Kenwood TM-D700A Pages by Jim Gill NØRMO
Commands for
Serial Port Control
Change TMD700A's TNC Mode Remotely via the Serial Port
The newest updates are at the bottom, please scroll down!
NEW!! Feb 3 2000
The following was discovered by Bob Bruninga about the TMD700A. This will allow his software (and those typing manually) to command the TNC in the radio to switch between any and all modes without touching the radio! Here it is, I will be "cleaning it up" and moving it to a separate page soon, just wanted to share the good news.
I have to thank BOB B for finding the Missing
Link - The Golden Nugget.... how to change to remote control mode when in
the TNC PACKET mode!!! This is the key to making that fabulous
all-in-one satellite ground station with total remote control
ability.
Your serial port on your computer must be
9600,n,8,1. First, enter AI 1 to get the radio to be in "Command
Echo" mode when in radio remote control mode. That way you can see
the LIST data and so forth coming back to you while you are in APRS
mode. This would be handy for an "ALL IN ONE" software program that
did memory control, freq change, packet sending and monitoring, APRS
sending and monitoring, etc. "The Works".
Update 4 Feb 2000: Some additional experimentation has clarified the control abilities for the radio - I am now defining four seperate "modes" that the serial port/TNC can be in: OFF, Radio Control (hereinafter referred to as RC), APRS, and PACKET. Definitions:
OFF: The TNC is not on, and the
radio will not send/receive data over the air. Note that in this
mode the radio will still accept control commands over the serial
port.
RC: The radio shows on the display TNC
PKT (Packet) mode, but the TNC is not able to actually Tx or Rx data. This
is a quick, temporary mode used to change band or frequency, etc.
You would normally then jump right back into Packet mode to continue
receiving data.
APRS: The radio shows on the
display that it is in TNC APRS mode. The radio can Tx/Rx APRS
formatted data on its own without any outside software, like you would
normally do as you drive around using the radio's internal APRS
software. Note that in this mode the radio will still accept control
commands over the serial port to change band, freq.,
etc.
PACKET: The radio shows on the display
TNC PKT (Packet), and the TNC is at the "cmd:" prompt like you are used to
with most TNCs. You can Tx/Rx AX.25 data with the data coming out of
the serial port - the internal APRS software is not
active.
Enter AI 1 (Alpha India space One) while in OFF, RC, or APRS mode to turn on the "monitoring" feature. This will "echo" or "return" the control commands for what the radio is doing at the time. Enter AI 0 (Alpha India space Zero) to turn off this "echo", but the radio will still accept commands while in this state. However it might be easier to enter your commands while in AI 1 mode so you can at least get responses from the radio when you enter your commands.
Update 5 Feb 2000: Another problem I discovered, which should have been obvious, is that to switch from TNC PKT (Packet mode) to any other mode, you must remember to drop to cmd: (command mode) on the TNC if you are in converse mode. It's easy to forget that this is still a TNC, and if you enter a command while in packet mode, you might end up having it go out over the air, since your TNC may likely be in CONVERSE mode. So, remember to send a CTRL-C if necessary! So much to remember and check... but I will share everything I find if the rest of you do the same!
The following commands should be sent in UPPERCASE:
| TNC/Serial Port is in THIS MODE |
TO GO TO THIS MODE |
SEND THIS IN UPPERCASE |
Is there a delay for the TNC to re-initialize |
|---|---|---|---|
| OFF | APRS | TNC 1 | YES |
| OFF | PACKET | TNC 2 then TC 0 | YES |
| OFF | RC | (not necessary)* | |
| APRS | OFF | TNC 0 | |
| APRS | RC | (not necessary)* | |
| APRS | PACKET | TNC 2 then TC 0 | YES |
| RC | OFF | TNC 0 | |
| RC | APRS | TNC 1 | YES |
| RC | PACKET | TC 0 | NO |
| PACKET * | OFF | TC 1 then TNC 0 | |
| PACKET * | RC | TC 1 | NO |
| PACKET * | APRS | TC 1 then TNC 1 | YES |
* Don't forget to send a
Ctrl-C (alt-3 on keypad, hex $03, etc) to get out of converse mode on the
TNC if necessary!
*
You can enter any Radio Control (RC) commands
while in the OFF or APRS modes.
Once in PACKET mode at any time, you may need to enter HB 1200 or HB 9600 to set the proper packet speed after switching modes. To switch speed while in APRS mode, use PKSA 0 for 1200, PKSA 1 for 9600.
I tried to make the above chart as clear as possible, email me if you want to correct something or need clarification.
Thanks to Bob B as always for his research, and his assistance to my research.