Bob Parnass

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tk3

Overview

Screen shots

Release notes

tk3 Downloads

Linux

MacOS X

Windows

Software

tk2, ICOM IC-R2

tk3, ICOM IC-R3

tk5, ICOM IC-R5

tk7, ICOM IC-Q7

tk10, ICOM IC-R10

tk75, ICOM IC-R75

tk92, Radio Shack PRO-92 and PRO-2067

tk120, Yaesu VR-120

tk150, Standard VR-150

tk500, Yaesu VR-500

tk545, JRC NRD-545

tk8500, ICOM IC-R8500

tk3 - Experimental Software for

the ICOM IC-R3 Receiver

Copyright 2004, Bob Parnass

Overview

tk3
is open source software designed for the
ICOM
IC-R3 receiver.
Though tk3 is intended chiefly for Linux, MacOS X, and BSD
users, it will work on Microsoft Windows (95 and later), too.

I do not own an IC-R3, but I am working with IC-R3
owners to develop tk3.
The current, experimental version of tk3 works both with
USA/Canadian IC-R3 models and Japanese and European variants
which employ 9 kHz AM BCB spacing.
It can:

Read a memory image from an IC-R3 receiver,
a native tr3 file, an IC3 file created
using Butel's ARC3 program,
or an ICF file downloaded from the Percon web database.

Using a graphical interface,
display data from a memory image and permit you to make changes.

Sort memory channels by frequency or by label,
within any bank or in all banks.

Import and export memory channel data from
and to a CSV (comma-separated values file).

Write an image from the computer to the radio.

I implemented
tk3
in the Tcl/Tk scripting language which enables it
to run on a variety of operating systems.
I am looking for beta testers to try tk3 in
the MacOS X environment.
I have not tested it on other platforms, but
it will probably work on them after
little or no modification.
The free Tcl/Tk interpreter software must
be installed on your computer prior to using
tk3.

tk3
is distributed free of charge,
but it is neither shareware nor in the public domain.
tk3
is a copyrighted work released under the terms of the

GNU General Public License
as published by the

Free Software Foundation.
tk3
is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the

GNU General Public License
for more details.

Memory Channel Files

tk3
can export memory channel data to a file.
The memory channel data file is formated in
csv (comma-separated values) format.
The first line of the file is this heading:

Bank,Ch,MHz,Mode,Step,Offset,Duplex,TSQL,CTCSS,Skip,Label

All the other lines will contain these fields:

Bank number (0 - 7)
Channel number (0 - 49)
Frequency in MHz (.005 - 2999.995)
Mode, case insensitive (am, nfm, wfm)
Step in kHz
Offset in MHz (0.000 - 159.995)
Duplex (optional + or -)
Tone Squelch (optional t)
CTCSS in kHz (e.g., 141.3)
Skip (optional skip or pskip)
Label (optional 6 characters)

This is a sample memory data .csv file:

Bank,Ch,MHz,Mode,Step,Offset,Duplex,TSQL,CTCSS,Skip,Label
0,0,460.3500,NFM,12.5,5.0000,+,t,162.2,,"Ingham"
0,1,460.3000,NFM,12.5,5.0000,+,t,162.2,,"IngI-2"
0,2,460.0750,NFM,12.5,.0000,+,t,162.2,,"Ing-Ta"
0,3,460.0250,NFM,12.5,.0000,,,67.0,skip,"MSP"
0,4,460.0500,NFM,12.5,.0000,+,t,162.2,,"Tri-Ct"
0,5,462.9750,NFM,12.5,5.0000,+,t,162.2,,"LCA"
0,6,463.0000,NFM,12.5,.0000,,,67.0,skip,"Med-1"
0,7,463.0250,NFM,12.5,.0000,,,67.0,,"Med-2"
1,0,153.7700,NFM,10,.0000,,t,173.8,,"Lan-FD"
1,1,153.8300,NFM,10,.0000,,t,162.2,,"Gen-Ta"
1,2,153.8900,NFM,10,.0000,,t,162.2,,"Flint"
1,3,155.1750,NFM,10,.0000,,t,127.3,,"FlintA"
2,0,423.4250,NFM,25,.0000,+,,67.0,,"AllenP"
2,1,423.1500,NFM,25,.0000,+,t,110.9,,"A-Hill"
2,2,423.0750,NFM,25,.0000,+,t,110.9,,"A-Hill"
...

You can use a separate text editor or spreadsheet program to create,
edit, and print memory channel files.
You cannot create or edit memory channel data files within
tk3.

Computer Interface Adaptor

You will need a suitable TTL-to-RS232 level adaptor
to connect the radio to your computer serial port.
A direct cable connection won't work and could damage
the radio and/or computer serial port hardware.
You may use an
RT Systems
CT29A cable, sold for the VR-500.
RT Systems sales staff may be contacted at

[email-masked].
(Note: I am not affiliated with RT Systems).

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Irwin Shapiro for providing the IC-R3 memory image layout.
Thanks to [email-masked]
for publishing
detailed information
about the IC-R2 protocol and file layout on the web.
Thanks also to Les Butler, Irwin Shapiro, and Wayne Turner for testing
this software.

tk3
is undergoing development.
To download a beta test version, including source code,
click on the appropriate link to the left.

Revised April 6, 2004

Copyright 2005, Bob Parnass