Kenwood TS-990S User manual

This guide is specifically aimed at the user of the Kenwood TS-990S transceiver, but the steps are very
similar to those needed for the TS-590SG and TS590S, as well as other transceivers with USB sound and
CAT interfaces built in.
This guide is the work of Mitchel Baum –AE2A, and may be reproduced and distributed only in it’s
entirety.
Configuring the TS-990S for Fldigi
Without Using an outboard Interface

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 2
Table of Contents
Preparation ...................................................................................................................................................5
NOTE: ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
Install the software ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Plug in the USB cable to the Transceiver ......................................................................................................5
Configure the Sound Device Names ............................................................................................................. 5
Configuring the Audio Levels in the Transceiver ........................................................................................13
Installing the CAT Program (Flrig) ...............................................................................................................16
Installing the main Program (Fldigi)............................................................................................................19
Configuring the Rig Control Software .........................................................................................................22
Configuring Fldigi ........................................................................................................................................26
Fine Tuning the Audio Levels ......................................................................................................................38
Selecting the Audio Source for TX on the TS-990S .................................................................................38
A Note about Audio Level Settings .........................................................................................................39
Fldigi Receive Input Level........................................................................................................................40
Fldigi Transmit Output Levels .................................................................................................................44
Step 1 ..................................................................................................................................................44
Step 2 ..................................................................................................................................................47
Step 3 ..................................................................................................................................................48
Step 4 ..................................................................................................................................................49
Recognition .................................................................................................................................................49

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 3
Table of Figures
Figure 1 ‘The Start Button’............................................................................................................................ 6
Figure 2 Select the Control Panel.................................................................................................................. 6
Figure 3 Select the Sound option..................................................................................................................7
Figure 4 Playback Device Naming .................................................................................................................8
Figure 5 Properties........................................................................................................................................ 9
Figure 6 Recording Device...........................................................................................................................10
Figure 7 RX Volume Level............................................................................................................................ 11
Figure 8 TX Volume Level (Initial) ...............................................................................................................12
Figure 9 TS-990S Menu Group 7 ................................................................................................................. 13
Figure 10 TS-990S USB Baud Rate Setting ..................................................................................................14
Figure 11 Rear Connector Settings .............................................................................................................15
Figure 12 ‘Downloads Folder’ .....................................................................................................................16
Figure 13 GNU License ................................................................................................................................17
Figure 14 Flrig Options................................................................................................................................ 17
Figure 15 Flrig Folder Selection...................................................................................................................18
Figure 16 install Progress ............................................................................................................................18
Figure 17 ‘Downloads’ Folder .....................................................................................................................19
Figure 18 GNU License ................................................................................................................................20
Figure 19 Fldigi Install Options....................................................................................................................20
Figure 20 Fldigi Folder Selection.................................................................................................................21
Figure 21 Fldigi Install Progress...................................................................................................................21
Figure 22 Flrig Desktop Icon........................................................................................................................22
Figure 23 Flrig Main Screen ........................................................................................................................ 22
Figure 24 Flrig Setup Selection....................................................................................................................23
Figure 25 Flrig Transceiver Setup................................................................................................................ 24
Figure 26 Flrig Close Options ......................................................................................................................25
Figure 27 Fldigi RX Device Selection ...........................................................................................................26
Figure 28 Fldigi TX Device Selection............................................................................................................ 27
Figure 29 Fldigi Right Channel Selection.....................................................................................................28
Figure 30 Fldigi Autostart............................................................................................................................29
Figure 31 Flrig Executable Location ............................................................................................................ 30
Figure 32 Locate Executable .......................................................................................................................31
Figure 33 Select C: Drive ............................................................................................................................. 32
Figure 34 Select Program Files (x86)........................................................................................................... 33
Figure 35 Select Flrig Folder........................................................................................................................34
Figure 36 Select Flrig................................................................................................................................... 35
Figure 37 lick Open ..................................................................................................................................... 36
Figure 38 Test Path .....................................................................................................................................37
Figure 39 TS-990S Audio Input Selection....................................................................................................38
Figure 40 Select USB Audio.........................................................................................................................39

