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Text File | 1994-06-10 | 16KB | 305 lines

DIALog.EXE Computer Control Program for NRD-525 Copyright 1994 by Charles E. Gillen All rights reserved 11306 Fairway Drive, Reston VA 22090-4410 phone: (703) 742-9497 Internet: gillen@cais.com This is an original program made available to you by the author for your non-commercial use. It was developed specifically to control the NRD-525 receiver, and will NOT control the NRD-535. Special thanks are due Thomas Wenger of the University of Berne, Switzerland, who provided a code fragment that was expanded into the 'Z' command (new to this version). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DIALog automates the receiver tuning functions a shortwave listener needs to browse around the bands, and offers these major features: Dual VFOs with individual frequency, bandwidth, mode, AGC, tuning step, and attenuation settings. Your 525 is now TWO receivers at once. Complete computer control of all 525 functions capable of remote control. These are: frequency, mode, bandwidth, AGC, and attenuation. (Channel selection is not available, as this is used to produce the program's dual VFO feature). You won't even have to glance at the receiver (except perhaps to adjust the volume). Ability to read manual settings from the receiver and update the computer's display to match (in case you forgot yourself and changed the receiver manually). Internal log file generator which by a single key-press records the frequency, time, and mode of the signal and then prompts for a callsign, signal report and comment. The log is a plain ASCII file with line length limited to 79 characters, so it can be edited with any word processor or editor. Simple, visual interface using keys easy to remember and reach on the keyboard. Letter commands are NOT case-sensitive. DIALog works by taking over and controlling the last two memory channels, but does not affect the contents of the other channels at all. It was not designed to load entire sets of frequencies into memory, as some commercial programs do, but rather was optimized for just 'dialing around'. The latter activity is greatly facilitated by step-tuning: you can step through an international broadcast band just by setting a starting frequency and then tapping the spacebar. Having two VFOs enables you to catch both frequencies of a duplex transmission, such as maritime ship-to-shore, and jump between them with the / key. Or use the X key to store one interesting station, and then continue dialing around... if you find what seems to be the same station on another frequency, just hit / to compare them. --------------------------------------------------------------------- STARTING UP: The .ZIP file contains only one executable and this documentation. There are no configuration files. In use, the program will, if you wish, create and maintain a monitoring log file in simple ACSII format. DIALog is a single compressed executable. To start, just type in the name at the DOS prompt and hit [Enter]. After the opening screen, it will ask you to indicate whether your receiver is on Com1 or Com2. Hit the '1' or '2' key to select; [Enter] will default to Com1. Next you are asked to choose to keep the log by Day, Month, or Year. [Enter] defaults to 'Year'. Your choice is valid ONLY for the current session, until you quit the program. The log file will be saved in the active directory of the drive from which the program was started. Each daily log will be named like DIAL0524.TXT (created on May 24), and will keep all entries saved to it on that day (as understood by the computer clock). A new log file with a different name would be created the next day you use the program and select a 'Daily' log. A monthly log will be named like DIAL9405.TXT (for May 1994) and all log entries made during the calendar month will be appended to it; the same file will be used automatically until the month changes, when an additional monthly file is created with a new name. The default annual log works similarly, with a filename such as DIAL94.TXT. The next startup choices are your display preferences: 40 or 80-column mode, and normal or reversed video. The 80-column mode is more attractive if you have an older laptop with an excessively wide display, while the 40-column mode looks better on a more conventional monitor. The DIALog display is simple CGA monochrome for the widest compatibility. [Enter] defaults to 40-columns and normal video. If you forgot to turn on the receiver first, or indicated a comm port that is not connected to the receiver, you will see an appropriate error message and the program will re-start. If all is well, this screen appears: ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ Freq: 10,000.0 ▒▒ Freq: ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ████████████████ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒─────────────────────▒▒─────────────────────▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ Bwidth: ▄███▄ ▒▒ Bwidth: ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ Mode: A m ▒▒ Mode: ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ aGc: >>>>> ▒▒ aGc: ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ step: -|- 5.0 ▒▒ step: ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ aTt: ▒▒ aTt: ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ < Sp > / X 0531=-? [\] N C Z R Q ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ █▓▒░ NRD-525 Control Program ░▒▓█ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 11:21 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 05-03 ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ As a form of reassuring self-check, upon startup DIALog tunes in WWV. On the left, you see your 525 is set at 10,000 kHz with the wide bandwidth filter, AM mode, fast AGC, step tuning UP at a 5 kHz increment, and no attenuation. Note the CAPITAL letters for Freq, Bwidth (filter), Mode, aGc, and aTt (attenuation). All these settings can be changed by hitting the appropriate CAPITAL letter. In the horizontal panel at bottom is a reminder of other DIALog commands: < Tune DOWN in frequency using the current step. The step indicator will now point DOWN, as a reminder. > Tune UP in frequency using the current step. The step indicator points UP. Sp [Spacebar] will tune one step up or down, depending on how the step indicator points. Just by tapping the spacebar, you can step-tune through a particular band with the step increment of your choice. Setting the step is covered further below. / Switch to other VFO. The first time you do this, you'll find WWV at 15 mHz there. The graphic bar under the frequency tells you whether the left or right VFO is in use. Any changes you make to one VFO have no effect on the other. X Remember this as 'eXchange' because that's what it does. All the settings on the current VFO are copied over to the other VFO so you can get back to them later. This is handy when you want to save the station you are listening to now, so you can continue looking around. 