Radio Panel

The radio panel displays and controls the VFO of the connected radio.


If you hold the mouse pointer over the VFO Stepper and scrub the scroll pad up and down the VFO frequency will be tuned.

The VFO slider will change the frequency continuously as well.

Just below the VFO stepper is the polling light. It flashes green when the radio is polled, yellow when there is an error and red when the radio is in transmit.
Clicking this button will toggle PTT based on the PTT method selected in the Radio prefs.

This can also be activated by a Shortcuts menu “MOX” menu item.

By default this has a 15 second timeout to stop users from accidentally leaving their radios in transmit.

If you want to remove the timeout, enter this line in the Terminal application:
     defaults write com.dogparksoftware.MacLoggerDX mox_timeout_seconds -int 0

If you want to restore the 15 second timeout (or enter a different value) enter this line in the Terminal application:
     defaults write com.dogparksoftware.MacLoggerDX mox_timeout_seconds -int 15

To check the value enter this line in the Terminal application:
    defaults read com.dogparksoftware.MacLoggerDX mox_timeout_seconds

To activate a specific control like the VFO stepper you will have to Tab the control into focus first. Make sure your System Preferences / Keyboard / Shortcuts settings allow you to tab through all the controls (Full Keyboard Access).

Radio Prefs

Connecting the Computer to your Radio for CAT (Computer Aided Tuning / Rig Control)

The Radio Setting popup allows you to store 16 different radio configurations.

To add a new radio:

The Show Settings button displays a table of all your radio configurations. The table has a delete button to clear individual settings. You can also edit the Custom Name of the radio setting which will be logged in the My Radio QSO field and displayed in the main window Radio panel. If you delete the Custom Name it will default to the Driver Name eg. Yaesu FT-991.


The Split Delay text field specifies the number of milliseconds delay between Mode and Band changes for Auto Tune, Split and double-clicking on a DXCluster spot. This delay is required between mode and band changes to give the radio some time to settle. Some radios cannot respond to commands immediately after a band or mode change. For most modern radios Split Delay can be set to 10 ms (the default and minimum). The K3 and FT-897 require 100, 200 ms or more to allow relays to settle. If the number is too low the mode may be set incorrectly.

The Show Hz check box will display the Hz digit in the Radio panel frequency display.

AutoTune Mode First check box - when double-clicking on a DXCluster spot to tune your radio to the spot's frequency and mode, you may want to tune the frequency first since some radios will lose the mode when the band is changed. Un-check the Auto Tune Mode First check box to tune the frequency (band) first. The Split Delay will determine what duration to pause between split VFO settings and between the frequency and mode commands.

The Cluster QSX tuning check box will set split for dxcluster spots where MacLoggerDX can parse comment fields with QSX 14100.0, UP 3, DWN 2, DOWN 5 etc. Split spot frequencies will show in italics in the Spot panel. The parser is reasonably accurate and handles the majority of cases but the syntax for reporting QSX in the comments field of a dxcluster spot is far from standardised so some false positives/negatives or bad QSX values may occur.

The TX Param popup supplies an optional audio routing parameter for radio PTT.

TS-590S, TS-890S, TS-990S 0-Mic, 1-Data

The Speech popup is used by the Keyer window for pre-recorded audio files or text-to-speech keying. the Speech popup should be set to your radio sound card (USB Audio Codec) not the Built-in-Output since you want the audio to go to the radio not the Mac speakers. This popup can also select Loopback audio for xDAX transmission to your Flex. You may also have to configure the radio menus so that the radio will take it’s modulation audio from the internal sound card instead of the microphone jack.

The Echo port popup chooses the USB/Serial port to output amplifier/SteppIR etc. tuning frequency data at the baud rate selected from the Baud Rate popup, while the Format popup chooses Kenwood/Icom format. The Icom Format also requires the CI-V address to be specified. The Echo port requires it's own serial port separate from the radio, rotor and keyer ports. You may need a null-modem adapter to reverse the data lines depending on your configuration. The commands to the echo port >> and the commands returning from the echo port << are captured in the Debug Log if the Radio prefs Debug Log check box is enabled. Reports are sent at least once a second or when the VFO changes no more than 10 times per second.

