Scanning Control Software
Version 1.1
ContentsDedication and Thanks
Installation and Removal
Controls and Indicators
Menus
Operation
Appendix: File Formats
DedicationThis software is dedicated to Clifton Turner Jr, KF5OJ, for the superb design and execution of his RX320 and DB320 control and database programs. Clifton has shown us how good radio/computer integration can be, and just how it should be done. Clifton's fine work has made it very easy for me to design this software; all I had to do was execute his design philosophy. You'll quickly notice that I've liberally and unabashedly absconded with many of his best ideas. Even more in the V1.1 release than I did in the V1.0 release.
Thanks To...Donald Reeve, for his diligence in testing the alpha release of this program. I can't thank Donald enough for his hard work and his outstanding ideas. This is a much better program because of his efforts and his ideas.Thanks also to Gerd Niephaus for assistance in developing the communication between Scan320 and Scan320DB and helping to get this program running on international versions of Windows. Also to Gerald Pelnar, for assistance with Scan320's CW tuning algorithm. During the V1.0 Release: Guido Geurts, for pointing out the cause of an insurmountable bug, to Mike Newell, WB4HUC, for sharing some thoughts on software design (and for the idea of creating a large-screen version of the program), to Brian Denley, who sorted out my font problem, to Russ Nelson, for lots of good ideas, including band scan, and to all the folks on the RX320 list who were so helpful during alpha testing. And, of course, to Clifton Turner for inspiration and for showing us the way.
Scan320's Main Screen IntroductionI've heard folks say that "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Well, if you've tried the wonderful RX320 and DB320 programs written by Clifton Turner, you'll quickly see that I've "flattered" Clifton's software within an inch of my life. Any of Clifton's fine features that aren't included in my program indicate that a) The missing features don't fit the design philosophy of my program, b) I'm not as good a programmer as Clifton and c) I didn't have the nerve to steal them outright! (I think, though, that I've come up with a few good ideas of my own.)I've stolen even more of his ideas for this release: scheduling and wave-file recording, and integration with my new ILGRadio database viewer, Scan320DB. Other than those features, though, the changes you will see in this release are programmable data modes, much smoother file operations, better tuning, a slightly more logical and intuitive user interface, and simpler operation. But the many small changes, I think, have made Scan320 a much nicer program to use. I hope that you feel that your download and installation of these programs has been worthwhile. DescriptionScan320 is a full-featured RX-320 controller, providing full manual control over all of the radio's functions. In addition to the normal and expected radio control features, I've included comprehensive scanning in the design. The software provides a powerful, flexible, and very friendly user interface that provides lots of feedback. I think you'll enjoy using it.Scan320 uses the same set of frequency files that you use with Clifton's RX320 program, located in the same directory you use for your RX320 program. You don't have to regenerate or convert any of your existing frequency files. Scan320 supports four scanning modes: Limit scanning between two frequencies, band scanning pre-programmed bands, scanning through any or all of its 160 scratchpad memories, and scanning through an *.320-format frequency file. Scanning isn't automatic in this program, in the way that, say, a Bearcat UHF scanner might be. I've found no practical way of providing squelch-controlled scanning in the HF bands. (As a utility listener, the signals I'm most interested in are at or below the noise level. Squelch just won't work.) So, in this program, scanning means that the radio steps through a set of frequencies. If you hear something interesting while the radio is stepping, there are a number of ways to stop the scanning operation quickly. Once stopped, you can easily go back to the frequency of interest. Scan320 is, and will remain, freeware. As time permits, I plan to continue its development. You can always find the latest version on my web page, at the URL listed above. I'll announce future postings to the RX320 list and to rec.radio.shortwave.
Features
Scanning Modes
While paused in any scan mode, you can tune the radio manually, select a different scan mode, update your scratchpad memory channels, or even load a new frequency file. The radio resumes scanning from the frequency, memory, or file entry where scanning was paused if the scan mode hasn't been changed, or starts a new scan if you have changed scan modes.
Installation and RemovalThe Scan320 distribution archive contains a Readme.txt file, the BandScan.dat file (the band scan ranges), Alarm.wav, a Help directory containing this document, and a LogHelp subdirectory containing the B-Log help files. (Alarm.wav is the tone played when the clock radio sounds its alarm.)If this is a new installation, create a working directory for Scan320. Unzip the archive into this directory, then create a desktop icon pointing to Scan320.exe. Ensure that your unzip utility has created and filled the Help, LogHelp, and SysFiles subdirectories. Start the program - it will create any extra subdirectories required by Scan320, Scan320DB, and B-Log. You will receive a number of messages stating that Scan320 can't find certain initialization files. (Ignore them. Scan320 will create the proper files as you shut it down for the first time.) Finally, you will see the Scan320 main screen. You can now begin using the program. If you are upgrading from a previous version of Scan320, delete the version of Scan320 that currently resides in your Scan320 working directory. Empty the contents of the Help and LogHelp subdirctories. Unzip the distribution archive into a test directory. From that test directory, copy Scan320.exe into your existing Scan320 working directory, the Scan320 help files from the Help subdirectory, and the B-Log help files from the LogHelp subdirectory. Create or update your desktop icon. Start Scan320. It should start up using the state and setup used by your previous version of Scan320 and create any new subdirectories required by Scan320, Scan320DB, and B-Log. Removing Scan320: Scan320 doesn't modify your registry or add any DLL's to your system directory. If you choose to remove Scan320, send your entire Scan320 working directory to the recycle bin and delete your desktop icon. Scan320's Subdirectory Tree:
StartupDouble-click your Scan320 desktop icon.If this is the first time you have started the program, you will see several messages stating that the program cannot find its data files. Don't panic - this is normal. The data files will be created when you shut Scan320 down. The program will start, and you will see the Scan320 main screen. If your RX-320 is connected to COM1, the radio should tune something. Your first task is to set a few of the user options. Open the Options menu, then select the User Options item. On the user options screen, enter (at the minimum) the following:
Click 'OK' to return to the receiver control screen. If your radio didn't tune before, it should now.
