To use the latest Test Build moving from #1 or earlier, create a new directory and copy over all your existing directory contents and delete the ALE.EXE and ALE.DAT files. Then extract the files within the .zip file containing this file into the next directory. If there is a runtime file issue you will also need to run the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 32 bit Runtime Distribution which I can provide or can be found on the internet at: www.n2ckh.com/MARS_ALE_FORUM/vcredist_x86.exe ========== Test Build #3.2 for a coming PC-ALE 1.08 Build 1.0.0.0 Beta =========== NOTE: This is a drop in update, the ALE.DAT file is the same as TB #3.1 What's fixed: 1. Issuing MMI commands or sending messages with the DataBar using Windows 7 and later as the host OS. There may also have been an issue under Windows Vista, but no one reported such and I do not have Vista to develop and test with. The issue was that MMI commands where not working correctly, messages being sent had erroneous characters appended and the linked Address was also affected. ========== Test Build #3.1 for a coming PC-ALE 1.08 Build 1.0.0.0 Beta =========== NOTE: Delete your current ALE.DAT files as the ALE.DAT file format has changed. What's new: 1. The PWR% field of Add/Modify Channel will now change the output audio level if not set to 0 and if the combintion of Sound Device/Driver and Windows version will support on-the-fly level changes. This allows for setting each channel's drive level to maintain a constant RF output across all channels. What's changed: 1. Adding some missing code to restrict level changes when disabled via the new sound device setup. 2, Modified mixer code to support TX audio changes channel by channel using the PWR% field. ========== Test Build #3 for a coming PC-ALE 1.08 Build 1.0.0.0 Beta =========== NOTE: Delete your current ALE.DAT files as the ALE.DAT file format has changed. What's new: 1. PC-ALE is now being built under Windows 7 using VS2008. 2. The PC Sound Device Setup dialog has been updated to provide for selection of Sound Device by either Name or Number, as well as to allow for the disabling of level control of the Input device or both the Input and Output device. This support aids in overcoming issues with various combinations of sound devices, drivers and versions of MS-windows. Thus anyone who has had an issue of output audio or input audio going to 0 or output muting on program start now has tools to attempt to address the issues. See the draft docs for more information. 3. Additional 2G LBT features added. The LBT Threshold can now be user set between 25..100 and will affect all Scan Group channels. What's being added for the next test build: 1. Single Channel Sounding (SC-Sound) SC-Sound is already implemented in the developing MARS-ALE v3.00 baseline. This feature is for automated single channel sounding vs. the "MAN SOUND" button which requires an attended user. I see this feature valuable form many tactical uses of ALE as well as a training aid for new comers, its also make for a valuable propagation study tool along with something like PSK Sounder. To be added: An SC-Sound ( Single Channel Sounding ) button on the main panel. MMI ENABLE SCSOUND MMI DISABLE SCSOUND The feature breakdown: SC Sound is automatically set to OFF if enabled at program Start. SC Sound is automatically set to OFF if enabled at the Start of Scanning. However it may be enabled in the CONFIG.DAT file at program start if so desired. SC Sound can only be enabled when in Single Channel operation and when not transmiting or engaged in listening to transmit. A TWS or TIS Sounding or Reporting (PC-ALE only) transmission will occur at the Sounding Period interval selected. However the LBT be enabled and should the channel be busy, then no sounding will take place. At this time do not see a means to invoke the selected ReSounding interval, but I may be able to do so, or come up with a fixed resounding of interval for LBT detection. Should a station call and link, during the process as well as after an ALE link, the SC Sounding cycle will be held off until the ALE inlink is cleared. If Scanning is started, it will again be held off during Scanning and any ALE calls or links during scanning, however as long its enabled, it will automatically restart as soon as Scanning is terminated. Also, in conjunction with the use of the LQA Polling selection, a station in SC Sounding will respond to any Polling request from a remote station so configured where their LQA data on your station in SC Sounding is aging out as well as any station that calls for LQA polled data in their Individual Linking call process. However, having your station in SC Sounding and having the LQA Polling box checked will not initiate polling with other stations, that will only happen if the Sounding selection is checked and you are in Scanning. Below is captured engineering data from preliminary testing in MARS-ALE. The Sounding Period for normal Multi-Channel Sounding is also sued for SC Sound operation where for testing I had it set for 5 minute in the test bed. The HF channel simulator was configured for a normal AWGN noise channel where in addition I had a modem sending a constant idling transmission of known data packets in MS110A 39 Tone modem at 300bps which provides for a signal in then noise that raises its head now and then to be detected. It is one of the modes that many LBT systems do not detect at all. The reason for this was to also test the SC Sound ability to work with the new 2G LBT in detecting a Busy Channel and not transmitting at that time but yet remaining SC Sound operation when it should Sound again, which it does and right on cue. The special "@ sc_sound_repeat()" test message seen in the captured engineering data is at the point where a Sounding takes place and the SC Sound repeat event timer is reset, in this case for 5 minutes at which point the next Sounding will be attempt and if not LBT detect event, will take place. The data below spans about 2 1/2 hours and early on I turned on the LBT test mode to capture data in 1 minute intervals to determine if indeed we were at times seeing LBT detection events as it was all configured. SC Sound test data with LBT enabled and the Threshold set to the minimum of 25 from MARS-ALE. [04:33:57][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING STOPPED] [04:33:49][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now RELEASED] [04:33:29][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [04:33:29][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [04:33:28][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING TWS SOUNDING] [04:33:26][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING SC TWS SOUNDING] [04:33:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [04:33:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [04:28:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 28.59] [04:28:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [04:28:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [04:23:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 31.02] [04:23:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [04:23:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [04:18:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 32.11] [04:18:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [04:18:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [04:13:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 26.18] [04:13:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [04:13:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [04:08:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 27.93] [04:08:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [04:08:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [04:03:49][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now RELEASED] [04:03:29][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [04:03:28][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [04:03:28][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING TWS SOUNDING] [04:03:26][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING SC TWS SOUNDING] [04:03:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [04:03:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:58:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 28.80] [03:58:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:58:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:53:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 28.44] [03:53:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:53:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:48:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 29.28] [03:48:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:48:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:43:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 