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Reviews For: West Mountain Radio RIGblaster standard M8,M4 or RJ

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

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Review Summary For : West Mountain Radio RIGblaster standard M8,M4 or RJ
Reviews: 11MSRP:
Description:
A RIGblaster is the easiest way to properly connect your radio to your computer's sound card so
that you may operate using any present or future ham radio sound card software.

These 3 models were replaced by the RIGblaster plus quite a few years ago. The plus as supplied works with every radio that has an 8 pin round or RJ45 mic connector and there is an optional kit for 4 pin radios. The M8, M4 and RJ were separate models.

If you buy one of these used make sure you get all of the cables with it as West Mountain Radio cannot usually afford to give out free cables.

These old models were supplied with a package of 8 small white jumper wires and 8 blue shunt jumpers. A DB25 to DB9 serial cable, a custom microphone cable, 2 stereo mini plug cables, a isolated wall power supply, a CDROM and instruction manual. A kit of all these parts would probably be about $50 with shipping.

Product is in production
More Info: http://www.westmountainradio.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00114.5
MM0XXW Rating: 2014-11-12
Great little piece of kit ... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this unit second-hand and it had been 'modified' by the previous owner in as much as the power is drawn from the radio so a separate source is not required.
I use it on an Icom IC-746 running HRD DM-780 via Windows 7 and it's never missed a beat.
Was a little fiddly in the initial set-up stages ensuring the jumpers were correct but that was a minor irritation for which, if I was truthful, I would actually award it 4.8 however .....
No issues with RF, simple set-up instructions in fact not far off plug-n-play so IMHO well recommended and cheap enough on the second-hand market!
K3EY Rating: 2008-12-07
Money Well Spent!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this little gem when they first came out when I was using a Icom with the 8 pin mic plug. Years later I went with a newer Yaesu radio which has a RJ45 socket for the mic input. I thought I would be required to buy a newer model rigblaster since this one is obsolete. I went to their web site and found that all you need to do is cross wire everything via the internal jumpers. You just reverse it and it works perfectly on my new and very different radio. I didn't have to spend a dime buying a new model. This unit is one of the best buys I every made in this hobby with people supporting their products that actually care. They could have just as easily told customers who own an older model rigblaster to just buy a newer model, but they didn't, instead they show you how to make the old models work on newer radios. What more can you ask from this great company!
KG8JF Rating: 2007-04-06
What can I say? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
What can I say about this ubiquitous little box. It just works. I bought an M-8 several years ago when I first started playing with PSK 31, and it has worked just like it was advertised to. And it was worth every penny. I will have to say a boo to the sourpus who charged me, I think, too much for some spare cables at the Memphis Hamfeat a few years ago. He acted like he was a long way from home. That, notwithstanding, it is a great little addition for the PSK guy
AB5GU Rating: 2005-02-05
Great Guys Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought an M8 used at a hamfest. When I went to hook it up, the jumpers and dip switches were missing. I sent an email to West Mountain and offered to buy the parts necessary to get the rigblaster up and running. They mailed me the parts NO CHARGE!!! It's hard to find customer service like that now days. Now it's off to explore the world of digital radio.....
KC9DJN Rating: 2004-12-25
6 pin modular will not work with this interface Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased the M8. The problem is it does not work with my modular 6-pin mic that is on my Yaesu FT-2800. They are not compatible. Called for help. You can buy an accessory that will connect the two, but you won't be able to plug in your radio mic. I guess my 2800 is not the only radio with this problem. Check the website, popular radios like the Icom V-8000 also will not work. Was very disapointed since I heard this was a great interface.
KB1KIX Rating: 2004-12-10
Workd great.... after playing around a bit... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Purchased an M8 at the Boxboro convention earlier this year and I pretty much used it as a controller for audio files during a few nets here on the W1AW 2M repeater in Newington.

Worked great getting audio news up and such but didn't get to play much with packet until recently.

We have a system here in CT that has quite a few linked repeaters. We started playing around (read learning :), and I was going to be skeptic, since I heard that soundcard to other stations with modems was iffy at best. Worked no problem - after I took some time playing around with AGWPE and a Terminal prog.

Caveats I had.....

The screws that hold the unit together were either not tapped right or something was just plain off - the screws just didn't sit right.

The pictures for how to set up the jumpers are in black and white - West Mountain really needs to add some color shots of this part - I got it right the first time, but only because I went online and found some pictures somewhere.

The diagrams and documentation does need to be worked a bit.

Overall, very good product and I am satisfied with how it works.
VE7DGM Rating: 2003-12-12
Works great! Set up is somewhat more then frustrating Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Received the RIGblaster M8 the day before yesterday and put in a good 5 hours trying to figure out what goes where. In reading the other reviews, I'm either not as smart as the rest of the folks or they're not as honest as I am.
First problem I ran into was with the addendum to the book for the mike pinout. I did exactly as they showed, with the cross over an such.
You got it, didn't work! Proceeded to hunt down the txcvr (Icom IC 725) manual and check out the mike pinout they show. Guess what? Just like it shows in the book and it works. Or at least it keys with the mike. Next problem is when the serial cable is attached it immeadiatley goes into TX mode and the only way I can get it out is to put it in the VOX position or remove the cable. Well now I've been at it for a couple of hours and I'm not getting anywhere fast, so decided to give it a rest.
Next day I put power to it in hopes that the Radio Ferry has blessed it over night. No way, not happening! I search through the book for quite a while looking for something to jump out and smack me but that doesn't seem to be happening either. I was about to pack it up and send it back when I noticed the West Mountian web site URL and decided I'd give it one more try.
Well, second question in the FAQ's is my problem. TX all the time, apparently it's the fault of Windows ME. So download the patch, install it and bingo it's not in tx mode any more. Of course it doesn't end there, now you have to figure out how the software interfaces with the interface......
After another hour of messing with different settings with the software West Mountian Radio so nicely provided, it finally works like it's supposed too. But I can tell you, it was dangerously close, to going back to the retailer.
As it turns out the RIGblaster now works flawlessly. It's an ongoing debate as to whether it was really worth it, but time will obviously tell.
In summary, it's a great addition to the shack, it seems to work especially well with MixW ver2, but setup was terribly frustrating.
I understand that you can't build something like this to work out of the box, but with a little more care they might actually write the book so those of us that are not so technically inclined or computer smart, actually understand it.
Oh ya, I filed that addendum in the round file by my desk, If I ever cahnge rigs I'll start with the ones in the book.
KC8Y Rating: 2002-12-08
fantastic device Time Owned: more than 12 months.
first bought this item, when it came out in 2000...
works great...use it for psk31 & sstv...
with my icom-736 xcvr
KB6TRR Rating: 2001-11-13
Easy Digital Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
From the time I opened the box, until I was on the air took about 20 minutes. The most difficult part of the job was configuring the jumpers they are small and my dexterity isn't what it used to be. I had already preloaded a couple of SW packages on my PC so I was ready to go. The operation of this unit is quite intuitive. It's really no brainer digital, and while I generally like to build my own equipment, on the digital modes I wanted to get on the air asap, RIGblaster made that a reality. As an added bonus WestMountain throws in a cd loaded with an awsome array of programs.
WB7QXU Rating: 2001-11-13
Great for the price Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I love mine, it works great for PSK31, which is why I got it in the first place, but does RTTY real nice too. and works well with my 706, and 751A, I use a mic adaptor for both rigs, nice interface with my laptop sound card, they were ment for each other. Great and inexpensive way to enjoy digital modes, and lots of fun in the new world. Lots of software avail free to use. I highly recommend it. Simple to use, and great new software on their web site.