User Options Screen
More User Options Screen InformationCW Tone sets your desired CW sidetone frequency. If your RX-320 is currently operating in CW mode, the CW tone will change to the new value as soon as you exit the screen.S Meter Max sets your S Meter sensitivity. 10000 is the maximum value, giving the least sensitive S Meter. 2000 or 2500 is about right for folks like me who are apartment dwellers with less than optimal antenna installations. Frequency Calibration: See the Frequency Calibration section, below. 9 KHz Steps: If checked, sets the largest tuning step to 9 KHz. If left unchecked, the largest tuning step is 10 KHz. Mute On Exit as Default: If checked, the radio will mute whenever you exit this program. You can override this choice from the Options menu. Mute Speaker and Line Together: If checked, either the speaker or line mute buttons will mute and unmute both audio channels simultaneously. If unchecked, the mute buttons work independently. Use Default Steps as Default: If checked, the selected default tuning steps will be set automatically when you change modes. If unchecked, you'll have to manually set your tuning step. You can override this choice from the Options menu. Use Default Filters as Default: If checked, the selected default filter will be set automatically when you change modes. If unchecked, you'll have to manually select your filter. You can override this choice from the Options menu. Show Hints: Just about every control or display will show a hint when you pass your mouse cursor over it. Uncheck this box to turn hints off after you've learned the program. You can temporarily override this choice from the Help menu. Log Export Bulk Sorts determine the post-extraction sorting of exported log records. Refer to the Log Help file (from the Help menu) for more information. The options you choose will be saved on exit and restored when the program starts. Frequency Calibration ProcedureCareful calibration lets you tune an AM station in one of the SSB modes, without any retuning, from the AM-BC band up through the high SWBC bands.Calibration procedure:
If you're happy with your results, quit. If not, make slight adjustments to your error frequency values until you are able to tune AM stations using the SSB modes across as wide a frequency range as possible. Check your calibration periodically, and re-calibrate as necessary. Taking a bit of care with your frequency calibration will let you use the SSB modes for almost all of your AM listening, making up for the lack of a sync detector in your RX-320. It's well worth your effort to spend a bit of time calibrating your radio.
Controls and IndicatorsThere are lots of buttons on this radio, but they're grouped more-or-less logically. If you examine one section of the panel at a time, you won't get confused. As you begin operating your radio with Scan320, I think you'll find that the controls will become very comfortable and natural to operate.Most of the buttons act as "radio buttons:" When you push one button in a group, the previously-pressed button will pop up. This feature makes the interface feel very "live." I've designed the program to disable all buttons and menu items which aren't appropriate for a currently-selected mode, so operation should be very straightforward. The program should keep you from shooting yourself in the foot. Generally speaking, clicking or selecting anything that's not disabled should be safe, and should perform some logical operation. Tuning Controls
The Tuning Group The upper part of Scan320's main window is the location of the controls used for tuning the radio and controlling scanning. Tuned Frequency: Whenever the radio isn't scanning, you can enter a new frequency simply by typing it. Your new frequency appears in the frequency display window. When you hit the <return> key, the radio jumps to the new frequency. You can also tune the radio by clicking the digits in the frequency display window. Clicking the upper half of a digit increases the tuned frequency by that amount. Clicking the lower half decreases the frequency. The tuning step arrow keys increase or decrease the tuned frequency by the selected tuning step value. If you hold one of these keys down, the radio tunes in the selected direction until you release the key. Tuning speed is set by the vertical slider to the right of the up and down tuning arrow keys. (Set the tuning step by clicking one of the buttons in the vertical row just to the right of the frequency display.) Clicking the Lock+ or Lock- buttons starts continuous locked-in tuning in the selected direction, using the selected tuning step, with speed controlled by the vertical slider. Stop locked-in tuning by tapping the spacebar or by clicking one of the up or down tuning arrow buttons. Filters: The buttons at the upper-left select one of 24 pre-programmed filters. You can also step through the filters by clicking the IncrBW and DecrBW buttons. This program implements fewer filters and tuning steps than Clifton's RX-320 program. When loading a frequency file, the program will select a similar Scan320-supported filter or tuning step if the file calls for one which Scan320 doesn't provide. The first row below the frequency display contains the S-meter bar, the AGC Fast/Medium/Slow buttons, and the tuned frequency Rounding button. The tuned frequency isn't automatically rounded when you change the tuning step. The program rounds the frequency only when you want it to. Manual rounding lets you optimize reception conditions on a signal without the frequency jumping around as you change your tuning setup. The S-meter toggles between normal sensitivity (the value you set on the User Options screen) and a value 4 times as sensitive each time you click the meter bar. When the S-meter is in its high-sensitivity mode, the label of the active AGC button turns red, as shown in the illustration above. The next row contains the Mode and VFO buttons. The mode buttons select AM, USB, LSB, CW and the five user-programmable data modes (see below). This radio has two VFO's - A and B. The radio's tuned frequency and tuning setup are stored with each of the VFO's. Each VFO button click toggles back and forth between the two VFO's. The next row controls passband tuning and the Recall last frequency VFO. The small window displays the PBT value. The <<PBT button lowers the PBT value, clicking on the PBT display window sets PBT to 0, and the PBT>> button raises the value. The effect of passband tuning is the same in the USB, LSB, and CW modes: a lower PBT value results in a lower tone. If you're tuning an AM station in SSB mode, you don't have to change the passband setting when switching between LSB and USB. Click the Recall button to tune to the radio's previously-tuned frequency. This button acts like the VFO A/B button, except that the inactive VFO is automatically loaded each time the radio is tuned. (I added it as the "Oops" button: something I could click when I accidentally tuned the radio away from a desired frequency. I've found it handy for general use, too.) The group of buttons to the right of the slider start and stop scanning, and set the scan speed. Data Mode Tuning and ProgrammingThe button labeled D-1 in the illustration above is used to select, program, and review the five user-programmable data modes. The data button will toggle through each of the data modes with each click. Right-click the data button to review and program the data modes to meet your requirements.The program will tune the radio to each of its data modes, designated D-1 through D-5, each time you click the data button. The user-defined mode name, followed by the basic mode (AM, USB, LSB, or CW) appears in the status display window. Review your existing programmed settings by right-clicking the button to bring up the programming and review screen, shown below. Program a data mode setting by toggling the data button to the mode you'd like to program, adjust your radio for the desired data tuning, then right-click the data button. Set your tuning parameters on the program/review screen, then click OK. Your data settings will be stored for future use.
