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Operating Manual - Nue-PSK

1. 15 7 1 CW VOCABULARY ADDITIONS AERE a ETa t rer ENAS 15 7 2 DIREC REYING C 15 VU Taer 16 7 2 2 Keying amp 16 rs bei Misi osi ren 16 7 8 TRANSMIT SIDE TONE TWEAK 17 7 4 ENTER FILE NAME Ctrl N DISPLAY nnne 17 7 5 ENTER RTCC DATE Ctrl D DISPLAY eere 18 7 6 ENTER RTCC TIME Alt D DISPLAY RELOCATION 19 T T PROGRAMMABLE GAIN AMPLIFIER PGA GAIN LEVEL DISPLAY 19 7 8 AUTOMATIC FREQUENCY CONTROL AFC INDICATOR 20 7 9 SAVE TEXT ON SWITCH FROM Rx TO 20 1 10 CONFIGURE MENU TERMINOLOGY aiicscsscnictasiinsonencancasnstannesesequiednseiavonesewcatawnieneresaueletaseiunesscass 20 TO PN erein 21 TAD AND CALLSIGN Em 21 Page 2 of 31 8 0 CONFIGURATION MENU OPTIONS ae ee ee ee ees 22 8 1 KEYER MODEBESSBELEGCITION eee be paw ed a ee Oa 22 8 2 COV d REVERSE eR ER 22 8 3 PSK AND RTTY TEXT ENTRY FROM CW REY ER ee 22 8 4 SERIAL INTERFACE BAUD RATE 23 APPENDIX A MORSE CODE ENCODING WITH PROSIG
2. 14 ee eee 14 TO OCATOUPATON M NE UU UU UM 16 14 Updating Modem 18 15 Capabilities and usage of the optional internal USB 20 16 Tips Techniques and Things to Watch Out For 23 17 Technical Support cece eeccceececeeeeceeeeceueeceeeseuceseueeseueeseueessueeseueessneensess 25 SECTION 2 CW Mode Operation SECTION 3 CW Mode QuickStart Guide SECTION 4 RTCC Operation SECTION 5 Keyer Mode Operation SECTION 6 Keyer Mode QuickStart Guide NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 2 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Section 7 APPENDICES Appendix A The Radio Cable Appendix B Modem Schematic Appendix C Optional USB RTCC Card Schematic rev B2a Appendix D Recognized Prosigns Appendix E Morse Encoding with Prosigns and ASCII Equivalents Appendix F New Configuration Options and Hot Keys Appendix G EEPROM Contents Appendix Config txt Appendix _ Hot Key Map VERSION HISTORY The version number of this manual corresponds to the software version running in the modem which is displayed in the display s splash screen when the modem is initially turned on The small letter after the version number in the splash screen differentiates minor fixes for the specific version ver 1 15 Initial produ
3. 5 00600 006FF Ctri F6 255 00700 007FF 00800 03FFF 04000 040FF 256 04100 041FF 04200 042FF 2 255 04300 043FF 04400 043FF 255 04500 045FF 5 04600 046FF 04700 047FF Ctrl F7 04800 07FFF unassigned Note Address range is shown for 24AA256 Some modems use 24AA1025 which has four times the capacity but the modem only uses the first quarter NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 9 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Configuration byte bit and field definitions ony one ons ona ons x x a ox saw oem x Ne Keyer Mode OPERATING MODE tambica __ 0 2 apse ___ 3 ___ ____ 6 __ Ld 7 __ EMIT estes MODE DR MODE DIR MODE jaune Note Modes shown in parentheses are used internally and are not entered in the EEPROM They are shown here for reference only NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 10 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Appendix H CONFIG TXT FILE Configuration file for the NUE PSK Digital Modem for device settings and macro strings DESCRIPTION This file is generated by the Upload Config selection in the modem s CONFI
4. The basic Serial Number display is activated when in receive state by pressing S or s The display is as follows 4 3 45 Vie 20 WEM 2 49 67 SONS 23 Pressing or key will increment the serial number by one Pressing or key will decrement the serial number by one Pressing the Home key will reset the serial number to 001 The allowed range is 001 through 999 Attempting to change the value to less than 001 or more than 999 will cause an audible Beep and the number will not change This display can be closed by pressing Enter or any of the other recognized receive state hot keys The second display containing the serial number also displays Their Call This allows the operator to manage both the serial number and Their Call while in receive state As is the case for all displays using the upper right portion of the display the receive operation continues and received characters will be displayed on the last four lines of the display The combined Serial Number and Their Call display is activated when in receive state by pressing or x while in receive state The display is as follows Ve 2o WPM d Re 5 i N2APB id NN A NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 19 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC When this display is shown the keyboard control functions for both the Serial Number and Their Call are available t
5. os The BW display is as follows 2011 09 14 13 5 V 26 WPM 17 48 16 CW BW 400 Hz t A 73 The lower four lines of the display continue to display received CW text and the FFT spectrum display continues to operate Changes to the displayed parameter are made with the and keys The plus will add 0 1 to Char or Word 1 to Zkew or 200 to Th The minus key will subtract 0 1 from Char or Word 1 from Zkew and 200 from Th The range allowed for the parameter is displayed on line three below the parameter name The minimum for Word is computed to be 0 5 greater than the current value of Char When the operator tries to change a parameter to a value outside the displayed range the parameter is restrained to the displayed limit When Char NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 14 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC is changed the minimum limit for Word will be changed accordingly and if the changed Char value is less than 0 5 below the current Word value the current Word value and minimum will be changed to the Char value plus 0 5 The significance of Char Word and Zkew should be obvious from the above discussion The significance of Th is a little more obscure The Goertzel filter a fence used to determine whether the received signal is a MARK or a SPACE is computed as previously described The units used are not standardized so only relative values are used The energy level comput
6. 17 5 2 ENTERING THEIR CALL AND MY ente e sa rtteenas 17 5 3 SERIAL udi em 19 54d AEYERINP T done ete vv i tn veis e ees EM dE 20 5 5 DEFAULT RECORD LOG FILE NAME 21 56 BATTERY VOLTAGE DISPLAY 21 NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 2 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 1 INTRODUCTION This section describes the CW operating mode This added operating mode is implemented in firmware and is available with all hardware versions and options Adding the CW operating mode to an existing NUE PSK modem will only require a firmware update Before getting into the details some definitions are in order Throughout this specification the term SPACE refers to a key up condition and the term MARK refers to a key down condition The term DIT refers to the MARK duration of a Morse code dot and the term DAH refers to the MARK duration of a Morse code dash DITs and DAHs are referred to as Morse elements Morse elements are combined to form characters Characters can be letters numbers punctuation marks and prosigns A prosign is a combination of elements representing something other than the characters and in this context something unique to amateur radio Throughout this specification prosigns are represented by two lower case boldface letters the Morse code characters for which are sent r
7. NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual For software version 5 PSK Digital Modem The NUE PSK Digital Modem is a standalone battery operated digital modem using Microchip dsPIC technology Weighing about 12 ounces and requiring only 60ma at 12V DC the modem is easily taken to the field For easy visibility in high or low ambient light the NUE PSK modem s backlit graphic LCD displays transmit and receive text data as well as band spectrum and tuning indicator When coupled with a standard PS2 or USB keyboard and an SSB capable transceiver you can have an effective portable digital mode station for PSK31 RTTY and CW modes with a special Keyer mode for headless operating Optional internal USB card provides for saving QSO text files easy software updates and real time clock NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 1 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC SECTION 1 Basic Modem Operation D MV OCC ee M 4 2 Connections ccccecccceececeececeeeeceeeeceeeeeeeeeseeeeeeeeeseeeeseeeesaeeesueeeseeesaeeeseeetaeeeas 4 1 onera NUM MM 5 By 6 5 SIGM at COMPOS CH ONS 6 SEE 10 110 nnn a ane 6 Fy 9 7 oO RLEY DEG ee ee eee 8 9 Using the Download Config and Upload Config Features 10 10 Real Time Clock Calendar
8. 1 within one second of an overflow to avoid missing the next overflow This essentially eliminates any tight timing requirements on servicing the timer interrupt 3 1 4 Three Volt Battery The battery used to power the controller is a coin type 3 0 volt lithium battery type BR1225 Digi Key part number P191 ND or equivalent rated at 48 mAh The battery plugs into a PCBA mounted header and is accessible by removing the modem top cover he current drain on the battery typically measures less than 8 uA when the RT CC is attached to the modem and operating normally This indicates a typical battery life of 6 000 hours 3 2 INTERFACE PROTOCOL During normal operation the interface protocol used between the USB controller and the modem controller is set by the USB controller protocol definition See Vinculum Firmware User Manual at http www ftdichip com Firmware Precompiled UM VinculumFirmware V205 pdf To direct messages to the RTCC controller a special control sequence is generated by the modem controller The special control sequence consists of a break sequence followed by two or more control characters A break sequence is a series of 10 or more SPACE 0 or low level bits When received as a normal character a break sequence will be seen as a character of all zeroes NUL with a framing error missing STOP bit Break characters are generally ignored by receiving devices and are sometimes used to force character synchronization
9. 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC rev B2a IC Optional USB RTCC Card Schemati Appendix C UJ gsi SES USIP Ja mog oyd uspon sss 2 peukuEiBard sd are pug in I Aci EMT SILON fo oq cwn pe mui MAMI 2 om Ed 5 d gt LP Perd m amp 2 uapou q s209 nat XL ONS 02 T Tha Wa oy une FI2 TM fowayag ai en PION SETA zii dap dit AcE 73 lt 348231 3108 pau a papasu oy MEE wd HS HTH E 219 gait 1 Ing an Se py nay MEE Ho 7122301 Hage t spiri aum piu 998 Bra 7 959 a m I jj ian T MEE Copyright 2008 201 1 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 3 NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 Appendix D RECOGNIZED PROSIGNS morse PmoscN meaning DESCRIPTION QE DL fan right message o as wait asec stand by 9 000000 c __ Back to you iet_me in Break SSS Ej oco
10. 5 is the addition of a built in keyer After making a simple modification to install a connector for a CW paddle the operator will be able to key in transmit text as well as operate and control the modem without a keyboard Nearly all modem control functions that can be initiated from the keyboard can be initiated with the CW paadle Entering macros still requires either a keyboard or a CONFIG TXT file on a USB flash drive gt DLE code or tap of the Select pushbutton identifies control characters gt Keyer modes supports lambic A amp B Dot preferred and Ultimatic The CW control sequences are essentially the same as those used with a keyboard A special Data Link Escape DLE code has been defined to identify control character sequences where necessary to avoid ambiguity Where ever possible control sequences may be entered with or without DLE characters operators choice Keyer input of text and control characters is available in all operating modes not just in CW mode The keyer may be configured to operate in any of five modes lambic A lambic B Dot Preferred Dash Preferred and Ultimatic The keyer may be used in any operating mode not just CW mode gt Hot keys available with paddle input The control characters or CW hot keys are the same or similar to the hot keys entered with the keyboard so it is not necessary for the operator to learn a new language Where appropriate the letter A is used to indicate the Alt
11. ASCII codes greater than 0x20 will be accepted other illegal ASCII codes may be detected by the VNC1L in which case an error message will be displayed when trying to open the file e A file name with no extension must have between 1 and 8 non period characters in it e A file name with an extension must have between 1 and 8 non period characters before the period dot e Filename extensions must have between 1 and 3 non period characters after the period dot Page 17 of 31 e File names can have no more than one period in them During file name editing no key will be accepted that would make the displayed file name invalid Attempting to do so will result in a beep If an improperly formatted file name is entered into the EEPROM from a CONFIG TXT file and is used without editing it Ctrl N the VNC1L will accept file name and truncate it to the longest valid file name format possible The following rules are used for truncation e Ifthe file name has no extension and the main part of the name is longer than 8 characters characters 9 onwards are used as the file name extension a period is implied between the 8 and 9th characters e Ifthe file name has an extension and the main part of the name is longer than 8 characters the main part of the name will be truncated to 8 characters e Ifthe file name extension is greater than 3 characters long it will be truncated to 3 characters and all following characters will be ignore
12. CONFIG TXT FILE The CONFIG TXT file format has been extended to include several CW specific entries The new file format is shown in Appendix E The added items are on lines 16 through 29 Most of the items should be self explanatory Line 17 configures the side tone frequency for both the RX and TX side tones The parameter value for this line may have any integer value between 2 and 10 The side tone frequency is equal to 4000 N Hz where N is the parameter This gives the following frequency options N FREQ 10 400 Hz 9 444 Hz 8 500 Hz 7 571 Hz 6 666 Hz 5 800 Hz 4 1000 Hz 3 1333 Hz 2 2000 Hz NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 16 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 5 OTHER CHANGES The following features are not strictly CW features but were added to the same release introducing CW mode 51 DATE FORMATS Version 3 01 changed the date format from MM DD CCYY to CCYY MM DD This version adds a configuration option to select one of three date formats A Save Config operation will save the current date configuration in the EEPROM Each time the modem is powered up the saved date format will be initialized to the value in the EEPROM The date format is not however saved with an Upload Config operation nor is it changed by a Download Config operation The user may select any one of the following date formats CCYY MM DD default MM DD CCYY DD MM CCYY Where is the century nu
13. DataSheets ICs DS VNC1L pdf When the RTCC option is installed it maintains current date and time information The RTCC option is battery powered to maintain proper date and time when modem power is turned off or even when the add on card is disconnected from the main modem card To maximize battery life the RTCC controller goes into sleep mode whenever it is idle and wakes up when needed to update the date and time information and to communicate with the modem controller After completing either of these operations the controller returns to sleep mode It is expected that one new battery shall be able to continuously power the RTCC for six months or longer The RTCC monitors the serial interface between the modem and the add on card When the modem generates a special control sequence on it s transmit line the RTCC controller disconnects the USB controller from the serial interface and takes over communications with the modem This communication consists of two basic functions NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 2 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC setting and reading the current RTCC date and time Additional functionality may be added in the future 3 FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION The RTCC option consists of three basic elements e he RICC hardware e The RICC firmware e The modem firmware extensions 3 1 RTCC HARDWARE The USB add on card schematic is shown in Figure 1 0 The major RTCC components are
14. Keyer input is always translated to ASCII for processing by the modem firmware This approach simplifies the keyer implementation and results in a high level of consistency between keyer and keyboard input Page 4 of 31 2 1 INTERFACE CONNECTIONS The major digital modem system components are shown in the following diagram VFO Mode RIT Save AF Gain Filter RF Atten A common interface of two signal lines plus ground is used to interface either a CW paddle or an external keyer to the modem The signal lines are labeled DIT and DAH and must be connected to the dsPIC expansion pads b DIT and a DAH on the main modem PCBA Note that there is a conductor from the three wire cable to the USB option card connected to expansion pad a This signal is no longer used so the wire can be disconnected and insulated so it does not cause a short to components or etch on the main modem board The signal attached to expansion pad a also requires a 10 ohm pull up resistor to 3 3 volts Expansion pad b uses a weak pull up built into the dsPIC I O pin The following schematic shows the keyer interface connection using a 3 5 MM stereo connector Digi Key P N 5C1464 ND or equivalent 23 3 V EXPANSION PAD a RDO EXPANSION PAD b RC13 When the modem is powered up the signal level on expansion pad a DAH 1s checked If it is at ground level the firmwar
15. LCD NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 8 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC gt Normal and Reverse may be toggled by typing Ctrl R while the modem is Receive mode Typical usage of this toggling is to help the modem decode when the transmitter is on a different sideband gt Generally Normal mode is used when both transmitting and receiving stations are on the same sideband USB USB or LSB LSB When the stations are on different sidebands USB LSB or LSB USB type Ctrl R to toggle to Reverse mode in order to enable proper transmit and receive gt AnLorFis also displayed in the upper right portion of the LCD corresponding to LTRS or FIGS being received by the modem The L and F may be toggled by typing Ctrl C which is useful if the corresponding LTRS or FIGS character is missing from the incoming data stream Thus the user can correct such an error condition Setting the Modem for RTTY Operation gt Select the Mode item in the Config menu Press the Select pushbutton for about 2 seconds release and rotate the Tune encoder one position clockwise gt Rotate the Tune dial until the RITY menu item is shown Press the Select pushbutton to change to that mode The press the pushbutton again to exit back to normal modem operation gt Notice that the spectral display now shows two cursors These cursors are used when tuning to a RITY signal that has two characteristic spectral peaks separated
16. OWGoerzethreshod Enter Their Call _______ Insert Their Call V rogge recmo BEEN cw wora space fene Serial Number Their Call Insert Serial EW Skew count ______ input string terminator Hoge amp m seyme _ A m lt lt F1 F2 F3 FA F5 F6 F7 F8 F9 F10 F11 Page 29 of 31 Le po 2 2 ieee muemePGAgan Decrease PGAgain _ td mme O Home Reset Entry cancey __ Tmedoenxi __ mes Tune downxd Tuneupx2 meu Toggle CW Side Tone TX ESC or RX Page 30 of 31 APPENDIX D CONFIGURE MENU CATEGORY SELECTIONS C CW Practice Squelch CWID xl6 Normal Tune Rate PGA Gain Keyer Mode CONFIGURATION MENU CONFIGURE MENU TX Audio 0 1096 Level Backlight P NN Flash Abort Bootload Start Bootload PC Bootload Start Bootload Interval Seconds Import CONFIG TXT Export Abort si CONFIG TXT RTCC Display m CW Paddle PSK CW Text Upper Case EN Mode PSK CW Word Em Calibrate Date Format Page 31 of 31 Section 6 Keyer Mode QuickStart Guide The biggest change in Version
17. Toggle Tx mode OFF represents a keyboard space character or a CW inter word SPACE 5 Tew Note Tx mode is toggled off by a normal end of transmission character sequence These prosigns and one and two character sequences must be preceded and followed by an inter word SPACE followed by nothing The end of transmission sequence must be the last thing in the transmit buffer for it to be acted on The end of transmission characters will be transmitted before toggling Tx mode off Page 12 of 31 KEYED RECEIVE FUNCTIONS KEYBOARD ESC or T N nN UJ or I AC D Cre Ctri M N Tab X Home or ohlitt Bksp Crrl Z2 or F Enter Page Up Page Down Left Arrow Right Arrow Down Arrow Up Arrow End 1 CW mode only KEYER B C oF G or VS OF Or U Or U or p WDA or D vdo Or do N Q C 5 AD CM CN LOTI N or N ad or X bk or bk OF 9 AP Or ar PU PD LA RA DA UA AQ NEN or m1 m2 10 or NON ct The following hotkey functions are available in Rx mode HOTKEY FUNCTION Toggle Rx side tone ON OFF Tweak CW Bandwidth Tweak Character space multiple Tweak Goertzel Threshold Tweak Serial Number Tweak Word space multiple Tweak MARK limit Tweaks Up Locks or W Twe
18. analyze received CW signals after processing by the Goertzel filter 3 0 FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION Firmware operation with input from a CW paddle or from a keyboard is essentially the same once the CW input has been translated to groups of MARKs representing Morse characters and then to ASCII Page 8 of 31 characters As the keyer input is processed a side tone is generated to give the user audio feedback When using the keyer the user will normally have the transmit side tone turned off 3 1 EXTERNAL PRACTICE KEYER INPUT PROCESSING The same firmware used to group MARKs from the Goertzel filter is used to generate MARK groups from an external keyer In this case MARK types dots and dashes and character and word boundaries are identified by measuring the duration of the MARKs and in the input stream The input timing also determines the CW speed wpm of the input keying This same logic is used to process the output from the Goertzel filter 1n receive mode which must be processed independently from the external keyer input This mode of operation 1s only intended for off line practice and demonstrations keyed data is only displayed and it is never transmitted 3 2 BUILT IN INPUT PROCESSING Since the built in keyer has separate inputs for dots and dashes it can generate MARK groups without having to determine Tcw from the paddle input Instead the operator sets the transmit keying rate which determines Tcw Tr
19. and transmission will continue An in process macro will be abruptly terminated by pressing the End key The modem will remain in Tx mode and the Tx buffer will be cleared This means any characters entered by the operator while the macro is playing will be deleted also 7 12 NAME AND CALL SIGN The lt NAME gt tag reserves space in a macro to insert a name field in transmitted text This field may also be inserted in the transmit text string by pressing Alt N on the keyboard or keying with the keyer The field is entered or edited by pressing or keying N in Rx mode The Name field is always displayed for entry or edit with Their Call Sign If neither of these fields has been entered the enter edit display will be as shown 1n the picture on the left The field name or call sign will be replaced with keyed text as shown in the picture on the right The right pointing triangle indicates the current active line the one that keyed text will be entered into The triangle is moved between the two lines by pressing the Tab key or by keying the prosign aa Note that the Name field will allow spaces when entered from the keyboard There currently is no way to generate spaces with the keyer If a separator is required it will have to be a valid Morse character such as a period comma or forward slash The maximum length of the Name field is eleven characters same as the call sign field Page 21 of 31 The
