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Text File | 1991-06-03 | 17KB | 369 lines

PAGE i RIG-EQF Version 1.03 Control Program for Kenwood Radios. Copyright (C) 1991 Thomas J. Dandrea N3EQF ------------ USER'S GUIDE ------------ RIG-EQF is copyrighted by the author, and has been released for public distribution as "Shareware" or "User Supported" software, for use by radio amateurs and SWL's. The author reserves all rights to this software under copyright laws. Registered users of RIG-EQF are provided notification of program revisions and technical support if required. The registration fee for RIG-EQF is only $10.00. If you enjoy using RIG-EQF, please encourage further program development by notifying the author at the address below. ----------------------- Tom Dandrea N3EQF 396 Sautter Drive Coraopolis, PA 15108 USA ----------------------- Improvements and revisions to RIG-EQF will be made in direct proportion to the number of requests for them. Your comments about the program and suggestions for improvement are welcome. PAGE ii ------------------------- CONTENTS ----------------------------- PAGE NUMBER ----------- 1. RIG-EQF Overview............................1.0 2. Installation................................2.0 3. Operation...................................3.0 4. PROGRAM SCAN CONTROL........................4.0 5. LOCAL MEMORY CONTROL........................5.0 PAGE 1.0 1. RIG-EQF OVERVIEW -------------------- RIG-EQF provides computer control over Kenwood radios that utilize the IF-232C interface. Various radio parameters can be controlled and monitored via the computer, increasing the power and flexibility of your station. RIG-EQF can even be used to control two radios, with fast easy switching between the two communications ports. Below are a few of the radio functions supported by RIG-EQF: - Large digital display of current VFO frequency. - Control over VFO frequency with direct entry. - Shift current frequency up or down in 1MHz increments. - Tune current frequency in small variable-rate increments. - Switch between VFO's, select SPLIT, or set VFO's equal. - Lock current frequency. - RIT and XIT control for radios with these features. - Sophisticated programmable scanning, including lower and upper frequency limits, frequency increment, and scanning rate. - LOCAL MEMORY control; an advanced memory system providing storage of radio parameters on the computer's disk. - Transmit/Receive control for transceivers. PAGE 2.0 RIG-EQF INSTALLATION ------------------- RIG-EQF may be installed on any IBM-compatible DOS computer, as long as the DOS is Version 2.1 or higher. The only other requirement is that at least one communications (serial) port is installed on the computer, either as COM1 or COM2. To install RIG-EQF, just copy all files from the distribution disk to a directory on your hard drive, or onto another floppy if your computer does not have a hard drive. There is only one file required to operate RIG-EQF. It is named RIG-EQF.EXE. Once RIG-EQF runs, a file called RIG-EQF.CNF will be created. This file stores parameters like the serial port number and scanning limits, for reuse each time the program runs. Once you use the LOCAL MEMORY feature in RIG-EQF, other files will be created to store memory information. Memory files always end in ".MEM". Connect your Kenwood radio to either the COM1 or COM2 serial port of your computer, following the recommendations in your Kenwood manual. You should use a good quality serial cable, preferably sheided, and one that uses (at least) 5 wires. These 5 wires are standard for RS-232C devices (like your Kenwood radio), but occasionally 3-wire cables are sold. A 3-wire "RS-232C" cable will not work correctly with this program! The names of the 5 signals (thus 5 wires) required for proper operation are: Ground, Receive Data, Transmit Data, Clear To Send, and Request to Send. With your radio connected to one of the computer's serial ports, turn on the radio and the IF-232C level translator (the IF-232C is not required for some Kenwood models), and then start RIG-EQF. RIG-EQF will attempt to communicate with the COM1 port. If the program does not receive information from COM1, it will try the second port, COM2. If the communication link is established successfully, the Main Screen of RIG-EQF will appear. If you have a radio connected to COM2, and some other device on COM1, it is recommended that you turn off the device on COM1 until the program starts. Some devices will "hog" the channel, causing RIG-EQF to become locked on COM1. Another way to avoid this problem is to type "RIG-EQF 2", to force the program to check the COM2 port first. After the first time you run the program, RIG-EQF will check the "known good" port first when you start it running again. PAGE 3.0 3. RIG-EQF OPERATION -------------------- Operation of RIG-EQF is straight-forward; there are no hidden commands. All the available commands are displayed on the program screens. The commands themselves consist of a single letter or function key, and each command is shown on the screen next to its corresponding function. Note that some commands are not available with certain Kenwood models. In most cases, if the command is not available for the radio currently in use, they will not appear on the screen. For example, the transmit/receive, Split, and XIT/RIT controls will have no affect with the R5000 receiver. The operation of each command is described below: <A> Pressing the letter "A" allows you to enter a new frequency in VFO A. A cursor will appear at the upper right of the screen, at the position where the existing frequency for VFO A is displayed. You may then enter the desired frequency. There are two ways to enter frequency; either using decimal points in the proper places, or by stringing digits together in sequence like you would at the radio's front panel. When you hit <Enter> or <Return>, the new frequency will be entered. The "B" key activates VFO B frequency entry. This works exactly the same way as for VFO A, above. <=> Hitting the "=" key (equals sign) stores the currently displayed (tuned) frequency into both VFO's. <V> The "V" key causes a switch from the current VFO to the opposite VFO. If VFO A is currently selected, VFO B will become the active VFO. The mode settings active when the opposite VFO were in use will be recalled with that