TNC not receiving audio

[Chris Hoffman]

I have DigiPi connected to my FTM-300 using a DigiRig and it works well.

I am setting up a new DigiPi  with a DigiRig to use with my FT-70D HT.

I flashed 1.8.4 to a new SD card and the DigiPi boots up.

The DigiPi will broadcast my position and other APRS packets. I have confirmed this with my working DigiPi.

However my new DigiPi will not register any incoming RF packets.

The HT is receiving the RF packets. 

But the DigiPi does not register them, the green circle does not "light up".

I have used alsamixer to increase the audio levels with no success.

What am I missing?

Thank you

Chris

wa2sem

[Craig]

Hi Chris,

Are you using the digirig cables for the Yaesu HT?   Yaesu duplexes one line
for audio and PTT, so it requires an inline capacitor/resistor.  I think DigiRig
supports this, but I thought I'd mention it as you've clearly isolated the issue
to the audio path. 

Try 100% volume, also try 10% volume on the HT.   Sometimes alsamixer
can mute settings.  I don't have a digirig so i didn't set any alsa-sounde
mixer defaults on DigiPi, they deserve a close(r) look.

Plug digirig into your PC?  it should show up as an audio device you can
listen to.

-craig
KM6LYW

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DigiPi" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to digipi+un...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/digipi/dcb46ed2-6d9e-4ef0-9751-d23a5e23789cn%40googlegroups.com.

[Craig]

It's possible to pickup packets using only a ground wire, so I'm still concerned
the audio wire is disconnected somewhere.  Open "PktLog" on the digipi home
page and look for "Audio Level  50(10/16)".... the 50 is what you want.  if you
see 0 or 1, you're hearing subtle changes in ground.

HT -> digirig -> alsamixer -> direwolf

squelch should be left open full time, unless you're conserving power.

-craig

On 9/26/24 12:31, Chris Hoffman wrote:

I am using the cables made by DigiRig for the Yaseu HT. 

After posting to Google Groups I played around with various settings. 

I opened the squelch and maxed the HT volume and alsamixer settings. DigiPi started to hear some packets. 

What are the elements in the audio path: 
HT volume , alsamixer. 
You mentioned alsasounde. Is that another element?
Are there any other?

You mentioned 100% volume…which element in the audio path does that refer to?

Thank you

Chris

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/digipi/c5cac93b-3c47-4ee7-8e41-dddfa1800c13%40gmail.com.

[Chris Hoffman]

I am using the cables made by DigiRig for the Yaseu HT. 

After posting to Google Groups I played around with various settings. 

I opened the squelch and maxed the HT volume and alsamixer settings. DigiPi started to hear some packets. 

What are the elements in the audio path: 
HT volume , alsamixer. 
You mentioned alsasounde. Is that another element?
Are there any other?

You mentioned 100% volume…which element in the audio path does that refer to?

Thank you

Chris

On Sep 26, 2024 at 12:47 PM -0400, Craig <km6...@gmail.com>, wrote:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/digipi/c5cac93b-3c47-4ee7-8e41-dddfa1800c13%40gmail.com.

[Chris Hoffman]

Last night I set the HT volume to 100% and maxed 
 alsamixer. DigiPi did start to hear packets and when I looked at PktLog the Audio level was >100 

Now that I have a better understanding of the audio path I can better troubleshoot and make intelligent changes. 

Thank you. 

Chris Hoffman

[Dan Soule]

I have a similar challenge.  I have a DigiPi -> DigiRig Mobile -> Icom IC-2100 and I am not getting any receive audio.  I have tested the DigiRig and radio cable by connecting it to a usb port on a windows computer and listening to the audio from the radio.  I think something is not getting configured correctly during Initialization.  If I look at localize.env the IC2AUDIO = fepi does not seem correct for a DigiRig.  Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Craig]

Hi Dan,

you can ignore the i2caudio stuff, you're using usb/digirig.

How can you know you're not getting audio?  Do you see the DigiRig
on the SysInfo page?

A cool trick to "see" audio is this command,

arecord -vvv /dev/null


A VU meter will display on the screen, and if you open/close the squelch
you can see it jump up and down.

Make absolutely sure there are no filters/noise-reduction on the icom.


cool,
-craig
KM6LYW

[Dan Soule]

Thanks Craig.  I am seeing audio on receive verified by using arecord and on transmit verified via a second radio.  But I am still not seeing any receive packets in PkLog or on the LCD display.  Here is my system information:

System Info
Radio / GPS
ttyUSB0: usb-Silicon_Labs_CP2102_USB_to_UART_Bridge_Controller_3a5527014ac6ef11a84b6b527a5e3baa-if00-port0

Audio Interface
0[Device ]: USB-Audio - USB Audio Device
C-Media Electronics Inc. USB Audio Device at usb-3f980000.usb-1.2, full speed

localize.env
NEWCALL=KI7DAN
NEWWLPASS=Souleman3837
NEWAPRSPASS=20129
NEWGRID=DN40cq
NEWLAT=40.6878
NEWLON=-111.8179
NEWGPS=ttyACM1
NEWNODEPASS=ki7dan
NEWDISPLAYTYPE=st7789
NEWRIGNUMBER=RTS
NEWDEVICEFILE=ttyUSB0
NEWBAUDRATE=115200
NEWBIGVNC=
NEWFLRIG=
NEWI2CAUDIO=fepi