20. and you will be prompted at the top of the modem display to enter a filename Give it any standard 8 3 format filename that is useful to you 8 3 is 8 characters followed by a period and 3 more characters as an extension like Test1234 txt Don t forget to use CTRL Z key to end this entry The other USB related feature is that you may Insert your own text into the data stream being recorded to your USB flash device For example after getting into REC mode CTRL U but before starting up a QSO you might wish to enter the current date time or operator name in order to have a better record of the QSO downstream To do this type CTRL I and you will prompted at the top of the screen to enter this offline text Don t forget to end your entry with a CTRL Z in order to return back to Tx or Rx mode Remember what you enter in this Insert mode is not transmitted but it is only text that is inserted into the stream of data going to your USB flash memory device The QSO recording format The QSO recording format for flash drives is enhanced with additional information including date and time At the start of each recording session initiated by a CTRL U the following text block is written to the file ACACkCk Ck kCk ck Kk kCk ck ck ok Ck ck ck ck kk ck ck KkCck ck ck kok ck k k ok ck k k ck k k kk START RECORDING MM DD YY hh mm ss This text block is always followed by a blank line At the end of the recording session terminated by
21. another CTRL U the following text block is written to the file ACACkCk ck kCk ck ck ok Ck ck ck ok kk ck ck kk ck ck kck ck k kc ck ck k kc ck ck k k kk kk STOP RECORDING MM DD YY hh mm ss gt ACACkCk Ck kCk ck ck ok ck ck ck ok ck ck ck ck kk ck ck kck ck k ok ck ck k kc ck ck k k kk kk This text block is always preceded by a blank line NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 21 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC The start of each recorded receive session contains the following preamble text RECEIVING lt hh mm ss gt This text is followed by a single space character and then the received text as received no formatting The start of each recorded transmit session contains the following preamble text TRANSMITTING lt hh mm ss gt This text is followed by a single space character and then the transmitted text as transmitted no additional formatting When the operator inserts text in the recording the following text is inserted in the file x x INSERTING lt hh mm ss gt This text is followed by a single space character and then the operator keyed text no additional formatting When the operator ends the insert operation with CTRL Z the modem resumes recording the interrupted mode with the appropriate RECEIVING or TRANSMITTING preamble FLASH BOOTLOAD Loads new modem software from a flash device This feature allows you to upgrade your modem softwar
22. e E 2 MEE CENERALDE E 2 S FONCTHONALDESCRIP HON 3 3 1 __ ___________ _ 3 3 1 1 CO ONS e ese 3 TNA RU RCM 3 i 322059 FIZ O A ounces 4 WCC 7 64 5 Um 4 3 2 INTERFACE PROTOCOL sienta ___________ ___ 4 3 3 FIRMWARE c 6 3 3 1 RT CC Firmware Implementation essen 7 3 3 1 1 System Clock Calibration met 7 3 3 1 2 Time and Date Update Sequence 8 3 3 1 3 Modem Request 8 3 3 2 Modem Firmware Extensions ccccccsscccssssseccssssseceesseecessseeecessseeeesseaeeeeesseeeesssaeeeess 9 3 3 2 1 Date and Time Display ER T m TU 9 3 3 2 2 RTCC Updates by the 10 3 320 Basic Standalone RTCC Modem Functions 11 3 9 2 4 Time Stamping QSO Recording 11 NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 1 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 1 INTRODUCTION This section describes the Real Time Clock Calendar RTCC option for the NUE PSK USB add on card The basic hardware design for this option has been included in all versions of the USB add on card PCB layout The RTCC
23. for this older yet still popular digital mode is very similar to the other modes we support PSK QPSK and is great for long ragchews sending brag files describing equipment and contesting Decoding sensitivity is a bit less than with PSK31 a mode that has been optimized for low power operation but tuning in someone calling CQ is a bit easier and some people say there are more RI TY capable hams around for potential contact continuing the age old enjoyment of the hobby We are initially supporting 45 baud operation with 170 Hz shift between mark and space frequencies which classically tends to characterize the majority of RI TY use over the years especially with the older and original TTY equipment We also simplify the upper lower sideband confusion that can exist these days by allowing the user to flip the order of the mark and space frequencies thus accommodating a variety of users over all the bands RTTY Specs 45 Baud 170 Hz shift Other speeds and shifts may be supported later Normal operating convention is to use USB for RTTY In the event that the station that you are attempting to connect with is instead using LSB you may reverse the Mark and Space frequencies to allow this cross mode connection Normal mode with the lower Mark frequency is indicated by an N in the upper right corner of the LCD gt Reverse mode with the higher Mark frequency is indicated by an R in the upper right corner of the
24. in receive state Transmit state is activated when one of the following occurs e The operator presses and releases F10 e A macro is played containing a TXON tag at the start of the macro The modem will return to receive state when one of the following occurs e The operator presses and releases F10 e A macro is played containing a lt I XOFF gt tag The same display area is used to display received and transmitted text one at a time The transceiver is always in transmit mode when the modem is in CW transmit state The transceiver will not go into receive mode until the modem state is changed to receive which releases PTT Because of this it is not possible to hear received characters between transmitted characters and true QSK operation cannot be supported 3 1 1 3 1 1 Status Display At this point the spectrum display is cleared and replaced by the following status information displayed on the second and third lines of the LCD display TX CW WPM WW SIDE TONE 5555 Hz Where WW is a two digit representation of the current wom words per minute setting The wpm setting may be varied between 5 wpm and 50 wpm by turning the tuning knob when the above status is displayed modem in the CW transmit state 3 1 2 Transmit Side Tone As an added feature the modem s beeper may be used to generate a side tone so the operator can listen to the Morse code being transmitted The transmit side tone generator is toggled on and off by p
25. key and the letter C is used to indicate the Ctrl key All control sequences are one or two characters long Where there are no Morse code equivalents for special function keys common sense letter combinations are used For example LA is used for Left Arrow and PD is used for Page Down There are a few things that that may require some practice for the operator to get comfortable with gt CW Practice Mode available CW Practice mode has been added to the Configure mode menu This capability allows all normal modem functions to work but does not key the transceiver The built in keyer always generates a 400 Hz side tone making it easy to distinguish it from the normal Rx or Tx side tones which are generally set to higher frequencies gt CW Direct Mode allows use of any transceiver SSB and CW with the Modem in CW Mode In addition to the keyer and the CW Practice operating mode Version 5 includes a number of additional enhancements and increased functionality One significant enhancement is a new operating mode CW Direct In this mode the modem keys the PTT line so the transceiver can be operated in CW mode The rig does not need to be in Data Packet or SSB mode thus allowing the modem to be used with virtually any transceiver with or without SSB modes CW Direct mode eliminates the frequency offset problems experienced with some transceivers and allows QSK operation which cannot be done using SSB tone generation Many modern trans
26. key to apply the grave accent to the following character 7 2 DIRECT KEYING CW CW support in previous versions of the modem firmware requires the transceiver be in SSB mode Rigs that do not support SSB operation could not be used with the modem This includes many older rigs QRP rigs kits and homebrew rigs This version of the firmware supports a direct keying CW mode where the rig can be operated in CW mode and the modem keys its PTT interface line This operating mode is enabled by selecting the CW DIRECT mode from the modem configuration menu Page 15 of 31 7 2 1 Interface Cable CW DIRECT may require a special cable to connect the modem PTT line J8 pin 8 to the rig s key in jack and the modem audio input interface line to the rig s audio out jack This cable will only work in CW DIRECT mode In some cases an interface adapter may be required for circuit isolation voltage level translation and or signal polarity conversion e g for vacuum tube keying The following cable or equivalent can be used for direct keying CW with virtually any CW transceiver J3 RADIO g PTT DIT 7 Audio In N C DAH e Keyer 6 COMMON 5 N C ES a 4 em N C Audio 3 ol es Phones 2 NC N C COMMON 1 N C This cable can be made as a stand alone interface or incorporated into a standard modem to transceiver cable or as an adaptor between the standard cable and the modem Note Many commercial trans
27. macro string lines 9 thru 15 This is the pipe character typically located on the right side of one s keyboard as a shift character for the backslash key Failure to retain the this special character at the end of the macro string will case a run on merge of the two adjacent macro strings when loaded back into the modem After edits have been made save the file to your computer using the same filename i e you must keep the same filename config txt and copy that config txt to your USB thumb drive 4 Load the config txt file into your modem Plug your thumb drive into your modem s USB port and in the CONFIG menu dial up the Download Config menu item and select Start Download See the modem port LED blink for perhaps about 3 seconds The modem will then automatically reset and re power up with the new edited configuration parameters and or macro strings in place They are automatically saved to EEPROM such that each time the modem is started up in the future the new settings will be in effect NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 11 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Upload Config The Upload Config feature is a lesser needed capability that copies the modems config settings and macro text strings to the USB thumb drive One could use this as a Starting point for making text edits as described above instead of using the blank template to start with However an updated C02 firmware file needs to be
28. mode same as in other modes and is quite convenient for the brag files that are commonly used in RTTY Beacon Mode works well with RT TY as well If you wish to use RT TY mode exclusively for a while it may be convenient to select Save Config from the Configure menu thus saving your current mode RTTY so it comes up by default when you next turn on the modem some typed characters do not appear on the LCD The older 5 bit Baudot code used in RT TY communications is limited in the number of characters that are supported Thus only capital letters are able to be transmitted and the only supported FIGS include amp amp 2 comma semicolon and period Characters not transmitted or displayed on the modem LCD include 26 _ lt and So be careful not to use these characters when doing communications otherwise your messages may be received in an unusual manner For example My email is george verizon net It costs 23 44 The Dow is up 2 1 John went home etc We have implemented the US version of Baudot character representation For example someone on a mechanical TTY keyboard such as the Teletype Model 19 who types a FIGS key followed by the H key a pound sign will be sent and displayed on the NUE PSK display Correspondingly from the NUE PSK modem keyboard pressing the key will transmit the FIGS code followed b
29. modem display the characters typed into Digipan Note you should follow the adjustment procedure elsewhere in this manual when connected to a radio NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 24 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 17 Technical Support In case of questions or problems feel free to send an email with your comments to us at support nue psk com Be sure to also check the NUE PSK website at www nue psk com for the latest information software availability and tips amp techniques to make your digital mode operating experience enjoyable This printed manual will be updated frequently with corrections and new capabilities presented in the current software so be sure to always check out the website Another great source of information and camaraderie with fellow owners of the digital modem is the NUE PSK email reflector on Yahoo Groups If not already signed up for this great communication forum go to www yahoogroups com and search for the group called NUE PSK You can view all the messages posted there and if you join for free you will be able to post questions and comments yourself as well as access the files in the group NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 25 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Section 2 CW Mode Operation 5 NUE PSK Digital N b feet mcm a m 1 INTRODUC 8 2 GENERAL DESCRI
30. option was not included in the early releases of the modem firmware and the add on cards assemblies and kits were shipped without the RTCC components All USB add on cards shipped after the completion and release of the RTCC option firmware early this year include the RTCC components and the supporting firmware Completion of the RTCC implementation required extensions to the basic NUE PSK modem firmware and the development of the RTCC firmware for the RTCC microcontroller The following sections describe the hardware and firmware associated with the RTCC implementation in the NUE PSK Digital Modem here after referred to simply as the modem 2 GENERAL DESCRIPTION The USB add on card interfaces to the modem card with a simple serial interface The add on card contains two USB interfaces one master and one device The primary function of the master USB interface is to output transmitted and received messages for archiving e g in a thumb drive or for direct printing on a USB printer This interface can also be used to update firmware in both the USB controller VNC1L and the modem controller dsPIC33FJ128MC706 from a flash drive The device interface can be used to update firmware directly from a PC These functions are described in detail in the USB Card Operator s Manual available on the NUE PSK web site http www nue psk com and in the VNC1L Datasheet available on the web site http www ftdichip com Support Documents
31. place Use of internal batteries is not possible when optional USB card Is in place 5 Signal Connections Install a connector s to the unterminated end of the cable provided with the modem Most modern HF rigs have a mini DIN Data or AUX connector which provides for PTT fixed level audio from the receiver independent of the volume control on the rig anda line level approx 100mv rms audio input to the transmitter On the Yaesu 817 857 897 this connector is a 6 pin mini DIN On many Kenwood HF rigs there are 6 pin and 13 pin mini DIN connectors that may be used See Appendix A for wiring details See the website Ordering page for a list of pre assembled modem cables accommodating over 50 different rigs 6 Keyboard The modem requires an AT PS2 style keyboard for character entry The keyboard also provides for entry and playback of macros Connect the keyboard to the 6 pin mini DIN connector on the right hand side of the modem A USB keyboard may be used if it has built in PS2 support Most USB keyboards that are sold with a USB to PS2 adapter will work using this adapter NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 6 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 7 Operation Once you have the cable between the modem and the rig connected keyboard attached and power available you are ready to operate But first some additional setup may also be desired as described next Turn on the modem the cabling bet
32. second intervals Turn off Beacon Mode press Alt F9 13 Configuration Menu Configuration of the modem is accomplished by using a menu system For example you can select among the available modes PSK RTTY QPSK and QPSK reversed You can also change the software squelch setting the gain of the programmable gain amplifier PGA turn CW Identification on or off turn the display backlight on or off change the tuning increment monitor battery voltage or monitor the setting of the TX audio potentiometer Other items may be added to the menu at a later time The method of menu access is through the Select button on the menu and the Tune dial Pressing and holding the Select button for more than 1 2 second will activate the menu system When initially activated the display will show Configure on one line followed by Exit on the line below If you wish to abort configuration simply tap the Select button at this time If on the other hand you wish to configure one of the modem settings simply rotate the dial clockwise or counter clockwise to cycle through the top level menu selection Once you see an item that you wish to change tap the Select button again This will then allow you to cycle through a list of choices again by rotating the Tune dial When the choice you wish to make appears on the display tap the Select button again This will record your choice and the menu will revert to the top level showing Exit a
33. tapping the Select button when not in the CONFIGURE menu This is the recommended method for starting DLE sequence in CW Direct mode see the section on CW Direct mode later in this document The uU prosign will be represented by and displayed a backward slash character All keyed hotkey sequences must start and end with this character which will be referred to as a Data Link Escape or DLE character When a DLE character is entered it indicates the start or end of a hotkey sequence Hotkey sequences consist of the DLE character followed by one or two characters followed by another DLE character Once the first DLE character is recognized all inter word SPACEs are ignored Hotkey sequences never contain space characters When the ending DLE character is entered the hotkey sequence 1s validated and if valid for the current mode it is processed and executed immediately If a hotkey sequence is not valid for the current mode it is simply ignored there is no explicit error indication When entering Page 10 of 31 hotkey sequences the prosign hH eight or more dots will be processed as a backspace The preceding character will be deleted Note that the starting DLE character cannot be deleted To cancel a hotkey sequence after it is started simply key in an illegal character sequence followed by the closing DLE character Wherever possible the characters used for keyed hotkeys are the same as those used for keyboard hotkeys
34. the accumulated MARKs are translated to ASCII per the table in Appendix A and displayed After each character is displayed the current wpm is calculated and displayed at the center of the top line of the graphic LCD display Note that the wpm will not be displayed until at least one character has been received and Tcw can be calculated NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 10 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC When the SPACE duration exceeds the Tcw count threshold for inter word SPACE a space character is displayed on the graphic display At this point the received signal is only monitored to determine when it transitions from SPACE to MARK At that point the receive State is changed to MARK the mark_msec timer is reset to zero and the next call from the main control loop will be to the MARK processing function During SPACE processing two thresholds or fences are computed and used to detect inter character and inter word SPACEs in the received signal The durations of the last ten spaces that are shorter than the current inter word SPACE are saved and their average computed each time a new SPACE is added to the buffer The character SPACE fence is set to twice this average Remember that intra character SPACE durations are nominally one Tcw and inter character SPACE durations are nominally three Tcw giving an average of two Tcw durations The second fence is used to detect inter word spaces It is nominally set t
35. the PIC16F688 microcontroller U3 the FST3126 4 bit bus switch U4 the 32 768 KHz quartz crystal X2 and the 3V battery BATT 3 1 4 RTCC Controller The RTCC controller is an 8 bit Microchip microcontroller with 4 096 14 bit words of flash memory for program storage 256 bytes of SRAM for data storage and 256 bytes of EEPROM storage The RICC controller utilizes the built in UART to monitor the serial interface between the add on card and the modem and to communicate with the modem It also uses one of the two built in timers T1 to generate interrupts to update the date and time information The 32 768 KHz crystal is used as a time base for this timer The timer is basically a 16 bit counter that is preloaded to 0x8000 decimal 32 68 and counted up An interrupt is generated each time the counter overflows from OxFFFF to 0x0000 which gives a one second interrupt rate The interrupt routine sets the most significant bit of the count to one to assure the count overflows occur at one second intervals Since the counter keep running after the overflow this approach maintains an accurate long term time base independent of any delays there may be in the RTCC controller s interrupt response time 3 1 2 Serial Bus Switch Two of the RTCC controller PIO lines PA1 and PAO are used to control the serial bus switch which is connected in line with the serial interface between the USB controller and the modem Two of the four bus switches con
36. the appropriate preamble is also inserted in the recording NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 12 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC CW Keyer Manual and other functional enhancements NUE PSK Modem Version 5 00 NUE PSK Digital Modem AmQRP merican QRP Club David Collins AD7JT 29 November 2011 Version 5 01 03 February 2012 Version 5 02 10 June 2012 Version 5 02b 25 February 2013 Page 1 of 31 Table of Contents 1 0 OTN E 4 2 0 GENERAL DS CR PDO 4 2 1 INTERFACE CONNECTIONS _________ 5 2 2 6 2 3 TION e ____ ___ __ _ ______ 7 3 0 FUNC NO c 8 3 1 EXTERNAL PRACTICE INPUT PROCESSING eere 9 3 2 BUILT IN KEYER INPUT PROCESSING aep osa de bns papa 9 3 3 FEYER VBIMLOIION 10 3 4 CAPE ODE 10 3 5 KEYED COMMON FUNC TION T 11 3 6 KEYED TRANSMIT FUNCTIONS 12 3 7 KEYED RECEIVE FUNCTIONS cm 13 3 8 KEYED MACRO FUNCHONS 14 4 0 DLE SEQUENCE DISPLAY Em 14 5 0 FEER 14 6 0 CW PRACTICE 15 7 0 OTHER CHANGES INCORPORATED IN THIS RELEASE
37. the spectrum information can still be seen when entering call signs The ORing is done in such a way as to display this information in reverse video when it overlaps bars in the spectrum display Note that displays that include call signs may be cleared using either of two key sequences Enter or Ctrl Z They both clear the current display but Enter will also unlock the Word Char and Th parameters if they are locked when Enter is pressed Ctrl Z will not unlock NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 18 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC these parameters Note also that pressing Enter at any time while in receive mode will unlock these three parameters whether or not any of them are displayed when Enter is pressed 5 3 SERIAL NUMBERS Many amateur radio contests require each QSO exchange to include a serial number that usually starts at 001 and is incremented by one for each QSO logged This release includes a new tag lt SERIALNO gt for macros to insert a three digit serial number in the transmit data stream It also includes hot keys for incrementing decrementing and resetting the serial number The serial number value is stored in the EEPROM but is not included in the CONFIG TXT file This allows the serial number to be preserved when modem power is turned off and to not be disturbed when downloading CONFIG TXT to for example update macros There are actually two different displays associated with serial numbers