VFO, the same as if VFO's were switched from the radio panel. <S> Pressing the "S" key will turn the SPLIT function on if it was off, or turn in off it was already on. The word "SPLIT" will appear at the upper left of the display, next to the large frequency digits, when it is selected. <D> The "D" key moves the present frequency DOWN 1 MHz. The "U" key moves the present frequency UP 1 MHz. PAGE 3.1 <Page Down> key moves the frequency DOWN in small increments. The smallest increment, available when the key is first depreseed, is 10 Hz. If you hold the key down for a few seconds, the rate will increase to 100 Hz, and then finally to 1 Khz. If you release the key for a second or two, the rate will return again to the slow 10 Hz. rate. The displayed frequency will continuously be updated as you tune. <Page Up> key moves the frequency UP in the same manner as above. <Space Bar> is used as the TRANSMIT/RECEIVE switch for transceivers. When the radio is transmitting, a flashing TRANSMIT indicator will appear at the top of the screen. <M> The "M" key is used to change the radio MODE. When you hit the key, a box will appear, presenting the available modes to pick from. Use the <Up> and <Down> arrow keys to highlight the proper mode, and then hit <Enter>. <R> Hit the "R" key to turn the RIT function on or off. If the RIT is on, the offset will be displayed at the upper right of the display. If the RIT is off, the word "off" will appear in its place. To adjust the RIT offset, use the <Right> and <Left> arrow keys to tune up or down, respectively. <X> The "X" key turns the XIT control on or off. Operation or the XIT is the same as for RIT. <Z> Pressing the letter "Z" will ZERO the XIT and RIT offsets. This key zeros the offset reqardless of whether the RIT or XIT is on or off. The letter "P" is used to select the PROGRAM SCAN CONTROL. A new menu will be presented showing SCAN options. See Section 4 of this manual for descriptions of the SCAN controls. <O> Hitting "O" (not zero, but "O") enables the LOCAL MEMORY CONTROL. See Section 5 for a description of this system. Page 4.0 PROGRAM SCAN CONTROL -------------------- The PROGRAM SCAN CONTROL screen is used to control the parameters related to the scanning function, and to start and stop the scanning process. The keys and their operation are described below: <L> The "L" key is used to enter the LOWER, or starting frequency for the scan. The frequency is entered in Mhz. The frequency you enter here is where the scan process will start. Use the "U" key to enter the UPPER, or stopping frequency for the scan. This is the frequency limit (in Mhz) which causes the scan to begin again at the lower frequency. The "I" key is used to enter the INCREMENT frequency. This is the size of the "step" between each frequency change during the scan. The increment frequency is entered in Khz, and the smallest increment available is 10 Hz, or 0.01 Khz. The letter "P" sets the PAUSE time, in seconds, between scan increments. The smallest pause time possible is 0.25 seconds. (NOTE: With some computer and radio combinations, scanning at a very fast rate can result in intermitent errors. If you experience this problem, just make the pause time slightly longer). <Space Bar> is used to START and STOP the scan. If the current VFO frequency is between the LOWER and UPPER scan limits, the scan will begin at the current frequency. If the current VFO frequency is outside the limits, the scan will begin at the lower limit. You can use the <Space Bar> to momentarily pause during the scan, and then start it again where it left off. <Esc> key is used to leave the scan screen, and return to the Main Screen functions. PAGE 5.0 LOCAL MEMORY CONTROL -------------------- The LOCAL MEMORY system allows you to store and recall radio information, along with a brief description of each memory entry. The following keys are available from this screen: <Up> and <Down> Arrow Keys are used to select the memory line to be saved or recalled. Each "Page" of memories contains 22 lines, and each line is one memory. <F1> This function key is used to store the present radio information (Frequency, VFO, Mode, Split), on the currently-highlighted line. When you first hit this key, the current status of the radio (as indicated by the window at the lower right corner of the screen) will be captured and saved. A cursor will appear in the "COMMENT" column of the highlighted line. You may then enter a brief description of this memory for identification. <F2> Hitting the <F2> function key will recall the memory shown by the currently-highlighted line. This means your radio will change to the frequency and mode (as well as split, if that's what the condition was when the memory was saved) to reflect that memory line. Hitting the <Return> or <Enter> key will do the same thing as this function key. <F3> This key will display a cursor at the "FREQUENCY" column of the currently-highlighted memory line. You may type in a frequency different than the one displayed, or you can hit <Enter> to keep the original frequency. Once you hit <Enter>, the cursor will move to the "MODE" column, the next time you hit <Enter> the cursor will move to the "VFO" column, and finally to the "COMMENT" column. At each location, you may either type in new information or just hit <Enter> to keep the old information. <F4> The <F4> function key displays the existing memory files for the current disk directory. You can select an existing memory by positioning the highlight bar to the file name, and hitting the <Enter> key. The memories contained in that file will then be displayed. You can create new pages by hitting any other key besides the arrow keys. This will cause a prompt to appear at the bottom of the screen, asking you to enter a memory file name. A new file will be created, using the first 8 characters you supply at the prompt. The last four characters of the file are always ".MEM", and the RIG-EQF program will automatically add these characters. Memory files are always located in the current disk directory, as indicated at the lower left corner of the memory page screen. <Esc> Hitting the <Esc> key returns you to the Main Screen. <Page Up> and <Page Down> will tune the radio frequency of the current VFO up or down, the same as on the Main Screen. ------ Copyright (C) 1991 -- Thomas J. Dandrea -- N3EQF ----------------------