QPSK-U 31

                        QPSK-U 63

                        QPSK-U 125

              MMTTY Engine

                        Standard RTTY

                        Fluttered signals

                        Fluttered signals (FIR)

                        Multi-path

                        (RTTY User Profiles)

                        23 Hz RTTY

                  Display

                        Spectrum

                        Waterfall

                  Aux 1 (MMVARI only)

                  Aux 2 (MMVARI only)

                  Notch (MMVARI only)

                  Clear                     

                        Clear RX

                        Clear TX

                        Clear both

The notch filter is available in all MMVari modes. When you click on the notch menu item, it will place a highlighted box with the letter "N" within the frequency ribbon display on the waterfall or spectrum display. This box represents the frequency where the notch filter is active. You can move the position of the box by placing the cursor over the box and dragging while holding the mouse's left button down. This allows you to null out strong adjacent signals. Note on the following picture the effectiveness of nulling out a strong PSK signal.

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The Aux 1 and Aux 2 Menu Bars provide access to the following functionality:

          MMVari Engine

                      Text Font/Color

                     Background Color

                     Mouseover Highlight Color

                    Show Bold Callsigns

                    Enable mouseover highlight

             Clear

The Status Bar – An Information Control Mechanism

Jim Hargrave W5IFP    

The Status bar of the Sound Card Data window is located at the bottom of the window.  It is the command and control center of this window, providing access to information and commands that you will use actively during digital operations.

The panes in the Status Bar not only give information, but those with captions in blue or red are controls that act as switches to change modes or perform actions (for example, to switch between receive and transmit).

Mode

The first pane indicates the digital mode currently selected.  A mouse-click in this panel will cycle through Logger32's modes. A left-click will toggle the mode in one direction and a right-click will toggle the mode in the opposite direction.

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The mode can also be set from the Mode menu. The following screen captures display the various modes available.

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Audio frequency

The second pane indicates the audio frequency at the tuned position of the main window.

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Operating frequency

The third pane will show your actual operating frequency, which is your radio frequency plus (USB) or minus (LSB) the receive audio frequency.  To display this frequency your radio must be connected to Logger32 using a computer-radio communication, and you must be running Logger32.  See Interfacing a Radio for PC Control for information on connecting your radio to use Logger32's PC control features. Next select, Display frequency from radio from the View, Frequency display menus shown here:

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Note:  Logger32 may or may not reflect a change in frequency that you set using your RIT or the clarifier control on the radio.  You should check this so you know how it works.  Turn the RIT or the clarifier and see if the frequency pane shows a change.

IMD

The fourth pane has two different uses, depending on which digital engine is being used.

Simplex/Split

The fifth pane shows Simplex or Split operation. When you have computer-radio communication using a serial port, Logger32 can operate split frequency by changing the frequency of the radio as it goes between receive and transmit.  This pane tells you if you are in simplex or split mode, and allows you to set the direction and amount of transmit split from your receive frequency. 

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Receive/Transmit

The sixth pane indicates that Logger32 is either in Receive or Transmit modes. The RX/TX mode can be toggled with a mouse-click in this area.  RX/TX can also be toggled with the pause/break key on your keyboard.

A right-click in this pane will activate the "Tune" function. See the section Sound Card Transmitter Audio Setup for detailed procedures.

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Net On/Off

The seventh pane indicates Net is on or off.   Net can be toggled on/off by a mouse-click in this area. (NET On will set the transmitted audio frequency to the receive audio frequency.  Net Off will cause you to transmit at the last frequency at which you transmitted.  If you have not gone to transmit since you started Logger32, you will transmit at the default TX audio frequency.   When you transmit, the waterfall display of your transmit signal will be on the frequency where you are actually transmitting. 

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AFC On/Off

The eighth pane indicates AFC action, whether on or off.  PSK31 and PSK63 are quite difficult to tune in manually.  You will usually want the AFC on, at least to tune in a station.

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Signal Levels

The ninth panel indicates signal levels and squelch settings.

The yellow line indicates the squelch threshold setting. To change the squelch setting, position the cursor on the yellow line, hold the left mouse button down and drag the line to the position desired. You can also position the cursor at the level desired and left-click the mouse button. The program will only decode signals above the squelch threshold.