38. update sequence is pretty straight forward First the second count is incremented by one When the second count is incremented to 60 it is reset to zero and the minute count is incremented by one When the minute count is incremented to 60 it is reset to zero and the hour count is incremented by one When the hour count is incremented to 24 it is reset to zero and the day count is incremented by one When the day count is incremented to one more that the number of days in the current month it is reset to one and the month count is incremented by one When the month count is incremented to 13 it is reset to one and the year count is incremented by one When the year count is incremented to 100 it is reset to zero and the century count is incremented by one The number of days of the month is usually determined by a hard coded table in the firmware An exception is made for February month two February has 28 days except during a leap year when it has 29 days Leap years are all years evenly divisible by 4 except when the year can be evenly divided by 100 unless the century can be evenly divided by 4 The execution time will vary depending on how far a carry must be propagated but should never take more than 100 us This delay may cause the controller to miss an occasional break sequence but these cases will be very rare because the update execution time is such a small fraction of the one second interval between timer interupts 3 3 1 3 Mod
39. will not be shown in data entry mode In this case the RTCC keeps running so when it is again displayed the date and time will be correct In record mode the write operation to the flash drive hogs the serial bus to the USB option card so the modem is unable to access the RTCC Instead the modem s local copy of the is updated by the modem using a local one second timer Once the modem exits REC mode the RTCC is again available and the local copy is updated with the RTCC responses NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 9 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC In any of the data input modes the entire LCD display is dedicated to the input function and the date and time cannot be displayed The local RTCC copy is maintained and will be accurate when next displayed after the data input mode ends By default the date and time are displayed as described above There is a CONFIG menu option available to disable and enable the time and data display To use this option press the Select button for about one second release the button and turn the Tune knob counter clockwise until RTCC Display is displayed momentarily press the Select button use the Tune knob to select ON or OFF momentary press the Select button two more times to exit the CONFIG menu A one second timer in the modem triggers the request to the RTCC for an update When the RTCC is not installed the modem will use this time
40. 0 50 7 AFC ON OFF ON 8 CWID ON OFF OFF 9 Macro 1 lt TXON gt CQ CQ CQ DE lt MYCALL gt lt MYCALL gt lt MYCALL gt PSE K lt TXOFF gt 10 Macro 2 lt TXON gt lt THEIRCALL gt THEIRCALL THEIRCALL DE MYCALL lt MYCALL gt lt MYCALL gt PSE K lt TXOFF gt 11 3 L2 Macro 4 HERE IN SUN CITY WEST AZ NW SUBURB OF PHOENIX NAME HERE IS DAVE DAVE HOW COPY lt THEIRCALL gt DE lt MYCALL gt K lt TXOFF gt 13 Macro 5 RIG HERE IS YAESU FT 897D RUNNING ABOUT 40 WATTS CONTROLLED BY A NUE PSK DIGITAL MODEM WITH NO PC MY ANT IS A 20M VERTICAL ATTACHED TO THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE THE ANT IS DISGUISED BECAUSE OUR HOA EXPLICITLY FORBIDS HAM ANTENNAS 14 Macro 6 I WAS FIRST LICENSED IN MN AS WOLSH IN 1952 AT THE AGE OF 13 BUT LET MY LICENSE LAPSE IN THE 705 DUE TO THE DEMANDS OF STARTING A CAREER AND A FAMILY I RETIRED IN 2005 MOVED FROM SO CA TO AZ AND GOT RELICENSED IN THE FALL OF 2006 15 7 16 CW TX WEM 5 99 20 NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 11 Copyright 2008 201 1 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 CW CW CW CW CW CW CW CW CW CW CW CW CW Side Tone Frequency 10 gt 400 Hz TX Side Tone ON OFF OFF RX Side Tone ON OFF OFF RX Inter Char Tow 2 0 4 0 22 0 RX Inter word Tew 2 5 992 5 RX Max Skew Count 2 6 2 gt 200
41. 0 Hz 03 Macro 1 lt TXON gt CQ TEST CQ TEST DE lt MYCALL gt lt MYCALL gt TEST K lt TXOFF gt Macro 2 lt TXON gt lt THEIRCALL gt 5NN lt SERIALNO gt lt gt Macro 3 lt TXON gt TU TEST DE lt MYCALL gt TEST K lt TXOFF gt Macro 4 lt TXON gt lt MYCALL gt lt TXOFF gt Macro 5 lt TXON gt lt THEIRCALL gt lt THEIRCALL gt lt THEIRCALL gt DE lt MYCALL gt lt MYCALL gt lt MYCALL gt kn lt TXOFF gt Macro 6 lt TXON gt lt THEIRCALL gt DE lt MYCALL gt RIG HERE IS FT2000 RUNNING 100W TO A 20M VERTICAL ALSO USING A NUE PSK MODEM WITH NEW CW MODE I AM TESTING HOW DOES IT SOUND lt THEIRCALL gt DE lt MYCALL gt kn lt TXOFF gt Macro 7 NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 12 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Appendix I HOT KEY MAP s oweowueGandwd Gear intema bues eweharsrace fence _ b ie Save freq in EEPROM Retrieve saved freq CW Goertzel threshold Reset Entry CANCEL DLE only Fenner ay cai insert ay cat Emer name anacan tmert CHemame i T ooo i enoro _ metmOfmmem Reverse RTT Mark Space TweakUp TogleRECmode __ Serial Number Their Call MEE Insert Serial No ____ ___ ________ __ _____ Toggle Rx amp Tx Ta NUE PSK Digital
42. 1 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Appendix B Modem Schematic ICD Port 45V 43 3V C24 01 3 TXB0108 R15 H16 3 3 51 LCD 5 6 8K 6 8K Wi 128x64 ua P 1 Data 4 5 B qe Clock 12 gt 5 or Lo Keyboard dii ioe a t d 4 y dsPIC33F H28M C706 ENC 1 CNG TUNE ior E SELECT DO 2N7000 tour pm 191 108 Lx 2 An 2N7000 Rit lp Q3 45V 10K W uF 49 An 5 1 46 3 3V xd Tx u h 85 2 4 44 dE OON ii E 37 2 0 ey C15 22pF Audio x1 U4 scans EEPROM J3 ae 24A A256 RADIO C16 2pF 25 E01 10 18 26 38 57 i8 not mn C13 programming cig 3 3V 43 3V 9 20 25 41 0 1 0 1 adapter 0 1 Field Programmer 7 10K E 15 31 2 1 data directions Of EN R5 a Ue 4 E 2 0K TxD External MCP Goi u Gnd Power E 9 18V yeas Bs x e w aV aug C eae os 9 Von m LP2950 HAN 4 NUE PSK i C12 0 1 tur M Cram W amp NUE G Heron N2APB i NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 2 Copyright 2008
43. 201 1 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Appendix F NEW CONFIGURATION OPTIONS AND HOT KEYS In CW mode F10 Toggles between receive RX and transmit TX modes In CW Receive mode C or C Zor Z W or W T or t F or f Inter character SPACE char 1 6 to 6 0 Tew with 0 1 Tew precision Determines the threshold between received intra character SPACESs and inter character SPACEs Skew Limit 2 2 to 6 MARKs Number of MARKs of equal duration that will be used to calculate thresholds Consecutive MARKs are considered equal when their durations are within 12 5 of each other Inter word SPACE word char 0 5 to 12 0 Tew with 0 1 Tew precision Determines the threshold between received inter character SPACEs and inter word SPACEs Will be automatically incremented when the Inter char SPACE parameter is incremented to within 0 5 Tew MARK SPACE threshold 64 000 to 200 with 200 unit precision Displays or sets the threshold fence used by the Goertzel filter to distinguish between MARK and SPACE levels FFT CW Spectrum display Displays a numerical representation of FFT buckets 18 19 and 20 Increment selected parameter 1 Decrement selected parameter 1 Clears parameter display Toggles RX side tone on and off NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 7 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC I
44. A1025 which has four times the capacity but the modem only uses the first quarter Page 27 of 31 APPENDIX B EEPROM CONTENT MAP cont Configuration byte bit and field definitions ADRS BYTE Bit7 Bite Bits Bita Bito 000 x x amp x sam arc cw OPERATING MODE VALUE MODE 0 BPSK MODE 2 3 Keyer Mode VALUE MODE lambic A lambic B Dot Preferred Dash Preferred TUNE_MODE_WID 5 CWID_MODE RTTY MODE 7 CW MODE Ultimatic 1 __ 2 DotPreferred 3 Dash Preferred NENNEN PSK63 MODE CW DIR MODE A CW PRACTICE Note Modes shown in parentheses are used internally and are not entered in the EEPROM They are shown here for reference only Page 28 of 31 APPENDIX C HOT KEY ASSIGNMENTS a ew Goertzel Bandwidth Clear internal buffers _ Char SPACE fence TogeleRTIYHGS LRL C swefrginttPROM Retrieve saved freq i Reset Entry CANCEL DLE only Clear keyboard buffer Insert beacon count Gerendsy M imetMyCH __ N Call Enter REC filename o rogebrklg pe S insert Te OFF in macro R ReeseRTYMak amp Spxe S SeiiNumber imertxONinmaro Insert Serial No 1
45. ARK SPACE threshold fence setting If you can clearly hear the CW signal but the modem cannot the threshold may be set too high or too low If the displayed setting 1s high in the allowed range use the key to lower it Continue to lower it until characters start to appear on the display This indicates the fence is between the MARK and SPACE levels Press Enter to clear the display and allow the firmware to take control of the threshold level Similarly if the threshold seems too low not a common occurrence use the key to raise it until characters start to appear on the display It 15 best to not keep the threshold locked This prevents the firmware from following varying band conditions QSB If displayed characters have extra spaces between them the code may be being sent in Farnsworth mode where the characters are sent at one speed and the inter character spaces are extended Sometimes operators send in this manner when band conditions are bad because it can NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 1 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Section 3 CW Mode QuickStart Guide be easier to copy If this is the case press W key to bring up the Word multiple display This is the time threshold used to identify the end of a character The fence time can be extended one tenth of a Tcw at a time by pressing the key Repeatedly press the key until the character spacing looks normal Simi
46. All messages to and from the RTCC controller are ended with a CR character 0 00 which is consistent with the USB controller protocol NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 4 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC The RTCC controller will normally be in sleep mode with the UART interface AUTO WAKE UP ON BREAK mode enabled In this mode a receive interrupt is generated when a MARK to SPACE one to zero transition occurs on the receive data line In sleep mode all clocks in the RTCC controller are turned off to minimize the amount of power required The 32 768 KHz oscillator and T1 remain active in sleep mode The interrupt starts the system clock and after a start up delay the controller responds by executing the interrupt routine When the RTCC controller recognizes a valid break sequence it disconnects the USB controller from the serial interface and reads the following data characters When the RTCC does not recognize a valid break sequence it leaves the serial interface connected to the USB controller and returns to sleep mode The first character following the break sequence must be 0x55 When this character is followed immediately by a check character and a message end character CR or OxOD it is interpreted as a request for the RTCC controller to return the current date and time When this character is followed by seven characters followed by a check character followed by a message end character it is interpreted
47. CTION Ctrl Tab Display current frequency F1 7 Play macro 1 7 F8 8 Toggle Tune mode ON OFF Shift F9 C9 Turn Beacon mode ON or CEEL F97 Alt F9 A9 Turn beacon mode OFF F11 WII Display My Call E12 Display Hide Config Ctrl U VODY Toggle RECord mode ON OFF Ctrl A CA Enable AFC Alt A AA Disable AFC Ctrl O Toggle LCD display back light ON OFF Ctrl L Clear text display Ctrl F VCR Save current frequency in EEPROM Alt F AF Set current frequency from EEPROM New Hotkey assignment Note that the Ctrl I hotkey function is not implemented for keyer input This operation uses the Buffered Text Capture function which 1s not capable of accepting keyer input Page 11 of 31 3 6 KEYED TRANSMIT FUNCTIONS The following hotkey functions are available in Tx mode KEYBOARD KEYER Esc XX Shift im Alt K Alt M AM or mc Alt N Alt 5 Or Alt X NASN or NAXN Alt T Gt EG 1 F7 NINNTN or m1 m2 End none F10 10 or NON DE Or d OF Of or kn Or Or BR or bk BK or sk or or sk or SK New Hotkey assignment WW 7 HOTKEY FUNCTION Toggle Tx side tone ON OFF Change case of next PSK text character entered with the keyer Insert Beacon Count Insert My Call or Insert Name Insert Serial Number Insert Their Call mr Play Macro 1 7 special prosigns Terminate macro and clear Tx buffer
48. GURE menu and is written to a USB flash drive inserted into the modem CONFIG TXT This file reflects all the current settings of the modem and may be modified as desired on a PC by using a simple text editor like Microsoft WordPad EDITING Editing this text file must be done very carefully by changing characters after the colon and space The options available for each field are listed in parentheses for each field and must be entered exactly as shown Special control characters are entered into macro strings as lt TXON gt lt TXOFF gt lt MYCALL gt THEIRCALL and lt SERIALNO gt For example lt TXON gt Thanks lt THEIRCALL gt QTH HERE IS BALTIMORE de lt MYCALL gt lt TXOFF gt LOADING INTO MODEM The settings and strings contained in the CONFIG TXT file may loaded into the modem by placing the file onto the flash drive inserting it into the modem and then selecting Download Config in the modem s CONFIGURE menu RESULTS If the modem is able to successfully read and transfer all the settings to the modem Exit will be displayed and pressing the Select pushbutton will bring you back to the normal operating mode of the mode with the new settings in effect Otherwise the modem will beep will beep and the Download Config operation will terminate 1 My Call AD JT 2 Log Fname NUE PSK txt 3 PGA x1 x5 x16 x32 x32 4 Mode BPSK QPSK QPSK R RTTY CW BPSK 5 BackLight ON OFF ON 6 SODCH 25 5
49. Instead of clearing the text area of the screen a marker a right pointing triangle 1s placed at the end of the current line and the text 1s scrolled up one line This allows to operator to see up to three lines of Rx text as he she starts to key a response The text area 1s still cleared on a change from Tx mode to Rx mode a 7 10 CONFIGURE MENU TERMINOLOGY The Upload and Download terminology formerly used to select reading and writing the CONFIG TXT file was confusing to some users This terminology has been changed to Export and Import to be more definitive Page 20 of 31 7 11 MACRO OPERATION Text may be entered while a macro is playing In CW mode the macro text will stop displaying and the entered text will be displayed with the over line indicating it has not been transmitted After the macro has completed the entered text will be transmitted and the over lines removed as each character is transmitted In other operating modes e g BPSK the macro text continues to be displayed as it is transmitted and the keyed text is not displayed as it is entered After the macro has ended the keyed text will be displayed one character at a time as each character is transmitted Note that the lt TXOFF gt tag must be the last thing in the Tx buffer to be affective If there is some additional text in the buffer either from another macro or entered by the operator the lt gt tag will be ignored
50. Leading letters A and C are used to indicate Alt and Ctrl prefixes For example to insert THEIRCALL in transmit text from a keyboard enter Alt T and from the keyer enter SATV Two consecutive DLE characters perform the same function as the Esc key on the keyboard 1 toggle Rx or Tx side tone on and off Function keys F1 through F10 are input as just the numbers 1 through 9 and 0 For example F1 on the keyboard is entered with the keyer as Ctrl F5 is entered as and Alt F9 is entered as Function key F10 is entered as AOV 10 In most cases keyer input characters not preceded by a DLE character 1n Rx mode will be ignored The exceptions are single letter hot keys used in Rx mode Since keyboard input is not part of the receive processes keyboard inputs are always processed as hotkeys Defined Rx hotkeys are processed unrecognized keyboard inputs are ignored The same is true for keyed characters in Rx mode For example tweak CW bandwidth may be initiated by keying either ABY or the single character This is only possible for single character hotkey sequences where the keyboard character is the same as the keyed character Keyer input characters not preceded by a DLE character in Tx mode will generate ASCII characters to be encoded and transmitted 3 5 KEYED COMMON FUNCTIONS The following hotkey functions are available in both Tx and Rx modes KEYBOARD KEYER HOTKEY FUN
51. Modem Operating Manual ver 5 1 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC UJ O C5 NENNEN n ir CW Side Tone TX or Tune down x 10 Tune up x 10 NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 14 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC
52. NS AND ASCII EQUIVALENT S 25 APPENDIX B EEPROM CONTENT MAP oyster iw ae Deed eo as 27 APPENDIX C HOT EX 5 abs 29 APPENDIX D CONFIGURATION 25 55 5825 Una ai eres Gu CRUS eae 1 Page 8 of 31 1 0 INTRODUCTION This document describes the functional enhancements in the NUE PSK Digital Modem firmware version 5 A major part of these enhancements includes a built in keyer for using CW to enter Tx text and modem commands that can process input from either 1ambic or single lever paddles The built in keyer implementation makes 1t possible to operate the modem without requiring a keyboard This document assumes that the reader is familiar with the CW Mode Operating Section of the NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual for firmware version 4 The firmware will also process input from an external keyer or a straight key in a practice mode Since the firmware processes input from a straight key the same way it processes input from an external keyer this document will generally refer to either of these simply as an external keyer In practice mode the external keyer drives the Morse code decoding logic in receive mode and displays the ASCII decode of the Morse characters This mode was introduced in previous firmware versions and is completely independent of the full function keyer implemented in this firmware version In the remainder
53. Name text string is stored in volatile memory and is cleared every time modem power is turned on It is a convenient way to remember the name of the operator at the other end of the QSO but it can also be used for any text string to be inserted in transmit text such as the received exchanges during a contest 8 0 CONFIGURATION MENU OPTIONS This release adds the following selections to the configuration menu 8 1 MODE SELECTION The following keyer modes are supported CONFIGURE menu selection Keyer Mode lambicA e ambic B e Dot Preferred e Dash Preferred Ultimatic A Save Config operation will save the current keyer mode in the EEPROM so it will be restored the when modem power is turned on The keyer mode is not saved in the config txt file 8 2 CW PADDLE REVERSE The CW paddle dot dash designations may be interchanged as follows CONFIGURE menu selection CW Paddle Reverse e Normal DOT left paddle DASH right paddle e Reverse DOT right paddle DASH left paddle A Save Config operation will save the current CW Paddle Reverse selection in the EEPROM so it will be restored the when modem power is turned on The CW Paddle Reverse selection is not saved in the config txt file 8 3 PSKAND RTTY TEXT ENTRY FROM CW KEYER It is now possible to operate in any of the digital modes without a keyboard Since Morse code does not recognize case all keyer data is entered as upper case text This is required for no
54. Note that the side tone frequency applies to both Tx and Rx side tones but the frequency can only be adjusted in Tx mode This change allows the side tone frequency to be adjusted without a keyboard attached to the modem 7 4 ENTER FILE NAME Ctrl N DISPLAY RELOCATION The Enter File Name function display area has been moved to the upper right quadrant of the LCD This allows the function to be performed without interrupting an in process Rx operation It also allows the file name to be entered edited using either the keyboard or the keyer The current File Name 1s initially displayed and may be edited using the backspace key or cleared using the Home key The function has also been enhanced to validate the file name format When the function 1s activated the file name shown will be exactly as 1t 1s in the EEPROM up to a maximum of 12 characters Since this file name may be entered from a CONFIG TXT file 1 may be anything including an invalid format If the format 1s invalid only a Backspace or Home key will be accepted for editing the file name If the format is still 1nvalid after a backspace has deleted the last character on the display a beep will be sounded Pressing any other key will result in only a beep The Home key will clear the file name field and will also beep because an empty file name is not valid The Enter key will only be accepted when the displayed file name is valid The file name validation rules are as follows e Only
55. Operating Manual ver 5 4 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC or up the spectrum display In receive mode pressing the End key on the keyboard will activate the Acquire function and the cursor will automatically be moved to the bucket with the most energy within two buckets of the current bucket The Acquire function is automatically activated after a short timeout following any tuning of the modem It will not be apparent to the operator but the dial frequencies on the two transceivers will be off by the modem tuning frequency when the remote transceiver is operating in CW mode For example if the local transceiver is tuned to 14 060 00 KHz and the modem is tuned to 800 Hz the remote transceiver will be tuned to 14 060 80 when its tuning indicator indicates on frequency Note that the FFT generation is much too slow to be used for demodulating the CW signal It is only intended as an aid to tuning Instead a specialized DFT algorithm called a Goertzel filter is used to process the raw ADC output The Goertzel algorithm is very fast to compute and very efficient when the application only requires analysis of a small number of frequencies when only energy levels are needed and phase information is not needed The most common use for Goertzel filters is to decode the DTMF tones generated by telephone keypads 2 2 CW RECEPTION In order to receive CW accurately the signal must have certain characteristics often attributed t
56. PTION mem 4 21 TUNING rrr rt 4 22 _ 5 2 3 CW TRANSMISSION 6 FUNC TIONAL DESCRIP 6 3 1 C TRANSMISSION 7 Sobel Solel DISOIAY 7 3 12 Transmit Side 7 3 1 3 Keyboard Tm 8 3 1 4 Transmit 9 LLI CW 9 9 22 10 9 2 1 SPACE PROGCCSSING 10 522 MARK cie pU 11 3 2 3 Receive Text DISDIAY Sc M 12 NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 1 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 3 2 4 DIS DIAY 13 3 2 5 Receive Decode Parameters ccssccssccssccssccssscssscssscssscssscssscssscssscssscssscesees 13 4 CONFIGURATION is 16 EBERRON desde 16 42 CONEIG IXI FIEE __________ ____ 16 5 OTHER GHANGES 17 5 1 DATE FORMATS
