West Mountain Radio RIGblaster Advantage
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| Frequency | n/a (USB radio-to-computer sound card / digital-mode interface) |
| Bands | n/a (works on any band the connected radio covers) |
| Power | Not an RF device and needs no power supply - it is bus-powered over the single USB cable to the computer. |
| Modes | USB sound card interface for digital modes (FT8, PSK31, RTTY, etc.), with built-in CAT/CI-V rig control and CW/FSK keying |
| Weight | 680 g (24 oz) |
| computer | USB type B to the PC - a single bus-powered cable that carries the internal sound card, PTT, CW/FSK keying and CAT/CI-V rig control |
| microphone | Connects in-line at the radio's mic jack; works with 8-pin 'Foster' round screw-on or RJ45 modular mic connectors, set up with plug-in Instant Setup Connector (ISC) jumper blocks for Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, JRC, SGC and Elecraft (adapters available for 4-pin and RJ25 mics) |
| rig control | Built-in CAT / CI-V and DB9 serial rig control (a TTL 5 V dual-circuit mini-jack port; radio-specific cables sold separately) |
| ptt | Rear-panel RCA PTT / footswitch jack for PTT override and interrupt; internal DPDT relay gives true automatic switching |
| power req | USB bus-powered; no wall supply or batteries. Microsoft-certified USB drivers (Windows 98 through 11), plus macOS and Linux drivers. |
About the simplest way to get a mic-equipped radio onto digital modes: one USB cable carries audio, PTT, CW/FSK keying and CAT rig control, and the unit is bus-powered. Its internal sound card keeps the computer's audio separate from the transmitter, the front-panel level knobs make setup easy, and the Instant Setup Connector jumpers handle most radios' mic wiring without studying pinouts. Transmit audio and keying are fully isolated to keep RF hum and ground loops out.
It connects at the microphone jack, so you lose the convenience of the front mic unless you swap cables or add a switch, and getting the right ISC/cable for an unusual radio takes some study. Rig-control and FSK cables are extra, CW/FSK keying is transistor-logic only (no tube rigs), and modern radios with a built-in USB sound card and CAT port may not need an external interface at all. It has recently been supply-constrained.
The RIGblaster Advantage is a well-isolated, USB-powered sound card interface that turns almost any mic-equipped transceiver into a full digital-mode station - audio, PTT, CW/FSK and CAT rig control over one cable - with handy front-panel level controls and foolproof mic jumpers. It is a great pick for older or simpler radios without a built-in USB codec; owners of newer rigs that already have an internal sound card and CAT port may not need it.
The West Mountain Radio RIGblaster Advantage is a sound card interface - the box that links a radio to a computer so you can run digital modes such as FT8, PSK31 and RTTY. It connects in-line at the radio's microphone jack and to the PC through a single plug-and-play USB cable. That one cable does everything: it carries a built-in sound card, push-to-talk (PTT) keying, high-speed CW and FSK keying, and CAT/CI-V rig control, and it powers the unit, so there is no wall adapter and no tangle of separate audio and control leads.
A key design point is that the Advantage has its own internal sound card, completely separate from the computer's. That keeps system sounds - music, notification beeps - from ever reaching the transmitter, a common hazard when a PC's built-in sound card is pressed into double duty. Setup is made painless by West Mountain's Instant Setup Connectors: small pre-wired jumper blocks that match the mic wiring of Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood, Elecraft and other brands without studying pinout diagrams. Front-panel knobs set transmit and receive audio levels and VOX delay on the fly, and a DPDT relay handles PTT automatically while keeping transmit audio and keying fully DC-isolated to prevent hum and ground loops.
It is built into a metal case about 6.25 by 4 by 1.25 inches, weighs 24 ounces, and runs more than 100 ham sound card programs with certified drivers for Windows, macOS and Linux. Rig-control and FSK cables are radio-specific accessories, CW/FSK keying is transistor-logic only (not for tube rigs), and at around $210 it is a modest investment. It has recently been supply-constrained.
It competes most directly with the popular SignaLink USB (the RIGblaster adds built-in CAT rig control), and is a natural companion for a mic-equipped radio - though owners of a modern rig like the Icom IC-7300, which already has a USB sound card and CAT port built in, may not need an external interface at all.