Digiface Ver 3.

0 by VU2POP
Thank you for purchasing the new Digiface Ver 3
Many upgrades have been incorporated since first built in 2002, the batches of
Ver1, Ver2, interfaced with Serial Com port.
As newer PCs have USB there has been several demands for a USB interfaced
version, hence this current version V3 is with USB interface.

I built a few types with ideas from various web pages, simple as well as complex,
however I found the following design adaptation the simplest and safe for any ham
use.
After I built a few in the first batch many more hams wanted it and hence I had to
build many more as the new digital mode craze was catching up.
Specially the digital modes on the ISS and the satellites too, as ISS was sending
down SSTV pictures.
APRS digipeated via the ISS and a few other sats too are catching.
Digital modes like the FT8, PSK , Digipan , MMTTY, MMSSTV and many more
modes is popular on the Ham bands HF, Vhf, Uhf.
This interface can be hooked up for Echolink link station setup too.

Most bands are noisy or with poor band conditions, having moderate power output
ranging from 30W to less than 100W with Dipole Antenna are unable to have
comfortable 2 way Voice communication with local or Dx

These days almost all hams have a PC in their shack for various apps etc. with the
advent of new Digital modes, most hams want to try out and experiment these new
modes.
With Digital modes you can have very successful 2 way communication around
the globe with QRP as low as 5watt to 20 watts.

You could download the various Digital modes softwares as most of them are free,
some softwares have multimodes, some dedicated to one or two modes.

Below is the picture of Digiface V3 and the following items provided in the
package
Digiface V3 package includes the following

Digiface V3 1 no
USB to USB PC to interface cable 1 no
EP to EP stereo plug cables 2 nos
RJ45 Shielded plug with 1 mtr CAT6 shielded cable 1 no
Heat shrink tube bits 2mm dia 4 nos
Heat shrink tube bit 8mm dia 1 no
Now getting back to more information regarding Digiface V3 ,
Features the following
Digiface is built into a nice neat compact case
The PCB design is planned for future expansions
All connectors are on rear side
RJ45 socket is Shielded type for proper grounding, also the 1 mtr CAT6 cable is
shielded type with RJ45 plug is shielded type too
RJ45 shielded cable needs to be terminated with your rig specific Mic / PTT
connector on to your Tcvr.
Here I recommend using the Mic / PTT connector on your radio as this is the
simplest & easy method to identify the PTT, Mic & Gnd as per the Radio User
manual.
( as I am not sure of the accys and data ports available on the rear of various
Radios, its signal or voltage levels OR protocols)
If you are sure, you are knowledgeable with these rear Data & Accys ports, their
protocols & sig levels etc , you may proceed at your own risk.

(you need to wire for your rig specific PTT connector on the other side)
See illustration in the following pages

Front View of Digiface

2 LEDs

extreme right is GREEN LED indicates USB connected to Digiface

Next to Green is RED LED, indicates PTT ON whenever the PC software sends
the TX / PTT command to Transmit the digital modes to Tcvr
Rear View

From left to right

USB cable to be connected to PC / Laptop

RJ45 socket is the PTT & Mic Audio to be connected to your Tcvr

1st EP : Stereo Socket to be connected to PC/Laptop ( Ext Spk or Headphone

socket )

2nd EP Stereo Socket : OPTIONAL can be connected to small ampli speaker OR

small Multimedia to enable you to listen to the transmit audio if required

3rd EP Stereo Socket OPTIONAL can be connected to Headphones incase you

want to listen to the transmit audio if required
Step by Step hook up

Follow the above hook up

Incase you are using Win XP, Win7 , follow as below

As soon as connect the USB cable the Green LED lights up and you may hear a
ding OR dong audio notification on your PC / laptop.

Next you need to ascertain which COM port has been assigned by your PC ,

go to My Computers, right click , Manage, then under Device Manager ,

see PORTs ( Com & LPT ) ,

it should indicate as Silicon Labs USB to UART Bridge ( COM _) number

Com Port assigned will indicate as COM 2 or 3 or 4 or 5

Remember this as you need to enter the Com port number in “General Setup”
during the Digital modes Software Application.
The easiest digital mode software to setup with minimum settings is PSK31 & test
the Digiface.

Download PSK31 instal, fill in general setup and test the Digiface if it is going to
PTT mode on command from psk application dashboard.

If so you will see the RED led light up every time the Tx or Send or PTT is
enabled.

So you are now ready to install all other digital modes softwares on your PC and
go ahead with settings on each of the applications you wish to run & test them.

PSK31

RTTY

Digipan

SSTV

AMTOR

PACTOR

FT8

CW

Etc etc.