57. Silent Key end of contact Sho Nuff understood al ar bk bt cl ct iq kn sk NON STANDARD PROSIGNS USED BY THE NUE PSK DIGITAL MODEM MORSE PROSIGN MEANING DESCRIPTION Start End DLE Sequence Keyed modem hot keys Tweak up Their Call Insert TC in Tx text My Call Insert MC in Tx text m1 Macro 1 thru thru Play Macro 1 thru Macro 7 m7 Macro 7 Shift Change case of next char PSK special Page 26 of 31 APPENDIX B EEPROM CONTENT MAP 00000 s indicatessavedconfigisvalid o y O 1 00001 CFGI PGA mMode 1 00002 CFG2 BL SQTH AFC CWID 1 00003 00004 00005 CW Mode Ctrl Tuning 00006 00007 00008 00009 Date Display Format 0 Y M D 1 M D Y 2 M D Y 0000 00008 0000C Baud Rage Generation Constant Config option 0000D PSK CW Word Space Count 5 9 3 4 0000E 0001F 00020 00021 00022 s 00023 0002F Ctrl M 00030 0003F Ctri F 00040 0004F 00080 00051 00059 Ctrl N 0005A 0005F N 0005A 000FF 166 00100 001FF 00200 002FF Ctrl F2 255 00300 003FF Ctrl F3 00400 004FF Ctrl F4 00500 005FF Ctrl F5 255 00600 006FF Ctrl F6 00700 007FF Ctrl F7 255 00800 03FFF 04000 040FF 04100 041FF Ctrl F1 255 04200 042FF Ctrl F2 04300 043FF Ctrl F3 255 04400 043FF Ctrl F4 04500 045FF Ctrl F5 255 04600 046FF Ctrl F6 04700 047FF Ctrl F7 04800 07FFF unassigned Note Address range is shown for 24AA256 Some modems use 24A
58. The optimum selections are shown for each Note other modems may give slightly different results The top line of the display under the RTCC display shows the method used to generate the results method 2 in this case and the BRG value in use when the calibration sequence was started 87 in this case Turning the Tune knob will change the current selected value through the above range Note that all values are used sequentially and it is possible to have displays with both low speed and high speed values on the display The baud rate calibration is generated using the system clock as a time base to time how long it takes to transmit 100 000 bits The actual baud rate 1s calculated from the measured time to transmit Page 24 of 31 APPENDIX MORSE CODE ENCODING WITH PROSIGNS AND ASCII EQUIVALENTS STANDARD MORSE ENCODING AND ASCII EQUIVALENTS CHAR DEC HEX MORSE 1 PROSIGN CHAR DEC HEX MORSE awe LEM ome _ s o c oloa s vo s s s olos os r loms Page 25 of 31 APPENDIX MORSE CODE ENCODING WITH PROSIGNS AND ASCII EQUIVALENTS cont STANDARD PROSIGNS MORSE PROSIGN MEANING DESCRIPTION All Right end of message stand by BacK to you Break Separator 2 CLosing down 2 Commence Transmission start of message hh ero oK Named station Kalled statioN only
59. a file name a no name file would be created on the flash drive which results in Illegal Path errors when attempting to read the file on a PC This can happen for example when a CONFIG TXT file is downloaded with a blank Log Fname field When this happened the only way to clear the error was to reformat the flash drive This version added a check of the saved file name and if none uses a default file name The default file name is REC TXT 5 6 BATTERY VOLTAGE DISPLAY A constant display of the current battery voltage was added to the top line of the display The battery voltage display was removed from the splash screen and the configuration menu ADT pega do Ve Zo WEM bo When the voltage drops below 9 volts or rises above 40 volts the battery voltage will be displayed in reverse video This is the input voltage range specified for the 5 five volt regulator 2011 09 14 26 WPM 7 48 16 NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 21 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Section 3 CW Mode QuickStart Guide Requirements e NUE PSK Digital Modem with firmware version 4 00 or higher installed e Single Side Band transceiver operating in SSB USB or DIGITAL mode NOT CW MODE e Reasonably strong CW signal preferably keyed by a PC or a good quality keyer Setup Connect the audio interface of the modem to the appropriate connector s on the transceiver Turn on the modem and
60. aining is not required to determine Tcw as is needed to accurately decode received CW text MARK groups are generated directly from the states of the DIT and DAH inputs at specific time intervals that are multiples of Tcw For example when the DIT input is active the keyer logic buffers a dot in the current MARK group then monitors the input for two Tew If the DIT input is still active it buffers another dot and waits two more Tew If instead the DAH input is active a dash is buffered and the keyer logic waits four Tcw before checking the inputs If neither the DIT nor the DAH inputs are active the current MARK group is complete and passed on to be processed as a Morse character and the keyer logic waits two more Tcw before checking the inputs again If one of the inputs is active at that time a new MARK group is started otherwise a space end of word is inserted in the character stream After an end of word the keyer logic goes idle until an input goes active signaling the start of the next MARK group When using an iambic two lever paddle the above sequence is modified to handle the case where both inputs are active In this case keyer processing is governed by a Configure Menu option as follows Page 9 of 31 IAMBIC KEYER MODE PADDLE SQUEEZE ACTION Alternate dots and dashes immediate end Alternate dots and dashes one element added Dash Preferred Repeated dashes In iambic A mode the alternate dot dash generation will terminat
61. aks Down Locks C G or W Enter Edit Time current time may be edited Enter Date current date is cleared Enter Edit My Call current My Call may be edited Enter Edit RECord file name current file name may be edited Enter Edit Their Call current Their Call may be edited Enter Edit Name and Their Call Changes active line in Name and Call display Tweak Serial Number and Enter Edit Their Call Clears Their Call CT and X or My Call CM or File Name CN or Resets Serial Number to 001 S Ends AD CD NCT and Ends Tweaking CD CM and NXN Unlocks and W Increase PGA Gain Decrease PGA Gain Tune down x 1 Tune up x 1 Tune down x 2 Tune up x 2 Acquire tune to nearby maximum signal level Play Macro 1 7 special prosigns Toggle Tx mode ON New Hotkey assignment U and D will not tweak Serial Number in use up and do Page 13 of 31 Note Prosigns in DLE sequences can be keyed as discrete characters Therefore bk may be keyed as BK may be keyed as SARV and do may be keyed as DO Prosigns not in DLE sequences must be entered without the intra character SPACE 3 8 KEYED MACRO FUNCTIONS Entering and deleting macros with the keyer are not supported in this release It may be considered for a future release but to do so will require major changes to basi
62. al ver 5 5 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC manually by the operator The following are some of the problems that will occur when these limits are exceeded Inter word SPACE too short words run together Inter character SPACE too long extra spaces between characters Inter character SPACE too short characters run together The third best choice would be an electronic keyer operating in semi automatic bug mode where the keyer controls the DOT duration and the SPACE between consecutive DOTs and but the operator is responsible for DASH durations the SPACES before and after DASHES and those items listed above for an electronic keyer in fully automatic mode Exceeding limits in these areas adds the following to our list of problems DASH duration too short DASHs interpreted as DOTs Inter DASH SPACE too long characters split into two or more false characters Inter element SPACE too short missed DOTs combined into long DASHs Inter DASH SPACE too short missed DASHs combined into very long DAHs These conditions can also cause the modem to recalculate an inaccurate Tcw which will affect the accuracy of decoding following characters 2 3 CW TRANSMISSION During CW transmission the operator selects a transmission speed words per minute or wpm and all Morse elements inter element and inter character durations are determined by that selection A minimum inter word duration is d
63. arameters can be tweaked with the and keys on the keyboard or by keying U and D Try these DLE sequences and watch the serial number increment and decrement The serial number can also be incremented by keying the prosign up and decremented by keying the prosign do If you miss key these prosigns you will probably see some unwanted characters at the end of the call sign gt Exiting Text String Entry Serial number and call sign values are effective immediately you do not have to terminate the input operation to complete the change This allows you to leave the X display active continuously during a contest and just update the display as needed without closing the display for each contact Time and date and file name entry must be terminated for the changes to become effective Text entry is terminated by DLE sequences and by the prosign ar All Right Key ar with the X display on the LCD then key X again Note that the display is the same nothing is changed by activating the display This is true of all the enter text hot keys see 3 7 gt More Tweaking Many variables associated with CW receive operation can be tweaked tweak is a highly technical term for making an incremental adjustment like adding one to a serial number In Rx mode key a single B CW Bandwidth and then key U to tweak the bandwidth up and D to tweak the bandwidth down With each change you should see the value c
64. as a request to update the current date and time When either of these two messages 15 received correctly without error by the RTCC controller it returns a message to the modem controller containing the current date and time information When the request message received by the RTCC controller is received in error e g a framing error or is not of one of the two expected lengths or any received character is not properly formatted e g month number greater than 12 the message is ignored no response is generated and the RTCC controller returns to sleep mode The receive operation is timed by the RTCC and if the end of message character CR is not received within about 1 5 ms the communication is aborted and the RTCC controller returns to sleep mode NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 5 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Initially only two message formats will be used future product enhancements may add more The two acceptable message formats are as follows BK 0x55 CK CR BK 0x55 CC YY MM DD hh mm ss CK CR Where BK the break sequence CC current century binary value of the two most significant year digits YY current year binary value of the two least significant year digits MM current month of the year 1 12 DD current day of the month 1 31 hh current hour of the day 0 23 mm current minute of the hour 0 59 SS Current second of the minute 0 59 CK c
65. ations tend to range between 100 and over 250 000 units and are affected by the gain of both the transceiver and the modem Normally the Goertzel function calculates the fence value based on two running averages one for high levels above the current fence and one for low levels below the current fence When the operator presses a T the current threshold fence value is displayed Since the display is constantly updated the operator can watch how the threshold is changing with incoming signal strength When the operator presses a or key the fence value calculation is suspended is locked and the fence value comes under control of the operator until the Enter key is pressed When the operator presses the Enter key in receive state the fence value is unlocked and is again calculated by the Goertzel filter function The Char and Word values are also continuously calculated by the modem When one of these is selected the displayed value will be updated continuously When the operator presses a or key the value is locked and comes under control of the operator until the Enter key is pressed Note that any or all three Char Word and Th may be locked at the same time Zkew and CW BW are always locked and under control of the operator The CW BW display allows selection of one of nine bandwidths for the Goertzel filter When the operator presses a the current bandwidth is displayed Pressing the or key will move up or down t
66. band width display 15 cleared by pressing the Enter key but the selected band width remains in effect When the band width 15 set too narrow it make it harder for the firmware to decode faster CW transmissions This will be apparent by observing the WPM displayed on the top line of the LCD display When this condition is present the displayed WPM value will vary over 5 to 10 or more WPM and there will probably be more errors in the decoding In RX mode pressing the Esc key will toggle the receive side tone generator on and off The side tone frequency 1s the same for both receive and transmit side tones and can only be changed while in TX mode Four special displays are available as operator aids while in RX mode The first is My Call which is activated by pressing Ctrl M This displays the current call stored in the EEPROM and allows editing backspace or clearing Home of the current value My Call is stored directly into and recalled from the EEPROM The second is Their Call which is activated by pressing Ctrl T The value shown may be edited or cleared in the same manner as My Call Their call is stored in volatile RAM and will not be saved and restored when power is cycled NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 2 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Section 3 CW Mode QuickStart Guide The third 15 Serial Number which 15 activated by pressing 5 The serial number can be incremented by pressing an
67. by 170 Hz When the frequency is properly adjusted each cursor will point to a spectral peak gt Two techniques may be used for adjusting the frequency to place the cursors beneath the two spectral peaks of the desired incoming signal The modem s Tune dial may be used in the conventional manner to slide over to the received signal Otherwise the receivers frequency dial may be adjust to move the spectral peaks of the desired signal such that they are positioned over the two Cursors gt f the modem does not immediately start properly decoding the incoming data stream try pressing Ctrl R to reverse the mark space frequencies as described above The sending operator might be on an opposite sideband from what you are using and the mark space frequencies would need to be the same for proper decoding RTTY Operating Tips gt When using RTTY with your transceiver set to USB the actual RF frequency is simply the addition of the transceiver setting plus the display frequency on the NUE PSK modem Further most Digital modes with the exception of RTTY are usually run in USB NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 9 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC It should be noted that RTTY will not decode weak signals as well as PSK31 This is because the filters for RTTY are not as narrow The modem will decode a PSK signal that is about one S unit lower than what can be decoded with RT TY Macros work just fine in RT TY
68. c parts of the firmware 4 0 DLESEQUENCE DISPLAY When a DLE character is keyed the modem will display a backwards slash character in the first column of the third line of the LCD display screen The next one or two characters keyed will be displayed after the DLE as they are keyed When the ending DLE is keyed and the sequence is valid it will be acted on If the sequence is not valid it will be ignored In either case the DLE display will be cleared The ending DLE is never displayed 5 0 SPEED CONTROL In CW mode the keyer speed is the same as the CW transmit speed keying rate The keying rate can be changed to any value between 5 wpm and 50 wpm when in Tx mode by turning the tune control Since the keyer can be used in any operating mode the keying rate control has been included in the Tx display for all modes In operating modes other than CW the keying rate can only be adjusted and the rate will only be displayed when the keyer is enabled Page 14 of 31 An additional field has also been added to the Tx display to identify the current operating mode The operating mode is displayed as BPSK QPSK QPSK R RTTY CW CWD When the keyer is not enabled the TX display line will be truncated immediately after the operating mode field 6 0 CW PRACTICE MODE Since some of the operating procedures to perform all the modem functions from the keyer are new a practice mode is inc
69. ceivers have a setup option where the transceiver s keyer and the data input share a common PTT line CW Direct mode can be used with these transceivers without requiring a different NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 1 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC cable CW only and many QRP rigs will require a special modem interface cable with two plugs at the rig end one for the key jack and one for the phones jack gt Normal QSO practices automatically switch back to Rx mode Another cool Version 5 feature is the automatic switching from Tx mode to Rx mode after sending any normal Tx ending character sequence This includes K BK and SK and the corresponding prosigns kn bk and sk This feature works in all operating modes PSK RTTY and CW gt New status information in the modem display There have also been a couple additions to the top line of the LCD display Indicators have been added to show when AFC is active and to indicate the current gain level x1 x5 x16 and x32 of the Programmable Gain Amplifier PGA Version 5 also does not clear the text display when switching from Rx mode to Tx mode as previous versions did Instead Version 5 places a marker at the end of the last line of the Rx text display scrolls up one line and displays transmit text starting with the first character position of the bottom line This section contains references to the CW Keyer Manual Yo
70. ceivers have an option that enables transmitter keying using the data interface PTT line in CW mode It those cases the standard modem data mode interface cable can be used Check your transceiver operating manual 7 2 2 Keying Characteristics When in CW Direct mode and using the modem s built in keyer the keyer will key the PTT line directly keyed text will be displayed on the LCD but without the over line Text 1s transmitted as keyed without regard to word boundaries In this mode text entered from the keyboard will only be transmitted in whole words When using both the keyer and the keyboard to enter transmit text the operator must be careful to not start using the keyer until the text entered from the keyboard has been completely processed Note When entering DLE sequences in CW Direct mode DLE sequences are not used to key the transmitter but the leading DLE prosign uU cannot be recognized by the firmware until it has been completely keyed By this time the DLE prosign will have been transmitted For this reason it is recommended that in CW Direct mode the Select button be tapped to start a DLE sequence instead of keying the DLE prosign uU 7 2 3 Tx Side Tone Control In CW Direct mode you will normally listen to the side tone generated by the transceiver as it is keyed by the modem When using the built in keyer this side tone will be 11 sync with the side tone generated by the keyer and therefore redundant Similarly the s
71. config txt file on your PC using the WordPad text editor WordPad can be found in the Start gt Programs gt Accessories location on your computer The Microsoft NotePad text editor produces unexpected formatting problems for us 3 Edit the config txt template to reflect your preferences for the modem You can change the text lines in the template to reflect your favorite mode your callsign and other settings that you would like the modem to have when you turn power on each time Additionally and most powerfully you can edit and manage the text strings used as the F1 through F7 macros on the modem For example changing one word in Macro 5 F5 is much easier to do by editing here on the PC than by re entering the entire string anew with the modem s keyboard Editing Config txt It is very important to keep several in mind when editing the config txt file The Instructions written out at the top of the file briefly describing how to successfully edit the various lines Read these instructions carefully In short 1 You can ONLY edit the text on each of the 15 lines after the colon and the space 2 The ONLY allowable text after the colon space on lines 1 thru 8 are shown in the parentheses for that line You must enter the desired option exactly as shown or the selected edit will not be put in place when the file is later Downloaded to the modem 3 You MUST be sure to retain the line termination character at the end of each
72. cro My Macro 2 11 Macro My Macro 3 4 13 Macro My Macro 5 6 14 Macro 2 3 12 Macro 4 My Macro 5 6 My Macro 7 15 Macro My Beacon Macro NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 13 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 10 Real Time Clock Calendar RTCC In receive and transmit modes the date and time are displayed on the top line of the 128 x 64 graphical display In other modes the entire screen is used so the date and time are not displayed however the date and time are maintained so they will be current when next displayed When first powered up the time is initialized as 00 00 00 and the date is not displayed until the date is input to the modem either by the operator see Configuration Menu or by the optional USB option card automatic if installed If the time is not updated it can serve as a running time meter showing how long the modem has been turned on The operator may also choose to turn the date and time displays off The date display is located in the upper left corner as an eight character string formatted as MM DD Y YYY The time display is located in the upper right corner as an eight character string formatted as hh mm ss a 24 hour format To conserve display space both are displayed using a special 3 x 5 font with no space between characters instead of the standard screen font which is a 5 x 7 font with one column of pixels between characters 6 x 7 pixe
73. ction release ver 1 20 Improved speed tuning F10 for Tx mode Cirl S char backspace and CWID fixes and improved displaying saving loading of configurable modem settings ver 1 30 Initial support for the optional USB add on hardware and improved text entry keyboard sequences and commands ver 1 33 Full USB support adds PC Bootload and Flash Bootload capabilities ver 1 34 Beacon Operating Mode added ver 2 10 RI TY Operating Mode added ver 2 33 Added Upload Download Config spectral display improvements Beacon Counter ver 3 00 Added Real Time Clock Calendar feature RTCC Ver 4 00 Added CW Operating Modes Normal Direct Practice and Morse Reader Ver 5 00 Added Keyer Modes for headless operating user interface with Keyer input Morse output NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 3 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC SECTION 1 BASIC MODEM OPERATION 1 Introduction PSK31 is one of the latest communications modes to capture the interest of hams worldwide inherent ability to dig out weak nearly inaudible signals is ideally suited for low power QRP enthusiasts The PSK31 digital modem engine however requires intense DSP processing that is only commonly available in PC sound card Thus the PSK operator desiring portability for field operation is locked into using a laptop computer as a controller which results in a cumbersome station But the
74. d Also if the file name contains an ASCII character code the VNC1L considers to be invalid no file will be opened and an error message will be returned and displayed along with a beep It is recommended that invalid file names not be entered into the EEPROM If there is any doubt about the validity of a file name use the Ctrl N configuration function to check and if necessary correct the file name 7 9 ENTER RTCC DATE Ctrl D DISPLAY RELOCATION The Enter RTCC Date function display area has been moved to the upper right quadrant of the LCD This allows the function to be performed without interrupting an in process Rx operation It also allows the RTCC date to be entered using either the keyboard or the keyer The date entry is initially cleared so the entire date must be entered Note that the date separators and are not verified as long as there is a character in the assigned position The forward slash may be input with a keyer but the dash cannot Any character such as a period or a comma can be used instead of the dash or the slash Page 18 of 31 7 6 ENTER RTCC TIME Alt D DISPLAY RELOCATION The Enter RTCC Time function display area has been moved to the upper right quadrant of the LCD This allows the function to be performed without interrupting an in process Rx operation It also allows the RTCC time to be entered edited using either the keyboard or the keyer The current RTCC time 1s initially displa
