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FlexRadio Systems Flex-3000, Owner'S Manual

The FlexRadio Systems Flex-3000 is a cutting-edge radio system designed for amateur radio enthusiasts. Explore its advanced features and functions by accessing the comprehensive Owner's Manual, available for free download at our website. Discover the full potential of this remarkable product by referring to the manual for guidance and insights.

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Preface

Welcome   to   the   exciting   world   of   software   defined   radio.   The   FLEX-3000

™

 

1

  software   defined 

transceiver is the culmination of many years of experience gained with FlexRadio's ground breaking 

series of

 transceivers. The experience gained and lessons learned have resulted in an SDR platform that 

is truly state of the art, yet extremely compact. And unlike most other transceivers, which once 
acquired,   rarely   if   ever   change,   the   FLEX-3000   will   continue   to   (rapidly)   evolve,   offering   future 

capabilities currently only dreamed of.

This operating manual attempts to both guide the user step by step through the setup process (both 

hardware and software) and to act as a reference once the radio has been set up. Additionally, the 
freely downloadable PowerSDR software will install with default settings that, in most cases, will require 

little adjustment. Any adjustments that you make are automatically saved and can be imported into an 
updated version of the software.

Due to the nature of the FLEX-3000, the largest part of this operating manual, by far, will refer to 
software. The operating manual has numerous screenshots of windows and forms to detail the various 

steps. Although the manual describes the latest official release of the PowerSDR software, you may 
occasionally notice an earlier version identified in the title bar of a screenshot. This is because FlexRadio 

Systems

®

  has decided to only update a screenshot if it changes. If you have any ideas on how to 

improve the FLEX-3000, please feel free to contact us, or better still, to join our email reflector (see 

http://kc.flex-radio.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50024.aspx

).   Not   only   is   the   FLEX-3000   a   software 

defined radio; it is also a user defined radio. 

FlexRadio Systems is committed to ensuring that your experience with the FLEX-3000 will be one of the 
most enjoyable you have with Ham radio. If you have any questions, issues or problems operating 

PowerSDR and/or the FLEX-3000, you may be able to find the solution on the Support Pages  of our 
website   (

http://support.flex-radio.com/

),   in   our   Knowledge   Center   (

http://kc.flex-

radio.com/search.aspx

), our Forum (

http://forums.flex-radio.com/

), or through our highly active email 

reflector (

http://kc.flex-radio.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50024.aspx

).  If none of these sources provide 

you the assistance required, please contact FlexRadio Systems using the information provided on the 
Contact Page of our website (

http://www.flex-radio.com/About.aspx?topic=contactus

).

1

 FlexRadio Systems is a registered trademark of Bronze Bear Communications, Inc. DBA FlexRadio Systems. The FlexRadio 

Systems Waves Design (logo), SDR-1000, FLEX-3000 and the FLEX-3000 logo, FLEX-5000 and the FLEX-5000 logo, FlexWire, 

ClickTune, MultiRX, PanaFall and PanaScope are trademarks of FlexRadio Systems.

ix

 

2003-2009 FlexRadio Systems

Summary of Contents for Flex-3000

Page 1: ... Owner s Manual Version 1 18 0 HF 6m Transceiver The ...

Page 2: ...esentations or warranties expressed or implied to the accuracy of the copyrighted materials FlexRadio Systems will not be liable for any direct indirect special or consequential damages arising out of any use of the document FlexRadio Systems is a registered trademark of Bronze Bear Communications Inc DBA FlexRadio Systems The FlexRadio Systems Waves Design logo SDR 1000 FLEX 3000 and the FLEX 300...

Page 3: ...nal 5 3 Antenna Port 5 4 IEEE 1394 FireWire Jack 6 5 PTT Jack 6 6 External Keying Line 6 7 Powered Speaker Jack 7 8 FlexWire Peripheral Interface Bus 7 INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING THE FLEXRADIO FIREWIRE DRIVER 8 Switch Off the FLEX 3000 and Install the FireWire Driver 8 Power Up the FLEX 3000 and Install the New Hardware Found 13 Configuring the FlexRadio Driver using the Control Panel 16 Sampling ...

Page 4: ... CW Controls 45 Digital Controls 47 9 DISPLAY CONTROLS 47 Screen Controls 48 Display Selection Controls 48 Display Type Descriptions 48 Spectrum 49 Panadapter Panoramic Adapter 49 Histogram 50 Waterfall 51 Scope 52 Phase 52 Panafall 53 Panascope 53 Off 53 Cursor and Peak Position 53 10 MULTIRX CONTROLS 54 11 DSP CONTROLS 54 12 VFO CONTROLS 55 13 CPU 56 14 START STOP BUTTON 56 15 MON MONITOR 56 16 ...

Page 5: ...ple Rate 71 Mic Boost 72 Expert 72 Latency with Expert checked 72 VAC Sub Tab 73 Virtual Audio Cable Setup 73 Gain dB 73 Latency 74 Mono Stereo 74 Combine VAC Input Channels 74 Auto Enable 74 Allow PTT to override bypass VAC for Phone 74 Direct IQ 75 DISPLAY TAB 76 Spectrum Grid 76 Refresh Rates 77 Waterfall 77 Multimeter 78 Phase Resolution 78 Scope Time Base 79 Averaging 79 Polyphase FFT 79 DSP ...

Page 6: ...splay 98 Cursor Peak Readout 98 Panadapter 99 General Sub Tab 100 VFO 101 Band Data 101 Meter Sub Tab 102 Original Style 103 Edge Style 103 KEYBOARD TAB 104 CAT CONTROL TAB 105 Cat Control 106 PTT Control 107 DigL U Returns LSB USB 107 FlexProfiler Installed 107 Allow Kenwood AI Command 107 Test 108 RTTY Offset 109 TESTS TAB 110 Two Tone Test 110 Audio Balance Test 110 Signal Generator 111 Enable ...

Page 7: ...use Wheel Hover 133 Spectrum Click Tuning 133 Keyboard Keys 134 USB Tuning Knob 134 VOICE OPERATION 135 CW OPERATION 138 Initial Settings 139 Internal Keyer 140 External Keyer 142 CWX Form 142 Third Party Program 143 DIGITAL OPERATION 146 CAT Control Setup 149 Install VCOM 149 Configure the VCOM Port Pairs 155 Configure PowerSDR CAT Control 157 Configure PowerSDR Keyer Connections 158 Virtual Soun...

Page 8: ...RS AND SAMPLE RATE 173 FILTER EFFECTS 173 LATENCY EFFECTS 175 UNDERLYING THEORY 175 B UPDATING THE FLEX 3000 FIRMWARE 179 AUTOMATICALLY 179 MANUALLY 179 Download and Extract the Firmware 179 Update the Firmware 180 C OPTIMIZING THE AGC 183 D WINDOW FUNCTIONS 185 viii 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 9: ...er version identified in the title bar of a screenshot This is because FlexRadio Systems has decided to only update a screenshot if it changes If you have any ideas on how to improve the FLEX 3000 please feel free to contact us or better still to join our email reflector see http kc flex radio com KnowledgebaseArticle50024 aspx Not only is the FLEX 3000 a software defined radio it is also a user d...

Page 10: ...n improvements to our hardware and software ranging from bug reports and feature requests to actual design and implementation of certain functionality Identifying contributors by name would only risk leaving out others with equally valuable contributions We therefore wish to suffice with a heartfelt thank you for your support and continued commitment The rest of this page has been left blank inten...

Page 11: ...ow o Similarly click on the Next View arrow to go forward to a subsequently viewed page Alternatively in the menu click View Goto Next View or on your keyboard type Alt Right Arrow Within the text there are many cross references Although not obvious these are all hyperlinks within the manual Click on the referenced Table n Figure n above below or page n bold indicates the hyperlink and you will im...

Page 12: ...s of Carton for each FLEX 3000 Model Item FLEX 3000 Transceiver 6 pin to 6 pin FireWire cable 6 feet 2 Unterminated 12 AWG power cable 4 feet PL259 BNC adapter Quick Start Guide CD ROM USB Flash Drive with Owner s manual Quick Start Guide PowerSDR 1 18 or later FlexRadio FireWire Driver Other items may be included that are not listed above The FLEX 3000 power cable is unterminated at one end so th...

