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help.lir
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000051
[1]KEYBOARD COMMANDS (available in most modes)
A = Numerical display, amplitudes
E = Eliminate spur (If AFC present)
F = File playback control. Select what part(s) to play.
C = Clear spur elimination tables (If AFC present)
G = Save entire screen as .GIF file
M = Toggle freq stepping mode. Center, Passband or BFO (See Left, Right)
S = Save input data as file (S again to stop)
T = Numerical display, processing delays
W = Write output data as .WAV file (W again to stop)
Alt W = Save .WAV file as 'W', but only when squelch is open.
X = Exit from current mode to menu
Z = Restart averaging for S-meter and numerical displays
SPACE BAR = Set the transmitter to the current receive frequency.
V or B or N = Set the receiver to the current transmit frequency.
F1 or ! = Help. (Place mouse on a screen object)
F1 or ! = Show screen objects. (Place mouse outside windows on black screen.)
(F1 or ! once more = Show thread id. Only under modern Linux.)
F2 = Toggle S-meter averaging
F3 = Skip D/A output (For fast processing of disk files.)
shift F3 = Stop disk file processing (to study morse decode intermediates)
F4 = Show RF envelope vs time as an oscilloscope function in Tx test mode
F5 = Pause processing. Useful for wideband recordings
F7 = Add random noise (for test only)
F8 = Reduce the strong signal when F11 is in use.
F9 = Truncate input (for test only)
F11 = Enable internal signal generator (on recorded data).
Up =Increase bandwidth.
Down = Decrease bandwidth.
Left = Decrease frequency ('M' or mouse box for mode).
Right = Increase frequency ('M' or mouse box for mode).
+ = Make the wheel mouse step size twice as large.
- = Make the wheel mouse step size twice as small.
(Wheel is equivalent to Left and Right. Pressed to '+' or '-')
ESC = Quit from program
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that ESC and X work in menus. Sometimes also G.
[2]KEYBOARD COMMANDS (available in most modes)
A = Numerical display, amplitudes
E = Eliminate spur (If AFC present)
F = File playback control. Select what part(s) to play.
C = Clear spur elimination tables (If AFC present)
G = Save entire screen as .GIF file
M = Toggle freq stepping mode. Center, Passband or BFO (See Left, Right)
S = Save input data as file (S again to stop)
T = Numerical display, processing delays
W = Write output data as .WAV file (W again to stop)
Alt W = Save .WAV file as 'W', but only when squelch is open.
X = Exit from current mode to menu
Z = Restart averaging for S-meter and numerical displays
SPACE BAR = Set the transmitter to the current receive frequency.
V or B or N = Set the receiver to the current transmit frequency.
F1 or ! = Help. (Place mouse on a screen object)
F1 or ! = Show screen objects. (Place mouse outside windows on black screen.)
(F1 or ! once more = Show thread id. Only under modern Linux.)
F2 = Toggle S-meter averaging
F3 = Skip D/A output (For fast processing of disk files.)
shift F3 = Stop disk file processing (to study morse decode intermediates)
F4 = Show RF envelope vs time as an oscilloscope function in Tx test mode.
F5 = Pause processing. Useful for wideband recordings on slow computers.
F9 = Truncate input (for test only)
Up =Increase bandwidth.
Down = Decrease bandwidth.
Left = Decrease frequency ('M' or mouse box for mode).
Right = Increase frequency ('M' or mouse box for mode).
+ = Make the wheel mouse step size twice as large.
- = Make the wheel mouse step size twice as small.
(Wheel is equivalent to Left and Right. Pressed to '+' or '-')
ESC = Quit from program
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note that ESC and X work in menus. Sometimes also G.
[3]Press the left mouse button to expand the main spectrum Y-scale.
[4]Press the left mouse button to contract the main spectrum Y-scale.
[5]Press the left mouse button to move the main spectrum upwards.
[6]Press the left mouse button to move the main spectrum downwards.
[7]Press the left mouse button to contract the main spectrum and waterfall
by moving in data points at the left hand side.
The highest frequency is left unchanged when the number of
data points is large enough. Otherwise the right hand side
border line is moved inwards to make the window fit all the
available data points.
[8]Press the left mouse button to expand the main spectrum and waterfall
by moving out points at the left hand side.
The highest frequency is left unchanged.
[9]Press the left mouse button to expand the main spectrum and waterfall
by moving out points at the right hand side.
The lowest frequency is left unchanged when the number of
data points is large enough. Otherwise the right hand side
border line is moved inwards to make the window fit all the
available data points.
[10]Press the left mouse button to contract the main spectrum and waterfall
by moving in data points at the right hand side.
The lowest frequency is left unchanged when the number of
data points is large enough. Otherwise the right hand side
border line is moved inwards to make the window fit all the
available data points.
[11]Main spectrum and waterfall are calculated as averages
of the first fft (fft1).
The number of spectra to average over is a multiple
of the number in this box.
Press the left mouse button to change.
[12]The main spectrum is calculated as an average of the
first fft (fft1).
The number of spectra to average over is a multiple
of the number in this box because averaging is done as averages
of averages.
Besides affecting cpu load at large numbers of averages this
parameter affects the noise blanker because the blanker uses
the average according to this number to locate strong signals.
The blanker also uses the average of averages to locate strong
signals closer to the noise floor.
Press the left mouse button to change.
[13]Mouse on high resolution spectrum.
Press the left mouse button to select the signal to process for loudspeaker output.
To eliminate a spur, place the mouse cursor on it and press E
on the keyboard.
[14]Mouse on blanker control bar.
This bar shows the noise floor, the noise power level that remains
after the blanker has removed pulses. The red vertical line is
20 dB above the quantisation noise of the internal data representation.
Make sure your noise floor is not below this level.
