Introduction to Hamscope 1.3
Introduction to HamScope 1.54

HamScope was developed to be a multi-mode communications package that uses the PC soundcard as an analog to digital interface. The tool was originally developed for my own use, to allow me to combine the features that I liked from various other communications packages into a single interface. However, I soon became interested in signal processing and forward error correction (FEC), and decided to adapt HamScope to serve as a testbed for study and release to the amateur radio service.

Hamscope extends the BPSK and QPSK capabilities present in WinPSK (http://www.qsl.net/ae4jy) through several modifications to the interface, including a panoramic display. Support was added for RTTY and ASCII modes (using Makoto Mori’s MMTTY RTTY engine described at http://www.qsl.net/MMHamsoft), CW, MFSK16 (STREAM compatible MFSK16 described at http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/MFSK), and HF and VHF packet using George Rossopoulos’ AGWPE packet engine (http://www.raag.org/sv2agw/inst.html ). HamScope also provides support for rig control of various ICOM, TenTec, Kenwood, and Yaesu radios through a native interface, and also interfaces with Laurent Labourie’s TRX-Manager (http://www.trx-manager.com ) and LOGic 6 (http://www.hosenose.com ) for both radio control and QSO logging. For QSO logging, HamScope provides a simple ADIF file write capability, and dynamic links to the following:

•	DXbase (http://www.dxbase.com )

•	LOGic 6 (http://www.hosenose.com )

•	RYLogit (http://rylogit.w0ry.net/ )

•	TRX-Manager (http://www.trx-manager.com )

•	YPLOG (http://members.shaw.ca/ve6yp )

Unfortunately, HamScope has lost the simple interface present in WinPSK; multi-mode support and the other features I have added has significantly increased the complexity of the program.

HamScope was made possible when Moe Wheatley, AE4JY, made available his source code for WinPSK. HamScope is based heavily on Moe’s development of WinPSK, the source code additionally taught me about DSP, signal processing, and Windows programming. It would have been impossible for me to develop HamScope without this basis. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Tony Field, VE6YP, author of the YPLOG logging software. Tony shared both software and many ideas that made HamScope a much better product. I also wish to thank Makoto Mori JE3HHT for his MMTTY RTTY engine, and George Rossopoulos SV2AGW for developing his AGWPE packet engine. Makoto’s and George’s efforts has made it possible to incorporate extremely powerful RTTY and Packet capabilities in a communications package in a very convenient manner. I also wish to thank the authors of the logging programs that HamScope now supports; in each case they spent many hours developing an interface that I could couple to. Finally, I wish to thank Murray Greenman ZL1BPU, Nino Porcino IZ8BLY, and Gary Bold ZL1AN, for their assistance in adding MFSK16 support and other technical guidance that improved HamScope. In closing, I wish to thank all the testers that helped in the evaluation of HamScope, and the countless users who suggested improvements to the program.

Technical Summary

PSK31 is an amateur radio communications mode introduced by Peter Martinez, G3PLX, that uses phase modulation and special character coding.  It allows robust narrow bandwidth keyboard (chat) communications between two or more stations.  MFSK16 was developed by Murray Greenman ZL1BPU and Nino Porcino IZ8BLY to provide enhanced digital communications ability over weak signal paths that contain multipath distortion. This mode is described at http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/MFSK.

HamScope also supports CW, RTTY, and ASCII modes (RTTY and ASCII are provided with a link to the MMTTY RTTY engine), and tries to be compatible with any documented standards (see the References section for references to technical specifications of these modes).

HamScope also provides a simple interface to the AGWPE packet engine (http://www.raag.org/sv2agw/inst.html ) for both HF and VHF packet operation.

Minimum System Requirements

HamScope requires Windows 98 or NT 4.0 running on at least a 133MHz Pentium. Several users have reported that HamScope runs properly on Windows 95, ME, XP, and Windows 2000, but I have not formally tested it there.  If you run Windows 95, it is usually necessary to add Microsoft patches to get HamScope to function, depending on the version of Win 95 that you have. Users indicate that the Year 2000 patch and the OLE patch are generally necessary, but that may not be all that are needed on your particular machine. It will not run on a 486DX.  The screen resolution should be at least SVGA 1024x768, greater resolutions make the use of HamScope a more pleasant experience.  The waterfall is optimized to run on 16 bit color displays. HamScope will run on low resolution 16 color VGA displays, but a waterfall with only 16 colors will look blocky and terrible. The program and its help documents use over a megabyte of disk space,  and the program needs several megabytes of RAM to function properly.  If you experience slow performance, or the “CPU Too Slow” warning shows, try closing other applications (including screen savers). If you still experience poor performance and your processor  is at least a P5 – 133, you likely do not have enough RAM installed or available.

Note: This program is very processor intensive.  Screen savers should be disabled and other processor-intensive programs should probably be suspended while running HamScope.  If a message appears saying "CPU Too Slow," then you need to try a faster PC, more RAM, or need to turn off whatever is competing with HamScope for CPU time.

Program Installation

The program consists of a single executable file "HamScope.exe."  This file can be placed anywhere, but it is probably best to create a new folder (directory) for it ( C:\HamScope\  for example).  If online help is desired, the files "HamScope.hlp" and "HamScope.cnt" should also be in the same directory.  Simply unzip the HamScope.zip file in your chosen directory to perform the default installation.

The HamScope distribution also requires a copy of the MMTTY RTTY engine (http://www.qsl.net/MMHamsoft), version 1.61b or newer. If you use the RTTY and ASCII modes of HamScope, please ensure that a copy of the MMTTY engine is present in the execution directory for HamScope (simply copy the mmtty.exe file into this directory after unzipping the MMTTY Engine download file). See the MMTTY Home Page above for further information about the program, and to obtain a copy of the help file.

HamScope also requires a copy of the AGWPE packet engine (http://www.raag.org/sv2agw/inst.html ), version 2001.38 or newer. If you plan to use the packet mode, please ensure that a properly configured copy of AGWPE is present in the HamScope installation directory (copy both the “AGW Packet Engine.exe” and “agwpe.sys” into the HamScope directory, then run through the proper AGWPE configuration for your desired mode).

Once the program has been run once, it creates a file "HamScope.ini" in your Windows directory (typically C:\Windows).  This file stores the current user program settings each time the program exits.  Windows will create a few other files inside the HamScope installation directory if Help is used. The MMTTY RTTY engine and the AGWPE packet engine also save a few files in this directory when they are used (these files save MMTTY and AGWPE operating parameters).

Program Removal

To remove HamScope, just delete all the files in the folder where the HamScope.exe file resides, and the HamScope.ini file in the Windows directory.

Purists may also want to go into "RegEdit" and look in the "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software" folder for a registry key called "HamScope Software." Selecting and deleting this key should remove all traces of HamScope from your system.  Please be very careful when editing your system registry, as it is possible to severely affect the operation of your computer when editing the registry (make certain to back up the registry before making changes). Leaving the HamScope key in place only uses a few bytes of disk space and will not affect any other programs.


First Test Drive

Once the program is placed in the directory you wish, just double click on it in Explorer and it should begin operation. If you want a desktop shortcut: while in Explorer, select HamScope.exe with the mouse and RIGHT click on it.  A menu will pop up, select "Create Shortcut".  A Windows shortcut to HamScope will now appear in Explorer and you can drag it off onto your desktop or anywhere else.  HamScope can now be executed by clicking on the new shortcut.

If you create a shortcut to HamScope, make certain that the “Start in:” directory points to the location where you have stored HamScope. HamScope expects to find brag files and macro files, etc., in the execution directory. Please make sure that you consistently start HamScope in the same manner; if HamScope cannot find the brag file in the directory where it is being executed, it will warn you with an error.

HamScope may issue a warning when it starts that an insufficient number of colors are available for the waterfall display. You may continue in spite of this warning, but the waterfall display will appear coarse and blocky. To remove the warning and provide enough colors for HamScope, select My Computer->Control Panel->Display->Settings and select a 16 bit (or greater) color palette (High Color or True Color).

If you are a new HamScope user, please consider practicing with the program’s features in Demo Mode. To select Demo Mode, click on the Demo Mode selection that appears near the top-right of the HamScope window. This action will popup the Demo Mode menu, check the demo mode “on” box, and close the dialog. Demo mode internally generates a signal as if HamScope were receiving it over the air.  This allows one to experiment with all the program features without accidentally transmitting, or even having a sound card installed.

This is the main HamScope window executing in Demo Mode:


A Quick Look at Reception in Demo Mode

When you start HamScope for the first time, please consider practicing with the program’s features in Demo Mode. To select Demo Mode, click on the Demo Mode selection that appears at the top-left of the HamScope window. This action will popup the Demo Mode menu, check the demo mode “on” box, and close the dialog. When Demo Mode is selected, the top text window should begin displaying some repetitive text as the program "receives" the internally generated Demo Mode signal.  The Spectrum view should show a fake PSK31 signal along with some fake noise (note that the BPSK check box is activated by default the first time HamScope runs).  A yellow vertical line indicates the receive frequency position.

The Display Gain slider increases (when slid to the right) the magnitude of the signal while viewing the Spectrum display. The Display Gain control also changes the contrast of the Waterfall display, which is occasionally useful when working with weak signals. It may be necessary to adjust this control based on personal preferences.

Clicking the mouse in the spectrum display will change the receive frequency (RX) marker position.  Note that the Demo Mode signal peak follows the mouse click position. Also note that the NET check box is activated by default, which makes the Demo Mode “transmit” frequency (TX) follow the RX frequency that you selected by clicking the mouse. Uncheck the NET box and try again. Note that now, the TX signal from Demo Mode stays put when you change the RX frequency with the mouse. Try clicking it back on the signal to see if you can get it to resume receiving. Also try the AFC button and see how it helps capture the TX signal when you get close. You can also select QPSK, MFSK16, and CW modes and practice tuning those signals while in Demo Mode (Demo Mode does not function in either RTTY or Packet modes).

Here is a properly tuned in BPSK signal.  Note that the dotted cursor is at the peak of the signal.

Here is a PSK signal before the AFC moved the dotted cursor to the center of the signal.  This is about the limit that the AFC can lock onto the signal (about +/-50Hz) so you must click somewhere near the PSK31 signal.

  The upper squelch control should be yellow indicating the quality of the signal.  Clicking in the squelch control will set the squelch threshold.

Once you feel comfortable tuning the Demo Mode signals, go to the "DemoMode" menu and select it.  In this dialog, click the Demo Mode ON check box until it is UN-Checked.  Press OK and the program should now switch to using the PC soundcard for input and output.  If HamScope has trouble finding the soundcard, it will remain in Demo Mode.

Consult the HamScope Reference section of this help file for more details about the program.


Hardware Interface Setup

If your computer is already setup for using one of the other PSK31 programs, then this interface will likely also work for HamScope.  All the soundcard levels and serial port connections should work properly without excessive readjustment.

If you are configuring a new system, then more work is required.  An interface from your PC soundcard to your radio is necessary to use HamScope.  Unfortunately, the Soundcard was not designed as a radio interface, constructing the interface between the computer and the radio is likely the most difficult phase in beginning to use digital communications.  Not all soundcards have the same inputs and output connections, and few radios have the same connector and signal pinouts.

West Mountain Radio sells the excellent RIGblaster interface that provides both audio and PTT connectivity between the radio and soundcard. The RIGblaster makes connecting the computer to the radio a simple matter. For more information on the RIGblaster, please visit http://www.westmountainradio.com.

Clint Hurd has put together an excellent hardware interface on his web page http://www.waypoint.com/users/~discobay. His page contains the design, a manual, and part numbers/suppliers info for all necessary components.

A basic interface is shown here.  The serial port PTT control is optional, one can also use the radio VOX for control or manually activate the transmitter.

Note: The 1999 ARRL Handbook has a nice ICOM CI-V interface project. I built it on mini-pegboard in a small enclosure, and it works very well. There is also a CI-V schematic on the web at http://www.dreamscape.com/sarc


Sound Card / Radio Interface

Most soundcards that work under Windows up to a 44 kHz sample rate should work with HamScope.  The card needs to support 16 bit sampling, preferably with a "line IN" jack and perhaps a "line OUT" jack as well.  The 16 bit requirement specifies the audio resolution, not the PC bus type. Any bus, ISA, PCI, USB, etc., may be used as long as it is supported by Windows on your platform.  The CW mode increases the sound card sample rate up to a maximum of 44 KHz when the WPM speed is increased. I run a Creative Labs Soundblaster 16; that card or newer should work fine.

Consider the radio receive audio to soundcard connection.  Most radios have an audio out jack on the back panel.  Try to connect to a source that does not vary when you adjust the receiver volume.  If your sound card has a "line IN" jack the minimum connection needed is a shielded cable from the radio audio out to the line IN jack on the soundcard.  If the soundcard only has a "MIC" input, you will have to attenuate the signal, perhaps with a simple 2 resistor divider.

The audio jacks on soundcards are the stereo type with two separate channels.  HamScope operates in the monophonic, single channel mode so either the "Right" or "Left" channel connection can be used.  A typical cable wiring scheme is shown here. Your radio may require different connectors or attenuation.

Note: I run a transformer isolated system as I occasionally use a linear amp on RTTY which created a serious ground loop problem at my station. Consult the PSK home page for alternative diagrams if you are interested (http://www.qsl.net/kk7lk/psk31.htm).


PTT Interface

One can use the radio VOX control for PTT (be careful because other Windows programs may create sounds and beeps that will key your transmitter).  Alternatively, one could just manually key the transmitter before placing HamScope into the transmit mode.

If your computer has a spare serial COM port, a simple circuit such as the one shown can be used to key the transmitter automatically.  The parts values are not very critical and you can substitute just about any NPN transistor and diode for the ones shown.

When TX is engaged in HamScope using serial port PTT, HamScope raises both the serial port RTS and DTR pins high by default (this can be changed in the General Setup menu). You may connect to either pin; thus an existing interface designed for other terminal programs that raise either pin will work with HamScope.

HamScope may also be configured to actuate PTT using radio commands through the rig control interface, or through a properly configured logging connection (for logging software that supports this connection). To enable PTT through the radio interface or the logging software, select the desired option by clicking the downarrow on the PTT COM port selection box in the General Setup menu. When the radio command method is used for PTT, the radio control window must be open at all times (closing the window automatically disconnects the rig connection with HamScope).

HamScope supports using the same COM port for both direct PTT and rig control, as most radio control interfaces do not use either the DTR or RTS pins. However, if you are using a Kenwood radio and select the same COM port for both rig control and PTT, HamScope raises only the DTR pin high for PTT if the KenwoodRTS radio option is selected.  With the KenwoodRTS interface, raising both pins would interfere with the operation of the radio control interface. Again, pin selection and control options are selectable in the General Setup menu.

To use the same COM port for both radio control and direct PTT usually requires a modification of the radio control cable at the serial port connection. Simply locate either the RTS or DTR pin (DTR only for KenwoodRTS interfaces), and attach the above circuit to the pin.

It is possible to connect the computer to the radio to use direct keying for CW and RTTY. One approach for hard-keying CW is to develop a circuit that senses the CW tone at the soundcard, and keys the transmitter directly. For further information and several circuit diagrams, please see the YPLOG help manual at http://members.shaw.ca/ve6yp . The MMTTY engine is also designed to hard-key radios in RTTY mode, using the TXD pin of the COM port, and optionally a buffer circuit. For further information, please consult the MMTTY help files at http://www.qsl.net/MMHamsoft.  HamScope supports direct keying through MMTTY if the MMTTY FSK Mode box in the general setup menu is checked.