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Abort

A mouse click in the tenth pane clears the transmit buffers.  If Logger32 is transmitting it switches from transmit to receive as quickly as possible.

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PTT Indicator Lights

A red PTT LED indicates PTT is off and Logger32 is in the receive mode.

A green PTT LED indicates PTT is on and Logger32 is in the transmit mode.

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Basic Operation

The following sections describe how to do basic Sound Card Data window operations.

Switching the Radio Between Receive and Transmit

·      Use the receive/transmit pane in the Status bar (this is the sixth box along the bottom)
                                                                                          

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·      Use Macros and Hot Keys

·      Use the Pause/Break key.  Use the <Esc> key

Pausing the RX Window

You can pause the display of received data in the RX Window by pressing the <Ins> or <Insert> key on the keyboard.  You can then scroll back and forth in the RX Window, using the scroll arrows to the right. The pause is cancelled by typing <Ins> again. Logger32 continues to receive data while the RX Window is paused, and the text that arrived while the display was paused will appear at the bottom of the RX window when you press <Ins> a second time.

Be careful with the pause function.  When you use the pause function, the background turns white.  If you are using a white font, the whole RX Window will turn white and you won't be able to see the letters.  You can adjust the RX window background color for pause with "Settings|Appearance|Rx window pause background".

Cut and Paste

You can cut and paste data from the Sound Card Data window. You can copy text into the Logger32 windows, into a browser, or into a word processor.  For those familiar with Windows, this is the Clipboard function.

·      Left-click and drag the mouse across some text in the RX window (this will momentarily highlight the text), then release the left mouse button.

·      Right-click and select Copy or Cut.  Be careful as some people often forget this right-click step.

·      Move to the window where you want to paste (probably TX) and press the right mouse key and select Paste. 

Resizing the TX Window

Move the cursor slowly over the separation line between the TX window and the RX Window and when the cursor changes shape into a double-arrow, hold down the left mouse button to resize the window to your operating preference.

Operating On the Other Station's Frequency (Net Operation)

Turn Net on and you will transmit on the other station's frequency.  If you turn Net off, you will transmit where you last transmitted.  See the section on Audio Split Frequency Operation for more details. Operation of the Net On/Off is slightly different in the MMVARI engine. See the description above under "MMVARI Engine: Net On/Off". 

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Using the Sound Card Data Window With or Without Radio-Computer Communication

The Sound Card Data window will work without any direct radio interface.  You can operate PSK31 or RTTY as long as you have a way to operate the transmit/receive switching and get tones to and from the computer soundcard.  All the functions that are discussed here also work with radio-computer communication.  Here are some functions that you have:

·      Display of your audio frequency

·      Split operation using audio frequency

·      Data capture for use by macros and logging

·      Automatic data entry into the Logbook Entry window

·      CD callsign lookup

Logging From the Sound Card

Jim Hargrave, W5IFP

Logger 32 has enhanced logging procedures for PSK and RTTY modes. Many of the normal QSO exchange data can be logged directly from the Receive Text window.

They can be automatically transferred to the Logbook Entry window by clicking on the appropriate words or numbers in the received text window.

Note: In order for all these entries to work, you must configure the Logbook Entry window to accommodate the desired entries by adding the data fields to the "user defined fields." This is accomplished by right-clicking in the Logbook Entry window and select Setup. Then, select each field you want to display by placing a check mark by each field to be shown. Set up the user fields by selecting the appropriate title and ADIF field. Specific details of setting up the user fields are provided elsewhere in the Help file.

The following sample text shows the fields that can be automatically transferred to the Logbook Entry window by mouse clicks.

de W5ifp Jim Bulverde TX  Grid EL09ss  RST 599 10-10# 10530  IOTA  NA-067 SRX# 219 QSL via WD5FCA

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As in the examples below, Logger32 does not always display the full list of options. It determines which selections are to be displayed based on the word/number that is highlighted by the right-click.

CALLSIGN: Left-click on the callsign of the station you are in contact with or desire to contact. This is a fixed field and does not require user setup.

