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PAGE i RIG-EQF Version 1.50 Control Program for Kenwood Radios. Copyright (C) 1992 Thomas J. Dandrea N3EQF ------------ USER'S GUIDE ------------ Rig-EQF is copyrighted by the author, and has been released for public distribution as "Shareware" or "User Supported" software, for use by radio amateurs and SWL's. The author reserves all rights to this software under copyright laws. Registered users of Rig-EQF are provided notification of program revisions and technical support if required. The registration fee for Rig-EQF is only $10.00. If you enjoy using Rig-EQF, please encourage further program development by notifying the author at the address below. ----------------------- Tom Dandrea N3EQF 396 Sautter Drive Coraopolis, PA 15108 USA ----------------------- (412) 457-2584 _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER Improvements and revisions to Rig-EQF will be made in direct proportion to the number of requests for them. Your comments about the program and suggestions for improvement are welcome. PAGE ii ------------------------- CONTENTS ----------------------------- PAGE NUMBER ----------- Definition of Shareware & Disclaimer.............iii Registration and Support & Ombudsman.............iv 1. Rig-EQF Overview............................1.0 2. Installation................................2.0 3. Operation...................................3.0 4. PROGRAM SCAN CONTROL........................4.0 5. LOCAL MEMORY CONTROL........................5.0 PAGE iii DEFINITION OF SHAREWARE ----------------------- Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT ---------------------- Users of Rig-EQF must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "Rig-EQF is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of Rig-EQF." Rig-EQF is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using Rig-EQF and continue to use Rig-EQF after a reasonable trial period, you must make a registration payment of $10 to N3EQF. The $10 registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. Anyone distributing Rig-EQF for any kind of remuneration must first contact N3EQF at the address above for authorization. This authorization will be automatically granted to distributors recognized by the (ASP) as adhering to its guidelines for shareware distributors, and such distributors may begin offering Rig-EQF immediately (However N3EQF must still be advised so that the distributor can be kept up-to-date with the latest version of Rig- EQF). You are encouraged to pass a copy of Rig-EQF along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to register their copy if they find that they can use it. All registered users will receive a copy of the latest version of the Rig-EQF system. PAGE iv REGISTRATION AND SUPPORT POLICY ------------------------------- To become a registered user of Rig-EQF, you must send a $10 fee to the author at the address below: ┌───────────────────────────────┐ │ Tom Dandrea, N3EQF │ │ 396 Sautter Drive │ │ Coraopolis, PA 15108-9244 │ │ │ │ Phone: (412) 457-2584 │ └───────────────────────────────┘ To register, use the form shown on the following page, or provide the information below in any readible format to N3EQF: - Current version number of Rig-EQF you're using. - The type of floppy disk you require (i.e., 360K) - Your amateur callsign. - Complete mailing address. When you become a registered user, you are provided the following: 1. The current version of Rig-EQF will be sent upon receipt of payment. The program will be supplied on the floppy type you specify. 2. You will be automatically notified when major revisions to Rig-EQF are released. 3. Technical support is available at the above address and phone number, for a minimum period of 6 months after the registration date. N3EQF makes every attempt to correct any problems reported about the use of the Rig-EQF program. I also welcome constructive critism and suggestions for improvement. The current version of Rig-EQF rep- resents the collective input received from registered users in the last two years. OMBUDSMAN --------- Tom Dandrea, N3EQF, is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware priciple works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contracting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. REGISTRATION FORM PAGE v Rig-EQF 1.50 Registration and Order Form Your Name: _______________________________Callsign:_____________ Address: _______________________________________________________ City: _____________________________ State/Province: ____________ Country: ____________________________ Zip/Postcode: ____________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Make: _________________________ Model: ________________ Video: __MDA __CGA __EGA __MCGA __VGA __Hercules Other:_________ Monitor: __Monochrome __Color __Black-and-White Other___________ DOS Version: ________ Do you have a hard disk? __Yes __No Floppy diskette sizes you use: 5 1/4" __360Kb __1.2Mb 3 1/2" __720Kb __1.44Mb Other (please specify): _____________________________________ Printer Make: _____________________ Model: _____________________ Do you use expanded or extended memory? __Yes __No Do you use a mouse? _____________________________________________ What model(s) of Kenwood radio do you have interfaced to Rig-EQF? __________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for taking the time to fill out and send in this information. It will help me to provide you with even better software and service in the future. And thanks for supporting the shareware concept. Rig-EQF Registration ...............................: $10.00 * For orders outside of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, please add $3.00 shipping and handling. Total: $_________ Please indicate the disk size you prefer: .... __5 1/4" __3 1/2" Payment must be in U.S. funds, drawn on a U.S. bank. Please send the completed form, along with a check or money order to: Tom Dandrea, N3EQF Technical Support: (412) 457-2584 396 Sautter Drive Coraopolis, PA 15108 U.S.A. PAGE 1.0 1. RIG-EQF