HamScope also supports a direct connection between the serial port and key port of your radio for hard CW keying. The pin used for keying can also be set in the General Settings menu. For example, one can use the RTS pin for PTT and the DTR pin for CW hard-keying. Generally, a buffer circuit must be used between the COM port pin and the keying jack of your transmitter. In most cases, the above PTT circuit can be used, connecting to the DTR pin of the COM port, and bridging the keying pin and the ground connection at the keying jack of your transmitter. The deluxe version of the RIGblaster interface also directly supports this form of CW hard-keying. For more information, please visit http://www.westmountainradio.com.


Program Setup

Before going on the air, you should enter your call sign using the "Settings" -- "General Setup" menu.  Here you can enter your call and some other program setup items such as the COM port PTT settings and Rig Port.  Your call sign should now appear at the top of the HamScope screen instead of the text "Call Sign Not Set"

Most of the settings including last used TX and RX frequencies, display settings, etc., are saved upon program exit.  A file called "HamScope.ini" in your Windows directory (usually C:\Windows) contains this information.

Note: If you wish to start from the base configuration (or if HamScope gets corrupted), delete the "HamScope.ini" file and run HamScope again.  It will begin, using the default settings.

It's a good idea to make sure your sound card is installed properly and is working correctly before adjusting the HamScope soundcard level setup.  Use the built in wave file player and recorder to get familiar with your sound card mixer settings and capability.  The mixer control is used to set both the receive audio level to the HamScope program as well as set the "coarse" level setting to your transmitter.  One should use their radio mic gain for fine adjustments (or the attenuator pot in your link circuit).  The RECORDER mixer settings are used to control the receive audio level while the PLAYBACK mixer settings are used to set the transmitter audio level.

It is also a good idea to disable all the various Windows sounds, especially if you are using VOX PTT control.

Radio Settings

By default, HamScope is designed to operate with your radio always set to the “USB” sideband position. The Rig Control displays the operating frequency spectrum correctly only when HamScope is set to the same sideband setting as your radio. Reception of BPSK and CW modes are sideband invariant; you can receive and transmit these modes regardless of which sideband you choose. The remaining modes, QPSK, RTTY, ASCII, Packet, and MFSK16 can only be used effectively if the sideband selection that you choose matches the other station. To simplify things as much as possible, the usual convention is to operate both HamScope and your radio in “USB” mode on all the bands (please consult the AGWPE manual for proper packet operation).

If you encounter a station operating in “LSB”, do not select “LSB” on your radio. Simply select the “Reverse Polarity” button on the main display. If your radio only supports operation in “LSB,” select the “Radio in LSB” button on the main screen. To summarize, the basic rules of thumb are:

•	Operate both HamScope and your radio in USB mode (the “Radio in LSB” mode is left unchecked). HamScope automatically inverts the sideband in MMTTY for RTTY communication.

•	If this is not possible (i.e., your radio does not have USB), select “Radio in LSB” in HamScope. Please do not check “Radio in LSB” and have your radio in USB, or vice versa.

•	If you cannot receive a signal and you suspect that the sender is “reversed” (running in LSB with you in USB or vice versa), just check the “Reverse Polarity” button.

For packet operation on the HF bands, LSB is generally selected directly on the radio. For this mode, the “Radio in LSB” button is not effective. FM is generally used for VHF packet, it also must be manually selected on the radio.

The “Reverse Polarity” and “Radio in LSB” buttons in HamScope do not perform the same function.

To operate using the HamScope digital modes, you need to configure your radio to minimize distortion of the signal for both receive and transmit. Initially, it is best to:

•	Turn the receive noise blanker (NB, ANC, ANF, etc) off. These blankers often add distortion to received digital signals and provide no benefits to the digital modes.

•	If your radio has DSP filtering, begin operation with this turned off. Some DSP designs (especially if set very narrow) may cause distortion. Once you are familiar with the software and digital operation, test your input DSP filtering and make certain that it doesn’t decrease the quality of your received digital signal.

•	Turn OFF all speech compression and clipping on your transmitter. Compression and clipping will only reduce the intelligibility of your digital signal at its destination. Compression and clipping also makes the digital signal much wider, spreading your transmitter power over a larger bandwidth and further decreasing your “talk power” (not to mention possibly interfering with other users of the band).

•	Turn off or disconnect your rig’s microphone. You do not want your “key clicks” (typing on the keyboard) to be broadcast along with your digital signal.

•	Turn off all Windows sounds on your computer, it isn’t nice to broadcast these either.

•	Analyze the duty cycle of your transmitter. The digital modes are 100% duty cycle, it is very easy to damage your transmitter by overheating it with sustained, high power operation.


Receive Audio Input Level

Once the interface is connected, the first thing to do is set the receive audio level.  Tune the radio to a loud signal or carrier.  Start the soundcard's Mixer program (or use the one included with Windows).   The Mixer RECORDER settings are used to adjust the Receive audio levels.  Select either the LINE or MIC IN control and set it mid-way.

Click on the HamScope  Signal Display TAB labeled "Input".  Adjust your recording Mixer controls for a signal display that is about half screen height on signal peaks.  If the level is too high, the signal display will turn red.  Here are some example settings:

If you are currently viewing one of the spectral signal displays, a red text message will warn you if the input audio level is set too high.

At this point, you should now be ready to start receiving PSK31 signals from over the air.  Use one of the spectrum signal displays and left-click the mouse cursor close to a signal peak that looks like a PSK31 signal.  Make certain that the AFC button is checked and the desired mode (probably BPSK) is selected.  Click to the left of the upper squelch control until the display turns yellow ("opening" the squelch).  Text should begin to appear in the RX text window.  See the section Main Screen Overview for an example of a typical signal display while receiving.

In Packet mode, the above displays show the status of commands from the AGWPE packet engine. Consult the AGWPE manual to set the receive input level with the packet engine. However, it is generally not necessary to use a different setting than that employed with the other digital modes in HamScope.


Transmit Audio Level Adjustment

It is difficult to set the transmit audio level as one cannot see the actual signal spectrum leaving the transmitter.  One must estimate an appropriate level, then request a critical signal report over the air.  The Mixer's PLAYBACK settings are used for adjusting the transmit audio levels, in conjunction with any variable attenuator in your rig to computer interface.

The soundcard produces approximately 1 volt of audio signal, while a typical transmitter microphone input is designed for only a few millivolts of drive. One must be very careful to sufficiently attenuate the soundcard signal (by about 1/1000) before feeding the microphone input.

 A good rule of thumb is never adjust any level control near it's extreme.  The mixer control should not be at the maximum or minimum, and your radio mic gain should not be at either extreme.  Extreme control positions indicate the need for a different resistor ratio in your cable's attenuator.

The correct transmit level setting will vary from radio to radio.  In general one should not drive the transmitter anywhere near it's rated power at least not at first.  Always under-drive the radio until you are comfortable that your signal is clean. Only increase audio level based on critical signal reports that indicate that you are maintaining a high quality signal. Likely, an underdriven signal will be perfectly readable by the receiving station under almost all conditions, an overdriven one will not only be less readable due to distortion, but will also splatter across much of the PSK segment of the band.

Rules of Thumb: If any ALC indication shows on your transmitter display, you are probably overdriving. If you are not using a high-quality peak reading wattmeter, and your RF output on PSK is more than half your carrier wattage on CW, you are probably also overdriving. As a reference, my 100 watt SSB PEP ICOM-746 begins to overdrive when more than 40 watts shows on my analog wattmeter. Don’t  attempt to achieve 100 watts indicated output on PSK from a 100 watt PEP rig.

Example of an excellent PSK signal. The noticeable sidebands are minor in amplitude.

Example of a PSK31 signal that is "too wide," probably from being overdriven.  There are sidebands only about 15 dB down and the signal is interfering with another PSK31 station just above it in frequency.


Where are the Digital Frequencies in the USA
Where are the Digital Frequencies in the USA?

Band	PSK31	RTTY	ASCII	MFSK	CW
160 M	1.81215	1.812	1.812	1.812	1.800
80 M	3.58015	3.580	3.580	3.580	3.500
40 M	7.07015	7.080	7.080	7.073	7.000
30 M	10.13715	10.130	10.130	10.130	10.100
20 M	14.07015	14.080	14.080	14.073	14.000
17 M	18.10015	18.100	18.100	18.104	18.068
15 M	21.07015	21.080	21.080	21.073	21.000
12 M	24.925	24.920	24.920	24.925	24.890
10 M	28.12015	28.080	28.080	28.073	28.000
•	All numbers denote the lower edge of the frequency segment

•	Do not transmit outside of the frequency privileges of your FCC license class

•	These frequencies are meant only as a guide of where signals might be found, and may change. Please consult the latest authority prior to transmitting on a band. These frequencies are either where the author has heard signals, or denote the lower end of the ARRL “Considerate Operators” data sub-band.

•	All frequencies are in units of MHz

•	Most signals may be received with the radio set to “USB” mode and the HamScope “Reverse Polarity” box left un-checked.

•	Please avoid the RTTY DX window at 14.080, 21.080, and 28.080 MHz with all non-RTTY modes.


Main Screen Overview

HamScope in operation, showing all the major program controls:


Window Size Setup

The size of the overall program frame can be adjusted by clicking and dragging the mouse cursor on the lower right hand "grabber" icon or moving the any edge of the frame with the mouse.

Internally, the vertical size of the receive text window and transmit text window can be adjusted by clicking and dragging the bottom of either frame.  These sizes interact so it will take a bit of adjustment to get the three main windows the way you like.  Try working from the top window down to the bottom window.  The screen settings and position on your monitor are saved so you should only have to do this once.


Mouse Functions

Note: Mouse frequency control does not function in Packet mode. Please manually tune the radio using the AGWPE signal display for correct operation in this mode.

There are several extended mouse operations supported within HamScope. These functions provide for simple shortcuts to commonly-used HamScope functions, and are active when the mouse cursor is over the signal display window.

Set Rx Frequency (Click left mouse button over desired spot)

If the left mouse button is clicked over the signal display window, the upper receive window audio frequency is set to the value corresponding to the mouse pointer location within the window. The “yellow” RX cursor is moved to this location, and the frequency value is updated in the RX Freq control.

Set Tx Frequency (Click right mouse button over desired spot)

If the right mouse button is clicked over the signal display window, the transmit audio frequency is set to the value corresponding to the mouse pointer location within the window. The “red” TX cursor is moved to this location, and the frequency value is updated in the TX Freq control.

If the NET function is enabled prior to the mouse click, the NET function is turned off, and the TX frequency no longer follows the RX frequency. Furthermore, selection of a separate TX frequency distinct from the current RX frequency results in split frequency operation.

Set Second Rx Window Frequency (Click Shift+left mouse button over desired spot)

If the shift and left mouse button are clicked (simultaneously) over the signal display window and the Dual Receive function is enabled, the lower receive window audio frequency is set to the value corresponding to the mouse pointer location within the window. The “green” second RX cursor is moved to this location.

Set Notch Filter Frequency (Click Ctrl+left mouse button over desired spot)

If the ctrl and left mouse button are clicked (simultaneously) over the signal display window and the NOT function is checked, the notch filter audio frequency is set to the value corresponding to the mouse pointer location within the window. The “triangle glyph” notch cursor is moved to this location.

Set Radio Frequency – Radio Control Enabled (Click Shift+right mouse button over desired spot)

If the shift and right mouse button are clicked (simultaneously) over the signal display window and the Rig Control window is active, the actual radio frequency is reset to a calculated value corresponding to the difference between the current RX frequency and the pointer location within the window at the time of the click.  For example, if the radio frequency is set to 14.070 MHz with the current audio RX frequency set to 1000 Hz and the ctrl+right button is clicked at 2000 Hz, 1000 Hz (2000 – 1000) is added to the current radio frequency through the radio interface. For this example, the radio will be retuned to 14.071 MHz.

This function essentially provides the inverse of normal HamScope tuning; instead of varying the audio frequency received and transmitted by HamScope within the radio’s selected passband, this function holds the HamScope audio frequencies fixed and varies the radio frequency for tuning. This capability is valuable when using narrow fixed filtering options in the radio, it allows for an intuitive radio retuning operation using the signal display window and the mouse.


File Menu

This menu is used to exit or to save the current receive window text content as a *.txt file.  This is useful for archiving sessions of HamScope or for logging purposes.  The text file that is saved can be viewed and edited using any text editor such as Notepad.

The “Save Rx Text” option saves the current contents of the active (highlighted) Rx window to the current file. If the active file has not been selected, this option activates a file selection dialog to allow the user to select the desired file to save to (or specify a new file). If a filename has been previously selected, the filename appears to the right of this option.

The “Save Rx Text As” option also saves the current contents of the Rx window to a file. However, this option always activates a file selection dialog to allow the user to pick the file to save to.

If the Dual Receive function is selected enabling the second receive window, these text save operations function on the active (yellow or green highlighted) window.

The “Log Rx Text Output” option continuously saves the Rx text stream to a file. When this option is selected, a file selection dialog is activated so the user can select the desired file to save text to. After selecting the file, this action saves all Rx text currently in the Rx text window, along with any text that is received after this option is selected, to the file. The following “Close Log Text Output” option cancels the logging option, and saves the file. Also, if the “Clear Rcv” menu (at the top of the screen) is selected, logging also terminates, and the file is saved. Finally, if HamScope is closed, logging also terminates, and the file is saved. This option permits easy recording of all the received text during a HamScope session, without user intervention. If a filename has been previously selected, this filename appears to the right of this option

The “Log Rx Text Output As” option behaves similarly, but a file selection dialog is always activated to allow selection of a new file to save to.

The “Close Log Text Output” option cancels file logging of received text, and closes the log file.

If the Dual Receive function is selected enabling the second receive window, these text save operations function on the active (yellow or green highlighted) window. If text logging is active and the active receive channel is interchanged (by clicking with the mouse in the other window), the logging of the window is cancelled and the file is saved, then closed.


Edit Menu

The edit menu is the standard clipboard management menu for copying, pasting, cutting and clearing text from the Windows clipboard.  The undo function is quite limited but may restore an accidental cut or paste operation.


View Menu

This menu allows one to hide either or both the clipboard toolbar or the bottom time and status bar.


Settings Menu

Top level menu for several user program settings.

The Screen Setup option takes you to a couple of dialogs that allow you to set the transmit and receive window fonts, and font colors.

The General Setup option takes you to a dialog where you can set your callsign, PTT and Rig port values, and other miscellaneous HamScope parameters.

The Customize option takes you to the Customize Dialog where you can change the default mapping between “hotkeys” (function keys) and the controls in HamScope.

The Rx Level Adjust option brings up the Windows Volume control to allow you to adjust Receive (and Transmit) audio level from the rig (see adjusting audio level).

The Tx Level Adjust option brings up the Windows Volume control to allow you to adjust Transmit (and Receive) audio level to the rig (see adjusting audio level).


General Setup

User Call Sign

Your ham call sign should be entered in the edit box.  It is converted automatically to upper case letters.  This call sign string is used by macros to insert your call sign into macro messages.  It also is displayed at the top of the program screen.