Page 13: ...used successfully with the FLEX 3000 Ensure convenient access to the back panel The FLEX 3000 back panel is where several of your connections will be made Having easy access to the back panel without moving the transceiver is optimal while getting started Avoid placing the FLEX 3000 in direct sunlight Placing the transceiver in direct sunlight will increase the ambient temperature inside the chass...

Page 14: ...re the FLEX 3000 is turned on and then wait 10 15 seconds before starting PowerSDR Otherwise PowerSDR will indicate a communication error and offer the option to run in Demo mode Click No to close PowerSDR turn on the FLEX 3000 and restart PowerSDR Note 2 Make sure PowerSDR is shut down before turning off the radio Otherwise close PowerSDR and power cycle the FLEX 3000 turn on off and on again and...

Page 15: ...Ground and not to pin 4 which is the microphone ground Note The pins designated as Up Down and Fast enable the use of mobile style microphones that have these buttons built in to them Up and Down will tune the frequency up or down respectively at the rate set by Tune Step in PowerSDR see page 37 The Fast button switches this Tune Step between 50Hz and 1kHz Although the FLEX 3000 will work well wit...

Page 16: ... PowerPoles banana plugs spade or ring lugs or tinned ends for screw terminals Connect the 2 red wires to the positive terminal and the 2 black wires to the negative terminal of your power supply The Molex type connector is inserted into the white Molex receptacle labeled 13 8 VDC 2 RF Ground Terminal Connect to the single point ground system in your shack Alternatively if you have no single point...

Page 17: ...3000 Please also refer to the Knowledge Center article Selecting High Performance FireWire Cards for FlexRadio Transceivers search for firewire card in our Knowledge Center at http kc flex radio com search aspx 5 PTT Jack Connect to external hardware devices such as foot pedals or hand switches to key the rig The transmitter will be engaged when the center conductor is grounded 6 External Keying L...

Page 18: ...Wire Peripheral Interface Bus FlexWire2 is an intelligent high speed bi directional communications interface that allows PowerSDR to communicate with a host of peripheral devices such as antenna tuners rotor controllers band switchers etc A family of FlexWire peripherals will be forthcoming from FlexRadio Systems This is not another CAT port but an industry standard bidirectional communications bu...

Page 19: ...occurred when trying to use a FireWire hard disk We do not recommend that you have a FireWire hard disk connected to the same FireWire controller bus as the FLEX 3000 Also do not connect both a FLEX 3000 and a FLEX 5000 to the same computer The drivers cannot differentiate between the two and erratic behavior may occur Download the FlexRadio FireWire Driver at http support flex radio com Downloads...

Page 20: ...is page has been left blank intentionally 1 All screenshots in this manual are as they would appear when using the Microsoft Windows XP operating system The screenshots may look slightly different when using Microsoft Vista but the steps are the same 9 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 5 FlexRadio Driver Setup Wizard ...

Page 21: ...u accept the default location to install the FlexRadio FireWire Driver to Click the Next button to continue to Figure 7 The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 10 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 6 FlexRadio Driver Setup Wizard Select Destination Location ...

Page 22: ... the Control Panel icon on your desktop uncheck the Create a desktop icon option Click the Next button to continue to Figure 8 The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 11 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 7 FlexRadio Driver Setup Wizard Select Additional Tasks ...

Page 23: ...nue Anyway button to proceed Once the files have been copied you will see the screen shown in Figure 9 Note You will not see Figures 9 through 12 in Windows Vista as the drivers will load silently The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 1 This warning is displayed because the hardware driver has not passed the formal Windows Logo Testing program The FlexRadio driver has however bee...

Page 24: ...0 to power it up After a brief moment you will hear the power relay click and the blue LED will illuminate the power button When this happens Windows will detect the FLEX 3000 and display the Found New Hardware Wizard Figure 10 three times in succession first for the FlexRadio FLEX 3000 then for the FlexRadio MIDI and finally for the FlexRadio Audio We will describe in detail how to proceed for th...

Page 25: ...when you are prompted to use Windows Update to search for software Click on the Next button to continue to Figure 11 Note Figure 10 above may not show up in some systems The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 14 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 10 Found New Hardware Wizard ...

Page 26: ...tomatically Recommended Click on the Next button to continue The Found New Hardware Wizard will request you to please wait while it installs the software If a Hardware Installation warning appears click the Continue Anyway button to proceed The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 15 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 11 Found New Hardware Wizard Installing the FLEX 3000 Software ...

Page 27: ...rd time this time for FlexRadio Audio Again repeat the steps described above Configuring the FlexRadio Driver using the Control Panel Before operating the FLEX 3000 you will need to set the driver s appropriate Sample Rate Buffer Size and Operation Mode using the Driver s Control Panel see Figure 13 on page 17 If you elected to create a desktop icon during driver installation see Figure 7 on page ...

Page 28: ...dio programs The lower the sample rate the smaller the buffer size can be to achieve the same overall system latency The minimum buffer size at a certain sample rate depends on the available computing power smaller buffers require more interrupts per unit of time audio dropouts are an indication of too low a buffer size Given a sample rate the minimum buffer size is limited by the Operation Mode s...

Page 29: ...l latencies where Safe Mode Level 1 does not work optimally with your system In these cases you should select either Safe Mode 2 or Safe Mode 3 to provide a stable environment to run the FLEX 3000 Once you have verified that all is working well you may fine tune the settings to best match your system and favored modulation mode Note 1 We strongly recommend you leave the Operation Mode in Safe Mode...

Page 30: ...erSDR email digital mode software logger etc and let it run for at least 5 minutes The checker will show the maximum latency found during the test period and recommend an Operation Mode based on the result While it may some times recommend Normal Mode we recommend you use Safe Mode 1 unless you experience latency issues For further information go to the FlexRadio Knowledge Center on our website an...

Page 31: ... page at http support flex radio com Downloads aspx fr 1 to a directory on your hard drive we recommend saving to the Desktop If you downloaded the zip file extract its contents Double click the Setup file Setup exe to start the installation process The PowerSDR installation will prompt you to install the NET framework version 1 11 if it is not installed and it will point you to the appropriate we...

Page 32: ...T A L L A T I O N S E T U P C H A P T E R 2 Figure 16 PowerSDR Installation Welcome Screen Click the Next button to continue to Figure 17 The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 22 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 33: ...SDR Installation Folder Selection You can change the installation directory here though we recommend you use the default for troubleshooting purposes Click the Next button to continue to Figure 18 The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 23 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 34: ... Figure 18 PowerSDR Installation License Agreement Read the GNU Public License If you accept click I Agree and click the Next button to continue to Figure 19 Otherwise click Cancel The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 24 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 35: ...ation Confirmation Click the Next button to confirm these settings and to copy the necessary files to the selected install directory Once the files have been copied you will see the screen shown in Figure 20 The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 25 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 36: ...PowerSDR Setup Wizard Power up the FLEX 3000 to load its driver and start up the PowerSDR console using the shortcut on the Desktop or through the Start menu When you run a new release of PowerSDR for the first time an optimization routine will run and the screens shown in Figure 21 will appear The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 26 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 37: ...plications you will normally not be running simultaneously with PowerSDR The routine will save a file called wisdom to the directory in which PowerSDR resides If you wish to run FFTW again delete this file from the directory and start up PowerSDR or simply run the fftw_wisdom exe file in the PowerSDR directory When the routine has completed a brief startup sequence will follow after which a warnin...

Page 38: ...he Continue button to continue to Figure 23 Figure 23 PowerSDR Setup Wizard Radio Model Select the FLEX 3000 radio model as shown in Figure 23 above Click the Next button to continue to Figure 24 Note If you are running without a radio e g for demonstration purposes select Demo None 28 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 39: ...tton to complete the wizard Note If you forgot to power up the FLEX 3000 before starting PowerSDR a communication error message will be displayed and PowerSDR will offer the ability to start in demo mode Click No to close PowerSDR power up the FLEX 3000 and restart PowerSDR The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 29 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 40: ...rror Click OK and if a Driver Error message follows click OK again PowerSDR will start up but the Start button will be grayed out Close PowerSDR and refer to the procedure described in Appendix B to update your firmware Transfer of Calibration Data PowerSDR will need to transfer your radio s calibration data from its EEPROM to the new database In this case you will see the message shown in Figure ...

