Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: West Mountain Radio Rigblaster NOMIC

Category: Interfaces, Radio to computer, amp, rotor, coax switch, internet

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : West Mountain Radio Rigblaster NOMIC
Reviews: 42MSRP: 59.99
Description:
Small and inexpensive, perfect for portable or temporary setups. Switch radios by ordering an extra matching mic. cable. Use PTT keying circuit as a fully isolated CW/FSK keying output for direct keying of your rig's CW or FSK instead of using it for a sound card interface. No external power supply needed, great for portable or QRP installations.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.westmountainradio.com/RIGblaster.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00424.2
K1UHF Rating: 2001-11-13
Great but I am biased! Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Please see the Third-party Equipment Category for most of the RIGblaster reviews. Our standard model M8, M4 and RJ RIGblasters came out before the Radio-to-Computer Interface was created here on eHam.

We were first so an appropriate category did not exist at that time.

Also see http://www.westmountainradio.com/users.htm for hundreds of our user comments.

Thanks for your interest!
73
Del, K1UHF

PS If you have any type of sound card interface I would like you to try WSJT meteor scatter and I would like to work you on 6, 2 or 222.
KD7KGX Rating: 2001-08-26
Great for portable ops, great for home station use too Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I operate mainly from my home station, but also plan to take my K2 on vacation, etc., with me and operate in exotic locales. In order to do so, I am gathering everything needed for remote operations with one important proviso... it must all fit in a small Pelican case!

After carefully looking at all of the available rig-to-computer interfaces, I decided on the RigBlaster NOMIC. Why? It doesn't require external power, it supports rig keying via the computer's serial port, and it's extremely small. It also is the only small inexpensive interface I know of that is enclosed in a metal box... don't have to worry about stepping on this guy out in the field and breaking it. I also decided that I didn't want an interface with cables permanently attached for portable use... makes it harder to stow.

The NOMIC does not come with a MIC OUT cord (since these vary with your rig), but that is no problem. I took an extra 6' Ethernet cable (with RJ-45 jacks on each end) and cut it in half. I then made up two cables... one with an 8-pin mic connector for the K2 and another with two phone plugs for my Omni VI. If you wanted to hook the NOMIC up to a rig with an RJ-45 mic connector, e.g., Icom IC-706, then you can just spend $6 at the local computer shop for a 6' Ethernet cable and jumper inside accordingly.

The NOMIC features internal jumpers, and since I configured the K2 cable first, I ensured that the internal jumpers were appropriate for it. Subsequently, I wired the Omni cable so that it would work with the same internal jumpers. All I have to do to switch rigs is to unplug one cable and plug in the other.

The NOMIC does not handle audio from the rig to the soundcard... but a simple shielded cable is all you need anyway.

The lack of a mic port on the NOMIC (so you can switch between voice and data easily) is also not a big concern for me. The Omni has separate ports so the mic can stay connected. But I'm planning to buy a couple of cheap RS-232 DB-9 switchboxes, and make up a few more cables. One switchbox will switch from mic to computer audio, and route the source to the NOMIC. The other will have the MIC OUT cable from the NOMIC and switch it between the two rigs.

The NOMIC's strong points are:

- extremely rugged construction and metal enclosure
- no external power needed
- can key the rig, can also be used for FSK keying
- extremely simple, nothing to screw up or to go wrong
- no integral cables... duplicate cables can be made up for redundancy and different rigs only require a different MIC OUT cable (which can be made for $6 in parts and 15 minutes of time).

In my opinion there are no weak points... the additional functionality of other more expensive interfaces have been left off to keep the price down.

Also, WMR includes a CD-ROM chock full of HF digital programs. Some shareware, lots of freeware, and every mode is covered.

If you're going to operate with multiple radios, or if you're going portable, the NOMIC is hard to beat.