Echo TX Text in RX

If this box is checked, all text that is transmitted will be copied into the Receive text window as it is sent.  If Unchecked, the transmitted text will remain in the TX text window until the program goes back into receive mode.

Print TimeStamp

If this box is checked, a timestamp corresponding to the start and end of transmission is printed to the active receive window.

Use Slash 'ZERO' character

Check this box if you wish to display a zero with a 'slash' mark through it rather than a standard zero character.  This makes it a bit easier to distinguish the letter O from a number.  The actual character transmitted is still the ASCII character zero.

Contest Mode

Check this box to enable “Contest and DX Mode” in HamScope.  In this mode, HamScope does not transmit the “squelch tail” at the end of each transmission that turns on the receiving station’s squelch when using BPSK and QPSK. This shortens the transmission by a second or two, which may be useful in contest or DX pileup conditions. This mode also locks the receive squelch in the off position allowing the reception of very weak signals that may fall below the squelch threshold. More “garbage” characters will appear on the screen with the squelch off.

Use Local Time

Check this box if you want HamScope to display and log with your local time value instead of UTC.

Always On Top

If this box is checked, HamScope will position itself to always be the foreground window in the display.

Auto Call/Name

If this box is checked, HamScope automatically transfers “double clicked” text to the “Call” and “Name” edit boxes, and then optionally to the logging program (if the logging program is running in the background).  Simply “double click” a word that appears in the RX or TX windows, if this text contains a number, it is transferred to the “Call” box, if it doesn’t, the word is transferred to the “Name” box.

MMTTY FSK Mode

Check this box if you want HamScope to configure the MMTTY RTTY engine for direct (hard) keying in RTTY and ASCII mode. Hard keying requires an additional interface between the computer and radio to connect to the keying plug on the radio (please consult the MMTTY user manual for more information). Additionally, keying parameters must be set in the Options menu to complete the MMTTY configuration for hard keying. Typically, the PTT port must be set under the TX tab, and the proper TX port must be selected under the Misc tab. With hard keying, the TX frequency is fixed to the radio frequency selected on the radio dial and the configuration parameters as set in the MMTTY engine.

Radio in LSB

Check this box if you want to run HamScope with your radio set to LSB mode. Usually, it is best to run with your radio in USB and this box left unchecked, and use the Reverse Polarity button if you encounter an LSB signal. However, some radios only provide LSB operation; this option allows the correct waterfall display on these radios.

This option reverses the signal display window from left to right increasing to right to left increasing to match the behavior of LSB operation. Additionally, the algorithm that computes and displays the rig frequency is changed to provide the correct behavior for LSB.

Linear Display Map

Check this box if you want HamScope to draw the waterfall display using a linear color map spacing instead of a logarithmic one. This selection tends to increase the contrast of stronger signals, and may be useful under some situations.

Grey Scale Display

Check this box if you want HamScope to use a grey scale in the waterfall display instead of colors to denote signal strength.  This black and white view may be helpful for weak signal conditions or to suit personal preferences. The Display Gain control in the main window may also be used to adjust contrast for the grey scale mode. This option also works in the linear mode, above, and the high res mode, below, and may be averaged with the averaging control.

High Res Display

Check this box if you want HamScope to draw the waterfall display with a greater separation between signal strength colors than the default. The Display Gain control in the main window may also be used to adjust contrast for the high resolution display mode. This option also works in the time average and grey scale modes, above.

Waterfall Average

Set this value between 0 (no averaging) to 10 (full averaging) to help detect weaker signals in the display. This value should normally be set to 0, but adjustment may help discover very weak signals in the waterfall under certain circumstances.

PTT Comm Port Setup

This dialog is used to enable the use of the PC serial port for turning on and off your transmitter.  In general, combinations of the RTS and DTR signal pins are set high (+8 to +12 volts) when the transmitter is to be activated and are low (-8 to -12 volts) when receiving.  See the hardware setup section for details on using these signals for PTT. Simply click the down arrow and select the menu option that corresponds to the COM port that you have attached to your radio for PTT.

Optionally, if the “PTT to Logger” box is checked, HamScope asks the running logging program to toggle PTT on and off. This is helpful for those cases that the logging program and HamScope both use hard-keyed PTT, eliminating the need to reconfigure the logging program when HamScope is used. This mechanism requires logging programs that support this communications protocol (TRX-Manager and YPLOG do). Consult the appropriate documentation to configure the logging program to actuate the desired serial port.

HamScope may also be configured to actuate PTT through the rig control interface. Select the “PTT to Rig Control” option and configure the rig interface as discussed below.  Rig PTT is only functional when the rig control dialog appears on the screen.

Select “None” if you desire to manually key the transmitter or use the radio VOX for Xmit control.

The options below the pulldown menu window allow the selection of the COM port pins to be used to provide PTT and optionally, CW hard-keying. The default setting is to use both the RTS and DTR pins for PTT, which allows HamScope to be used with interfaces that require either pin. However, if you wish to use CW hard-keying through the serial port you must set these controls to reflect the wiring of your interface.

Some radio control interfaces obtain their power from either the RTS or DTR pin on the serial port. Selecting the “Unused Pins High” button holds the pins that are not selected for PTT in a high state to provide power for the interface.

Rig Control Setup

This dialog is used to enable the use of a PC serial port connection to a compatible interface for rig control. Simply click the “COM Port” down arrow and select the option that corresponds to the COM port that you have attached to your radio for remote control (a special interface is usually required).  Note: the File position in the list entry is used to specify file-based rig control for the Pegasus. If this position is selected, a window appears to allow the entry of the Pegasus software directory.

Select the appropriate radio by clicking the down arrow in the “Radio” box, and select the model of radio to control. If your radio does not appear on the menu, HamScope does not support it in the rig control function. If you do not have a radio interface connected but desire to manually enter the radio frequency for display and logging purposes, selecting “None” then the “Rig Control” menu will display a dialog that will allow manual frequency entry.

Many Kenwood interfaces require the use of the RTS pin for flow control. If you have one of these interfaces, select the “KenwoodRTS” item. This disables the RTS pin for use with PTT or hard keying. If your interface does not use RTS, select the “Kenwood” option.

The “Rig Baud” control allows selection of the computer serial port Baud rate to match the interface bus and radio setting. The correct baud rate is usually listed in your radio manual. For example, given an ICOM CI-V bus connected to an ICOM IC-746, consult page 64 of the IC-746 manual on setting the radio Baud rate (my 746 is set to the 19200 baud selection). Simply use the down arrow to open the list, and click on the desired Baud rate. Note: most ICOM radios and CI-V interfaces will operate properly on 19200 Baud. However, if erratic operation of the rig control dialog results, select the next-lowest Baud rate. This control defaults to 9600 Baud, which should work properly on all ICOM installations. Please consult your manual for non-ICOM radios.

Note: LOGic 6 and TRX-Manager options appear in both the logging and rig control pulldown windows. If you wish to use either of these programs for BOTH logging and radio control, please select it in BOTH pulldown windows. You can, however, use one of these programs for logging and use HamScope’s native interface for radio control by selecting either LOGic 6 or TRX-Manager for the logging program and one of the other HamScope options for radio control. It is not possible to use either LOGic 6 or TRX-Manager just for radio control and another logging option for logging, however (the HamScope logging interface is used to “host” the connection to these programs).

Advanced Topic: Many combinations of the ports used for PTT and rig control are possible. It is possible to use the same port for both rig control and PTT, as most radios and interfaces do not use the RTS and/or DTR pins, leaving them free for the PTT (and optionally the hard CW keying) functions. Some Kenwood radios and interfaces often use the RTS pin for flow control, so it is not available for either PTT or hard keying CW if the same port is used. Some ICOM interfaces (and perhaps others) require that the DTR pin of the rig control port be held high to provide power for the interface. In this case, if the DTR pin is assigned to PTT or hard CW keying, it is not available to power the interface, and the radio communications function will no longer work. The safest approach is to use two ports, the first for PTT (and optionally hard CW keying), and the second for radio control. In this case, both the DTR and RTS (except for the Kenwood option) pins of the port selected for radio control are held high (if the “Unused Pins High” box is checked) to power the interface. If you also configure HamScope and the MMTTY engine’s hard RTTY keying feature, two ports MUST be used in this case. In this case, you would configure the first port to support PTT (perhaps using RTS), hard CW keying (using DTR), and the MMTTY engine will use the port’s TXD pin to hard key the radio’s RTTY function.

SoundCard Selection

This control is used to select the soundcard to be used by HamScope for audio input and output. If you have only one soundcard on your computer, please leave both the soundcard input and output values set to “Best Matching/Default Card.” If you have multiple soundcards installed and wish to use a specific soundcard for input and/or output, click on the down arrows in these boxes to select the desired soundcard. The name of the soundcard shown should match that shown in the Windows soundcard configuration dialog. Please exercise care when you select the soundcard; selecting the wrong device (or a game board, for example) will prevent HamScope from operating properly.

Note: This setting does not properly configure the MMTTY Engine to use an alternate soundcard. Please consult the MMTTY manual (http://www.qsl.net/MMHamsoft) and use the RTTY Options button to set the RTTY engine.

Log Program/Path

Select the logging program that you want HamScope to use for QSO logging. If you do not wish to use logging, you should set this to “None.” The following logging programs are supported in HamScope:

•	DXbase (http://www.dxbase.com )

•	LOGic (http://www.hosenose.com )

•	RYlog (http://www.wic.net/~bobv/rylogit.htm )

•	TRX-Manager (http://www.trx-manager.com )

•	YPLOG (http://members.shaw.ca/ve6yp )

Enter the full path to the logging program in the “Path” box (this is not necessary with LOGic). This path is used to “Auto Start” the logger if it is not running when HamScope is started. If you don’t use the logging feature (or wish to use HamScope’s simple ADIF output), the path value can be set blank or left as the default.

AGWPE Address and Port

Enter the value for the TCP/IP address of the AGWPE process. This usually should be 127.0.0.1 if AGWPE is running on the same computer as HamScope. Also, set the port number of the AGWPE port that you want HamScope to use. This is usually port zero (0). Please consult the AGWPE documentation for more information on these parameters.

SoundCard Clock Adjust

This control is used to compensate for soundcards that are not on frequency.  If the majority of PSK31 signals you are receiving have a "Clk ppm" value greater than about 1000ppm as displayed on the lower status bar, then you need to increment (or decrement) this adjustment value by roughly that value.

Example: If most of the signals you receive are displaying around –1800 as shown above for the "Clk ppm" value, then increment the SoundCard Adjustment value to +1800.  Now most of the signals that you receive should be under +-500ppm. Please be aware that the value shown is the sum of the clock error and drift of both your station and the transmitting station.

Remember that the "Clk ppm" value is ONLY valid while receiving a good quality PSK31 signal and it takes 10-20 seconds to get a good average value. In general, it appears that if a sound card has any error at all, then the error is usually at least 2000ppm.  Don't be concerned about clock errors under 1000ppm.

This clock adjustment also functions with the MMTTY RTTY engine, but has no effect for CW or MFSK modes.

To set this value more precisely, you can monitor one of the WWV transmissions. WWV transmits a precise frequency carrier, along with accurate audio tones of 500 Hz, 600 Hz, and 1000 Hz, at different times each minute. To adjust your soundcard, tune the frequency of the WWV originating transmission, and a solid carrier should appear in the HamScope display at precisely 500, 600, or 1000 Hz (depending on the point of WWV’s transmission cycle). If HamScope is not precisely on frequency at your station, it is indicating the cumulative frequency error of your radio and soundcard. If you adjust the soundcard to compensate for this error, your receiving system will be calibrated at the current frequency.

CW Dash Length

Enter the value for the length of time of a received CW dash, in dot units. Generally, a dash is three times longer than a dot so the default entry into this box is the number 3. However, CW sent by hand may have a different average dash length (with a large standard deviation, unfortunately). Experimenting with this value may prove helpful, depending on the style of the person whose signal you are receiving. The value of this control may range from 1 to 9.

CW Word Space Length

Enter the value for the length of time of a received CW inter-word space, in dot units. Generally, a word separation space is 4 ½ times longer than a dot so the default entry into this box is the number 4.5. Again, this is only a rule of thumb, for the same reason outlined above. The value of this control may range from 1 to 9.

CW Noise Threshold

Enter the value for the received RMS noise intensity on the signal. With experience, one can deduce from the sync display the relative noise intensity component of the received signal. For example, assuming that the observed amplitude of the noise is 30% as large as the signal, enter 0.3 into this box. Fortunately, a good rule of thumb is to use 0.1 for strong signals, and when the quality of the copy decreases due to noise, increase this to 0.3. Again, please experiment with the threshold value, this parameter often allows good copy on noisy signals. The value of this control may range from 0 to 1.

Auto Threshold

Check this box if you desire for HamScope to automatically perform the threshold calculation for CW bit decisions, in lieu of manually setting the threshold. Best results may be obtained by manually setting the threshold, but this is often inconvenient as the best setting varies over time.

AFC Window Width

This control is used to select the operational AFC “window width,” in Hz. The value selected (say 15 Hz), will lock the AFC motion within 15 Hz of the current receive frequency value. For example, if the Rx frequency is 1320 Hz, a 15 Hz window will prevent the AFC from going above 1335 Hz, or below 1305 Hz, when following a signal. Use of this parameter prevents excessive drift during the “over” time during a QSO.

This function has no effect when RTTY or Packet modes are used. Please set MMTTY AFC filtering options for the RTTY mode under the Options button.

Click OK

Click OK to save your changes and exit, or cancel to discard any changes.


Screen Setup

HamScope provides extensive control over the display of text.  Fonts, character size, and color, can be adjusted for the various RX and TX edit windows.

Call/Name/RST and Receive Text Font

The following dialog appears when you select the menu to modify the receive text window font and color, and the Call/Name/RST box characteristics.  Note that many fonts are not suitable for PSK31 and may not contain the correct ASCII characters.

A similar dialog appears if you select the menu to change the font properties in the second receive window. The first and second windows may use different settings if desired.

Transmit Text Font

The following dialog is used to select the font and color for text that has yet to be transmitted. Again, many fonts are not suitable for PSK31 and may not contain the correct ASCII characters.

Sent Text Font

The following dialog is used to select the font and color for text that has been transmitted.  As text is sent to the transmitter, its font is changed to distinguish transmitted text from text that has been typed into the buffer but not yet sent.

Also, this font color is used in the active receive window to distinguish between received and transmitted text (the receive window font is used, only the color is changed).

Background colors

Both the first and second receive text windows and transmit text window background color can be selected using the following dialog box.  Some care must be exercised to insure that the text font color has a good contrast against this background color.

Waterfall Colormap

This option activates a file selection box that allows you to select a custom palette file for the waterfall colormap. HamScope uses palette files with the same format as those used by the STREAM MFSK program.


RigControl Menu

Note: If a button or feature is grayed out, HamScope does not support this feature with your radio.

VFO Control Buttons

Various control buttons may be pressed to control the radio. These reflect the computer-controllable features of the radio.

The current operating frequency is displayed in bold numbers in the Main VFO box to the upper left.