Page 41: ...e PowerSDR mdb from the application directory usually c Program Files FlexRadio Systems PowerSDR vn n n PowerSDR will then again start with a default database Hint After the initialization process you can copy selected tables from a previous PowerSDR database to the new default database by using K9DUR s Data Transfer Utility search for data transfer in our Knowledge Center at http kc flex radio co...

Page 42: ... on the OK button when done Note If the sample rate and buffer size set for the FlexRadio device driver see Figure 13 on page 17 do not match the PowerSDR sample rate and audio buffer size Figure 28 audio drops will most likely occur due to buffer alignment issues Audio Mixer The FLEX 3000 input and output audio channels are managed with an audio mixer much the same as for your Windows sound card ...

Page 43: ...en Contact Us who will guide you through the process You are now ready to use your FLEX 3000 Click on Start on the Front Console and you should hear receive audio If you do not double check all your connections and settings especially for the Mixer form We urge you to read the remainder of this manual to help you fully understand the FLEX 3000 and PowerSDR This will enable you to optimize your rad...

Page 44: ...ttons can trigger events or act like an On Off switch Text Boxes allow text to be entered or displayed Radio Buttons allow the user to choose between several options Drop Down Boxes also called Combo Boxes enable the ability to offer many options without taking up as much window space as a Radio Button Sliders allow easy modification of a numerical value Color Buttons are used as color selectors Y...

Page 45: ... display In addition to these basic features there are many other controls that are described in detail below The exact behavior of many of these controls can be configured with the Setup Form Hint Hovering with your mouse over any control will show a brief description of that control s function The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 36 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 46: ...he transmit frequency is displayed in VFO B VFO B TX indicator is red The band text information below the frequency gives general information about the FCC Amateur bands as well as the Short Wave Radio bands and WWV If not on a recognized frequency the text will display Out Of Band If not in an amateur band the text background will change from black to gray Note that this information is only a loo...

Page 47: ...vating the multi receive function MultiRX button under MultiRX VFO B displays in yellow the second receive channel s frequency Otherwise it can be viewed as a storage container to copy VFO data to see the VFO Controls section on page 55 4 Multimeters Figure 35 Multimeter The multimeter displays both digitally and graphically various RX and TX signal parameters as determined by the selection from t...

Page 48: ...an average meter when peaking at 100W With the ALC we are using the average power With these controls very high average power can be tolerated Ref Pwr Reflected Power Reads out reflected power as measured by the internal ADC on the PA SWR Standing Wave Ratio Reads out the standing wave ratio as calculated from the measured forward and reflected power Only available with TUN on Mic Reads modulation...

Page 49: ...on one of the Band Selection buttons will change the frequency mode and filter to the one last used on that band The third role is a feature called Band Stacking Memories A single memory is defined as a frequency mode and filter combination Each band has several memories associated with it Clicking on a band button repeatedly will cycle through the available memories repeating from the beginning a...

Page 50: ... Following is a list of the available modes LSB Lower Side Band USB Upper Side Band DSB Double Side Band CWL CW Lower Side Band CWU CW Upper Side Band FMN Frequency Modulation FM Narrow AM Amplitude Modulation SAM Synchronous PLL Amplitude Modulation SPEC Spectrum mode DC IF max bandwidth determined by the selected sampling rate DIGL Digital Lower Side Band Enables VAC if VAC Auto Enable is engage...

Page 51: ...odulation mode The 3 groups of default filter selections for CW CWL CWU SSB LSB USB DIGL DIGU and DSB DSB FMN AM SAM are shown below The SPEC mode has no filters associated with it and the DRM filter is fixed at 12kHz CW Default Filters SSB Default Filters DSB Default Filters Figure 39 Default Mode Dependent Filters Each of the 10 labeled filter buttons can be customized for any of the modes To do...

Page 52: ... offer two separate filters each of which can be adjusted with the Low High Width Shift and Res controls described below as well as the mouse The Panadapter display setting is good for visualizing changes to variable filter controls Low Selects the low cutoff frequency for the filter The value is the plus or minus offset from the center frequency as shown in the VFO display Note that in lower side...

Page 53: ...tion of the front console displays key controls specific to the selected modulation mode There are three sets of controls Phone CW and Digital Phone Controls The phone controls shown below are available for all phone modes LSB USB DSB FMN AM and SAM Most of these controls can also be found on the Setup Form Transmit Tab see page 92 where a more detailed description may also be found Figure 41 Mode...

Page 54: ...ns The default profiles are Default and Default DX See also the Setup Form Transmit Tab page 92 Show TX Filter on Display when checked the band edges of the transmit filter set on the Setup Form Transmit Tab page 93 will be shown as 2 yellow lines on the display when set to Panadapter It can be an especially useful visual aid when operating split to position your transmit frequency where desired i...

Page 55: ...ffset that is applied to the carrier in receive and transmit The display will continue to read the actual carrier frequency but the software will provide for an offset to get the desired CW tone This pitch will determine the automated tuning frequency using the display and mouse ClickTune 1 functions VAC click to enable Virtual Audio Cable http software muzychenko net eng a third party program wri...

Page 56: ... in and out of the VAC interface Use the RX Gain control to adjust the audio level going to third party programs Note that for third party applications this control supersedes the front panel AF control Similarly use the TX control to adjust the volume of audio coming from third party applications adjust for 0 dB on the ALC meter Sample Rate sets the sample rate of the VAC interface This needs to ...

Page 57: ...low with a snapshot of each type The sampling rate Frames Per Second FPS of the main display can be modified on the Setup Form Display Tab see page 77 AVG Average click to view time averaged signals This will smooth fast changing signals and is a good way to separate real from stochastic noise signals The averaging time can be set on the Setup Form Display Tab see page 79 AVG must be enabled for t...

Page 58: ...tone in USB mode with a 2 7kHz filter shown Panadapter Panoramic Adapter Figure 46 Panadapter Display The Panadapter Display is similar to the Spectrum Display with several differences The maximum display width is a function of the selected sampling rate no matter what filter bandwidth is selected The selected filter is displayed as an overlay to help the user visualize the filter Shown are the ma...

Page 59: ...ng rate This gives a much more complete picture of the surrounding area in the band especially when there is abundant signal activity e g contest and DX situations Histogram Figure 47 Histogram Display Mode The Histogram Display is similar to the Spectrum Display but instead of a single color data line additional colored data is used Blue signals are real time current signals that are below a sign...

Page 60: ...passband filters are displayed similar to the panadapter The filter widths and positions can be adjusted with the mouse similar to the panadapter All mouse tuning methods available in the panadapter are also available in the waterfall The frequencies corresponding to the Amateur band edges are displayed in red The Waterfall Display can be customized on the Setup Form Display Tab This allows custom...

Page 61: ...se Display maps the filtered I and Q Left and Right channels to the X and Y coordinate planes This is useful for making sure the two channels are 90 degrees out of phase as they should be There is also a Phase2 Display that maps the unfiltered data directly from the ADC When a continuous carrier signal is received the unfiltered data in the Phase2 Display should produce as near to a perfect circle...

Page 62: ...k signal is at 14 178361 MHz Note that these values are fairly low resolution due to the discrete nature of the pixel display Figure 51 Cursor and Peak Position Information In the frequency domain displays Spectrum Panadapter Histogram Waterfall right clicking the mouse cycles through yellow crosshairs red crosshairs only if SPLT or MultiRX is enabled or no crosshairs The crosshairs span the width...

Page 63: ...nge of the Panadapter Waterfall Use the upper and lower horizontal sliders to position the primary and secondary channel respectively anywhere in the left right audio spectrum Use the left and right vertical sliders to adjust their respective volumes Check Swap to swap the audio between the left and right speakers Hint In split operation you can use the secondary receive channel to listen to the p...

Page 64: ...ls out of a pile up Wearing headphones increases the effect of the spatial separation Note BIN is not available when operating FMN AM or SAM 12 VFO Controls Figure 54 VFO Controls SPLT Split Enables Split operation using VFO B for the transmit frequency The frequency text and TX indicator in VFO B will turn red to indicate that it is the transmit frequency 0 Beat Centers the signal peak within the...