27.70] [03:43:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:43:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:38:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 27.33] [03:38:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:38:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:33:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 33.52] [03:33:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:33:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:28:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 26.61] [03:28:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:28:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:23:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 30.54] [03:23:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:23:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:18:49][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now RELEASED] [03:18:28][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [03:18:28][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [03:18:28][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING TWS SOUNDING] [03:18:26][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING SC TWS SOUNDING] [03:18:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:18:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:13:26][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 29.35] [03:13:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:13:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:08:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 29.45] [03:08:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:08:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [03:03:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 30.29] [03:03:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [03:03:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:58:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 33.37] [02:58:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:58:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:53:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 29.32] [02:53:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:53:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:48:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 33.87] [02:48:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:48:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:43:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 31.73] [02:43:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:43:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:38:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 25.88] [02:38:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:38:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:33:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 27.95] [02:33:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:33:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:28:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 28.68] [02:28:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:28:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:23:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 25.38] [02:23:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:23:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:18:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 32.33] [02:18:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:18:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:13:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 27.84] [02:13:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:13:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:08:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 26.83] [02:08:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:08:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:03:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: LBT Detection. LBT signal level 34.38] [02:03:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [02:03:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [02:00:01][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 14.59 < 25.00] [02:00:00][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Occupancy Detection Testing Stopped] [02:00:00][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 21.97 < 25.00] [01:59:58][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 22.71 < 25.00] [01:59:57][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 13.64 < 25.00] [01:59:56][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 21.08 < 25.00] [01:59:55][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 17.70 < 25.00] [01:59:54][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 15.67 < 25.00] [01:59:53][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Busy!: LBT signal level 27.44 > 25.00] [01:59:52][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 18.96 < 25.00] [01:59:51][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 22.51 < 25.00] [01:59:50][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 10.90 < 25.00] [01:59:49][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 13.12 < 25.00] [01:59:48][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 18.50 < 25.00] [01:59:47][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 18.97 < 25.00] [01:59:46][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 11.15 < 25.00] [01:59:45][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 22.77 < 25.00] [01:59:44][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 19.35 < 25.00] [01:59:43][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 22.87 < 25.00] [01:59:41][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 15.98 < 25.00] [01:59:40][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 23.67 < 25.00] [01:59:39][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 9.62 < 25.00] [01:59:38][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 21.67 < 25.00] [01:59:37][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 24.24 < 25.00] [01:59:36][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 21.82 < 25.00] [01:59:35][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 19.78 < 25.00] [01:59:34][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 15.67 < 25.00] [01:59:33][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 15.19 < 25.00] [01:59:32][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 21.34 < 25.00] [01:59:31][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Clear: LBT signal level 21.09 < 25.00] [01:59:30][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Busy!: LBT signal level 32.45 > 25.00] [01:59:29][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: Channel Occupancy Detection Testing Started] [01:58:49][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now RELEASED] [01:58:28][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [01:58:28][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [01:58:28][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING TWS SOUNDING] [01:58:25][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING SC TWS SOUNDING] [01:58:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [01:58:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [01:53:48][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now RELEASED] [01:53:28][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [01:53:28][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [01:53:27][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING TWS SOUNDING] [01:53:25][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING SC TWS SOUNDING] [01:53:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING RESET TIMER] [01:53:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: @ sc_sound_repeat()] [01:48:48][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now RELEASED] [01:48:28][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [01:48:28][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: PTT now ACTIVE] [01:48:27][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING TWS SOUNDING] [01:48:25][FRQ 02046500][SOUNDING: SENDING SC TWS SOUNDING] [01:48:25][FRQ 02046500][RADIO: SINGLE CHANNEL SOUNDING STARTED] ========== Test Build #2 for a coming PC-ALE 1.08 Build 1.0.0.0 Beta =========== NOTE: Delete your current ALE.DAT files as the ALE.DAT file format has changed. What's new: 1. Ported PC-ALE from VS2003 to VS2008 compiler. 