For setting signal levels, read the Linrad Home Page on the Internet.
There are two noise blankers that are intended to be used together.
Blue is the colour for the smart blanker while yellow is for the dumb one.
When a blanker is enabled, the corresponding control level is indicated
with a line on the blanker control bar.
In MANUAL mode the control level is fixed and in AUTO mode it is held
at some distance above the average noise floor.
In both MANUAL and AUTO modes the control level can be changed by
grepping the corresponding line with the mouse while the left mouse button
is kept pressed.
Make sure to not set the control levels too low.
The coloured numbers in the upper left and right corners give
percentage of points cleared by the blankers. Keep these numbers small,
the yellow below 20 and the blue below 4 unless you actually find a
better readability of the desired signal with higher numbers.
Hint: Use the oscilloscope function to investigate what the
blankers do to the noise that causes problems.
Also read Linrad Home Page on the Internet.
[15]Selective limiter level control for the first fft.
Strong signals are prevented from reaching the blankers by the
selective limiter. Frequencies that are not routed through the blankers
are coloured red in the main spectrum (blue dB scale).
Signals that are strong enough to be visible over interference pulses
in the main spectrum are found very fast in the first fft.
The level is set by clicking the left mouse button in the bar control area.
The first fft averaging parameters affect the spectrum as you can see on
the screen. Large averaging numbers gives a slower but more accurate
determination of strong signals.
Look at the spectrum, if parts of the noise floor becomes red one of
the limiter controls is too low or some averaging number is too small.
[16]Selective limiter level control for the second fft.
Strong signals are prevented from reaching the blankers by the
selective limiter. Frequencies that are not routed through the blankers
are coloured red in the main spectrum (blue dB scale).
The second fft is made from the signal after the noise blanker.
This spectrum may have much better S/N due to the elimination of
interference pulses. It is used to find strong signals that could
not be found in the main spectrum because they are below the level
of the interference pulses.
The second fft averaging parameter "fft2 avgnum" affects the spectrum
as you can see on the screen in the high resolution graph (red dB scale).
Large averaging numbers gives a slower but more accurate
determination of strong signals.
Look at the spectrum, if parts of the noise floor becomes red, one of
the limiter controls is too low or some averaging number is too small.
[17]Button to select mode for the dumb blanker.
Toggle between modes by clicking the left mouse button.
'-' = OFF
'A' = AUTO
'M' = MANUAL
[18]Button to select mode for the smart blanker.
Toggle between modes by clicking the left mouse button.
'-' = OFF
'A' = AUTO
'M' = MANUAL
Note that your system must be calibrated for the smart blanker
to become available.
[19]Button to toggle timf2 oscilloscope.
The oscilloscope has a fixed place on the screen.
To see it well, move other windows to the right side of the screen.
The top track shows power.
The next two tracks show I and Q of the "interesting" signal which
is obtained from all frequencies that are coloured white in the
main spectrum.
The two lowest tracks show I and Q of the strong signals, those that
are coloured red in the main spectrum. The strong signals are shown
at a reduced amplitude, they are affected by an AGC function.
The y-scale of the timf2 oscilloscope can not be changed.
If you have set the digital signal levels correctly, the scale
will fit to the signals you see.
Read about "set digital signal levels correctly" on the Linrad Home Page
on the Internet.
[20]Button to toggle timf2 oscilloscope.
The oscilloscope has a fixed place on the screen.
To see it well, move other windows to the right side of the screen.
The top track shows power summed over both receiver channels.
The next four tracks show I and Q of the "interesting" signal which
is obtained from all frequencies that are coloured white in the
main spectrum.
The four lowest tracks show I and Q of the strong signals, those that
are coloured red in the main spectrum. The strong signals are shown
at a reduced amplitude, they are affected by an AGC function.
The y-scale of the timf2 oscilloscope can not be changed.
If you have set the digital signal levels correctly, the scale
will fit to the signals you see.
Read about "set digital signal levels correctly" on the Linrad Home Page
on the Internet.
[21]Minimum S/N required in the primary AFC search for a new signal.
Use the left mouse button to change it.
Signals below this threshold do not lock the primary AFC to the frequency.
In unlocked mode the primary AFC cursor in the high resolution graph
is yellow.
In manual mode it will stay on a fixed frequency until the mouse is
clicked again to select a signal in the main spectrum (blue dB scale)
In automatic mode the AFC will continue to search for a signal above
the required S/N value and lock to it as soon as one is found.
In the search for a new signal, averages of the main spectra (fft1)
are formed for the entire time for which spectra are available.
The number of stored spectra is controlled by the parameter
"First FFT storage time (s)" in the mode setup.
Average spectra are collected under the assumption that the frequency
is drifting linearly with time. As a result, many average spectra
are searched and the averaging made under the best assumption of
frequency drift will give the strongest signal.
The maximum frequency drift that will be searched for is set
by the parameter "AFC max drift Hz/minute" in the mode setup.
The maximum frequency range that the AFC will search over is set
by the parameter "AFC lock range Hz".
The search range can be reduced by the green bar at the right hand
side of this control bar.
[22]Minimum S/N required in the search for a new signal.
Use the left mouse button to change it.
Signals below this threshold do not lock the primary AFC to the frequency.
In unlocked mode the primary AFC cursor in the high resolution graph
is yellow.
In manual mode it will stay on a fixed frequency until the mouse is
clicked again to select a signal in the main spectrum or high resolution
spectrum (blue or red dB scales)
In automatic mode the AFC will continue to search for a signal above
the required S/N value and lock to it as soon as one is found.
In the search for a new signal, averages of the high resolution spectra
(fft2) are formed for the entire time for which spectra are available.
The number of stored spectra is controlled by the parameter
"Second FFT storage time (s)" in the mode setup.