Page 65: ...PU load to increase If your CPU load is peaking at close to100 audio and possibly video artifacts will become noticeable In this case closing additional applications and turning down some of the functions may improve the performance 14 Start Stop Button Click Start to activate PowerSDR click Stop to deactivate it As Figure 55 shows the button also acts as a RX TX indicator Start Stop Stop Transmit...

Page 66: ...lay buttons offer a quick and easy way to record and play back signal Click Rec to record a signal and click Rec again to stop recording Once recorded the signal can be played back by clicking Play Subsequently clicking Rec will overwrite any audio file previously recorded in this way The Rec and Play buttons are the same as the QuickRec and QuickPlay buttons on the Wave Form see page 117 Note The...

Page 67: ...en and the ATU remains bypassed If SWR is not OK a tuning cycle is started o If a match is found the ATU button turns green o If a match cannot be found the ATU button turns red and BYP yellow Note When operating Split any change of the receive and or transmit band e g cross band operation will bypass the ATU 21 AF Audio Frequency Gain This control sets the audio gain It may also be adjusted by pr...

Page 68: ...ing the control on the Setup Form Transmit Tab While great care is taken to ensure that this value is accurate and that selecting a Drive value will give approximately that amount when using the 100W PA there are variances in the filter components and transmitter characteristics that make it difficult for this to be exactly right over the whole range 1 100 24 AGC Automatic Gain Control This contro...

Page 69: ...splay The date and time display can be especially helpful when taking screenshots but can also be a quick reference to UTC time for those of us who are time zone challenged Click inside the Date or Time area to cycle between LOC Local Time UTC UTC Time and Off 28 Setup Form The Setup Form contains numerous controls for everything from the hardware configuration to transmit settings Please refer to...

Page 70: ...the database which entails closing PowerSDR copying the database file PowerSDR mdb to your desktop and deleting it from its current location The next time you start up PowerSDR it will automatically create a new clean database and read the EEPROM data from your FLEX 3000 to the database Note The database saves all of the radio options and its current state It also contains the data read from the E...

Page 71: ... will attempt to import all the settings A confirmation message will let you know if the import was successful OK Saves the current values to the database and closes the form Cancel Reloads the values from the database into the Setup Form and closes the form This button can be used to reverse unintended changes to the Setup controls Apply Immediately saves the current values to the database The re...

Page 72: ...ersion and the installed hardware boards of your radio Receive Only Check this box to use only the receiver while disabling the transmitter When checked MOX TUN and VOX will become unavailable on the Front Console and PTT either via the MIC connector or the back panel PTT connector will also not function The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 63 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 73: ...equency calibration of your radio Typically there will be no need to do so as the radio has been completely factory calibrated However as the radio ages the oscillator frequency may change slightly o To adjust the frequency calibration of your radio first use the automatic Frequency Calibration controls described on page 69 o To manually adjust the frequency calibration of your radio start the int...

Page 74: ...000 Fine adjustments may be made directly on the Clock Offset control using the phase display as described above Note Any adjustments you make are saved to your database only and not to the radio s EEPROM Therefore if you start PowerSDR with a clean database you will lose these adjustments IF Hz Controls the Intermediate Frequency used in the software to avoid low frequency noise The default value...

Page 75: ...ront Panel MIC connector will be enabled Otherwise this PTT line will be disabled for digital DIGL DIGU and DRM modes Enable TX1 Delay when checked the TX Out port on the back panel see Figure 3 on page 5 is keyed TX1 Delay ms after PTT is engaged Disable Split on Band Change When checked and if Split is enabled Split will be disabled when the band is changed Process Priority Sets the process prio...

Page 76: ...ckTune When checked clicking with the yellow or red cross hairs on a signal in either the Panadapter or Waterfall will tune the VFO to the nearest multiple of the Tune Step see page 37 E g if Tune Step is set to 1 kHz the VFO will jump to the nearest kHz Zero Beat RIT When checked and with RIT activated the 0 Beat button on the Front Console will offset the peak of a signal by the RIT frequency su...

Page 77: ...d hit Enter to jump to that frequency With this option disabled using a mouse to tune or to click inside the VFO is the quickest way to change frequency This feature is normally enabled by default but can be disabled to prevent changing the VFO frequency due to accidental key presses Custom Title Text Enter the text you would like appended to the standard text FlexRadio Systems PowerSDR v1 n n in ...

Page 78: ... will need to check the Expert box which will generate a warning that this is meant only for experienced users If you decide to proceed tune your radio to a known accurate frequency source e g WWV enter the frequency in the Frequency control and click the Start button The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 69 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 79: ...ng in Hz that the Filter Shift Slider on the front panel will allow in either direction Save Slider Display Changes If checked any changes to the filters made by the filter sliders or by using the click and drag on the filter edges on the display will be saved to the Variable filters and will be recalled as such If not checked the Var filters can only be changed by adjusting the Filter Low and Hig...

Page 80: ...size of 512 without issue at the lower Sample Rate settings see below For best CW performance and if your computer can handle it set the audio buffer to 512 or less see also the DSP Buffer Size on page 82 Sample Rate The sample rate can be set to 48kHz or 96kHz Using the higher sample rates will result in a wider frequency range in the panadapter and waterfall displays Higher sample rates at a giv...

Page 81: ... Expert This check box will show additional controls that you should only consider using if you are an experienced user You should proceed with caution Vary rarely if ever will you need to access these controls Latency with Expert checked Using the manual option the user may add additional latency in milliseconds to the audio buffering system for better audio performance When the manual setting is...

Page 82: ...n serve as another way to get audio in and out of PowerSDR The Buffer Size Sample Rate are similar to those described in the previous section Below we describe the unique controls on this form Virtual Audio Cable Setup Select the driver type you wish to use With most digital software MME will work well Select the Input and Output channels as shown in Figure 71 Gain dB Figure 72 Gain dB Controls 73...

Page 83: ...l setting on and values below approx 15ms We recommend using the default automatic latency setting for best results Mono Stereo Check this check box for stereo audio channels Most third party applications require monaural audio In this case leave the box unchecked However several DRM applications such as DREAM and HamPal require stereo audio Combine VAC Input Channels Becomes enabled when Mono Ste...

Page 84: ...ocessed audio to enable you to use third party software that has the ability to directly process I Q signals Check Calibrate I Q to correct the raw I Q signal and avoid any image signals going to the third party software The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 75 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 74 Direct I Q ...

Page 85: ...fine the range and scale of the vertical axis signal level in dBm shown in the Spectrum Histogram and Panadapter displays Max The maximum displayed signal level in dBm i e top of the display Min The minimum displayed signal level in dBm i e bottom of the display Step Spacing between the horizontal grid lines in dBm 76 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 86: ...on the panadapter display Peak Text ms Sets the update rate of the peak signal location text box located just beneath the display Raising the value increases the delay between peak updates and slows the display down Conversely lowering the value will accelerate the updates CPU Meter ms Sets the update rate of the CPU Meter in the lower left of the front console Raising the value will add more dela...

Page 87: ...be held for a longer period of time Digital Peak Hold ms The length of time in milliseconds to hold the digital meter when using the Fwd Pwr TX Meter Raising this value will lengthen the hold time and peaks will be held for a longer period of time Average Time ms The time over which the signal is averaged when using the SigAvg RX Meter setting Analog Refresh ms Controls how often the analog meter ...

Page 88: ...dapter and Histogram displays when AVG is enabled on the Front Console Polyphase FFT Figure 83 Polyphase FFT Enable this feature to display sharper peaks in the spectrum displays Spectrum Panadapter Waterfall Histogram Expect to see an up to 4 times narrower area of the displayed spike of a tone especially when the displayed frequency span is relatively large in comparison The rest of this page ha...

Page 89: ... 85 Noise Reduction Controls Noise Reduction NR attempts automatic computation of a filter that maximizes the coherent or non noise like signals and as a result filters out the rest of the signal which includes noise It is best used for speech signals with a good signal to noise ratio or tones 80 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 90: ...ier tones that are interfering with the signal of interest Taps This determines the length of the computed notch filter The longer the filter the larger the number of tones that can be canceled and the more effective the cancellation will be It also introduces latency signal delay equal to the number of filter taps divided by the sample rate in samples per second and is in addition to Delay see be...

