Sound Card Packet  with AGWPE

4. Troubleshooting AGWPE - USB SignaLink Problems

For Vista and more recent versions of Windows, a special work-around is required for SignaLinks and other external sound devices. Please visit the Renaming a Sound Card page.

The SignaLink USB (SLU) Installation and Operation Guide contains detailed information about recommended SLU settings and troubleshooting.  There is also a website which has troubleshooting information http://www.tigertronics.com/slusbts.htm

Here are just a few key items to check if you have difficulties:

a. Make sure there is power to the SLU

• Verify that the SignaLink USB’s green PWR LED is illuminated. If it is not, then make sure that the SignaLink USB's red PWR switch is pressed in and the USB cable is securely connected to the computer and the SignaLink.  
• If the SignaLink is plugged into an external USB hub, verify that the hub is a powered hub and is getting external power. Non-powered hubs may not supply enough power for the SignaLink to operate properly (Receive will work, but Transmit may not).

b. No Received Audio in the AGWPE Sound Card Tuning Aid.

• The RX audio dial on the front of the SLU is the only way to increase or decrease the RX audio levels (unless you are getting the RX audio from the speaker of your radio, in which case your radio's volume control dial will  effect the RX audio level going to the SLU). I've had good success with the RX audio dial on the SLU set to the 9 o'clock position.

Other sound cards use the Windows Volume Control Recording sliders to adjust RX volume levels. There is no such control for the SLU; likewise the RX control sliders on AGWPE's Sound Card Tuning Aid screen have no effect on the SLU's RX Audio levels. The SLU's receive audio can not be adjusted by software (AGWPE or Windows); only by the RX audio dial on the front of the SLU.

• You may have incorrectly installed the RX jumper wires inside the SLU. Recheck that the SPKR jumper is set to go to the correct pin on your radio (RX audio/AF out/speaker/audio out/1200 output/data out/output/PR1) ; or if your radio does not provide RX output at its MIC, DATA or ACCY jack, then plug in a wire from the radio's speaker jack to the SPKR jack on the back of the SLU. See the USB Installation and Operation Guide for detailed information.

c. The SLU/radio does not transmit:

• If the SignaLink USB's red PTT LED does blink but the radio doesn't switch to transmit, then you have most likely incorrectly installed the PTT jumper wires inside the SLU. Recheck that the PTT jumper is set to go to the correct pin on your radio -- PTT/send/PKS. (Note: in some radios, the PTT pin for FM packet is different from the one used for SSB audio modes such as PSK-31, RTTY and SSTV; if this is the case, you may need a different cable or jumper setting for packet use of the SLU with that radio).  
• If the SignaLink USB's red PTT LED does NOT blink, then TX audio from the computer to the SLU is too low or non-existent. Try these fixes:  
  • Make sure you are using AGWPE version 2013.415 or later. Earlier versions were not always able to correctly find the USB Audio CODEC/SLU sound card from session to session. If you are using Windows Vista, 7, 8 and newer: Please see the Problems with Transmitting page, item #1  
  • Make sure AGWPE is configured to use the SignaLink USB’s built-in sound card. The program should have USB Audio CODEC selected (or it may be called USB Audio Device on Windows ME/2000 computers). See 1.b above, Configuring AGWPE for the SignaLink USB.  
  • The SLU must be plugged into a USB port before you start AGWPE; Windows must recognize that the SLU is plugged in before you start AGWPE. You can't plug the SLU in after AGWPE starts and expect it to work. (If AGWPE can't find the USB Audio CODEC (SLU) when it starts, if will instead try to use your computer's default sound card.)  
  • Recheck the Windows' Volume Control settings for the USB Audio CODEC: see #2 above. The Windows' TX audio volume must be high enough to trip the SLU's VOX circuit.  

d.Connections Not Established or Maintained

Set the DLY (Delay) dial on the front of the SLU to the 7 o'clock position (fully counterclockwise). This minimizes the time the SLU keeps your radio in transmit mode. If you increase the delay, the packet station which you are communicating with may begin to transmit before the SLU returns to "receive" mode and you will not receive the first packet from the distant station.

e. Other stations don't seem to hear my packets

The TX audio dial on the face of the SLU should normally be set to the 9 or 10 o'clock position. The TX dial controls the audio level of your outgoing packets. If it is set to low or too high, your target station may receive a packet that is too weak (low) or perhaps distorted (high). Ideally, the audio should be set to the lowest level that results in packets still being decoded reliably by the target station.

f. When AGWPE transmits, I hear packets in my speaker

Probably the SLU was not plugged into the computer when AGWPE started. As a result, AGWPE did not find the SLU and is using the default sound card in its place. To fix this, close AGWPE, make sure the SLU's USB cable is plugged into the computer, and restart AGWPE. In some systems, you may need to reboot Windows with the USB cable in place.

g. When I'm using other (non-packet) programs, sometimes the SLU will transmit!

 You probably have the SLU configured as your default sound card. As a result, sounds from these other programs are routed to the SLU and it will try to transmit them! To fix this, you need to make the default sound card something other than the SLU.  You can do this by going to the Windows Start Button; then Settings: Control Panel; Sounds and Audio Devices (or something similar in non-Windows XP systems). Select the Audio tab and then under Sound Playback: Default Device, use the scroll down arrow to reveal a list of sound cards. Pick something other than USB Audio CODEC for your default playback device.

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h. The SLU's lights, but there's no audio on the transmission (or other stations don't appear to hear me)

Check the jumpers inside the SLU. Although audio from the computer is making it to the SLU, it's likely that it is not making it to the radio. Recheck that the MIC jumper inside the SLU is set to go to the correct pin on your radio (TX audio/AF in/mic/mic input/audio in/data in/aux in/mod in/PKD).

i. Vista/Windows 7

1. Make sure you use AGWPE version 2010.814. You can download it from this website (it may not be on the SV2AGW website):  http://www.soundcardpacket.org/Programs/AGWPEbeta14AUG10.zip

2. Install it in a folder NOT under C:\Program Files, for example, use C:\Ham or another folder of your choice.

3. Follow these tips from Mike KJ4SNT and make a name change for the SLU in Windows. :

"After the upgrade to Windows 7, the SignaLink was not working properly. I was able to receive properly, but I was not able to transmit. The transmit signal would come out of my desktop speakers.

I noticed that the Windows 7 OS gave the microphone and the speaker for the SignaLink two different names by default.

The receive was labeled "Microphone 2 - USB Audio CODEC" and the transmit was labeled "Speakers 2- USB Audio CODEC".

I changed BOTH the microphone and speaker name to be the EXACT same text. Now both are called "SignaLink". This seems to be the critical piece that was missing.

Changing the names of the microphone and speakers is done by starting the control panel->hardware and sound->sound then right clicking on the device to rename, picking properties, and then changing the name above the "Change Icon" button.

Hopefully this saves someone else a few hours.

I was not able to make this work with the PE Pro version. My AGWPE version is 2010.814, but I am reasonably confident it will work with the prior version."