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Update: August 29, 2009 – I added some undocumented commands, their syntax is at the end of this page.

This is a perl module that extends Win32::SerialPort or Device::SerialPort depending on what platform you run it on.  This means that it should work in Windows, Linux, BSD, OSX, Solaris and probably elsewhere.

The idea is to be able to let people quickly develop cross platform tools without having to know anything about serial ports, the CAT protocol, or any of that.  Fortunately, since I dont know much about it, and got really lucky  by closing my eyes and randomly pressing the keys on the keyboard.

This provides every documented CAT command in the FT-897 manual.  I will be adding undocumented commands in the near future.  I will also be looking at ways to read values out of the EEPROM to give you information that is not available any other way.

The problem with reading the EEPROM is that it is at least radio specific (the FT897 and FT-857 should be identical though, but the FT-817 will be different).  I am thinking that I will create maps of the various points of data and when you create a new instance of this module you will specify your model which will have the correct map.  That should allow the code to be used by people with other radios, although I only have an FT897 to test, unless someone wants to donate an FT-817 for testing

Currently the only documentation is on this page.  So download FT8xxCAT.pm and read below to see how to use it.  This is my first perl module, I know that the code needs to be cleaned a bit, and that it can be slightly faster in some places, but I wanted to get it working first.

#!/usr/bin/perl
use FT8xxCAT;

my $Radio = new FT8xxCAT (
serialdev => ‘/dev/ttyUSB0′,
bpsrate => 38400
);

my $debug = $Radio->setDebug(1);
print “Current debug status is $debug\n”;

my $errorstr = $Radio->getError(); # does not erase
my $errorstr = $Radio->clearError(); # erases it
#my $err = $Radio->lock();
my $err = $Radio->unlock();
my $err = $Radio->pressPTT();
my $err = $Radio->releasePTT();
my $err = $Radio->setFrequency(12345670); # 123.4567MHz
my $err = $Radio->setMode(“fm”);
#          valid modes lsb, usb, cw, cwr, am, fm, dig, pkt, fmn
my $err = $Radio->enableClarifier();
my $err = $Radio->disableClarifier();
my $err = $Radio->setClarifier(“+123″); # 1.23kHz
my $err = $Radio->toggleVFO();
my $err = $Radio->enableSplit();
my $err = $Radio->disableSplit();
my $err = $Radio->repeaterOffset(“+”); # + – 0
my $err = $Radio->repeaterOffsetFrequency(600000); # 600kHz
my $err = $Radio->toneMode(“CTCSS_ENCODE”);
#         valid modes ‘off’ ‘dcs_on’ ‘dcs_decode’ ‘dcs_encode’
#                     ‘ctcss_on’ ‘ctcss_decode’ ‘ctcss_encode’
my $err = $Radio->setCTCSSTone(885,1230); # 88.5 / 123.0
my $err = $Radio->setDCSTone(23,371); # 023, 371 – leading ’0′s make it octal
my %resp = $Radio->getRxStatus();
print “Squelch: $resp{‘squelch’}\n”;
print “Tone: $resp{‘tone’}\n”;
print “Centered: $resp{‘discriminator’}\n”;
print “S-Meter: $resp{‘smeter’}\n”;
my %resp = $Radio->getTxStatus();
if($resp{‘ptt’}) {
print “PTT: $resp{‘ptt’}\n”;
print “Hi SWR: $resp{‘hi_swr’}\n”;
print “Split: $resp{‘split’}\n”;
print “Power Meter: $resp{‘po_meter’}\n”;
} else {
print “Not transmitting – or error\n”;
}
my %resp = $Radio->getFrequency();
if($resp{‘frequency’}) {
print “Frequency: $resp{‘frequency’}\n”;
print “Mode: $resp{‘mode’}\n”;
} else {
print $Radio->clearError().”\n”;
}

### UNDOCUMENTED COMMANDS – THEY MAY OR MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU, SOME REQUIRE CAUTION WHEN USING
my $undocumented = $Radio->setUndocumented(1);
print “Undocumented commands status is $undocumented\n”;

my $resp = $Radio->getTxState();
print “Tx state is $resp\n”;

my $msb=0;
my $lsb=0;
my $resp=$Radio->readEeprom($msb,$lsb);
printf “%02x:%02x %s %s\n”,$msb,$lsb,
unpack(“H*”, substr($resp,0,1)),
unpack(“H*”, substr($resp,1,1));

my $msb=0;
my $lsb=0;
my $data1=0xa5;
my $data2=0x5a;
# “We must be cautious” – Obi Wan
#my $resp=$Radio->writeEeprom($msb,$lsb,$data1,$data2);
print $resp;

# this command seems to return different results
# on a FT-817 vs FT-897
my $resp = $Radio->getRadioConfig();
print unpack(“H*”,$resp).”\n”;

my %resp = $Radio->getTxMetering();
printf “pwr: %02x\n”,$resp{‘pwr’};
printf “vswr: %02x\n”,$resp{‘vswr’};
printf “alc: %02x\n”,$resp{‘alc’};
printf “mod: %02x\n”,$resp{‘mod’};

# “Luke: What’s in there?
# Yoda: Only what you take with you.”
# IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A BACKUP OF YOUR CALIBRATION SETTINGS
# YOU WILL NOT HAVE A CALIBRATED RADIO.  IT WILL UNDERPERFORM
# YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED – THERE IS PROBABLY NO REASON TO EVER USE THIS
#my $resp = $Radio->factoryResetandEraseAlignment();