Average spectra are collected under the assumption that the frequency
is drifting linearly with time. As a result, many average spectra
are searched and the averaging made under the best assumption of
frequency drift will give the strongest signal.
The maximum frequency drift that will be searched for is set
by the parameter "AFC max drift Hz/minute" in the mode setup.
The maximum frequency range that the AFC will search over is set
by the parameter "AFC lock range Hz".
The search range can be reduced by the green bar at the right hand
side of this control bar.
[23]AFC lock range limitation.
Use the left mouse button to change it.
Once the primary AFC has been successfully locked to a signal it will try
to follow the signal even if it drops below the S/N value required
for the initial locking.
To prevent drifting away too far when locking to occasional peaks
in pure noise in case the desired signal has paused for a while
the lock range is limited to half the frequency range selected for
the AFC graph.
This bar limits the lock range further.
[24]AFC search range limitation.
Use the left mouse button to change it.
The max search range is set by the parameter "AFC lock range Hz" in
the mode parameter setup.
This bar is used to make the search range smaller in case the desired
signal is close to some other (stronger) signal.
[25]Click the left mouse button to make AFC graph cover a smaller
frequency range and thereby decrease the AFC max lock range
[26]Click the left mouse button to make AFC graph cover a larger
frequency range and thereby increase the AFC max lock range
[27]Click the left mouse button to toggle AFC mode.
'-' = AFC disabled
'M' = MANUAL
'A' = AUTO (not yet implemented)
[28]Click the left mouse button to toggle timefunction window for
spectrum averaging.
'-' = No window used.
'W' = Use a sine(t) window.
The window makes the primary AFC slower. It is intended to be used
together with coherent averaging for extremely weak signals that can not
be copied at all with "normal" methods.
[29]Number of spectra for the primary AFC to average over while staying
locked to a signal. Click in the box with the left mouse button and type
in a new value.
The averaging is made without any concern of the frequency drift.
This number has to be small enough for the peak caused by the signal
to be on the same place over the entire period of time for which
the averaging takes place.
Expand (zoom in) the main spectrum and look at signals that drift
with time to learn what the maximum number of spectra to average
over is with the mode parameters you have selected.
When you know roughly what the maximum value for "fft1 avgn" is
for different kinds of signals, then you also know what maximum
number to average over in the primary AFC process for similar signals.
For extremely weak but very stable signals this number may be large
which will allow an accurate frequency locking at the cost of a large
time delay.
The maximum number possible for this parameter is limited by the
"First FFT storage time (s)" parameter in the mode setup.
[30]Number of spectra for the primary AFC to average over while staying
locked to a signal. Click in the box with the left mouse button and type
in a new value.
The averaging is made without any concern of the frequency drift.
This number has to be small enough for the peak caused by the signal
to be on the same place over the entire period of time for which
the averaging takes place.
Check that the signal is not broadened much in the high resolution
graph (red dB scale) when "fft2 avgn" is given the same value.
For extremely weak but very stable signals this number may be large
which will allow an accurate frequency locking at the cost of a large
time delay.
The maximum number possible for this parameter is limited by the
"First FFT storage time (s)" parameter in the mode setup.
[31]AFC time delay (in number of spectra)
Click in the box with the left mouse button and type in a new value.
The primary AFC process analyzes spectra over a period of time.
For weak signals (EME) that only occasionally are visible above the
white noise floor, the primary AFC typically will fit the best
frequency to 10 seconds of spectrum data.
In such a case, best locking is obtained if the interpolated frequency
is used, but then the delay caused by the AFC will be 5 seconds.
By setting the AFC time delay to a smaller value than the maximum allowed
(type in 999 for maximum) it is possible to make the delay smaller.
The frequency used in processing will be less accurate, particularly
for signals that drift randomly in frequency and are absent completely
most of the time.
[32]AFC straight line fit (in number of spectra)
Click in the box with the left mouse button and type in a new value.
The primary AFC associates an average frequency to each spectrum.
Each average is based on "Avg" individual spectra which are summed
with or without a sine window as set by one of the AFC control boxes.
A straight line is fitted to these frequencies and the processing
is made under the assumption that the straight line is correctly
describing how the frequency changes linearly with time.
A longer fit gives a better locking to stable signals and signals
that drift linearly with time.
[33]Volume control bar.
Click the left mouse button in the bar control area.
Note that this volume control is different from the volume control
on your loudspeaker or volume controls of the soundboard output
mixer.
Linrad in weak cw mode is designed to run without any AGC.
Strong signals are amplitude limited.
Bring this control to maximum to get a saturated signal.
Adjust your hardware (loudspeaker and/or soundboard output volumes)
for a loud but acceptable maximum sound level.
This will be the sound level for saturating signals.
When listening to very weak signals, place the volume control bar
for the amplitude indicator to the left of it to be placed between
25% and 50% of full scale.
The amplitude indicator turns red at the point of saturation
and green if the signal is zero (or close to).
[34]Mouse on the baseband waterfall and spectrum.
Left click on the waterfall to move a signal to the center of the filter.
Hold right button down for continous tune at a speed and direction
given by the distance from the center.
BFO controls in the spectrum part:
The upper red vertical line is the BFO frequency in the correct frequency
scale. The two other red vertical lines are the BFO placed 10 respectively
100 times closer to the center frequency of the passband. The "zoomed in"
BFO controls have to be used when a narrow passband is chosen causing the
true frequency of the BFO to come outside the frequency range of the graph.
Grab the BFO by placing the mouse curser on it, hold down the left mouse
button and move the BFO line while keeping the button pressed.
Filter controls in the spectrum part:
The filter in use is shown in yellow. The filter shape is controlled by
two yellow vertical lines. The upper yellow line sets the flat
bandwidth while the lower yellow line sets the skirt steepness.