>>[38] IF00018100000 000500002020001130;

 

RS-232 Cables

This will change the cable end from male to female or vice versa.

Gender Changer, Thin, DB9 M/M  $4.99

Gender Changer, Thin, DB9 F/F  $3.98

 

 

This will change a null modem cable to straight through or a straight through cable to null modem.

DB9 F/F Null Modem Adapter $1.10

 

Keyer Window

The PTT and CW popups in the Radio Prefs will determine how the radio is set to transmit and how CW is generated.

PTT

 

CW

The Keyer Window is activated with the Keyer button in the VFO Panel or with the Shortcuts menu Keyer menu item. This will open a WKUSB keyer device and take it out of standalone mode.

The Type Ahead check box will send the CW as you type instead of waiting for you to press the return key or the CW button.

The Type Ahead Filter value will apply a small pacing filter (0 - 1000 ms) giving the transmission a smoother rhythm. A value of 0 removes the filter completely.

The Speed text edit area allows you change the send speed for both Radio generated CW and DTR/RTS CW (with USB Keyers this field is not editable but shows the setting of the Keyer Speed pot).

The Dit Interval: text edit area allows you change the 'dit' intervals between words in DTR/RTS CW.

The Macro popup will place the selected Macro in the text input are and expand any variables in the macro.

You can define keyboard shortcuts for the Keyer Macros because the Keyer Macros menu is duplicated in the Shortcuts menu. The Keyer Panel should not be foremost for the keyboard shortcut to work.

The Repeat every n seconds check box will cause the CW, Speech or Sound file to be retransmitted every n seconds.

The Sound file popup will select a pre-recorded sound file (~/Documents/MLDX_Logs/recorded_sound_files) to play.

The Play button will send the selected pre-recorded audio file. The audio files are loaded from ~/Documents/MLDX_Logs/recorded_voice_files/

The Speak button cause the text in the text edit area to be converted to speech and sent.

The Clear button will clear the text input area.

The Cancel button will stop CW or speech transmission immediately (you can also use the escape key for this).

The Record button will allow you to record voice announcements to play back over the air (requires Mac OS X 10.7 or later). The files will be stored in ~/Documents/MLDX_Logs/recorded_voice_files/.

Pressing return will activate the CW button and send the CW. The escape key or the Cancel button will cancel it.

The CW button causes the CW in the text edit area to be sent by toggling the DTR, RTS or both lines on the radio serial port or by sending the text to the radio or Keyer.

The Status light/button and text will tell you which CW, PTT methods and Audio output device you have chosen in the radio prefs and if the keyer device has been opened successfully. Pressing this button will toggle the Keyer port open (WKUSB Host mode) and closed (WKUSB Standalone mode) if needed. Opening and closing the Keyer window will also open and close the keyer device. Unlike Standalone Mode, Host mode settings are not persistent, they are reset each time MacLoggerDX opens the keyer.

Text enclosed by square brackets will be elided as a prosign by the K1EL and DTR/RTS keyers. [AA] will be sent as .-.-

See the K1EL WinKeyer manual for predefined Prosign Key Assignments eg. use "=" to send BT.
 

CW and Text-To-Speech Macros

Variable Replaced with Example
@MYCALL station call VE3VRW
@MYNAME Operator Don Agro
@MYQTH Station QTH Toronto
@QSOCALL QSO Call W1AW
@RST Signal Report Sent 599
@RRST Signal Report Received 599
@PWR Transmit Power 50W
@STX Numeric Sequence # 0134
@STS String Sequence Exchange Sent
@MYGRID Station QTH Grid FN03jq
@QSONAME QSO's First Name John
@BAND QSO Band 30M
@FREQUENCY QSO Frequency 10.110
@MODE QSO's Mode CW
@UTC Current Time UTC 10:12:09
@UTS Current Time UTC (Short) 1012
@CONTEST Contest ID 7QP

To customize the keyer macros, edit cwmacros.dat In the downloaded Sample Files folder, place it in ~/Documents/MLDX_Logs/ and reopen the Keyer window. Make sure you save the file as Plain Text not Rich Text. Blank lines in the file will generate separator lines in the menus.

