Hamlib Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most common questions compiled from the hamlib mailing list and the hamlib documentation.

- Is my rig supported?

Check out the supported radio's web page. You could also type 'rigctl --list' after having compiled and/or installed hamlib. It will display a neat list with RigId, Manufacturer, Model number and Version number. Here is an example:

Rig#	Mfg		Model		Vers.
1504	Winradio	WR-3100		0.6
352	Optoelectronics	OptoScan535	0.2
304	Icom		IC-275		0.2
1601	Ten-Tec		TT-550		0.1
1505	Winradio	WR-3150		0.6
401	Icom		IC-PCR1000	0.1
353	Optoelectronics	OptoScan456	0.2
209	Kenwood		TS-850		0.2
1	Hamlib		Dummy		0.1
1506	Winradio	WR-3500		0.6
etc.

- How do I know if my rig really works with hamlib?

There is a fairly good description in the README.betatester file, included with the hamlib source code. The first tool to use would be rigctl, which is very powerful in testing basic rig commands. Suppose I own a Kenwood TS-850, which is hooked up to the first serial port.

$ rigctl -r /dev/ttyS0 -m 209

Now type 'f' to retrieve the rigs frequency or 'm' to retrieve the mode. There is a full list of supported commands if you type rigctl --help.

- It doesn't seem to work, what should I do?

You could try and start rigctl in verbose mode and see if you can see the rig output. Here is part of a trace from a Kenwood TS-870:

$ rigctl -vvvvv -r /dev/ttyS0 -m 210

Rig command: f
TX 3 bytes
0000	 46 52 3b	FR;
RX 4 characters
0000	 46 52 30 3b	FR0;
TX 3 bytes
0000	 46 41 3b	FA;
RX 14 characters
0000	 46 41 30 30 30 31 38 31 31 30 30 30 30 3b	FA00018110000;
Frequency: 18110000

If this fails, try to use a serial port terminal program like minicom and see if you can communicate with your rig with simple commands. You should set your rig to the highest baud-rate it can handle, which is the default for hamlib.

- I have 2 programs which used hamlib, can I use them with the same radio?

No, you can't. The serial port can only be accessed by one program at the same time. But hamlib has a solution for this, it is called rpcrig. This is a little networking program which accesses your radio and transmits information through the UDP protocol, so any program can use it. You need to run it as root:

$ rpc.rigd -m 210 -r /dev/ttyS1 &

Next, you can start you favourite software and select RPC rig or model 1901 to access the information, or simply control it with the following:

$ rigctl -m 1901 -r localhost

- The serial port keeps on getting timeout, the rig works fine under DOS. What's wrong?

Here's an explanation from Wilbert Knol ZL2BSJ:

The problem appears to bite the CAT interface powered from the RTS/CTS/DTR (+10V) and TXD (-10V) lines.

If rigctl is run interactively, the circuit is powered up when the user come to issue the first command, and all is OK. The rig responds as expected.
However, when running the command from the shell prompt:

$ rigctl -m 314 -r /dev/ttyUSB1 f f

...then the first rig query fails, because the electrolytics in the circuit are in the process of coming up to voltage. All subsequent rig queries work fine. So...there is nothing wrong with hamlib. The hardware needs fixing!

Andrea Borgia IZ4FHT points out also that the previous problem can be fixed by using the rpc.rigd daemon with the "-Crts_state=ON" switch, which will stick the RTS to power on the interface. The DTR signal can be set as well.

- What's the name of the 2nd serial port I have to pass under Windows?

rigctl.exe -vvvvv -r com2 -m 117

- I write applications, What do I need to do to link to Hamlib?

Hamlib uses pkg-config. Find a package for your favorite distribution and OS, or build it from source. To build your Hamlib program, try

$ gcc -o myprog `pkg-config --cflags --libs hamlib` myprog.c

This process can be integrated into your autoconf/automake build system with pkg.m4, included in the pkg-config package. Just add the line

PKG_CHECK_MODULES(HAMLIB, hamlib, HAVE_HAMLIB=true, HAVE_HAMLIB=false)

to your configure.ac. In addition to HAVE_HAMLIB, the variables HAMLIB_LIBS and HAMLIB_CFLAGS will be created. To substitute on them you'll have to AC_SUBST both of them separately.

- make install is okay, but rigctl complains it cannot find a library. What's wrong?

Eric ka1eec points out that after building hamlib and installing with make install, you need to run ldconfig (as root) to regenerate the dynamic loader cache.

If you have no root priviledge on your system, you can do without it by appending the install library directory to your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environement variable.

- The S-meter reading behaves strange. Do I have to live with it?

Be careful, that kind of minor flaw can make your life a hell. I advise you to have it fixed ;-)
It's easy, it takes only 10mn. Here's how to proceed:

1. Fire up the rigctl program released with the Hamlib package, and pass along options as needed (serial speed, etc.).
2. Tune to some frequency reporting S0 to the radio S-Meter.
3. At rigctl prompt, issue "get_level" ('l' in short) of the level RAWSTR.
4. Write down the S-level read on radio front panel, and the RAWSTR value retrieved.
5. Repeat from step 2 with S9 and S9+60dB. Actually the more plots, the better, otherwise Hamlib does interpolation.
6. Send the table to the hamlib-developer mailing list and it will be added in the next release of Hamlib.

NB: you have to know the S-Meter of radio's is far from being accurate. For owners with a fully equipped lab, you may want to make the up-mentioned measurements with a good Signal Generator and a set of calibrated attenuators. Greg W8WWV has an insightful page about S-Meter.

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