2. Added the original 2G LBT class developed for CadetALE, the next step is to integrate the 2G LBT class and features from MARS-ALE. 3. Added DLL-RADIO support, example ts2000.dll provided for testing. The Radio .DLL format is in phase II of its development and it all seems to work. However, Phase II will largely expand upon the format to bring about full radio control beyond the basic requirements for ALE operation in support of additional software to be developed. The TCP/IP radio control feature is NOT implemented for use at this time, its basic support structure has been coded and tested but a dedicated TCP/IP thread needs to be added to PC-ALE still. At present the use of TCP/IP will only send CAT commands out the main TCP/IP thread of PC-ALE along with any other data such as incoming ALE Soundings being reported when the port is active. 4. Added support for radios DXSR8, IC-7100, TT599 5. Added MMI HELP command support and .HLP files in the \HELP\ directory where a sampling of of .HLP files are provided to date. Using the various MMI interfaces such as the DataBar, HELP will list the basic commands, HELP COMMANDS will list all commands. HELP command will list help on that command. This is all a work in progress. 6. ========== Test Build #1 for a coming PC-ALE 1.08 Build 1.0.0.0 Beta =========== This represents the first test build of the new baseline destined to become the first beta of PC-ALE v1.08. There will be a series of test builds provided as PC-ALE under goes some major development changes incrementally that will result in a Beta followed by a full release with updated documentation as PC-ALE 1.08 Build 1.0.0.0 and there after minor changes will result in a build number increment and major changes will result in a version number increment with a build number reset. NOTE: PC-ALE v1.076 must be installed prior to use of this test build. NOTE: This test build is compatible with the existing PC-ALE ALE.DAT and .QRG file formats as last changed with the previous series of PC-ALE 1.07x builds. However, coming changes to PC-ALE will require changes to both file structures during the coming test builds. What's new: 1. ALE.EXE is now ALE_32.EXE, which does not necessarily mean that there will be an ALE_64.EXE in the future. As the ALE.DAT and all other file formats are currently the same. ALE_32.EXE can reside in the same sub directory as an existing ALE.EXE if so desired. But both can Not be running at the same time. 2. Google Earth is required at PC-ALE compile to an .EXE, thus reinstallation of Google Earth in the form of version 7.1.1.1580 (beta) was made to enable a full rebuild of PC-ALE. So Google Earth 7.1.1.1580 (beta) is now the required version for PC-ALE v1.08 and its Google Earth support. There was no testing performed to determine whether or not a previous version of Google Earth will work with with PC-ALE v1.08 and for that matter, no testing was performed in this version of PC-ALE to determine of this current version of Google Earth performs proper with PC-ALE as previously coded to support Google Earth. To make use of Google Earth with PC-ALE, all station must be configured for the PC-ALE Global Prosition Report (GPR) capability via the '188-141 options dialog using the REPORT button to access the setup and then the Google Earth support must be enabled via the main menus "Tools" menu selection by clicking on Google Earth if there is no check next to it already. 3. Added support for IC7410 and IC9100 to include USB port support when uSB-D/LSB-D selected as the mode. 4. Added support for TS-990 to include USB port support when uSB-D/LSB-D selected as the mode. What's been fixed: 1. Fixed USB port support for the IC7600 2. Fixed TK-90 CAT PTT support for both Mic and Data ports. 3. Fix CAT PTT support for TS-480 ANI port and TS-590 USB port when uSB-D/LSB-D selected as the mode. ====================== PC-ALE v1.076 ALPHA Build NOTES ========================= What's been fixed: 1. Fixed Radio Emulation Port PTT issue when in Multi-Channel operation and ALE inlink state so that a REM Port CAT PTT command causes the radio under PC-ALE control to properly execute PTT ON and PTT OFF when the ENABLE RMSBLOCK command has been issued for ALE follow on. ====================== PC-ALE v1.075 ALPHA Build NOTES ========================= Supplemental - What's been fixed: 1. Updated the version markers to v1.075 2. Learned that USB-D and LSB-D which are new to Kenwood support for the TS-480 and the TS-590 in this build were not actually being passed to the Radio Mode routine and thus the default mode trap which was set for LSB was being sent. Also changed the default mode from LSB to USB. ====================== PC-ALE v1.075 ALPHA Build NOTES ========================= What's new: 1. Now documented, if you Right Click with the mouse on the Engineering Window a popup menu appears giving access to: Copy, Sounding mode selections, Manual Sounding and Rapid Call. If you Right Click on the Message Window, a popup menu appears giving access to: Copy. 2. Added support for TS-590 and changed UNKNOWN Kenwood to treat radio as TS-590. What's been fixed: 1. Corrected error with TS-480 ANI ACC port support when adding support for TS-590. What's changed: 1. I have modified the "isPreamble" in the ALE Library to improve the two-way communications involving ALE AMD, DTM and DBM where falsing on bad words will not cause a call to the wrong processing code when in a known ALE state of either Normal or AQC-ALE as has always been the case do to PC-ALE always ready to accept an incoming Normal or AQC-ALE linking call or Sounding. I long ago changed MARS-ALE where in Normal ALE there was never any AQC-ALE processing, thus bad ALE words never caused falsing where AQC-ALE routines were in correctly called to process Normal ALE data packets. However when MARS-ALE is in AQC-ALE there is still this possibility when a Normal ALE link happens as we must be backward compatible per the MIL-STD to accept am Normal ALE call. The changes I have made in PC-ALE still allow for bad ALE words to negatively affect the intercept of any Linking Call or Sounding, unlike MARS-ALE as we are still looking for either type of linking call or Sounding, however once in a known state, bad ALE words will no long cause bad things to happen, just ACK/NAK repeats. Those of you who are Utility Monitors this change offers no improvement, however MARS-ALE does as its never in jeopardy of falsely processing Normal ALE Soundings or Calls using an AQC-ALE routine, those all Normal ALE transmissions always properly decoded unless they are Link Protected (LP) transmissions which are just ignored, with PC-ALE any Normal ALE LP transmission will likely decode as AQC-ALE if at all, thus LP soundings will display as AQC-ALE AL0 soundings when they are really Normal ALE AL1 or higher. ====================== PC-ALE v1.074 ALPHA Build NOTES ========================= PC-ALE v1.074A will trash any existing ALE.DAT file as its structure has been updated for this build. What's new: Added support for TS-480 ANI port CAT PTT which when USB-D or LSB-D channel selection is made when using AddChannel or ModifyChannel is automatic. The radio is still placed into just USB or LSB, but by being selected for USB-D or LSB-D and a TS-480 is detected PC-ALE knows to use ANI CAT PTT. Added ability to choose Resources to release of CAT Comm Port, PTT on 2nd Comm Port and PC Sound Device via either selection using MIL-STD-188-141 Options Dialog or via the MMI interface using the following commands with ENABLE/DISABLE x that function the same as using the Options Dialog: RELEASERADIO1, RELEASEALTPTT, RELEASEPCSDM Added MMI command RESOURCES for use with ENABLE/DISABLE x where the commands can be used in CONFIG.DAT or later in LINKED.DAT or UNLINKED.DAT to as well as in MACROs or on the fly as the user desires for their purposes. Changed and added code for Radio Emulation support to address issues with CAT programming errors found in various 3rd Party Software. The new coding works in parallel with code that handles CAT commands from properly coded applications and has no negative effect when using a properly coded 3rd Party Application. These changes allow for better integration with RMS Express in the areas of PTT ( K480 can now be used as well as K450 or K2000) and both PTT and Mode selection when setup for ICOM. There is no way to address the discrete frequency window operation of RMS Express when Freq and Mode are allowed to pass to the Radio Type selected and the entered frequency value in RMS Expressed is changed other than to issue the ENABLE RMSBLOCK command which should always be used when RMS Express is being used for ALE follow-on. Although editing that frequency will result in either much lower or much higher frequency data being sent to the PC-ALE REM port, PC-ALE unlike a direct radio connection will if not in RMSBLOCK not respond to such data that is beyond the 1.5Mhz to 88Mhz range supported, unlike an HF radio that covers 2m or higher will. I suggest everyone be very careful when manually entering and editing frequency data in the RMS Express frequency window using such radios cable of transmitting beyond 30Mhz. ====================== PC-ALE v1.073 ALPHA Build NOTES ========================= PC-ALE v1.073A will trash any existing ALE.DAT file as its structure has been updated for this build. What's been fixed: 1. Mode selection bug for Radio Emulation when using ICOM in 3rd Party Software. 