Data Mode Programming and Review Screen The upper area of the screen is read-only, showing the setup of your existing data modes. Enter the following data in the lower half of the screen to either program or modify the mode selected when you opened the screen.
Note: The CW tone is stored in your data mode setup file, and can be used to tune stations using the data mode you program, but any stations tuned in this mode can't be correctly saved to a frequency file. There is no assigned field within the *.320 frequency file format that can be used to store a CW tone setting.
The simplest way to set up your data mode is to click the Get Tuning button to pick up the tuning settings from the radio's current adjustment. Enter your title for this data mode, click the OK button, and off you go. Click OK to save your setup and tune the radio, or Cancel to exit without saving your changes. My basic strategy for tuning most data signals is to select the USB mode, then tune my radio to the (suppressed) carrier frequency. I then select a filter that's appropriate for the bandwidth used for the mode - without "pinching" the signal too tightly - and center that filter over the data signal using passband tuning. Voila! Quick, easy, and effective. I've found that Digipan (an excellent freeware PSK-31 program) is very useful for fine-tuning digital signals. Digipan has a waterfall display that clearly shows the spectrum used by the data signal and the selected filter's passband. Digipan makes it a snap to select the correct filter bandwidth and to center it precisely over the data signal of interest. You can download a free copy of Digipan from http://members.home.com/hteller/digipan/. It's good stuff. Go get it.
850 Hz Shift RTTY Signal Tuned With Digipan This figure shows Digipan's waterfall display while receiving an 850 Hz shift RTTY signal. (CKN at 3285.3 KHz) The noisy dim yellow shows the passband of the 1500 Hz filter. The two data tones at 1275 and 2125 Hz displayed in bright yellow show the signal during keying, and the steady red/yellow line is the the 2125 Hz carrier when the signal is idle. I centered the filter's passband over the data signal by adjusting the passband offset to 750 Hz. Scratchpad Memory Controls and the Scratchpad Menu
The Scratchpad Memory Group The buttons below the tuning group control the scratchpad memories. This program is equipped with 10 banks of 16 scratchpad memories. The scratchpad memories and bank information are automatically saved when you exit the program, and are re-loaded when you next start Scan320. The scratchpad memory controls consist of sixteen memory buttons, a bank display indicator, bank select up/down buttons, the Pgm ("program") button, the Lk ("lockout") button, and items on the Scratchpad menu. Each scratchpad memory stores the tuned frequency, the radio's tuning state, and an alphanumeric scratchpad memory tag. Click a scratchpad button to tune to the programmed frequency, or scan the scratchpad memories using Memory Scan.
The bank tag is displayed in the Status window whenever you change banks. Display the bank tag in the Status window at any time by left-clicking the bank window. (Bank tags are displayed on the Scratchpad menu at all times.) Store the tuning state into each scratchpad button by pressing the Pgm button. The Pgm button will store the frequency and pop up the scratchpad tag edit box, if appropriate. Enter or edit just the memory tag for the selected button, without changing its frequency programming, by right-clicking that button. The scratchpad tag edit box will pop up. Scratchpad tags will persist if you re-program that button within +/- 1/2 kHz. Push the Lk button to toggle that memory's lockout status. (Lockout is indicated by a black button caption. Maroon captions indicate that the memories are not locked out.) Locked-out memories are skipped during memory scanning. Scratchpad memory lockouts are saved when you exit the program. The Clear Selected Memory item on the Scratchpad menu clears the contents of the selected scratchpad memory button. The Clear Selected Bank item on the Scratchpad menu clears the entire contents of the selected bank. Status Display, UTC Clock, and Scan Mode Controls
Status and Scan Group The Status Display shows the bank and memory tags, frequency file name, the active line number in the frequency file, the limit and band scan ranges, the status of the Scheduler, and other miscellaneous status messages. The UTC clock window displays UTC time, obtained from the operating system. (If you notice an error in the time display, check your operating system time settings by double-clicking the time display on Windows' taskbar.) Click the UTC window to bring up the clock radio controls. The Band Scan, Limit Scan, Mem Scan, and File Scan buttons set up the appropriate scanning mode. Band Scan brings up the band scan screen, Limit Scan brings up the limit frequency entry window, File Scan places the program in the file scan mode, and Mem Scan places the program in the scratchpad memory scan mode. Frequency File Display Window
Frequency File Display Window When you load a frequency file, its contents appear in this window. File entries that are currently broadcasting are displayed in red. You can scroll around the window using the arrow keys, the PgUp and PgDn keys, and the <ctrl>+Home and <ctrl>+End keys. Scrolling through the file from your keyboard arrow and PgUp/PgDn keys does not tune the radio. This feature lets you work within your frequency files without interrupting an interesting broadcast or a scanning operation. If the radio isn't actively scanning, is is tuned from the frequency file when you click a file entry, hit the <return> key, or hit the K, M, F, or V keys on your keyboard. (K and F scoll upward in the file display; M and V scroll downward.) During file scanning, the cursor moves through the file to show which entry is tuned, and the current line number appears in the Status Display window. Click anywhere in the file display window to stop file scanning. (File scanning also stops/resumes when you tap the spacebar.) Click any column header to sort the frequency file by the values in that field. Most sorts are multi-column, producing nice, organized data displays. For instance, let's say that you have a large SWBC frequency file loaded, and you have clicked on the Name column header. Scrolling through the file, you'll notice that all the entries for, say, VOA are also sorted by frequency. If the VOA group contains more than one entry for a single frequency, those will be sorted by start time. Most of the other sorts work in a similar fashion. You can adjust the column widths in the frequency file display window.
