Adding serial ports to the Arduino Uno

[Chrisatkazoo]

Here is a description how to add a serial port to the Arduino Uno, using the SoftwareSerial library and

the LIFA Serial vi that can be found in the discussions for the Labview Interface for Arduino.

The goal is to control amateur radio transceivers via a software serial port on the Arduino

and generate the data formats with Labview. For example I want to use this setup to scan a

amateur radio band with a low power signal and record the SWR of antennas that I have assembled.

The transceiver I am using, the ICOM 706 MKIIG can be controlled with the ICOM communication

Interface-V CI-V.

1. Download the LIFA-Serial vi's:

https://decibel.ni.com/content/thread/16932

2. Unzip the file and implement the vi's as user library

(Implementation in the user.lib is optional)

3. Include the SoftwareSerial library in the LIFA Base:

#include <Wire.h>

#include <SPI.h>

#include <Servo.h>

#include "LabVIEWInterface.h"

#include <SoftwareSerial.h>

4. Define pins for SoftwareSerial in LabVIEWInterface$:

// Variables

unsigned int retVal;

int sevenSegmentPins[8];

int currentMode;

unsigned int freq;

unsigned long duration;

int i2cReadTimeouts = 0;

char spiBytesToSend = 0;

char spiBytesSent = 0;

char spiCSPin = 0;

char spiWordSize = 0;

Servo *servos;

byte customChar[8];

LiquidCrystal lcd(0,0,0,0,0,0,0);

unsigned long IRdata;

SoftwareSerial UnoSerial(2,3); //RX,TX  added 10/16/13

IRsend irsend;

5. Modify the Addon text file included in theLIFA Serial package:

case 0x40:    // Initialize Serial

UnoSerial.begin(((command[3])+(command[2]<<8))*100); //Serial1 replaced with UnoSerial

       Serial.write('0');

      break;

case 0x41:    // Send Serial Data

      for(int i=0; i<command[2]; i++)

      {

UnoSerial.write(command[i+3]);

      }

      Serial.write('0');

      break;

case 0x42:    // Read Serial Data

      int i;

      i = UnoSerial.available();

      Serial.write(i);

      for (int j=0; j<i; j++)

      {

        Serial.write(UnoSerial.read());

      }

      break;

case 0x43:    // End Serial Communication

      UnoSerial.end();

      Serial.write('0');

      break;

6. Insert the modifications in the LIFA Base for Arduino and upload the new sketch.

7. Replace the file <command.ctl> in the LabviewInterface for Arduino (folder Type Defs)

with the command.ctl that is included in the LIFA Serial package.

8. Test of serial TX:

Attached is a vi I created to test the serial port: UnoSerial Tx test.vi

A test pattern is generated in a while loop, so that the bits sent via the serial

port can be analyzed with an oscilloscope. The probe of the oscilloscope is connected

via a 1K resistor in series to pin 3.

The array will later be used to generate the data format needed to communicate with

the IC 706 MKIIG which uses a CI-V system.

8. Controlling the ICOM 706 MKIIG.

Attached is also a short vi that shows how to control the IC706MKIIG via a software

serial port on the Arduino. In the example the operating mode is set to FM.

The baud rate of the serial port on pins 2,3 is set to 19200.

So far transmitting data via the software serial port is working, reading data will be the next step.

Your feedback and inputs are welcome.