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 4
Figure 41 Fldigi RX Level Icon...................................................................................................................... 40
Figure 42 Fldigi Waterfall View Button.......................................................................................................41
Figure 43 Fldigi Signal View.........................................................................................................................41
Figure 44 Select RX Device..........................................................................................................................42
Figure 45 Initial Audio Level RX................................................................................................................... 43
Figure 46 Waterfall Controls.......................................................................................................................44
Figure 47 TX Attenuator Setting .................................................................................................................45
Figure 48 Fldigi Op Mode Selection ............................................................................................................46
Figure 49 Fldigi Audio Frequency................................................................................................................46
Figure 50 Fldigi Tune Button.......................................................................................................................47
Figure 51 Fldigi TX Level..............................................................................................................................48

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 5
Preparation
Download the Fldigi and Flrig programs from Source Forge at: Source Forge - Fldigi .
At this time the best versions are the ‘alpha-test” versions found in the “alpha-tests’ folder.
The most current versions of Fldigi for windows is: fldigi-3.23.07_setup.exe .
The most current versions of Flrig for windows is: flrig-1.3.24_setup.exe .
These versions may be updated by the time you read this, but use a fresh pair of these programs as they
are meant to function as a pair. If you need to update these programs do so by first removing the old
versions, then installing the updated versions.
Download the Virtual COM Port Driver from : Kenwood Download Site .
Download the ARCP-990 Program from: Kenwood Download Site .
Download the ARUA-10 USB Audio Controller software from: Kenwood Download Site .
If you have not upgraded the firmware in your TS990S to v 1.10, now would be a good time to do this.
You can find the firmware update here also and instructions on how to perform the update are here
also.
Obtain a good quality shielded USB-A to USB-B cable. Install one or two ferrite RFI suppressors to
protect both the radio and your PC from any RFI effects. Install one at each end of the cable. Do not
connect the cable to your PC yet, but you may connect the USB-B end into the TS990S at this time.
NOTE:
If you are using the TS590SG or TS590S, the process is very similar and the downloads are on the
same page.
Install the software
Install the Virtual COM Port Driver software by double clicking the downloaded file. Ensure you are using
an administrative account! Likewise install the ARCP-990 Program and the ARCP-990 Program. Although
you may wish to enjoy these stand-alone programs, we will not actually use these in this document, but
they are needed to properly install the required software ‘drivers’. Other than creating some new icons
on your desktop, you should not see anything happen.
Plug in the USB cable to the Transceiver
Plug in the USB cable to the back panel socket on the TS990S. The PC will then begin the installation of
the driver software which may take some time to complete. When the process is complete, the notices
will disappear. You will not see anything different on your desktop when this completes.
Configure the Sound Device Names

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 6
Open your ‘Control Panel’ by clicking the ‘Start’ button on your desktop and selecting the Control Panel
option (on the Right Side).
Figure 1 ‘The Start Button’
Select Control Panel Option
Figure 2 Select the Control Panel
This will open the control panel to a screen like this:

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 7
Figure 3 Select the Sound option
Click on the ‘Sound’ Icon and this will open the Sound settings:

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 8
Figure 4 Playback Device Naming
Take note of how I have labelled the ‘USB Audio Codec’ in the ‘Playback’ Tab for the TS990S, Think about
this: ‘Playback’ is an Output, so this ‘output’ will be the ‘input’ sound to your transceiver, so we label this
‘TS990 TX! Later we will associate the Fldigi ‘Playback’ device with this (TX) device. By the same token,
the other side of the same device (RX) is listed in the ‘Recording” Tab and this should be labelled ‘TS990
RX’. The ‘TS990 RX’ is the input side of this device (remember this is both an input and output device)
which will be associated with the ‘Capture’ device name in Fldigi. Take note of how Windows identifies
this device. There is a number in this name; in this example the number is ‘7’. This should also be the
COM Port number of the serial ‘virtual’ device (COM 7). We will need the COM Port number when
configuring Flrig for CAT. Write down the COM Port number for later use. Double-click the device entry,
select the ‘name’ of the device, and type the correct name for the device as per the above. See the
figure below. Note the default device is the ‘Playback’ device which is an output, hence the TX
designation.

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 9
Figure 5 Properties
Similarly select the ‘Recording’ device which is the input device and change its name. See the figure
below.