File Operations Speed Buttons
File Operations Speed Buttons The file operations speed buttons, located just below the frequency file display window, are, mostly, shortcut keys for operations available from the edit menu. The Lookup button looks up the tuned freqency in the frequency file, in the master frequency list and, if connected to Scan320DB, in the ILGRadio database. The Lk ("Lockout") button toggles the lockout status of selected frequency file entries. The Now button displays only frequency file entries for stations that are currently broadcasting. (With V1.1, you can click this button anytime - even during file scanning.) The caption turns red when you put the display in the Broadcasting Now mode. The Save button saves your frequency file. Its captions turns red to remind you that something in the file has changed. The Add button brings up the Add/Edit screen so you can add a new frequency file entry. The Edit button brings up the Add/Edit screen so you can edit the selected entry, or update its tuning parameters. The Cut button deletes the selected entry or entries to the copy buffer. (You can check the number of entries in the copy buffer by looking at the Paste item on the Edit menu.) Volume, WWV, Logging, and Express Recording Controls
Miscellaneous Controls The sliders on the left control the line and speaker volume settings. The buttons below each slider are used to mute each individual channel or, if selected on the User Options screen, either mute button will mute and unmute both the line and speaker outputs. The buttons turn red to indicate that the specified channel is muted. The File Operations buttons were described in the Frequency File Display section, above. The WWV buttons allow you to quickly tune any of the WWV HF freqencies on 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz. The radio saves its previous tuning when you click one of these express WWV tuning buttons. When you click the Restore button, your radio returns to its previous frequency and mode. The WWV mode is great for quick propagation checks, especially during rapidly-changing conditions. (As a reminder that you're in WWV mode, the frequency display turns red when you click any WWV express tuning button.) The Log Entry button brings up the log entry screen. The Log Display button brings up the log display and edit screen. Click the Log Help item on the Help menu to read about the logging module. The Express Recording button immediately begins wave file recording.
MenusMost of Scan320's functions are controlled by buttons on the main screen. There are many other features availble from the menus. Read on to learn all about Scan320's hidden goodies!File MenuNew Frequency File: Unloads the currently-loaded frequency file.Open Frequency File: Pops up a file selector window, showing all of the *.320 files in the directory specified on the User Options setup screen. When you select a file or type a valid file name, that file is loaded into the Frequency File Display window. This program implements fewer filters and tuning steps than Clifton's RX-320 program. When loading a frequency file, the program will select a similar Scan320-supported filter or tuning step if the file calls for one which Scan320 doesn't provide. Reopen: Displays a list of the last 10 frequency files you loaded. You can reopen one of these files by picking it from the popup menu that appears when you hold your mouse cursor over the Reopen item. Append File: Pops up a file selector window, showing all of the *.320 files in the directory specified on the User Options setup screen. When you click a file or type a valid file name, the selected file is appended to the one currently loaded. You can append almost an unlimited number of files to create one huge frequency file, if you wish. You'll probably use the append feature, though, to mix and match files to let you scan multiple services at the same time.
Save Frequency File: Saves the loaded frequency file, using the existing file name. If this is a new file, the Save As dialog window pops up, letting you enter a new file name. Save Frequency File As: Lets you save the currently-loaded frequency file using a new file name. Save Scratchpad: Saves your scratchpad contents to Scratchpad.dat in the Scan320 working directory. (The program also saves your scratchpad content, automatically, when you exit.) Back Up Data Provides "one click" backup of your log file, scratchpad memory, limit scan, and band scan data. When you click this choice, the program writes copies of your critical data files (Scan320Log.txt, Scratchpad.dat, Limits1.dat, and BandScan.dat) into the Backup subdirectory. Restoration from the backup copies is simple. Shut down Scan320, then delete Scratchpad.dat, Limits1.dat, and/or BandScan.dat from the working directory. Copy the appropriate file(s) from the Backup subdirectory to the SysFiles subdirectory. Start Scan320. Your data will be loaded from the former backup files. Restore your log file by copying Scan320Log.txt from the Backup subdirectory to the LogFiles subdirectory. Exit: Exits the program, saving the radio's setup and your critical data. (The state is also saved if you close the program by clicking the "close" box at the top-right corner of the window.) Edit MenuAdd Record adds the current tuning state to either a new file or the currently-loaded frequency file. The new record is added at the end of the file.
