Dave
k4em

Maybe you should try ExpertSDR2. It works also without any SunSDR hardware. If TCI works with the amp, we know there must be something Thetis-related, if not most likely something network related.

73 Ernst

[Dave30019]

On your RF2K amplifier is the common DC terminal tied to the chassis?

I have no idea, maybe they would know on the RFKit forum.

Dave
k4em

[ramdor]

This is just an FYI post, I'm not complaining just passing along some info.

Just installed 2.9.0.3 and all seems to be fine. I configured TCI with Log4OM & JTDX, the CAT I/F is working. I turned on TCI logging and both Log4om & JTDX are sending/receiving commands.
The problem is my RF2K-S amp is still not communicating with Thetis via TCI. I receive no commands from the amp while monitoring the TCI log. I've set the amp to my PC ip address & same port in TCI Thetis (per RFKit instructions). The amp is set for TCI interface. I believe the TCI client in the RFkit amp is OK because users have it working with there EESDR Sunsdr rigs.

I know TCI is not fully implemented, and it's a work in progress.

Thetis 2.9.0.3 is working fine for the last 2 hours, I've found no issues, just the TCI & amp.

Thanks to everyone,
Dave
k4em

Hi Dave, are you using local loopback in the Thetis TCI setup? ie 127.0.0.1. If so, you will need to change this setting to match the PC ip, which would be the same ip you have configured on the amp. For example, 127.0.0.1:50001, might become, 192.168.0.26:50001

If you have, and it is still failing, try running Thetis as admin, and click the [Firewall Check] button in setup->H/W Select tab.

Richie.

[Ernie]

TCI and RF-Kit, has anyone got the 2 talking yet? I am having no luck here.
RF-kit has TCI installed, pointing at the Anan/Thetis IP and port. Thetis 2.9.0.3
Thetis is set for default,, 127.0.0.1:13013 and server running.
No traffic in log window.
What am I missing?

Thanks
W2FMU

[Dave30019]

Ramdor,

Yes I was using 127.0.0.1, I changed it to my PC ip address. Still did not work. I did not start my logging program or JTDX, both off while testing.
I started in Admin mode, clicked on 'Firewall' setting. I rebooted just to make sure all started fresh, did not work.

In the rfkit amp there is a config screen to set the CAT type interface; Universal, CAT, UDP or TCI, also to set any ip, port, etc you need on each setting. When you go to main screen in the upper right corner there is a UNIV symbol you press it and it cycles through the CAT setting you want. When cycling through these I get to TCI, the TCI log receives the attached commands. The log only receives this info when TCI is selected but of course TCI is unavailable only UNIV works. This is an RF active CAT that selects the amp band when a small amount of RF is supplied from rig.

tci.txt

(611 Bytes) Downloaded 1151 times

Dave
k4em

[ramdor]

TCI and RF-Kit, has anyone got the 2 talking yet? I am having no luck here.
RF-kit has TCI installed, pointing at the Anan/Thetis IP and port. Thetis 2.9.0.3
Thetis is set for default,, 127.0.0.1:13013 and server running.
No traffic in log window.
What am I missing?

Thanks
W2FMU

you have bound the TCI server to 127.0.0.1. You have probably configured your RF-Kit amplifier to use the IP of your computer. You need to change the TCI in Thetis to bind to the same IP that you have configured your RF-Kit amp (probably your computer IP). If that doesn't work, then you also need to do a firewall check by clicking the button in setup.

Richie.

[Ernie]

Dave, same here, no luck getting it to work.

Ernie
W2FMU

[NC3Z]

127.0.0.1:13013 and server running.

Just curious, 13013 is the default IP port for TCP/IP (set on CAT tab) and the default port for TCI is 50001 (set on User Interface tab). I originally had this confused when I was setting up, so just wondering if you re using TCP/IP CAT vs TCI CAT?

[ramdor]

127.0.0.1:13013 and server running.

Just curious, 13013 is the default IP port for TCP/IP (set on CAT tab) and the default port for TCI is 50001 (set on User Interface tab). I originally had this confused when I was setting up, so just wondering if you re using TCP/IP CAT vs TCI CAT?

yes good spot Gary.

TCI defaults are 127.0.0.1:50001
TCP/IP CAT defaults are 127.0.0.1:13013

but the TCI bind IP will still need changing to his PC ip, so something like 192.168.0.26:50001, or whatever the RF-Kit is set to

[w-u-2-o]

All,

I've combined the posts on this topic from two different topics, moved it to the amp forum since it is very specific to interfacing this particular amp, and changed the title so that it can more easily be found by people looking for information on interfacing their RF2K amp's.

73,

Scott

[oe3ide]

The log only receives this info when TCI is selected but of course TCI is unavailable only UNIV works. This is an RF active CAT that selects the amp band when a small amount of RF is supplied from rig.
tci.txt

@Dave, can you clarify this? What do you mean "of course TCI is unavailble only UNIV works".
The RF sensing based band-switching should not play a role in this issue.

From the attached txt-file we see, that Thetis is sending data to the RF2K amp. So if TCI is selected as CAT-Interface on the touchscreen, the amp should follow the band-changes.