The operating frequency can be changed by using the scroll bars. If you click on the upper button of the right scroll bar with the left mouse button, the frequency increases at the red highlighted number by one unit.  Likewise, the lower button of the right scroll bar lowers the frequency digit highlighted in red by one unit. The lower horizontal scroll bar moves the red highlight one position to the right (or left) when the right (or left) scroll button is pressed. As such, one can easily increment frequency in multiples of Hz by moving the red highlight to the correct decade and incrementing (or decrementing) accordingly. If you increment over 9, the value carries into the next decade. Additionally, if you place the cursor in the window with the left mouse button, the red highlighted position is changed to the digit to the left of the cursor.

Alternatively, you can edit the frequency directly. The input value must be in megahertz with a decimal point. For example, for 7.015 MHz, enter 7.015. You can also use the clipboard to paste valid values from elsewhere into the control. Lastly, one may highlight certain digits and replace or edit them, similar to the behavior provided in most Windows edit controls.

IF Freq Shift (not supported with all radios)

The slider control shifts the dual passband filter control on the radio clockwise when slid to the right. As such, the passband is raised in frequency. If the Nar Filter check box is selected, the installed narrow filter for the mode is selected. This control set is very handy: select a signal on the wide HamScope display, select the filter (I use a 150 Hz for PSK), then slide the filter passband over the desired signal. You (and your rig’s AGC) will never see that PACTOR station 75 Hz away.

RF Power (not supported with all radios)

Slide control full right for maximum output RF (same as turning rig’s RF Pwr knob fully clockwise).

RF Gain (not supported with all radios)

Slide control full right for maximum receiver RF gain (same as turning rig’s RF Gain/Squelch knob clockwise nearly to the point that squelch is activated).

Scan Modes (not supported with all radios)

Rig control may support the following scan functions:

•	Turn scan off

•	Program scan

•	Fine program scan

•	F scan

•	Fine F scan

•	Memory scan

•	Select memory scan

ICOM IC-746: Please consult pages 55-58 of the IC-746 manual for a description of these scan functions and information on how to configure the radio properly for each scan type.

Freq Band

The desired ham band may be selected by clicking in the appropriate check box.

Mode

The current operating mode is selectable by radio buttons.

The program will remember the last visited frequency and mode for each band.  If the band is re-selected, the radio will be set to the last known frequency and mode for that band. Only the bands available on the radio are enabled.

Note: In many cases, some of these selections will be greyed out. HamScope uses the same radio window to support all radios. If a particular feature is not supported by your radio, HamScope will inactivate or grey the button.

Filter/Macros

HamScope supports selectable filters and/or macros in many of the radio dialogs. The Filter/Macros pushbutton set allows access to extended filter options or a macro facility for many radios:

•	TRX-Manager: Five filter buttons appear that allow the selection of radio filters ranging from 6000 Hz to 250 Hz.

•	Yaesu FT100 and FT990/1000D: Four filter buttons appear that allow the selection of filters ranging from 2400 Hz to 250 Hz. The fifth button is a programmable macro button that one can use for other radio commands.

•	None, LOGic 6, and Pegasus: These interfaces are not designed for communicating general user macros, so the filter/macro buttons are disabled.

With all other supported radios, the filter/macro buttons are free to be programmed by the user to select the available filters or send other commands to the radio through the radio interface. This facility is very similar to the <CAT:xxx> and <CATHEX:xxx> macros that may be used in the TX text stream.

If you right-click the mouse on a selection button, the following dialog appears:

In the top text box, type the title for the button. In the second box, type the radio command to be sent when the button is pressed. The command syntax depends on your radio; there are two general types of commands that HamScope supports, ASCII and hexadecimal. The command syntax is similar to the <CAT:xxx> and <CATHEX:xxx> macros. Two command formats are supported:

•	ASCII text - sends the ASCII radio control string X to the radio

•	Hexadecimal - sends the hexadecimal command string X to the radio

The ASCII form is used with Kenwood radios, to send a Kenwood-style string command to the radio. The radio commands are listed in your Kenwood user manual. If the command is incorrect, or out of context, there will be no action by either HamScope or the radio. For example, the syntax of a command to send the Kenwood command string FA1234; to the radio would be

FA1234;

 It is an error if spaces are included within the command string.

The hexadecimal form is used to send hexadecimal keyword commands to Yaesu and ICOM radios. These commands are listed in your user manual, and if the command is incorrect or out of context, both HamScope and your radio ignores it. For Yaesu radios, the commands are in the form of five pairs of hexadecimal numbers, with the first four the data and the last the command identifier, for example 01,00,00,02,1a. To send this command to your radio, make sure that you separate the hexadecimal pairs with a space (but use no spaces elsewhere). The above command would be sent to the Yaesu as

01 00 00 02 1a;

 With ICOM radios, the command has an arbitrary length, but consists of only the ICOM command (Cn), subcommand (Sn), and data. To send an ICOM command with Cn=14, Sn=01, and data=255 (ff in hex), you would use the keyword

14 01 ff;

To execute more than one radio command within a macro, just place them sequentially in order of execution, using a space following the semicolon of the previous command.


Clear Rcv Menu Item

This menu item will clear (permanently) the contents of the active (highlighted) receive edit window.  This function may also be activated by pressing Alt-R.


Clear Xmit Menu Item

This menu item will clear (permanently) the contents of the transmit edit window. This function may also be activated by pressing Alt-X.


DemoMode Menu

This dialog is used for placing HamScope in Demo Mode, where signals are generated internally with an adjustable signal to noise ratio (SNR).  This function is useful to get familiar with tuning in various types of signals and to visualize what the signals look like in the various signal view windows prior to "live" operation.  In this mode, a fixed text string is sent over and over again to the receiver.

An operational soundcard is not required to use the Demo mode.  In order to use the program normally, the Demo mode box must be deselected.

Demo Mode does not operate in RTTY mode using the RTTY Engine or in Packet mode using the Packet engine.


Help Menu

This menu accesses this help document, or an "About Dialog" that provides program version information.


Receive Text Window

This edit box is used to display text as it is received and to display transmitted text after it has been sent.  A different font color is often used to distinguish these two types of text.

The edit box is read only (it is not possible to type, drag, or paste text into this edit window).  It is possible to copy, drag, or save text from this box.  Particular words may be selected by double clicking on the desired word.  This action will highlight the word, a right mouse press will allow copying of the word into the clipboard (Ctrl-C). It is also possible to drag the word to the transmit edit box , the "Their call" edit box, or into another application.  This feature is useful for transferring callsign or operator information to other locations in HamScope.

When text is selected in this manner, 10 seconds will elapse, then the text will be automatically deselected. This feature prevents the user from accidentally leaving text highlighted, which prevents normal text reception in the edit window.

The entire edit box can be erased (permanently) using the Clear Rcv menu item or using Alt-R.

In this example, the top window shows some received text in green.  Yellow text denotes characters that have been sent (including the timestamp information).  The bottom window shows the transmit text window that may also contain text that has been sent (in yellow) and text awaiting transmission (in red).

If the Dual Receive function is selected, both receive windows in the display become operational. The active window is denoted with a thin highlight (yellow or green matching the corresponding cursor in the signal display window) surrounding the window.

Sending Text to Other Applications

If you highlight a section of text in one of the receive windows, then click the right mouse button, the following menu will appear:

This menu allows you to copy text to the clipboard for later pasting directly to other applications. You can also send the selected text directly to the Callsign box, Name box, or RST Sent box. This action also sends the selected text to the HamScope DDE server or connected logging application, if the link to the logging application supports the text field. By using this popup function, you can also send the QTH, RST Rcv’d, Comment, ITUZ, CQZ, Grid locator, and County data to both the HamScope DDE server and connected applications even though HamScope does not explicitly include edit boxes for this data.

If this auxiliary data is stored in the DDE server, it will be written to the ADIF file if you use HamScope’s ADIF logging feature.

Note: HamScope provides links to several logging programs. Not every link implements a transfer mechanism for every menu option, either because the function is not supported in the logging program or  I could not figure out a way to pass the data. Please see the logging section for more details.


Signal Display Window

The Signal display window is a graphical screen that is used for displaying various signal views of the received or transmitted signal.  Different views are selected by using the labeled tabs at the top of the display area.


Signal Views

Spectrum View

The Spectrum view is probably the most useful of the signal displays.  The amplitude versus frequency of the incoming receiver audio is displayed giving the user a way to see all the various signals within the audio bandwidth of the receiver.  The display starts at 100 Hz at the left and has a 2750 Hz maximum at the right. The horizontal gradient lines on the screen each represent 10 dB steps in amplitude.

This display also has a dotted vertical cursor that represents the current PSK31 or CW receiver center frequency.  A three-line set is used to indicate the center and mark and space offsets for ASCII and RTTY signals. For MFSK16, two vertical lines denote the extent of the signal. The longer of the lines should be placed on the carrier tone of the MFSK signal. The mouse cursor changes to three vertical lines while in the signal view screen area.  If one left clicks the mouse button, the dotted vertical line will move to the new frequency under the mouse cursor.  If the frequency cursor is close to a signal and AFC is enabled, the cursor will move to try and center itself on the closest signal.

The Display Gain slider increases (when slid to the right) the magnitude of the signal while viewing the Spectrum display.  It may be necessary to adjust this control based on personal preferences.

The Net button locks the TX frequency to the selected RX freq. If Net is not selected, a right mouse button click creates a solid red vertical cursor where clicked, which shows the TX frequency.

A zoom control below the transmit text screen can be used to examine smaller or larger portions of the spectrum.  The spectrum display will zoom about the current RX frequency cursor position.  If possible, it will also center the display around the frequency cursor as well.  The lowest and highest displayed frequencies for the current zoom settings are displayed at the top (far left and right) of the spectrum display.

The slowly changing orange frequency curve near the top of the display is a time-averaged image of the green amplitude versus frequency curve. The Display Gain slider increases (when moved right) the average amplitude of these curves. It is also possible to average the green instantaneous curve using the averaging function in the General Setup menu.

Waterfall View

The waterfall view is similar to the Spectrum view except that the amplitude of the input signal is displayed as the brightness/color of pixels on the display.  The stronger the signal amplitude, the brighter the display (the color shifts from blue to cyan to yellow to red to white with increasing amplitude).  Also, in time, each horizontal frequency sample line shifts down and a new one is placed at the top.  The effect is like a waterfall, where the signals seem to be cascading down the screen.

The Display Gain slider changes the relative brightness and contrast of the waterfall image. This control is occasionally useful when working with weak signals, as it tends to brighten the signal color when slid to the right.

A PSK signal will produce a fairly narrow trail down the screen that may be used for tuning, using the mouse and dotted line frequency cursor and zoom controls, in a manner similar to the spectrum screen.  The advantage of this display is that it provides a different time history display of the signal, over the last several seconds. One disadvantage is that it is difficult to judge the signal intensity using just the screen brightness and color.

Input View

The input view is similar to an oscilloscope view of the raw input signal, with the vertical axis denoting amplitude and the horizontal axis is time.  On strong signals it is actually possible to see the sine-shaped signal pulse.  The primary use of this view is to adjust the receiver/soundcard input level.  If the input levels are too high, the displayed signal turns red.  One should adjust the level such that signal peaks do not reach the red state level.

The input view does not function in RTTY mode.

Sync View

The sync view shows a histogram of the internal signal used to determine the center of the received bit or byte.  In PSK mode, an elongated line marks the sample that HamScope is currently using for the peak of the histogram.  This display is useful because it can indicate, qualitatively, the incoming signal drift plus receiver drift plus local soundcard frequency instability.  In CW mode, this image displays the bit (or byte) in terms of instantaneous sample values, allowing one to adjust the bit decision point for different signal strengths and qualities, and estimate baud rate and CW keying speed of the transmitting station.

In PSK mode, if the bit center position is drifting across the screen more than every 15 seconds or so, then either the user’s or the sender’s soundcard is probably off frequency.  If one of the soundcards are drifting, HamScope will still receive data but with some degradation in quality.  One can access the General Setup Menu and compensate for off-frequency soundcards.

For CW mode, this view adds a horizontal red line that may be moved with the mouse to select the bit decision point. The “Display Gain” slider may also be used in CW mode to change the magnitude of the CW waveform shown in this display. See the tuning section for more information.

The sync view does not function in RTTY mode.

There are several mouse shortcut options that are enabled when the cursor is over the signal display window.

Packet View

The signal view window changes to a text display when packet mode is selected. This display records status information from the AGWPE packet engine, and provides information about various commands and the state of the communications link to the packet engine.

HamScope acts as a “dumb” terminal when the packet engine is used, sending text and commands typed in the TX window to the engine, and sending received text to the top receive window. It is not currently possible to display frequency spectrum data or allow tuning with the mouse within HamScope when packet mode is used. Please use the radio control window or turn the radio dial to adjust frequency, using the AGWPE Engine’s waterfall display feature for tuning purposes.


RX Frequency Control

The RX frequency edit control consists of a small edit box where a new frequency can be typed in, or the frequency can be moved up or down using the spin controls just to the left (10 Hz changes) or right (1 Hz changes) of the edit box.  When typing in a new frequency, the new number will not take affect until the cursor has moved out of the edit box (accomplished by hitting enter at the conclusion of typing).

The left and right arrow keys may also be used to increment or decrement the RX frequency.  The up and down arrow keys will increment or decrement the RX frequency in steps of 10 Hz.

If the AFC control is turned on, the new value just entered will probably start changing as the program tries to move to the nearest signal peak.  Turn AFC off if you wish to manually adjust the receive frequency.

Clicking the left mouse button while the cursor is in one of the spectral displays will change the RX frequency to the value under the mouse cursor in the display.

The vertical yellow dotted receive frequency cursor will reflect the value of the new RX frequency.

The 2RX frequency control serves these same functions for the lower second receive window, and moves the green second receive cursor. Shift+left mouse button repositions this second cursor, and the 2AFC controls the AFC in the second window.

This control does nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine.


AFC Selection

This control activates the Automatic Frequency Control (AFC) function. It is activated by clicking on the AFC control or pressing the F3 key.  HamScope will try to adjust the receive frequency to the center of the PSK31 or FSK signal.  Depending on the strength of the signal, it can adjust for frequency errors (and/or drift) from 10Hz to almost one hundred Hz.  For the PSK, MFSK, and CW modes, the AFC capture window may be adjusted in the “General Setup” menu. Select the RTTY Options menu to adjust the AFC filtering for this mode. AFC cannot differentiate between different signal types, it will just seek the nearest signal in the frequency spectrum.

In RTTY mode, engaging AFC also turns on the engine’s auto shift capture, designed to match the RTTY shift to the incoming signal. If you desire to operate at a fixed shift, select the fixed option, then adjust the shift spacing to the desired value.

Distorted signals due to propagation effects or low transmitted signal quality may interfere with the ability of AFC to lock correctly on the center frequency.  If this occurs, it is usually best to deactivate the AFC and manually tune the RX frequency spin controls (or use the left, right, up, or down arrow keys) until the signal is tuned correctly.

The “Nar” button located to the right of the AFC control limits the AFC update to a narrow change around the current signal. This is engaged automatically after transmitting PSK to limit any drift prior to the remote station transmitting. “Nar” can be engaged at any time to limit AFC action when conditions warrant. “Nar” does not function in RTTY mode.

The 2AFC and 2Nar options operate the same way in the second (lower) receive window.

This control does nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine.