Edit Selected Record loads the selected entry into a window for editing. Copy Selected Record copies the selcted record or records to the copy buffer. Cut Selected Records deletes a selected record or block of records, and stores them in the copy buffer. Paste Record pastes the record or records from the copy buffer to the cursor position in the currently-loaded file. The number in the Paste Record label indicates the number of records in the copy buffer. Use the copy, cut, and paste functions to move records either within a file or between frequency files. Scratchpad MenuBank choices: There are 10 bank entries, each corresponding to one of the 16-channel scratchpad memory banks. Activate a bank choice by clicking from the Scratchpad menu, or by typing <ctrl>+1 (one) through <ctrl>+0 (zero) for banks 1 through 10, respectively.The bank choices operate differently in the memory scan mode and in all other modes: If the Mem Scan button is pushed, clicking one of the bank choices will either enable or disable that bank during memory scanning and check or uncheck that menu choice. You can enable and disable scratchpad banks while scanning or while paused. If the Mem Scan button isn't pushed, clicking one of the bank choices will jump directly to that bank. Bank tags are permanently displayed on the Scratchpad menu. Edit Bank Tag: This choice lets you add or edit the alphanumeric tag for the selected bank. Clear Selected Memory: This choice clears the contents and tag of the selected scratchpad memory button. Clear Selected Bank This choice clears the contents of all 16 scratchpad memories and bank tag for the selected bank. Limits MenuEach time you start a limit scan, the tuning range and radio setup is added to the top of the limits menu. If the new entry matches an existing entry lower down the list, the duplicate value is deleted. Eventually, you'll have a list of 20 of your favorite limit scan ranges living on this menu.Clicking on one of these limits while the radio isn't currently scanning begins an immediate limit scan, using the saved range and setup. During a limit scan, the limit range, mode, filter, tuning step, AGC setting, passband tuning value, and scan speed are stored each time you stop or pause the limit scan. The limits are saved and restored at program exit and startup. Tools MenuScheduler: Brings up the Scheduler screen to configure and control scheduled tuning and recording.
Record and Play: Brings up the Manual Record/Play controls to record or play back a wave file. Master Frequency List Generator: Builds a tab-delimited text file containing all the frequencies in all of your frequency files. The file, Master320FrequencyList.txt, appears in the Export subdirectory. Master Frequency List Viewer Brings up a window where you can view, sort, and search your master frequency file. These tools are described in the Operation section, below. Options MenuMute On Exit: If checked, the line and speaker are muted at program exit. This setting is temporary, and is cleared when you exit the program. You can change the default mode on the User Options screen.
Use Default Steps: If checked, automatically sets the tuning step value to the default entered on the User Options screen when a new mode is selected. You can select either the automatic mode or manual mode on the User Options screen. The condition you set on this menu lasts only until you exit the program. Use Default Filters: If checked, automatically sets the filter to the one selected on the User Options screen when the mode is changed. You can select either the automatic or manual mode on the User Options screen. Like the above two choices, this setting is temporary. User Options... Brings up the User Options screen, allowing you to configure some of the operational characteristics of the program. The User Options screen is described in a section above. Help MenuHelp: Loads this file into your browser.Log Help: Displays the B-Log Readme file. Show Hints: Temporarily enables or disables Hints displays. This overrides the Show Hints setting on the User Options screen for the duration of the session. (Hints are those little bits of infomation that appear when you hold your mouse over an object.) About...Version and contact information. Note that the email link and the link to my web page are live. If you are connected to the Internet, clicking on one of these links will either send me an email or connect you to my web page.
OperationMost of the features and functions of the radio have been described in the sections above. By now, you should have a good idea of the way the program is designed, its capabilities, and how things should operate. If you've fired up Scan320 and have been experimenting, you probably have all the basics down pat.This section goes into more detail about some of the program's features, and tells you how to get the most out of the program. You don't have to read this right away, but plan to get back here sooner or later. Reading this section will save you lots of trial-and-error time.
Checking and Setting the TimeThe UTC clock window displays UTC time, taken directly from the operating system. There are no options within Scan320 to set or modify your time zone, nor the UTC clock offset.If you notice that your displayed UTC time is in error, check Windows' time settings by double-clicking the time display on Windows' taskbar.
Storing a FrequencyOnce you've found a good frequency, you can store it in a scratchpad memory or in a frequency file.To store the frequency in a scratchpad location, click a scratchpad button, then click the Pgm button. The tuning state will be stored in that button's scratchpad memory location, and, for new programming, the scratchpad tag edit window will pop up. (If you're re-programming a button, the scratchpad tag will persist if you don't re-program more than +/- 1/2 kHz from the previously-programmed frequency.) Enter or edit just the scratchpad tag for a selected button, without re-programming its frequency, by right-clicking that button. To store a frequency in a file, click the Add Record choice on the Edit menu. A box will pop up, loaded with the radio's tuning parameters. Enter the rest of the information, click OK, and that entry is added to the end of the file. Save the file by clicking on Save or Save As from the File menu. Tuning from Memory or From a FileYou can tune from scratchpad memory or from a frequency file any time that the radio is in manual mode or when scanning has been paused.Tune from a scratchpad memory by clicking a scratchpad memory button. The radio will tune to the stored frequency. The tag, if entered, will be displayed in the status window. Tune from a frequency file by clicking any field within the desired entry except for the Lk ("Lockout") column. (A click the Lockout column toggles the "L" displayed in that column, indicating that the entry will be skipped during file scanning.) Note that your first click in the file window might not do anything; it takes a mouse click to get the frequency file window focused. (Once focused, you can navigate within the file using the standard Windows scrolling keys: the arrow keys, the PgUp and PgDown keys, and the <ctrl>+Home and <ctrl>+End keys.) Editing Frequency File EntriesClicking either the Add or Edit buttons or menu items will bring up the Add/Edit screen:
The Add/Edit Screen If you are editing a selected entry, most fields will be filled in. Make your changes, then click the OK button. The selected record will be updated with your changes. If you'd just like to touch up the tuning parameters (other than frequency), click the Update Tuning button. The frequency file entry's tuning parameters will be updated with the radio's current tuning state: Mode, PBT, Filter, Step, and AGC. If you click the Add button, the information you enter will be added to the end of the frequency file as a new entry in your frequency file. With V1.1, you can add or edit records in both the normal and "broadcasting now" file display modes. Using the Scanning FeaturesScan320 gives you a choice of five scan modes: Locked-in Tuning, File Scan, Memory Scan, Limit Scan, and Band Scan. Locked-in Tuning was covered in "Tuning the Radio Manually," above. The following sections show you how to use the other four scanning modes.The Up/Down tuning buttons lock down during scanning to indicate the scan direction. You can reverse the scan direction at any time by clicking one of these buttons.
