West Mountain Radio RIGblaster DXpro User manual
www.westmountainradio.com
1020 Spring City Drive
Waukesha, WI 53186
262-522-6503
©2020 West Mountain Radio, All rights reserved. All trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
RIGblaster
DXpro
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West Mountain Radio Operating Manual
Introduction
We understand you have a choice when buying Amateur Radio products and
we would like to take a moment to thank you for choosing West Mountain
Radio. The RIGblaster DXpro is the culmination of decades of experience
designing Amateur Radio computer interfaces. Great eort has gone into the
design to ensure you have the most up-to-date and capable interface you have
ever owned.
The DXpro’s advanced features give you the exibility to operate your ham
radio station in ways which were previously impossible with a traditional
interface. There are many aspects to conguring and operating the DXpro,
so please take time to read this manual which will help you understand the full
range of capabilities. Especially read section on installation before hooking up
your transceiver or computer.
Overview of DXpro Features
Audio
The DXpro has two internal sound cards named “DXpro Main/Sub/TX” and
“DXpro Mic/Sub”. These can be used in a number of ways depending on the
front panel switches.
Reception of dual channel audio from a transceiver with Main/Sub receivers
is possible: Main Receiver audio will be on the left stereo channel and Sub
Receiver audio will be on the right stereo channel. These signals will appear on
the “DXpro Main/Sub/TX” sound card recording channel.
Reception of dual channel audio on both sound cards: Main Receiver audio will
be on both channels of “DXpro Main/Sub/TX” and Sub Receiver audio will be
on “DXpro Mic/Sub”.
The transceiver’s microphone audio can be intercepted by “DXpro Mic/Sub” for
recording voice keying les.
The “DXpro Main/Sub/TX” sound card is also used for transmission (playback
channel). There is no playback channel associated with the “DXpro Mic/Sub”
sound card.
Virtual Serial Ports
The DXpro provides two virtual serial ports to the host computer.
DXpro CAT/CI-V is a dedicated serial port for rig control. All serial signals are
available for use and externalized on the CAT (RS232) DB9 connector and CAT
(TTL) connector. Optionally the TTL output can be inverted if necessary.
DXpro Control is used for PTT (RTS), CW/FSK keying (DTR), various input
signals, and for programming the DXpro.
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West Mountain Radio Operating Manual
INTRODUCTION
Footswitch / Keypad Port
This RCA phono jack can be used for a conventional footswitch or analog
keypad. You can program this jack so that multiple taps on a footswitch (up to
three) will trigger serial input signals on the DXpro Control Port. These can be
monitored by suitable software and an action performed such as playing back a
voice keying wave le.
Optionally a four button analog keypad can be attached to trigger the serial
input signals. A readymade analog keypad product is available from West
Mountain Radio.
Sequencer Support
The DXpro has two ports for sequencer interfacing. The SEQ-TRIG port is an
output and can be used to start a sequencer’s timing loop.
The SEQ-END port is an input and would be connected to the output of a
sequencer to signal to the DXpro that transmit is now safe.
During this time PTT/CW/FSK is suppressed on the DXpro. Logic levels for the
sequencer ports can be programmed either active high or active low.
Squelch (COS) Support
There is a dedicated squelch input which can be used for advanced
applications such as EchoLink or for repeater announcements.
Optional ClearSpeech®Module
Internally, a header is provided to install a CLRmod DSP audio processor. This
can be used in a similar way to our CLRspkr and CLRdsp products. A good
use for this would be to reduce received HF noise when operating remotely
using the DXpro. The CLRmod DSP lter level, tone, & volume controls can be
changed via software
RTTY FSK & CW Keying
The DXpro has outputs for real CW keying and FSK RTTY. In addition there is
a “right-channel audio to FSK” circuit which allows some digital mode software
(such as FLdigi) to produce true FSK.
In a similar fashion, true keyed CW can be output from audio based Morse
Code software.
12v Output
A switchable +12v DC output is provided which can be used (remotely if
needed) to turn a small station accessory on or o.
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West Mountain Radio Operating Manual
USB Pass-through Port
For your convenience we’ve added a USB type-A jack on the DXpro which can
be used just like a normal computer USB port.
Requirements
Although the DXpro appears to successfully work on Windows XP we would
recommend that for best results to use Windows 10 on a recent computer with
at least 4GB RAM. The DXpro also works on Linux and Mac-OS.
Contents
• RIGblaster DXpro
• Microphone Cable – works with any 8 pin microphone jack (Foster round-
metal or ‘RJ-45’). Radios with a 4 pin or 6 pin microphone jack will require
a dierent cable
• 12VDC Powerpole Cable
• Instant Setup Connectors (ISCs)
• 1/8” audio cable, 6 ft
• USB type A to type B Cable
• Wire jumpers and shunt jumpers
• DVD of RIGblaster Soundcard Collection
Installation
Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Before connecting your DXpro to the PC, download and run the latest driver
installation software and rmware updates from the website:
www.westmountainradio.com . In the gray menu bar, click Support>Downloads
Firmware Updating
From time to time there may be newer rmware for the DXpro. Current rmware
versions and instructions on performing the update can be found at the link
above.
Selecting the ISC
Before you can hook up your transceiver you will need to install jumpers or
one of the ready-made jumper blocks (ISCs) provided with the DXpro. This will
congure the DXpro to use the same microphone pinout as your transceiver
and microphone.
The ISCs supplied cover many types of transceivers but you may use the
discrete white wire and blue shunt jumpers if your transceiver does not fall in
this category. Refer to the chart below for some common transceivers and
appropriate ISC.
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West Mountain Radio Operating Manual
For a more exhaustive list we have a web resource which can be accessed
here:
http://www.westmountainradio.com/isc-nder.php
Installing the ISC
The DXpro is shipped without the metal top cover screwed on to facilitate rst-
time installation of the ISC.
Locate the ISC header on the circuit board. It is 2 rows
of 14 pins designated P1. The orientation is pin 1 on
the left-hand side if the unit’s front panel controls are
facing you.
Place the correct ISC for your transceiver over the
pins and push rmly down. All pins should be covered
by the black plastic header block. Be careful not to
miss a row or column of pins.
Refer to the image if necessary.
Once the ISC has been installed you may carefully
attach the metal top cover and the sheet metal case screws can be inserted. As
these screws will cut the thread in the screw holes, a little force may be needed
the rst time you do this.
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