The baseband spectrum has two indicator numbers at the right hand side.
These two numbers are not mouse control boxes.
The upper is the fft3 size in powers of two, the lower is the
currently selected baseband processing mode which will change according
to the settings in the control boxes. Use this number as your
"Default output mode" in the parameter selection to have your favorite
processing mode as the default mode.
The baseband waterfall has two numbers above each other on the right
hand side. They form the two digit number that sets the step size
when a wheel mouse or the left/right arrow keys are used for tuning.
The step size is given in powers of two.
Change the step size with the keyboard '+' or '-' or with the depressed
mouse wheel.
There are three tuning modes. Change with "M" from the keyboard or by clicking
the third bottom box in the lower left corner. The one with "T", "P" or "B".
The box can provide F1 help.
[35]Press the left mouse button to expand the dB scale.
[36]Press the left mouse button to contract the dB scale.
[37]Press the left mouse button to move the dB scale upwards.
[38]Press the left mouse button to move the dB scale downwards.
[39]Press the left mouse button to double the third fft size.
The current fft3 size is indicated by it's power of two below this box.
When the third fft size is doubled, the frequency scale is expanded
by a factor of two. The number of data points describing the filter
is also doubled which will allow twice as steep filter skirts.
The time delay caused by the third fft is also doubled, twice as many
data points have to be collected before the transform can be computed.
To expand the frequency scale without making the fft size larger,
use the buttons in the left side of this window.
[40]Press the left mouse button to half the third fft size.
The current fft3 size is indicated by it's power of two below this box.
If you can not reduce fft3 size further, expand the frequency scale
with the box in the left upper corner of this window or reduce window size.
When the third fft size is reduced, the frequency scale is contracted
by a factor of two.
The time delay caused by the third fft is also halved.
[41]Press left mouse button to toggle the baseband oscilloscope on/off.
The oscilloscope has a fixed position on screen, move other windows
to the right hand side of the screen when using it.
The oscilloscope displays the time function (timf3) used to produce the
baseband spectrum (fft3).
The bandwidth of the signal displayed by the timf3 oscilloscope
is set by the parameter "First mixer bandwidth reduction in powers of 2"
among the mode setup parameters.
This display is intended for use while checking the timf3
noise blanker which is not yet implemented.
[42]Press the left mouse button to increase the gain of the
baseband oscilloscope.
(Only active if the baseband oscilloscope is enabled)
[43]Press the left mouse button to decrease the gain of the
baseband oscilloscope.
(Only active if the baseband oscilloscope is enabled)
[44]Press the left mouse button to expand the frequency scale.
Resolution will remain unchanged and the spectrum is drawn
as a straight line interpolation between FFT bins.
[45]Press the left mouse button to contract the frequency scale.
Resolution will remain unchanged and the amount of interpolation
between FFT bins will be reduced.
[46]Mode for audio compression/expansion.
"Off" = Normal mode.
"Exp" = Amplitude expander on.
"Lim" = Simple amplitude clipping.
In normal mode the output is identical to the input up to the saturation
level. An extremely fast AGC prevents the input to reach above the
saturation level which leads to a limitation of the amplitude at the
saturation level without the generation of overtones.
When the amplitude expander is on, the amplitude variations of the
input signal are expanded by an exponential function.
The amplitude expander is intended to be used only at bandwidths below
25Hz where the human ear can no longer hear frequency differences causing
both signal and noise to be perceived as a tone with constant frequency
and varying amplitude. The human hearing is not designed to distinguish
well between small amplitude variations of a single tone because of the
logarithmic nature of the amplitude response. The exponential expansion
compensates for the logarithmic response and makes decoding of extremely
weak signals by ear possible for long times without fatigue.
The mode setup parameter "Audio expander exponent" can be used to
set the curvature of the exponential expansion.
The simple amplitude clipping is completely linear up to the saturation
level where the signal is limited. Overtones are generated when clipping
occurs. The onset of overtone generation can be used to hear small
amplitude variations for example when listening to aurora signals.
When a signal is much wider than the modulation, the optimum filter
should match the signal spectrum. The sound character that comes out does
not change between key up and key down since it will be the noise spectrum
that fits the filter in both cases.
The simple amplitude clipping is an alternative to exponential expansion
in such cases.
To get the current mode as default, make the mode parameter "Default output
mode" equal to the number at the right hand side of this line of boxes.
[47]Mode for coherent processing. Use left mouse button to select mode:
"Off " = No coherent processing.
"Coh1" = "Binaural CW"
"Coh2" = Coherent: I and Q to left and right ear respectively.
"Coh3" = Full coherent processing with I to both ears.
The coherent modes use a second filter that is "Rat " times narrower than
the filter shown in yellow on the graph.
In binaural CW mode, the narrow filter is typically adapted to the bandwidth
of the keying sidebands while the wide filter is 2 to 4 times larger.
In coherent modes, the wide filter is adapted to the bandwidth of the keying
sidebands while the narrow filter is at least 8 times narrower. (Use button
in upper right corner to get more data points on the filter function to
allow larger "Rat" values) The Coh2 mode is safe, if the narrow filter fails
to follow the carrier due to AFC problems caused by unstable signals or the
requirement for small processing delay, no signal at all is lost. If the
carrier phase is incorrect, the signal will be present in both ears.
This mode is particularly useful for chirping signals.
The Coh3 mode is the most sensitive processing mode. It should be combined
with AFC with parameters that allow a good locking to the CW carrier.
The Coh3 mode gains 3dB S/N by rejecting the noise power that is in the
Q channel. There is a further S/N improvement because anything that is in
opposite phase to the carrier is also rejected. The Coh3 mode is best used
together with "Exp", exponential expansion of the audio amplitude.
