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MENU COMMANDS This chapter describes each function of the Wefax program. Most functions are performed by selection thru the menu tree. Some functions have alternate Hot key operation. Some functions have only Hot key operation and are not accessable thru the menus. The menu items are listed in the order they appear from left to right on the screen Menu Tree File Load Save save_as_Gif Rename Delete Acquire Zoom Top Center Bottom Normal pRint Edit Rotate_180_degrees Align_edge Palette Adjust Function_key Grey_scale 4_level_grey_scale Black_&_white Configure Receiver Frequency Preamp (1) Preamp Power On (2) Preamp Power Off Gain High Low Rf_port Vhf_port Uhf_port Offset Demodulator Input (1) Rcvr (2) Rcvr Osc (3) Tape Car (4) Tape TCK (5) HF Osc Bandwidth High Low Hf_tuning Acquire_mode Signal_type Goes Noaa Meteor Hf_fax Direction Decending Ascending Resolution auto_Acquire auto_saVe auto_Timer Clock Printer (0)None (1)Epson 9 pin (2)Epson 24 pin (3)HP 75 dpi (4)HP 150 dpi (5)HP 300 dpi Utc Directory (1) Change Disk (2) Change Directory (3) Display Directory Quit File Menu The file menu allows the user to load, save and delete image files. A complete DOS file name including disk and path can be entered for all options. If a complete path name is not entered, the operation is performed using the current disk and directory. Automatic selection is always performed in the current directory. Load Selecting File Load requests the user to: Enter Filename or <<CR>> for list If a filename is entered, the filename is tested to see if the file exists. If the file does not exist, the following message is printed: Cannot open input file filename Press a key to exit to menu If the file exists but is not an image file, the following message is printed: File is not compatible Press a key to exit to menu If the filename is valid, the following message is printed: Reading File filename Into Data Buffer - Please Wait The file is then loaded into memory. The message: Mapping Picture Data into Display appears and the image is written to the display. If <<CR>> is pressed, a list of image files, if any is printed in the display window. The message: Use Arrow Keys to Select File or - Press any key to continue or 'q' to quit is printed. Use the up and down arrow keys to move the selection bar over the name of the file to load. Press <<CR>> to load and display the file. If more files exist than can be displayed on one screen and the file you wish to load is not displayed, press any key and another screen full of filenames is printed. Use the arrow keys as above to select a file. Pressing 'q' returns to the main menu without selecting a file. Save Selecting File Save requests the user to: Enter Filename or <<CR>> for default default filename Any valid DOS filename can be entered, including a drive and path. Pressing <<CR>> chooses the default filename displayed on the second line. The default filename is derived from the current date and time. If the file does not already exist, it is written. If it already exists, the message File filename Already Exists! Overwrite? (Y)es (N)o Pressing Y or N will either overwrite the existing file or return to the main menu. Delete Selecting File Delete requests the user to: Enter Filename or <<CR>> for list Any valid DOS filename can be entered, including a drive and path. Pressing <<CR>> displays a list of image files in the display window. The message: Use Arrow Keys to Select File or - Press any key to continue or 'q' to quit is displayed. Use the up and down arrow keys to move the selection bar over the file to be deleted. Press <<CR>> to select the file. If more files exist than can be displayed on one screen, press any key to display another screen full of file names. Pressing 'q' returns to the main menu. Once a file to be deleted is selected, the message: Delete File filename Are You Sure? (Y)es (N)o is diplayed pressing Y deletes the file. Pressing N aborts and returns to the main menu. Acquire Menu Selecting Acquire loads the Wefax PC Adapter with the current configuration and enters image aquisition mode. The message: Waiting for START synchronization is displayed. Once in Acquire mode, you can return to the main menu by pressing ESC. Pressing <<CR>> while in acquire mode skips over the current configuration step. While acquireing NOAA or Meteor images, pressing <<CR>> from the start message causes image data to be imediately displayed. While acquireing GOES or HF FAX, pressing <<CR>> forces the program to proceed from the start message to the 'Locking to Picture Phase' state. Pressing <<CR>> again forces image data to be imediately displayed. Normally, once in acquire mode, the program will wait indefinitely for the correct synchronization signals to occur and image acquisition to start. If Auto Save is active, the image is automatically saved to disk using a default file name derived from the current date and time. If Auto Acquire is active, the program return to the start synchronization state and awaits another image. If Auto Acquire is not active, the program returns to the main menu after acquiring an image. Zoom Menu Selecting Zoom requests the user to: Zoom into which screen