2. Mode selection certain "Radio Types" when selecting a mode other than standard modes such as LSB, USB, CW, AM, FM that are available when using ICOM in 3rd Party Software as many radio types in the PC-ALE radio control library were not coded with a default mode when as PC-ALE itself only supports selection of what was coded for ALE operation and the MRC interface. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's new: 2. Added RADIOSERVER and RMSBLOCK MMI commands in support of Radio Emulation, for details see the PC-ALE_Radio_Control.pdf file. ====================== PC-ALE v1.072 ALPHA Build NOTES ========================= What's been fixed: 1. FT920DATA selection now supports USB-D and LSB-D selection in CHANNEL ADD and MODIFY. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's new: 1. CAT Radio Emulation where all radios supported by PC-ALE as well as PC-ALE pairing of radios are available via Radio Emulation. PC-ALE provides Radio Emulation in a manor where PC-ALE looks like either a KENWOOD or ICOM transceiver to 3rd Party Software that provides CAT control of KENWOOD or ICOM radio. PC-ALE via the Radio Emulation (REM) port supports whatever “Radio Type” is selected in PC-ALE that supports more than just radio Memory Channel operation for Frequency and Mode control. The 3rd Party Software is configured for either a KENWOOD or ICOM in particular a TS-480SAT or IC-746PRO where radio address 66h is returned by PC-ALE but where PC-ALE does not care what radio is being used by the 3rd Party Software. For complete details on Radio Emulation see the latest "PC-ALE Radio Control" document. ====================== PC-ALE v1.071 ALPHA Build NOTES ========================= This file is for the current ALPHA version of PC-ALE v1.070, which can currently be dropped into replace release version PC-ALE v1.062H Build #6 as its ALE.DAT format has not yet changed. For full details regarding radio control see the updated the PC-ALE Radio Control document. PC-ALE v1.071 differs from the last release in the following ways: What's been fixed: 1. Corrected CAT PTT issue with Yaesu FT-450, FT-950, FT-2000 and FT9000 2. Corrected USB-D/LSB-D mode selection issue with ICOM IC-7600 3. Corrected Kenwood TK80 baud rate from 4800 to 9600 per TK80 docs now in hand. Also coded TK80 for Memory Channel support. It has been reported that direct frequency and mode does not work for for the TK80 and the docs do not really list such control as being supported, they mention the frequency and mode format but do not list a command for each, although all other commands are mostly common Kenwood commands the FA or FB does not work on the TK80. 4. Corrected issues with REMOTE ENABLE on some make/model radios. 5. Corrected issues with Radio Control Panel for direct RX frequency and mode control with some make/models. NOTE: The Radio Contro Panel interface does not work with all radios as some will only operate via radio memory channel operation. However for those radios that work via direct Frequency and Mode control as well as Memory Channel operation the RCP will directly control the radio regardless of it being in memory channel opearation or not. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's been changed: 1. Changed Voice Detect to Busy Channel. 2. Log to Disk operation has been changed from supporting a single owlog and dalog file method to a subdirectory based method where \owlog and \dalog subdirectories must exist under the directory where ALE.EXE is executed. The data is stored in files with naming convention extensions of .da and .ow respectfully. The leading 8 characters of the file name use the naming convention of Zulu Time based YEAR/DAY/MONTH when ALE.EXE is first executed. NOTE: If the \owlog and \dalog directories do not exist then no log files will be created when Log to Disk is enabled. 3. Changed default setting for Sync Votes to 10 from 20. 4. Changed default setting for Frame Votes to 30 from 20. 5. Changed default setting for SC-SC Length to 12 from 0. 6. Changed default setting for DBM Retries to 30 from 7. 7. Changed default setting for DBM Max Frame Time to 10 from 30. 8. Changed default setting for DTM Retries to 30 from 7. 9. Changed default setting for DTM Max Frame Time to 10 from 30. 10. Changed default setting for Listen Time to 10 from 30. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's new: 1. Added MMI RADCMD Command. Command Syntax: RADCMD [Argument1..Argument5] To make use of RADCMD the user MUST know the syntax of CAT commands for their radio. The RADCMD supports direct user control of radio at program start ( using the new CONFIG.DAT file ) to pre-configure the radio for best ALE operating parameters and program shutdown ( using the new SHUTDOWN.DAT file) to exit ALE radio configuration settings. It also supports adjusting the radio parameters after an ALE link when going over to a third party follon on protocol or while monitoring single channel activity to allow for the selection of receiver features not directly supported in normal PC-ALE operation such as filter selection, passband tuning, RIT etc. at any time by using the DataBar MMI interface or the new MACRO MMI command to file off user created MACRO files of MMI commands. However RADCMD ( and HEXRADCMD which follows ) will not support direct user control of all make/model radios supported by PC-ALE as some require polling and other aspects that can only be addressed properly via full automation. In addition some radios that only support the use of radio memory channel operation and do support direct frequency and or mode chances via PC control will need to controlled via this interface the same way, memory channel selection. Also, the user will need to provide for any make/model radio that requires a check sum or CRC field that is not optional that piece of information as required for the radio to respond to the command. As PC-ALE is running and and is sending any make/model radio that requires a keep alive signal, said signal, the user need not worry about that apsect for such radios as the Kachina 505DSP, Harris RF-350K etc. and for such radios the use of the MMI SET TRANSMIT ON and SET TRANSMIT OFF command rather than the direct radio PTT commands will also result in sending the appropriate keep alive signal during PTT ON. I originally coded RADCMD into MARS-ALE some time ago as an undocumented command for my personal SIGINT uses of MARS-ALE to allow for control of my TCI8174 receiver which has no manual interface. For radios that have no manual interface or are locked out when under PC control this addition to PC-ALE is very useful for the single channel utility monitor or when engaged in various types of follow on ALE communications. PC-ALE DataBar TEXT field use: The MMI box must be checked on the DataBar. Then RADCMD is entered in the DataBar TEXT box followed by radio commands either as one string or with spaces as required for the sending of more than one command word at a time as long as no termination such as Line Feed or Carriage Return or non printable characters are required prior to the end of the TEXT entry. The last Argument to the RADCMD can represent one or two Line Feed characters or one or two Carriage Return characters or a Line Feed and Carriage Return by the use of LF1 or LF2, CR1 or CR2 and LFCR. The RADCMD as it currently exists will not support all radio types as some require complex data commands and some require ACK/NAK handshaking. However it will support the bulk of radio make/models that use command syntax that are mostly ASCII based strings. Example of sending both Frequency to a Kenwood radio as one message where the semi-colon termination is used, first the data entered into the TEXT box: radcmd FA00010000000; The message displayed to the Engineering Window after executing the command and argument: [00:36:27][FRQ 10000000][MMI CHANGE: Sent radio command FA00010000000;] The entering of FA00010000000; represents a single Argument to RADCMD and the radio. Here is the captured data sent to the radio: FA00010000000; Example of sending both Frequency and Mode to a Kenwood radio as one message where the semi-colon termination is used for each command to the radio , first the data entered into the TEXT box: radcmd FA00010000000;MD2; The message displayed to the Engineering Window after executing the command and argument: [00:36:27][FRQ 10000000][MMI CHANGE: Sent radio command FA00010000000;MD2;] The entering of FA00010000000;MD2; represents a single