OVERVIEW -------------------- Rig-EQF provides computer control over Kenwood radios that utilize the IF-232C (or internal) interface. Various radio parameters can be controlled and monitored via the computer, increasing the power and flexibility of your station. Rig-EQF can even be used to control up to four radios, with fast easy switching between the serial communications ports. Below are a few of the radio functions supported by Rig-EQF: - Large digital display of current VFO frequency. - Control over VFO frequency with direct entry. - Shift current frequency up or down in 1MHz increments. - Tune current frequency in small variable-rate increments. - Switch between VFO's, select SPLIT, or set VFO's equal. - Lock current frequency. - RIT and XIT control for radios with these features. - Sophisticated programmable scanning, including lower and upper frequency limits, frequency increment, and scanning rate. - LOCAL MEMORY control; an advanced memory system providing storage of radio parameters on the computer's disk. - Transmit/Receive control for transceivers. - Mouse control over most functions. PAGE 2.0 RIG-EQF INSTALLATION ------------------- Rig-EQF may be installed on any IBM-compatible DOS computer, as long as the DOS is Version 2.1 or higher. The only other requirement is that at least one communications (serial) port is installed on the computer; using ports COM1 through COM4. The COM ports are configured as follows: Port Name I/O Address Interrupt Request COM1 3F8 IRQ4 COM2 2F8 IRQ3 COM3 3E8 IRQ2 COM4 2E8 IRQ5 To install Rig-EQF, just copy all files from the distribution disk to a directory on your hard drive, or onto another floppy if your computer does not have a hard drive. There is only one file required to operate Rig-EQF. It is named RIG-EQF.EXE. Once Rig-EQF runs, a file called RIG-EQF.CNF will be created. This file stores parameters like the serial port number and scanning limits, for reuse each time the program runs. Once you use the LOCAL MEMORY feature in Rig-EQF, other files will be created to store memory information. Memory files always end in ".MEM". Connect your Kenwood radio to one of the serial ports on your computer (COM1 through COM4), following the recommendations in your Kenwood manual. You should use a good quality serial cable, preferably sheided, and one that uses (at least) 5 wires. These 5 wires are standard for RS-232C devices (like your Kenwood radio), but occasionally 3-wire cables are sold. A 3-wire "RS-232C" cable will not work correctly with this program! The names of the 5 signals (thus 5 wires) required for proper operation are: Ground, Receive Data, Transmit Data, Clear To Send, and Request to Send. With your radio connected to one of the computer's serial ports, turn on the radio and the IF-232C level translator (the IF-232C is not required for some Kenwood models), and then start Rig-EQF. Rig-EQF will attempt to communicate with the COM1 port. If the program does not receive information from COM1, it will prompt you to choose from a pop-up menu the correct COM port to activate. If the communication link is established successfully, the Main Screen of Rig-EQF will appear. If you have problems getting Rig-EQF to run initially, try starting the program specifying the serial communications port for your radio after the program name. For example, if your radio is connected to the COM2 serial port of your computer, type "RIG-EQF 2". PAGE 3.0 3. RIG-EQF OPERATION -------------------- Operation of Rig-EQF is straight-forward; there are no hidden commands. All the available commands are displayed on the program screens. The commands themselves consist of a single letter or function key, and each command is shown on the screen next to its corresponding function. Note that some commands are not available with certain Kenwood models. In most cases, if the command is not available for the radio currently in use, they will not appear on the screen. For example, the transmit/receive, Split, and XIT/RIT controls will have no affect with the R5000 receiver. You may also use your computer's mouse to control the radio commands. Simply move the mouse cursor to the first letter in the command displayed on the screen, and click the left mouse button. The operation of each command is described below: <A> Pressing the letter "A" allows you to enter a new frequency in VFO A. A cursor will appear at the upper right of the screen, at the position where the existing frequency for VFO A is displayed. You may then enter the desired frequency. There are two ways to enter frequency; either using decimal points in the proper places, or by stringing digits together in sequence like you would at the radio's front panel. When you hit <Enter> or <Return>, the new frequency will be entered. The "B" key activates VFO B frequency entry. This works exactly the same way as for VFO A, above. <=> Hitting the "=" key (equals sign) stores the currently displayed (tuned) frequency into both VFO's. <V> The "V" key causes a switch from the current VFO to the opposite VFO. If VFO A is currently selected, VFO B will become the active VFO. The mode settings active when the opposite VFO were in use will be recalled with that VFO, the same as if VFO's were switched from the radio panel. <S> Pressing the "S" key will turn the SPLIT function on if it was off, or turn in off it was already on. The word "SPLIT" will appear at the upper left of the display, next to the large frequency digits, when it is selected. <D> The "D" key moves the present frequency DOWN 1 MHz. The "U" key moves the present frequency UP 1 MHz. PAGE 3.1 <Page Down> key moves the frequency DOWN in small increments. The smallest increment, available when the key is first depreseed, is 10 Hz. If you hold the key down for a few seconds, the rate will increase to 100 Hz, and then finally to 1 Khz. If you release the key for a second or two, the rate will return again to the slow 10 Hz. rate. The displayed frequency will continuously be updated as you tune. <Page Up> key moves the frequency UP in the same manner as above. <Space Bar> is