Particularly when exponential expansion is used it is important to select
the wider filter for minimum possible bandwidth. The narrower filter which
is controlled by the Rat parameter must be wide enough to allow the full
bandwidth of the carrier to pass.
To get the current mode as default, make the mode parameter "Default output
mode" equal to the number at the right hand side of this line of boxes.
[48]Press the left mouse button to toggle delay between ears.
This mode can be enabled only when "Coh" or "X+Y" is not selected.
This mode will delay the signal to one ear, thus creating a frequency
depending phase shift between the two ears.
The effect of the phase shift is an artificial stereo effect. Different
frequencies seem to arrive from different spatial directions.
The "Del" mode may be useful when the selected bandwidth is larger than
the bandwidth of the desired signal which can be useful for unstable
signals or when a very small processing delay not allowing AFC is required.
To get the current mode as default, make the mode parameter "Default output
mode" equal to the number at the right hand side of this line of boxes.
[49]Press the left mouse key to toggle "X+Y" mode.
This mode can be enabled only when "Coh" is not selected.
It will deselect "Del" automatically.
The "X+Y" mode routes the two receive channels to the two output channels
for stereo reception. This mode is useful when polarization changes too
quickly to allow the automatic polarization adaptation to follow.
The signals for the output is two orthogonal combinations of the two
input signals. Set the polarization to "Fixed" and horizontal to receive
horizontal in one ear and vertical in the other.
To get the current mode as default, make the mode parameter "Default output
mode" equal to the number at the right hand side of this line of boxes.
[50]Click the left mouse button to force two output channels.
Can be used only when the mode does not require two output channels.
With two output channels for modes where one channel is sufficient
the user can select whether he wants the two channels in phase or
out of phase. The box immediately left to this one will show '+'
or '-' to indicate the sign.
In SSB mode 'c' will indicate complex format.
[51]Press left mouse button to toggle output between 8 and 16 bits.
Not really useful - if your hardware allows 16 bit, use them all.
With 8 bit you would however get .wav files of half the size
and 8 bit data is enough for weak narrowband signals.
To get the current mode as default, make the mode parameter "Default output
mode" equal to the number at the right hand side of this line of boxes.
[52]Press left mouse button to change "Rat". Enter new value from keyboard.
Rat is the ratio of the bandwidths for the two filters used
in coherent modes.
To get the current mode as default, make the mode parameter "Default output
mode" equal to the number at the right hand side of this line of boxes.
[53]Press left mouse button to change the delay between ears in "Del" mode.
Enter new value from keyboard.
To get the current mode as default, make the mode parameter "Default output
mode" equal to the number at the right hand side of this line of boxes.
[54]Press left mouse button to toggle between "Fixed" and "Adapt".
In "Fixed" mode the two incoming RF signals are combined to produce
two output signals. The polarization angle (amplitude ratio) and the
phase shift between the two RF signals can be set with the mouse
in the two upper areas of this graph. (Use F1 for details.)
In "Adapt" mode Linrad uses available information to adjust the polarization
to fit the polarization of the incoming wave.
In both cases the polarization is shown as a line, an ellipse or a circle.
The displayed polarization is further processed and shown in green in
the high resolution graph and in the baseband graph.
The orthogonal polarization is displayed in red.
Normally the orthogonal signal (red) is discarded, but by selecting
the X+Y mode in the baseband one can get the two orthogonal
polarizations in the two audio channels of a stereo output.
[55]Press left mouse button to change polarization angle.
This function is intended for use in "Fixed" mode.
[56]Press left mouse button to change ellipticity of polarization.
When the control line is at the extreme left or the extreme right within
the box, the phase shift between the two incoming signals is 90 degrees.
Then the resulting polarization can be set to circular, left or right hand
rotation by changing the angle in the blue field above.
When this control is at it's center position the polarization is linear.
Together angle and ellipticity can be set to match any polarization,
linear, circular or elliptic.
[57]Press left mouse button and move vertical line to change time constant of
polarization evaluation.
Only available in "Adapt" mode.
For extremely weak signals with stable polarization such as 144MHz
EME, use a long time constant.
Signals that rapidly change polarization like 7MHz at night need use
a short time constant.
Success of adaptive polarization is indicated by how well the signal
is suppressed in the red spectra in the high resolution graph and in
the baseband graph.
[58]Parameter "fft1 avgnum". Press left mouse button and type in new value.
This parameter controls the averaging of the main spectrum, fft1, which
has blue lines for the dB scale.
Larger values give higher sensitivity but slower response.
The parameter "fft1 avgnum" is always a multiple of the primary average
number which can be changed by the box in the lower right corner of the
main spectrum. When the first fft bandwidth is high, the averaging process
becomes a substantial part of the total computing and averaging in groups
of up to 5 spectra saves time.
[59]Parameter "fft1 avgnum". Press left mouse button and type in new value.
This parameter controls the averaging of the main spectrum, fft1, which
has blue lines for the dB scale.
Larger values give higher sensitivity but slower response.
The parameter "fft1 avgnum" is always a multiple of the primary average
number which can be changed by the box in the lower right corner of the
main spectrum. When the first fft bandwidth is high, the averaging process
becomes a substantial part of the total computing and averaging in groups
of up to 5 spectra saves time.
The averaged fft1 spectrum is used for the selective limiter.
The sensitivity/speed compromise affects the noise blanker operation and
the blue control bar at the left side of the high resolution graph
must be set in accordance with the fft1 avgnum value selected.
[60]Parameter "waterfall avgnum". Press left mouse button and type in
new value. This parameter controls the averaging for each line of the
waterfall graph.
Larger values give higher sensitivity but slower response.