section? Top Center Bottom Pressing T, C or B selects the top, center or bottom of the image to be displayed in full screen mode. If the display is in Normal mode (configuration data on the right of the screen), the display is switched to Zoom mode and the image section is displayed. If the screen image was overwritten by a list of files, it can be restored by selecting Zoom and a section again. Normal Menu Selecting Normal returns the screen to normal display mode. This mode displays configuration data on the right of the screen. If the screen image had been overwritten by a list of files, selecting Normal re-displayes the current image. Edit Menu Selecting Edit allows you to repair image errors due to incorrect synchronization or aquisition. The message: Rotate 180 degrees Align edge is displayed. Rotate 180 degrees Selecting Edit Rotate causes the message: Rotating Data in Picture Buffer to be printed. The image data stored in the picture buffer is re-orderred to effect a 180 degree rotation. (The upper left corner of the image is rotated to the lower right). This function is used to correct a NOAA or Meteor image that was captured with the incorrect direction in effect. Align Edge Selecting Edit Align causes the message: Use Arrow Keys to point to desired picture edge <<CR>> to select or ESC to exit A vertical line is displayed on the current image which can be moved by pressing the left and right arrow keys. The line will wrap from the left to the right or the right to the left of the image. If can be moved 10 times as fast by pressing CTRL left or CTRL right arrow. When the line is over the portion of the image you want to be at the left edge, press <<CR>>. The message: Aligning data in picture buffer is displayed. The message: Mapping Picture Data into Display is then displayed. The image data has been re-ordered in the buffer and then re-displayed. This function is used to correct images which were aquired with incorrect synchronization. Palette Menu The palette menu allows you to select built in or user defined palettes, or create or modify an existing palette. Adjust Selecting Palette Adjust causes the current palette to become undefined and a palette adjustment frame to appear at the bottom of the screen. The palette adjustment frame consists of a bar at the top left which displays the current palette settings for the sixteen palette colors which are numbered from 0 to 15. Color 0 is at the left and color 15 is at the right. A rectangle is initially placed around the area defined as color 0. Below the palette display at the lower left is an enlarged rectangled filled with the currently selected color, which initially is color 0. To the right of the rectangle is a label which names the current color. To the right of the screen are 3 horizontal bars which are labeled Red, Green and Blue at the right of the bar. The length of the solid portion of the bar of each color represents the intensity of each of the 3 primary colors that make up the currently selected color. To the left of each color bar is a number which is a numeric representation of the color intensity. For EGA displays, the intensity of each color can be from 0 to 3. For VGA displays, the intensity of each color can be from 0 to 63. To the left of the numeric color intensity is an arrow which points at 1 of the 3 color bars. Creating a new palette or modifying an existing palette is easy. First, use the left and right arrow keys to select the color number ( 0 to 15) you wish to adjust. As you select a new color, the rectangle moves along the palette bar to show the position of the color in the palette. The color rectange at bottom left screen displays the color and the color label. At the same time, the color bars indicate the numeric and relative intensity of the primary color components. Once a color has been selected, use the up and down arrow keys to select the red, green or blue color component. As you change the selection, the arrow next to the numeric indicator moves to point to the selected primary color. The intensity of the primary color component is changed by using the plus (+) and minus (-) keys to add or subtract intensity. By varying the intensity of each individual color component for each of the 16 displayable colors, you can create custom palettes to enhance your image displays. On an EGA display you can display 16 colors from a possible 64. On a VGA display you can display 16 colors from a possisble 262,144. With a VGA diaplay, it is possible to duplicate standard NOAA enhancement curves. A note about colors One of the limitations of the EGA and VGA displays in 16 color mode is that the same colors that are used to display the image must also be used for the screen background and foreground. Color 0 is used for the screen background in the Wefax program. Changing color 0 from black will cause the entire screen background to change. Color 15 is used for the foreground. All text is displayed in color 15. If you change color 15, the text changes also. Usually, most images don't contain much color 0 or color 15 information so, you could leave them alone, or create an exciting new screen look. Saving the new palette Once you are finished adjusting the palette, press <<CR>>. The