Just What is Rig Control
or
What is the Difference between RIGtalk and RIGblaster

You may also download, run and save the driver package below. This will copy and save the driver files to a folder on your C: drive labeled RIGtalk_drivers..

When doing a new driver installation this way "tell" the Window®s Plug & Play Wizard that you "Have Disc" and browse to the RIGtalk drivers folder created on your C: drive.

You may download and use this package without warnings as these drivers are certified for XP and Vista and may be more up to date than the drivers supplied on on the CD that came with your RIGblaster.

RIGtalk Windows® drivers in a self extracting .exe file

• Download, run and save the driver package above. This will copy and save the driver files to C:/RIGtalk_drivers.
• Plug the RIGtalk into a USB Port
• A balloon will pop up at bottom right that says "Installing Device Driver Software"
• A balloon will pop up at bottom right that says "Device driver software was not successfully installed"
• Do not click "Click here for details"
• Left click Windows Start button (bottom left)
• Right click "Computer"
• Left click "Properties"
• Left click "Device Manager"
• You will see under "Other Devices": "West Mountain Radio RIGtalk", with a yellow warning!
• Double left click this entry
• Left click "Update driver"
• Left click "Browse my computer for driver software"
• Left click "Browse button"
• Browse to, and highlight the “C:/RIGtalk_drivers”  folder
• Left click “OK”
• Left click “Next”
• On the "Device Manager" window you will see a new entry under "Ports (COM & LPT)", "WMR RIGtalk                 RT1 (COMxx)"
• Make note of the COM port number assigned (xx) as you will need this to set up Amateur Radio              programs.
• Close all windows this completes the driver installation.

 

With most versions of Windows left click "My Computer" and then right click "Properties". From the System Properties window that pops up, select the "Hardware" tab and then click the "Device Manager" button. (If this does not work search Windows help for "Device Manager")

The "Device Manager" window will pop up showing a list of all the hardware of your computer.

Scroll down to "Ports COM & LPT" and click the + symbol and you should see the RIGtalk and the COM port assigned to it by Windows.

It should look like this:

NOTE: If you have an older driver installed and working you will also see the RIGtalk listed under "Universal Serial Buss controllers".

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you make a note of what COM port number has been assigned to the RIGtalk by Windows. You must have that number as it will be needed to setup and configure ham radio programs in order to enable rig control.

NOTE: If you have installed multiple serial devices in your computer the COM port may have been assigned to a number higher than can be used by some ham radio programs. If you wish you may right click and select "Properties" for the RIGtalk driver installation; then "Port Settings", "Advanced". You will then see where you can change the COM number. If Windows warns you that COM port is in use you may still select it but that number may not actually be used, but only have been reserved for some device that is no longer connected to your computer.

Before reading on it assumed that you have followed the RIGtalk owners manual driver installation instructions carefully. If you lost or haven't read the owners manual in is on the CD-ROM or you can view it on-line above.

If the green LED is lit on the RIGtalk everything is probably properly installed and working!

The RIGtalk is compatible with the Windows plug and play hardware installation system. Microsoft assumes that every manufacturer will go through an expensive certification procedure with them. We have not, so you must ignore all suggestions from Windows to automatically install or find the best driver. You also must ignore all warnings from Microsoft that the drivers are not certified.

If you have let Windows find the best driver or automatically install, or if you have stopped the installation at any point because of any warning that is most likely why you have a installation problem.

If the RIGtalk appears in the device manager as not working or not correctly installed there are several ways to fix that problem. First is to download the latest driver above and then right click the broken driver installation shown in the device manger and update the driver by browsing to the downloaded folder and "telling" Windows to use that folder. MAKE SURE THAT YOU IGNORE ALL WARNINGS AND COMPLETE THE DRIVER UPDATE!

If a driver update is unsuccessful then try the following procedure:

1) Right click the broken driver installation in the device manager and select uninstall.

2) Unplug the RIGtalk.

3) Restart your computer.

4) Once the computer is completely restarted and the drive light and hourglass are gone plug the RIGtalk back in.

5) Install the drivers from the CD following the original instructions on the CD.

We cannot guide you through this procedure step by step as the procedure is different according to which version of Windows that you have and also it will depend on what you have unsuccessfully attempted to do already.

A driver installation is simple in concept but requires that you carefully read and understand the rather confusing Windows message prompts and proceed slowly, step by step.

There are two important things which you must do to properly complete a hardware driver installation of the RIGtalk.

1) You must complete the entire procedure and you must not quit at any point.

2) You must direct the Windows plug and play wizard to our CD ROM or to a driver download folder from the above download link. If you allow Windows to find the drivers in any other location the installation will fail!

If you are interested the reason this message pops up it is because CD-ROM files are always read only. The first installation it copies the read only files without a problem. The second time it cannot overwrite the files that it had previously placed on your hard drive because they are read only and this is why the "Error copying file" message pops up.

YOU MUST CONSULT YOUR RADIO'S AND YOUR CONTROL SOFTWARE'S OWNERS MANUAL OR HELP TO SET UP RIG CONTROL! Do not expect the RIGtalk's instructions to cover anything more that how to set up the RIGtalk.

As outlined in the RIGtalk manual:

*****The following software settings MUST be set for rig control to function correctly!*****

The COM port number, assigned to the RIGtalk by Windows®.

The serial communication’s baud rate, parity and stop bits.

The radio make and model must be an EXACT MATCH.

The Icom or Ten Tec CI-V address.

If you do not understand how to set these settings correctly or if your RIG control doesn't work you MUST read the documentation for both your radio and the rig control program that you are attempting to use.TIP: Set your radio back to the default settings for CAT or CI-V control. TIP: If you cannot get one program to work, try a different program by a another author.