Digimodes with Apple Macintosh Laptop and Kenwood TS590sg


I use the programs FLDIGI (mostly PSK , RTTY) and WSJT-X (for JT9, JT65, FT8). The good news is: you can download these programs for Apple Macintosh from the internet, and they work "as is" with the TS590sg. All you need is an USB cable to connect Macintosh and TS590sg. Use a good one (good shielding, ferrites) if your shack is close to the antenna.

The USB connection with the TS590sg offers both a soundcard (within the rig) and a CAT interface using an USB-to-serial converter (also within the rig). This converter needs a driver not provided by MacOS. Look for  "Silicon Labs VCP Driver Macintosh" on the internet and you will find it.

Note: you can probably bring it to work without a CAT connection, since the TS590sg offers a "digital VOX". I have not tried this hower, I prefer CAT commands for "PTT switching".

FLDIGI (use either Hamlib or RigCat)

	This picture shows how I set up rig control for TS590sg with fldigi. The baud rate (115200 bd) is the factory default for the USB connection, and the device name for the SiliconLabs driver is of the form /dev/tty.SLAB_USB..... Unless you have more than one SiliconLab chip connected via USB, there is only one such choice. Use "PTT via hamlib" (this means: use CAT commands for PTT) and check "Audio on auxiliary" (this means: use TX1 rather than TX0 command). Of course, make sure that the rig is powered up and connected via USB before starting the FLDIGI program! Note: This is fldigi linked with the latest version of Hamlib, that supports the TS590SG. If you use a precompiled fldigi program from the internet, than you might not find the TS590SG in the "Rig:" list (only the TS590S). Since different Kenwood models return different ID numbers and this is checked within hamlib, this might not work if you have the lastest rig brand but not the latest software. However, you are not lost in this case but can use RigCAT (this is more forgiving).
	To use RigCat, uncheck the "Use Hamlib" checkbox in the "Hamlib" tab, go to the "RigCat" tab and check "Use RigCat" there. Note that you will, in addition, need the file TS-590S.xml. This one you can find on the internet. This one also works for the TS590SG. The distinct advantage of RigCat is, that you can edit the xml file according to your needs. It is, e.g., important to use the "TX1" CAT command instead of "TX" or "TX0", otherwise audio is not accepted from the internal USB sound card but rather from the Microphone jacket. Note: I prefer Hamlib over RigCAT. However, if your TRX is not supported by hamlib, there is little you can do (other than writing a new backend and contributing it to hamlib, hi). With RigCAT, it is relatively straightforward to create a (or modify an existing) xml file that works with your rig.
	This picture shows audio setup. This is easy: PortAudio is the only choice on the Mac anyway, and "USB Audio Codec" is just the name of the sound-card within the TS590sg. USB sound cards are automatically supported these days

WSJT-X (Hamlib is the only choice)

This is how to configure the "Radio" section (Menu: Preferences...). Note that the "Serial Port" is the SiliconLabs Chip, there should only be one in your system. The baud rate must match those selected in the TS590sg for USB connection, 115200 baud is the factory default. Use CAT command for PTT switching, and check "Rear/Data" if using the sound card in the TRX. Since the TS590SG has a "USB Data" mode, choose "Data/pkt" rather than "USB". Split operation is very much recommended for wsjtx. It means that the VFO frequency is shifted while transmitting such that the TX audio frequencies are always in the range 1500 - 2000 Hz such that harmonics are outside the passband. It is easiest to use "Fake it", which means the VFO frequence is changed before and after the TX cycle, rather than programming the built-in split operation once per QSO. Fortunately, the wsjt-x program you can download from the internet is linked with the "daily snapshot" of hamlib, not with the latest "release version", so support for the TS590SG is there.

For audio, just select "USB Audio Codec", this is the name of the sound card within the TS590sg. You should not have another sound card with the same name connected to your Macintosh.

DL1YCF, February 2017.