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 10
Figure 6 Recording Device
Be sure that you do not see the green check mark on either of these devices or they will become the
Windows default device, not a desired selection. Click ‘apply’ and OK to set this. Next, double-click the
RX device and select the ‘Levels’ TAB. Set the microphone gain to about 34(%) as a starting value. This
sets the receive input level to Fldigi and will vary according to the receiver gain, noise conditions, and
AGC settings. We will refine this setting later once we ‘connect’ this device in Fldigi.

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 11
.
Figure 7 RX Volume Level
At this point if you are receiving a signal you should see a few green bars varying in level. This is a good
sign! Do not worry at this point if you don’t see this as we will need to set the USB audio levels in the
transceiver in the next section.
Now let’s go back to the playback TAB and select the device, double-click the device and select the
Levels Tab. Set the TX audio gain (Speakers) at approximately 29(5). See the figure below for more
detail.

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 12
Figure 8 TX Volume Level (Initial)
This setting is the TX audio drive level to the transceiver. We will further adjust this value later so that
when we go to transmit there will be no ALC action. When we refer to the TX audio gain, this is the
setting we are referring to. If your sound card device has a setting in ‘dB’, use 0 dB. See the figure above
for an example. Click ‘apply’ and OK. Close the remaining windows. This completes the basic preliminary
audio device configuration.

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 13
Configuring the Audio Levels in the Transceiver
Press the “MENU” button on the TS990S front panel and select: Group 7 – Rear Connectors.
See figure 5 (below).
Figure 9 TS-990S Menu Group 7
Press the F4 soft key to select this sub menu. See the Figure (Below) and enter these settings in this
submenu.

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 14
Figure 10 TS-990S USB Baud Rate Setting
The critical value we are concerned with here are submenu ‘01’ the USB ‘Virtual COM Port baud rate
should be set to 115200 (bps). In the next figure, we will set the audio levels for the USB audio input and
output (TX and RX respectively).

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 15
Figure 11 Rear Connector Settings
Note the values for submenu ‘05’, ‘08’, and ‘09’. Although we rarely use the sub-receiver for data it’s still
a good idea to set both output levels the same. Note that all the values for submenu items 06 through 13
are the factory defaults. If you use any other device connections to the ‘ACC2’ or ‘optical’ outputs, this
will be where you make those level adjustments. You may use these for a packet TNC or External RTTY
Terminal Unit (TU). You may need to adjust the value of ‘05’very low (maybe less than 5) in order to
reduce ALC indication for no activity later on. This is not a problem, but make changes only 1 digit at a
time. In some cases it may be necessary to use the value of 1 here.
At this point you have completed the ‘basic’ preliminary settings which should allow us to being the
actual configuration of the CAT program –Flrig. Other models of transceivers will have similar settings
and will most like not look exactly or be named like these. Be sure to copy down the critical settings of
baud rate for the transceiver side of the CAT program as this is important! We will use the same setting
for baud rate in Flrig (the CAT program).
Congratulations on your work so far! In the next sections we will be connecting the rig to the CAT
program (Flrig), then pulling the entire configuration together and actually connecting it to the main
Program –Fldigi.

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 16
Installing the CAT Program (Flrig)
Navigate to the location on your computer where you downloaded the Flrig and Fldigi installer files.
Double-click the Flrig setup file. See the below figure:
Figure 12 ‘Downloads Folder’

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 17
Figure 13 GNU License
Click on the ‘Continue’ button to accept the GNU/GPL License Agreement.
Figure 14 Flrig Options
Select all of the check boxes and click ‘Next’.

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 18
Figure 15 Flrig Folder Selection
Click the ‘Install’ button and Flrig will install. You may click on the ‘Show details’ button to ensure there
were no errors.
Figure 16 install Progress
Click the ‘Close’ button.

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 19
Installing the main Program (Fldigi)
Navigate back to the downloads Folder and similarly to the above section, Install the Fldigi program. I
will show only the sequence of dialog boxes here as the steps to install Fldigi are exactly the same as for
Flrig.
Figure 17 ‘Downloads’ Folder

Configuring the TS990S for Fldigi
Tutorial by Mitch Baum –AE2A
Page 20
Figure 18 GNU License
Figure 19 Fldigi Install Options