75. d all alpha characters will be entered as capital letters Simultaneously pressing a Shift key will enter alpha characters as lower case letters Capital letters are transmitted normally lower case letters are transmitted without inter character spaces after them and are used to form prosigns e g bk for BREAK Characters entered from the keyboard are displayed on the LCD display with over lines The over lines are cleared when the character is transmitted Morse characters are transmitted in words only A series of characters will only be transmitted after a following space character has been entered Limited editing of input 1s possible on words that still have the over line displayed no trailing space Editing is limited to using the Backspace key and rekeying the text All the normal hot keys for entering canned strings e g My Call are available in CW mode plus Alt S and Alt T which enter the current serial number Similarly all the standard hot keys for entering special codes in macros are available in CW mode plus Alt X and Alt S insert the serial number tag into the macro text Tags are replaced with the current corresponding value text when the macro 15 played I hope you enjoy your new CW operating mode and bag lots of DX Dave Collins AD7JT NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 3 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Section 4 RTCC Operation Real Time Clock Calendar Contents t INRODDU CHON
76. d decremented by pressing The serial number value is entered directly into EEPROM and will persist through power cycling The fourth is a combination of Serial Number and Their Call and is activated by pressing X The serial number value can be change with the and keys but the Home key will not reset it Their Call can be cleared by the Home key and entered or edited from the keyboard All four of these special displays are cleared and the entered value s saved when the Enter key is pressed If the modem is toggled to TX mode while one of these displays is shown the current state will be preserved and the display will be restored the next time the modem goes into RX mode Note that the entered values are effective immediately it is not necessary to press Enter to activate them Transmit Operation The F10 key toggles the firmware between TX and RX modes When TX mode 15 displayed the spectrum display is replaces with the TX WPM display This also enables the tuning knob to be used to adjust the WPM value In TX mode pressing the Esc key will toggle the transmit side tone generator and the side tone display on and off When the side tone 1s on the side tone frequency can be changed as described above in the Setup section Once TX mode is enabled all keyed characters will be displayed on the LCD display but only valid Morse characters will be transmitted In CW mode the keyboard is forced into Caps Lock state an
77. e LED on the USB port will start blinking rapidly indicating that it is ready to receive any text that NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 20 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC you may type in Tx mode or any text that is coming across the LCD in Rx mode Note If the USB card is not in place or not working the REC will be shown briefly on the display and a beep will be sounded by the modem to indicate that an error condition is present Assuming things are working no beep and the LED blinking rapidly place the modem into Tx mode press F10 and start typing some text You do not need to be connected to your transceiver to try this out You will see the text displayed on the modem LCD of course but it is also being simultaneously written to your USB flash device Type Ctrl U again to stop the REC mode and you will see the USB port LED stop blinking and remain on continuously Hemove the USB device and plug it into your computer You will notice a new file on the stick called NUE PSK TXT If you open this file you will see the text that you typed while in Tx mode and any other text that might have been displayed while in Rx mode As summarized on the Command Reference sheet two other USB related features are available to you One is that you may specify your own unique filename for the data being recorded to the USB device while plugged into the modem Before turning on REC mode CTRL U you may type CTRL N
78. e as soon as the keyer senses one or both of the inputs are inactive In iambic B mode one more complete element is generated after the keyer senses one or both of the inputs are inactive The additional element will be the opposite of the last one generated while both inputs were active Of course none of these modes apply when a single lever paddle 1s used for input 3 3 KEYER SIDE TONE A 400 Hz side tone is generated when the keyer is used The side tone 1s normally enabled and the frequency is fixed The only time this side tone can be disabled is in CW Direct mode where the transceiver side tone can be used to hear the keyer output The low frequency was selected to make it easy to distinguish between it and the Rx and Tx side tones The Rx and Tx side tones will be blocked by the keyer side tone and for approximately 14 second after the last dot or dash sounded by the keyer side tone This avoids mixing the two tones the modem s piezo speaker 3 4 ESCAPE CODE In general the generation of special hotkeys with the keyer requires a mechanism to identify the input as a hot key sequence To satisfy this requirement a special prosign has been defined for use as an escape character The prosign chosen for the escape character is not defined in standard and extended international Morse code sets and is relatively easy to key The chosen prosign is uU This prosign cannot be generated by the keyboard but can be generated by
79. e assumes a monaural phone plug is plugged into the connector all keyer functions Page 5 of 31 requiring a paddle will be disabled and the CW practice mode will be enabled Note that this will also be true if nothing is plugged into keyer jack In this case expansion pad b DIT will be assumed to be driven by an external keyer and expansion pad a will be ignored All other modem functions will operate normally Optionally the grounding contact pin 3 may be omitted or not wired to ground and the keyer functions will be enabled when nothing 1s plugged into the Jack at power up The interface connector can be mounted on a metal angle bracket attached to the modem PCBA with the mounting screw located just below the keyboard connector This mounting screw 1s also used to ground the PCBA to the modem chassis so no separate ground connection will be required When the connector is installed in this position the modem chassis must be modified to provide access to the connector The following picture illustrates this connector mounting method Note that the connector opening in the flange on the chassis has been widened to accommodate the connector Optionally a inch hole may be drilled in the chassis flange at approximately the positions shown in the above photo and the jack mounted directly to the chassis This may be an easier modification but the jack will have to be removed in order to remove the modem PCBA from the cha
80. e from a file placed onto a USB thumb drive Just place the latest version of the modem software in a special format named mem dat onto your USB drive as downloaded from the NUE PSK website This file is then automatically loaded into your modem Thus you no longer need to use a serial adapter to upgrade your modem software 1 Download the modem software mem dat to your computer from the Latest Software section of the modem web page and then copy the file to your thumb drive 2 Insert the USB drive into the modem and select the Flash Bootload function in the modem menu within the Select pushbutton items list Hold the Select pushbutton down for more than 1 2 second and turn the dial counterclockwise until Flash Bootload is displayed and tap Select again to select this menu item 3 Turn the dial until Start Bootload is showing then tap the Select pushbutton You will note some blinking of the LED on the USB drive itself if it has an LED and in about 15 seconds the modem will reboot and start up the software version just loaded PC BOOTLOAD Loads new modem software from your PC This feature allows you to load a new version of a software hex file onto your modem from your PC much in the same way as you did previously when using a serial adapter NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 22 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 1 Download from the modem website the software you wish to load into your m
81. e modem will automatically restart and you ll see the splash screen display the new version number 2 10h Command Prompt prog i com1 modem1 20FPE hex Microsoft Windows Version 5 1 2688 Copyright 1985 2801 Microsoft Corp C Documents and Settings Owner gt dcd G gt prog 1 comi modemi_26FPE hex Reading Target Device ID Found dsPIC33FJ128MC786 CID Ux88a9 Reading HexFile Reading Target NOTE This screenshot shows the command line for loading version 1 20 software The sequence is the same for all version numbers but instead using the filename of the latest software version 15 Capabilities and usage of the optional internal USB Card Three major features are enabled by having the USB card installed REC mode Flash Bootload and PC Bootload These features are very powerful and will greatly enhance your digital modem experience Software v1 34 or later must be loaded for these features to work as described and you must have firmware C01 loaded on your USB card See the USB web page for instructions on loading C01 firmware if you constructed the USB card from a kit REC MODE Recording QSOs to a USB flash memory device Insert a USB flash memory device into the modem connector The LED on the side of the modem will come on Type Ctrl U on the modem keyboard to place the modem into RECORD mode You will see REC displayed on the right side of the modem display and th
82. e other station s call sign into a macro simply use Alt T in the macro Then when you play the macro the other station s call sign will be inserted into the macro In this way whenever you enter a new call sign using you do not need to re record the macro to use the new call sign b Special macro usage Beacon Mode Using this feature the user is able to specify a text string up to 256 characters in length into macro buffer F7 and then turn on Beacon Mode by pressing Shift F9 The F7 macro should contain the Tx ON control character Ctrl S at the start of the string and the Tx OFF control character Ctrl Q at the end The beacon transmission will then start and stop automatically with nothing being transmitted during the pauses Once in Beacon mode the reverse video characters BCN are displayed at the right edge of the display and the F7 buffer begins transmitting as the text is displayed on the LCD Since the Tx OFF control character Ctrl Q is the last character in the string the modem drops out of Tx mode and the modem stays in Rx mode until the Beacon Interval timer expires When the Beacon Interval time expires which must be greater than the time required to transmit the F7 buffer the F7 buffer transmit cycle begins again This beacon cycle continues as long as the modem is powered i e transmit F7 buffer wait for Beacon Interval to timeout transmit F7 buffer Beacon mode may be turned off at any time by pres
83. e worst case message transmission time will be about 2 0 ms This delay will not lock out the timer interrupt long enough to cause RI CC timing errors 3 3 2 Modem Firmware Extensions The following functions are added to the modem controller firmware e Display time information on the modem s graphic display e Accept user input to update the RTCC date and time e Provide a limited set of RTCC functions when the option is not installed Add time stamps to messages logged to a USB flash memory stick e Add QSO logging capability with time stamps on each entry future feature 3 3 2 1 Date and Time Display The Date and time are displayed on the top line of the 128 x 64 graphical display The date is located in the upper left corner as an eight character string formatted as MM DD YY the century number CC is not displayed The time is located in the upper right corner as an eight character string formatted as hh mm ss To conserve space both are displayed using a special 3 x 5 font with no space between characters instead of the standard screen font which is a 5 x 7 font with one column of pixels between characters 6 x 7 pixels used per character In receive mode the time and date displays are merged Ored with the spectrum display pixels In transmit mode the spectrum display is not active so the time and date are displayed alone During data entry the input function takes over the entire screen so the time and date displays
84. ector in hand for your radio the task is simple just use the signal names and wire colors here as a guide to get the PTT signal and audio tones to your rig The cable supplied with the modem has color coded wires on one end either as shown in Figure A or in Figure B below You will need to determine which type you have before attaching the connector required for the data connection to your specific radio You can easily determine which cable type you have by using a VOM to check for continuity from pin 8 on the molded Radio plug to the blue wire on the other end of the cable If there is continuity you have Cable Type A Otherwise with pin 8 continuity to the black wire you have Cable Type B End view of connector pins Black GND T Audio IN Radio plug Brown GND 6 8 PTT to NUE PSK Modem Cable Type A Red V m Orange Yellow Audio OUT d 3 Green Audio 47 Blue PTT OUT Violet Audio IN A Shield shell End view of connector pins Black PTT 7 Audio IN i Brown W GND 10 odem Red 8 PTT EN Cable Type B edi 3 Audio 4 7 Blue GND OUT 1 2 Violet Audio IN Shield shell To help owners get on the air as quickly as possible with their new modems we have pre fab cables supporting over 50 popular transceiver models available for purchase from the NUE PSK website See www nue psk com for details NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5
85. een MARK and SPACE levels These parameters and their range limits are as follows nter character SPACE Char 1 6 to 6 0 Tew with 0 1 Tew precision Inter word SPACE Word Char 0 5 to 12 0 Tcw with 0 1 Tcw precision Skew Limit Zkew 2 to 6 MARKs Goertzel threshold Th 200 to 250 000 in steps of 200 Th 210 000 or 1000 Th 210 000 Bandwidth BW 100 to 1000 Hz nine selections These parameters may be displayed in CW receive state by the operator depressing any one of the first letters in the parameter name C W Z or G or When one of these characters is depressed the right half of the spectrum display area is used to display the parameter name abbreviation the allowed range and the current value Received data continues to be displayed on the lower four lines of the LCD display NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 13 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC The Char display is as follows 2011 09 14 13 5 V 26 WPM 17 48 16 Char 1 8 1 6 6 0 em The Word display is as follows 2011 09 14 13 5 V 26 WPM 17 48 16 E Word 5 1 2 1 12 0 The Zkew display is as follows 2011 09 14 13 5 V 26 WPM 17 48 16 Zkew 02 02 06 Eom The Th display is as follows 2011 09 14 13 5 V 26 WPM 17 48 16 Th 3326 64K 200
86. em Request Processing The auto wake on break sequence is started by the transmit line from the modem going to the SPACE 0 or low state This is also the case at the start of each character during normal data transmission A normal data character of all zeroes will be transmitted as SPACE for nine bit times followed by a MARK bit the STOP bit The break sequence looks the same except the space condition will be maintained for at least 13 bit times After wake up and the system clock has restarted the RTCC must recognize a break sequence as a SPACE lasting more than nine bit times When the SPACE state is shorter than this the sequence is aborted and the RTCC returns to sleep mode The RTCC also makes sure the break condition does not exceed about 15 bit times When a valid break sequence is detected the RTCC disconnects the USB controller from the serial interface and waits for the request message from the modem controller NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 8 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC To further validate the request the RTCC will wait a maximum of 1 5 ms for the message from the modem controller to complete When the message 15 not received within this time period the RTCC controller will abort the sequence reconnect the USB controller to the serial interface and return to sleep mode When the serial interface operates at the planned bit rate of 115 200 bits per second the total time to receive th
87. ent decreases as input supply voltage is increased Field reprogrammability of internal microcontroller allows software updating in the field by the owner Aluminum enclosure provides for rugged portable use while shielding transceiver from digital EMI Enclosure dimensions 7 x 4 x 1 Single 3 75 x 5 25 pc board contains all components and connectors Lightweight lt 1 Ib with batteries Tx Audio control for precise audio level control to transceiver Cable assembly provided plug and shielded cable for connection to the SSB transceiver Optional USB plug in card provides ability to Record QSO text and save to USB flash memory device The USB port also can be used for easy software upgrades The USB option includes an independently powered Real Time Clock Calendar Beacon Mode provides auto repeating message buffer for far signal measurement experiments NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 5 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 4 Power Install two standard 9V alkaline batteries in the battery compartment or connect an external 9 to 18 volt supply to the coaxial power connector 2 1mm on the right end of the modem The two 9V alkaline batteries nestle tightly against the pc board in the compartment One battery lies flat and over to one side in the compartment with the other battery sitting up at an angle with its connector overlapped with that of the first The screw on cover holds them firmly in
88. erconnections with shadows are added to support keyer functions the non shadowed elements were included in previous firmware releases The dashed routing paths through the Morse to ASCII block represent special routing to facilitate keyer initiated functions Page 7 of 31 Process Hot Goertzel Tweaking Fence Tweaking AGC Level Tune Bandpass Character Word Y N V N V PGA and Goertzel Mark ADC Filter Grouping Audio from Transceiver BUILT IN KEYER Process Hot u Keys Card Keyboard Scan Code Processing The same blocks are used to generate MARK character groups receive mode as are used in transmit mode as described above The routing through the Morse to ASCII block is modified when the source of the MARK groups is the keyer Only MARK groups from the keyer are analyzed for hot key functions and they are not displayed with the received text on the LCD display A special area of the screen is used to display these control sequences This display information is not recorded on the flash drive in REC mode only received text is recorded When an external keyer 1s connected the single input signal DIT or key down is analyzed to identify the MARK types dot or dash to be combined into groups of MARKs comprising Morse characters This operation 1s more complicated than the processing of inputs from a CW paddle In this case the logic used to generate the MARK groups is the same logic used to
89. eres chosing down O doc Eating _______ _ ot commence transmission ______ start of message eee Lacs OL da o kn wamea station Kalled station only Dem sitent key ____________ of contact _ ____ sn shot were understood NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 4 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Appendix E MORSE CODE ENCODING WITH PROSIGNS AND ASCII EQUIVALENTS STANDARD MORSE ENCODING AND ASCII EQUIVALENTS CHAR DEC HEX MORSE PROSIGN CHAR DEC HEX MORSE c uem H M aa i 66 042 s _ NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 5 Copyright 2008 201 1 Midnight Design Solutions LLC STANDARD PROSIGNS MORSE PROSIGN MEANING DESCRIPTION All Right end of message Twaita sec stand by BacK to you Break Separator Calling Commence Transmission start of message ______ ______ oK Named station Kalled statioN only Silent Key end of contact Sho Nuff understood Closing down as NON STANDARD PROSIGNS USED BY THE NUE PSK DIGITAL MODEM MORSE PROSIGN MEANING DESCRIPTION Start End DLE Sequence Keyed modem hot keys Tweak up Their Call Insert TC in Tx text My Call Insert MC in Tx text 1 Play Macro 1 thru Macro 7 m7 tc m NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 6 Copyright 2008
90. ering the prosign ar with the keyer Remember that lower case letters represent Morse codes that are combined with the following character with no inter character space between them to form prosigns gt Up Before going on let us set up the keyer to meet your preferences The CONFIGURE menu can be used to select the type of iambic keyer operation you are used to see 3 2 If you are curious try them all and see what happens when you squeeze the paddles together Now let us switch to transmit mode and see how good you are with the CW paddles This can be done by pressing F10 on the keyboard or by keying the prosign ka Note the right pointing triangle at the end of line six of the LCD This marker indicates the end of received text and the start of transmit text Now you can use the Tune control to adjust the CW rate wom see 5 0 The same rate is used for both transmit text input and modem control input You can also adjust the Rx and Tx side tone frequency by holding down the Select button while turning the Tune control If the tone display is not shown the Tx side tone is turned off Press Esc to turn the side and the display on The same NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 2 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC side tone frequency is used for transmitted and received text but the keyer input is fixed at 400 Hz see 3 3 Set the side tone frequency to a higher frequency like 800 Hz to
91. etermined by the modem but this duration may be extended by keying additional spaces between words or by pauses in the keyed input The minimum transmitted inter word SPACE duration is set at seven Tcw Transmitted inter element SPACE durations are set at one Tcw inter character SPACE durations are set at three T cw The primary objective in transmit mode is to send perfect Morse code according to the standards described in the INTRODUCTION above 3 FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION The heartbeat of CW mode is a timer that generates an interrupt every millisecond The interrupt service routine ISR increments three counters space msec mark msec and last trans The first two are used to time SPACEs and MARKs respectively during CW receive operations The third is used to time how long it has been since the last transition between a SPACE and MARK levels and is used to filter out short noise bursts in the receive channel The general firmware structure is such that the time spent in the ISR is minimized All the processing functions are called from the main control loop outside of any ISR The CW control loop has two function calls state variable state determines NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 6 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC which of two CW receive functions is called One receive function runs during key up SPACE and the other during key down MARK 3 1 CW TRANSMISSION The modem always starts CW mode