Transmit - radio beacons with audio packets are sent and recieved by a second radio

Receive - arecord -vv /dev/null -> shows 99% when recieving signals (see screen capture)

AlsaMixer
Sound Card
default:0 USB Audio Device
Capture = 100 (see screen capture)

PkLog - shows nothing at any volume level

Dire Wolf version 1.8 (Oct  4 2025) KM6LYW-1
Includes optional support for:  gpsd hamlib cm108-ptt libgpiod-2.2.1 dns-sd

Reading config file /run/direwolf.digipeater.conf
Config file: FILTER IG ... on line 30.
Warning! Don't mess with IS>RF filtering unless you are an expert and have an unusual situation.
Warning! The default is fine for nearly all situations.
Warning! Be sure to read carefully and understand  "Successful-APRS-Gateway-Operation.pdf" .
Warning! If you insist, be sure to add " | i/180 " so you don't break messaging.
Line 35: Warning - IGFILTER is a rarely needed expert level feature.
If you don't have a special situation and a good understanding of
how this works, you probably should not be messing with it.
The default behavior is appropriate for most situations.
Please read "Successful-APRS-IGate-Operation.pdf".
Audio device for both receive and transmit: default  (channel 0)
Channel 0: 1200 baud, AFSK 1200 & 2200 Hz, A+, 44100 sample rate / 3, Tx AX.25.
Initializing GPIO common structure
Opening GPIO line 16 on chip /dev/gpiochip0
Ready to accept AGW client application 0 on port 8000 ...
Ready to accept KISS TCP client application 0 on port 8001 ...
DNS-SD: Avahi: Announcing KISS TCP on port 8001 as 'Dire Wolf on digipi'
Virtual KISS TNC is available on /dev/pts/0
Created symlink /tmp/kisstnc -> /dev/pts/0
DNS-SD: Avahi: Service 'Dire Wolf on digipi' successfully registered.

Now connected to IGate server noam.aprs2.net (192.104.234.219)
Check server status here http://192.104.234.219:14501

[0L] KI7DAN-2>APDW18,WIDE2-1:!b9uAp262-#  ! KI7DAN WIDE1 DigiPi http://digipi.org/<0x20>
[ig] # aprsc 2.1.20-gdaa359f
[ig] # logresp KI7DAN-2 verified, server T2RDU

[ig>tx] KA7EZO-7>APSAR,TCPIP*,qAC,T2USANW::TACTICAL :KA7EZO-7=MPSar
[0L] KI7DAN-2>APDW18,WIDE1-1,WIDE2-1:}KA7EZO-7>APSAR,TCPIP,KI7DAN-2*::TACTICAL :KA7EZO-7=MPSar

[ig>tx] N7BYU-1>BEACON,qAR,K7TX-10:: ;N7BYU-1*4014.91N/11138.83WrT100 Net 9PM Th BYUARC

pi@digipi:~ $ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0424:2412 Microchip Technology, Inc. (formerly SMSC) Hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 10c4:ea60 Silicon Labs CP210x UART Bridge
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0d8c:0012 C-Media Electronics, Inc. USB Audio Device

pi@digipi:~ $ lsusb -vd 0d8c:0012
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0d8c:0012 C-Media Electronics, Inc. USB Audio Device
Couldn't open device, some information will be missing
Negotiated speed: Full Speed (12Mbps)
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               1.10
  bDeviceClass            0 [unknown]
  bDeviceSubClass         0 [unknown]
  bDeviceProtocol         0
  bMaxPacketSize0         8
  idVendor           0x0d8c C-Media Electronics, Inc.
  idProduct          0x0012 USB Audio Device
  bcdDevice            1.00
  iManufacturer           1 C-Media Electronics Inc.
  iProduct                2 USB Audio Device
  iSerial                 0
  bNumConfigurations      1

[Craig]

cool - thanks for the info.

the vu meter should be about 50% when squelch is open, you might be overloading
on receiver.

press F4 on the alsa/audio screen reduce capture volume a bit (or a lot) if possible

don't forget to press [save configuration] on the digipi home page once you're
happy with the volumes.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DigiPi" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to digipi+un...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/digipi/724fde16-51f1-4545-ace8-0c479241bb2an%40googlegroups.com.

[Dan Soule]

Thanks Craig, the issue was as you thought, overdriving direwolf.  reducing the radio volume to almost nothing did not seem to get reliable packets and the vue meter was bouncing from 4 to 99.  So I went into AlsaMixer and ended up turning the AGC off and reducing the capture level to 6 and things seem to be working.  The radio volume is at about 25 percent and PkLog is show most packets between 40-60.  

thank you for all the help and guidance.  Loving this DigiPi product. 73 KI7DAN

[Craig]

great work Dan - speaker-to-mic is a considerable amount of power into
a sensitive input.

You might also consider a "voltage divider" cable that helps lower volumes
without messing up impedance missmatch/eq problems.  I use one going
from a mobile rig to a mic-in here.

cool,
-craig
KM6LYW