Current Mode Selection

Two PSK31 modes, RTTY, MFSK16, CW, and Packet modes may be selected using the downarrow in the Mode subwindow.

•	BPSK – Binary PSK. BPSK is the most common PSK mode on the HF bands.

•	QPSK – Quadrature PSK mode that employs Viterbi convolutional forward error correction, but is a little harder to tune. It is also sideband sensitive.  If you need to use lower sideband, then check the “Reverse Polarity” box in the main window.

•	RTTY – This activates and selects the MMTTY RTTY Engine, by Makoto Mori JE3HHT (http://www.qsl.net/MMHamsoft). The frequency shift is given (and may be adjusted) in the Shift edit box, and the current baud rate for transmit and receive may be adjusted using the Baud Rate edit box. This mode is also sideband sensitive, as above. Selecting the Options button brings up the RTTY engine configuration utility. The UOS check box enables “Unshift on Space” (See the MMTTY manual for more information), and Fixed locks the shift value to the current selection.

•	MFSK16 – This selects a STREAM compatible MFSK16 mode. This mode includes interleaving and Viterbi encoding for high performance under poor conditions (see http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/MFSK). This mode is also sideband sensitive, as above.

•	CW – This selection enables standard-weighted CW mode for RX and TX. The WPM box selects the transmitted CW speed. The RX CW speed uses an automatic detection of weighting and will adjust to the incoming signal. The current RX speed is displayed in the RX speed window.

•	Packet – This mode activates the AGWPE Packet Engine, by George Rossopoulos SV2AGW (http://www.raag.org/sv2agw/inst.html). In Packet mode, HamScope is simply a terminal to the packet engine which does the actual detection and transmission of text.

•	Reverse Polarity – This button allows the transmission and reception of LSB signals in all the modes, without changing the radio to LSB.


Squelch Quality Control
Squelch/Quality Control

HamScope provides two squelch/quality controls, the upper control is linked to the signal being received by the upper receive text window. If the Dual Receive function is enabled, the lower control is linked to the lower auxillary receive text window. In dual receive mode, both controls are independent, and may be set for the best reception in each window.

The squelch control can be used to set a signal quality threshold and operates to inhibit reception below this value.  This can reduce a lot of "garbage" characters from cluttering up the screen.  The control consists of a horizontal bar that grows longer from the left depending on the signal quality.  A small bluish vertical bar indicates the current squelch threshold.  If the signal level exceeds this bar to the right, then the received characters will be shown on the screen.  It also changes color from gray to yellow (green for the lower control) when the squelch opens.

Squelch ON	       Squelch OFF

The squelch threshold is set by simply placing the mouse cursor inside the control at the desired level and clicking the left mouse button (Don't try to drag the bar, just click to the desired new position).

Before left clicking.	      After left clicking.

This control does nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine.


Second Receive Channel Function

If the Dual Receive box is checked, the second receive channel is enabled. Upon selection, a second display cursor (“green” in color, matching its window highlight) will appear on the signal display.

To place the location of this green cursor over a signal, move the mouse over the desired signal, then click the Shift+Left mouse button (simultaneously). The signal should be immediately detected, with the output sent to the second (lower) receive window.

If you click the mouse in the second receive window, it becomes the “active” window, and the border highlight is moved to the other window (the highlight is yellow to match the cursor of the upper window, this is changed to green for the second window). To switch activity back to the upper window, just click in it.

The Tx text that is transmitted, along with the Tx time and date stamp, is posted to the “active” highlighted receive window.

The text save functions listed under the File menu, save the contents of the currently highlighted window.

The second receive channel does not function in RTTY mode, as MMTTY currently supports just one receive channel.  This function also does nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine which only supports a single receive channel.


Bandpass and Notch FIlters

HamScope supports an audio bandpass and notch filter in all modes except packet.

To enable bandpass filtering, click the BPF button. The current signal display will confirm that the audio bandpass is reduced to the neighborhood of the main receive frequency.

To enable the notch filter, click the NOT button. Then, place the mouse cursor over an offending or distracting signal, and click the Ctrl+Left mouse button to place the “triangle glyph” notch cursor above the offending signal. The notch filter should appreciably attenuate the offending signal, as can be seen in the above graphic.

It is not possible to enable both the bandpass and notch filters at the same time.

These controls do nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine.


Tuning CW, RTTY, ASCII, and FSK16 Signals
Tuning CW, RTTY, ASCII, MFSK16, and Packet Signals

It is often more difficult to tune CW, RTTY, ASCII, and MFSK16 signals, as they tend to be a bit more complex than PSK signals. This section discusses in detail how to tune each of these signals.

Tuning CW Signals

Tuning a CW signal using the waterfall display is very similar to tuning a PSK signal; engage AFC and click near the desired signal. However, one often also needs to set the CW bit threshold before reliable print can be obtained. The easiest way to control the bit threshold is to select Auto Threshold in the General Setup menu, HamScope will then automatically adjust the bit threshold based on the incoming signal. However, it is possible to achieve somewhat better performance if you manually set the threshold based on the characteristics of the incoming signal and experience. To manually set the bit threshold, select the sync view in CW mode:

Click in the sync display with the left mouse button to set the red threshold line about mid-way between the CW peaks and valleys, as shown. It often takes some practice and experience to set the red line in the position that provides the best print, please experiment to locate the best setting, along with adjusting the CW parameters in the general setup menu. These settings are often somewhat dependent on band conditions and the style of the sending operator, unfortunately. CW is one of the most difficult modes to detect on a computer, it is rarely, if ever, possible for HamScope to compete with the human ear in this mode.

Alternatively, one can select the Auto Threshold function in the general setup menu and have HamScope compute a threshold automatically. This function responds quickly to changes in the received signal, but does not provide as high quality reception as is possible by manually setting the threshold.

The “Display Gain” slider may be used to adjust the height of the CW signal in the display.

Tuning RTTY and ASCII Signals

RTTY and ASCII signals consist of two tones that are spaced some distance apart (the “shift” distance). The “mark” (one bit) may be either above or below the “space” (zero bit) frequency, depending on (in the case of audio frequency shift keying AFSK) which sideband the transmitting station has selected. To properly receive RTTY and ASCII signals, the following must be set correctly:

•	HamScope must be set to either USB or LSB mode (using the “Reverse Polarity” button) depending on which sideband the transmitting station is using.

•	The center frequency of the mark/space frequency pairs must be correctly tuned.

•	The shift offset frequency must match that of the incoming signal.

•	The receiving Baud rate must be selected to match that of the incoming signal.

At first glance, it appears that it might be impossible to match all these variables with the incoming signal such that one could communicate with these two modes. However, there are conventions that limit the values of many of the variables; with some practice it often becomes rather straightforward to tune these signals.

The recipe for tuning RTTY and ASCII signals that works best for me is as follows:

•	Set the HamScope sideband to USB (the “Reverse Polarity” button on the main screen is left unchecked). Most RTTY signals (by convention) on the HF bands can be received with HamScope in the USB mode.

•	Click AFC on, and left click the mouse between the two peaks of the RTTY signal on the display.  The RTTY Engine’s AFC will lock on to the frequency of the signal.

•	Adjust the TTY Shift control such that the short left and right tuning lines line up with the peaks of the signal in the display.

•	Set the Baud rate to 45.45 (for RTTY). ASCII may also use this Baud rate, but ASCII also uses an 850 Hz shift with a Baud rate of 110.

If HamScope still does not correctly print text, try changing the “Reverse Polarity” button.

If you check the UOS button, HamScope instructs the MMTTY engine to unshift (leave FIGS mode) when a space is received. This can improve copy if conditions are such that the Shift character is often lost, leaving MMTTY in FIGS mode. UOS must be set on both the receiving and transmitting station if it is used. For more information, please consult the MMTTY help manual, at http://www.qsl.net/MMHamsoft.

Select the Fixed option to hold the TTY shift at the shift value. With Fixed unchecked and AFC on, the MMTTY engine adjusts both the frequency and shift in an attempt to match the incoming signal. Most RTTY transmissions are at a fixed shift of 170 Hz, fixing the shift at this value will allow reception of the majority of the signals one will encounter.

The small circle display to the right of the squelch control is the traditional “crossed-ellipse” RTTY tuning indicator.

RTTY mode in HamScope currently supports only the top receive channel (the second channel is disabled). Additionally, Demo Mode currently does not function in RTTY.

Tuning MFSK16 Signals

Tuning MFSK16 is often difficult as first, as it takes a couple of seconds for correct print to be achieved after the frequency has been set (due to delay caused by interleaving). This mode is transmitted, by convention, using USB. However, it may be possible to encounter signals that do not conform to this convention. It is straightforward to determine which sideband is being used by the transmitting station in HamScope.

MFSK16 uses an “idle tail” to make tuning easier. At the beginning of the MFSK transmission (and periodically during the transmission), the transmitting station sends a short idle, which shows up as a crisp narrow vertical line on the HamScope waterfall display. If the “idle tail” is at the left extreme of the signal, the transmitting station is using USB. If it is to the right, the station is using LSB. To select the proper mode to match a station transmitting in LSB, engage the “Reverse Polarity” button in the HamScope main window. Please be sure to wait a couple of seconds after tuning to allow the interleaver to fill before you expect to see good text printed. If you are impatient, you may be tempted to immediately retune and in doing so, prevent the interleaver from ever syncing with the signal of interest.

To tune an MFSK16 signal, simply left click with the mouse to place the longer RX yellow cursor line (in the spectrum display) over the idle tail. Tuning in MFSK16 is very crisp, so one must be rather precise in the placement of the cursor. Engaging AFC may help with tuning, but AFC is not as effective if the signal is very weak.

If HamScope is switched to the “Reverse Polarity” mode for tuning an unconventional signal, the long RX tuning line appears to the right of the short cursor, which matches the transmitted LSB signal.

Tuning Packet Signals

In packet mode, it is not possible to directly tune using the mouse as HamScope functions only as a simple text terminal. Please use the waterfall or one of the other signal displays included with the AGWPE Engine, and the HamScope radio control interface or the radio dial to set the correct frequency of operation. For more details, please see the manual for the AGWPE Packet Engine.


Transmit Text Window

The transmit edit box is where text is typed, pasted, or dragged to be transmitted.  As characters are transmitted, a user selectable font and color can be used to distinguish the sent text from unsent characters.

If a macro is invoked, the macro button will place the macro text in this edit box.  Text cannot be copied or dragged from this edit box.  Text may be selected in the middle of the message and new text pasted or deleted; however, this is not recommended as it is easy to mess up the transmitted text order.  If you make a mistake in typing, the backspace key should be used to delete and then retype the text (which works even if the text has already been sent, except in RTTY mode).  In this case, a backspace character will be sent to the receiving station (RTTY mode sends an X).

The entire edit box can be erased ( permanently ) using the Clear Xmit menu item or using the Alt-X function.


PTT Button

This is the main control for toggling between the transmit and receive modes of operation. The user can click on this button with the mouse or hit the F5 key to switch between modes.  An "LED-like” indicator is red while transmitting, and becomes solid green when receiving.

The program is slow in responding to changes of this button due to the need to flush internal buffers in many of the modes. There is also a delay to complete the CW ID function (if it is enabled).  The FEC modes also create an additional delay due to the large interleave buffer that must be flushed. It is best to recognize the idle signal for each mode and not toggle the button off until the idle state is clearly achieved, or use the <RX> macro character to end each transmission when using the FEC modes.

 If the RX/TX button is pushed a second time, transmission is immediately halted without sending any remaining characters. This provides for an emergency stop action.

This button also has two other states.  If the "Pause" button is pushed, the following message appears on the PTT button and the "LED" turns yellow indicating the transmitter is paused and sending idle characters.

If the "Tune" button is activated, the PTT button displays this state and the LED turns red indicating the transmitter is active, sending a steady carrier for tuning purposes.

These controls do nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine. Anything typed into the TX window is immediately sent to the packet engine.


PAUSE Button

This control is only active while transmitting.  Pause may be used to prevent HamScope from sending additional characters from the TX text window while transmitting.  This function may be used to allow the undisturbed editing of text in the TX text window before it is sent out.

This button may be activated by pressing the F9 key or by clicking on the control button.  Clicking it again (or another F9) restores normal transmission of text from the TX text window.

This control does nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine. Anything typed into the TX window is immediately sent to the packet engine.


TUNE Button

The tune button control turns on the transmitter and outputs a steady carrier for transmitter tuning purposes.  It is activated by clicking on the control or pressing F8.  Clicking again on the control or pressing F8 turns Tune off.

This control does nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine.


CW ID Button

The CW ID button control is used to transmit a Morse CW identification.  Clicking on the control or pressing F6 activates the CW ID.  If HamScope is already in the transmit mode, the CW ID is delayed until the user ends the transmission with the PTT control.

The ID consists of the characters "de " followed by the user's call sign entered in the program general setup menu.  The Morse speed is fixed and not adjustable.

The CW ID function does not operate in RTTY mode. This control also does nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine.


TX Frequency Control

The TX frequency edit control consists of a small edit box where a new frequency can be typed in, or the frequency can be moved up or down using the spin controls just to the left (10 Hz change) or right (1 Hz change) of the edit box.  The new frequency will not take affect while transmitting unless the program is in  "Demo Mode".

When typing in a new frequency, the new entry will not take affect until a return is entered into the selection box.

This control does nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine.


NET Function

The Net function forces the transmitter to use the current receiver frequency.  The transmitter obtains the current RX frequency when the PTT control is activated at the beginning of a transmission.  At this time, the TX frequency edit box will be updated to the current RX frequency value.  If both the transmitting and receiving station have the Net function enabled, there is a tendency for both stations to drift in frequency across the band.  If neither station uses the Net function, it is possible to operate split frequency, which is not normally desirable.

Perhaps the best protocol to prevent drift and split operation is for the station that initiated the contact (or called CQ) to set the Net function off and by doing so, define the master frequency. With this arrangement, the responding station will always track the master frequency.  Both signals may still drift if the master transmitter drifts, but now the magnitude of total drift is limited.

If Net is not activated, one can operate in split mode within the HamScope display window. Simply enter distinct RX and TX frequencies in the edit boxes; the RX freq will be indicated with the yellow cursor and a new red cursor appears at the TX freq. One can also click the right mouse button in the display and create (or move) the TX cursor at (to) that point.

This control does nothing when using packet mode, as HamScope acts as a simple terminal to the AGWPE Packet Engine.


Terminal Operations with AGWPE

HamScope functions only as a terminal program when using Packet mode. The AGWPE engine handles all transmission and detection of the packet signal. HamScope communicates with AGWPE through its TCP/IP interface.

Tuning packet signals is accomplished with the radio dial or tuning the radio using the HamScope radio control window. HamScope does not support “point and click” mouse tuning of packet signals or a signal display of the incoming waveform. However, AGWPE does include a tuning indicator that can be used simultaneously with HamScope to make tuning easier. Please consult the AGWPE manual (http://www.raag.org/sv2agw/inst.html ) for more information.

In packet mode, commands or text typed in the TX window is sent to AGWPE using its TCP/IP connection, typically using the address 127.0.0.1 as set in the general settings menu. It is possible, however, to run the packet engine on a remote computer and display to a local HamScope window. For more information, please consult the AGWPE manual.

Information received over the TCP/IP link from AGWPE is displayed in the top receive window in HamScope. Status information from the engine is also displayed in the HamScope Signal Display area at the bottom of the screen.