The parameter "waterfall avgnum" is always a multiple of the primary
average number which can be changed by the box in the lower right corner
of the main spectrum. When the first fft bandwidth is high, the averaging
process becomes a substantial part of the total computing and averaging
in groups of up to 5 spectra saves time.
[61]Parameter "waterfall avgnum". Press left mouse button and type in
new value. This parameter controls the averaging for each line of the
waterfall graph.
Larger values give higher sensitivity but slower response.
[62]Parameter "fft2 avgnum". Press left mouse button and type in new value.
This parameter controls the averaging of the high resolution spectrum,
fft2, which has red lines for the dB scale.
Larger values give higher sensitivity but slower response.
[63]Parameter "fft3 avgnum". Press left mouse button and type in new value.
This parameter controls the averaging of the baseband spectrum,
fft3, which has green lines for the dB scale.
Larger values give higher sensitivity but slower response.
[64]Parameter "Waterfall zero".
Press left mouse button and type in new value or press right mouse
button to let linrad auto-select the parameter.
This parameter selects the zero point (in dB) for the waterfall graph.
[65]Parameter "Waterfall zero".
Press left mouse button and type in new value or press right mouse
button to let linrad auto-select the parameter.
This parameter selects the zero point (in dB) for the waterfall graph.
It will also affect the vertical position of the high resolution
graph (red dB scale).
The colour scale currently in use for the waterfall is displayed
at the right hand side of the high resolution graph.
[66]Parameter "Waterfall gain". Press left mouse button and type in
new value.
This parameter selects the gain for the waterfall graph.
[67]Parameter "Waterfall gain". Press left mouse button and type in
new value.
This parameter selects the gain for the waterfall graph.
It will also affect the dB scale of the high resolution graph (red dB scale).
The colour scale currently in use for the waterfall is displayed
at the right hand side of the high resolution graph graph.
[68]The three S-meters in the coherent graph show the strength
of the signal that has passed the selected baseband filter.
Set the filter to rectangular with 1kHz bandwidth to get the
noise floor in 1000Hz. Then subtract 30 dB to get dB/Hz.
The three meters show:
Top = Peak S-meter.
Middle = Current S-meter value.
Bottom = True RMS for everything that passes the filter.
The S-meter shows the level of a CW signal that has a speed
that fits the selected passband. It is obtained from a bi-directional
fast attack, slow release amplitude follower.
The S-meter gives a level for CW signals that is independent of
the mark to space ratio of the received signal.
By pressing F2 you can get averaged true RMS readings above
the normal three S-meter readings. Clear and restart with F2.
The top line is the number of averaged values.
[69]Click this box to toggle the coherent oscilloscope on/off.
The coherent graph oscilloscope shows various signals
in the baseband. These oscilloscope images are intended to assist
in the development of automatic detect algorithms for CW and
various digital modes.
[70]Click in this box to open or close the eme window.
[71]Use this box to enter the ww locator of another station
to get the optimum tx polarization and some more info about the dx location.
[72]Use this box to enter a call sign or fragments thereof.
Linrad will search it's database and give the optimum tx
polarization and some more info about the dx location in case the search
gives a single station and the database contains the geographical location.
[73]Timf2 oscilloscope: Increase gain for strong signals
[74]Timf2 oscilloscope: Decrease gain for strong signals
[75]Timf2 oscilloscope: Increase gain for weak signals
[76]Timf2 oscilloscope: Decrease gain for weak signals
[77]Timf2 oscilloscope: Toggle graphical modes
P=Change to set pixels
L=Change to draw lines
[78]Timf2 oscilloscope: Toggle graphical modes
H=Change to hold
C=Clear and change to normal mode
[79]Use this box to toggle AGC on/off.
In AM mode when using Coh2, there are three options:
1) Off = No AGC
2) AGC = AGC derived from peak power in the entire passband.
3) COH = Independent AF-derived AGC for the left and right channel.
[80]Use this box to enter time constant for AGC attack.
A long time constant will prevent the AGC from reducing the gain
due to short bursts of interference.
This parameter will affect the release time which can never be
smaller than the attack time.
[81]Use this box to enter time constant for AGC release.
[82]Click this box to decrease the center frequency for your receiver
hardware. The default routine will fit the WSE converters.
Read the file z_USERS_HWARE to find out how this control can be configured
to fit your own hardware in case you use something else.
[83]Click this box to increase the center frequency for your receiver
hardware. The default routine will fit the WSE converters.
Read the file z_USERS_HWARE to find out how this control can be configured
to fit your own hardware in case you use something else.
[84]Left click this box, then enter a new center frequency in MHz for your
receiver hardware.
Right click this box to change the step size when the frequency is
changed with the arrow boxes. Enter the desired frequency step in MHz.
(Must be in the range 0.005 to 1.5)
If a converter is used, enter the frequency of the output from the
converter (=the frequency actually wanted as the center frequency
of your SDR hardware.) The frequency scales will show frequency
of the input to the converter by adding or subtracting the converter
LO frequency and inverting the scale in case the LO is above the
signal frequency.
The default routine will fit the WSE converters, SDR-14, SDR-IQ,
Perseus, Si570(Softrock and others), Soft66, SDR-IP, Excalibur,
hardwares with ExtIO libraries and perhaps more.
Read the file z_USERS_HWARE to find out how this control can be configured
to fit your own hardware in case you use something else.
[85]Click this box to decrease the gain of your hardware.
The default routine will fit the WSE converters.
Read the file z_USERS_HWARE to find out how this control can be configured
to fit your own hardware in case you use something else.
[86]Click this box to increase the gain of your hardware.
The default routine will fit the WSE converters.
Read the file z_USERS_HWARE to find out how this control can be configured
to fit your own hardware in case you use something else.
[87]Click this box, then enter a new gain value for your hardware.
The default routine will fit the WSE converters.