message: Press F1 thru F10 to save palette or ESC to exit appears. You can press ESC at any time while adjusting the palette and you will return to the main menu. The changes you made to the current palette are still in effect, but they have not been saved. You could enter the adjust palette menu again to continue modifications, or save it. Pressing a function key saves the palette on disk in the current directory in a file named F01.PLT in the case of F1, or a similarly defined name for the other 9 function keys. If the function key did not already have a palette assigned to it, the file is written and you are returned to the main menu. If the function key is already assigned to a palette, the message: Function Key is already assigned to a palette Press another function key, <<CR>> to overwrite or ESC to exit You can press another function key for a different assignment or press <<CR>> to overwrite the current assignment. Since the palette files are written into the current directory, up to 10 palettes can be defined for each active directory on the disk. Function key Once palettes are defined and assigned to function keys, selecting Palette Function key by pressing 'P' followed by 1 of the 10 function keys recalls the palette assigned to that function key from the disk. If no palette is assigned then no change is made. Grey scale 4 level grey scale Black & white Selecting Palette followed by either 'G' for grey scale, '4' for 4 level grey scale or 'B' for black and white loads a built in default grey scale, 4 level grey scale or black and white palette. Configure Menu The Wefax adapter is so flexible and configurable that making sure it is correctly configured to perform the function you want is argueably the most difficult part of learning the program. For this reason, the wefax program allows you to create and save configurations which can be restored at the touch of a function key. The following sections describe the configuration options. Receiver When the Wefax adapter is used with the Quorum SL-137 receiver, all of the receiver parameters are controlled from the PC keyboard. These features do not work with other receivers. Frequency When you select Configure Receiver Frequency, you are requested to: Enter desired receive frequency Enter the desired frequency in MHz. For example, to tune to the NOAA 10 frequency of 137.5 MHz enter: 137.5<<CR>> In the case of GOES, you would enter 1691<<CR>>. Note that proper operation of the receiver on the UHF port requires that the down converter offset be set. The SL-137 can be tuned in 5 KHz steps. Preamp Selecting Configure Receiver Preamp requests: (1) Preamp Power On (2) Preamp Power Off Enter '1' or '2' to turn the preamp power on or off. The SL-137 can supply +12 volts current limited on the VHF port. This can be used to power a 137 MHz preamp via the signal coaxial cable. If you have such a preamp, turn the preamp power on. If you don't have such a preamp, turn the preamp power off. The power output is protected against short circuits because it is current limited. Gain The RF gain of the SL-137 can be adjusted. Selecting Configure Receiver Gain requests: High Low Press 'H' or 'L' to select high or low gain. Normally the receiver gain would always be set high. You might want to set the gain low if you have a very high gain preamplifier or down converter ahead of the SL-137 receiver. RF port Selecting Configure Receiver RF port requests: VHF Port UHF Port Press 'V' or 'U' to switch to the VHF or UHF port. Normally the VHF port is used for NOAA and Meteor reception while the UHF port is used for GOES. The only differences between the ports is that the VHF port can optionally output preamp power and the down converter offset is not used to display or compute the operating frequency. The UHF port does not output power and when selected, the down converter offset is used to display and compute the actual receiver frequency. If the preamp power is off and the down converter offset is 0, the ports are equivelent. You might want to use the ports in this configuration to switch between an omni directional and beam antenna. Offset Selecting Configure Receiver Offset requests: Enter desired down converter offset The down converter offset is the difference between the down converter input frequency and the down converter output frequency. Most GOES down converters, including the Quorum SDC-1691 convert the incoming GOES signal at 1691 MHz to an output frequency of 137.5 MHz. This is a difference, or offset of 1553.5 MHz. Typically you would enter 1553.5<<CR>>. If your down converter has a different offset, you would enter it. When the UHF receiver port is selected, and a frequency is entered, the offset is subtracted from the entered frequency to derive the actual receiver frequency. Demodulator The demodulator is the section of circuitry that decodes the incoming signal. Two types of demodulators are present on the wefax adapter. One is an AM detector with automatic gain control for reception of GOES, NOAA APT and Meteor signals. The other is an FSK detector for reception of HF Fax. The two detector circuits are selectable under program control. Along with the type of demodulator, the data sample clock is selected in this