In addition to the text window displays, the HamScope logging facilities continue to function in packet mode. Other HamScope facilities that are supported include:

•	The macro replacement facility above the receive text display

•	The radio control interface

•	All menu functions associated with text display

None of the tuning, frequency control, or filtering functions are supported in packet mode, as AGWPE performs all transmission and detection duties.

Packet mode in HamScope functions similarly to most packet terminal programs. When packet mode is selected in HamScope, the AGWPE engine is started, and HamScope enters command mode. HamScope registers your callsign with AGWPE, queries the engine for its port status (which is printed in the signal view area), then places the command prompt cmd: in the TX window and awaits further input. Possible commands that may be sent to the packet engine include:

•	VERSION - print version number of AGWPE

•	PORTDATA [port] - print statistics of port

•	UNREG [callsign] - unregister default (given) callsign

•	LOGIN call passwd - log into AGWPE over the network

•	CONVerse - enter converse mode

•	Connect [call] [via] [viacalls] - connect to [call] [via] [viacalls]

•	DUnproto [via] [viacalls] data - send data unproto [via] [viacalls]

•	Disconne [port] - disconnects from station at [port]

•	HELP – prints the list of AGWPE commands supported by HamScope

•	MHeard [port] - prints mheard list for [port]

•	MYcall [call] - sends [call] to register with AGWPE

•	Monitor - toggles monitor mode on and off

•	Paclen len - sets paclen to len (default 128)

Many of the above commands may be abbreviated. Only the capitalized portion of the command must be entered to select the desired function. Optional arguments are shown in [brackets].

A complete overview of HF and/or VHF packet operation and operation using the AGWPE packet engine is beyond the scope of this document. Please consult the packet engine user manual for more information. There are several web resources available that provide an overview of packet operation using a terminal program.


Logging

HamScope provides a limited QSO logging capability. It is possible to construct and save log data in multiple ways, directly to one of the supported logging (and/or radio control) programs, or to an ADIF file for entry into other logging programs. Many of these functions require that the QSO data be entered into the Their Call, Name, and RST edit boxes.

Their Call, Name, and RST Edit Boxes

The "Their Call" edit box is a small text edit box that is used by the HamScope macros (the <CALL> macro string is replaced by the value in this box) and the link to other logging programs as the call sign of the station that you are contacting.  Any text typed, dragged, or pasted into this box will be transmitted by the macros (and to the logging connection) as the other station’s call sign.  Probably the easiest way to use this box is to drag the contact’s call sign from the received text box, or “double click” on the call sign (if Auto Call is enabled in General Setup).  The call sign will be converted to upper case and used until another call is entered into the edit box.

The “Name” box may also be used to hold the other operator’s name for use in the macros (the <NAME> macro string is replaced with the contents of this box) and logging facility. One can similarly paste text into this edit box, or "double click” it as above.

The “RST” edit box corresponds to the <RST> macro string, and defaults to 599. A representative value may be entered into this box; this value will be subsequently used by the macros until it is changed, or the Clear or Log It buttons are pressed.

The text in these boxes is not saved upon program exit.

HamScope provides data links to the following programs, in addition to a raw ADIF file save capability:

•	DXbase (http://www.dxbase.com )

•	LOGic 6 (http://www.hosenose.com )

•	RYLogit (http://vbob.home.attbi.com/rylogit.htm )

•	TRX-Manager (http://www.trx-manager.com )

•	YPLOG (http://members.shaw.ca/ve6yp )

HamScope also dynamically saves captured logging data, RX/TX state, and saves radio frequency data to and can obtain radio frequency data from its internal DDE server, to allow users to write applications that interface with HamScope.

ADIF File Logging

HamScope will create an ADIF (Amateur Data Interchange Format) text data file, based on the contents of the Their Call, Name, QSO ending time (actually the time that the Log It button is pressed), and RST box. Log information stored in the HamScope DDE server from the receive popup menu is also saved to the ADIF file.

To use this facility, make sure that “None” is selected for the logging program in the general settings dialog. Then, fill in the boxes with the QSO data and use the receive popup menu to add any other information you desire, then press the Log It button to save the information to an ADIF file. If this is the first QSO of the session, HamScope presents a file selection dialog to allow you to select the file to save to. All subsequent entries (after the initial) are appended to this file when the “Log It” button is pressed.

DXbase Logging

HamScope currently supports text transfer directly to the DXbase Logging program (http://www.dxbase.com ). To use this capability, first invoke the DXbase program, then HamScope; adjust the HamScope window to best fit above or next to DXbase. You can also have HamScope automatically start DXbase.

The following information is sent from HamScope to DXbase when the “Log It” button is pressed:

•	The “Their Call” text will be copied to DXbase’s call box

•	The “Name” text will be copied to DXbase’s name box

•	The current “frequency” is copied to DXbase’s frequency box (if you are using rig control, HamScope takes the rig frequency and adds the audio offset to enter the correct actual transmitted frequency in DXbase).

•	The RST sent data is copied to the RST sent box in DXbase

•	The RST rcv’d data (from the receive popup menu) is copied to the RST Rcv’d box in DXbase

As you enjoy your QSO, you can copy other text, using the clipboard, from HamScope to the DXbase window.

LOGic 6 Logging and Radio Control

HamScope currently supports text transfer directly to the LOGic Logging program (http://www.hosenose.com ), and LOGic can act as a radio interface for HamScope. To use this capability, first invoke the LOGic program, then HamScope; adjust the HamScope window to best fit above or next to LOGic. HamScope will automatically start LOGic if it is not running (you do not need to specify the path to LOGic in the General Settings menu).

If you wish to use LOGic only for logging, select “LOGic 6” in the Log Program pulldown box in the General Setup dialog, and select your alternative radio control interface in the radio pulldown box. If you desire to use LOGic for both functions, please select it in both the Logging and Radio boxes. It is not possible to use LOGic for radio control and another program for logging (if you deselect LOGic as the logging program, the radio interface will revert to None).

The following information is sent from HamScope to LOGic when the “Log It” button is pressed:

•	The “Their Call” text will be copied to LOGic’s call box

•	The “Name” text will be copied to LOGic’s name box

•	The current operating mode will be copied to LOGic’s mode box

•	The current “frequency” is copied to LOGic’s frequency box (if you are using rig control, HamScope takes the rig frequency and adds the audio offset to enter the correct actual transmitted frequency in LOGic).

•	The RST sent data is copied to the RST sent box in LOGic

Once you have logged this initial information using the “Log It” button, you can use the receive popup menu menu functions to fill in the remaining information about the current QSO if you desire. All of the fields on the menu are supported by LOGic.

As you enjoy your QSO, you can copy any other text that you desire, using the clipboard, from HamScope to the LOGic window.

If the HamScope terminal windows (HamScope and HamScope 2) are turned on in LOGic, the received text from the top receive window is automatically copied to the HamScope terminal window (and the text from the bottom receive window is copied into the HamScope 2 window if second receive is enabled in HamScope). Also, if text is sent from the HamScope windows in LOGic, this text will automatically appear in the HamScope TX window for transmission.

In the general settings menu, you can select to use LOGic 6 as a radio control interface, in addition to using it as a logging program. If you select LOGic 6, then select Rig Control from the menu bar, the radio control interface to LOGic is enabled and the usual HamScope radio dialog appears. If the radio frequency is changed within HamScope, this new frequency is sent to the radio control function in LOGic. Also, if the radio frequency is changed within LOGic, this frequency is copied to HamScope, and the display is then updated to reflect the new frequency.

RYLogit Logging

HamScope supports text transfer directly to and from the RYLogit Logging program (http://vbob.home.attbi.com/rylogit.htm ). To use this capability, first invoke HamScope, then the RYLogit program; adjust the HamScope window to best fit above or next to RYLogit. You can also have HamScope automatically start RYLogit. RYLogit uses the HamScope DDE server, it is only necessary to select RYLogit as the logging program in general setup if you want HamScope to auto-start RYLogit. If you select “None” for a logging program, when RYLogit starts it will connect to the HamScope server and begin linked operation.

The following information can be sent between RYLogit and the HamScope program:

•	The “Their Call” text will be copied to RYLogit’s CALL box

•	The “Name” text will be sent to (and/or from) RYLogit’s name box

•	The Mode is copied to the RYLogit Mode box

•	The current “frequency” is copied to the RYLogit FREQ box (if you are using rig control, HamScope takes the rig frequency and adds the audio offset to enter the correct actual transmitted frequency in RYLogit).

•	The RST is copied to the RST sent box in RYLogit

•	Any text selected using the receive popup menu is immediately sent to RYLogit.

•	RYLogit supports both the “Clear” and “LogIt” buttons in HamScope.

RYLogit fully supports all HamScope data transfer modes with a bi-directional transfer mechanism. It also handles QSO sequence numbering. A full discussion of its capabilities and how to use them is beyond the scope of this document. Please consult the RYLogit user manual for a detailed discussion of using RYLogit with HamScope.

TRX-Manager Logging and Radio Control

HamScope currently supports text transfer directly to the TRX-Manager Logging and Radio Control program (http://www.trx-manager.com), and TRX can act as a radio interface for HamScope. To use this capability, first invoke the TRX program, then HamScope; adjust the HamScope window to best fit above or next to TRX-Manager. You can also have HamScope automatically start TRX-Manager if you enter the path to TRX-Manager in the Log Path box.

If you wish to use TRX-Manager only for logging, select “TRXMgr” in the Log Program pulldown box in the General Setup dialog, and select your alternative radio control interface in the radio pulldown box. If you desire to use TRX-Manager for both functions, please select it in both the Logging and Radio boxes. It is not possible to use TRX-Manager for radio control and another program for logging (if you deselect TRX-Manager as the logging program, the radio interface will revert to None). However, TRX-Manager will link to LOGic internally, if desired.

The following information is sent from HamScope to TRX-Manager when you press the “Log It” button:

•	The “Their Call” text will be copied to TRX’s call box

•	The “Name” text will be copied to TRX’s name box

•	The current operating mode will be copied to TRX’s mode box

•	The RST sent data is copied to the RST sent box in TRX

•	If the Rig Control dialog is open, the current operating frequency is logged in TRX

•	Any data selected with the receive popup menu is passed to TRX-Manager

In the general settings menu, you can select to use TRX-Manager as a radio control interface, in addition to using it as a logging program. If you select TRX, then select Rig Control from the menu bar, the radio control interface to TRX-Manager is enabled and the usual HamScope radio dialog appears. If the radio frequency is changed within HamScope, this new frequency is sent to the radio control function in TRX. Also, if the radio frequency is changed within TRX, this frequency is copied to HamScope, and the display is then updated to reflect the new frequency.  In this manner, TRX-Manager also acts as a radio control interface for HamScope. HamScope also sends the current RX/TX state to TRX-Manager if the “PTT to Logger” button is selected in the General Settings menu. This allows TRX to key the radio through its interface.

Kenwood: If you are using a Kenwood radio with TRX-Manager, HamScope can key CW through the TRX keying interface. If you wish to use this option, select TRXCW as the logging option in the Log Program dialog. If you select this option, text typed in CW mode will be sent to TRX-Manager and used to key the radio (when the TX button is pushed). In TRXCW mode, all other logging and radio control functions are handled by TRX-Manager as described above. Note: This option is not disabled for non-Kenwood radios, but please do not attempt to use it. HamScope will likely lock-up or behave in other undesireable ways.

YPLOG Logging

HamScope currently supports text transfer directly to the YPLOG Logging program (http://members.shaw.ca/ve6yp ). To use this capability, first invoke the YPLOG program, then HamScope; adjust the HamScope window to best fit above or next to YPLOG (they will not all fit on the screen at the same time, but it is not necessary to see both applications). You can also have HamScope automatically start YPLOG.

The following information is automatically sent from HamScope to the logging program:

•	The “Their Call” text will be copied to YPLOG’s CALL box

•	The current time will be copied to the YPLOG Start Time box

•	The Mode is copied to the YPLOG Mode box

•	The current “frequency” is copied to the YPLOG FREQ box (if you are using rig control, HamScope takes the rig frequency and adds the audio offset to enter the correct actual transmitted frequency in YPLOG).

•	The RST is copied to the RST sent box in YPLOG

•	Any text selected using the receive popup menu is immediately sent to YPLOG.

•	HamScope’s RX and TX status is also sent to YPLOG if the “PTT to Logger” box is checked in the General Settings menu to allow YPLOG to key the radio if desired.

As you enjoy your QSO, you can copy other text, using the clipboard, from HamScope to the YPLOG window. At the completion of the QSO, an UPDATE in YPLOG will save the entry and the QSO ending time.


Macros

42 HamScope Macros are available to aid in transmitting commonly-used text phrases and also for  performing some program control functions such as sending a CW ID and terminating the transmission.  After a macro has been set up, by clicking on a macro button (or pressing F11 or F12 executes the first two macro buttons to the upper-left), a user-defined text string can be sent without having to type it each time.

There are three panels of macro buttons available for your use. HamScope initially comes up displaying the first panel (see the “Panel: 1” indication in the above window).  Pressing the up arrow next to this title takes you up one panel each time it is pressed, the down arrow returns back one panel. The “Home” button immediately returns you to the first panel. All of the macro buttons in the panels are defined using the following procedure.

Macro Setup

The following menu appears if you right-click the mouse on the macro button you wish to examine.

The top edit box holds a short name for the current macro button; this text may be changed in a similar manner to all Windows edit controls. When the menu is closed, HamScope changes the text on the button to reflect this name.

The “Set Macro BackGnd Color” button brings up a color selection dialog that allows you to set the background color of the button. The “Set MacroText Color” button brings up a color dialog that allows the selection of the color of the text used on the button (please exercise caution that the text and background colors have sufficient contrast to allow you to read the text). The “Clear Colors” button restores the text and background colors to the system default (black and grey in this example).

The large edit box holds the text of the macro that is sent when the button is pressed. There is a 2000 character limit to the contents of this box. If you desire a macro beyond this limit, use a separate text file as outlined later.

13 keywords are used to insert special commands into the text.  These keywords must be surrounded by angle brackets “< >” and must be all upper case.  These keywords perform the following functions:

•	<MYCALL> will place the users call sign (from the general setup dialog) into the text stream

•	<CALL> will place any text that was placed in the "Their Call" edit box into the text stream.

•	<NAME> will place the text contained in the “Name” edit box into the text stream.

•	<TX> will force HamScope to start the transmitter and send any text in the TX text window.

•	<RX> will force HamScope to stop the transmitter after the remaining text in the TX text window has been sent.

•	<CWID> will force HamScope to add a CW id at the end of the current transmission.

•	<RST> will place the text contained in the “RST” edit box into the text stream.

•	<UTC> will place the current UTC time in the text stream.

•	<UDATE> will place the current date (in UTC time) into the text stream.

•	<LOC> will place the local time (derived from your computer’s settings) into the text stream.

•	<LDATE> will place the local date into the text stream.

•	<CAT:X> sends the ASCII radio control string X to the radio (the radio control window must be active to send radio keywords to the radio).

•	<CATHEX:X> sends the hexadecimal command string X to the radio (the radio control window must be active).

•	<EXTMAC> is replaced by the external macro string contained in the HamScope DDE server. External applications hooking to the HamScope DDE server can use this macro to supply generic data to be transmitted, such as contest sequence numbers. Any string Poked() into the ext_macro item of the server will be used to replace this tag.