used as the TRANSMIT/RECEIVE switch for transceivers. When the radio is transmitting, a flashing TRANSMIT indicator will appear at the top of the screen. <M> The "M" key is used to change the radio MODE. When you hit the key, a box will appear, presenting the available modes to pick from. Use the <Up> and <Down> arrow keys to highlight the proper mode, and then hit <Enter>. <R> Hit the "R" key to turn the RIT function on or off. If the RIT is on, the offset will be displayed at the upper right of the display. If the RIT is off, the word "off" will appear in its place. To adjust the RIT offset, use the <Right> and <Left> arrow keys to tune up or down, respectively. <X> The "X" key turns the XIT control on or off. Operation or the XIT is the same as for RIT. <Z> Pressing the letter "Z" will ZERO the XIT and RIT offsets. This key zeros the offset reqardless of whether the RIT or XIT is on or off. The "I" key allows you to switch from the currently-selected COM port to another COM port (and thus another Kenwood radio). When you select this option, a pop-up menu will appear, presenting you with a selection for each of the possible COM ports. If you select a port which is not configured, or no response is received from the radio, Rig-EQF will beep and wait for you to make another selection. (You may have to repeat the same selection more than once if you first select the wrong port). The letter "P" is used to select the PROGRAM SCAN CONTROL. A new menu will be presented showing SCAN options. See Section 4 of this manual for descriptions of the SCAN controls. <O> Hitting "O" (not zero, but "O") enables the LOCAL MEMORY CONTROL. See Section 5 for a description of this system. PAGE 4.0 PROGRAM SCAN CONTROL -------------------- The PROGRAM SCAN CONTROL screen is used to control the parameters related to the scanning function, and to start and stop the scanning process. The keys and their operation are described below: <L> The "L" key is used to enter the LOWER, or starting frequency for the scan. The frequency is entered in Mhz. The frequency you enter here is where the scan process will start. Use the "U" key to enter the UPPER, or stopping frequency for the scan. This is the frequency limit (in Mhz) which causes the scan to begin again at the lower frequency. The "I" key is used to enter the INCREMENT frequency. This is the size of the "step" between each frequency change during the scan. The increment frequency is entered in Khz, and the smallest increment available is 10 Hz, or 0.01 Khz. The letter "P" sets the PAUSE time, in seconds, between scan increments. The smallest pause time possible is 0.25 seconds. (NOTE: With some computer and radio combinations, scanning at a very fast rate can result in intermitent errors. If you experience this problem, just make the pause time slightly longer). <Space Bar> is used to START and STOP the scan. If the current VFO frequency is between the LOWER and UPPER scan limits, the scan will begin at the current frequency. If the current VFO frequency is outside the limits, the scan will begin at the lower limit. You can use the <Space Bar> to momentarily pause during the scan, and then start it again where it left off. <Esc> key is used to leave the scan screen, and return to the Main Screen functions. PAGE 5.0 LOCAL MEMORY CONTROL -------------------- The LOCAL MEMORY system allows you to store and recall radio information, along with a brief description of each memory entry. The following keys are available from this screen: <Up> and <Down> Arrow Keys are used to select the memory line to be saved or recalled. Each "Page" of memories contains 22 lines, and each line is one memory. <F1> This function key is used to store the present radio information (Frequency, VFO, Mode, Split), on the currently-highlighted line. When you first hit this key, the current status of the radio (as indicated by the window at the lower right corner of the screen) will be captured and saved. A cursor will appear in the "COMMENT" column of the highlighted line. You may then enter a brief description of this memory for identification. <F2> Hitting the <F2> function key will recall the memory shown by the currently-highlighted line. This means your radio will change to the frequency and mode (as well as split, if that's what the condition was when the memory was saved) to reflect that memory line. Hitting the <Return> or <Enter> key will do the same thing as this function key. <F3> This key will display a cursor at the "FREQUENCY" column of the currently-highlighted memory line. You may type in a frequency different than the one displayed, or you can hit <Enter> to keep the original frequency. Once you hit <Enter>, the cursor will move to the "MODE" column, the next time you hit <Enter> the cursor will move to the "VFO" column, and finally to the "COMMENT" column. At each location, you may either type in new information or just hit <Enter> to keep the old information. <F4> The <F4> function key displays the existing memory files for the current disk directory. You can select an existing memory by positioning the highlight bar to the file name, and hitting the <Enter> key. The memories contained in that file will then be displayed. You can create new pages by hitting any other key besides the arrow keys. This will cause a prompt to appear at the bottom of the screen, asking you to enter a memory file name. A new file will be created, using the first 8 characters you supply at the prompt. The last four characters of the file are always ".MEM", and the Rig-EQF program will automatically add these characters. Memory files are always located in the current disk directory, as indicated at the lower left corner of the memory page screen. You may also select another disk directory by hitting the <F1> key, to access other memory files. PAGE 5.1 <Esc> Hitting the <Esc> key returns you to the Main Screen. <Page Up> and <Page Down> will tune the radio frequency of the current VFO up or down, the same as on the Main Screen. ---------- Copyright (C) 1992 -- Thomas J. Dandrea -- N3EQF --------------