menu. Signals can use a clock derived from the signal carrier in the case of GOES or NOAA APT, or an internal reference clock can be used. The demodulator also has selectable bandwidth. Input The demodulator input can be 1 of 5 types. When you select Configure Demodulator Input, the message: (1) Rcvr (2) Rcvr Osc (3) Tape Car (4) Tape TCK (5) HF Osc is displayed. Selections 1 and 2 connect the VHF receiver output, or the SL-137 output if connected, to the demodulator input. Similarly, selections 3 and 4 connect the tape recorder signal input to the demodulator while selection 5 connects the audio input from the HF radio. When receiving a GOES, NOAA APT or Meteor signal live, you would select item 1 or 2. Selection 1 uses the signal carrier to derive the sample clock. This is the preferred method for GOES. NOAA can use items 1 or 2. Selection 2 uses a sample clock derived from an on board crystal oscillator. If the NOAA signal is strong and not subject to fading, selection 1 will give the best picture quality without the bowing effects due to doppler shift. If the signal is subject to fading, use of selection 1 could cause the sample clock to unlock from the signal carrier and corrupt the image. Usually selection 2 is used for NOAA because of this. Reception of live Meteor signals requires the use of selection 2 because a sample clock cannot be derived from the signal carrier. When playing back a signal which had been originally recorded on the tape recorder, you would select items 3 or 4. Similar to selections 1 and 2, selection 3 derives the sample clock from the signal carrier. Selection 4 derives the sample clock from a clock track that was recorded on the other tape channel. These two options allow you to record any of the signals capable of being received by the wefax adapter and playing them back later. Selection 5 selects the HF audio input and uses a clock from the on board oscillator. Note: The demodulator input selection only switches the audio and clock inputs. Reception of images requires that the Acquire Mode be set also. Bandwidth The demodulator signal bandwidth can be set to 700 or 1400 Hz. Selecting Configure Demodulator Bandwidth prints: High Low Pressing 'H' or 'L' selects high or low bandwidth. Usually, you would use high bandwidth. If a signal is unusually noisy, low bandwith may give better results. HF Tuning The wefax adapter contains a tuning aid to insure optimum reception of HF fax signals. When you select Configure Demodulator Hf tuning, the following is printed: Tune HF Frequency for peak Max and Min indications * * Below the message is a rectangular box with 2 '*' characters. The left side of the box represents one signal extreme while the right side of the box represents the other signal extreme. While receiving a strong and interference free signal, slowly tune the frequency until the 2 '*' are as far apart as possible. Be sure to tune with the step size on your radio as small as possible. It should be no more than 100 Hz. Your radio should be on upper sideband for correct black / white reception. The accuracy of the tuning aid is dependent on the quality of the signal. If the signal is not strong and clean, the results might not indicate correct tuning. After tuning is complete, press any key to return to the main menu. The wefax adapter is left in HF configuration. Acquire Mode The Acquire Mode menu configures the wefax adapter for the type of signal to be received and sets up certain associated operating parameters. Signal type Selecting Configure Acquire mode Signal type prints: GOES NOAA Meteor HF fax Pressing 'G', 'N', 'M' or 'H' selects the type of signal you wish to receive. Direction Selecting Configure Acquire mode Direction requests: Decending Ascending pressing 'D' selects decending while pressing 'A' selects ascending. When the acquire mode is GOES or HF, this has no effect. When the acquire mode is NOAA or Meteor, data is written to the screen starting at the top if the direction is set to decending while it is rotated and written starting at the screen bottom if the direction is ascending. This allows the image collected from a satellite travelling from the south to the north to be upright on the screen. If you accidentally acquire an image with the wrong direction, the Edit Rotate function will fix it. Resolution Image resolution refers to the number of bits of data stored for each sample. Currently it is 4 bits. This command is included for future software revisions which support other resolutions. Pressing Configure Acquire mode Resolution prints: Only 4 bit Resolution is supported at this time Press any key to exit Auto acquire Selecting Configure Acquire mode Auto acquire toggles the Automatic acquire flag ON and OFF. When in automatic acquire mode, once a complete image has been received, the program automatically waits for another without returning to the main menu. This is useful for GOES reception, especially when used with automatic file save. The automatic acquire mode can also be toggled ON and OFF by pressing the key sequence ALT A. (Press the ALT and A keys at the same time) This can be done even while an image is being acquired. auto saVe Selecting Configure Acquire mode auto saVe toggles the automatic