Text files can also be sent by placing the filename in the macro text box enclosed with angle brackets  “<>” (characters such as <brag.txt>).  Be cautious with this capability.  A large text file could take a long time to send (remember the 10 minute ID requirement).  The text file can be created using any text editor such as Notepad. The length of the text file is limited to 8K bytes in HamScope.

Note: These text files must reside in the directory where HamScope.exe file is located.  Path names are not allowed in the filename.

The <CAT:X> keyword is used with Kenwood radios, to send a Kenwood-style string command to the radio. The radio commands are listed in your Kenwood user manual. If the command is incorrect, or out of context, there will be no action by either HamScope or the radio. For example, the syntax of a command to send the Kenwood command string FA1234; to the radio would be <CAT:FA1234;> . It is an error if spaces are included within the command string.

The <CATHEX:X> keyword is used to send hexadecimal keyword commands to Yaesu and ICOM radios. These commands are listed in your user manual, and if the command is incorrect or out of context, both HamScope and your radio ignores it. For Yaesu radios, the commands are in the form of five pairs of hexadecimal numbers, with the first four the data and the last the command identifier, for example 01,00,00,02,1a. To send this command to your radio, make sure that you separate the hexadecimal pairs with a space (but use no spaces elsewhere). The above command would be sent to the Yaesu as <CATHEX:01 00 00 02 1a> . With ICOM radios, the command has an arbitrary length, but consists of only the ICOM command (Cn), subcommand (Sn), and data. To send an ICOM command with Cn=14, Sn=01, and data=255 (ff in hex), you would use the keyword <CATHEX:14 01 ff> .

To execute more than one radio command within a macro, just place them sequentially in order of execution.

 Once a macro has been defined, it is best to test it before using it on the air.  When a macro button is invoked, the text is immediately placed in the TX text window for transmission.  If HamScope is not currently in transmit mode, this text will not be sent until you activate the PTT button (F5) to start the text transmission (or the <TX> keyword appears at the beginning of the macro text).  One can iterate in defining the macro and examining it’s expansion in the TX window, then clearing the text before the next trial until you achieve the desired result. If you wish to have the macro invoke the transmitter, simply add <TX> to the beginning of the macro after testing is completed.


AutoMacro
AutoMac – Automatic Macro Execution

The AutoMac button controls the periodic execution of HamScope macros. This function allows the user to set up periodic commands, such as an Auto CQ.

Pressing the AutoMac button begins the periodic macro execution function. Pressing it again cancels the automatic macro. Also, the ESC key, and typing text or F-keys withing HamScope cancels the function.

If you right-click on the AutoMac button, HamScope displays the configuration window.

To change the macro button that is invoked, type in the new macro number in the upper box. The macro number of each button is displayed at the top of the macro setup window.

The number of seconds of separation between macro invocations may be typed into the lower box. This time is measured from the completion of the last macro to the beginning of the next. If the macros involve transmitting text, the clock timing the start of the next macro begins when all of the text of the last macro issue has been sent.


Radio Control: None

HamScope supports the use of the radio control window without being connected to an actual transceiver. In this case, the radio dialog is active only for manual operation.

With no radio connected, this option does not attempt to establish a connection through the serial port, but brings up the dialog window to allow manual entry of data.

If a frequency is entered (manually) into the frequency box, it is used by HamScope as if the frequency was obtained via a radio connection. The entered frequency is used for all logging and display purposes within HamScope.

In addition to manually typing the frequency, the lower and right arrow controls will increment and decrement an existing frequency.


Radio Control: ICOM

HamScope supports the use of the radio control window with several ICOM radios (the supported radios are listed in the radio pulldown in the general setup menu).

Please review the computer control section of your radio’s manual prior to hooking up HamScope (and your computer) to your radio.

ICOM radios require a CI-V interface between the computer and the radio to convert from the radio’s TTL logic to the computer’s RS-232. ICOM sells an appropriate interface, or you can build one following the instructions listed in the 1999 ARRL Handbook.

These are the sequence of steps to follow in connecting HamScope to your ICOM radio:

•	Connect the CI-V interface to your computer and radio by following the CI-V and radio manual instructions

•	Set up your radio menus as instructed in your manual. The usual settings are:

•	Transceive mode: on

•	9600 Baud (explicitly setting 9600 Baud instead of Auto may avoid problems)

•	Set the correct base address for your radio as listed in the manual (HamScope will use the default base address)

•	Connect the CI-V to an unused serial COM port on your computer

•	Set HamScope (in the general settings menu) for the above COM port, the correct radio, and 9600 Baud operation

•	Open the Rig Control dialog, HamScope should immediately begin communicating with your radio

If the Rig Window appears to hang, and no information appears, HamScope is probably not communicating with your radio. Double check all your settings and connections, and make sure that:

•	The serial COM port you are using is not in use by another program on your computer

•	The COM port is correctly configured in the Windows My Computer->Control Panel->System->Device Manager settings (and is not being shared by a modem or game device or some such)

•	Try another radio program such as YPLOG and see if it works correctly. If neither YPLOG or HamScope works, chances are very high that something is not configured correctly on your computer, radio, or CI-V interface.

•	If other programs do work, but just HamScope doesn’t, double check all the HamScope settings

You can use hardware PTT through a separate serial COM port, or the same one that is connected for radio control. In both cases, you need to connect to either the RTS or DTR pin on the COM port for the PTT circuit (the CI-V does not use either of these pins for radio control).

You may also use explicit radio commands through the radio control interface for PTT, if you select Rig PTT in the PTT COM box in the general setup menu (and therefore, you will not need a separate PTT circuit). For Rig PTT (and the all radio control functions) to work, you must leave the radio control window up (or iconified) on your computer. If you close this window, HamScope disconnects from the radio.


Radio Control: Kenwood and Ten Tec (using the Kenwood Command Set)

HamScope supports the use of the radio control window with many Kenwood radios.

Please review the computer control section of your radio’s manual prior to hooking up HamScope (and your computer) to your radio. Make certain that your radio supports computer control and has any of the optional features installed that are necessary for computer control.

Kenwood radios require either a serial or special interface between the computer and the radio to convert from the radio’s TTL logic to the computer’s RS-232. Kenwood sells an appropriate interface, or you can build one following the instructions listed in the 1999 ARRL Handbook (in the case of the special interface).

These are the sequence of steps to follow in connecting HamScope to your Kenwood radio:

•	Connect the interface to your computer and radio by following the radio manual instructions

•	Set up your radio menus as instructed in your manual. The usual settings are:

•	9600 Baud

•	One start bit and one stop bit

•	Connect the interface to an unused serial COM port on your computer

•	Set HamScope (in the general setup menu) for the above COM port, a Kenwood radio, and 9600 Baud operation

•	Open the Rig Control dialog, HamScope should immediately begin communicating with your radio

If the Rig Window appears to hang, and no information appears, HamScope is probably not communicating with your radio. Double check all your settings and connections, and make sure that:

•	The serial COM port you are using is not in use by another program on your computer

•	The COM port is correctly configured in the Windows My Computer->Control Panel->System->Device Manager settings (and is not being shared by a modem or game device or some such)

•	Try another radio program such as YPLOG and see if it works correctly. If neither YPLOG or HamScope works, chances are very high that something is not configured correctly on your computer, radio, or interface.

•	If other programs do work, but just HamScope doesn’t, double check all the HamScope settings

You can use hardware PTT through a separate serial COM port, or the same one that is connected for radio control. If you use a separate port for PTT, you need to connect to either the RTS or DTR pin on the COM port for the PTT circuit. If you wish to use the same com port for computer control and PTT, you can only use the DTR pin, as the Kenwood interface requires the RTS pin for its operation.

You may also use explicit radio commands through the radio control interface for PTT, if you select Rig PTT in the PTT COM box in the general setup menu (and therefore, you will not need a separate PTT circuit). For Rig PTT (and the all radio control functions) to work, you must leave the radio control window up (or iconified) on your computer. If you close this window, HamScope disconnects from the radio.

One radio control interface is used for all Kenwood radios. Not all radios support the functions listed in this dialog. Furthermore, HamScope has not been tested with every Kenwood radio. If you find that a particular option does not work, or work properly, either your radio does not support the function, or a problem may exist with HamScope’s implementation given your particular radio.


Radio Control: Ten Tec Pegasus

HamScope supports the use of the radio control window with the Ten Tec Pegasus radio.

Please review the computer control section of your radio’s manual prior to hooking up HamScope (and your computer) to your radio

The Pegasus does not require any special interface for computer control, the control data is passed through a file between the radio and HamScope.

These are the sequence of steps to follow in connecting HamScope to your Pegasus radio:

•	Determine the Pegasus software directory where the file transfer function is configured to operate (usually C:\Pegasus)

•	Select (in the general setup menu) the File Rig COM port option.  A dialog will come up to allow you to enter your Pegasus software directory above

•	Set HamScope (in the general setup menu) for the Pegasus, the Baud rate setting is immaterial

•	Open the Rig Control dialog, HamScope should immediately begin communicating with your radio

If the Rig Window appears to hang, and no information appears, HamScope is probably not communicating with your radio. Double check all your settings, and make sure that:

•	The Pegasus file path is set correctly

•	Do you see Pegasus.in and Pegasus.out files appear in this software directory?

•	Double check all the HamScope settings

You can use a separate port for PTT, you need to connect to either the RTS or DTR pin on the COM port for the PTT circuit to the Pegasus. The Pegasus does not support PTT through radio commands.


Radio Control: Yaesu

HamScope supports the use of the radio control window with several Yaesu radios (the supported radios are listed in the radio pulldown in the general setup menu).

Please review the computer control section of your radio’s manual prior to hooking up HamScope (and your computer) to your radio. Make certain that your radio supports computer control and has any of the optional features installed that are necessary for computer control. Also, some earlier radios of each model do not support the full command set functionality.

Yaesu radios require either a serial or special interface between the computer and the radio to convert from the radio’s TTL logic to the computer’s RS-232. Yaesu sells an appropriate interface, or you can build one following the instructions listed in the 1999 ARRL Handbook (in the case of the special interface).

These are the sequence of steps to follow in connecting HamScope to your Yaesu radio:

•	Connect the interface to your computer and radio by following the radio manual instructions

•	Set up your radio menus as instructed in your manual. The usual settings are:

•	4800 Baud

•	One start bit and two stop bits

•	Connect the interface to an unused serial COM port on your computer

•	Set HamScope (in the general setup menu) for the above COM port, the correct Yaesu radio, and 4800 Baud operation

•	Open the Rig Control dialog, HamScope should immediately begin communicating with your radio

If the Rig Window appears to hang, and no information appears, HamScope is probably not communicating with your radio. Double check all your settings and connections, and make sure that:

•	The serial COM port you are using is not in use by another program on your computer

•	The COM port is correctly configured in the Windows My Computer->Control Panel->System->Device Manager settings (and is not being shared by a modem or game device or some such)

•	Try another radio program such as YPLOG and see if it works correctly. If neither YPLOG or HamScope works, chances are very high that something is not configured correctly on your computer, radio, or interface.

•	If other programs do work, but just HamScope doesn’t, double check all the HamScope settings

You can use hardware PTT through a separate serial COM port, or the same one that is connected for radio control. In either case, you need to connect to either the RTS or DTR pin on the COM port for the PTT circuit

You may also use explicit radio commands through the radio control interface for PTT, if you select Rig PTT in the PTT COM box in the general setup menu (and therefore, you will not need a separate PTT circuit). For Rig PTT (and the all radio control functions) to work, you must leave the radio control window up (or iconified) on your computer. If you close this window, HamScope disconnects from the radio.

If your Yaesu is not specifically listed in the HamScope pulldown menu, chances are that HamScope will not support it properly. There are significant variations between each Yaesu model, HamScope usually must specifically support each model with a unique interface. HamScope is designed to support Yaesu only in the 4800 Baud rate mode, with two stop bits. Any other configuration likely will not work. The difference in performance between 4800 Baud and higher rates is generally not noticeable, as HamScope transfers the minimum amount of data necessary for the operation of the interface.

HamScope implements the latest command set for each model of Yaesu radio. If you have an early version of a model and HamScope does not work with your radio, Yaesu may market a firmware upgrade for your radio to bring it up to the standard command set. Please check with your dealer if you think this could be an issue with your radio.


Status bar

The bottom line of the program contains the UTC time and date as well as the state of the program. One of four states will appear at the left of the status bar: Receiving, Transmitting, Demo Mode Receiving, and Demo Mode Transmitting. A rough CPU loading percentage is also shown, as well as a measure of the received signal total clock error. Additionally, an IMD value of the signal being detected in the main receive window is printed if you are using PSK.  The status bar may be hidden using the view menu item.

Please be cautious about the validity of the IMD value printed by HamScope. This number is only meaningful if ALL of the following are true:

•	There is no distortion being introduced in the receive channel of your station. If your soundcard is being overdriven, or one of your radio’s audio circuits are being overdriven because the incoming signal is strong, the IMD value that HamScope reports is more likely representative of the distortion being introduced at your station rather than an indication of the signal quality being transmitted by the remote station.

•	The transmitted signal is idling. A PSK signal carrying data will have sidebands (sidebands are necessary to carry the data). These sidebands will be interpreted by the IMD algorithm as distortion when, in fact, it is not. The only meaningful way to measure IMD is using a long, idling signal, where the IMD algorithm has time to stabilize to a constant value.

•	The signal is sufficiently strong that the distortion sidebands are above the noise level. If the received signal is only 10 dB above noise level, the IMD reported will be –10dB when, in fact, the transmitted signal may be very clean with an IMD < -30 dB.

It is probably more effective to assess the IMD of the remote station using the HamScope spectrum display, as one can ascertain the relative levels of the signal, distortion sidebands, and background noise level. However, it is better not to provide an IMD estimate to the remote station at all than provide an invalid or incorrect one. An incorrect report may result in the remote operator spending a lot of time trying to fix a distortion problem that does not exist. Please exercise caution and be sure that the IMD value you report is accurate and valid.


Tool Bar

The tool bar, which can be hidden using the view menu item, contains tools for copying, cutting, and pasting to the clipboard.  The RX text file save menu may also be activated, in addition to help, from the tool bar.


HamScope as a DDE Server

HamScope contains a DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) server designed to facilitate communications with external programs. This capability was developed to provide a two-way communications path readily accessible to other developers who are interested in accessing and updating the internal data of HamScope. The current level of functionality is primarily designed to allow both client logging programs and radio control interfaces access to HamScope data. However, it is expected that the functionality of this interface will grow over time to accommodate other uses of the program.

HamScope is a server process, to access and modify its internal data you need only connect to the server using a standard DDE client interface. The actual mechanics of doing this is programming language specific and is beyond the scope of this document. However, it is generally a straightforward process to implement the client, and examples are generally contained within the particular compiler documentation.

To connect a client to the HamScope server, it is necessary to have a map of the keywords that the server responds to. The following description outlines this information.

The HamScope service name is “HamScope” (entered into the client without quotes). This is the name of the server that is used to obtain the handle used to exchange data between applications.

The HamScope service provides a topic called “LogData”; this topic has several data items associated with it. The following is a breakdown of the data items and data description associated with the “LogData” topic.

