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CAT757 Version 3.0 Yaesu FT-757GX Mark II Copyright (c) 1989, 1990, 1991 Written by Richard M. Roux N1AED 25 Greenfield Dr. Merrimack, NH 03054 (603)429-0945 PROGRAM DESCRIPTION CAT757 is a control program designed to provide control of the Yaesu FT-757 GX Mark II with an IBM compatible PC. The program provides programming of all front panel functions from the keyboard. The program allows you to store a maximum of 480 frequencies in the Station Directory, which may be scanned in numerous ways. Alternate files may be loaded providing database functions limited only by disk storage available. The program has a built-in Terminal Program for PACKET/RTTY or AMTOR that allows simultaneous transceiver control. A second COM port is required for a simultaneos Terminal function. Minimum requirements for hardware are 512K of memory, Mono/CGA/EGA/VGA display and one COM port (2 Desirable). Disclaimer This Demonstration Disk is being distributed via the Shareware concept. You are encouraged to try the program out and make unmodified copies for others who may be able to make use of the program, but no fees may be charged other than a nominal copying fee. If you would like to order the program, Please send $39.95 plus $3.00 Shipping & Handling to the author at the above address. Specify 5.25" or 3.5" disk. -- 1 -- PROGRAM INSTALLATION FLOPPY SYSTEM No special installation is required. Make a working copy of the distribution diskette, log on to the drive where the working disk is located and run the setup program to configure colors, COM port setup and baud rate for the Terminal program. DO NOT write protect the disk, this will allow updated Station Directory entries to be saved to the working disk. HARD DRIVE SYSTEM Create a sub-directory to hold the files, such as C:\CAT. Copy all the files to it and run the setup program to configure colors, COM port setup and baud rate for the Terminal program. THE SETUP PROGRAM NOTE: The SETUP program only exists in the Registered Version After you have either created a working disk or copied the files to your hard drive, log onto the floppy where the program files are located or into the subdirectory on your hard drive where the files are located. At the DOS prompt type SETUP. The setup program will check to see if a color card is present and if a COM 2 port exists. If a COM 1 and COM 2 port are detected, you will be prompted for port assignments for the Transceiver controller and for the Terminal program. If only one COM port is detected, the Transceiver controller is automatically assigned to COM 1 and assignment of COM 2 is bypassed. You will be prompted for the desired SCANDELAY and STEPRATE values when the program boots. These may be changed within the program, but this prompt allows setup of the initial values. You will then be prompted if all settings are correct. Next, you will be prompted for color assignments. If a monochrome card was detected in the previous step, then color assignments are bypassed, settings are saved, and you will exit the SETUP program. With a color graphics card detected, you will be shown a screen where you can select foreground , background, status line, highlight, and window colors. The color number is shown near each selection to aid you in selecting the color. If you have a color graphics card and a monochrome monitor then you are limited in your selections. -- 2 -- The available colors are: 0 Black 8 Gray 1 Blue 9 Light Blue 2 Green 10 Light Green 3 Cyan 11 Light Cyan 4 Red 12 Light Red 5 Magenta 13 Light Magenta 6 Brown 14 Yellow 7 White 15 High-Intensity White After desired colors are selected, selecting '8' will save the settings and allows you to exit the program. PROGRAM OPERATION Log on to the drive where the program is on a floppy system or on a hard drive system CD to the sub-directory where the program resides. Run the setup program by typing SETUP at the DOS prompt. The SETUP program examines the computer for the presence of a Color Graphics Card and a second COM port. Answer all the prompts and exit the program to store all your selections. Start the program by typing in CAT757. Additionally, alternate files for the station directory may be loaded on the DOS command line at this time. Just type CAT757 filename. A couple of sample Directory files are supplied on the distribution disk. EXAMPLE: CAT757 TOP100.DIR or CAT757 TOP100 This loads the program and the alternate Directory TOP100.DIR. The default directory CAT757.DIR will be loaded if no alternate directory is specified on the DOS command line. After the initial Welcome and Copyright screen the Main Status Display will appear. At the graphic presentation of the FT-757, the program sends the radio an initialization