Argument to RADCMD, but two arguments to the radio as the semi-colon is the termination for the radio. Here is the captured data sent to the radio: FA00010000000;MD2; Example of sending Frequency to a Ten Tec RX-340 where a carriage return termination is required, the data that is entered into the TEXT box is: radcmd $1F 10.000000 cr1 The message displayed to the Engineering Window after executing the command and argument: [04:11:12][FRQ 10000000][MMI CHANGE: Sent radio command $1F 10.000000 CR1] The entering of $1F 10.000000 CR1 represents three Argument to RADCMD but just one to the radio as the termination for the radio is the Carriage Return. Here is the captured data sent to the radio: $1F 10.000000#0D NOTE: It does not matter if the commands and arugments are entered in Upper or Lower case as all lines without double quotes (") are converted to upper case for execution. If you need to send a radio commands in mixed case and or with spaces mixed in the command, for example the TCI series of receivers command set which uses mixed case then you need to encase the command string for each argument in double quotes (") as with this example that sets a TCI-8174 to 10Mhz AM radcmd "{Af10000000 }{AeL1 }" To set just the TCI8174 frequency to 10Mhz you would send: radcmd "{Af10000000 }" To just change the TCI8174 mode, say to LSB you would send: radcmd "{AeL4 }" NOTE: User's of a third party program such as an Amateur Digital Mode program which supports a Telnet interface can access PC-ALE after an ALE link for follow on and control the radio or other resources using existing MMI commands where all the MMI commands use via Telnet must be proceeded by "CMD " and CMD must be in Upper Case for example: CMD radcmd "{AeL4 }" Another command of interest when using a third party program for follow on that supports Telnet connections would be the MMI radio PTT ON/OFF command, for example: CMD set transmit on and CMD set transmit off If the third party program allows for the selection of sending a telnet command for PTT ON and PTT OFF then whatever means of PTT being used by PC-ALE for the radio will be accessible by the 3rd partly program as long as PC-ALE RESOURCES have not been released. NOTE: User's of MARS-ALE should not experiment with the existing release using the RADCMD as although it is present, the interface differs from what I have detailed herein as these details are current and will be in the next release of MARS-ALE. 2. Added HEXRADCMD MMI Command. Command Syntax: HEXRADCMD [Argument1..Argument30] To make use of HEXRADCMD the user MUST know the syntax of CAT commands for their radio. HEXRADCMD supports sending HEX bytes to radios such as ICOM and old TEN-TEC models, older YAESU models and others. The process of using HEXRADCMD is similar to the use of RADCMD except that each byte of the of the radio command must be entered as a HEXRADCMD Argument, which requires a space characater be inserted between each data byte of the radio command. HEXRADCMD also supports the sending of command to radios that used a mixture of printable and non-printable characters, a good example being Cubic receivers which require one or more start bytes that are non-printable, followed by the receiver address and command and then a command terminator bype. To set the frequency on a Cubic R3030 receiver that requires three start bytes mixed of characters would like this when sent to the radio where the pound (#) sign represents the two characters that follows to be a HEX byte: #02#02#0201F01200000#0D Broken down there are three start bytes: #02#02#02 The R3030 address: 01 The frequency information: F01200000 The radio command string termination: #0D The same radio command string represented in HEX would be: #02#02#02#30#31#46#30#31#32#30#30#30#30#30#0D To send this to the R3030 you would enter: hexradcmd 02 02 02 30 31 46 30 31 32 30 30 30 30 30 0D Here are some examples for ICOM and YAESU models that take into account the actual ICOM radio model HEX address, when using HEXRADCMD you can substitute 00 for the actually radio address you are directly sending these commands to the radio. Thus for the ICOM 746PRO examples below you would change the third byte which is the radio address from 66 to 00 for the address, 00 is the ICOM universal listener address to send the same to command to all devices on the bus if you were using more than one radio at a time. Set ICOM 746PRO to USB at 14.109Mhz: hexradcmd FE FE 66 E0 05 00 90 10 14 00 FD FE FE 66 E0 06 01 FD Set ICOM 746PRO to USB at 14.109Mhz: hexradcmd FE FE 66 E0 05 00 90 10 14 00 FD Set ICOM 746PRO to USB: hexradcmd FE FE 66 E0 06 01 FD Set ICOM 746PRO to LSB: hexradcmd FE FE 66 E0 06 00 FD Set ICOM 746PRO to USB-D: hexradcmd FE FE 66 E0 06 01 FD FE FE 66 E0 1A 06 01 FD Set ICOM 7200 to USB-D: (NOTE: USB-D/LSB-D selection differs with 7200 vs. all previous ICOM models) hexradcmd FE FE 76 E0 06 01 FD FE FE 76 E0 1A 04 01 01 FD Set ICOM 746PRO to LSB-D: hexradcmd FE FE 66 E0 06 00 FD FE FE 66 E0 1A 06 01 FD Set ICOM 7200 to LSB-D: hexradcmd FE FE 76 E0 06 00 FD FE FE 76 E0 1A 04 01 01 FD Set Yaesu FT847 to USB at 14.109Mhz: hexradcmd 01 00 00 00 07 01 41 09 00 01 Set Yaesu FT847 to 18.106Mhz: hexradcmd 01 81 06 00 01 Set Yaesu FT847 to USB: hexradcmd 01 00 00 00 07 Set Yaesu FT847 to LSB: hexradcmd 01 00 00 01 07 NOTE: User's of MARS-ALE should note that HEXRADCMD does not exist in the current release. 3. Added MMI Commands in support of the LDG AT200PC ATU. Command Syntax: LDG {Argument1..Argument3} The LDG commands for the LDG AT-200PPC ATU are handy for configuring the AT-200PC for both ALE operation and after an ALE inlink state or when PC-ALE is just running and you want to make use of the AT-200PC for other communications. The commands provide for quick control without need of releasing PC-ALE resournce and the use of other software. I use these commands in MARS-ALE all time to control various parameters of the ATU, such as telling the unit the frequency I am using which is not an ALE channel so that it automatically tunes from memory or placing the unit in MANUAL to preclude automatic returning while single channel or placing the unit into BYPASS on an antenna and frequency where its not needed. The commands available for use are: LDG ANT1 ................................> Select Antenna Port 1 LDG ANT2 ................................> Select Antenna Port 2 LDG AUTO ...............................> Select AUTO mode LDG MANUAL ..........................> Select MANUAL mode LDG ACTIVE ............................> Select ACTIVE mode LDG BYPASS ..........................> Select BYPASS mode LDG LOZ .................................> Select Low Impedance operation LDG HIZ ..................................> Select High Impedance operation LDG INDDN .............................> Manually select the next Lowest Inductor value LDG INDUP .............................> Manually select the next Highest Inductor value LDG CAPDN ............................> Manually select the next Lowest Capacitor value LDG CAPUP ............................> Manually select the next Highest Capacitor value LDG INDSET ...........................> Manually select the current Inductor value LDG CAPSET ..........................> Manually select the current Capacitor value LDG STORE ............................> Manually select to store the settings and frequency LDG RESET .............................> Reset all Relays, L, C and HiLoZ information LDG MEMTUNE .......................> Select MEMORY TUNE operation LDG FULLTUNE ......................> Select FULL TUNE operation LDG ALLUPDATE ....................> LDG VSWRnn ..........................> Set VSWR Threshold where n is 11, 12, 13, 15 ,17 ,20 ,25 ,30 LDG REQ_ARM_CLEAR ...........> Setup to delete all memory LDG REQ_CLEAR_MEM ...........> Delete all memory LDG UPDATEON ......................> LDG UPDATEOFF ....................> LDG FREQ n ............................