There are many digital modes used by Hams , which you could google for.

https://www.qsl.net/rv3apm/

https://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Software/PSK31/

http://www.hamuniverse.com/hfdigitalmodessoftware.html

https://qsl.net/rv6apn/

https://www.jtdx.tech/en/

http://www.hfradio.org.uk/html/digital_modes.html

This Digiface also has been used by many for Echolink Rptr Link stations.
Troubleshooting Windows 8/10 driver issue with Digiface 3.0

Problem Description
This problem is observed on Windows 8 and above operating systems.
When the Digiface unit is plugged to a laptop or PC, the GREEN power LED
should continuously glow indicating that the USB to serial controller device
CP210x used in Digiface V3.0 is active and ready to use.
When using Windows 8 and above operating system, after few seconds of plugging
the Digiface unit to the laptop or PC, the GREEN LED turns OFF indicating the
CP210x device is not active and the Digiface with digital communication software
does not work.

Reason
Due to the Windows drivers for CP210x in Windows8 and above, the COM port of
CP210x enters sleep mode if no activity is seen on UART lines. Hence, the
CP210x device goes to sleep mode and Digiface turns OFF.

Solution
The default setting of CP210x going to sleep mode needs to be changed to active.

Go to Device Manager. Under Ports (COM & LPT), you can see Silicon Labs
CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COMxx) [xx depends on the laptop/PC being
used]

Right click on Silicon Labs CP210x USB to UART Bridge (COMxx) and the
selection option appears as shown below. Select Properties in the list.
Clicking Properties will open another window. Go to Power Management tab.
The check box next to Allow the computer to turn off the device to save power
will be ticked. Click mouse button to remove the tick.

Once the OK button is pressed, the CP210x will start operating in Active/normal
mode. The GREEN LED on Digiface will turn ON and stay ON.

You can continue using the Digiface as indicated in user manual.

Setting up JTDX/WSJTX software and Testing Digiface V3.0

The below section explains configuring JTDX/WSJTX (Taken as example to show

the settings) and using with Digiface V3.0.

1. Open JTDX/WSJTX.
2. File menu, click Settings

3. In Settings set Rig as None, PTT Method to RTS and Select Port as per
the serial port number which appears in Device Manager/Ports (COM &
LPT) as shown below.

.
4. Connect the Digiface V3.0 RJ45 connector (PTT and Mic) to your rig as
explained in user manual.
5. To test whether the Digiface V3.0 is activating transmitter, press the Test
PTT button in Settings and the Test PTT button turns RED as shown
below.

6. The Transmitter will be turned-on and transmits until the Test PTT button is
pressed again.
7. This test ensures that the Digiface V3.0 to transmitter path is working.

For testing the digital signal decoding perform the following

1. Tune the transceiver Receiver to any FT8 frequency (Eg. 7.074MHz,

14.074MHz etc.)
2. Set the mode to USB (this is very important to decode the FT8 signals, if in
LSB mode, signals will not be decoded).
3. Place the laptop or PC microphone near Transceiver speaker
4. The digital signals start to decode and shown in below screenshot
5. JTDX is taken as an example, and procedure is similar to any other software
NEXT PROCEED TO WIRING OF PTT & MIC AUDIO LINES

Now that you have your PTT line working upto Digiface, you can connect the
RJ45 cable

RJ45 shielded plug pre-crimped with about a metre of shielded CAT6 cable is
provided

(Note each & every cable is individually tested with the Digiface and supplied)

View of the RJ45 plug with the different color wires going to each contact point on
plug.

(Note we are NOT following the standard LAN OR ETHERNET cable color
codes)
Green = PTT

Green White = PTT

Orange White = Audio Out Gnd

Blue White = Audio Out Hot

Other wires should not be connected to any pins OR points to the Tcvr.
With the free open end, strip the cable you will see the 8 colors of wires as follows

To make sure you are configuring the respective wire to the respective pins on to
your Tcvr, test the 2 PTT lines & Mic Audio lines as follows
First connect a Multimeter, DMM or Analog in the Continuity OR Beep Buzzer
mode to the PTT lines , now manually enable TX on the PSK software to see if the
Multimeter shows continuity or beeps, this confirms that the PTT line is ok upto
the cable end before it is connected to the radio. ( if you don’t see the Multimeter
deflection or hear the beep on meter, reverse the multimeter probes to the Green &
Green White and check if the meter deflects to show continuity OR Beeps )

Next you need to configure the above 2 pairs of wires to the respective Tcvr plug ,
first check the Mic socket pin out details as specified in the respective Tcvr User
Manual

Please refer the User Manual of the Tcvr in use to ascertain the Mic or accy pin
termination.
OR check the following links
https://www.qsl.net/g4wpw/date.html
Generally HF tcvrs have a 8 pin round socket OR the latest Tcvrs have RJ45
socket

Carefully sketch out the

PTT & PTT Gnd,

Mic Audio IN & Mic Audio Gnd

Here again you need to make some basic tests before your connect the digiface
cable, as there is +8V, Data lines coming on to the tcvr mic socket

Recheck with sketch you made to see the pins numbers & Orientation of pins,
as some manuals show front view of socket on Tcvr , some show view of the Mic
connector on the cable side.
So be careful !
Next you need to buy a 8 pin round Connector OR RJ45 Plug as maybe the case
to suit the Mic connector of your Tcvr.