command putting the transceiver in somewhat of a "known" condition. Then a STATUS REQUEST is sent to the Transceiver. The GX Mark II responds with 75 bytes of status and, at this point, the correct VFO and Mode should appear on the Main Status Display. If "0.00" for a VFO frequency appears, then there is an interface problem between the Computer and the Transceiver. Check all cables, the interface and make sure everything is powered up. Also make sure you have selected the correct COM port in the SETUP program. -- 3 -- THE MAIN STATUS DISPLAY The commands available on the Main Display: Alt-Q Hitting Alt-Q will allow you to exit to DOS. F1 Brings up the Help Window. Hitting any of the command keys activates that function and any other key closes the window. F10 Pressing F10 will bring up the Memory Contents Window allowing you to view the contents of the transceiver's 10 memories. Hitting any key closes the window. ( < Left Arrow ) Load VFO W/ Memory This allows you to load the contents of any of the memories into the active VFO. The Memory Contents Window will appear allowing you to view what's in the transceiver's 10 memories. ( > Right Arrow ) Load Memory W/VFO This allows you to program any of the 10 memories with the contents of the current active VFO. The Memory Contents Window will appear allowing you to view what's in the transceiver's 10 memories. (S)plit Hitting "S" toggles the transceiver in/out of the split mode. (D)ial Lock This toggles the Dial Lock on/off. (V)FO A/B This toggles between A and B VFO. (C)larifier Toggles the clarifier on/off. -- 4 -- (F)requency Change Allows you to type in a new VFO frequency between the limits of 150 - 29999.99 Khz. All frequencies in this program are displayed and typed in Khz only. Mhz input is rejected. EXAMPLE: Enter 21.230.10 Mhz as 21230.10 Status Re(Q)uest This allows you to request a fresh set of parameters from the transceiver to update the display if you have made any manual changes to the transceiver. S(W)ap VFO/MEMORY This swap the contents of the VFO with the contents of the currently selected memory. (M)ode Change This step the current VFO through the six available modes. (H)am/General Toggles between HAM and General receive. Change Step (R)ate This allows change of the step rate, minimum of which is .01 Khz. This is the change in VFO frequency when the "+" and "-" keys are hit. Great for fine tuning SSB and Packet signals. .01 Khz.= 10 Hertz/Cycles Station Director(Y) This bring you to the 480 entry Station Directory display. (L)og VFO Freq/Mode to Station Directory This allows logging of the current VFO Freq. & Mode to the first empty entry in the Station Directory. You will be prompted for a Name/Description (IE:"Radio Moscow") for the entry. Only the first 21 characters of the description are retained. (T)erminal Program This selects the built-in terminal program which is suitable for controlling a TNC for PACKET/RTTY/AMTOR. If no second COM port is detected you will be given an error informing you of that fact. All baud rates 300 - 9600 are available in the Setup Program. You can change VFO -- 5 -- frequencies, change modes, and make small (down to .01 khz.) step changes in VFO frequency while using the Terminal Program. The controller for the transceiver is connected to one COM port while the TNC is connected to the other. If you don't have a second COM port, consider installing one, as this program makes operating a TU a real pleasure. Most serial I/O cards have provision for a second COM port and all that is usually required is installing some extra chips. See the section on the Terminal Program for detailed instructions on how to use the Terminal function. (E)dit Memory Contents This allows you to edit/update any of the 10 transceiver's memories. The Transceiver's memory is updated as well as the Memory Contents Display. (Up-Arrow) Step the active VFO Frequency up 500 Khz. (Down-Arrow) Step the active VFO Frequency down 500 Khz. (+) (-) Fine Tune This allows incrementing of VFO frequency by an amount determined by the setting of the STEP RATE. ALSO NOTE: The "=" also functions as the "+" key for those of you who have keyboards that do not have the separate number keypad. (SPACE) Hitting the SPACE bar will update the Signal Strength meter which displays relative signal strength. If you AGC set on SLOW, this might need to be tapped a second or two after changing frequencies. Actually, hitting any other none- command key will update the signal-strength meter. THE STATION DIRECTORY After selecting 'Y' form the Main Menu, the first page of the Station Directory will appear. The Station Directory provides up to 480 frequencies at your disposal for uploading to the VFO or for programming of any or all of the transceiver's 10 