> Tune frequency from memory where n = frequency in hertz, e.g.: 14230000 The AT200PC has the tendancy to jump into auto tuning after a tuned state depending on how critical the tuning of the antenna is at a particular frequency and the modulation characteristics, this can be handled in single channel operation by selecting the frequency for use while the ATU is in ACTIVE and AUTO and then placing the unit into MANUAL. For example, let's say the Fo of interest is 7.385Mhz, enter: LDG FREQ 7385000 LDG MANUAL I want to change to another channel, say 3.8470Mhz and still require the AT200PC you would enter: LDG AUTO LDG FREQ 3847000 LDG MANUAL If you did not need to use the AT200PC as you are switching to say ANT 2 that is resonant you would enter: LDG ANT2 LDG BYPASS NOTE: In PC-ALE when configuring for AT200PC use either ANT1 or ANT2 is selected as the Scan Antenna and PC-ALE only selects the antenna once at the begining of scanning. Thus any change to the antenna selection via the MMI ANT1 or ANT2 commands during an ALE inlink state during Scanning will remain as selected when scanning continues unless the user either issues another MMI ANTx command to return the Scanning Antenna port as configured or Scanning is stopped and restarted. To Set the VSWR threshold 1.7:1 enter: LDG VSWR17 Some users of MARS-ALE, such as KB4BA like to set the AT200PC VSWR threshold to a higher level upon an ALE link and then back to a lower level after the link for Sounding transmissions so that during the ALE link any internmittent antenna situations such as rain, icing etc. or the tendancy of the ATU to keep AUTO tuning when on a challenging to tune frequency do not occur. This is done using the MMI LDG commands in the LINKED.DAT and UNLINKED.DAT files which have not been added to PC-ALE and are detailed later herein. To clear all AT200PC memory enter: REQ_ARM_CLEAR REQ_CLEAR_MEM NOTE: User's of MARS-ALE will note that ANT1 and ANT2 do not exist in the MARS-ALE LDG support but rather SET ANTn is used when the AT200PC has been selected as the ANT SW device as MARS-ALE supports numerous antenna selection devices and radio CAT ANT port selection and devices with up to 10 ports and is based on the device selected for use in configuration. Should such support by ported to PC-ALE the ANT1 and ANT2 MII commands will be removed. 4. Added MMI Command for MACRO support Command Syntax: MACRO {Argument} The MAcRO Argument is the file name of the MACRO where .MAC is assumed. All .MAC files will be located in the \MACRO\ sub directory under where the ALE.EXE is installed. There is no limitation to the number of MACRO files that may be created. A MACRO file can consist of comments on a line or one command followed by its arguments per line. There can be no more than 100 MMI commands per MACRO file and no more than 50 arguments per MMI command per line. At present the HEXRADCMD supports the most arguments per command at 30. MARCO files can be nested where the MACRO command can be used to call another MACRO file, however such use is not recommended. All commented lines start with a pound (#) symbol and will be ignored. Here is an example MACRO file that can be used to Reset the OWN Address in the HFlink distribution of .QRG files or any 3rd party .QRG file from whatever OWN Address exists to that desired when a properly edited "callsign" is provided and the ADD OWN line is activated. # Filename: RESETOWN.MAC # # RESET OWN below will delete all existing OWN Addresses # in the ALE.DAT database file. # RESET OWN # # Edit callsign in the line below to your callsign and remove the # symbol # #ADD OWN callsign # # END RESETOWN.MAC Here is an example MACRO file to set a Kenwood radio to WWV at 10Mhz in AM mode: # Filename: KNWDWWV10.MAC # # Set Kenwood radio to WWV at 10Mhz in AM mode # RADCMD FA00010000000;MD5; # # END KNWDWWV10.MAC To execute the KNWDWWV10.MAC file the DataBar MMI interface is again used and one would simply enter: macro knwdwwv10 If a MACRO file is not found due a typo or it just does'nt exist in the directly then a message is displayed in the Engineering window such as: FILE NOT FOUND C:\Program Files\PC-ALEv107\MACRO\KNWDWWV01.MAC Here is an example MACRO file to set a TCI8174 receiver to 10Mhz AM for WWV reception: # Filename: TCIWWV10.MAC # # Set TCI8174 radio to WWV at 10Mhz in AM mode # radcmd "{Af10000000 }{AeL1 }" # # END TCIWWV10.MAC Here is an example MACRO file to set a any ICOM radio to 10Mhz AM for WWV reception: # Filename: ICOMWWV10.MAC # # Set ICOM radio to WWV at 10Mhz in AM mode # hexradcmd FE FE 00 E0 05 00 00 00 10 00 FD FE FE 00 E0 06 02 FD # # END TCIWWV10.MAC Here is an example MACRO file to set a Cubic R3030 needing three start bytes to 10Mhz AM for WWV reception: # Filename: R3030WWV10.MAC # # Set Cubic R3030 radio to WWV at 10Mhz in AM mode # # Set Frequency hexradcmd 02 02 02 30 31 46 31 30 30 30 30 30 30 30 0D # # Set Mode hexradcmd 02 02 02 30 31 4D 41 0D # # END R3030WWV10.MAC If sending a number of commands to a radio and the radio make/model in question only supports one command at a time it is recommended to use the MMI DELAY command in between commands to allow for the radio to process the commands, DELAY paces the sending of commands by the value of time in miliseconds provided with a range from 10..1000ms, an exmaple of using DELAY: # Set Frequency RADCMD FA00010000000; # Wait 50ms DELAY 50 # Set Mode RADCMD MD5; NOTE: If DELAY is used with no argument then the delay will be 10ms, if the value is less than 10 then the delay will be 10ms, if the value is greater than 10 then the delay will be 1000. If more than one argument is provided then there will be no delay. NOTE: It does not matter if the commands and arguments are entered in Upper or Lower case as all non commented lines are converted to upper case for execution and sub sections that are bound in double quotes are left in the case entered. 5. Added CONFIG.DAT file to process MMI Commands at progrm start up. If no CONFIG.DAT file is present the following message will be displayed at program start: FILE NOT FOUND CONFIG.DAT To eliminate the FILE NOT FOUND CONFIG.DAT message a CONFIG.DAT file is created with an ASCII editor and must be located in the same subdirectory as the ALE.EXE with either no contents or with MMI commands which are proper to use at program start. One or more .MAC files can be executed from within the CONFIG.DAT file. If automatic starting of scanning is desired when using the CONFIG.DAT file the START command must be the last command in the CONFIG.DAT file. 6. Added SHUTDOWN.DAT file to process MMI Commands at progrm shut down. The SHUTDOWN.DAT file is created with an ASCII editor and must be located in the same subdirectory as the ALE.EXE with either no contents or with MMI commands which are proper to use at program start. It is NOT recommended to call .MAC files from within the SHUTDOWN.DAT file. The amount of MMI commands used in SHUTDOWN.DAT must be kept very short, especially commands having to do with Radio or AT200PC control which must be the first commands issued. There will be no display of any execution of MMI commands in the PC-ALE Engineering window however should PC-ALE be under Telnet terminal control, all executed commands will display on the telnet terminal prior to the connection lost message. 7. Added LINKED.DAT file to process MMI Commands after ALE inlink. If no LINKED.DAT file is present the following message will be displayed when the ALE inlink clears: FILE NOT FOUND LINKED.DAT The LINKED.DAT file is created with an ASCII editor and must be located in the same subdirectory as the ALE.EXE with either no contents or with MMI commands which are proper to use at program start. It is NOT recommended to call .MAC files from within the LINKED.DAT file. The amount of MMI commands used in LINKED.DAT must be kept very short, especially commands having to do with Radio or AT200PC control which must be the first commands issued. 8. Added UNLINKED.DAT file to process MMI Commands after ALE inlink clear. If no UNLINKED.DAT file is present the following message will be displayed at ALE inlink: FILE NOT FOUND UNLINKED.DAT The UNLINKED.DAT file is created with an ASCII editor and must be located in the same subdirectory as the ALE.EXE with either no contents or with MMI commands which are proper to use at program start. It is NOT recommened to call .MAC files from within the UNLINKED.DAT file. The amount of MMI commands used in UNLINKED.DAT must be kept very short, especially commands having to do with Radio or AT200PC control which must be the first commands issued. 9. Added new MMI Command Help system. Command Syntax: HELP {Argument} All .HLP files will be located in the \HELP\ sub directory under where the ALE.EXE is installed. To use the Help system just type the following in the DataBar TEXT box when MMI is checked: help macro Information on the MACRO command will then appear in the Engineering Window. If there is no .HLP file for the command entered as the argument to HELP then message will be display in the Engineering Window such as: * Help on RADCMD not found Just entering the command HELP alone will bring up a short list of the most used commands. 10. Added radio memory channel support for TK80 and TK90 models. 11. Added support for ADAT ADT-200A 12. Added support for JRC JSB-196 and compatible models. CAT PTT, CAT MUTING and radio memory channel operation are supported. Two selections are provided, one for older and one for newer firmware where the old firmware selections. 13. Added support for T-BUS protocol as used by Skanti, Sailor and other HF Marine radios. 