YES!! I also just had an abbreviated QSO with Gary (NC3Z) as well as Glen (N3MEL) I am going to call this project a success. NOW, all I need is to learn more about it and be less of a noob when it comes the the actual QSO. Right now trying to figure out how to give a signal report. I think I have to watch the SNR on the VARA HF window for that but I'm not sure. And I kept forgetting to look at it during my first two QSO's.. I'll get there, with y'alls help, I may come into the 21st century yet :)

Prior to my last post, I had not changed the Omnirig default of USB-D to USB but I did do that afterward. That does appear to have fixed that issue. So, everything at this point appears to be working as far as rig control, transmitting, etc. My only issue now is, even though I have added every frequency that others have posted via this forum (placed into the frequencies.conf file.. and they are visible in the program now).. I can occasionally hear other digital signals but nothing is showing up on the "Last Heard" windows. Also, I've tried calling CQ several times and sent beacons several times. Negative contact with anyone. Right now I have it tuned to 7.105.0 as grey line is approaching and 40 meters will be better very soon. I will leave it there for the next few hours and see if I hear anyone.

Sorry about the lack of response. I know y'all are trying to help. But here's where I am now.. ALMOST everything is working! (YAY!) The only 'glitch' now is that whatever frequency I change to, my TS-590sg goes into FSR mode (not sure what that even is).. But the frequency changes on the radio. All I have to do is tap the LSB/USB button to change back to USB and all is well.. I can send beacons now and actually output a signal (as indicated on my radio and the external SWR/Power Meter). I have yet to make a contact though. But I will keep trying.

I don't know why that log entry says that. No recollection of specific conditions at that time. But the settings then, as they are now, are the default port 8300. As far as SSID.. I don't know what that means or why it's in there. One thing that was happening a few days ago, before I sat it all aside for a bit.. when I DID use the CAT control option, I did use the Kenwood Transceiver selection. I would "Save and close" but could open the settings window right back up again and nothing would be selected in that dropdown window. It (the dropdown window) started working sometime the second day I was working with it but when frustration set in the day after that, I deleted everything (VarAC as well as OmniRig) off my computer. This morning I upgraded my VARA HF to 4.50, and VarAC and tried again. It was doing the same thing. That dropdown window, of course, only has two options so, selecting the Kenwood option was obvious. Made sure the rest of the settings were correct and hit save & close. Nothing worked. Opened the settings window again and, sure enough, 'Kenwood Transceiver' was not selected. The dropdown window was empty. Tried several more times with no new results (definition of insanity..?) SO, I downloaded OmniRig again and installed that and configured it for the TS-590. Did a full restart on the computer, opened VarAC and the subsequent settings window and tried OmniRig as the desired control mechanism.. No go. It WOULD change the frequency on the radio when I changed it in VarAC but radio mode went to FSR. That's the extent of 'control' I could establish between the computer and radio.

@irad d I very much appreciate the suggestions but I did try that. Just this morning, in fact. Same thing. Still nothing working. I use Winlink (with VARA HF) and JS8Call and just about the entire Fldigi suite pretty much every day and they're all working great. It WAS a struggle with a couple of them to get the settings right but they work fine now. I'm content with waiting until someone develops, or at least delineates a clearer path to success for my TS-590sg.

Alright, did all that.. As anticipated, ended up back where I started.. nothing working. I'll probably set this all aside for now. Maybe someone will come up with a batter interface at some point. I'll check it out from time to time.

That's pretty much the conditions I initially set it up in but I'll give it a try and see what happens. Thanks!