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To facilitate callsign identification, the user can opt to have the callsigns displayed in bold characters in the received text. To set this option, go to "View" and scroll down to "Rx window options" and place a check mark on the first line "Show bold callsigns".

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NAME: Right-click on the name and the following window will appear.  Select "name" then left-click. This is a fixed field.

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QTH: Right-click on the QTH and select QTH, then left-click. This is a fixed field.

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GRID SQUARE: Right-click on the Grid Square and select Grid Square, then left-click. This field requires user setup with the ADIF definition of GRID SQUARE

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Your RST signal report: Right-click on the numeric signal report, select RST, then left-click. This is a fixed field.

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TEN_TEN number: Right-click on the Ten_Ten #, select 10X#, then left-click. This field requires user setup with the ADIF definition of TEN_TEN

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IOTA island designation: Right-click on the IOTA number, select IOTA, then left-click. This field requires user setup with the ADIF definition of IOTA

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Contest QSO report number: Right-click on the QSO contest report number, select QSO number, then left-click. This field requires user setup with the ADIF definition of SRX

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QSL manager: Right-click on the QSL manager's callsign  Select QSL Via and left-click. This field requires user setup with the ADIF definition of QSL_VIA

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In addition to the above more common fields, there is also a provision to transfer data for the three User defined fields: USER_1, USER_2, and USER_3. These will appear in the drop-down menu listing using their user assigned name.

As an example; if USER_1 is setup in the Logbook Entry window for "DOK" information, a right-click on the data in the Sound Card Data window will have the DOK listed as one of the options to select for transfer to the DOK field in the Logbook Entry window. For this data to transfer, you must have the USER_x fields setup in the Logbook Entry window.

Due to the flexibility and multiple uses available for these three fields, no example is given.

Each time you click on the above elements they will automatically appear in the Logbook Entry window. Here is a sample of the log entry showing all the above entries:

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When you complete the QSO, you can automatically log the data into the main logbook by using macros within the Sound Card Data window. You can include $log$ in your signoff macro or you can also have a dedicated macro for that purpose. Here is an example of the $log$ included in the signoff macro:

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The following is an example of a dedicated $logimmediate$ macro. This macro will log the QSO with the current time of the computer.

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Audio Split Frequency Operation

Even though you do not have computer-radio communication over a serial port, the Sound Card Data window can operate split frequency on transmit and receive by using different tones for each frequency.  This is only possible in PSK mode.  Audio split-frequency operation is fully described in the Receiving PSK31 topic, in the section called Operating Split Frequency Using Different Audio Tones.

If you have computer control, look at the section later in this topic called Operating Split Frequency with Computer Control.

Using Logger32 With Computer-Radio Communication

You must configure computer-radio communication through Logger32 as described in the topic Interfacing a Radio for PC Control.

Here are various functions that are enabled with radio-computer communication:

·      Display of frequency from the radio

·      Frequency control of the radio using the $align$ macro

·      Split frequency operation

Display of Frequency from the Radio

The Sound Card Data window can display the radio frequency, the actual transmitted frequency and the tone frequency. The frequency displayed on the radio will be at the left end of Sound Card Data window's frequency bar (A).  The Sound Card Data window uses the radio frequency (A) along with the audio tone frequency (B) to display the actual frequency (C) you will receive/transmit.  That is, if your radio frequency is 14.070 (A), radio in LSB, and you are listening to a 1500 Hz (B) tone, the Sound Card Data window will display the actual transmitted frequency of 14068.5 kHz (C).

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To turn this feature on, select the  View | Frequency Display | Display frequency from radio menu item.  You must do this to get the frequency display on screen in the third pane from the left in the Status bar, but once you do it, you can leave it on forever.  If frequency information is unavailable, the Sound Card Data window will display nothing. Select the View | Frequency Display | Display Audio Frequencies if you would rather see the audio frequencies of the tones.

Align

There are situations in which you might want to retune your radio after you have begun to copy a station, but you would not want to lose the station. Here are some situations:

·      You want to transmit a high tone to reduce the chance that you will transmit distortion, but the station you want to receive is low in your receive/transmit range, at the current radio frequency setting (see Transmitting a Clean Signal)

·      You have a narrow receive filter in your radio, but it is not centered at the place where the station you want to receive is being received

·      You want to quickly move the station you are listening to near the edge of the receive range, so you can use your radio's passband tuning to get rid of QRM

The align function will help out, in both PSK and RTTY modes.

