QRZ! Ham Radio 4

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Text File | 1992-01-12 | 22.0 KB | 716 lines

EASY FAX instruction manual =========================== GENERAL INFORMATION ------------------- EASY FAX is a non-professional radio facsimile tool. Completely developed using the Turbo C language this software is intended for free exchange, any use of this software for commercial aim is forbidden. Unlike others software for facsimile reception, EASY FAX does not require any type of interface to connect the audio of the receiver to the computer; in each case , to increase the sensitivity of the system, the insertion of a signal-squarer is to prefer. To receive amplitude modulated sub-carrier signals (such as weather-satellite signals) a voltage-to-frequency converter is required; it must be preceded by a band pass filter tuned on the sub-carrier frequency (usually 2400Hz or 1200Hz),the output of this one have to be rectified before the introduction into the same converter. More detail on the hardware explained later. The computer must be IBM 100% compatible with at least 640kbyte of memory, 1 hard disk, 1 Very enhanced Graphics Array adapter board (VGA), 1 RS232 serial adapter. Intel 80286,80386 or 80486 microprocessor-based computers are prefered, especially if the 240 lines per minute reception is request, on the 8088/8086 or very slow 80286 computers the software frequency sampler implemented by the EASY FAX program may not allow reception of higher lines per minute fax signals. Probably EASY FAX can run with MS-DOS 2.0 or later, in each case an MS-DOS 3.0 or later is to be prefered. INSTALLATION PROCEDURE ---------------------- To run correctly, EASY FAX has to be copied into a sub-directory of your hard disk, once this operation is done, you have to decide where is the place to put the image files, i.e. in what sub-directory or disk you want to store it. The mean to specify this sub-directory is the enviromental variable EF_PATH. The set of EF_PATH can be done into your autoexc.bat file including the line : SET EF_PATH=[disk id:][directory path]; for example if you want to place your received images into the sub-directory \EASYFAX\IMAGES of disk drive E:, you must add in your autoexec.bat this line : SET EF_PATH=E:\EASYFAX\IMAGE All disk identifier is valid, in each case the use of a floppy disk such as A: or B: isn't a good idea, due to the slow data flow who they can support. The lenght of the path name can't exceed 26 characters. If you prefer instead of the above operation, you can create a batch-file like this explained below: SET EF_PATH=E:\EASYFAX\IMAGE EASYFAX %1 SET EF_PATH= Running this file (called for example EF.BAT) instead of EASYFAX.EXE, you can release the memory occupied by the enviromental variable, once the EASY FAX session is ended. The %1 parameter is useful to permit the access to the EASY FAX setup. Remember that the EF_PATH variable specify the default value, if its setup is missed, the sub-directory where the EASYFAX.EXE file is placed is assumed. EASY FAX SETUP UTILITY ---------------------- The first time you run EASY FAX probably you have to set some parameters in function of your hardware; some of these such as the communications port, the interrupt handler, the brightness and the contrast of video display are accessible only by mean of the /S switch added in the command line; i.e. to enter in setup mode you have to type the command show below: EASYFAX /S After this command is done EASY FAX show you the current setup and wait for changes. In detail the keys actived in this section are the followings: <F1> = change the communications port (COM1:,COM2:,COM3 and COM4 are availables) the interrupt handler is set to the conventional value for the port selected. <F2> = change the interrupt handler (IRQ3 or IRQ4). <Left>/<Right> = move the graphic cursor inside the gray-scale to select the gray bar to modify. <Down> = darken the selected bar. <Up> = brighten the selected bar. <Esc> = accept the changes for this session of EASY FAX but don't store them on disk. <Enter> = accept the changes and store them on disk for next sessions of EASY FAX. The brightness and darkness limits for each gray bar is the value of the two bars respectively on the right and on the left of the bar selected. HARDWARE CONNECTIONS -------------------- Once decided what's the communications port to connect to the radio, the pins of the connector on the rear of computer are assigned as described in the table below: SIGNAL | DB25 PIN # | DB9 PIN # | FUNCTION --------+------------+-----------+---------- GND | 1 & 7 | 5 | GROUND --------+------------+-----------+---------- RTS | 4 | 7 | +12V --------+------------+-----------+---------- DTR | 20 | 4 | -12V --------+------------+-----------+---------- DSR | 6 | 6 | AF INPUT --------+------------+-----------+---------- How you can see in the table, are indicated two columns of pin numbers, this is done because of the two standard connector used in RS232 