file save flag ON and OFF. When automatic file save is active, once a complete image is received, it is automatically written to the disk using a default file name and the current disk and directory. The default filename is in the format DD_HH_MM.Mon where; DD - the current date HH - the current hour MM - the current minute Mon - the current month For example, a file saved on June 12 at 2:45PM would be saved as 12_14_45.JUN. If you have UTC time enabled, the default filename is based on UTC time while the DOS file date and time is based on local time. Automatic file save can also be toggled on and off by pressing the key combination ALT V. This can be done at any time, even while acquireing an image. auto Timer Selecting Configure Acquire mode auto Timer toggles the automatic timer flag ON and OFF. When the automatic timer is enabled and the main menu is displayed, the current time is compared to the timer start time. When they are the same, Acquire mode is automatically entered. Once acquire mode is entered by means of the automatic timer, the current time is compared to the timer stop time. As long as the timer stop time has not occured, the program will continue to acquire images. If automatic file save is enabled, they will be written to disk. Once the stop time has occured, the program will continue to acquire the current image and when done will quit acquire mode. This feature is useful to receive NOAA or Meteor passes that occur when you're not at home. Clock Selecting Configure Acquire mode Clock requests: Enter Start Time The start time MUST be entered as HH:MM. For exaple, 4:10 AM should be entered as 04:10 while 2:13PM would be entered as 14:13. You can enter <<CR>> to return to the main menu. After the start time is entered, the program requests: Enter Stop Time Enter the desired stop time in the same format as the start time. UTC Selecting Configure UTC requests: (1) enable UTC time display (2) disable UTC time display Pressing '1' or '2' causes the program to display time in either Local or UTC time. Selecting '1' requests: Enter Time Zone and Hour offset (ex. EST5) <<CR>> = keep same To set up UTC time display, enter a 3 character time zone name followed by the number of hours difference between local and UTC time. For example users in New York might enter EST5. Those in California might enter PST8. The 3 time zone characters are not used by the program but they must be entered for correct operation. Persons east of 0 degrees would enter a negative offset such as XYZ-4. If you don't want to change the current setting, press <<CR>>. The time zone information is saved in DOS's environment space. If the feature doesn't operate correctly, refer to your DOS maunual and increase the environment space. Directory Menu The directory menu allows you to change disks or directories. (1) Change Disk Selecting Directory (1) Change Disk requests: Enter Drive Letter to change to Enter any valid DOS dive letter followed by <<CR>>. If the disk is not ready, an error message is printed on the normal screen near the bottom right below the disk status indicators. (2) Change Directory Selecting Directory (2) Change Directory requests: Enter new directory for current disk Enter a new directory name including any required backslashes using standard DOS formats. If the directory does not exist, or the input was incorrect, the message: Input not valid Press any key to exit is printed. (3) Display Directory Selecting Directory (3) Display Directory causes the current directory contents to be displayed in the image window. Quit Pressing 'Q' causes the current configuration to be saved on the disk in the current directory using the filename WEFAX.CFG. The program then mutes the adapter audio amplifier and exits to DOS. Hot Keys Certain key combinations are active at most times during the program. Active from the main menu These key sequences are active only when the main menu is diaplayed. Function Keys F1 to F10 Pressing the function keys F1 to F10 while the main menu is displayed causes the program to look for a file in the current directory named <<function key>>.CFG. For example if you pressed F1, the program would look for a file named F01.CFG. This is a configuration file that had been previously saved. If the file exists, the saved configuration is restored. If the file does not exist, no change is made. ALT <<function key>> Pressing the key combination ALT <<function key>> (press ALT and one of the funtion keys at the same time) causes the current configuration to be saved on disk in the current directory under the filename <<function key>>.CFG. If a file by that name already exists, the message: Function Key is already assigned to a configuration Press another function key, <<CR>> to overwrite or ESC to exit is printed. You can press another function key or press <<CR>> to write the new configuration over the old one. ALT C Pressing ALT C clears the screen and the image buffer. Active at all times ALT U Pressing ALT U turns the audio volume up. ALT D Pressing ALT D turns the audio volume down. ALT M Pressing ALT M toggles the audio mute on and off. ALT A Pressing ALT A toggles automatic acquire on and off. ALT V Pressing ALT V toggles automatic file save on and off