memories. Any entry in the directory can be tagged for scanning or uploaded to memory or can be locked out for bypass the same way a police scanner operates. This way you can limit scanning to the particular frequencies of -- 6 -- interest. Adding and editing entries is a breeze, as compared to older versions of CAT757. Scan delay and step rate are also fully adjustable from the Station Directory as well as the "+" and "-" fine tune keys being functional during this display making small adjustments of the VFO frequency a simple task. Printing of the Station Directory entries to a line printer is also supported, with printout of up to 120 entries per page. The commands available on the Station Directory in detail: F1 Help Displays the Help Window PageUp/PageDown/End/Home These keys allow you to move back and forth, to the beginning or to the last full page of the Station Directory. Selecting Entries To select an entry to be uploaded to the transceiver's VFO type in the entry number and hit <ENTER>. No other menu selection is required. Tagging Entries Entries are tagged for scanning/upload by selecting the entry number, followed by a "T" for tagging or a "L" for lockout and hitting <ENTER>. A check-mark will appear near the tagged entries or a small block near the locked out entries. EXAMPLE: 22T <ENTER> Will tag entry # 22. 22 <ENTER> Will load entry # 22 into the active VFO. To untag/unlock entries, type the entry followed by a "U" and <ENTER>. This will either untag or unlock any previously tagged or locked out entries. The check-mark and/or graphics block will then disappear. -- 7 -- ESC Exit back to the Main Status Display. (A)dd Hitting ADD will advance you to the first empty Directory Entry and the cursor will be placed on the Name field. Type the name of the entry followed by <ENTER>. The cursor will be advanced to the Frequency field. Type a valid frequency (in Khz) and hit <ENTER>. Invalid frequencies will be rejected. The cursor will advance to the Mode field. Type a valid mode (USB, AM etc.) and hit <ENTER>. Invalid modes will be rejected. The cursor will advance to the next empty Directory listing. The ADD function has a DITTO mode in which hitting <ENTER> on any one of the three fields will bring up the entry of the field on the PREVIOUS directory entry. If you need to enter a group of entries with the same Name and Mode the DITTO will save you a bit of unnecessary typing. Continue until you've entered all the listings you desire. To terminate the ADD function type DONE in the name field on the last entry and the ADD mode will be terminated. All entries are now in memory and will be saved when you exit back to the Main Status Display. Matter of fact, any changes made to the Station Directory will ONLY be saved if you exit back to the Main Status Display or if you select another Directory file for loading. MAKE SURE that if you are running the program from a floppy, that disk IS NOT write protected. Powering down the computer WITHOUT exiting back to the Main Status Display will cause loss of all updates, so make sure to exit the Directory. (B)lock Load This allows upload of any 10 tagged or continuous Directory entries to the transceiver's memories. Make sure not to tag or select more than 10 entries or the input will be rejected. Locked-Out entries are ignored in TAGGED mode but are included when a continuous block is uploaded. (C)lear This selection allows you to globally clear all tags and lockouts. (D)elay This allows adjustment of the scan delay (entered in seconds) from a minimum of .5 seconds to HOURS (if you want to calculate the seconds). -- 8 -- (E)dit This allows editing of the Directory entries. You will be prompted for the entry to edit and the cursor will be placed on that Directory entry Name field. If you don't want to change anything in a particular field, hit <ENTER> and the previous entry will be retained. Continue on for the Frequency and Mode fields and you will automatically exit the Edit mode. Typing ERASE in the name field will erase that complete entry and exit the edit mode. Empty directory listings will be purged from the file when it is saved to disk. (L)oad Memory You will be prompted for the selection to upload and the transceiver's memory number to be loaded. Li(M)it Scan This will allow you to scan between two VFO frequencies. You will be prompted for the Beginning and Ending frequencies, again, invalid frequencies are rejected. Make sure to set the desired SCAN DELAY, STEP RATE and SINGLE STEP or CONT. scan before selecting LIMIT SCAN. The VFO will scan at the rate and delay you selected. If in the CONT. scan mode, the SPACE bar pauses the scan. Hitting SPACE a second time resumes the scan. If in the SINGLE STEP mode, pressing the SPACE bar advances