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August 7, 2017

Yaesu FT-991A CAT control using Emacs Lisp

For many years, modern Amateur Radio Transceivers have had the ability to be controlled remotely. For Yaesu equipment, there exists CAT (Computer Aided Transceiver) protocol to support this capability. Some time ago the hamlib project was started by myself (VK3FCS/KM5WS) and Stéphane Fillod, F8CFE to support computer control of Amateur Radio equipment. It has been quite a few years since I have been involved, but its been rewarding to watch it grow due to the hard work and dedication of many open source developers.

Fast forward to the present, where I spend a considerable amount of time inside Emacs writing C/C++/Lua/Python code. To the right of me sits an FT-991A that keeps me company. I had been wanting to brush up  on Emacs Lisp, and writing an Emacs Minor Mode to control this radio seemed like a good idea.

The project is called catmacs (CAT for Emacs). Initially I have targeted RX functions for Yaesu’s FT-991(A), but this could be expanded over time.

The project is up on bitbucket, if you want to check it out 😉 The Emacs Lisp package file is catmacs.el.

git clone https://bitbucket.org/pymaximus/catmacs

You can set the catmacs keymap prefix in your emacs customization file. Here is an example setting the command prefix and loading catmacs package.

;;
;; catmacs key map prefix, change to suit.
;;
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c m") 'catmacs-keymap)
(load "catmacs")

To load catmacs.el without installing into your emacs directory (or using package manager), just issue the following command from inside emacs.

M-x load-file RET /path/to/catmacs.el RET

To install catmacs from melpa, issue the following command.

M-x package-install RET catmacs RET

Ok lets activate catmacs and try it out.

You can activate the non global minor mode as follows

M-x catmacs-mode

You can see a list of catmacs functions by executing

M-x apropos RET catmacs-mode RET

Shown below is the output from apropos.

Type RET on a type label to view its full documentation.