Read the file z_USERS_HWARE to find out how this control can be configured
to fit your own hardware in case you use something else.
[88]There are two different implementations of the baseband filter
and resampler.
1) Back transformation from fft3 where points are weighted according
to the yellow curve in the baseband graph. This is the old implementation
that was the only alternative up to Linrad-02.58.
This method is by far most CPU efficient for wide filters with steep
skirts. Signals that fall on the steep skirts get distorted in case
the shape is determined essentially by the window function in use.
Such distortion does not affect AM, CW or SSB reception provided
that the selected filter is much wider (20 times or more) than
the frequency response of an individual FFT bin.
This method is not suitable for wideband I/Q output through
the network and it requires fairly large sizes for fft3 and therefore
it gives a substantial increase in the time delay from antenna to
loudspeaker.
2) FIR filter with timf3 as input. This is the conventional SDR solution.
It was is introduced in Linrad-02.59
It is possible to select a baseband filter with only one bin
and thereby produce a filter that is entirely determined by the
window function in use for fft3.
Very small sizes for fft3 can be used and therefore this method
can provide a very short time delay from antenna to loudspeaker.
This method can not be used for large fft3 sizes at high baseband
sampling speeds because it would overload the CPU.
[89]The radio hardware can send audio to a digital system in two ways.
1) Real data, one audio channel for each RF channel.
2) Complex data, two audio channels for each RF channel.
Real data provides a bandwidth of half the sampling frequency.
A selective filter is then needed on the analog side in front
of the last frequency mixer (for which the local oscillator is the BFO)
Complex data, I and Q, provides twice as much information per
unit of time and gives a bandwidth that equals the sampling frequency.
No filter is required in the RF path.
To use two RF channels with complex data a soundcard with
four audio channels is required. Some soundcards that have
four channels can not be opened with more than two channels
and to allow two RF channels one has to open two sound devices
for the soundcard. (Answer yes to "Do you need more channels
from the same soundcard")
[90]Press left mouse button. Then type a new calibration constant in dB.
The dBm scale and the S-Units scale have separate calibration
constants.
The dB scale is the same as for the power meters in the coherent graph.
[91]Press left mouse button to toggle scale between dB, dBm and S-Units.
[92]Press left mouse button to increase the averaging in the meter graph.
The averaging affects both the curves and the bar graph.
The number of samples to form an RMS average over is a power of two
This number is shown to the left.
That number is also the number of samples out of which the largest value
is picked to form the peak power graph.
[93]Press left mouse button to decrease the averaging in the meter graph.
The averaging affects both the curves and the bar graph.
The number of samples to form an RMS average over is a power of two
This number is shown to the left.
That number is also the number of samples out of which the largest value
is picked to form the peak power graph.
[94]Press left mouse button to expand the vertical scale.
[95]Press left mouse button to contract the vertical scale.
[96]Press left mouse button to move graph downwards.
[97]Press left mouse button to move graph upwards.
[98]Press left mouse button to toggle curves between:
P = Peak power.
M = RMS power.
2 = Both RMS and peak power.
Note that both the selected polarization and the orthogonal
polarization is shown (in different colours) when two RF
signals are fed into Linrad.
The S-Meter bar shows only the selected polarization just
like the power meter in the coherent graph.
[99]Click this box to show/hide the S-meter graph.
[100]Mouse on a border line.
Press left mouse button to resize window (and/or move window)
[101]Mouse on a border line.
Press left mouse button to move window.
[102]Mouse on the S-Meter border line.
Press left mouse button to resize window (and/or move window)
The S-Meter is a bar graph when the window width is small.
Set the window more than 13 characters wide to get curves
showing signal level vs time.
When the window is made wide, control buttons are present.
Use these buttons to set the graphs to show RMS power,
peak power or both and to select scale in dB, dBm or S-Units.
The bar graph is always peak power in S-Units to conform
to conventional S-Meters.
[103]Click this box to decrease the transmit frequency.
The default routine will fit the WSE converters.
Read the file z_USERS_HWARE to find out how this control can be configured
to fit your own hardware in case you use something else.
[104]Click this box to increase the transmit frequency.
The default routine will fit the WSE converters.
Read the file z_USERS_HWARE to find out how this control can be configured
to fit your own hardware in case you use something else.
[105]Click this box, then enter a new transmit frequency.
The default routine will fit the WSE converters.
Read the file z_USERS_HWARE to find out how this control can be configured
to fit your own hardware in case you use something else.
[106]Click this box, then enter a number to select the speech
processing parameters to use for transmitting.
Only numbers actually set up and saved are available.
Use 'V' in the main menu, then 'C' to get to the speech processor
set-up routine or make files par_ssbprocXX manually by making
changes to existing files that you renumber.
XX is a number 0 to MAX_SSBPROC_FILES (defined in tx.c)
[107]Click this box. Then enter the desired transmit power
in dB below maximum possible. Decimals are allowed.
[108]Under Windows one has to use WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE to open four
audio channels in a single MME device.
The WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE format is also required to allow 24 bit data,
which is advantageous on the transmit side.
Some 4-channel soundcards may not support WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE and
have to be opened as a pair of 16 bit stereo channels.
Delta 44 can be problematic. Many driver versions mis-behave.
Read here:
http://www.sm5bsz.com/linuxdsp/run/snd-compat/snd-compat.htm
It is always safe to use Linux with the Delta 44.
[109]The radio hardware can send audio to a digital system in two ways.
1) Real data, one audio channel for each RF channel.
2) Complex data, two audio channels for each RF channel.
Real data provides a bandwidth of half the sampling frequency.
A selective filter is then needed on the analog side in front
of the last frequency mixer (for which the local oscillator is the BFO)
Complex data, I and Q, provides twice as much information per
unit of time and gives a bandwidth that equals the sampling frequency.