Scanning Controls File ScanClick the File Scan button, then the Scan button, to begin scanning through the frequency file you've loaded.Scan320 will tune through each entry in turn, pausing the amount of time you've set on the scan delay buttons. The radio will obtain its setup, for each record, from the frequency file. If you'd like to lock out one or more lines in your file, click in the "Lk" (Lockout) column. You'll see an "L" appear, indicating that record is locked out. Or, if you'd like to enable a locked-out record, just click on the "L." Mem(ory) ScanStart scanning your scratchpad memories by clicking the Mem Scan button, then the Scan button. The program will scan all scratchpad memories (that aren't locked out) in all enabled banks. The radio will obtain its setup information from each memory button.Toggle the lockout status of a selected scratchpad button by clicking the "Lk" (Lockout) button. Locked-out buttons display the frequency in black; enabled buttons display their frequencies in maroon. Lock out or enable a bank by clicking the appropriate bank choice on the Scratchpad menu. Enabled banks are checked. You can also type <ctrl>+1 (one) through <ctrl>+0 (zero) to toggle banks 1 through 10, respectively. Limit Scan
Enter your desired low and high limit frequencies. Click the OK button to accept your entries, or the Cancel button to exit the setup routine without changing the previous limit frequencies. Set the desired filter, mode, tuning step, passband tuning value, and scan speed. When you click the Scan button, the radio will begin scanning through your desired frequency range. Your limit scan setup, including the limit frequencies and the radio setup, is saved to the limits menu each time you pause or stop scanning. The most current limit scan is added to the top of the menu. If the frequency range duplicates that of a previous limit scan, the previous entry is removed from the menu. Eventually, the Limits menu will contain a list of your favorite 20 limit scans, with the ones you use most often located near the top of the menu. You can start an instant limit scan of a previous range by clicking the appropriate Limit menu item. The scan will begin immediately, using the same radio setup that you had the last time you paused or stopped the limit scan. Band ScanDuring band scanning, the radio will scan through all the frequencies in a pre-programmed named range. The band scan screen lets you pick the band of interest. You can also edit the ranges furnished with Scan320 to meet your specific needs and desires.Clicking the main window's Band Scan button opens the band scan screen. This screen displays the pre-programmed ranges from the BandScan.dat file, and gives you all the tools needed to add, edit, and delete band scan ranges. You can tailor the program's band scan capabilities to suit your needs. Each band scan record stores the range name, the band edge frequencies, the radio's setup, and the scan speed. Start a band scan by navigating to your desired range. Click that line in the file display - the range name, band edge frequencies, and mode will be displayed in the window above the file display. (All data contained in the band scan record appears in the edit boxes below the file display.) Click the OK button to return to the main window with your scan configured. Tap the space bar or click the Scan button to start scanning. Although band scanning is very similar to limit scanning, band scans are not added to the Limits menu.
The Band Scan Screen You can sort the file on all categories. Just click the appropriate column header. You can also adjust the column widths. Edit a range by changing the values in the edit boxes, either typing the values or selecting from the drop-down lists. Click the Replace Rec(ord) button to replace the selected record with the data contained in the edit boxes. Click the Clear Data button to prepare the edit boxes for the addition of a new band scan range. The Clear Data button blanks out the Name, Low Frequency, High Frequency, and Comments boxes. The other boxes are filled from the radio's current setup. Add a new band scan range by filling in and/or modifying the the edit box values as required. Click the Add to File button to tack your new band scan range at the end of the band scan file display. (Then click one of the column headers to sort your new entry into the file.) Delete the selected record by clicking the Delete Rec(ord) button. The Save File button's label will turn red whenever you change anything in the file, reminding you that your changed file needs to be saved. If you'd like to save your changes, click the Save File button. If you'd prefer to discard your changes, click the Cancel button at the bottom of the band scan screen. Pausing Scanning OperationsPausing File Scans: Pause a file scan by clicking a file entry, tapping the spacebar, or by clicking the Stop button.Pausing Memory Scans: Pause a memory scan by clicking a memory button, tapping the spacebar, or by clicking the Stop button. Pausing Limit Scans: Pause a limit scan by tapping the spacebar or by clicking the Stop button. Pausing Band Scans: Pause a band scan by tapping the spacebar or by clicking the Stop button. You can resume any paused scan by either tapping the spacebar or by clicking the Scan button. While scanning, you can reverse the scan direction by clicking the appropriate Up or Down tuning arrow. Recording and Playing Wave FilesBefore you can record wave files from your RX-320, you must connect its Line Out jack to your soundcard's Line In jack. If you use a laptop computer, you'll probably patch the RX-320 to the laptop's Line In jack.Bring up the Record/Play control by either clicking the Record and Play item on the Tools menu or by clicking the Express Recording button on Scan320's main window. The Record/Play screen, shown below, will pop up. If you brought up this screen from the Tools menu, click the Record button to start recording. If you brought it up from the Express Recording button, Scan320 will begin recording even before you see the Record/Play window.
Recording Mode You can pause the recording by clicking the Pause button. Resume recording by clicking the Record button once again When you begin recording, the timed recording controls will appear. If you would like the recording process to end automtically, click the More Time and Less Time buttons to set the timeout period. To cancel timed recording, click the Manual button. Click the Record button to bring up the timed recording controls once again. Click Stop or Exit to end the recording process. You will be prompted for a filename, or be given the option of exiting without saving your wave file. The program suggests a default filename for you. You can accept it, or enter a filename of your choosing. The wave file naming convention is the same as Clifton uses in his RX320 program: Frequency_Date_Time.wav. Wave files are written to the WaveFiles subdirectory by default.