73 Ernst

[Ernie]

Richie,

Some slow progress.
Got TCI to bind to PC address, now I get the following;
Amp says "No TCI Available."
Thanks

tci.PNG (29.99 KiB) Viewed 38719 times

[oe3ide]

Ernie, that is not TCI, that is TCP/IP-Cat....
You will find the settings on "Setup - CAT Control - User Interface".

tcpip-cat is not tci.jpg (182.57 KiB) Viewed 38709 times

73 Ernst

[Dave30019]

I guess I should have said that UNIV seems to be the default selection. TCI is always shown as 'No TCI available' on amp front panel. I thought the log data was promising as it did shows commands being sent from Thetis.
But, when I change the status in the AMP to TCI, Thetis reacted to this by sending those commands that are shown in the log. So on some level there seems to be communication between the two. If the amp wasn't working at all then changing the amp to TCI should have no effect on what Thetis saw from the amp. So, I'm still not sure where the issue might be, this is all above my head.

Dave
k4em

[oe3ide]

So, this set it correctly on the RF2K?

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[ramdor]

Setup process :

1) do you know the IPv4 address of your computer? You can find this by looking in windows network settings, or running ipconfig from cmd line prompt and making sure you use the correct ethernet adaptor. For example it might be 192.168.0.26
2) once you obtain the IPv4 address. then that will need to be added to the TCI config on the AMP, along with default port of 50001
3) the TCI server bind address in Thetis will need to be set the same, for example : 192.168.0.26:50001

The amp acts like a client, and connects to Thetis TCI, so you will need to make the above changes.

In a future release I will add a button to list all local IPv4 addresses that can be selected from.

tci1.png (45.79 KiB) Viewed 38692 times

Richie.

[Dave30019]

I have both Thetis & RF2K-S amp set to my PC ip and port is 50001. It is configured like Ernest's example picture's.

When cycling thru the CAT setup screen I never get TCI to appear in upper right hand corner of amp as shown in Ernest's amp front panel picture. The message is always 'no TCI available' just above the ANT 1 message.

My Thetis screen looks like Ramdor's example; except I don't have TCI spots checked. And my ip is different.

I did notice something else, the number of clients on my Thetis screen shows 2. One is Log4om & the other is JTDX. When I scroll through the CAT options on the amp when I get to 'no TCI available'; in Thetis the client change's to 3. The 3rd one is the RF2K-s amp. When I scroll past 'no TCI available' the client's change back to 2.

I have no idea why the amp doesn't change to TCI. It always shows UNIV.
It seems Thetis is working, it recognizes the amp by the clients changing to 3. Also the TCI log generates messages when scrolling through the TCI cat setting on the amp.

I'm using my PC ip & port 50001 in both Log4OM & JTDX and they work fine with those settings's. Most of this info has been given to Reinhard on the amp forum, except the client number changing. I just noticed that.

Thanks very much for everyone looking at this issue,

Dave
k4em

[ramdor]

ok sounds like you have everything setup ok as long as you are using your PC ip and not 127.0.0.1 in Thetis TCI. Other than perhaps testing the firewall with the 'Firewall Check' button in Thetis setup-General-H/W Select.

Failing that there is probably something missing in our TCI that the amp needs, and is failing. (unless others have it working)

Richie.

[Ernie]

Thanks everybody, now I am on the right page . It looks like OE3IDE has it working. I am set up the same, but get "No TCI Available" on the amp although Thetis shows the client connected. My Thetis PC is 192.168.1.49

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[ramdor]

If the firewall passes the check, then a few possibilities

a) amp is expecting command that is not implemented in Thetis
b) amp is expecting device name from Thetis to be sunsdr ( I could add a fake option in thetis easily enough)
c) issue with TCI in firmware version you are using on the amp

Richie.

[Ernie]

Firewall passes check.
OE3IDE has it working on his setup.

[ramdor]

Ernst (oe3ide) tells me he does not have the amp, but included images he found in a manual.

However, there is a pre-release on my gihub which adds options to emulate expert electronics radios. It may help and resolve the issue depending if the amp firmware looks for a specific radio/protocol. Please read the notes there.

https://github.com/ramdor/Thetis-2.9.0/ ... .9.0.4-pre

Note, cat tab has been re-structured in this early release.

catLayout.png (44.74 KiB) Viewed 38606 times

Richie.

[w-u-2-o]

Wow! Impressive!

[ramdor]

Wow! Impressive!

It is a bit easier to find things, but things are every where in setup and could do with a bit of a re-organise really. We are now able to get a popup for the IPv4 addresses on the computer as well.

ipv4pop.png (17.03 KiB) Viewed 38601 times

[Tony EI7BMB]

Impressive indeed, the new CAT layout is great. I'll do some testing with the emulation so see if it has any effect on the JTDX TCI "split rig" issue. I'll report back in JTDX TCI thread

[SA3ATF]

Wow, cool.
Soon I can sell my SunSDR2

[Ernie]

Same results emulating either.

tci.PNG (100.29 KiB) Viewed 38539 times

[oe3ide]

@Ernie:
Can u try the ExpertSDR software (https://eesdr.com/images/software/ESDR2 ... _setup.zip)
You need no SunSDR hardware for that test.
Just install it, go to Options, activate TCI (keep default port 40001).
Then change the port in RF2K to 40001.

If that works, please post the data from input log (checkbox in Options => TCI) here. Maybe we can see, whats the difference between "Sun" TCI and "Thetis" TCI.

73 Ernst