Help with Pactor/Sailmail; Keeps dropping out.

[nixontankgirl]

So, I have a Pactor, Icom 707, windows 7, and Airmail/Sailmail. The Pactor is connected to the laptop with a USB/Serial connector that has been tested.

The entire set up was working perfectly 3 months ago. I have just re-newed my sailmail account and now I cant get a connection.
I open the sailmail program, turn on the SSB, the Pactor 'beeps', I get a message that the Pactor is initializing, then a few seconds later it 'beeps' again and it appears all is well.

Then I try and connect to all the stations that are available and I think after +20 attempts I have connected twice. Though the connection dropped out before it could complete. Many times after trying to connect I get a pop up window saying 'comms with the Pactor have been lost the terminal window will now close'. I am currently in a small town and appreciate that some of the inability to connect is due to local interference, but I don't think that would cause the Pactor to 'drop out'?

All the wiring appears in order. There was a slight tint of corrosion on the cable to the backstay where it attaches, so I cleaned it and reattached it.

I am a bit lost. I am wondering if there is some settings I need to change, or maybe some one has had a similar issue? Any help would be appreciated obviously.

[nixontankgirl]

BTW; I tried Winlink a while ago (with no success) but I have read that some other software may reset some of the settings on the Pactor.

[nixontankgirl]

And further; When I open the terminal window occasionally the Pactor will be initialized the first time and other times not. Sometimes it will stay initialized for 5-10 mins and then 'drops out'.

[sy_gilana]

Hi, I think your problems are to do with your comm port, the Serial to USB converter could be the problem. Otherwise try to run the terminal in a "XP" mode. The break is coming between the software and the pactor modem.

[nixontankgirl]

Originally Posted by sy_gilana

Hi, I think your problems are to do with your comm port, the Serial to USB converter could be the problem. Otherwise try to run the terminal in a "XP" mode. The break is coming between the software and the pactor modem.

Thank you very much for your input.

I presume by "try to run the terminal in XP mode" you mean right click on the icon and choose 'run in XP service pack 3"? I didn't find the option in any of the sailmail tools, etc.

I have previously used the Serial to USB converter with this set up and it appeared to be fine.

I have also opened the "Dumb Terminal" and see text being created, ie, [1E] [F7] [87].....this continues to be created but is (unfortunately) completely meaningless to me.