Page 91: ...140Hz where the factor 1 5 is due to the Blackman Harris windowing function see below 1 Either lowering the sample rate or increasing the DSP buffer size will enable narrower and sharper filters To dramatically illustrate this effect Figure 87 below shows two traces of the same 25Hz CW filter The red trace is at a sample rate of 192kHz double the maximum possible for your FLEX 30002 and a DSP Buff...

Page 92: ...e large pulses is desirable prior to operating the smoother acting Noise Blanker 2 NB2 Therefore when seeing many repetitive noise pulses it is probably best to use both NB and NB2 The NB Threshold is adjusted to just begin to lower the noise from the pulses after which NB2 is turned on with a threshold of four or five less than that of NB Both together can spectacularly reduce impulse noise resul...

Page 93: ...assband at the cost of a higher stop band Blackman Harris offers a much improved stop band but at the cost of a slightly wider passband In almost all cases Blackman Harris will be preferred except possibly for weak CW signals where both stop bands disappear in the noise and where dynamic range is much less important than a narrower passband The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 8...

Page 94: ...h receive and transmit image rejection and needs no further adjustments Expert This Expert check box will show controls that you should only consider using if you are an experienced user You should proceed with caution Very rarely if ever will you need to access these controls The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 85 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 95: ...Transmit Rejection Similar to above these controls enable the user to adjust the image rejection for the transmitter The calibration requires external instruments A spectrum analyzer is ideal but a second receiver should enable you to get satisfactory rejection levels To minimize the transmit image proceed as follows 1 Set the radio to either USB or LSB Connect the radio to a dummy load and select...

Page 96: ... This enables the user to set the desired audio frequency for CW listening at the center of the CW filters 1kHz and lower filters This will determine the offset that is applied to the carrier in receive and transmit The display will continue to read the actual carrier frequency but the software will provide for an offset to get the desired CW tone This pitch will determine the automated tuning fre...

Page 97: ...AT will allow use of the COM port that is currently being used by the CAT connection This is useful as some programs allow both CAT commands and COM port line keying for CW Note that the lower two controls will not show up if None is selected PTT Line Select the COM port line used for PTT Key Line Select the COM port line to be used to activate the key Options Figure 95 Internal Keyer Options Iamb...

Page 98: ...t to enable mode A emulation Auto Mode Swch Check to automatically switch to the appropriate CW mode if in another mode when you hit your paddles Signal Shaping Figure 96 Signal Shaping Controls Weight Sets the width ratio between the dot and dash Ramp Sets the length of the leading and trailing edge on the tones in milliseconds to avoid key clicks Break In Figure 97 Internal Keyer Semi Break In C...

Page 99: ...nts for PowerSDR on the Downloads page of our website at http support flex radio com Downloads aspx fr 1 The Attack Decay and Hang settings may only be adjusted when the Front Panel AGC control is set to Custom However they do display the values for the selected AGC setting Slope dB The AGC gain once the signal is above the AGC threshold or knee not to be confused with the Hang Threshold below Set...

Page 100: ... When you choose Fixed AGC on the front panel this control is used to amplify the signal Table 7 details the AGC parameters used in the various settings Table 7 AGC Setting Details Setting Attack Decay Hang Fast Hang Fast 2ms 100ms 100ms 100ms Med 2ms 250ms 250ms 100ms Slow 2ms 500ms 500ms 100ms Long 2ms 2000ms 750ms 100ms Leveler The Leveler is intended to even out the variations in input to your...

Page 101: ... DX The TX Profiles selection allows the user to save and restore the various TX settings with ease The TX profile includes settings for EQ Filter MIC Gain Drive DX CPDR Leveler and ALC Click the Save button to save the current profile You will be prompted for a name To change profiles select the named profile from the drop down list To remove a profile select it using the drop down menu and then ...

Page 102: ...mit filter on the Panadapter or Waterfall displays when you enable Show TX Filter on Display on the Front Console DC Block Attempts to block any DC noise from entering the filter Tune Power Sets the power in Watts to be used whenever the TUN Tune function is used on the Front Console sets the Drive control Changes made to the Drive level while TUN is active will be reflected in this control TX Met...

Page 103: ... gate and turn up the Monitor AF so that you can hear your ambient noise clearly and preferably louder than without headphones Without speaking enable the noise gate If you still hear your ambient noise increase the noise gate threshold level until the noise is just silenced If your ambient noise disappears when enabling the noise gate decrease the threshold level until you just start to hear it T...

Page 104: ... one quarter of full power output 25W when Drive on the front console is set to 100 So a setting of 80 would yield roughly 16W when Drive is set to 100 This is useful as it allows the modulation to appear much stronger due to the weaker carrier Standard TX Profiles Click to place a check mark in Expert box and reveal many more TX Profile Defaults shown in Figure 107 To use one of these click to se...

Page 105: ...select Expert A warning will appear asking if you wish to proceed or not Heed the warning Gain By Band dB To view these controls uncheck Use Advanced Calibration Routines This shows the total hardware radio PA signal chain gain These controls are used to manually balance the output power across the ten supported amateur bands A higher gain figure for the hardware as shown means a lower audio drive...

Page 106: ...e appearance controls allow the user to completely customize the appearance of the front console Display Sub Tab Figure 109 Setup Form Appearance Tab Display Sub Tab The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 97 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 107: ...ext on the display for frequency and level callouts Data Line The color of the actual data being displayed Line Width The width in pixels of the actual data being displayed Cursor Peak Readout These controls change the appearance of the cursor and peak texts under the frequency domain displays Figure 111 Cursor Peak Readout Appearance Controls Peak Text The color of the Peak signal location text l...

Page 108: ...ltiRX Filter Color The color of the MultiRX Filter TX Filter Color The color of the TX filter edges MultiRX Zero Line The color of the 0 Hz line of the Sub RX Filter Band Edge The color of the lines marking the edge of an Amateur band Show Freq Offset When selected the offsets from the Main RX Filter 0Hz line are shown across the top as opposed to the actual frequencies The rest of this page has b...

Page 109: ...s change the appearance of the buttons and the VFOs Figure 113 Setup Form Appearance Tab General Sub Tab Button Selected The color of buttons when they are in the selected state The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 100 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 110: ...in the VFOs are shown smaller than the other digits for clarity Small Color The color of the smaller least significant digits Band Data Figure 115 VFO Band Data Appearance Controls Inactive The color of the band information text when that VFO is inactive Active The color of the band information text when that VFO is active Out Of Band The background color of the VFO band information when outside t...

Page 111: ...pearance Tab Meter Sub Tab Meter Type Selects the type of graphical meter to display Original displays the bar graph meter and Edge displays an analog edge style meter Digital Text The color of the text of the digital meter Digital Background The background color of the digital meter The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 102 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 112: ...adient Background The background color of the original style meter Edge Style Figure 118 Appearance Controls for the Edge Style Meter Low Color The color of the low values of the edge meter s scale High Color The color of the high values of the edge meter s scale Background The background color of the edge meter Indicator The color of the indicator in the edge meter The rest of this page has been ...

Page 113: ...igit with resolution to 1Hz up or down using the key of your choice The digit to be tuned is shown in the labels above these hot keys as an x Similarly you can map keys to change the Band Filter Mode RIT or XIT up or down using the drop down controls in the respective sections Note Choosing any of the arrow keys will require using Alt arrow key The rest of this page has been left blank intentional...

Page 114: ...th a way to interface with third party logging and remote control software In conjunction with N8VB s vCOM virtual serial port software see page 149 interaction is possible with programs such as Ham Radio Deluxe HRD DXLab N1MM Contest Logger MixW and numerous other third party software aids The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally john 105 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 115: ...t Com port number to use If using N8VB s vCOM utility note that you will use one end of the null modem pair here and the other on the third party software e g HRD Baud The speed at which to transfer data Parity Sets whether to send a parity bit Data Sets how many data bits are sent with each byte Stop Sets whether to send a stop bit The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 106 2003 ...

Page 116: ... is required FlexProfiler Installed Enables the PowerSDR menu for selection for Remote Profiles When this menu option is available the user can select console profiles created remotely in FlexProfiler1 from the local PowerSDR console Allow Kenwood AI Command Enables the Kenwood AI command which causes PowerSDR to broadcast the transmit frequency normally VFO A but VFO B if in Split changes to the ...