Topic: LogData

Item: mode. The mode item contains a character string corresponding to the current digital mode that HamScope is using. Possible modes are psk31, cw, rtty, packet, and mfsk16. This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the operating mode that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the mode is changed within HamScope.

Item: call. The call item contains a character string corresponding to the current call that is entered into the Call edit box corresponding to the remote station’s callsign. This is a read-write item (using Peek() and Poke()), it is possible to externally change the callsign that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the callsign is changed within HamScope.

Item: call_c. The call_c item contains a character string corresponding to the current call that is entered into the Call edit box corresponding to the remote station’s callsign. This item is provided for those applications that prefer to receive the complete call sign when the user is finished typing it in the Call text box (the above call item sends the call incrementally as the user types it). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not possible to directly change the block callsign that HamScope is using. Please use the above call item even if you wish to Poke() a complete callsign string to HamScope. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item when the mouse is clicked somewhere outside the Call text box (i.e. the Call text box loses input focus).

Item: name. The name item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s name entered into the Name edit box. This is a read-write item (using Peek() and Poke()), it is possible to externally change the name that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the name is changed within HamScope.

Item: name_c. The name_c item contains a character string corresponding to the current name that is entered into the Name edit box corresponding to the remote operator’s name. This item is provided for those applications that prefer to receive the complete name when the user is finished typing it in the Name text box (the above name item sends the name incrementally as the user types it). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not possible to directly change the block name that HamScope is using. Please use the above name item even if you wish to Poke() a complete name string to HamScope. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item when the mouse is clicked somewhere outside the Name text box (i.e. the Name text box loses input focus).

Item: QTH. The QTH item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s QTH entered by highlighting the QTH in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as QTH” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the QTH that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the QTH is changed within HamScope.

Item: rst_sent. The rst_sent item contains a character string corresponding to the current value of the RST sent to the remote operator, located in the RST edit box. This is a read-write item (using Peek() and Poke()), it is possible to externally change the rst_sent that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the RST is changed within HamScope.

Item: rst_sent_c. The rst_sent_c item contains a character string corresponding to the current RST that is entered into the RST edit box corresponding to the remote station’s RST report. This item is provided for those applications that prefer to receive the complete RST report when the user is finished typing it in the RST text box (the above rst_sent item sends the RST incrementally as the user types it). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not possible to directly change the block RST that HamScope is using. Please use the above rst_sent item even if you wish to Poke() a complete RST string to HamScope. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item when the mouse is clicked somewhere outside the RST text box (i.e. the RST text box loses input focus).

Item: rst_rcv. The rst_rcv item contains a character string corresponding to the RST received from the remote operator, which is entered by highlighting the RST in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as RST Rcv’d” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the rst_rcv that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the rst_rcv is changed within HamScope.

Item: Comment. The Comment item contains a character string corresponding to comment text, entered by highlighting the desired text in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as Comment” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the Comment that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the Comment is changed within HamScope.

Item: ITUZ. The ITUZ item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s ITU zone and is entered by highlighting the ITU zone in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as ITUZ” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the ITUZ that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the ITUZ is changed within HamScope.

Item: CQZ. The CQZ item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s CQ zone and is entered by highlighting the CQ zone in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as CQZ” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the CQZ that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the CQZ is changed within HamScope.

Item: Grid. The Grid item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s grid locator and is entered by highlighting the grid locator in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as Grid” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the Grid that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the Grid is changed within HamScope.

Item: County. The County item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s county and is entered by highlighting the county in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as County” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the County that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the County is changed within HamScope.

Item: City. The City item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s city and is entered by highlighting the city in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as City” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the City that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the City is changed within HamScope.

Item: State. The State item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s state and is entered by highlighting the state in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as State” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the State that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the State is changed within HamScope.

Item: Country. The Country item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s country and is entered by highlighting the country in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as Country” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the Country that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the Country is changed within HamScope.

Item: Continent. The Continent item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s county and is entered by highlighting the continent in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as Continent” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the Continent that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the Continent is changed within HamScope.

Item: seq_rcv. The seq_rcv item contains a character string corresponding to the remote operator’s contest sequence number received and is entered by highlighting the number in the receive text window, then selecting “Send as Seq Rcv” in the text menu (hold the right mouse button down after selecting the text). This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the sequence number that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the sequence number is changed within HamScope.

Item: radio. The radio item contains a character string corresponding to the current radio suppressed carrier frequency that HamScope is using for display and logging purposes. Again, this should be the frequency indicated by the display on your radio, and is only meaningful if you are using HamScope’s radio control interface or connecting a client application that provides a radio interface. This data is in the form of a floating point number represented as a character string. This number must be in megaHertz (MHz), including a decimal point. This is a read-write item (using Peek() and Poke()), it is possible to externally change the suppressed carrier frequency that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the radio frequency is changed within HamScope (or one of its radio control windows).

Item: freq. The freq item contains a character string corresponding to the current soundcard audio signal frequency (in Hz) that HamScope is using for display and logging purposes. The actual operating frequency (the log frequency) of the digital signal being transmitted is the sum of the freq and radio (above) values.  If the radio is in LSB mode and HamScope’s “Radio in LSB” control is checked in the general settings dialog, the value of freq will be negative. Therefore, one always adds these two items to calculate the transmit frequency, the negative freq value will decrement the carrier frequency (radio) if the user has selected “Radio in LSB”.  This data is in the form of an integer number represented as a character string. This number will be in Hertz (Hz), without a decimal point. This is a read-only item (using Peek()). An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the audio frequency is changed within HamScope.

Item: PTT. The PTT item contains a character string corresponding to the current state (transmit/receive) of HamScope. If HamScope is in receive (RX), this item contains the character string “OFF” (without quotes). If you are currently transmitting with HamScope, this item contains the string “ON.” This is a read-only item (using Peek()), it is not currently possible to externally change the operating state that HamScope is using. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item if the PTT status is changed within HamScope.

Item: ext_macro. The ext_macro item provides a mechanism for external programs to transmit arbitrary data using HamScope’s macro facility. Any text Poked() into this item will be used to replace any occurrences of the macro <EXTMAC> found in the user macro facility. This item expects a character string, and it is a read-write item (using Peek() and Poke()). However, HamScope will not change or clear the value of this item, it is up to the external application to manage its contents.

Item: log_it. The log_it item contains a character string corresponding to the last state of HamScope’s LogIt button. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item when HamScope’s LogIt button is pressed. Furthermore, the item will then contain the string “ON.” It is advisable (but not strictly necessary) for the client program to Poke() back the string “OFF” to reset the value of this item within HamScope once the client has completed processing the message. This may be used in the future so HamScope will know when the client is ready to receive more data. Poking back the “ON” string will not cause HamScope to “press” the LogIt button; HamScope currently treats the value of log_it as read-only.

Item: clear. The clear item contains a character string corresponding to the last state of HamScope’s Clear button. An advise callback is sent to the client connected to this item when HamScope’s Clear button is pressed. Furthermore, the item will then contain the string “ON.” It is advisable (but not strictly necessary) for the client program to Poke() back the string “OFF” to reset the value of this item within HamScope once the client has completed processing the message. This may be used in the future so HamScope will know when the client is ready to receive more data. Poking back the “ON” string will not cause HamScope to “press” the Clear button; HamScope currently treats the value of clear as read-only.


Keyboard Shortcuts

The following table lists most of the default keyboard shortcuts that can be used with HamScope.  Several  of these functions are context sensitive, and behave differently depending on which window pane they are pressed in. Note that many of these key/function mappings may be re-assigned using the Customize menu.

Key	Function
Right Arrow	Increase RX frequency by 1 Hz, if the upper window is active. Increase 2RX frequency by 1 Hz, if the lower window is active.
Left Arrow	Decrease RX frequency by 1 Hz, if the upper window is active. Decrease 2RX frequency by 1 Hz, if the lower window is active.
Up Arrow	Increase RX frequency by 10 Hz, if the upper window is active. Increase 2RX frequency by 10 Hz, if the lower window is active.
Down Arrow	Decrease RX frequency by 10 Hz, if the upper window is active. Decrease 2RX frequency by 10 Hz, if the lower window is active.
Page UP	Increase signal view ZOOM factor by one
Page DN	Decrease signal view ZOOM factor by one
Esc - Escape Key	Immediately halts transmission and switches HamScope to receiving mode
Ctrl+A	Select ALL in the RX or TX text window (depending on where cursor is)
Ctrl+C	Copy selected text to the clipboard
Ctrl+S	Opens RX text window file save menu
Ctrl+V	Pastes clipboard contents into TX text window.
Ctrl+X	Cuts selected text into the clipboard
Ctrl+Z	Undo last clipboard operation
Alt+C	Opens rig control menu
Alt+D	Opens DemoMode menu
Alt+E	Opens Edit menu
Alt+F	Opens File menu
Alt+H	Opens Help menu
Alt+R	Clears all text in the RX text window
Alt+S	Opens Settings menu
Alt+V	Opens View menu
Alt+X	Clears all text in the TX text window
Alt+TAB	The windows focus key useful for swapping between programs (HamScope and YPLOG for example)
F1	Dual Receive function toggle
F2	2AFC button toggle
F3	AFC button toggle
F4	NET button toggle
F5	Toggle TX button
F6	Send CW ID
F7	Toggle Reverse Polarity button
F8	Toggle TX TUNE button
F9	Toggle TX PAUSE button
F10	Moves focus to menu bar
F11	Executes the first log window macro (CQ DX)
F12	Executes the second log window macro (CQ)
Shift+F1	Toggle BPF button (Band Pass Filter)
Shift+F2	Toggle Notch Filter button
Shift+F3	Toggle UOS (Unshift on Space) button
Shift+F4	Toggle Fixed RTTY Shift button


Customize Key Mapping Tool

This tool is used to modify the default mapping between “hotkeys” in HamScope, and the functions that they invoke. When you select the Settings – Customize Menu , a window appears that displays the current function mapping:

To delete a mapping, highlight the line that begins with the desired key name, then hit the Delete or Backspace key on the keyboard. To add a mapping, select the key again with the mouse, then click the “Link Ctrl” button to bring up the following dialog:

In this dialog, highlight the function that you want the previously selected key to invoke, then press OK. When finished mapping the desired keys, select OK in the previous dialog to exit the key mapping tool. Select “Close” if you change your mind and wish to return to the previous dialog without making a selection.

Note: You cannot redefine a key over an existing mapping. Delete the existing mapping first, then assign a new mapping to the key.

It is also not possible to mess up the key mapping system. When key mappings are deleted, they are transferred to the second dialog for display. It is a simple matter to re-select these and re-assign them to keys. Mappings will never be “lost,” so feel free to experiment with the key mapping controls.


Operation Hints and Tips

The best way to become familiar with HamScope is to start experimenting with the functions and control interface.  In actual operation, the use of the up, down, left, and right arrow keys for adjusting the receive frequency is very convenient.  There is usually never a need to touch the mouse to be able to tune a signal.  Most of the function keys are defined similarly to Peter Martinez's PSKsbw program so it should be easy to transfer between the two.

The actual Transmit/Receive frequency is your USB radio dial frequency setting plus the audio frequency displayed in HamScope (unless you use rig control).  If your radio is set to use LSB, the actual frequency is calculated by subtracting the audio frequency from your dial setting.  For example if your transceiver is in the USB mode and reads 14070.00Hz and your audio frequency is 1500 Hz, then your actual transmit/receive frequency is 14071.50Hz. If you use rig control, the actual transmit and receive frequency is indicated directly on the HamScope display.

The signal view is about as wide as the audio bandwidth on most receivers.  Placing the tranceiver's frequency at the bottom of the band you wish to operate and using the USB mode, one can "see" almost all the signal activity over a 3 kHz band.  Using a ZOOM factor of one gives the best overall view and is still precise enough to accurately tune signals.

The TX and RX frequencies are limited between 100 and 2750 Hz. However, it is best to avoid operating at the display edges because transmitters may have limitations at very low and very high audio frequencies.

Do not send text in all upper case letters in base PSK or MFSK16.  PSK31 and MFSK16 were designed to send the most commonly used letters such as 'e' and 't' much faster than the lesser-used letters such as 'z'.  Uppercase letters require much more time to transmit.  In all the HamScope modes, simply type as you would normally and capitalize letters as needed. Avoiding excessive use of capital letters is not important for ASCII or RTTY as all characters take the same amount of time to send in these modes. The common practice is to send callsigns in upper case.  In fact, HamScope converts your call and "Theircall" to upper case automatically when using macros.

Make sure your PC’s time and date are set correctly.  This information is not transmitted but is useful for your own logging purposes.

If you feel that HamScope uses too much total screen area, go to the view menu and disable the toolbar and status bar views.  The removal of these two features provides more area for the program.  Also, adjust the screen size such that the bottom part of the screen does not have a scroll bar, as that wastes room as well. If you still need more area and do not care about the second receive capability, you can slide the bar below the lower receive window up and shrink this window to zero size. This will allow you to adjust the remaining windows to minimum size and provide more free screen space.

Use the drag and drop capability of HamScope with care.  Dragging text into the transmit edit box while transmitting or into the middle of the transmitted text may not yield the desired result.  It's best to do all "dragging and dropping" prior to beginning a transmission. Also, exercise care when pasting text from the clipboard into the TX text window while transmitting.  In this case, make sure you paste at the end of the existing text.


Known Problems and Issues

The AFC does not always lock precisely on frequency.  This occasionally occurs on signals that are distorted or contain multipath distortion.

The receive Window scrolling function still needs work.  The current line occasionally leaves the scroll view.  This requires clicking on the scroll bar to get it back inside the view window.

The CW mode is suboptimal in this implementation. More work needs to be done in increasing it’s sensitivity and adjusting to the WPM of the incoming signal.


Further References

Several sources are available on the WEB that give more details and information on PSK31.

•	Peter Martinez G3PLX. "PSK31: A new radio-teletype mode with a traditional philosophy"

•	Peter Martinez G3PLX. "PSK31 Fundamentals"

•	Peter Martinez G3PLX. "Description of the Half-Rate QPSK code proposed for the QPSK/FEC Extension to PSK31"

•	Steve Ford, WB8IMY "PSK31-Has RTTY's Replacement Arrived?" QST May,1999

•	The "Official" PSK31 web site is http://aintel.bi.ehu.es/psk31.html

•	Moe Wheatley’s very nice technical guide, the "WinPSK Technical Reference Manual"

Other references on FEC and PSK include:

[1] MixW  by UT2UZ, Nick Fedoseev, http://tav.kiev.ua/~nick/mixw/mixw.htm

[2] Digipan  by KH6TY, Howard Teller, http://members.home.com/hteller/digipan

[3] P31sbw by G3PLX, Peter Martinez, http://www.kender.es/~edu/psk31.html

[4] WinPSK by AE4JY, Moe Wheatley, http://www.qsl.net/ae4jy

Other information on PSK31 and digital modes can be found at http://www.kender.es/~edu/psk31.html or http://www.qsl.net/kk7lk/psk31.htm

[5] ARRL Technical Descriptions, ARRL HF Digital Handbook, and ARRL 1999 Handbook for Radio Amateurs, Chapter 12. The American Radio Relay League, Newington, CT 06111 USA

[6] MFSK16 is discussed in detail at http://www.qsl.net/zl1bpu/MFSK.