network, so if your computer is equiped with a 9 pin connector you have to refer to the DB9 column, else if your computer is equiped with a 25 pin connector you have to refer to the DB25 column. The current sourced by the RTS and DTR pins don't have to exceed 5mA, so if your interface needs higher current you have to provide an external power supply; in this case remember to connect its ground to the GND pin(s) of the computer. Many people thinks that connect a radio to a computer is dangerous for electrostatic discharge, i don't advise the use of photocoupler but if you want to put it between the rigs, remember to unconnect the ground wire of computer by the some wire of the radio (or interface), else the photocoupler function is bypassed and void. How discussed at the begin of this document, the use of a signal-squarer is advisable to improve the sensitivity of the system; it may be realized using an operational amplifier used such as a Schmitt trigger with a small voltage hysteresis (less than 100mV); an another inexpensive signal-squarer may be done simply driving the base of a NPN bipolar transistor with the AF signal via a current limiter resistor (about 10Kohms), the emitter must be connected to the GND pin, the collector instead must be connected to the DSR pin, a pull-up resistor(1Kohm) must connect RTS to DSR, this solution theorically is wrong, but i had test it on some RS232 interfaces with good results. HOW TO USE EASY FAX ------------------- This software was written for fun, it's not a professional tool for radio fax reception, but it can be a good aid for radio relayers or listeners who want to approach to the world of slow scan image transmission (meteo chart, newspaper and satellite photos). To start EASY FAX in DOS environment execute EASYFAX.EXE (or EF.bat if any). Once the EASY FAX logo is appeared on your video screen, you have to press one key to continue; after you can see the "EASY FAX main menu" appear on the top-left corner of the video screen. This main menu can be cleared or recalled via the <Esc> key (it's usually located at the top-left corner of the keyboard). The "EASY FAX main menu" shows the commands availables, on the left of the equal sign is represented the key to be pressed and on right is indicated a short form description of the function associated to the key. Near the bottom of the "EASY FAX main menu" is present a gray box, in this box are normally displayed : the current selected lines per minute scan rate, the page wrapping option status, the name of the image loaded into the video buffer and the name of the setup file in use. MAIN MENU FUNCTIONS ------------------- <R> (image Reception) This command lets you enter into the "EASY FAX rx menu". If you have received another image yet, EASY FAX prompt you to answer if you want really continue (in that case you lost last image) or return to main menu. Once you are in the rx menu the reception is enabled and the signal received (if any) begin to build the image starting on the top-left corner of the video screen. In bottom left corner the rx menu remember you what are the function enabled. This menu is slowly cleared by the image that take shape, this to let it the longer time possible on the screen. The sub-functions enabled are : <Home> (syncro start) pressing this key the computer enter into a waiting state until the standard syncronization signal is received. <End> (abort syncro start) clear the above function. <Del> (clear screen) erase the entire video screen and video buffer, after it redraw the "EASY FAX rx menu". <F1> (LPM select) pressing this function key change the line per minute rate, the values for this selection are: 60,90,120,180 and 240 (Note that higher lines per minute rate may be unaccessible on slow machines). <W> (turn page wrapping on|off) this key, if pressed, let you switch on or off the capability of the program to return at the top-left corner of video after the bottom-right of the same is reached(if this function is disabled the program exit from the "EASY FAX rx menu" when the image reach the bottom of the video screen). <F4> (update file ########.DAT) using this function key, you can update the configuration file indicated(if any). <Left> (\\ image adjust) this key lets you straighten the image during reception if it's top-left to bottom right inclined. <Right> (// image adjust) the same as the above mentioned but for top-right to bottom-left image inclination. <+> (\ fine image adjust) it's the same of <Left> but for fine tuning. <-> (/ fine image adjust) it's the same of <Right> but for fine tuning. <Esc> (return to main menu) this key,if pressed exit from the rx menu and go back to the "EASY FAX main menu". <T> (Tuning utility) This key clear the image from the video screen (not from the video buffer) and put you into the tuning tool; it's a spectrum analizer like display. On the top-left of the video screen three box itemize what's the edge of the gray scale you can move using the <Left> and <Right> keys; to select the box you have to use the <Up> and <Down> keys, the selection is indicated by the enhancement of the line who composing the same box. How indicated on the screen, the frequency markers are intended for indicative use only, i.e. may be that the frequency indicated differs from the frequency really connected to the serial port, this is due to the slowness of the computer, in each case the relation from the frequency indicated and the gray bar is correct. A special marker is also indicated on the graph, this marker shows you the lower limit that guarantee the horizontal dot resolution, the position of this marker changes on the 240 LPM scan rate. Tune the black and white bars respectively near the lower and higher edges of the shapes drawn by the signal received. <O> (set Origin) Using this key, the "EASY FAX help" window appears instead of the main menu; this window tells what you have to do. To remove the help window you have to press any of <Left>,<Right>,<Up> or <Down> key or, if present, move your mouse on the desk; now you can move the pointer (the small cross appeared on the centre of the screen) using the above keys or the mouse; if you use the keys remember that the <Scroll Lock> key sets the speed of the pointer movements, in detail if the Scroll Lock light is turned on the speed is one pixel at a time otherwise is eight pixels at a time. The pointer indicates the pixel who will become the top- left corner of the video screen, to do that press the <Enter> key otherwise, to abort this function press the <Esc> key. For mouse users the left mouse button is the same of <Enter> and the right mouse button is the same of <Esc>. <H> (Horizontal image mirror) This function is useful in many facsimile signals who build the images from right to left instead of the standard left to right image transmission. Once you pressed this key the image on the screen is re-painted. <V> (Vertical image mirror) This function re-paint the image up side down, it's useful for polar weather satellite images that represent the earth depending on their path (if North to South or vice versa). <N> (Negate (reverse) color) This key, if pressed reverse the gray shades i.e. black becomes white and vice versa etc. This is useful, for example, if you mistake the sideband during the reception of an SSB image. <Z> (Zoom selected zone) Using this key, like in the "set origin", the "EASY FAX help" appears instead of the main menu; the operation are the same as such in the set origin function; the difference is the pointer, who is a 320 by 240 pixels box; once you pressed the <Enter> key or clicked the left mouse button, the part of image inside the box is magnified by 2, otherwise you can press <Esc> or click the right mouse button to shut down this function. Note that the magnified image maintain the vertical resolution and the horizontal resolution is re-computed via the mean of adiacent pixels. <S> (Save image) Once you pressed this key, EASY FAX ask you the name to give at the image to be saved, if you answer with <Esc> the function is aborted and nothing is done. The name may be 8 characters long, and must be at least 1 character, all alphanumeric keys are valid characters, the extension is by default ".FAX" and the path is set by the EF_PATH enviromental variable or the later discussed <C> command. To accept the name and save the image press <Enter>. <L> (Load image/List image) This key puts the program into the "EASY FAX image loader"; here you can load one of the listed images files simply pressing the respective function key associated to, if the sub-directory contains other images you have to press the <F10> key to display them. The small gray box at the bottom of the image loader show the current sub-directory and the name of the current image loaded into the video buffer. If you want to shut down the image loader without loading any image, press the <Esc> key. <P> (create 1280x960pixels Pxc image) Once you pressed this key, the program ask you the name to give at the ZSoft .PCX file to be created. The keys and procedures are the same as in the "Save image" function except for the extension (naturally is .PCX !!). This function is useful to transfer images to high level drawing programs such as PaintBrush VI plus by ZSoft, these programs can clear the images from spots produced by weak signals received and can print the image using very powerful functions. <C> (Change current path for images) This function lets you free to change the current path name i.e. the place where EASY FAX stores and load the images. The maxim length is 26 characters, all alphanumeric keys are valid here in addition the <\> and <:> characters are available; the <Esc> key shut down the function and leave the path unchanged, to accept the new path name press the <Enter> key; root directories are invalid and floppy disk identifier such as A: or B: are not advisable. An invalid path name produces an error message and assumes the sub-directory