14. Added ICOM-ICOM selection for a scheme where two ICOM CSMA compatible radios are used with one being the Transmitter and the other the Receiver. The idea being to actually make use of a Receiver for the Receiver to eliminate the issue of PA spectral purity filter relays from being over taxed. Another approach would be to make use of an older transceiver that one disconnects the PA filter relays from their power source and thus no long switch. The user does need to provide for receiver RF amplifier muting in order to operate in a twins scenario and also T/R selection of the antenna system. Aside from an IC735, any ICOM ham transceiver (or compatible CSMA transceiver such as an older Ten-Tec model) and an ICOM CSMA receiver operating in TX/RX using same RS-232 port an CT-17 interface and both at the same baud rate. The transceiver address will be 2Bh. The receiver address will be 1Bh.The default baud is 9600 at 8N1. However if both the ICOM transceiver and receiver support a higher baud rate, the user can select a common higher baud rate via the Radio Port interface setup. USB-D and LSB-D are not supported. CAT PTT if selected will be the ICOM CAT PTT code which if the radio in used as the transceiver supports CAT will work. It will not work for older Ten Tec models as they used a Ten Tec selected code. 15. Added WJCSMA-ICOM selection for a scheme where Watkins-Johnson receiver and ICOM transceiver must both be setup for 9600 baud operation. 16. Added radio type selection T4180 in support of Cubic T4150 or T4180 exciters paried with LCR/SMR 20xx or CDR-32xx receiver and PA400 amplifiers as radio type selection T4150. The Cubic T4150 or T4180 exciter must be at radio address 100 and the receiver at radio address 001 and companion amplifier at address 123. All units on the RS-232 bus must be set to the same serial port parameters. 17. Added radio type selection T4180 in support of Cubic T4150 or T4180 exciters paried with LCR/SMR 20xx or CDR-32xx receiver and PA5050A amplifiers. The Cubic T4150 or T4180 exciter must be at radio address 100 and the receiver at radio address 001 and companion amplifier at address 123. All units on the RS-232 bus must be set to the same serial port parameters. 18. Added FLEX3000 which may also support FLEX1500 QRP model. 19. Added FLEX5000. 20 Added Harris RF3200 support. Previsouly documented as being supported but some how it was never enabled in v1.062H. The RF-3200 series of radios only provide for radio memory channel operation. See the PC-ALE Radio Control document for full details. 21. Added support for Harris RF-1310 and RF-1310A exciters paired with RF-590 and RF-590A receiver. Uses Harris HRRCP protocol in support of any combination of Harris exciter and receiver combination listed below: EXCITER: RF-1310 or MD-1253(V)/URT, RF-1310A or RF-1310H exciter. RECEIVER: RF-590, R-2368(A)/URR, RF-590A,R-2368B(V)1/URR, 2368B(V)3/URR RF590H, R-2557A/URC, RF-550/RF-797. Default RS-232 parameters are 19200 baud, Odd parity, 8 data bits, 2 stop bits and address 1 for the receiver and address 18 for the exciter. The amplifier, is not being address or controlled directly at present. NOTE: If internal Pre-selector is present in receiver it is placed into BYPASS during scanning automatically as long as MUTING is being used. NOTE: For an RF-590A receiver to select Harris HRRCP protocol the A14 board jumper at J20 must be set to jumper pins 2 and 3. On older units, revision E and below, there is no jumper, instead, a jumper wire may be soldered connecting U26-10 to U26-8 that must be removed. ========================= Some general notes: Used in RF-130 1Kw, RF-745 10Kw, RF-755 10Kw, RF-765 5Kw and RF-1130 series of transmitter systems. Exciter RF power output is 100 mW nominal and frequency range is from 405 kHz to 30 MHz * Harris RF-110A series power amplifier * Harris RF-7405 Remote Control Terminal Also supported by HAARCP protocol: Harris RF-270-07 1KW Transceiver Harris RF-270-5A Transceiver, a 1 kiloWatt SSB, CW, AM and consists of the 551A preselector, RF 2305 rcvr/exiter, RF-110A amplifier and power supply ============================ 22. Added support for JRC JSB-176 which also supports Raytheon RAY152. The radio must be in RMT via the front panel. A straight RS-232 cable is required. The default mode is full Fo/Mode data for RX and TX as required, however Radio Memory Channel operation can also be selected using the MMI ENABALE CHANNEL command. As the radios baud rate is fixed at 1200 baud only 1 ch/sec will likely work using full data, perhaps 2ch/sec using memory channels. Serial communication requires the "RS-232 Unit CMM-741 option" be installed piggyback on the "CPU Unit CDC-493R". CAT PTT and CAT Rx Audio Level MUTING are supported. 23. Added support for Ten Tec TT563 Omni VI with extended CAT PTT command 24. Added support for Ten Tec TT564 Omni VI+ with extended CAT PTT command 25. Added support for FTdx5000 with and without CTS/RTS handshaking support. 26. Added additional support for MICOM radios as follows: A. Radio memory channel control is no longer the only method of frequency/mode control depending on the firmware in older radios. MICOM radios can now be controlled for frequency and mode during scanning using either radio memory channels programmed to match the .QRG scan group channels where the software is placed into radio channel mode using the MMI command of ENABLE CHANNEL ( DISABLE CHANNEL exits the mode ) which setting is retained by the ALE.DAT file or by sending the radio discrete frequency any mode information. For MICOM 2x models which have firmware that will support discrete frequency/mode information the radio must be placed into CHAN mode operation for all control. For MICOM 3 radios it does not matter if the radio is in CHAN or FREQ mode. B. Using Manual Radio control panel it does not matter if a radio is being controlled in CHAN operation by using ENABLE CHANNEL as only discrete frequency and mode information is sent to the radio. Be sure to enter a frequency before selecting a new mode. The MICOM can be controlled in 1hz steps but only setps of 10hz displays on radio until 10 steps and then 10hz changes on the radio. MICOM reciever can be tuned from 100Khz to 30Mhz with reduced sensitivy below 1.6Mhz and full between 1.6Mhz to 30Mhz. The AM button selects AME and FM selects PILOT mode AM. The RX audio slider control is setup for the full range supported, hower the radio has a not of RX audio and no more than half range is needed at most. The slider controls the RX audio on a tempory basis so that the user can immediately revert to the desired setting using the front panel RX audio control. C. CAT MUTING speaker level is supported and for the Unmuted level setting if CAT MUTE level is used, a value of 16 seems to be a good listening level if using external speaker P/N HSN4027A. When using an internal speaker the volume levels need to be much higher, especially on MICOM 2 models. The full range of speaker volume supported by the MICOM is 0..255 27. Added radio type selection FURUNO in support of Furuno FS-xxxx Marine SSB radio models 1500, 1500P, 1501, 1502, 1503, 1503-EM, 1507, 1550, 1552, 1562, 1570, 2570, 5070 and perhaps others using Furuno MIF format. The default port parameters coded are 9600 7E2, some older models may only support 4800 baud which will need to be manually selected. =================== PC-ALE v1.062H Build #6 NOTES ======================== ________________________________________________________________________________ [ WARNING - The ALE.DAT file format changes with this build and will be trashed upon ] [ starting this version of PC-ALE, thus be sure to export a .QRG file from your current ] [ installation and be prepared to re-configure parameters not covered by the importing ] [ of a .QRG file. ] [________________________________________________________________________________] What's new: 1. Added MS-Vista support. 2. Modified SWALE/TELNET interface in support of PC-ALE/ALE^Stat operation where stations can configure the combination of tools to make automated postings of HFN Network activity to http://hflink.net/QSO as an HFN System Station along with postings by HFN Pilot stations. To make use of ALE^State MS .Net 2.x Framework must be installed. ALE^Stat and full docs may be downloaded at: http://k4pwo.homeip.net/lqa/ To use this capability both PC-ALE and ALE^Stat must both be running where both tools have been configured to use the same TCP/IP address and port and where ALE^Stat has been connected to PC-ALE with data being displayed on the ALE^Stat display. When running on the same PC the telnet loop back address of 127.0.0.1 on port 23 will suffice, however the tools can run on any PC on the network where the TCP/IP address of the PC-ALE PC is used. NOTE: MARS members using MARS-ALE who desire to post to HFlink will at this time need to use ALE^Stat as well, however in the future LQA Builder which ALE^Stat is based, will support both MARS and HAM postings. 