0531=-? Tuning step commands At any time you can change the tuning step of the current VFO by hitting 0 for 10 kHz, or 5 for 5 kHz. 3 and 1 work the same way, but the = and - give you a .5 kHz and .1 kHz step respectively. To set any other tuning increment you wish (to a maximum of 500 kHz) just hit the '?' mark and type it in. The new step will be shown on the current VFO. [\] Receiver incremental tuning (RIT) The [ and ] will tune the frequency .1 kHz down or up, and this RIT functon will be shown as a 'degree' mark next to the frequency display. Hitting the \ will turn off the RIT and return to the original frequency setting. Please note that this computer-controlled RIT is merely a convenient emulation and has nothing to do with the 525's built-in RIT control. N Note to log file The basic log file produced by this program may be regarded as a handy block of automatic data that can be added to your 'real' master log in your favorite word processor or editor, and there sorted, printed or otherwise manipulated as desired. I suggest you set your computer clock to UTC time to facilitate accurate logging. To make an entry in the log file for the station on the current VFO, hit N. (If you DON'T want to log the station, hit [Esc] to escape.) DIALog will save the date, time, frequency, and mode (as A, U or L). You will be asked to type in a signal report of 1 to 5 (you might assess 'adequate' reception as a '3'), a 10-character station I.D. and a comment of up to 38 characters. You could type an actual callsign (if known) as the station I.D. or any short word such as BBC, Moscow, or USAF. Maximum lengths of all the input fields are shown on the screen, and you can't exceed them. [Enter] alone will usually skip an input field. FYI, your station I.D. entry will be converted to upper case, but the comment will retain the case you typed. Also note that this program does not sort entries inside the log file, it merely records them in the sequence in which they were entered. However, the log file is easy to sort in a good word processor or editor. Thus for the longer monthly or yearly log files, you could sort them by frequency, print out, sort again by date/time and print again. Sort and print again by station I.D., et cetera. C Clocks This is merely a simple way to toggle through a few time stations (both WWV and CHU) as a fast way to check reception conditions. Z ZEROing Think of 'zero-beat'. This command will check how the receiver is actually set at the moment, and then update the computer display to match. For example, if you have a memory lapse, forget the computer is controlling the receiver, and manually change the frequency or other receiver setting, this command will set everything OK again. It forces the receiver to report the state of all six settings under computer control; if any or all settings don't agree with the computer display, the latter is 'corrected' to match. When the command is used, the appropriate frequency display is temporarily replaced by the word 'ZEROing!' and a beep will be heard. R Restart or Reconfigure If you want to change the 40/80 normal/reverse display just hit the 'R' and start over. Current VFO settings are lost. Q Quit. Enough said. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- MAIN VFO SETTINGS F Frequency. Hit 'F' and then a few digits to set mHz, for example F 12 [Enter] instantly tunes 12,000 on the current VFO. Decimals such as 14.2 are OK. After hitting 'F' you could also input a specific frequency, such as 15070 and then [Enter]. In the latter case, decimals such as 15070.5 are NOT accepted. B Bandwidth. Tapping 'B' repeatedly should cycle through all four filter bandwidths (at least it does on my 525, which has the optional 1,000 and 300 Hz filters besides the built-in AM and SSB filters. It is also possible to hit 'W' or 'I' directly to switch to the wide or intermediate filter. M Mode. This version of DIALog supports only the AM, USB and LSB modes. To my chagrin, I found that the CW mode was unusable with computer control because the BFO seemed to detune itself or even drop out of oscillation. You will see that AM uses the wide filter, while either sideband uses the narrower SSB filter. Hinted on the display is the fact that the letters A, U and L can also be used directly to set the mode to Am, Usb and Lsb. G AGC. Tapping 'G' toggles between fast, slow, and off AGC settings shown graphically as '>>>>>', '> > >', and '_____'. T Attenuation. 'On' status is displayed graphically, 'Off' is not. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reducing Computer Interference I chose the Toshiba T-1000 laptop as the 525 controller because its slow 4.77 mHz clock gave me a headstart in fighting computer-generated interference, and the Toshiba seems fairly well shielded. Faster CPU speeds might create more noise. All the cables between the receiver and computer wear snap-on RF chokes of the type available from Radio Shack. I found that the Toshiba's LCD display itself generated considerable noise at some frequencies, and so switch to a composite monitor sometimes. The combination of these efforts has been fairly successful, and my computer-525 setup is adequately noise-free throughout the spectrum. My laptop sits a foot or two away from the receiver, which is fed by about 40' of coax to a simple outside wire antenna. On the whole, occasional seasonal QRN or local QRM from electrical appliances is more nuisance than any noise from my laptop, under the above conditions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Final Comments: DIALog works by taking over and controlling the last two memory channels, but does not affect the contents of the other channels at all. It was not designed to load entire sets of frequencies into memory, as some commercial programs do, but rather was optimized for just 'dialing around'. The latter activity is greatly facilitated by step-tuning: you can step through an international broadcast band just by setting a starting frequency and then tapping the spacebar. I far prefer deliberate step-tuning (where you are fully in control) to the 525's hands-off channel scanning. Having two VFOs enables you to catch both frequencies of a duplex transmission, such as maritime ship-to-shore, and jump between them with the / key. Or use the X key to store one interesting station, and then continue dialing around... if you find what seems to be the the same station on another frequency, just hit / to compare them.