External Radio "Not Responding" (Change in status)

[herbk@comcast.net]

Greetings
For several years now, I have had solid performance and enjoying SDR Radio "point and click" capability with the Kenwood TS-990S / Airspy HF+ Discovery and the External Radio capability (thru OmniRig, of course). This is thru the LAN and utilizing a desktop, Windows 10 platform.

Stability and "day to day" reliability has been outstanding with no issues do to periodic SDR-Radio updates.

For no apparent reason, the External Radio window today is reporting "Not Responding" but this is only partially correct. My initial attempt to change frequency via SDR-Radio does not work as previous, but after some seconds of delay, the radio does in fact track to the new selected frequency / mode. This is accompanied (if I change bands via SDR-Radio) with the radio notification (CW tone) that follows an external command to indicate a status change has occurred.

I would say the delay to go to the newly selected frequency is about 3 - 4 seconds maximum, however sometimes the change is less and even instantaneous. All the time, the External Radio window reports "Not Responding". And now, frequency changes are one way: a change to the radio does not change the SDR-Radio status. I have not tried transmitting to make sure the mute function is still working as it should. I can confirm the polling delay within OmniRig remains at 100 ms.
Obviously, hoping for some ideas on this one. Partial log file attached.

Screenshot-2024-12-01-092429.jpeg (238.56 KiB) Viewed 4882 times

[Max]

For several years now, I have had solid performance and enjoying SDR Radio "point and click" capability with the Kenwood TS-990S / Airspy HF+ Discovery and the External Radio capability (thru OmniRig, of course). This is thru the LAN and utilizing a desktop, Windows 10 platform.

Just to check, has everything stayed exactly the same, so you didn't change or update Omnirig?

Same again for SDR Console. Which version? Was it updated prior to this starting to happen? If so, which version worked perfectly and which causes the issues?

73

Max

[herbk@comcast.net]

Max:
Thanks for the response.
Confirming:
1) Everything has remained the same as far as I know. I have not updated or made any change in Omnirig.
2) I went to SDR Console v3.4 in early November and all was working fine for several weeks.

As you see from the logfile, the External Radio status changes (ever so briefly) to On-Line without any
intervention from operator and then quickly to Not Responding.

I can also report that when transmitting on the Kenwood radio, the signal is fine except I have
lost the auto mute, as I see my activity on the SDR Console waterfall. But I would expect this if the External Radio
is Not Responding.
73'
Herb

[Max]

Max:
Thanks for the response.
Confirming:
1) Everything has remained the same as far as I know. I have not updated or made any change in Omnirig.
2) I went to SDR Console v3.4 in early November and all was working fine for several weeks.

As you see from the logfile, the External Radio status changes (ever so briefly) to On-Line without any
intervention from operator and then quickly to Not Responding.

I can also report that when transmitting on the Kenwood radio, the signal is fine except I have
lost the auto mute, as I see my activity on the SDR Console waterfall. But I would expect this if the External Radio
is Not Responding.
73'
Herb

OK Herb. Just thought I would ask the obvious questions first as some people try to use the non official Omnirig 2.0 etc. which is not compatible with SDRC. Should be currently v1.20 as per Afreet/DX Atlas website. If anything changed programming wise with SDRC then that's obviously for Simon to come in on.

It might be an interesting (and very quick) exercise just to go back to the 3.3 Release version and see if that cures the issue. Simon may be in the middle of doing something with the 3.4 Beta that may be relevant and would be useful to know if some issue has been inadvertently introduced in 3.4. Just to reassure, I've often gone back and forth from Beta to an earlier version and never had any issues. Takes literally seconds to install over the top of the other version (either way).

73

Max

[herbk@comcast.net]

Max:
Thanks very much for the assistance on this one.
Yes, I have not updated or changed the original Omnirig program which
is at v1.16.

I also looked carefully at the USB cable from the radio to the
PC. Just to make sure.

Your suggestion on overwriting SDRC with the previous released version is excellent.
And I appreciate that you have done this without issues so I can proceed with
some confidence. I will certainly post the result.

73'

Herb

[herbk@comcast.net]

Max:
I wanted to let you know that I reverted to the 3.3 Release version as mentioned. There is no change
in the External Radio behavior. The logfile looks very similar with the "Not Responding" giving way
to "On-Line" every so often, for about 1/2 second or so.

I expect I will have to look next to Omnirig and perhaps go to v1.20 and see if that is the culprit
here. Other than that, I am at a loss. Can I overwrite the previous Omnirig version just like I do
with SDRC?

I will keep going as I am so "used to" the functionality of SDRC with the radio.

73'

Herb

[Max]

I expect I will have to look next to Omnirig and perhaps go to v1.20 and see if that is the culprit
here. Other than that, I am at a loss. Can I overwrite the previous Omnirig version just like I do
with SDRC?

Which version are/were you running Herb? My guess is if it's an older version than 1.20 but downloaded from Afreet there's probably no need to change it. But v2.0 etc is not going to be good for sure.

I think there seem to be very few topics on here that come up so consistently as issues with syncing external radios so you are not alone, but it is frustrating if it's been previously working so perfectly.

73

Max

[Max]

I expect I will have to look next to Omnirig and perhaps go to v1.20 and see if that is the culprit
here. Other than that, I am at a loss. Can I overwrite the previous Omnirig version just like I do
with SDRC?

Sorry, just realised I managed to not answer the question you asked. If it's Afreet older version to 1.20 I would imagine it's OK but TBH I don't know the exact answer. I've certainly done just that and it was fine, but I don't sync external rigs, just external programs like logbook, WSJT-X etc. If it's a none Afreet version like v2.1 from HB9RYZ then I'd fully uninstall it then reinstall the correct version.

73

Max

[Max]

Two more things I thought of. Is it worth trying this .ini file in Omnirig for the TS-990 (I expect you already did?) as it specifically mentions implementing the correct mute behaviour:

https://groups.io/g/TS-990S/topic/kenwo ... r/74813657

The other thing is (again, possibly nothing to to with it, but worth a try) did you try unplugging and replugging any RS232/COM cables between the PC and the rig? Just thinking if all was working before, then could it be a physical issue such as low voltage levels due to plug needing re-seating or some such?

73

Max

[herbk@comcast.net]

Max:
Thanks very much for all the thoughts.
It really seemed to boil down to Omnirig. When I ran the
client (Omnirig), it became clear that the rig wasn't communicating with
Omnirig.

Candidly, at that point, I wasn't confident the problem wasn't with the
Com port driver but it seemed more likely an issue within Omnirig. I
uninstalled the 1.16 and installed 1.20 in its place. That "restored" communication
between the rig and Omnirig and it was a smooth sail from there. Everyone is back
talking.

The .ini file I am using was a homebrew as there wasn't a file specifically
for the model Kenwood I have. The new .ini files direct all to a generic
"Kenwood" file which I will check out to see if there is any additional capabilities.

Thanks again for keeping me focused and all the assist and suggestions.

73'