Your radio can be retuned with a mouse-click. To use the align (frequency change) function, set up the following:

·      You must have computer communication with your radio

·      Select the Settings | Default main Rx Frequency menu item and set it to an appropriate value (this will stay the same most of the time).  This can be a high tone or the center of the narrow filter passband.  It is best if both these situations are true, and you may have to tune your passband tuning control to make it so

·      Select the View | Frequency Display | Display Frequency from Radio menu item

Here is how the align operation works:

·      Leave the AFC on so Logger32 can retune following the frequency change

·      Left-click on a signal to receive it in the main RX window

·      Right-click on the same signal to invoke the align function, so that signal will be received at the preset Default Main RX Frequency

Instead of a right-clicking, you can use the $align$ macro in a programmable button.

Logger32 will move the main passband to the default RX frequency, and will also reset your radio frequency the proper amount so that the signal is now at the default RX frequency. You should still be copying the signal.

Here is an example:

·      Set your default RX frequency to 2000 Hz., which is high within the range of your narrow filter, so if you overmodulate, you will probably not generate harmonics since they fall outside your transmit passband

·      The radio is currently tuned to 14.070 MHz

·      Left-click to receive someone at 14.0705 MHz. This means that you will be transmitting a 500 Hz. tone, which is quite low, and may cause distortion

·      Use align function (right-click or macro)

·      Logger32 will retune the radio to 14.068 MHz., which is now the low end of the Sound Card Data Window frequency display

·      You are still receiving and transmitting at 14.0705 MHz

·      The station is now at 2000 Hz. in your RX and TX transceiver range, which is pretty high, and not subject to as much distortion as the 500 Hz. tone

It is possible to tune your radio using this feature: click anywhere in the display and that spot will move to the Default Main RX Frequency.   If you click higher in frequency than your Default Main RX Frequency your radio will tune up in frequency; if you click lower in frequency than your Default RX Frequency, your radio will tune down.

Many people find that it is difficult to right-click just the right place on the received signal.  The $align$ macro takes care of that problem.  Instead of retuning where you click, it moves the current signal that is being received to the default RX frequency.  Just dedicate a programmable button to contain the text $align$ only and when you select that button, it will be is as if you right-clicked in the correct place.

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Operating Split Frequency with Computer Control

There are two ways that Logger32 can operate split frequency:  (1) using different audio tones for transmit and receive and, (2) changing your radio frequency as it switches between transmit and receive.  The audio frequency method is described in Receiving PSK31, and only works in that mode.

Here is how you can operate split with computer control, for PSK31, PSK63 or RTTY:

·      You must have computer-radio communication

·      On the Status bar in the Simplex panel, the Simplex/Split status is displayed. It probably says Simplex

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·      Left-click on the Simplex panel and the Simplex/Split dialog box will pop-up

                                                       

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·      Select QSX Down if you want to transmit higher than your receive frequency, or QSX Up if you want to transmit lower than your receive frequency.  This choice will depend which way the other station tells you he is listening.  It does not matter if you are in USB or LSB.  QSX Down will always take you higher in frequency when you transmit

·      After you make your selection, an edit box will appear

                                                     

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·      Enter a frequency in Hz. in this window.  If you want to transmit 1 kHz from your receive frequency, enter 1000

Note: Some radios have a frequency resolution limitation using CAT commands. If you select a frequency-offset that is smaller than the radio supports you will get an error message that the radio did not respond to the QSY command. If that happens, try using a higher offset frequency.

·      Click OK

·      The Simplex Status panel will now display the word Split, instead of Simplex

·      Make your calls, and, we hope, work the rare DX station who is listening split

·      When you are finished, click the Simplex Status panel, select Simplex and you will be back to regular operation

You can also use a macro to do this, but it is no easier unless you integrate it with some other commands.  The macro is $qsx$, and is described in the section Macros, Hot Keys and Programmable Buttons.

There is a $simplex$ macro as well, to undo $qsx$.