Playback Mode Playing Wave Files The player included in Scan320 is quite primitive. It's suitable for quickly sampling a just-recorded wave file for quality, or for playing short wave files. It's not designed for nor suited to playback of long program recordings. For these files, where you will probably want to pause, cue, and review, I'd recommend that you use a freeware MP3/wave player such as WinAmp. It's a terrific little program, loaded with features, and very well executed. It's so good, in fact, that I have no desire to re-invent that particular wheel. (If you use the Netscape browser, WinAmp is included with your Netscape download.) For quick playback, though, especially of a wave file you've just recorded, the player is just the right tool. Click the Play button. A file selector box will open, pre-loaded with name of the last wave file recorded or played. Either click the OK button to accept it, or navigate to the wave file that you would like to hear. As soon as you accept the filename, playback will begin. A progress bar will pop up to show you how much of the file has been played. Click the Stop button to end playback. Note that the Record/Play window is the only popup in Scan320 that lets you manipulate Scan320's tuning controls while the window is open. In fact, you can slide this window totally away from the Scan320 window to give you unobstructed access to the panel. SchedulerThe Scheduler lets you program Scan320 to tune and record any number of programs, automatically and unattended. It works very much like the timed recording feature in your VCR.Bring up the scheduler screen, shown below, by clicking the Scheduler item on the Tools menu.
The Scheduler Screen The scheduler screen is the location of all the data entry, editing, display, and control functions for the scheduled recording feature. Overview You will enter your schedule either manually, by copying from the selected entry in a frequency file, by taking tuning settings from the radio, by modifying an existing schedule entry, or by a combination of all of these methods. After you have entered your schedule, turn on the scheduler. Scan320 will examine your schedule once each minute. If it finds any outdated schedule entries, it will automatically delete them for you. If it finds a currently-active schedule entry, it will tune the radio to that frequency and, if you have chosen the Record option, will begin recording that program to a wave file. Scheduled tuning and, optionally, recording, will end at the off time or if you turn off the scheduler manually. The scheduler will automatically save the wave file using the default wave file name: Freq_Date_Time.wav. If you did not shut the scheduler off manually, and if there is at least one more schedule entry, the scheduler will remain active, waiting for the start time of the next scheduled broadcast. The Scheduler logs its activity, including the names of any wave files, into the log file SchedulerLog.txt, located in the Export subdirectory. The Scheduler displays status messages in Scan320's Status Display window any time that you have the scheduler turned on. These status messages override any other messages that Scan320 might direct to that window. Scheduler Screen Your schedule entries appear in the tabular display, automatically sorted by start date and start time. You can click an entry to select that record for editing. You can adjust the column widths to suit your preferences. A schedule entry currently being tuned and/or recorded appears in red; all others appear in blue. Data entry works very much as it does on the Band Scan screen or on the Log Display screen: enter or modify the data in the edit boxes, then click the Add button (for a new schedule entry) or the Replace button (to modify the selected schedule entry.) The minimum amount of data required for a schedule entry includes the start date, start time, end time, and frequency. If you leave any other edit boxes blank, the program will fill in the required defaults. Button Functions Clear: Clears the data entry boxes, and loads the current date and time into the start date and start time edit boxes. From File: Fills in the edit boxes from the currently-selected entry in Scan320's frequency file. Tuning: Fills in the appropriate edit boxes from the radio's current tuning state. Replace: Replace the record currently selected in the tabular display with the data in the edit boxes. Add: Adds a new schedule entry from the data in the edit boxes. As data is added, the schedule is automatically sorted by start date and start time. Delete: Deletes the currently-selected schedule entry. Copy Weekly: Copies the selected schedule entry for the same times, one week in the future. Copy Daily: Copies the selected schedule entry for the same times on the next day. Scheduler On/Off: Turns the Scheduler on and off. If the Scheduler is currently tuning or recording and active broadcast, the scheduled tuning/recording operation will be terminated. Exit: Exit the scheduler screen and save your schedule to disk. Edit Box Notes The stop date is just for reference only - you cannot change the date in this box. The Record, Mute Line, and Mute Speaker checkboxes let you automatically record a broadcast, and mute the speaker and/or line during the scheduled tuning period. (If you choose to record, the line will be unmuted automatically.) Scan320 Status Display Messages Scheduler Armed: There is at least one schedule entry, the Scheduler is turned on, and will process the schedule once each minute. (At the top of the minute, the Scheduler will first delete all outdated schedule entries. If a schedule entry "goes active" at that minute, the Scheduler will tune the radio to that frequency and, optionally, begin recording.) Scheduled Broadcast 2330-0030z: The Scheduler has tuned an active schedule entry, but is not recording it. Recording Broadcast 1800-1900z: The Scheduler has tuned an active shedule entry, and is recording it. Scheduler Empty: The Scheduler has deleted all schedule entries and turned itself off. Scheduler Off: You have turned the Scheduler off. Master Frequency ListThe mster frequency list is one of Scan320's handiest hidden tools.Clicking the Master Frequency List Generator item on the Tools menu generates a file containing all the frequencies in all of your frequency files. The output file is a tab-delimited text file called Master320FrequencyList.txt, placed in the Export subdirectory. The file record format consists of the frequency, the station name, and, to put the entry into context, the *.320 frequency file name containing that entry. Clicking the Master Frequency List Viewer item on the Tools menu loads your master frequency file into the viewer window, shown below:
The Master Frequency List Viewer This window, like most others, lets you adjust the column widths, and lets you sort each column by clicking its column header. The viewer also provides the same Find/-Sort feature that is used on the Log Display screen: enter a fragment of the information you're trying to find in the text entry box. Click the Find-Sort button. All records that match your search criteria will pop up to the top of the list and will be colored red. The Match Case checkbox sets your search as either case-sensitive or case-insensitive. Click the Open File button to open the frequency file containing the selected frequency.