Page 117: ... Command text box The command will execute when the Enter key is depressed or the Execute button is clicked Typing the semicolon the CAT terminator at the end of the command is optional The CAT response will appear in the CAT Response text box Figure 123 CAT Command Tester Form The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 108 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 118: ...et to VFOA Enable Offset VFOB Check to apply the RTTY Offset to VFOB DIGL DIGU Select the offset to be applied when in DIGU and DIGL mode respectively Note This differs from ClickTune Offsets see page 65 as the ClickTune Offsets actually change the Front Console VFO frequency whereas the RTTY Offset only offsets the frequency reported by CAT The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally ...

Page 119: ...m analyzer Click the Start button again to stop the test and read the Power value thus found A single sweep function on a spectrum analyzer is an excellent tool to capture the output for analysis Audio Balance Test Use this test to ensure that the Powered Speaker Line Out cable is getting both output channels The test will send a tone to each speaker and prompt to see if you hear audio in that one...

Page 120: ... Receive Signal Generator a 0Hz generated Tone would be displayed 9kHz below the VFO frequency on the Panadapter As you increase its frequency upper and lower side band mixing products appear If you have selected USB mode on the Front Console you will only start to hear a tone when the frequency slider is above 9kHz such that the tone s upper side band is within the audio passband If you select th...

Page 121: ...lter Enable HW Signal Generator The so called HW Signal Generator is an RF signal generator as opposed to the AF Signal Generator described above Check to activate the HW Signal Generator enable SPLT and adjust its frequency by using VFO B Note 1 The Receive AF Signal Generator must be set to Soundcard to use the RF HW Signal Generator Note 2 In actual fact the RF signal is generated using the tra...

Page 122: ... the front console see Figure 127 For ease of reference the numerical identifiers from the previous chapter on the Front Console are repeated in this chapter Additionally the key combination Ctrl Shift I activates the voltage and temperature form see page 129 Figure 127 Operating Form Identifiers The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 113 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Chapter 5 ...

Page 123: ...C settings are automatically transferred from the console The Group Drop Down Box allows a further level of characterization of the type of entry In the future this Group list will be customizable The Callsign and Comments fields are free form and the user can enter details as desired Clicking the OK button will save the information shown above into the memory database before closing the form Clic...

Page 124: ...escending order as indicated by the small arrowhead in the column title Edit Click the Edit button to manually change the saved memories Make sure to click the button again when finished editing to prevent unintended changes from getting saved to the database Recall Click the Recall button to send the data in the memory to the front console i e restore a memory You can also double click on a row t...

Page 125: ...ay Click this button to start or stop playback of the current wave file Note that clicking this button twice while a file is playing will restart the file Pause Pauses the wave file playback Click once to pause and again to resume playback Prev Previous When there is more then one file in the playlist clicking this button will cause the previous file in the list to begin playing Next When there is...

Page 126: ...n to complete the recording The wave file will be date and time stamped automatically and saved in the default folder where the PowerSDR software resides TX Gain dB Use this control to adjust the volume of audio being played back when transmitting Use this control instead of the MIC control on the front console to calibrate transmit adjust for 0 dB on the ALC meter Quick Rec and Quick Play The Qui...

Page 127: ...ill record only the filtered AGC d audio as you hear it coming out of the speaker This is useful for playing back the received audio through a typical wav file player Transmit Pre Processed Audio will capture the audio as it is seen at the microphone input without any of the effects of filtering compression companding equalization or any other audio processing features that may be turned on in the...

Page 128: ... In most situations the 3 Band Equalizer will suffice The receive and or transmit audio can be modified by adjusting the gain for the Low Mid and High audio bands The Preamp applies gain across the whole audio spectrum Easily compare the audio with and without the equalizer using the Enabled check box The Reset button will reset all of the sliders to the 0dB position Hint Hover with your mouse ove...

Page 129: ...a finer degree of audio frequency control than does the 3 band equalizer You may want to use this equalizer if the 3 band equalizer does not give you the result you want The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 120 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 133 Ten Band Equalizer Form ...

Page 130: ...ch the correct external device or a relay that controls the external device Button Text The text that will be shown on the Band Button LO Offset MHz The difference between the transverter low frequency and the IF frequency For example on 2m you might use 144 28MHz 116 0 LO Error kHz This setting allows the user to correct for any error in the transverter s oscillator Begin Frequency MHz The lower ...

Page 131: ...is value whenever the VFO is within the configured band Use XVTR PWR for Tune When you click the TUN button on the Front Console the power will be set to the value you enter in the Power control on this form see above Otherwise the Tune Power setting on the Setup Form Transmit Tab page 92 will be used The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 122 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 132: ... on your keyboard will terminate most functions and prepare the program to receive new orders or allow the iambic paddle to be used Notes Clicking this button will cause a small page of useful notes to be displayed You can leave the notes up on the screen while you continue to work Speed WPM This control lets you set the speed of the Morse code being sent The speed is computed by the standard PARI...

Page 133: ...r will send a long 23 element time dash comparable to a zero with the key down the whole time Multiple characters can be strung together for longer continuous dashes The character works in a similar manner but generates a long 23 element time space The or ditto character may be placed at the end of a message When encountered the keyer will shut down for the delay time set in the Repeat Delay contr...

Page 134: ... indicator is grayed out and the keyboard cannot be used to enter characters o When clicked it changes to KEYS ACTIVE and the indicator shows cyan The keyboard can now be used to enter characters at the end of the unsent area As soon as a character is typed it will be sent and then moved to the unsent area If you type faster than the code is being sent it will be buffered in the bottom area The Ba...

Page 135: ...s On Top Check to keep this form always on top of any other windows that may be open Morse Definition Editor The Morse definition editor allows you to define and even redefine almost all of the characters in the sixty four character set The combo box control to the right of the cyan indicator lets you view and select any of the characters in the set Each one is displayed as four fixed width fields...

Page 136: ...xactly Each line must be 26 characters long not including the two end of line codes It is not free formatted The line structure is a two digit number field the decimal ASCII code a one character code field a nine character elements field a ten character comment field preceded by a space and followed by a carriage return and linefeed code If you mess this file up too badly simply close PowerSDR del...

Page 137: ...only one may be selected at a time and adjust its signal level with the corresponding slider Click Mute All Inputs to mute all the inputs Output There are three possible audio outputs These are the Front Panel Headphones connector and on the Back Panel the Powered Speaker connector and FlexWire Out pin 9 of the FlexWire connector More than one output can be selected at a time Check to select the o...

Page 138: ...y the voltage and temperature Clicking on the temperature will alternate its value between Celsius and Fahrenheit Either value may be displayed against a yellow or red background indicating increasing levels of criticality The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 129 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 139 Info Form ...

Page 139: ...ity we will leave out any identifiers of controls not referenced in the relevant section Note 2 If you have any questions issues or problems operating PowerSDR and or the FLEX 3000 you may be able to find the solution on the Support Pages http support flex radio com of our website in our Knowledge Center http kc flex radio com search aspx or through our highly active Reflector search for reflector...

Page 140: ...be available for PowerSDR to use 4 After waiting at least 30 seconds start up PowerSDR It will automatically recognize the FLEX 3000 driver You are now ready to operate Power Down Procedure The power down sequence is almost the reverse of the power up procedure 1 Stop PowerSDR by clicking on the Start Stop button 2 Close PowerSDR by clicking on the X in the upper right hand corner of the Front Con...

Page 141: ...g the mouse wheel to tune up will first increase VFO A to 14 001000MHz and then to 14 002000MHz and so on Hint Holding down the Shift key while turning the mouse wheel will change VFO A at the next lower Tune Rate Mouse Wheel Hover Hover with the mouse over a digit in either VFO A or VFO B and increase or decrease its value using the mouse wheel The digit to be tuned will be underlined Spectrum Cl...

Page 142: ...d to tune each of the digits in VFO A using the Keyboard Tab on the Setup Form page 104 Ctrl Arrow Keys Hold the Control key and press the o Up or Down Arrow key to tune VFO A up or down by the Tune Step 2 o Right or Left Arrow key to increase or decrease the Tune Step 2 USB Tuning Knob Both the Griffin PowerMate and the Contour Designs Shuttle Pro v2 can be used to tune the radio You can download...

Page 143: ...re 140 Front Panel Controls Used for Basic Voice Operation Please use Figure 140 to identify the controls referenced in the following step by step instruction For consistency we have used the same control identifiers as in Figure 31 on page 36 and for clarity we have left out any identifiers of controls not referenced Note In this chapter we will only describe basic operation The rest of this page...