No filter is required in the RF path.
To use two RF channels with complex data a soundcard with
four audio channels is required. Multichannel audio is not
available for Newcomers. Use Linux or use S in the main
menu to change from newcomer to normal mode.
[200]For information about mode parameters, place curser on the
corresponding line and press F1.
The mode parameters are intended to be set up once and for all in accordance
with the abilities of your hardware.
One set of mode parameters can be selected for each processing mode.
[201]The first fft bandwidth is used to set the size of the first
fft to a bandwidth within a factor of two of the desired value.
If the second fft is enabled, there is no reason to select a very
narrow bandwidth since the first fft then is used only for the selective
limiter that prevents strong signals from reaching the noise blanker.
When second fft is disabled the first fft bandwidth will directly
affect the sensitivity of the waterfall graph and it will also affect
AFC performance.
Narrow bandwidths cause appreciable processing delay, this is unavoidable
since data has to be collected over a time period that is about twice
the time given by 1/bw, (depends on what window is selected)
[202]The window function used for the first fft is a power of sin(x)
from 0 to 7.
The parameter value 8 gives a Gaussian window, and the parameter
value 9 generates a flat window that falls off to (near) zero with
the Gaussian error function erf(x).
For a short delay from antenna to loudspeaker, select 9 and
a bandwidth of 300 Hz.
For minimum CPU load (and somewhat compromised dynamic range),
select 1 and a bandwidth of 10 Hz.
For precise spectral analysis, select 7 or 8 and whatever bandwidth
you like to see on screen.
[203]Version number for fft1 routine.
Depending on your hardware there are several different fft implementations
available.
Check the timing of each one of them and select the fastest if there is
a significant difference.
[204]First FFT no of b threads.
This parameter makes Linrad create one or more separate threads
for the bulk of the first fft computation.
[205]First fft storage time.
This parameter affects memory allocation for old fft1 transforms.
It affects the maximum number of averages you may use for the
main spectrum.
In case second fft is deselected this parameter also affects
the memory allocation for AFC and spur rejection in case these
functions are enabled.
[206]First fft amplitude.
If you have disabled the second fft, this parameter will just shift
the dB scales just like a volume control.
In case you use the second fft you should use this parameter
to set the noise floor at the input to the first backwards fft.
Press A on the keyboard while your system is running to get amplitude
information in the lower left corner.
"Floor" is the number of bits RMS for the noise floor of the signal
entering the first backwards fft.
A larger value for first fft amplitude will increase "Floor".
Your loss of system noise figure because of quantization noise
will be:
Floor NF loss
(RMS voltage) (dB)
1 0.4
2 0.2
4 0.1
10 0.04
Placing the noise floor too high may lead to saturation in later
processing steps.
On good hardware with soundcards the default parameter value
2000 should give a floor value of about 10 when the hardware is
running at full gain with an antenna connected. The system noise
floor should then be about 20 dB above the noise of the soundcard alone.
In case you need a smaller value than 2000 for this parameter your
system is likely not optimised for dynamic range. Too much analog
hardware gain.
In case you need a larger value than 2000 your system is likely
insensitive, a preamplifier would likely improve the system NF
When evaluating .wav files, this parameter may have be set as low as 1.
[207]Main waterfall saturate limit.
Use this parameter to make the main waterfall black during
transmit in case your transmit signal gets into the receiver
and produces a saturated spectrum.
The waterfall gain and zero level determines what signal level
is required to saturate.
This parameter is the percentage of points that may saturate
(and become white) without causing the waterfall line to become
blanked out (black.)
Setting this parameter zero will disable the waterfall blanking.
[208]Enable the correlation spectrum between two RF channels
to be displayed in the main spetrum window.
This function can be used for sideband noise measurements
when the two RX channels have uncorrelated sideband noise.
Average 200 times for a 10dB noise floor improvement or
20000 times for a 20 dB improvement.
(The factor 2 from conventional instruments is due to the
overlapping transforms in Linrad when using sine squared windows.
Other windows have slightly different overlapping.)
Use a wide bandwidth for the averaging to not take too much time.
[209]The second fft is the high resolution fft that is intended for
use at large bandwidths (20kHz analog bandwidth and more).
If your analog hardware is a conventional radio with a few kHz bandwidth
there is usually no reason to enable the second fft.
Only if your radio has very low distortion for signals within the
passband and you are troubled by impulse noise that can not be removed
by the noise blanker of your radio because of the presence of strong
signals at nearby frequencies the second fft will be useful since it
allows noise blanking in the presence of strong signals.
Note that the second fft has to be enabled for the Linrad noise
blankers to become available. To use the smart blanker your system
also has to be calibrated.
[210]First backward FFT version.
Version number for back transformation from fft1 to timf2.
Select 0 for floating point, 1 for 16 bit MMX.
(Only very old computers do not have MMX)
The MMX implementation of the backwards FFT runs much faster
than the floating point implementation but it requires a little
more care in setting other parameters on this parameter screen.
Note also that the 16 bit MMX routine looses one bit if
the window for the first FFT is not 0 or 2.
Use a sine squared window for the first FFT with the 16
bit MMX routine.
[211]Sellim maxlevel
This parameter is needed when 16 bit MMX implementations
are used for backwards fft1 and/or for fft2.
It is used for the frequency selective AGC and sets the largest
amplitude allowed on spectral lines at the input of the first
fft backwards transformation.
A lower value here will allow more gain in the second fft without
risk of overflows in 16 bit MMX computations.
Press A on the keyboard while your system is running to get amplitude
information in the lower left corner.
If "fft1 St" , "timf2 St" or "fft2" overflows (margin becomes zero)
you may try to decrease this parameter.
A small value here may make desired signals distorted because
they are classified as "strong" and become compressed in a way