I have a confession...

...I have never understood the various CAT and sound control systems on digimode software.

Last night, I thought I'd give my FT-450 a break and listen to WSPR with my TS-480SAT.    Maybe it would be more (or less) sensitive that the Yaesu.

I carefully noted down in my logbook which software settings for rig and sound control work for each transceiver a few months ago.

So, having connected everything up, the TS480 connected to the PC alright, and even started transmitting.  Then the software (WSJT-X and JT-DX), reported that there was a 'rig control failure'.

Here we go again!

I quickly decided I didn't want (or need) to spend an hour trying to get the Kenwood working.  I re-entered the configuration for the Yaesu, to go back and do what I was doing successfully just ten minutes earlier and with settings which hadn't been touched for months.

But it didn't work!  

Despite having screen images and my own notes, no amount of changing settings would bring things back to life.

Computer rage.  Stand back!  Image: Wikicommons.

Why?  This is very frustrating and, I have to say, very outdated in the era of 'plug and play', where connections should easily be detected automatically.  It sadly has all the hallmarks of middle-aged men not realising that all we want to do is use our radios, and not spend our lives messing about with them, and hence have come up with arcane and obscure ways of making what are, ultimately, very simple connections.

After half an hour of tearing my hair out, I just reset WSJT-X to its default settings.  This changed the various RTS/DTR/PTT method, etc, etc not just a little, but completely.  The default settings had no similarity whatsoever with the settings I had used without problem for months previously.

The important thing is that the software now works with the radio properly again.  It's not really important to me why or how, other than to avoid this time-wasting mouse clicking in the future.

The only thing I can suspect is that WSJT-X settings changes affect other software which communicates with the radio.  Once I had changed WSJT-X to default settings, JTDX seemed to pick the new settings up from some directory or other, and worked as well.

Apart from those pieces of software, and whilst I can nevertheless transmit perfectly well with it, I have never, ever managed to get FLDIGI to communicate with the rig's VFO control.

I now need to go and meditate and calm down...