the VFO only. Hitting <ESC> exits the LIMIT SCAN mode. (N)ew Directory Clears out the present Station Directory, first saving any changes made to disk, then prompting you for a filename to create a new file. Type in a name up to 8 characters (NO EXTENSION). A filename extension of ".DIR" is automatically added. SteP (R)ate This allows you to specify a new step rate. A minimum of .01 Khz on up. Use something realistic. Setting a step rate of 100 Mhz probably will cause the program to crash. Common step rates are: 1.0 initial setting for SSB, CW, Packet, RTTY etc. .01 for fine tuning SSB, CW, Packet RTTY etc. 5.0 for AM broadcast (start with a frequency ending in 0; IE 9650.00) -- 9 -- (S)can Starts the SCAN mode. As in the LIMIT SCAN. set the STEP RATE and SCAN DELAY and CONT/SINGLE STEP functions first. When entering the SCAN MODE you will be prompted if you want to scan just TAGGED selections. If you type "Y" the scan starts in the TAGGED mode. A minimum of two (2) Directory entries are required for TAGGED scan. If "N" is answered to the prompt then you will be prompted for the beginning and ending selections to scan. When the scan process begins the SPACE pauses the scan as explained in the LIMIT SCAN above. Any Locked Out entries will be skipped. ESC terminates the SCAN FUNCTION. Prin(T) Allows printing of the Station Directory to a line printer, 120 entries per page. Make sure the printer is ON-LINE. (X)change Directory This allows you to load an alternate Station Directory. You will be shown a disk directory of all files with the extension of ".DIR". Type the filename (no extension needed) and the alternate file will be loaded. Any previous Directory updates will automatically be saved to disk. "/" Slash The slash key toggles the CONTINUOUS and SINGLE STEP modes of scanning. "+" "-" Fine Tune Allows adjustment of the VFO frequency by an amount determined by the setting of STEP RATE. The "=" also functions as the "+" key for those keyboards without a separate number keypad. TERMINAL PROGRAM OPERATION If you have a second COM port selecting "T" from the Main Status Display, selects the TERMINAL PROGRAM. A menu of options appears at the top of the screen and a STATUS BAR is at the bottom of the screen. You now have control over your transceiver and a TU or TNC. The Commands available are: -- 10 -- ESC Exits the Terminal Mode and returns to the Main Status Display. F1 Clear Screen Clears the screen. F2 Disk Save Toggles the Save-To-Disk mode. The first press of F2 prompts you for a file name. After that, all received text is saved to disk and the word "Saving.." appears on the Status Bar. The second press of F2 closes the disk file and terminates disk saving. F3 Change Frequency Allows you to change the VFO frequency. Operates the same as the CHANGE FREQUENCY on the Main Status Display. F4 Change Mode Toggles the transceiver though all six receive modes. Same operation as on Main Status Display. F5 Change Step Rate Changes the step rate. Same operation as on Main Status Display. F6 / F7 VFO Up/Down Works the same as the "+" & "-" keys on the Main Status Display and the Station Directory. Program Tips The Station Directory Files are in standard delimited ASCII format, as in the following example: "Radio Moscow","7115","AM" It is possible to edit or create them using an ASCII text editor. Being in the delimited format, they can be easily imported/exported to most popular filing programs. Keep each file you create down to 480 entries. Files containing more than 480 entries will only load to the 480th entry. Directory files can be sorted using the DOS SORT command. The following format should be used. -- 11 -- SORT <source file >target file This will sort the file by Name/Description first, then by frequency and then by mode. The DOS file SORT.EXE will have to be in the path or reside on disk when using a floppy system. You might want to organize the Directory Files into similar type services. World Band stations in one, Ham Nets in another, Government Frequencies etc. Also, what is handy when storing AM shortwave stations is to store files by operating time. You could, lets say, create a file of all stations that are on the air from 2000 - 2100 UTC and give it a filename of T20-21Z.DIR. This way, you would know all the stations loaded into the program would be on the air during that time frame. In closing I would like to thank all the Hams who have used this program and have provided their support and suggestions on how to improve CAT757 in prior versions. I have implemented as many as practical and attempted to keep the program useful and easy to learn. As always all comments are welcome. NOW.. Explore the Airwaves and see what is being transmitted from 150 Khz to 30 Mhz .... ENJOY !! -- 12 --