Page 144: ... 50 23 AGC Med 24 RX Gain Pre 25 SQL Off 26 2 Connect a 50 ohm dummy load to the antenna jack or tune VFO A 1 to a quiet frequency on the selected band Use the TUN 19 button to verify power output on the TX Meter 4 Set to Fwd Pwr If using the integrated ATU click the ATU 20 button to initiate a tuning cycle CAUTION If you are not using the internal ATU then connect a 50 ohm dummy load or ensure th...

Page 145: ...t For information on how to optimize your audio further please refer to the Knowledge Center http kc flex radio com search aspx on our website 6 In order to monitor voice transmissions enable the MON 15 button You may notice a delay due to buffering in the audio DSP system This processing delay is largest when using large buffer sizes and low sampling rates If you find this delay objectionable try...

Page 146: ...e will use MixW as an example Figure 141 Front Panel Controls Used for CW Operation Please use Figure 141 to identify the controls referenced in the following step by step instruction For consistency we have used the same control identifiers as in Figure 31 on page 36 and for clarity we have left out any identifiers of controls not referenced The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally...

Page 147: ... RIT Off 12 MON On 15 MUT Off 17 AF 50 21 AGC T 70 22 Drive 25 23 AGC Med 24 RX Gain Pre 25 SQL Off 26 2 Connect a 50 ohm dummy load to the antenna jack or tune VFO A 1 to a quiet frequency on the selected band Use the TUN 19 button to verify power output on the TX Meter 4 Set to Fwd Pwr If using the integrated ATU click the ATU 20 button to initiate a tuning cycle CAUTION If you are not using the...

Page 148: ...explanation Note CW VFO Frequency Offset The VFO on the PowerSDR software is designed to show the zero beat of the CW tone relative to the selected CW Pitch This allows click tuning of CW signals as well as the traditional CW VFO readout This also enables the VFO to remain constant when switching from CWL to CWU mode Every effort is made to preserve a CW signal when switching between any SSB and C...

Page 149: ...es 3 Select the settings for CW Pitch Weight and Ramp as desired refer to the Keyer Sub Tab section on page 87 for more detail 4 If not using Break In click MOX 16 on the Front Console and begin transmitting using your paddles If using Break In 8 simply begin transmitting to key the radio If using Iambic mode adjust the speed with CW Speed 8 on the Front Console If Disable Monitor is unchecked you...

Page 150: ...using Break In simply begin transmitting to key the radio If Disable Monitor is unchecked you should hear the side tone Verify with the TX Meter 4 set to Fwd Pwr that there is forward power 5 You are now ready to begin a QSO If a 50 ohm dummy load was connected connect an antenna in its place Tune to the desired frequency using one of the methods outlined in the Tuning Methods section above Select...

Page 151: ...al COM port pair We will also assume that PowerSDR is connected to COM6 and MixW to COM16 of this pair see page 149 for details on how to do this In PowerSDR open the Setup Form DSP Tab Keyer Sub Tab shown Figure 144 below to access the Internal Keyer controls Figure 144 Setup Form DSP Tab Keyer Sub Tab 2 Set Secondary Connection to CAT to use the same virtual COM port COM16 as selected on the CAT...

Page 152: ...C H A P T E R 6 Figure 145 MixW PTT CAT 4 On the PTT CAT Interface click on the Details button to open the following form Figure 146 The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 144 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 153: ... have entered your callsign in MixW click on the CQ button It should key the radio and produce Morse code calling CQ with your call sign Verify with the TX Meter 4 set to Fwd Pwr that there is forward power 7 You are now ready to begin a QSO If a 50 ohm dummy load was connected connect an antenna in its place Tune to the desired frequency using one of the methods outlined in the Tuning Methods sec...

Page 154: ... digital mode programs which also include logging programs For the latter the CAT control section applies to enable reading and possibly also controlling PowerSDR s frequency band and operating mode If the logging program includes a voice keyer the VAC section may also be relevant Figure 147 Front Panel Controls Used for Basic Digital Mode Operation Please use Figure 147 to identify the controls r...

Page 155: ... program s frequency should correspond to PowerSDR s VFO frequency and it should be receiving Audio from PowerSDR Use the RX Gain 8 control to adjust the audio level going to your digital mode program instead of the AF 21 4 Connect a 50 ohm dummy load to the antenna jack or tune VFO A 1 to a quiet frequency on the selected band Use the TUN 19 button to verify power output on the TX Meter 4 Set to ...

Page 156: ... and DIGL mode can be applied to the VFO A and or VFO B frequency before CAT reports it to a third party program see page 105 These offsets can be modified on the Setup Form CAT Control Tab Hint 1 When operating digital modes you have two options with regard to using filters On the one hand you can use a wide band pass filter in PowerSDR and use the filters within your digital mode program for sel...

Page 157: ...install and setup VCOM Install VCOM First download and install N8VB s Virtual Serial Port Driver VCOM search for N8VB on the Downloads page of our website at http support flex radio com Downloads aspx fr 1 This program installs one or more pairs of virtual COM ports connected in null modem style Locate the file you just downloaded N8VBvCOMSetup 226a exe and double click to start the Windows instal...

Page 158: ... N C H A P T E R 6 Figure 149 VCOM Installer Welcome Screen Click the Next button to continue the driver installation Figure 150 The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 150 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 159: ...R A T I O N C H A P T E R 6 Figure 150 VCOM License Agreement Review the License Agreement and click the I Agree button The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 151 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 160: ... C H A P T E R 6 Figure 151 VCOM Installer Component Selection Select the components you wish to install and click the Next button The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 152 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 161: ... P T E R 6 Figure 152 VCOM Install Location Choose the folder in which to install the driver application in and click the Install button The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 153 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 162: ...ete the installation of VCOM The virtual serial port driver will now be installed on your system A Command Prompt window displaying status messages will open followed by the warning screen shown in Figure 154 below The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 154 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 163: ...t Pairs By default VCOM will install 4 COM port pairs To view these pairs to change the default or to remove the driver locate and start the VCOMConfigurator application Start All Programs Figure 155 VCOMConfigurator Application This will open the following screen Figure 156 The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 155 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 164: ...w settings From here you can also remove and install the driver When you are finished close VCOMConfigurator Now that the virtual COM port pairs are installed we need to setup the applications to use them We ll start with the PowerSDR software Start up the program and pull up the CAT Control Tab on the Setup Form For the purpose of this example we will use the COM6 COM16 pair The rest of this page...

Page 165: ... Set the ID as TS 2000 Once all of the settings are correct click the Enable CAT check box Note 1 Until external applications incorporate the PowerSDR with its extended set of CAT controls it is more prudent to select the TS 2000 Note 2 Some third party applications do not allow you to connect to a high COM port number In such a case swap COM6 to COM16 above and connect the digital program to COM6...

Page 166: ...m DSP Tab Keyer Sub Tab Within the Connections Group set Primary to the port you have your paddles or straight key connected to Figure 158 shows Radio to indicate the FLEX 3000 front panel key jack Set Secondary used for keyers and programs to CAT to use the same virtual COM port used for CAT Control Set PTT Line to DTR and Key Line to RTS Note that CAT Control must be enabled see the previous sec...

Page 167: ...e following we will use version 4 to illustrate but version 3 works essentially the same way In essence VAC enables the creation of so called digital virtual audio cables between two software applications in our case PowerSDR and a digital mode or sound card program as shown in Figure 159 When setup correctly these cables appear as input and output audio devices as if they belonged to a sound card...

Page 168: ...rSDR defines both audio cables format when VAC support is enabled using the Cable format is recommended If you decide to use the Cable range stream format a required format conversion will use significant CPU resources and may noticeably slow your applications causing audio drops outs Using Cable format as the stream format may then help Repeat these changes for the second audio cable After comple...

Page 169: ...xperience audio popping or dropping out Click Enable VAC to manually enable the virtual audio connection or click Auto Enable to automatically enable it when clicking the DigL DigU or DRM mode button on the Front Console Note 1 Select a higher Sample Rate than the sample rate of the digital mode program for best audio quality In some cases however the digital mode program can not handle format dow...