catmacs
  Group: CAT client for Yaesu Transceivers.
  Properties: group-documentation custom-prefix custom-group
catmacs-ab-set
  Command: AB - Set - VFO-A to VFO-B.
catmacs-accept-timeout
  User option: Sets the timeout for accepting process output.  See
               ‘accept-process-output’ for details.
  Properties: standard-value custom-type custom-requests
              variable-documentation
catmacs-ag-set
  Command: AF - Set - AF GAIN (0-255).
catmacs-ag-set-ni
  Function: AF - Set - AF GAIN P1 P2.
catmacs-ai-set
  Command: AI - Set - Auto Information STATE.
catmacs-baud-rate
  User option: Baud rate for CAT serial communications.
  Properties: standard-value custom-type custom-requests
              variable-documentation
catmacs-bd-set
  Command: BD - Set - Band Down.
catmacs-bd-set-ni
  Function: BD - Set - Band Down P1.
catmacs-bs-set
  Command: BS - Set - Band Select.
catmacs-bs-set-ni
  Function: BS - Set - Band Select P1.
catmacs-bu-set
  Command: BU - Set - Band Up.
catmacs-bu-set-ni
  Function: BU - Set - Band Up P1.
catmacs-ch-set
  Command: CH - Set - Channel Up/Down.
catmacs-ch-set-ni
  Function: CH - Set - Channel Up/Down P1.
catmacs-da-set
  Command: DA - Set - Dimmer.
catmacs-da-set-ni
  Function: DA - Set - Dimmer P1 P2 P3.
catmacs-dn-set
  Command: DN - Set - Microphone Down.
catmacs-dn-set-ni
  Function: DN - Set - Microphone Down.
catmacs-ed-set
  Command: ED - Set - Encoder Down.
catmacs-ed-set-ni
  Function: ED - Set - Encoder Down P1 P2.
catmacs-eu-set
  Command: EU - Set - Encoder Up.
catmacs-eu-set-ni
  Function: EU - Set - Encoder Up P1 P2.
catmacs-fa-read
  Command: FA - Read - Frequency VFO-A.
catmacs-fa-read-ni
  Function: FA - Read - Frequency VFO-A.
catmacs-fa-set
  Command: FA - Set - Frequency VFO-A.
catmacs-fa-set-ni
  Function: FA - Set - Frequency VFO-A P1.
catmacs-fs-set
  Command: FS - Set - Fast Step.
catmacs-fs-set-ni
  Function: FS - Set - Fast Step P1.
catmacs-if-read
  Command: IF - Read - Information.
catmacs-if-read-ni
  Function: IF - Read - Information.
catmacs-lk-set
  Command: LK - Set - Lock.
catmacs-lk-set-ni
  Function: LK - Set - Lock P1.
catmacs-md-set
  Command: MD - Set - Operating Mode.
catmacs-md-set-ni
  Function: MD - Set - Operating Mode - P1 P2.
catmacs-mode
  Command: CAT client for Yaesu FT991A Transceiver
  Variable: Non-nil if Catmacs mode is enabled.
  Properties: variable-documentation event-symbol-element-mask
              event-symbol-elements modifier-cache
catmacs-mode-hook
  Variable: Hook run after entering or leaving ‘catmacs-mode’.
  Properties: variable-documentation
catmacs-mode-map
  Variable: Keymap for ‘catmacs-mode’.
  Properties: variable-documentation
catmacs-nb-read-ni
  Function: NB - Read - Noise Blanker - P1.
catmacs-nb-set
  Command: Set Noise Blanker STATUS.
catmacs-nb-set-ni
  Function: NB - Set - Noise Blanker - P1 P2.
catmacs-nl-read-ni
  Function: NL - Read - Noise Blanker Level - P1.
catmacs-nl-set
  Command: NL - Set - Noise Blanker LEVEL.
catmacs-nl-set-ni
  Function: NL - Set - Noise Blanker Level - P1 P2.
catmacs-nr-read-ni
  Function: NR - Read - Noise Reduction - P1.
catmacs-nr-set
  Command: Set Noise Reduction STATUS.
catmacs-nr-set-ni
  Function: NR - Set - Noise Reduction - P1 P2.
catmacs-pa-set
  Command: Set - Pre-Amp (IPO).
catmacs-pa-set-ni
  Function: PA - Set - Pre-Amp (IPO) - P1 P2.
catmacs-qr-set
  Command: QR - Set - QMB recall.
catmacs-qr-set-ni
  Function: NR - Set - QMB Recall.
catmacs-ra-set
  Command: RA - Set - RF Attenuator.
catmacs-ra-set-ni
  Function: RA - Set - RF Attenuator (P1 P2).
catmacs-rg-set
  Command: RG - Set - RF GAIN.
catmacs-rg-set-ni
  Function: RG - Set - RF GAIN P1 P2.
catmacs-rl-set
  Command: RG - Set - NOISE REDUCTION LEVEL.
catmacs-rl-set-ni
  Function: RG - Set - RL P1 P2.
catmacs-send-process
  Function: Send to a specified PROCESS, a COMMAND string.
catmacs-send-serial
  Command: Send a COMMAND string over serial port.
catmacs-serial-port
  User option: Serial port for CAT communications.
  Properties: standard-value custom-type custom-requests
              variable-documentation
catmacs-sq-set
  Command: SQ - Set - Squelch LEVEL.
catmacs-sv-set
  Command: SV - Set - Swap VFO.
catmacs-test
  Command: For test, execute some catmacs-xyz-set-ni commands.
  Properties: event-symbol-element-mask event-symbol-elements
              modifier-cache
catmacs-up-set
  Command: UP - Set - Microphone UP.

For ease of use, the most popular functions have key bindings (assuming you use C-c m as the catmacs prefix).

  • C-c m f – Set Frequency
  • C-c m m – Set Mode
  • C-c m q – Set QMB Recall
  • C-c m a – Set RF Attentation
  • C-c m l – Set VFO-A Lock
  • C-c m b – Set Band Select
  • C-c m v – Set AF Gain (Volume)
  • C-c m s – Swap VFO
  • C-c m e u – Set Encoder Up
  • C-c m e d – Set Encoder Down
  • C-c m i d – Set Microphone Down
  • C-c m i u – Set Microphone Up
  • C-c m n b – Set Noise Blanker
  • C-c m n l – Set Noise Blanker Level
  • C-c m p – Set Pre-Amplifier

 

Show below is the interactive mode for setting frequency on VFO-A, using C-c m f

 

catmacs

C-c m f setting frequency to 14250 kHz

 

And here is another example setting the mode interactively using C-c m m

 

C-c m m Setting Mode interactively

 

 

Finally, here is an example setting Pre-Amplifier type using C-c m p

 

C-c m p Setting Pre-Amplifier type interactively

 

 

If you need to change the catmacs group settings, the customization buffer provides that capability. On Mac, the CAT interface appears under /dev/tty.SLAB-USBtoUART. You may need to change this if you are on another OS. This is what the customization looks like.

 

Awesome!! More time inside Emacs where I am productive!!

This package is also available via Melpa to make installation easier.

MELPA

73’s de vk3fcs/km5ws