[Dxbase] SteppIR with MicroHAM Station Master & FT-2000

Sat Sep 13 12:30:59 EDT 2008

When I replaced my PRO3 with the FT-2000D, I lost the ability of the SteppIR
to automatically change the frequency of the antenna as the band and
frequency of the radio are changed. The Yaesu FT-2000 is not user-settable
to either "auto info ON" or "auto info OFF" which makes it impossible for a
SteppIR controller to read the frequency of the radio. (Yes, I knew I'd
have the problem, and, yes, I like the Yaesu better than the PRO3.)
I use DXbase as a general logging program, and DXbase doesn't poll my new
FT-2000D. It just reads the frequency when a contact is logged or if I
manually retrieve the frequency with a command within the program. I don't
have the SteppIR Y-cable (yet) to connect the SteppIR controller to the
radio/PC, which is used to listen to the communication between the radio and
logging program.
Other than my manually retrieving the frequency with DXbase after I QSY, the
only other option I am aware of is MicroHAM's new station Master
(http://www.microham-usa.com/). It claims to poll the radio for a SteppIR
if the logging program doesn't or if no logging program is being used.
I no longer have my Top Ten Devices Band Decoder for Yaesu so would like to
replace that functionality too, which the Station Master would do. (I still
have the decoder with a source driver for the Icom if anyone is interested.)
The Station Master seems complicated to me (the euphemism is flexible). Has
anyone used one with DXbase or another non-polling program (or no logging
program) to get a SteppIR to track an FT-2000?
Jim N7US