Alright, doing more tinkering this morning.. I notice that in the "VARA-HF command stream" window, I'm seeing a lot of "WRONG" messages. SO... I went to the Vara-HF window and opened the log. Here are some example entries for the last few days... It appears to me that Vara-HF doesn't like the commands being generated by VarAC..? 2021-11-30 16:35:45 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-30 16:35:25 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 2300 2021-11-30 16:35:14 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-30 16:34:21 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z-9 500 2021-11-30 16:34:09 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-30 16:27:21 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-30 16:27:11 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-30 16:26:57 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-30 16:26:05 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-30 16:25:50 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-30 16:24:44 WARNING: VARA is not connected to any App via TCP Port 8300 2021-11-30 16:22:36 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-29 18:06:51 Wrong command: CONNECT KN2Z 2021-11-29 18:06:24 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-29 18:04:59 Wrong command: CONNECT KN2Z 2021-11-29 18:04:40 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-29 18:04:07 Wrong command: CONNECT KN2Z 2021-11-29 18:03:47 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-29 18:03:07 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-29 17:38:14 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-29 17:14:16 Wrong command: CONNECT KN2Z 2021-11-29 17:13:44 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-29 17:03:29 Wrong command: CONNECT KN2Z 2021-11-29 17:03:16 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-29 17:01:20 Wrong command: CONNECT KN2Z 2021-11-29 17:01:09 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-28 01:52:25 Wrong command: CONNECT KN2Z 2021-11-28 01:52:14 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-28 01:50:05 Wrong command: CONNECT KN2Z 2021-11-28 01:49:26 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z-9 500 2021-11-28 01:45:24 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-28 01:45:10 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-28 01:36:42 Wrong command: CONNECT KN2Z 2021-11-28 01:24:58 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-28 01:24:29 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z-9 500 2021-11-28 01:23:10 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-27 17:12:55 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z-9 500 2021-11-27 16:57:50 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z-9 500 2021-11-27 16:55:03 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-23 16:51:13 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-23 16:50:47 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 2300 2021-11-23 16:50:37 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 2300 2021-11-23 16:50:27 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 2300 2021-11-23 16:49:26 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ 2021-11-23 16:46:26 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-23 16:46:17 ABORT command received 2021-11-23 16:46:16 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-23 16:46:06 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-23 16:46:02 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z-9 500 2021-11-23 16:44:47 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-23 16:44:37 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-23 16:44:27 Wrong command: CQFRAME KN2Z 500 2021-11-23 16:43:33 Wrong command: LISTEN CQ

Yes, when I first installed VarAC... that was what I started with. Up until that day, I had never heard of Omnirig... When the CAT control selection didn't work, I did an internet search for Omnirig.. found it, downloaded and it.. sort of ... worked. Not sure why Flrig wasn't used as an option.. it's been around for a long time and works great, but hey, I'm old but not afraid to try something new now and then 😊 Anyway, the CAT control selection, with Kenwood Transceiver selected, didn't work even a little. But, as I said, I'm not done tinkering just yet.

Thanks, I'll give that a try. I did try the cat control when I first installed VarAC (of course it didn't work) but that was before I started tweaking the ini file. I learn a little more each day as I tinker with this.. Not ready to give up yet. I have the Fldigi suite that does work so if or when I get VarAC up and running, it will make a nice addition to the communication toolkit.

After you said that I went and looked... I found the existing ini file and opened it. I found several things supposedly set up for the TS-590 that weren't correct. My radio is set to 115200 baud for pretty much ever other digital mode I use.. The ini file had it set to 9600. There were some other minor things as well. But after getting the changes made to that ini, I tried it out and still have issues. The frequency now tracks between the software and my radio... changing frequency in the software causes the radio to change and vice-versa. It still comes up with "WRONG" when I try to connect my station so still not successfully using VarAC but I'm gaining 😉

I am having very similar issues with my Kenwood TS-590sg.. I used the TS-590 selection in Omni-rig and it 'sort of' works.. But the 'connect station' only shows up as not grayed out for a few seconds. Also, switching frequency in omni-rig results in radio going to rsk sometimes, other times is stays in USB.. No idea if USB is what I want for all bands but that's where it goes. And, finally, transmit doesn't work at all. Trying CQ.. sometimes it shows up as an outgoing message with no subsequent transmit.. other times the outgoing message stays blank.