Installation and Configuration

You must configure the UBC-12 before connecting the radio. Due to the different voltages used by the various radio manufacturers your radio may be very unhappy with you if the proper interface is not selected before connecting the radio. Configure your UBC-12 Decoder using the following steps:

Establish Communications

It is recommended that you unplug the USB cable from the UBC-12 before running the configuration software. This makes it a simple process to identify which COM port the USB driver assigns to the UBC-12. Apply power to the UBC-12 and run the configuration software. After you have the program running, plug the USB cable into the UBC-12 and the assigned COM port should appear in the COM Port block. Click on the appropriate port to select it and the link status light should turn green after a few seconds. If a COM port is not added to the list of available ports after plugging in the USB cable you will need to install the USB virtual COM port drivers. Driver installation information is available here.

Radio Configuration

Once the Link Status indicator shows Ready, you are ready to begin the configuration process. Select your radio model from the drop-down list and the default baud rate and interface type will be automatically selected. If these are not correct you may change them after selecting the radio model. If you are using an Icom radio you must enter the CI-V address also. You can find this number in the radio manual or from the radio's menus. When using more than one radio on the ShackLAN-4 network you will need to set the Radio ID accordingly. When finished, click on the Set Radio button. The link status indicator will show Updating and return to Ready when complete. You may now connect your radio to the UBC-12 and verify that the proper bands are being selected. This will complete the configuration process for most users. If you wish to enter custom band segments or have more than one antenna on a band continue to the next steps.

Band Limits (Optional)

For most users the default band segments will work just fine. If you wish to change any of the band segments, such as the border frequency between 80M and 75M, click on the frequencies you wish to change and enter the upper frequency limit when prompted. To change the lower frequency limit you must change the upper frequency of the preceding band. The only limit on how you configure the band segments is they must go in ascending order. The new settings are automatically saved when you enter the new upper frequency.

Default Antennas (Optional)

If you have more than one antenna on a band the UBC-12 gives you the ability to select which antenna will be selected by default when the Antenna Touch software is not running. Simply select which antenna you wish as the default for that band. If only a single antenna is available for a band leave the setting at 1. Click on the Set button when finished and the new settings will be stored in the UBC-12.