The Master Frequency List Lookup Window The master frequency list has one major functional purpose in Scan320. When you click Scan320's Lookup button (located below the frequency file display) it will try to find the tuned frequency in the frequency file, in the ILGRadio database (if Scan320DB is running and is connected to Scan320) and in the master frequency list file. If the frequency appears in the master frequency list file, all matching records will be displayed in the window shown above. You can select an entry and open that frequency file with the Open File button. Clock RadioA funny thing happened while I was testing a preliminary version of Scan320. I fell asleep listening to the BBC one night, then woke up at oh-dark-30 to a loud, unpleasant hiss emanating from my radio. After stumbling around, eyes half closed, trying to find the computer to shut down the radio, I swore that I was going to add a sleep timer to Scan320 the very next day.Well, I added the sleep timer with no problem. But I figured that I might as well not stop there. If I was going to build one half of a clock radio, I might as well build the the whole thing. The clock radio you see before you is the result. By means of lots of diligent hard work, I managed to turn my $300 RX-320 and $$$ computer system into a $29.95 clock radio! The clock radio feature isn't just for laughs, though. True, it does have a sleep timer. The radio can also sound an alarm at a pre-set time. You can use the alarm to wake up, or to remind you of things you need to do around the "shack." And, like all good clock radios, this one can wake you to music, sounding the alarm a few minutes later. The handiest feature, though, is its ability to tune a pre-set station at a pre-set time. (I use this feature to automatically tune the WWV propagation forecast at 18 minutes after the hour. I tend to forget otherwise.) I'm sure that you'll find your own uses for this feature.
The Clock Radio Controls Click the UTC clock window to open the clock radio controls. Scan320 remembers all your clock radio settings, but not your sleep timer settings. If you' actually use this as an alarm clock, you only need to set your wakeup time and the alarm mode once. The radio will then wake you at the same time each day. Likewise, the program remembers the frequency and mode of the stored station. Using the sleep timer is very simple. Select the amount of listening time you'd like to have before the radio mutes - 30, 60, 90, or 120 minutes. Click the OK button. After the amount of time you've selected, both the line and speaker channels will mute. The alarm clock offers several different modes:
Setting the Alarm: Set the alarm time by either selecting the hours, minutes, and UTC/Local flag from the drop-down boxes, or by typing your own time. (The minutes drop-down box is loaded with minutes at 5-minute intervals. If you'd like finer resolution, feel free to enter your own minutes value.) Storing a Station: Set up and tune your radio. Open the clock radio controls by clicking the UTC clock window. Click the Store button. The software will remember your stored station until you store a different one. Testing and Silencing the Alarm: Open the clock radio controls. Click the Test button to sound the alarm. Click the Silence... bar to shut the alarm off. (I included the alarm test feature so that you can pre-set the wave channel volume and the master volume from Windows' audio mixer panel. To open the mixer panel, double-click on the speaker icon on your taskbar.) An asterisk appears in the main frequency display window, as shown below, any time that the sleep timer is active or when an alarm mode other than Alarm Off has been selected.
Frequency Display with the Clock Radio Active Changing the Alarm Tone: Alarm.wav, residing in Scan320's working directory, is the wave file which plays when the radio sounds its alarm. Feel free to use something other than my pleasant "bong tone" as your alarm. Find an appropriate wave file, name it Alarm.wav, and copy it into Scan320's working directory.
Appendix: File Formats
Frequency FilesThe frequency files reside in the directory you set on the User Options screen. These files are fully comaptible with Clifton's RX320 program. If you will be using the same files for both programs, your frequency files will be the directory where you installed the RX320 program. If you don't use RX320, I suggest that you keep your frequency files in the FreqFiles subdirectory under your Scan320 working directory. An *.320 file is a simple ASCII text file, with each record contained on a single line. Each record consists of 14 comma-separated fields, with no intervening spaces between commas. There are no blank lines or comment lines in the file.The record structure is as follows: "80m PSK-31",3.533000,USB,3300,3,100,0,"","","0000","2400","Notes",0,0
You may leave any of the string fields blank. If you do, however, make sure that you leave the empty quotes. Master Frequency ListThe master frequency list file, Master320FrequencyList.txt, is a list of all frequencies in all of your frequency files. This file resides in the Export subdirectory. It is created when you click the Master Frequency List Generator item from the Tools menu.This is a tab-delimited text file. Each record consists of three fields: Frequency, Name, and (to put the entry into context) the Frequency File name.
Scheduler Log FileThe scheduler log file, SchedulerLog.txt, is a log of all scheduled tuning and recording activity. This file is maintained by Scan320's scheduled tuning and recording function. It resides in the Export subdirectory.Each line in the file is a single record, with fields separated only by spaces. Each record consists of the date, the start and end times, the frequency, the station name, and the wave file name (if you recorded the broadcast). This file is designed to be opened by your word processor or text editor.
AfterwordI'd like to thank you for trying Scan320. I've put a lot of work into it over this last year. I'm very pleased with the results, and have a lot of fun using it. I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I do.This is probably the last version of Scan320. It now does everything that I would like it to do (except automatic scanning). The project is finished; it's time for me to move on to something else. (I might visit the project again when I have a computer running Windows XP. I would eventually like to fix the XP problem so that the entire Scan320 family runs on all 32-bit Windows systems. But I have no near-term plans to upgrade one of my laptops to XP. If I pursue the XP problem, I will consider feature enhancements at that time.) If you have any problem using the program, please drop me an email: tom2000@mindspring.com. Have fun!
73 de AB9B..
Copyright © 2000, 2001
Tom Lackamp
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