If you want the @STX Macro to expand to TN CUT numbers, enter this command in a Terminal window…

defaults write com.dogparksoftware.MacLoggerDX keyer_use_cut_numbers -bool YES

Rotor Panel

The Rotor check box displays/controls the connection status of the rotor controller. The circular slider allows you to manually control the rotor heading. Normally you would use the Beam button or the Log Menu Goto Beam Heading and Goto Reverse Heading menu items to rotate the beam to the calculated heading of the last station lookup. You may also type in a beam heading and press return. The actual bearing read back is displayed as well (Not supported by all rotor controllers).

Most rotor controller manufacturers provide some method for aligning your controller so that when MacLoggerDX sends a bearing value of 0 (for example) the antenna will be pointing North

(N=0, E=90, S=180, W=270).

When MacLoggerDX sends the correct bearing value for the rotor controller to goto, setting the correct physical rotation is up to the controller and it's alignment.

Rotor Test

1) Turn OFF the Radio prefs Debug Log check box and turn ON the Rotor prefs Debug Log check box.

2) Restart MacLoggerDX and make sure the rotor is connected and no Offsets are set.

3) Enter a Bearing value (251.9) in the Rotor panel Bearing box and press return.

4) The Antennas should move to the requested bearing and In the debug log look for the rotor goto command ...

    (with the GS-232 controller it will look something like this)

    M command… 2024-06-19 08:14:20.019 MacLoggerDX[1169:25220] sendRotorSerialCommand delay[0.0]ms [05]->M251<0D>

    The centre Bearing text value should track the actual antenna position if your controller supports read back.

    If the bearing command is correct but the actual rotor bearing is off, then there is a controller alignment problem.

To configure the rotor controller connection you must select the serial port it is connected on, the baud rate and number of stop bits that it is expecting (check the controller manual for this information), the controller type (ie hy-gain DCU-1 Pathfinder) Note: If a manufacturer doesn't advertise Mac support on their web site - they probably won't support the device when you have a problem.

If you start MacLoggerDX with an internal UART rotor controller like the RT-21 powered down - MacLoggerDX will be unable to see the rotor port and will choose another port like the Bluetooth port - this won't work. You will need to re-select the UART port. Likewise make sure you quit MacLoggerDX before you power down the rotor controller or MacLoggerDX won't be able to save the rotor port name in the prefs.

If you chose Hamlib NET rotctld, enter the host and port of the rotctld server (default 127.0.0.1:4533). The MacLoggerDX rotctld client has been tested against the Hamlib v4.5.4 rotctld server. MacLoggerDX requires the Extended Response Protocol for asynchronous message decoding.

A number of third party rotor controllers use the DCU-1 protocol for communication, check your controller's user manual for the driver, baud rate and stop bit settings.

The Auto Rotate Beam check box will rotate the beam automatically, short path to the location of the lookup station when you double-click on a spot in the DXClusters/Spots panel, click on a Bands panel spot or perform any manual look up. The bearing calculation accuracy depends on the accuracy of your latitude and longitude entered in the Station Prefs and the accuracy of the geo-location data returned by your look up.

The Auto Rotate Short Path check box will auto rotate short path if checked or long path if un-checked.

The Band Bearing offset text boxes will apply bearing offsets in decimal degrees for specific bands and were implemented for rotor stacks where one band antenna is mounted 90 degrees out of alignment with another (for example). Offset values are not applied to the rotor read back values or display.

The Auto Rotate Band check boxes will enable or disable auto rotate for specific bands.

The Bearing Menu item under the MacLoggerDX Menu activates a Bearing Display HUD which will display the lookup bearing (white) as well as the actual rotor bearing (green) if your rotor controller supports read-back. The rotor read-back bearing (if available) will also display as a green line on the 2D and 3D maps. Clicking on the Bearing display will rotate the beam to that bearing.

Rotor Controllers supporting read-back:

The DCU-1 Pathfinder, MDS RC1, Green Heron RT-21 and Rotor EZ drivers all support the core DCU-1 goto commands but the DCU-1 driver does not support the AI1; read back command extension.