where the EASY FAX program is placed as the current path. <U> (Up load setup) After you recall this function the program enter into the "EASY FAX setup loader"; it's like the image loader but it show you the list of setups availables. Into the gray box at the bottom is indicated the current setup (if any). <W> (Write new setup) This function write the current settings into a .DAT file. The procedure is the same as the (Save image) function but the path is always the sub-directory where the EASY FAX program stays. <Q> (Quit program) Once you pressed this key, the program ask if you are really sure and if you answer <Y> the program exits otherwise if you press <N> it return to main menu. THANKS ------ I wish to be thankful for the help gived to me by the people who had tested the program in its first release. Special thanks to TRAVAGLINO Mario (IK1GKJ) for the consultancy on Turbo C and 8086 assembly languges and BOZZOLA Angelo (IK1MSL) for program testing and delivery. SOMETHINGS ABOUT THE PROGRAM ---------------------------- I began the writing of EASY FAX on March 1991, first it was just a bet with myself, to be able to receive a facsimile image without any interface; after, many days later, i have realized that the program was efficient and i have decided to do a complete tool for facsimile reception. This was my first program written in C language and it was completed part-time along the rest of 1991, so it is not surely optimized. I hope you will have fun with it. I wish you all the best in facsimile reception, and if you are a radio relayer i hope to met you on the air, my callsign is IK1IZA. Best regards PORZIO Massimo A D D E N D U M =============== 12-20-1991 ---------- Version 1.08 The escape key into the setup enviroment now run correctly. 01-04-1992 ---------- Version 1.09 Some radio relayers on the RBBS network indicates that EASY FAX don't run correctly on 386/486 machines. This version solves the problem due to the timer/counter chip installed on that machines. The frequency counter routine is now re-written for better reception and a bus-clock frequency counter is added at the start of program. Some 286 compatible such as Commodore Pc-30 can't still execute correctly EASY FAX ,i don't know the timer/counter chip used on it, so i can do nothing!!. When the EASY FAX logo appears, a new message can pop up in the centre of the screen, this message warning you that the selected communication port is not ready(may be it's absent or wrong addressed),in that case you can use EASY FAX for viewing pre- recorded images but you can't receive any others of them. Many thanks to IK1MSL BOZZOLA Angelo,who let me use his new 80386 based computer to debug this software. 01-11-1992 ---------- Version 1.10 I written this update to give to EASY FAX the capability to create 640x480pixel HFFAX image files; this function is now available in the main menu pressing the <F> key and typing the name of the file. The HFFAX files compatibility lets you free to use all the softwares wrote to this files, such as FAXCOLOR the color images builder; at first i think to write an equivalent software to the EASY FAX format but the file created became too large; so, at last, i preferred this way, in each case if someone want to write software to manipulate the EASY FAX files the structure is explained below. At the same time i re-wrote the load and save functions, so now they are much faster. I've removed also some little "bugs". EASY FAX file structure ----------------------- The first three bytes represent the keyword "FAX", used to identify the file; the next bytes represent the image shapes, each byte represent two pixels, the least significant nibble represent the pixel on the odd lines (1,3,5,7...), the most significant nibble instead represent the pixel on the even lines (2,4,6,8...); the lines are represented starting on the top (line 1) and ending at the bottom of image (line 960); each line is 640 bytes long, the 1280 pixels resolution is obtained by the average value of two consecutive pixels; the nibble value 0 is the color white and the value 15 represent the color black. TRADEMARK & COPYRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS -------------------------------------- Turbo C is a trademark of Borland International,Inc. IBM and VGA are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp. Intel,8086,8088,80286,80386 and 80486 are trademarks of Intel Corp. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. PaintBrush VI plus and ZSoft are trademarks of Zsoft Corp. Commodore Pc-30 is a trademark of Commodore Business Machines. HFFAX is a copyrighted software (c)1987-88-89-90 John E. Hoot, Software Systems Consulting. FAXCOLOR is a copyrighted software (c) 1991 IW1CIX-I1EPJ licensed to NUOVA ELETTRONICA. NUOVA ELETTRONICA is one of the most popular electronic magazine in Italy that delivers Kits such as LX.1004 or LX.1049 100% compatible with the EASY FAX communications port for Weather Satellite reception.