92. g Manual ver 5 11 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk START RECORDING lt MM DD YY hh mm ss gt kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk This text block is always followed by a blank line At the end of the recording session terminated by another Ctrl U the following text block is written to the file kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk STOP RECORDING lt MM DD YY hh mm ss kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk This text block is always preceded by a blank line The start of each recorded receive session contains the following preamble text RECEIVING lt hh mm ss gt This text is followed by a single space character and then the received text as received no formatting The start of each recorded transmit session contains the following preamble text TRANSMITTING lt hh mm ss gt This text is followed by a single space character and then the transmitted text as transmitted no additional formatting When the operator inserts text in the recording Ctrl l the following text is inserted in the file INSERTING hh mm ss This text is followed by a single space character and then the operator keyed text no additional formatting When the operator ends the insert operation with a Ctrl Z the modem resumes recording the interrupted mode with the appropriate RECEIVING or TRANSMITTING preamble Following the heading text block
93. gns by following the last CW element with a single one Tcw inter element SPACE instead of the normal three Tcw inter character SPACE For example keying Shift B and Space will result in the prosign bk being transmitted as During CW transmission keystrokes are queued as ASCII characters in a first in first out FIFO buffer until a code representing a space code is buffered At this point characters are read one at a time from the FIFO translated to Morse characters and transmitted up to and including the space character which is transmitted as an inter word SPACE Sending words as a contiguous block of Morse characters avoids pauses in the input keying causing the insertion of unwanted inter word SPACEs in the transmitted text The inter word SPACE duration is only specified as minimum so longer pauses between words generally do not cause a problem assuming the delay does not exceed the receiving operator s level of patience This approach also allows error correction and editing within words When the operator continues keying during transmission space characters are counted as they are entered into the FIFO This count is decremented each time a space character is removed from the FIFO As long as the space count is greater than zero transmission will continue Note that Prosigns follow the same rules as other characters and will not be transmitted until they are followed by a space character in the FIFO The transmit FIFO
94. h upper case letters to avoid generating unwanted prosigns Spaces in a call sign are not allowed and may cause erratic behavior 3 1 5 CW Macros When macros are played the characters are displayed as they are transmitted so over lines are not used They also do not require an ending space code to transmit the last word in the macro If a macro does not end in a space code lt I XOFF gt a space code will be NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 9 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC automatically added to the end of the macro as it is buffered for transmission The CW macros are a different set of macros than the ones used by the other digital modem modes They are accessed normally F1 F7 but only when the modem is in CW mode The normal Ctrl key combinations may be used to insert lt gt lt gt lt gt lt THEIRCALL gt and lt SERIALNOs gt see Section 5 3 codes in macros Note that the data is case sensitive Normal alpha text must be entered as upper case letters Lower case letters will generate prosigns as described above Each of the seven CW macro buffers can hold up to 255 characters 3 2 CW RECEPTION As previously described during CW reception the transceiver audio is monitored over a specific frequency spectrum and shown in the spectrum display in the top three lines of the LCD display A Goertzel filter is used to detect the MARK SPACE signals being received
95. hange and the bandwidth indicator centered on the cursor Note that this method of tweaking will not work with the X display because all normal characters are acceptable in the call sign This method will work with all other tweaks gt Gain and Tuning Key PU and PD and see the gain display just in front of the time display on the top line change accordingly These DLE sequences simulate the Page Up and Page Down keys The Arrow keys are simulated by a DLE sequence with an A proceeded by a single letter indicating the arrow direction L R U and D These DLE sequences will tune the modem as if the corresponding arrow keys were pressed By now you should be pretty familiar with the keyer operation and entering hot keys with the keyer Try the above exercises in other operating modes Some of the tweaking functions only apply to CW mode so those displays cannot be activated in other operating modes Now go have a ball with your newly updated Version 5 00 NUE PSK Digital Modem NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 4 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Section 7 APPENDICES Appendix A The Radio Cable This diagram represents what is shipped with your NUE PSK modem Since the modem can interface with literally hundreds of different SSB transceivers it will be necessary for you to connect the unfinished end of the Radio cable to properly interface with your specific radio Once you have the proper conn
96. he average duration and the average mean deviation of the last 32 MARKs received and saved are calculated The results of these calculations are used to generate new values for Tcw and the DOT DASH fence To avoid skewing these results when long strings of DOTs or DASHS are received all repeated Morse elements after a specific number the zkew limit are left out of the NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 11 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC average calculations An element is considered to be repeated when its duration is within 12 5 of the duration of the last element received and saved An exception is made if four times the absolute value of the mean deviation average is greater than the current MARK average In this case the current MARK is accepted regardless of the value of the proceeding MARK duration This algorithm decreases the amount of time required to adapt to rapid changes in received wpm which may occur for example when changing frequencies The fence used to differentiate between DOTs and DASHS is calculated as the average of all the values in the MARK buffer plus the average mean deviation Ideally the buffer will contain an equal number of DOTs 1 x Tcw and DASHs 8 x Tcw and the average mean deviation will be zero resulting in a fence value of 2 Tcw Making these calculations at the end of each MARK received enables the receive function to adapt to changes in received wpm The number of sa
97. he operator will have to reenter the date and time after replacing the RICC battery Note Whenever a battery is installed onto the USB card pin 4 of PIC controller U3 should be grounded quickly once with a touch of a clip lead in order to properly reset the PIC and start the clock programming 12 Macros a General Macro Usage NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 14 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Macros are pre recorded strings of characters for subsequent convenient playback If you wish to use macros now is a good time to do it For those already familiar with PSK operations macro setup is similar to many of the popular PSK programs Macro recording is initiated by pressing the Ctrl key plus the function key that you want to be associated with your macro Let s go through an example of entering your callsign into EEPROM memory and setting up a CQ calling sequence as shown below I ll use my callsign in this example but of course you should use your own a Record your callsign into EEPROM n2apb Ctrl Z b Record the CQ calling sequence into the F1 macro Cirl F1 Ctr S Alt M k Ctrl Q Ctrl Z Now play the macro by pressing F1 and see Tx comes de n2apb Tx turns off You can also record the other station s call sign TheirCall in RAM not in nonvolatile EEPROM by pressing Ctrl T TheirCall and Ctrl Z to end the entry To insert th
98. heck character CR carriage return character end of message OxOD The check character is computed so that summing modulo 256 all characters after the break sequence and before the end character 0 00 will result in OXFF Note that the check character for the first message format will always be OxAA 0x55 OxAA OxFF When the RTCC receives a valid message it returns a message in the following format OxAA CC YY MM DD hh mm ss CK CR These fields are formatted as described above for the messages received by the RTCC controller The RTCC must respond to a valid modem controller message within 2 ms to avoid the modem controller timing out and assume a transmission error has occurred When the modem controller detects an error in a received message framing error improper length check digit error or time out it will ignore the response 3 3 FIRMWARE The RTCC option requires firmware development in two areas implementation of the controller firmware and modifications or extensions to the modem controller firmware NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 6 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 3 39 1 RTCC Firmware Implementation The RTCC controller firmware performs two major functions First it must update the time and date values every second and second it must respond to requests from the modem controller These functions are to be implemented as efficiently as possible to minimize power require
99. his way for getting audio modulated tones to from the rig b Connect a standard PS2 keyboard or a PS2 USB combination keyboard to the jack on the modem PS2 Keyboard NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 4 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC You are now ready to rock n roll using the digital modes read on and enjoy 3 Specifications gt V V V V V V V V Standalone half duplex modulator demodulator for amateur radio digital mode communications Handheld unit no PC required Menus select operating modes Squelch Thresh PGA Gain CW ID Beacon more 128 x 64 pixel graphic LCD displays audio signal spectrum 500 Hz to 2 5 kHz with backlight Tx and Rx buffers and menu system displayed in lower half of LCD using four 20 character lines of text Tune dial controls modem position along audio spectrum Modes currently supported BPSK31 QPSK QPSK reversed and RTTY External keyboard jack 6 pin mini DIN PS2 compatible Standard PS2 style or dual mode USB PS2 keyboard user supplied provides text input for Tx entry command mode selection and modem frequency adjustment Connection to SSB transceiver 8 pin mini DIN audio in audio out PTT power Powered by two internal 9V batteries not included or an externally applied supply via 2 1mm coaxial jack Power requirements 9 18V DC Current at 12V is 60 ma without backlight 80 mA with backlight The curr
100. hrough the available bandwidths The following options are available 100 Hz 125 Hz 160 Hz 200 Hz Default 250 Hz 400 Hz 500 Hz 800 Hz 1000 Hz NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 15 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Note that the narrower bandwidths may reduce the top keying speed the modem can copy The bandwidth is not saved in the EEPROM nor is it saved or restored with the writing or reading of the CONFIG TXT file Each time the modem is turned on the bandwidth is set to the default value The current pass band is shown graphically as a box around the cursor Pressing the Enter key will return the upper portion of the LCD display to the normal FFT spectrum display At this point any locked parameters will be unlocked and will again come under control of the modem Note that none of the keys listed in this section are case or shift sensitive and the shift key is ignored This includes the or and or keys 4 CONFIGURATION A number of modem configuration parameters have been added to support the CW mode of operation These parameters can be saved in the EEPROM so they will be reloaded each time the modem is powered up When the USB option is installed the contents of the EEPROM may be saved to or loaded from a USB thumb drive 4 1 EEPROM MAP The current contents of the EEPROM are shown in Appendix D The new entries supporting CW operation are shown in bold face type 4 2
101. ide tone generated by the keyboard keyer will also be in sync with the side tone generated by the keyboard keyer This makes the modem generated transmit side tone redundant and can be distracting For this reason the transmit side tone on off control Esc key will toggle both the keyer and the keyboard keyer side tones on and off when entering transmit text Page 16 of 31 The keyer side tone will however be activated automatically when entering DLE sequences which are not generally transmitted so they cannot be heard with the transceiver s side tone If the DLE sequence is started by entering the DLE prosign with the built in keyer the prosign uU will be transmitted because the modem firmware cannot recognize the DLE prosign until it has been fully keyed For this reason it is recommended that when transmitting the user tap the Select button to enter the leading DLE character to start the sequence This will start the DLE sequence and enable the keyer side tone without transmitting the leading DLE prosign At the end of the DLE sequence the ending prosign may be entered with either the keyer or the Select button since the DLE sequence 1s still active blocking the keying of the PTT line 7 3 TRANSMIT SIDE TONE TWEAK Previous versions required the Ctrl key to be held down to adjust the Tx and Rx side tone frequency with the tuning knob This version allows the frequency adjustment when either the Ctrl key or the Select button is pressed
102. ign 7 is displayed NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 12 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 3 2 4 Spectrum Display The standard FFT display covering the range of 0 5 to 2 5 KHz above the frequency the receiver is set to is displayed on the top half of the graphic LCD display along with the optional RTCC date and time information In receive state the current computed receive wpm is displayed in the center of the top line In receive mode the right half of the spectrum display can used to display and or modify edit one of a number of parameters as described in following subsections In all cases pressing Enter will clear this portion of the display Switching to transmit mode will also clear this portion of the display but it will be refreshed after switching back to receive mode The refreshed screen will be displaying the same parameter s that was were displayed when the modem last switched to transmit mode 3 2 5 Receive Decode Parameters There are four parameters affecting the decode operation which may be adjusted within limits by the operator Two of the parameters define the thresholds for recognizing a SPACE as being inter character or inter word These thresholds are expressed in Tcws The third parameter specifies the number of near equal consecutive MARK durations that will be accepted and used for timing calculations The fourth parameter is the Goertzel filter threshold level or fence betw
103. iguration option has been added to allow the user to check and adjust the baud rate generator BRG used for bit timing on the serial interface to the RTCC and USB controller When this option is selected a screen similar to the ones shown below is generated The numbers on the left side of the screen are values used by the BRG The center column contains the frequency measured by the firmware for the five values The last column shows the amount of error compared to the target baud rate of 115 200 Hz The display line shown in reverse video is the current selection The selection is changed by turning the Tune knob Each time the knob is turned the display is regenerated The current selection is always the center one and is displayed in reverse video It takes approximately 6 seconds to regenerate the screen Page 23 of 31 The baud rate generator has two modes of operation high speed and low speed To generate the 115 200 Hz baud rate in low speed mode the BRG value should be about 21 which should result in an error of less than 2 Finer control is available with the high speed mode but according to Microchip there may be problems maintaining synchronization with received data when the BRG is operating in high speed mode Using the manufacturer s formulas the optimum BRG values should be 86 which theoretically results in an error of only 0 22 In practice however values of 87 and 88 give better results These values may not be valid for a
104. in a pass band centered on the selected bin of the FFT process The output of the Goertzel filter is processed by one of two functions Which is used depends on the last noted state of the received signal These functions time the duration of the received MARKs and SPACEs and determine the type of elements and SPACEs received The MARK types DOT and DASH are buffered until an inter character SPACE is received The buffered MARK types are interpreted and translated to a Morse character or a prosign and displayed on the lower half of the graphics display as described above 3 2 1 SPACE Processing When CW mode is first entered it is assumed the receive state is SPACE The SPACE processor first checks the state of the received signal to determine if it is still SPACE If it is it then determines the duration of the current SPACE This is done by testing the value of the space msec counter This counter is cleared when the received signal transitions from MARK to SPACE so it will contain the duration of the current SPACE code in milliseconds When the received signal changes back to MARK in less than 5 milliseconds the SPACE is assumed to be the result of noise in the input and is ignored In this case the modem goes back to MARK processing as if the transition to SPACE had not occurred Note that the mark msec timer is still running so no time information is lost When the SPACE duration is greater than the Tcw count limit for inter character SPACE
105. inuous single tone which is fed to the audio input of the rig The PTT signal from NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 7 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC the modem should also cause the transceiver to switch to Transmit At this point the Tx Audio control on the modem just to the right of the display can be adjusted to set the power level of the transceiver A transmit power of 15 to 40 of the rig s rated power is recommended That is 15 to 40 Watts with a 100 Watt rig Keeping the power at this level does two things First it minimizes distortion due to clipping second it avoids excessive heating in the rig finals since PSK is a 100 duty cycle mode A power meter is very handy for making this setting Once the Tx Audio control has been set press F8 again to return to RECEIVE mode You should now be ready for transmitting PSK Pressing F10 will place the modem in TRANSMIT mode but with a PSK idle tone being generated unlike the single tone used in TUNE If you are ready to give it a try Press F10 At this point anything that you type on the keyboard will be converted into Varicode characters and transmitted using PSK modulation Pressing F10 again will toggle back to RECEIVE When in TRANSMIT mode TX will appear at the top left of the display 8 RTTY Operating Details otarting with software version 2 10 the NUE PSK Digital Modem is now able support full RT TY transmit and receive Use of the modem
106. is 256 characters deep and is a circular or ring buffer That means that after the last character position in the buffer is loaded the next character will be loaded in the first character position of the buffer There is no overrun check if buffer input gets 256 characters ahead of the transmitted data stream the 256 character contents of the buffer will be lost and will not be transmitted It is recommended that the operator not have more text queued for transmit than will fit in the transmit text area of the LCD display This NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 8 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC corresponds to about 80 character type ahead The full 256 character FIFO capacity is required for queuing macros for transmission 3 1 4 Transmit Text Display Keyed CW text characters are displayed on the lower four lines of the graphic LCD display as they are entered even though there will usually be a time delay until they are transmitted Keyed characters are displayed on the LCD with a continuous over line For example 79 If this is all that is keyed nothing will be transmitted The first character is only transmitted after a space code is keyed and entered in the buffer As each character is transmitted the over line is removed to indicate to the operator what has been transmitted and what remains queued to be transmitted The modem maintains a count of the number of un transmitted space codes in the tra
107. ither a connect a serial adapter to a serial port cable that is plugged into your computer and then connect the adapter to the 4 position Field Programming pinheader P4 located on the bottom side of the modem pc board as accessed form the battery compartment or b connect an A B USB cable between the PC and the USB card s square connector on the side of your modem 5 Open a Command Window on the PC You can bring up this window by clicking in START Run and enter Command Navigate to where you saved the prog exe program If this was at the root of the C drive just enter CD 6 Enter command to run the prog program From the prompt inside the Command Prompt window type the following command line but do not yet press Enter For example on my system that uses the COMI serial port would type prog i modem3 O modem lowboot hex NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 19 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 7 Start the PC Bootload process Select the PC Bootload function in the modem s Config menu and then select Start Download Next press the Enter key on the PC keyboard to execute the command you previously entered 8 See the PC screen start displaying the downloading indicators See the PC screen show a series of periods as the software gets downloaded to the modem and burned into flash You will see about 3 rows of the periods and then it will stop At that point th
108. l Modem Operating Manual ver 5 3 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 2 GENERAL DESCRIPTION While receiving CW the modem will copy and display standard Morse code characters received through an audio output from a transceiver While transmitting the modem will transmit standard Morse code characters as entered by the operator or contained in macros via the audio input to a transceiver The transceiver shall be in DATA PACKET or SSB mode not CW mode CW mode is selected for the modem using the MODE entry in the configuration menu system Once CW mode is activated the modem will be in the receive state until transmission is activated The transmit state may be activated or deactivated ina number of ways as described below 2 1 TUNING Normally the transceiver translates received RF to baseband audio referenced to the frequency displayed on the transceiver dial The modem uses DSP techniques to analyze and demodulate the audio signal and extract the desired information according to the mode the modem is operating in The modem can process signals in a 2 KHz spectrum of audio frequencies ranging from 500 Hz to 2500 Hz however in CW mode the tuning range is limited to 1500 Hz at the top end Tuning is aided with a spectrum display representing the energy detected in each of 128 frequency slices or buckets Each bucket represents a 15 625 Hz slice of the spectrum and is displayed as a vertical bar chart or histogram The leng
