30 March 2012

FT-817 on Mac OSX Leopard, via Bluetooth

I am not a MAC user, but I wanted to test the FT-817 CAT-to-Bluetooth adapter on it.

I borrowed a PowerBook G4 with OSX 10.5.8. Then I searched for a CAT software, and the easier to install was flrig from the fldigi suite. I tried jLog but it complained that "radiocomm.jar are not properly installed" (no results on Google to help troubleshooting). And I could not compile grig either.

I attach seven screenshots of the pairing procedure and sample usage. firig was able to control my FT-817 through the serial port over bluetooth, I just had to use the proper configuration (see the 6th screenshot below).

Provided there is software for more recent MACs, the adapter should work on them too.



Make sure to select the last option, "Any device"




flrig in use and the configuration screen

When you're done, disconnect the adapter