Now to test PTT mic connector on your Radio , first set your radio to lowest
power,

Before you hardwire the cable from Digiface to Tcvr , take the spare Connector ( 8
pin round OR RJ45 jack as the case maybe )

Next take 2 bits of wires solder to the PTT & PTT Gnd pins on the spare 8pin
round connector, short these 2 wires momentarily and if you see the tcvr going to
Tx mode , then the PTT / PTT Gnd lines are confirmed

Now that the PTT & PTT gnd lines are confirmed you may desolder the the small
bits of wire used for testing and hardwire the Green & GreenWhite wires as PTT &
PTT as you have by now confirmed the pin configuration.

In the case of RJ45 socket on Tcvr, make a small pig tail with short bit of wire
crimped to RJ45 OR you may take standard LAN OR Ethernet Cable available at
all computer shops , cut it so you will have about 6 inches of cable with one end
towards RJ45 jack.

Carefully view thru the transparent shell and sketch out the color of wires from left
to right pin contacts,

Make sure of Orientation of the jack view when making a sketch,

Strip the wires end slightly , next to make sure take Multimeter DMM or Analog,
check Continuity of each stripped color wire ends with pin contact on RJ45 jack to
make sure your sketch drawn is correct.

Now insert the RJ45 jack into the tcvr mic socket , set the Tcvr power output to the
lowest, take the 2 lines PTT & PTT gnd as per your Tcvr User Manual and short it
momentarily, if the Tcvr goes to Tx mode it is right , if not recheck your sketch, as
mostly it’s confusion of the color of wire OR the orientation of the jack view.

Once you get it right, proceed further.

Now you may proceed to hard wire the RJ45 jack pig tail wires with the White
CAT6 cable provided with the Digiface , solder the PTT & PTT gnd , Mic Audio
& Mic Gnd as per your sketch & CAT6 cable.

You may keep wires short length, slide the Heat shrink tubes 8 mm provided over
the cable & also the small 2mm heat shrink tubes (provided) over the 4 wires, to
ensure insulation between wires just soldered.

The remaining 4 wires may be cut off ( do not folded backwards inside the
connector shell ) a sleeve may be slid over it, to prevent contact with any other
points.

Heat shrink the sleeves with a Hot Air gun if you have OR Hair Dryer OR over a
gas lighter flame, take care not to burn the sleeve with flame, maintain a safe
distance.

Now you have the cables ready, go ahead start your favourite Digital mode
application,

First connect the EP stereo cable from Tcvr Speaker / Headphone Output to the PC
/ Laptop Mic input, slowly increase AF volume on your Tcvr you should see the
audio bargraph & waterfall with signals , select the freq and you will see the
stream of text messages OR QSOs , Callsigns of stations active.

Watch the audio bargraph so as not to over load the audio input, maintain the
optimum audio volume control so as to receive the decoded signals.

Next is to test the Tx audio level & quality, if you a friend to listen OR decode OR
have Digital mode QSO with you you can proceed to the Digital mode application,
recheck all settings.
Plug in the shielded RJ45 plug cable into the Digiface and the other end which you
have prepared with 8 pin round mic connector OR the RJ45 jack to your respective
Tcvr in use by you.

Plug in the EP stereo plug, one side to the Digiface (first EP socket adjacent to
RJ45 socket) and the other end EP stereo plug goes into the Speaker out socket
OR Headphone socket in your PC / Laptop.

If you are trying Digital modes for the first OR not familiar with Digital modes
settings , ask you friend to check your settings via TeamViewer.

Now go ahead, start your 2 way digital modes QSOs with your friends and enjoy
the new modes.

Best 73

Pop
VU2POP
mob 9448332249
vu2pop@gmail.com

Acknowledgements :
Thanks to
VU2RPS Rajesh, mob 93910 34259 , vu2rps@gmail.com
VU2HNN Naveen, mob 98454 80294 , navmys@gmail.com
for their observations & inputs to finalise in making this Instruction Manual.
Also in helping several hams configure the digital modes application in their
computers and activating them on Digital Modes.
VU2RPS Rajesh had also presented a ppt on Digital Modes at last the HFI-2019
Kanyakumari.