VirtualBox and HRD/JT65

One of the semi-frustrating aspects of the state of computing and ham radio is the unavailability of some software packages on OSX. In particular, I’ve been interested in experimenting with JT65 and also wanted to use my Yaesu FT-857d’s CAT cable to program memories and also try out HRD. (I should add–I’ve tried the JT65 stuff and some Yaesu memory programmers, but wasn’t satisfied with the Linux setup for those. I’ll probably look into getting them working more later, but for now, this article.)

In any case, I use VirtualBox with a Windows install to get support for these packages. The difficulty, though, is getting the Signalink interfaced with Windows programs. I’ve been unable to get them to interface directly, but one workaround is to:

1. Open System Preferences
2. Open sound panel
3. Select ‘AUDIO CODEC’ for both ‘Output’ and ‘Input’

This works, but there’s another difficulty now: Your windows sounds will be broadcast over the air, which is a bit of a ‘‘lid’’ mistake. So probably turn off oyur Windows sound effects as well.

Congratulations! You have an OSX box running Windows running ham radio software!