3. Added RTS for D.C. Power for external radio interface support, details below. A. DTR or RTS for D.C. Power is available on the CAT Port only. B. DTR for D.C. Power is the DEFAULT state when PC-ALE first creates a new ALE.DAT file. The MIL-STD-188-141 Options Menu check box selections added for DTR/RTS power are to be used for selecting one, both or none while keeping in mind other used of those lines. C. DTR or RTS when selected for D.C. Power will be over ridden by any other DTR/RTS selection of those lines on the CAT port. D. The use of RTS for D.C. Power will not work for radios where RTS/CTS hardware handshaking is used or for either Kenwood radio type selections where reading the radio ID from the Kenwood radio is required. E. When CAT PTT is selected it over rides the PTT selections of DTR or RTS if checked, thus free both DTR and RTS for other uses. F. Whenever DTR or RTS for Power selections or PTT are changed on the MIL-STD-188-141 options menu and OK is clicked, the changes are immediately updated with no need to restart build #6. G. When another COM port is used for PTT other than the CAT port, both DTR/RTS for PTT and MUTE are freed from such use on the CAT com port. 4. Added Manual Sounding capability that works when NOT in multi-channel scanning operation and takes into account the status of RESOURCES being released or not. To use all one needs do is press the new MAN SOUND button on the tune bar next to the RESOURCES button. 5. Added QRZ Display to know when stations are calling if link fails. When enabled and a linking call is made for any OWN in your database, the call will be displayed to the engineering window and will be added to the log file regardless of a link being established or not. The the display format is the same as an intercept of a 3rd party linking call. 6. Fully implemented CAT MUTING where a selection is made between CAT vs. RTS/DTR for MUTING via a check box on the '188-141 options dialog. In addition, as a number of radios support both CAT Speaker Audio Level and a CAT MUTE command there is another check box is available to select the Level method when a radio supports both methods. When a radio does not support CAT muting at all, the default operation will be RTS/DTR for MUTING if enabled. NOTE: Any of the muting types except RTS/DTR requires that line audio output from the radio be fed to the ALE modem and not speaker output. With RTS/DTR the speaker output can still be used as long as the pickup is on the swinger of the relay directly from the radios aux speaker port. NOTE: For Kenwood radios the RS232 wiring must be complete so that the radio ID can be read from the radio for the software to know it supports CAT MUTING. There are now two speaker audio levels to be entered for those using the Speaker Level muting method, one is UNMUTED level and the other MUTED level. MUTED audio is set to 0 as the default and UMUTED to 25. Either can be set to the range of 0..255 as some radios have the range of 0..100 and others 0..255 and others are in between. This allows for the MUTED level to be completely 0 or some lower level than the normal ( UNMUTED) listening audio level. When the muting configuration selections have been made, clicking on the MUTE icon on the button bar will ENABLE or DISABLE muting and a message to that affect is now displayed in the Engineering Window. During scanning the audio will UNMUTE upon and ALE Link and again MUTE when the ALE Link is cleared automatically. When the program is terminately normally the radio will also UNMUTE. Otherwise the user needs to use the MUTE button to change the mute state. For those using receivers the MUTE button is the normal means to UMUTE unless your station is configured to intercept a muti-station call. Radios supporting CAT MUTING are: CODAN FT450,FT950,FT2000,FTDX9000 IC78,IC703,IC718,IC746,IC746PRO,IC756PRO,IC756PROII,IC756PROIII, IC7000,IC7200,IC7600,IC7700,IC7800 ICM700PRO,ICM710, ICM710RT,ICM801,ICM802,ICF7000 JST245 K505DSP TK90 TS-480, TS-570, TS-870, TS-2000 SDR1000, Flex-5000, Flex-3000 TT538,TT550,TT565,TT588 (radio and remote modes) SKANTI_8250 RF350/RT1446 EK2000 NRD545 R75,R8500,R9500 PCR1000, PCR1500, IC-R1500 and IC-R2500 RX320,RX350 TCI8174, TCI8074, TCI8172, TCI8173 7. Increased GPS COM port support from 1..9 to 1..16 as are CAT, PTT and AT200PC ports. 8. Increased from 10 to 100 the last AMD messages received 9. Increased from 100 to 1000 the last OTHER address database 10. Removed test message from being displayed for SDR1000 11. Changed AT200PC code to place tuner into MANUAL vs. AUTO when LINKED and back into AUTO upon clearing the LINK. 12. Expanded support for transcievers which provide either split FREQ or split FREQ/MODE operation based on the ADD/MODIFY channel entries of FREQ/MODE when in multi-channel operation. NOTE: When using a scan group in PC-ALE entries of FREQ/MODE can always be different, but that does not mean the particular radio model selected for use will follow them! NOTE: Those transceivers with no issues in this are have been coded for this support for those that may require such operation. The bulk of the transceivers code for this support are QS/S, those that are not are either Commercial or Military grade models that provide for split operation with ease of programming: Transceivers coded to support split FREQ operation are: FT-600, Kachina 505DSP, Harris RF5xxx, SGC2000. Note: SGC2000 support works in on-the-fly or radio memory channel operation where the channels in the radio are setup to match the scan group in use, radio can be programmed by PC-ALE.) Transceivers coded to support split FREQ/MODE operation are: FT-920, ICOM Marine/Commercial, All Kenwood models, MICOM,IC746,IC746PRO,IC756,IC756PRO,IC756PRO2,IC756PRO3,IC765,IC775, IC781,IC7600,IC7700,IC7800,TT516, TT588 ( NOTE: MICOM and TT516 must have its memory channels programmed to match PC-ALE as on-the-fly operation is not supported, radios can be programmed by PC-ALE or manually). 13. Added additional Radio Types listed below. For full details see: http://www.n2ckh.com/PC_ALE_FORUM/PC-ALE_Radio_Control.pdf TRANSCEIVERS - MICOM - Mobat MICOM-2 and MICOM-3 radios using radio memory channel operation only at this time. IC7200 = ICOM IC-7200 IC7600 = ICOM IC-7600 SEA235 = SEA-235, SEA-235R ( basic frequency/mode support at present ) TK80 = Kenwood TK80 (a.k.a. TRC80) TK90 = Kenwood TK90 TK90_HS = Kenwood TK90 where AUX port setup for hardware handshaking XK2100 = R&S XK2000 family of radios TT588RAD = Ten Tec OMNI VII in RADIO MODE which differs a bit from Jupiter according to the docs TT588REM = Ten Tec OMNI VII in REMOTE MODE RECEIVERS - R10 = ICOM R-10 R20 = ICOM R-20 AR8600 = AOR AR-8600 and AR-8600MkII ARONE = AOR AR-ONE EK2000 = R&S EK2000 LCR2000 = Cubic LCR2000 R2411U = Cubic R-2411/U WJCSMA = W&J HF1000, WJ-8710A, 8711A, 8712A and perhaps others using ICOM CT-17 hardware interface. NOTE: The CSMA bus as used by ICOM and older Ten Tec and Watkins-Johnson ( and was also planned for use by Hilderbling) equipments. The CSMA implementation for ICOM and Ten Tec emulation is the same, however Ten Tec models added super commands which are supported for stand alone operation such as CAT PTT but will not be supported for the twins scheme. The CSMA implementation for WJ receivers differs at the high level protocol completely but will share the bus with the devices used as the transmitter just fine of course. The WJCSMA selection that now exists for stand alone use of one of the older WJ receivers ( HF1000, WJ-8710A, 8711A, 8712A and perhaps others?) that provide for CSMA interfacing. In the future PC-ALE those who desire to do so, will be support the use an ICOM or Ten Tec ( except the IC-735 and radios that emulate it) transceiver as their transmitter and an ICOM or WJ receiver in a twins scenario. [ NOTE: Only true ICOM CI-V CSMA transceivers and receivers are supported in this scheme, the ICOM Marine transceivers that have CI-V ports make use of a NEMA like protocol and are not supported in this scenario and the ICOM PCR-x models use another protocol altogether which leaves them out as well.] will simply need to set the radio of address of each radio as specified in the directions and set both radios to the same baud rate and make the ICOM-ICOM or WJ-ICOM Radio Type selection as needed and setup the channels as desired in that support is provided on the TX side for newer ICOM radios that provide for USB-D and LSB-D support for interfacing. In addition the user will need to provide for a coaxial T/R switching relay and interfacing for solid receiver muting. The transceiver being used as the transmitter will only be commanded to change frequency when it comes time to transmit, its RX audio can be turned completely down.