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Windows

Windows setup

Currently setup was tested on computers running Windows 10 Pro but other versions of Windows 10 and 11 should work as well.

Installing the required programs

Setting up digirig

For digirig to interface with Windows, we need a combined driver (serial and audio):

  1. Download and Install CP210x_Universal_Windows_Driver from here

For our modem, we will be using Vara. On this topic, you can use the free version of Vara but the paid version is recommended due to the increase in speed.

Rename the default digirig sound

Procedure:

  1. Open Control Panel and then click on Sound.

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Set the Playback device

  1. Right click on the USB PnP Sound Device and then click on Set as Default Communication Device

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  2. Select any other audio device and set it as the Default Device. This is needed otherwise Windows will use the digirig as its default audio device.

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  3. Rename the USB PnP Sound Device by right clicking on it and then on Properties

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  4. Change the name of this device to Digirig

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  5. Click on Levels and change the Speakers to 25

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  6. Click on Ok

Set the Recording device

  1. Click on Recording and then follow the same procedure on changing the name of the device as illustrated on the Playback. Make sure the digirig is marked as the Default Communications Device.

  2. Right click on the USB PnP Sound Device and then click on Set as Default Communication Device

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  3. Select any other audio device and set it as the Default Device. This is needed otherwise Windows will use the digirig as its default audio device.

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  4. Rename the USB PnP Sound Device by right clicking on it and then on Properties

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  5. Change the name of this device to Digirig

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  6. Next, click on Listen and then check the Listen through this device. Also select the Continue running when on battery power

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[!NOTE]

The reason we are enabling Listen through this device is that this will pipe the incoming audio from our Vara session into the default audio device, which allow us to troubleshoot the session or to have an idea of wether or not this is working. It isn't stricly needed for Vara to operate but it is a nice add-on.

  1. Click on Custom and disable AGC

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  2. Click on Levels and set it to 25

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  3. Click on Ok

Setting up Vara and rigctld

  1. Download and install Vara from here.

    [!NOTE]

    In here you could opt to have a dedicated Vara "modem headless machine" with either Vara FM, Vara HF or both.

To control our radio (FT818nd), we will be using rigctld. This will allow for CAT control when using RadioMail on iOS:

  1. Install rigctld, available as part of the hamlib library here. Unzip this under C:\hamlib as we will be referencing this directory later in this doc.

[!NOTE] OPTIONAL STEPS:

Optionally, you could install the Winlink Express client on this machine and use it either localy or through Remote Desktop.

Adding automation

After installing these softwares, we will now move into adding a few configurations that will allow the machine to work as a headless modem.

Adding an adhoc network

The Macbook Air that I used for this project uses an Intel wireless interface that support hostednetwork by default. This is important since we will be creating a wireless hotspot that we can use to connect our iOS devices and use RadioMail. You can either use the provided script (under scripts/start-hostspot) or create one manually - make sure you edit this to your like, for instance, change the ssid and key.

Here is the start-adhoc script:

# Start hostednetwork on Windows 10
REM Starting hostednetwork
netsh wlan set hostednetwork mode=allow ssid=VE6DPC-MODEM key=CHANGEME
netsh wlan start hostednetwork

Save this script under C:\MODEM

[!NOTE]

If running this script manually, you need to run it as administrator.

With this bat script in place, we can proceed by creating a Task to automate its run during the bootstraping process of Windows.

Procedure:

  1. Open Task Scheduler Alt text

  2. Create a task with the following values

    1. Click on Create Task
    2. Give your task a Name.
    3. Under Security options choose:
      1. Run whether user is logged on or not
      2. Run with highest privileges
    4. Under Configured for choose Windows 10

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    1. Select the Triggers tab and then New. Enable the following values:

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    1. Under Actions click on New. Inside of the Edit Action window select Action: Start a program and then select the bat script that starts your adhoc network as showed here:

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    1. Click on OK to save your task.

Adding a task for rigctld (FT-818nd only)

If you are using the FT818nd - or another radio that supports CAT from rigctld - then you could create a script and a task under the Windows Task Scheduler to launch rigctld. You will find an example of a working rigctld bat file in the scripts folder.

Here is start-rigctld bat script: 

# Configuration for the FT817/FT818nd using digirig on COM3
REM Start rigctld
"C:\hamlib\bin"\rigctld.exe -m 1020 -s 38400 -r COM3 -v

Breaking down this command:

flag notes
-m selects the radio model. In this example 1020 is the Yaesu FT-817/818
-r serial port connected to the radio. In this case COM3
-s serial port speed for CAT control. In this example 38400. This needs to be configured in the FT818nd on Menu item 14
-v verbose output. You can increase this to -vvvv to have more information on rigctld, which is very useful when configuring your radio.

How do I find what COM port my dgirig is installed?

Open the Device Manager on Windows and then Ports (COM & LPT). Look under the Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge device. The following is an example of this device configured under COM3

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In the next steps we will create a task that will run rigctld automatic for us after the user logs into the PC.

Procedure:

  1. Open Task Scheduler Alt text

  2. Create a task with the following values

    1. Click on Create Task
    2. Give your task a Name.
    3. Under Security options choose:
      1. Run whether user is logged on or not
      2. Run with highest privileges
    4. Under Configured for choose Windows 10

    Alt text

    1. Select the Triggers tab and then New. Enable the following values:

    2. Under Actions click on New. Inside of the Edit Action window select Action: Start a program and then select the bat script that starts your adhoc network as showed here:

    3. Click on OK to save your task.