109. l and Their Call go back to Rx Mode and do it Try setting them up using only the keyer see 3 7 gt Entering Text Strings The Rx hotkey list see 3 7 contains a number of text enter functions for entering date and time call signs and RECord file name Note that an early version of the manual failed to include CNY but it could have been surmised since CN represents Ctrl N on the keyboard When entering text for these functions pauses spaces in the keyed input is ignored text strings cannot contain spaces and special hot keys are used to terminate the input This greatly simplifies inputting these text strings Now while in receive mode key a single X You should see the S N serial number display in the upper right corner of the LCD with a blank line under it Key my call letters AD7JT They should appear on the blank line under the S N display In this mode entering eight or more dots hh or error code will simulate a single backspace Keying this prosign in five times will completely erase my call sign My call sign can also be erased by keying NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 3 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC BK or the prosign bk Now enter George s call sign 2 Call signs up to 11 characters long can be entered The modem will beep if you try to enter a 12 character There is no check on characters anything will be accepted gt Tweaking Several p
110. larly if words appear to be run together the Word multiple can be reduced by pressing the key Once this setting is changed it will remain locked at that value until the Enter key is pressed then it will revert to the settings computed by the firmware If characters are broken up into sub characters e g all dots appear as E and all dashes appear as the inter character spacing may be too short This is rare but can happen at very low speeds The inter character spacing fence can be adjusted by pressing the key and using the and keys to lengthen of shorten the fence If the band is crowded and you are bothered by QRM or even QRN filters may be used to adjust the receiving bandwidth The transceiver s built in filters can be used but this will limit the bandwidth displayed on the modem s spectrum display and make it harder to tune The modem 5 bandwidth can be adjusted by pressing key and using the and keys to step through the available options Doing the filtering at the modem has the advantage of keeping the passband centered on the cursor position Adjusting the transceiver s filters may move the passband far enough to require retuning to get the cursor centered again Some transceivers have a control to shift the filter range with respect to the dial frequency which helps but it can still be hard to tell when the transceiver s pass band 1s centered on the cursor The
111. ll generations of microcontrollers For this reason two methods of calibration are included Method 1 essentially gives the theoretical results from Microchip s formulas The numbers are derived however by using the system clock as a time base and eliminating all latency by using the UART transmit buffers Method 2 does not use the transmit buffers so there is some unpredictable latency 1n the transmit data flow My experience has shown that Method 2 gives better results for setting the BRG for high speed mode of operation Either method seems to work for the low speed mode of operation The display shows the results for the current selection and two above and two below the current selection The range of values that can be selected 1s restricted to the following e Low Speed 18 through 25 High Speed 84 through 91 The selected value should be the one with the least absolute value error Tapping the Select button will rerun the calibration sequence and regenerate the screen display Holding the Select button down for about one second until the lower portion of the LCD is cleared will terminate the calibration operation save the currently selected value in EEPROM and reset the modem The new BRG value can be verified by noting the proper indication of the USB controller and RTCC firmware versions on the flash screen assuming the options are installed The following two screen shots show the results for low speed and high speed runs
112. loaded into the USB chip and a hardware modification is needed on the modem pcb for this feature to work for modems purchased prior to Feb 1 2010 See the web page Using the USB Card http www nue psk com usb using html and follow the steps described in the section Installing the USB Card for the hardware mod and the section Programming the USB Card for installing the C02 firmware on the USB chip Note that the Upload Config command is completely optional and the modem will work just fine even if you don t make the hardware modification Of course you won t have the ability to send the modem s config and macro strings to the thumb drive but most people including modem designers Milt and George only use the Download Config feature to get the edited config txt file from the PC into the modem This is the most common and most useful aspect of the feature pair All new modems going out the door here with USB cards and those that have the Full Factory Upgrade made will indeed have the extra signal wire and the updated C02 USB chip firmware This will enable those new modem users to use the Upload Config feature as well as future features coming downstream However if you chose to make the optional hardware modification you will be able to use the Upload Config feature and at least one other feature coming soon support for a USB printer So perhaps making the simple modification when convenient or perhaps sending it back to us to do the
113. low cost mod would be a good thing to plan on doing Once the hardware modification is done to support Upload Config you will be able to send the config and macro text to the USB thumb drive 1 Place the thumb drive in the modem s USB port 2 Selecting Upload Config from the CONFIG menu Press and hold the Select pushbutton for a couple seconds release and turn dial to Config Upload and tap the Select pushbutton to initiate the feature 3 See the USB port LED blink rapidly for about 15 seconds while the modem s parameters and macro strings are written to the config txt text file on the USB thumb drive 4 When the blinking has stopped and control is returned to the modem s LCD screen remove the USB thumb drive and place into the USB port of your PC You can save this file away for safe keeping or use it instead of the Template as a starting point for making some edits See Appendix NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 12 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Default Template for Config txt File Configuration file for the NUE PSK Digital Modem for device settings and macro strings DESCRIPTION This file is generated by the Upload Config selection in the modem s CONFIGURE menu and is written to a USB flash drive inserted into the modem CONFIG TXT This file reflects all the current settings of the modem and may be modified as desired on a PC by using a simple text editor like Microsoft W
114. ls used per character The time is updated every second either by the Real Time Clock Calendar RTCC circuits on the USB option card or when the USB option card is not installed by a one second timer in the modem The main differences between these two approaches are accuracy and persistence The RTCC on the USB option card uses the same type of crystal used in quartz watches to generate a very accurate time base The modem time base is derived from the main system clock and is less accurate The RTCC is powered by its own separate battery so it will maintain accurate time even when the modem power is turned off Each time the modem is turned on it verifies that the RTCC is present and automatically sets its copy of the date and time from the current RTCC settings When the RTCC is not detected the user must manually enter the date and time each time the modem is powered up When the USB option card is first installed the date and time settings will not be accurate The operator must enter them once From then on the RTCC will maintain them whether or not the modem is powered on The RTCC knows nothing about time zones and daylight savings time The operator can choose to use either local time or Universal Time and must change the time ahead or back one hour to account for daylight savings time if desired The RTCC programming is aware of leap years so it is not necessary for the operator to make leap year adjustments in the date Of course t
115. luded in this firmware release to help the user get familiar with them Practice mode is selected from the CONFIGURE gt MODE menu like any other operating mode To activate practice mode select CW Practice from the menu This will activate all the normal CW features and keyer functions except the transceivers PTT line will not be keyed and received text will not be displayed on the receive text area of the LCD CW Practice mode will not be saved with a Save Configuration nor will it be restored on power up If a Save Configuration 1s performed in CW Practice mode the modem will restart in CW mode The same is true of Upload Config and Download Config 7 0 OTHER CHANGES INCORPORATED IN THIS RELEASE The following subsections describe those functional changes made 1n this firmware version other than the CW Keyer support 7 1 CW VOCABULARY ADDITIONS The CW vocabulary has been expanded to include This character was added to International Morse Code in the 2004 version of Recommendation ITU R M 1677 The CW and PSK vocabularies have been expanded to include The ASCII code for this character is OxE9 233 which exceeds the upper limit for a 7 bit code Ox7F or 127 Internally the firmware uses ASCII code 0x40 64 to represent this character The 0x40 ASCII code is normally assigned to grave accent which has little or no use as a stand alone character in normal text Some international keyboards use this
116. make the two tones easily identified Keyer Practice Key TESTING again You should see the letters appear on the bottom line of the LCD with an over line If your timing is good you should see all seven letters displayed in upper case followed by a space followed by the cursor TESTING with no extra spaces If you see something like NSD you are running your letters together increase your space between letters An asterisk will be displayed for Morse characters not recognized by the modem If you see extra spaces between letters your inter character spacing is too long close it up After the trailing space is displayed the modem will transmit the word clearing the over lines as each character is transmitted You should hear the Tx side tone as the text is keyed Practice keying general text pausing for transmission after each word to avoid mixing the side tones Normally the Tx side tone will be turned off when transmitting text from the keyer gt Data Link Escape DLE and More Practice Next practice keying the DLE character uu or see 3 4 Nothing should be displayed on the bottom line of the LCD Instead a backward slash 7 will be displayed at the start of the third line see 4 0 Key it a second time and the Tx side tone will be disabled Key it twice more and the Tx side tone will be enabled This is the same as pressing the Esc key on the keyboard Go back and practice keying transmit text with the T
117. mber 00 through 84 is the year number 00 through 99 MM is the month number 01 through 12 DD is the day of the month 01 through 27 28 30 or 31 depending on the month and leap year status The selected date format will be used to display the date on the LCD screen and to format the dates in timestamps when logging transmitted and received data The selected date format is also used when manually entering a new date Ctrl D 5 2 ENTERING THEIR CALL AND MY CALL Previous versions cleared the LCD screen and paused the receive operation while the user entered Their Call and My Call This version allows the entering of Their and My and the incrementing and decrementing of a three digit serial number see Section 5 3 without interrupting the receive operation This change applies to all modes of operation the old full screen method is no longer provided for entering Their Call and My Call The new method uses the second and third lines of the right side of the LCD display while the received characters continue to be displayed on the last four lines of the display This is especially convenient for entering Their Call since it leaves the received call sign displayed while it is being entered The modem continues to receive and display characters NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 17 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC so Their Call can be entered during the initial exchange
118. mber will replace the tag in the transmitted text When keying transmit data in transmit state pressing Alt X or Alt S will insert the then current serial number in the transmit buffer In CW mode the serial number will be displayed with an over line indicating the text has not been transmitted Transmission of the serial number will not start until at least one space character is entered following the serial number At any time before the modem has started to transmit the serial number the serial number may be edited or deleted by the operator using the Back Space key 5 4 KEYER INPUT This change is related to CW mode but is not required for CW operation Expansion pad b on the main modem board is used as an input to allow and external keyer to be used as input to the CW decode logic This input is ORed with the Goertzel filter output To use this feature add a wire to expansion pad b and 2 pin connector The second pin is to be grounded Shorting the two pins together will present a key down MARK to the decode logic This feature was added primarily as a test and debug aid for developing the CW decode logic but it would have some value as a CW training and or demonstration aid NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 20 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 5 5 DEFAULT RECORD LOG FILE NAME Previous versions required a valid Log File name in the EEPROM for RECording mode to work properly If the EEPROM did not contain
119. ments and maximize battery life To minimize power requirements the RTCC controller will be put in power down or sleep mode whenever possible In sleep mode all clock activity except the 32 768 KHz oscillator is suspended including the timing source for the UART baud rate generator The controller is conditioned to wake on either of two conditions the T1 interrupt which will occur every second and a possible break condition on the serial interface Interrupts are only enabled while the RTCC controller is in sleep mode 3 3 1 1 System Clock Calibration The PIC16F688 has several clocking options The one used in the RTCC application is an internal RC oscillator set to run at a nominal 4 MHz The internal RC oscillator is calibrated during production but can be adjusted over a limited range by the firmware writing to the OSCTUNE register which will shift the frequency above or below the nominal frequency depending on the sign of the contents of the OSCTUNE register The serial interface between the option card and the modem controller operates at 115 200 bits per second The RTCC controllers UART s baud rate generator uses the controller system clock to generate the timing for asynchronous communications It turns out that the baud rate generator cannot generate an accurate enough time base for reliable communications at 115 200 bits per second with a 4 MHz system clock To fix this problem the RTCC controller s initialize sequence recalibrates
120. mples used by these calculations determines the speed and accuracy of the results The lower the number the faster it will adapt The higher the number the more accurate the results will be The number of samples currently used for these calculations is 32 If desirable in a future release this number may be adjusted somewhat by the operator to better suit requirements and band conditions The mechanism for this is TBD Note that similar analysis is done on SPACE time durations but not as thorough or as complex as is done on MARK time durations This is because MARK durations are generally determined by a keyer or a computer and are therefore much more accurate than spaces which can depend on the skill of the sending operator The Tcw calculated from MARKs is used as a time base for SPACE duration fences 3 2 3 Receive Text Display In receive state received and decoded CW text is displayed on the bottom four lines of the graphic LCD display Each line displays up to 20 characters As in other modes lines are scrolled up when the end of the bottom eighth line is reached Characters are displayed as they are decoded Normal text is displayed as upper case letters recognized prosigns are displayed as pairs of lower case letters Recognized prosigns are listed in Appendix C Unrecognized invalid Morse characters are displayed as a single asterisk When a character overflows the 8 entry MARK buffer the buffer is cleared and a pound s
121. n CW Transmit mode Fl F7 Transmit the selected CW macro If not in transmit mode when the function key is pressed the macro must start with lt TXON gt or the macro will not be processed Note the CW macros are separate from the macros used in other modes TUNE Adjusts the transmit rate 5 to 99 wpm Ctrl TUNE Adjusts the side tone freq 400 to 2000 Hz Nine discreet frequencies are available 400 444 500 571 666 800 1000 1333 and 2000 Hz 4000 N where N 1s an integer between 10 and 2 inclusive Esc Toggles TX side tone and TX side tone display on and off NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 8 Copyright 2008 201 1 Midnight Design Solutions LLC Appendix G EEPROM CONTENTS CHARS CONTENT ENTER 00000 5 indicates saved config is valid 00001 00002 00003 Esc 00004 CW Mode Tuning 00005 CW Mode Ctrl Tuning 00006 00007 00008 CW RX skew limit 2 6 S 00009 Config option Date Display Format 0 Y M D 1 M D Y 2 M D Y 0000A 0000B Serial Number 001 999 N X Home 0000C 0001F 00020 00021 00022 00023 0002F Call Sign 11 char max terminated Ctrl M 00030 0003F 00040 0004F 00080 ______ 00051 00059 Ctri N 0005A 0005F gt N 0005A 000FF 166 00100 001FF Ctrl F 1 255 00200 002FF Ctri F2 255 00300 003FF CtrisF3 255 00400 004FF 255 00500 005FF
122. n a field value is less than 10 When the user has entered the correct date Ctrl z or Z must be entered to complete the input operation The values input are checked and must be valid for that field If the number of characters input is not exactly 10 or the slash characters are not input or the NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 10 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC value inputted in any field is invalid the modem will beep and return to the initial date input screen The validation includes the number of days in a month based on the value in the MM field and takes leap year into account The user may exit the date input mode at any time by pressing the Esc key The RTCC date is not updated until a valid character string has been entered and accepted Updating the RTCC date has no effect on the RTCC time To set the time the user enters Alt D or d and the time data input screen is displayed The first two lines of the modem display are as follows TIME hh mm ss The cursor a single underline is placed in the lower left corner of the display ready for user input The date must be entered as exactly 8 characters including the colon characters The hh mm and ss fields must be entered as two characters each A leading zero must be input when the field value is less than 10 When the user has entered the correct time Ctrl Z or z must be entered to complete the input operation The values inp
123. n the modem oee a useful list of available menus and hot key assignments in the APPENDIX along with a sample usage scenario for saving data to the USB device NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 17 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 14 Updating Modem Software Increasingly today microcontrolled devices have an ability to be field updated with new features and software updates made available by the designers So instead of needing to send your modem back for re programming to get these new capabilities and bug fixes you can simply download the latest and greatest software from the Internet and send it to the modem and the hardware automatically updates its internal memory with the new program What a great way to keep your project completely up to date with the latest features Three methods are available to perform this field updating of the software a External Serial Adapter between Modem and PC With this method you just need to connect your PC serial port to the modem using a simple adapter and send it the new software obtained from the NUE PSK website whenever new Capabilities are made available We designed a TTL serial port into the modem accessible via a 4 pin connector P4 located inside the battery compartment Just connect your computers USB port to an inexpensive USB to TTL adapter such as the CP2102 from SparkFun and plug the adapter into P4 When you select the PC Bootload option in the C
124. nect or disconnect transmit and receive lines between the two controllers These two switches are controlled by PAO A third switch position is used to connect or disconnect the RTCC UART transmit line X2 to the modem controller receive line TX This switch is controlled by The fourth switch position is not used NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 3 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC 3 1 3 32 768 KHz Crystal The crystal is a standard cylinder case unit as used in quartz watches It has a frequency tolerance of plus or minus 20 parts per million PPM This is a worst case error of about 10 5 minutes per year The crystal oscillator increments the Timer 1 T1 counter in the RTCC controller T1 consists of a 16 bit counter accessible as two 8 bit halves The lower counter is incremented which each cycle of the 32 768 KHz oscillator The upper counter is incremented each time the lower counter overflows from OxFF to 0x00 An interrupt is generated when the upper counter overflows The incrementing continues as long as T1 is enabled which is always If the count is allowed to run unchanged the next overflow and the next interrupt will occur after two seconds 65 536 counts To generate an interrupt each second the 16 bit count must be incremented by 32 768 or 0x8000 sometime between each interrupt When the interrupt is serviced the RTCC controller sets the most significant bit of the upper counter to
125. nsmit buffer This count is incremented each time a space code is inserted into the transmit buffer and is decremented each time a space code is read from the buffer Transmission will continue as long as the space count is greater than zero When the space count is decremented to zero transmission will pause until another space code is inserted in the buffer Since CW text is essentially transmitted in words it is not possible to backspace in or into a word that has started to be transmitted In other words the backspace key will not work when the space count is equal to one It will work when the space count is equal to zero indicating there is only one word to be transmitted in the buffer and a trailing space has not been entered It will work when the space count is greater than one indicating there are at least two words in the buffer and the last one has not started to be transmitted It is not possible to backspace into a word on the display that has already been transmitted no over line Backspacing is also limited to the bottom two lines of the text display The hot keys Alt M Alt T and Alt S may be used to insert My Call Their Call and a serial number see Section 5 3 in the transmit buffer In these cases the characters are entered as if the operator keyed them and they are displayed with the over line They will not be transmitted until a following space code is keyed The call signs must be entered Ctrl M and Cirl T wit