Page 170: ...se MixW as an illustrative example We will also discuss how to deal with digital programs that are only able to connect to the default sound device Note Instructions for MMTTY MMSSTV and WSJT 6 and others can be found in our Knowledge Center at http kc flex radio com search aspx Using MixW with PowerSDR Start MixW which may be downloaded from http www mixw net Figure 162 MixW Console 162 2003 2009...

Page 171: ...63 MixW PTT CAT Configure the controls as shown above MixW does not recognize the extended PowerSDR CAT controls yet Therefore we set it up as if PowerSDR were a Kenwood radio In MixW All Kenwoods is the only option available when CAT is set to Kenwood On the PTT CAT Interface click on the Details button to open the following form Figure 164 The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally ...

Page 172: ... it makes no difference what you set this to For RTS and DTR we need to match the settings on the PowerSDR Setup Form Keyer Sub Tab Therefore set RTS to CW and DTR to PTT as shown above Click OK on this form and then on the PTT CAT form respectively to accept the settings and close the forms On the MixW front console click again on Configure on the menu bar and this time select Sound device settin...

Page 173: ...erefore set Device to Computer sound card Input to Virtual Cable 2 and Output to Virtual Cable 1 as shown in Figure 165 above If you change the Sample rate setting MixW will tell you to exit and restart MixW Exit MixW for now so we can illustrate the functioning of the virtual audio cables Click the Start button to turn PowerSDR on and make sure MixW is running When you now view the VAC Control Pa...

Page 174: ... radio and produce Morse code calling CQ with your call sign Close the VAC Control Panel you will no longer need this unless you intend to create more audio cables Programs Needing to Connect to the Default Sound Device Certain digital programs can only select the default sound card or at best choose a single card by index For example MMTTY and MMSSTV choose by index To enable PowerSDR to work wit...

Page 175: ...tal program to select the default sound card it will work with PowerSDR To enable you to continue using other sound programs MP3 players etc despite changing your default sound card settings VAC comes with a utility called Audio Repeater Locate Audio Repeater in the VAC program folder and double click to start it You should see the following screen Figure 168 The rest of this page has been left bl...

Page 176: ... 1 In and Wave Out to the sound card you wish to use You should keep the Total buffer ms as small as practicable to prevent long latency between the sound arriving at the virtual audio cable and it being played to the sound card The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 168 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 177: ... and specifications are guaranteed only within the amateur radio bands FLEX 3000 Transceiver Specifications Table 12 on page 170 displays an overview of the specifications for the FLEX 3000 transceiver The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 169 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Chapter 7 ...

Page 178: ...able Requirements 1 snap on ferrite bead on DC cable supplied 2 snap on ferrite beads on FireWire cable supplied and 1 snap on ferrite bead on FlexWire cable All beads to be located adjacent to rear panel of radio Dimensions WxHxD 12 3 x 1 8 x 12 3 31 1cm x 4 4cm x 31 1cm Weight approx Receiver Circuit Type Direct conversion low IF Intermediate Frequency Software selectable from DC to 20 kHz MDS 1...

Page 179: ...I F I C A T I O N S A N D A R C H I T E C T U R E C H A P T E R 7 FLEX 3000Architecture The FLEX 3000 architecture is shown in Figure 169 below 171 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 169 FLEX 3000 Architecture ...

Page 180: ...D A R C H I T E C T U R E C H A P T E R 7 Declarations of Conformity FCC The FLEX 3000 complies with FCC Part 97 rules for the Amateur Radio Service EU Compliance 172 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Signature on file at FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 181: ...r width possible at a given DSP Buffer Size N and a Sample Rate fs equals 1 5 fs N where the factor 1 5 is due to the additional roll off due to the Blackman Harris window function Therefore for the steepest and narrowest filters we want a low Sample Rate and a high DSP Buffer Size Exactly how this effects the filter shapes is shown on the following two pages in Figure 170 and 171 for a 2 7kHz LSB...

Page 182: ... Systems Figure 170 2 7kHz LSB Filter at 48kHz Sampling Rate DSP Buffer Sizes Red 512 Green 1024 Blue 2048 Black 4096 Figure 171 2 7kHz LSB Filter at 96kHz Sample Rate DSP Buffer Sizes Red 512 Green 1024 Blue 2048 Black 4096 DSP Buffer Sizes Red 512 Green 1024 Blue 2048 Black 4096 DSP Buffer Sizes Red 512 Green 1024 Blue 2048 Black 4096 ...

Page 183: ...to resort to a smaller Buffer Size and or a higher Sample Rate than you would otherwise prefer based on filter shapes Underlying Theory To transform signals from the time domain to the frequency domain we start with the Discrete Fourier Transform DFT which is the Fourier Transform for time sampled signals The FFT or Fast Fourier Transform is an efficient algorithm to calculate the DFT It is import...

Page 184: ...l spaced at multiples of its fundamental frequency These spectral components are therefore at the center of each FFT bin If on the other hand the temporal signal does not have a periodicity equal to an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency it s spectral components will not be centered on each bin and bleed through will occur from one bin to the next resulting in a loss of frequency resolut...

Page 185: ...gh temporal and a high frequency resolution We must make a trade off by setting the temporal resolution latency to an acceptable level and accepting the resulting frequency resolution minimum filter width The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 177 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

Page 186: ...t After a brief moment it then makes all the downloaded versions available through a drop down list box The user selects which version to install and FlexLoader takes care of the rest Manually The procedure below outlines how to manually update the FLEX 3000 Firmware Download and Extract the Firmware The most current version of the FLEX 3000 firmware can be downloaded as a zip file from the Downlo...

Page 187: ... firmware folder the same folder containing the ReadMe file and double click on it to open the window shown in Figure 174 below Press any key to continue and you will subsequently receive the message Uploading Binary followed by Deleting Flash Image and then Programming Flash Image each preceded by a progress counter When the upgrade is completed successfully you will hear the relays click and see...

Page 188: ...itch it on again Start up PowerSDR and if you do not get a firmware version error message see Figure 25 on page 30 all is well If you do get the error message try updating the firmware again following the procedure described above The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 181 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 175 Burn bat Final Screen ...

Page 189: ...m S9 the level of the output signal out of the AGC increases from 61dBm 121dBm 60dB to 13dBm For input signal levels higher than 73dBm the output level remains constant at 13dBm because we have set the Slope to zero The input signal level at which the output just reaches the maximum of 13dBm is known as the AGC Threshold this is different from the Hang Threshold If the Max Gain setting is increase...

Page 190: ...laced far to the left of the desired signal s input level Max Gain is too high then the desired signal will sound as loud as the noise because you have amplified everything up to the 13dBm level In other words you have destroyed your signal to noise ratio If the Threshold is placed at or just above the desired signal s input level you will have amplified it to the maximum attainable without destro...

Page 191: ...his means the data has no window applied No shaping is applied to the incoming signal As a result you will have the greatest sensitivity in the power spectrum and the greatest bleed through or interference with adjacent bins Figure 177 Rectangular Window Function and Frequency Response to a Sinusoid The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 185 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Appendix D ...

Page 192: ...inning and the end of the signal buffer This filter provides for both good sensitivity and less bleed through in the FFT In situations of low dynamic range requiring a higher spectral resolution such as weak signal CW using the narrowest filters o Hanning also known as Hann Figure 178 Hanning Window Function and Frequency Response to a Sinusoid o Hamming Figure 179 Hamming Window Function and Spec...

Page 193: ...SP Buffer at a fixed sample rate causes a wider range of frequencies to be contained in one bin of the power spectral results This means that a tone will look more like a large lobe or finger than a tone spike The same phenomenon is present in the best windows While the spreading of the main lobe of a tone is not as bad as taking an FFT of half the size it is wider than one bin see also Appendix A...

Page 194: ...80 Blackman Window Function and Frequency Response to a Sinusoid Figure 181 Blackman Harris Window Function and Frequency Response to a Sinusoid 188 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems Figure 182 Blackman Nuttall Window Function and Frequency Response to a Sinusoid ...

Page 195: ...better for a particular application and some experimentation on the users part should be undertaken to find the window that gives the most pleasing display to you For further reading on windowing including many more examples of window functions please see http en wikipedia org wiki Window_function The rest of this page has been left blank intentionally 189 2003 2009 FlexRadio Systems ...

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