Three years ago I added a Software Defined Radio (Softrock Clone) to the 455kHz intermediate frequency of my FT1000MP shortwave receiver. The idea was to use it as a spectrum scope in conjunction with CW Skimmer. Unfortunately, the solution has one big disadvantage: I can’t use it with Win-Test my favorite Contest Software. In a detailed investigation, I found out why CW Skimmer and Win-Test can not be used simultaneously with the same Radio. Now, about past 30 months later, the situation has improved. However, there is still one little change necessary to finally be able to use CW Skimmer and Win-Test with (my) FT1000MP. Read in this article what has changed and what is still missing (my wish)!

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In this article, we will investigate how various Contest programs (Win-Test, N1MM, and CW-Skimmer) communicate with the FT1000MP shortwave transceiver over the serial port. We will see what happens when multiple programs try to talk to the transceiver at the same time, what problems appear and how we can successfully monitor and debug them.

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In 2007 several SDR (Software Defined Radio) kits became available for Ham Radio purposes. Since most of these kits are just single band receivers, another easy solution was needed to benefit from the PC-based Signal Processing on multiple bands. With the Yaesu FT1000MP, a full coverage short wave receiver was already available in the shack. Why not reuse the already available hardware instead of spending money for a couple of additional monoband SDRs?

After studying the schematics of Yaesu’s FT1000MP it was decided to tap the IF (Intermediate Frequency) with an already available SDR-Kit. This article documents the performed analysis and conducted work necessary to perform this modification.

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