126. o 2 5 times the character SPACE fence Both of these fences can be adjusted by the operator in increments of tenths of one Tcw duration as described in later sections 3 2 2 MARK Processing MARK processing consists of measuring and buffering the duration of each MARK received and the recalculation of T cw to adapt to changes in received data rates All MARK processing is done when the function detects the received signal has transitioned from MARK to SPACE The first check is to make sure the MARK duration is greater than 5 milliseconds If it is not it is ignored and the receive state is changed back to SPACE Note that the space msec counter has not been reset and is still measuring the SPACE duration It is assumed that any MARK shorter than this is the result of signal interference At 99 wpm the shortest MARK is about 12 milliseconds long This action constitutes a noise filter After the MARK to SPACE transition has been validated the MARK duration is noted and compared with a fence that is computed by analyzing the last 32 elements received When the duration is greater than the fence it is recorded as a DASH otherwise it is recorded as a DOT After a MARK is classified as a DOT or a DASH it is buffered in a MARK buffer Each entry consists of a code identifying it as a DOT or a DASH The MARK buffer can contain up to 8 MARKs When this limit is exceeded buffer overflow the buffer is cleared and a pound sign is displayed T
127. o an operator with what is commonly referred to as a good fist Best results will be obtained by the modem when the signal is generated by a computer or a microcontroller and strictly follows normal Morse code standards e g a DAH is three times a DIT inter word SPACEs are at least 7 DITs etc This case includes modem to modem CW communication The most probable causes of errors will be received signal fading QSB interference from other stations operating near our operating frequency QRM or excessive noise low Signal to Noise ratio in the receive channel Some of these sources can be handled through filtering adjusting the gain of the input amplifier or adjusting the MARK SPACE threshold level There are limits however and solid CW copy by the modem will require a fairly strong distinct and clear tone from the receiver audio channel with the receiver tuned to produce a CW side tone within the 1 KHz audio spectrum processed by the modem in CW mode The second best choice would be an electronic keyer operating in fully automatic mode so that it will strictly control the duration of DITs and DAHs and the SPACE between them In this mode the transmitting operator is responsible for inter character and inter word SPACE duration The receive algorithm will try to accommodate variations in this timing but there are limits Some of the parameters used to define various CW elements can be tweaked NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manu
128. o the operator with one exception The exception is the Home key In the basic Serial Number display pressing the Home key will reset the serial number to 001 Here pressing the Home key will clear Their Call This has the advantage of protecting the operator from inadvertently clearing the Serial Number in the heat of a contest The displayed call sign can be edited as described above for the Their Call display Both the serial number and Their Call are updated immediately so it is not necessary to exit the display before using new values since all the letter and number keys are available for editing Their Call this display can only be closed by pressing the Enter key or Ctrl Z This is the recommended display for actual contesting because of the protection against resetting the serial number If the operator is not using Their Call e g when only answering CQs in seek and pounce mode just press Home to clear the Their Call line making the spectrum display more visible When serial numbers are transmitted in CW mode each leading zero is replaced with a single DASH T For example a serial number of 005 will be transmitted as TT5 This is a common convention followed by most CW contest participants In all other modes leading zeroes are transmitted as zeroes 0 When recording a macro pressing Alt X or Alt S will enter the serial number tag into the macro text When the macro is played back the then current serial nu
129. odem for example modem2_10h modem lowboot hex and then connect your modem to the USB port on your PC You will use a suitable cable that plugs into the square USB jack on the modem and into the rectangular USB jack on the PC When you plug in both ends of the cable the computer will recognize the USB port 2 Ready your PC in the same fashion as done previously when using the separate serial adapter Bringing up a Command Prompt window on the PC navigating to the location where the PROG program and your modem software hex file reside the root of the C drive is convenient and type prog i com5 modem2_10h modem lowboot hex where the COM port number is that used by your PC for the USB ports Do not hit Enter yet until you have readied the modem side of the connection 3 Select the PC Bootload function in the modem menu underneath the Select pushbutton Hold the Select pushbutton down for more than 1 2 second and turn the dial counterclockwise until Flash Bootload is displayed 4 Press the Select pushbutton and turn the dial one notch to see Start Bootload displayed 5 Tap the Select pushbutton to select the Start Bootload item on the modem and then press the Enter key on the PC keyboard to run the PROG program You will see the standard series of about 100 dots appear on the PC screen to signify the program download process When the dots stop appearing the modem will reset and the new software will be running NOTE 1 Yo
130. of this document the term pertains only to the built in keyer The keyer is a new user input device and may be used with or without a keyboard attached to the modem The keyer can provide all the control and text input functions normally provided by the keyboard This functionality is available in all operating modes not just CW mode thus enabling PSK and RTTY operation without requiring a keyboard Support for the external keyer and practice modes are only available in CW mode To utilize keyer functions a CW paddle must be interfaced to the modem assembly and wired to two expansion pads on the main modem PCBA This document recommends a method for adding a connector to the modem assembly but the user may use other methods as long as the required interface connections are provided A minor modification to the modem chassis may be required to accommodate the connector The keyer supports the following keyer operating modes Iambic type A Iambic type e Dot Preferred e Dash Preferred Ultimatic Note that semi automatic bug mode is not supported The keyer operating mode is a Configure Menu selection Normally the left paddle will generate dots and the right paddle will generate dashes Some left handed operators prefer to reverse the paddle functions CW paddle reversal is implemented as a Configuration Menu option 2 0 GENERAL DESCRIPTION Keyer functions make maximum use of existing CW support functions
131. onding section on the NUE PSK website containing lots of tips on this topic b Inserting Plugs to the Modem You will want to be sure that you fuly insert the Radio and Keyboard plugs into the connectors on the modem Failure to do so could well result in unusual intermittent or noisy signal symptoms during usage When inserting be sure to press firmly in the direction of insertion do not wiggle the plug while inserting Same for unplugging just pull it back firmly Care in this area will save the life of the connectors on the modem c Tap Hold to Select Config As described elsewhere in this manual you can get into the Configuration menu in order to make various settings in your modem Config is entered by a press and hold of the Select pushbutton just press the pushbutton for about one second say one one thousand and release it to see the options that you can further select by rotating the Tune control You can select any other operation or menu selection merely with a quick tap of Select L Tx Audio Level Setting This menu selection in Config will show you the relative position of the mini pot used for the control on the top of the modem The control currently ranges from 0 to 26 or 60 125 or even 160 etc Don t worry about the specific number at this time we will make the readings more consistent from unit to unit in a future software release Spectrum Artifacts When viewing a moderately s
132. one by using the arrow keys on the keyboard The right and left arrow keys provide finer tuning while the up and down arrow keys provide faster tuning The tuning rate of the encoder on the modem can also be selected from a menu setting Note When tuning in receive mode the spectral display is frozen this is intentional Now on to setup for transmission If you have a dummy load for your rig connect it now Since PSK signals generated by the modem contain simultaneous multiple frequencies over a very narrow bandwidth it is imperative that the audio output from the modem not overdrive the input to the rig otherwise very poor signal quality will result To facilitate setting the audio drive to the rig a potentiometer on the modem may be used to adjust the level In addition the modem includes provision for measuring the position of the potentiometer so that it can be easily reset to the same setting in the future More on this later We have found that the best way to set up for PSK operation is to initially set up the transceiver for normal SSB operation including whatever power setting you usually employ For example if you have a 100 watt PEP rig set it up for 100 watts on SSB owitch to Digital mode if your rig provides that option otherwise retain the SSB mode Then press F8 on the keyboard This places the modem in the TUNE state which is denoted by TUNE at the top left of the display The modem is now generating a cont
133. onfig menu and run the prog loader program on your PC the new software will be transferred to the modem Once you power cycle the modem the modem will be running the latest software release containing for example a new digital mode some new I O capabilities and so on This is really quite a convenient and powerful capability for the project DB9S ToPC RS 232 Serial TTL Serial Port to P4 on Photo 10 CP2102 USB to TTL interface from Figure 5 Schematic of an easy RS 232 interface SparkFun to the NUE PSK Digital Modem b PC Bootload using optional internal USB Card Connect the modem to a USB port on the PC using an A B USB cable and upgrade the modem software from the PC in the same manner as with the external serial adapter Just dial up the PC Bootload function in the Select menu activate the same prog program on your PC as before and watch your modem software get upgraded NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 18 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC c Flash Bootload using optional internal USB card Use a USB flash thumb drive to load new software into the modem thus eliminating any need for cable connection to the PC See the USB section for details Loading New Software using an External Serial Adapter In general the process is simply to select PC Bootload item in the modem s Config menu connect the serial adapter and run a program called prog on your PC Impo
134. ordPad EDITING Editing this text file must be done very carefully by changing characters after the colon and space The options available for each field are listed in parentheses for each field and must be entered exactly as shown Special control characters are entered into macro strings as lt TXON gt lt TXOFF gt lt MYCALL gt and lt THEIRCALL gt For example lt TXON gt Thanks lt THEIRCALL gt QTH HERE IS BALTIMORE de lt MYCALL gt lt TXOFF gt Be sure to leave the special termination character in as the last string character LOADING INTO MODEM The settings and strings contained in the CONFIG TXT file may loaded into the modem by placing the file onto the flash drive inserting it into the modem and then selecting Download Config in the modem s CONFIGURE menu RESULTS If the modem is able to successfully read and transfer all settings to the modem Exit will be displayed and pressing the Select pushbutton will bring you back to the normal operating mode of the mode with the new settings in effect Otherwise the modem will beep will beep and the Download Config operation will terminate 1 My Call N2APB 2 Log Fname NUE PSK txt 3 PGA x1 x5 x16 x32 x16 4 Mode BPSK QPSK QPSK R RTTY BPSK 5 BackLight ON OFF ON 6 SQLCH 25 50 25 7 AFC ON OFF ON 8 CWID ON OFF OFF 9 Macro 1 lt TXON gt CQ CQ CQ CQ de lt MYCALL gt lt MYCALL gt lt MYCALL gt PSE TXOFF 10 Ma
135. press F10 to enable TX mode The transceiver should be off Use the configuration menu to select CW mode Press F10 to enable TX mode Use the tuning dial to select the WPM you want to transmit at Press Esc to turn on the side tone if it is not already on Hold Ctrl down while rotating the tuning dial to select the desired side tone frequency The tone can be tested by keying a character followed by a space There is no volume control The Esc key can be used to toggle the transmit side tone on and off Press F10 to enable RX mode If desired use the configuration menu to save the settings to EEPROM Turn on the transceiver and tune to the CW portion of the desired band Receive Operation Tune the transceiver until a good CW signal is heard and observed on the modem spectrum display near the cursor Tune the modem by turning the tuning knob or pressing the arrow keys to center the cursor on the highest bar in the spectrum display If you get it within a couple bars the AFC logic will fine tune the cursor for you You can activate a fine tune acquire by pressing the End key The AFC logic will seek to the highest bar within two bars of the present location If the signal is strong enough and clear enough and the transmitting operator presents a fairly good fist the CW receive channel should sync in fairly rapidly and start displaying the received characters If characters are not displayed press to bring up the Goertzel filter M
136. r to independently update its local copy of the RTCC In this case the initial time is set to 00 00 00 and the date display is disabled This provides an elapse time meter The user may update the date and time as described in the following subsection Once the date has been updated by the user it will be displayed as it is when the RTCC is present 3 3 2 2 RTCC Updates by the User Added modem keyboard functions enable the user to set the RTCC date and time individually Once set the RTCC will maintain the correct date and time even when the modem power is switched off as long as the battery power source is above about 2 0 volts During date or time input by the operator all other modem functions are suspended except for the constant running RTCC The RTCC cannot adjust for time zones or daylight savings time The user must initialize the date and time settings to the desired time zone and if appropriate reset the time to account for daylight savings time To set the date the user enters Ctrl D or d and the date data input screen is displayed The first two lines of the modem display are as follows DATE MM DD Y YY Y The cursor a single underline is placed in the lower left corner of the display ready for user input The date must be entered as 10 characters including the slash characters T The MM and DD fields must be entered as two digits each The YYYY must be entered as four digits A leading zero must be input whe
137. re s hope The NUE PSK Digital Modem offers a unique way for hams to get on the air using the digital modes No PC is required thus enabling one to communicate using PSK31 This self contained hand held modem connects to your SSB transceiver and allows you send and receive text data using the PSK31 digital mode PSK31 is actually one of many modulation techniques within the phase shift keying family of communication PSK31 operates at 31 25 bits second while other speeds may be achieved using variations to the software algorithm PSK is perhaps more accurately termed BPSK for bi phase shift keying whereby two distinct phase states separated by 180 degrees are used to convey the information Four states may also be encoded decoded as is done with QPSK quad phase shift keying in order to provide higher speeds with greater error correction ability The NUE PSK digital modem can currently support the digital modes of BPSK and QPSK and now also support RTTY The modem may soon support other modes such as MSFK and even CW In fact the field updating capability that is the ability to download new improved programs from the Internet and simply program them into the modem allows users to stay current with new features and modes for years to come 2 Connections Ideally you just need to use two cables a Connect the modem s radio cable to the data jack on the back of your SSB transceiver Most radio manufacturers today provide t
138. ressing and releasing the ESC key while in CW transmit state The side tone frequency can be adjusted by holding the CONTROL key down while turning the tuning knob The frequency can be adjusted to any of nine frequencies between 400 and 2 000 Hz There is no volume control however the frequency response of the speaker is such that some frequencies sound much louder than others Changing the side tone NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 7 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC frequency offers some control of the side tone apparent volume My preferred side tone frequency is 1333 Hz The three or four digit display SSSS is the current side tone frequency in Hertz Note that side tone frequency is only displayed and can only be changed in transmit state when the transmit side tone is turned on The side tone frequency selection applies to both the transmit and the receive side tones The on off state of the side tone the side tone frequency and the wpm will be saved with a saved configuration and automatically restored each time the modem is powered up They are also included in the CONFIG TXT file 3 1 3 Keyboard Input In CW mode the keyboard is forced into Caps Lock mode where all keyed alpha characters will be entered as upper case letters unless a SHIFT key is pressed All alpha characters keyed while the SHIFT key is depressed will be entered as lower case letters Lower case letters are transmitted as prosi
139. rmal CW operation since lower case characters are used to form prosigns To allow lower case letters to be transmitted in the three PSK modes that support lower case encoding a configuration menu option has been added to Page 22 of 31 allow selection of the default case for PSK text entered with the keyer A new prosign has been defined im to provide a single character shift function When entering text for PSK transmission the default case will be used to generate ASCII characters When the shift prosign is entered the character immediately following the prosign will be shifted and the ASCII character will have the opposite case The shift function is only valid for the single character following the prosign If that character is not one of the alpha characters A through Z the prosign will have no effect The prosign is not displayed on the LCD display nor is a following inter word space generated by the keyer The operator can pause after keying the prosign without inserting an unwanted inter word space in the text Another configuration menu option has been added for selecting the minimum pause that will generate an inter word space The minimum is 5 Tew the maximum is 9 3 4 Tew in Tew increments This delay specification is only used in the three PSK modes In any of the CW modes and in RTTY mode the minimum pause for generating an inter word space is always 5 Tew 8 4 SERIAL INTERFACE BAUD RATE CALIBRATION A conf
140. rtant If you haven t yet proved out your serial adapter connection between your PC and modem you should first follow the steps outlined on the web page Serial Interface Checkout http www nue psk com serial interface If you cannot do the operation specified there you will not be successful trying to load new software into the modem First you ll need to get ready by first doing a couple of things 1 Determine the COM port number of your USB or RS 232 serial port You can find this out by clicking START and then right clicking My Computer Select Properties and then the Hardware tab Click Device Manager and find the Ports line item in the list Expand that line item and see that the Communications Port will have a COM number shown That is the serial COM port number that you ll use 2 Get the PROG program onto your local computer You can download prog from http www nue psk com serial interface prog exe Save the file in a convenient place like at the root of your C drive When your computer prompts for the save location enter C 3 Download the latest modem software to your computer Download the software file modem2_10h zip from the Software section on the website www nue psk com and place it in the same location as you did the prog program above Next perform the following steps to connect the PC to your modem using your serial port 4 Connect the serial adapter between the modem and the PC You will e
141. s the default choice You can now make additional changes or tap the Select button again to exit the Configuration menu NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 16 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC The current menu choice is the item initially displayed when a given menu is selected For example if you dial up Squelch Threshold menu item and change it to show 25 the next time you access this menu item it will still show as 25 thus allowing you to always see the current setting before possibly changing it Another way to see a full status display of current settings is to press the F12 key This function shows the current value for each of the changeable settings Mode squelch CwlD Backlight and PGA This is a convenient way to determine at a glance how your modem is currently configured Once a change is made in Config mode the display shows Exit as a prompt for you to tap the Select button to get out of Config mode and once you exit that change will be effect as long as the modem has power applied However you have an opportunity to save any changed Configuration settings to nonvolatile memory such that those new settings will be in effect the next time you power up the modem Just turn the Tune dial one position counterclockwise and see the option for Save Config Tapping Select at this point will save the current settings to EEPROM and they will be loaded and put into effect when you next turn o
142. sing Alt F9 NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 15 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC e The Beacon Interval is able to be set within the modem s Configure menus press hold the Select pushbutton dial two positions counter clockwise and select Beacon Interval Adjust the dial to select time in seconds for the start of every F7 buffer transmit cycle It is important that the time be greater than the time required for F7 buffer to transmit A good guideline is to first program the F7 buffer with the desired string and play the F7 buffer once by pressing F7 while in Tx mode Time the transmission and add the number of seconds desired before the next transmission That combined time will be the Beacon Interval user set Beacon Interval time in the Config menus is retained only as long as modem power is applied You will need to re enter the time each time you power up the modem The default Beacon Interval is 60 seconds e Usage Example A beacon is desired for sending v v v v N2APB 10mW PSK Beacon a Enter string to F7 Ctrl F7 Ctrl S v v v v 10mw PSK Beacon Ctrl Q Ctrl Z b Send F7 buffer to determine length F7 Takes about 6 seconds C Set Beacon Interval to 15 seconds press hold Select dial to Beacon Interval and select it dial to 15 seconds tap Select twice to exit back to normal modem display d Turn on Beacon Mode press Shft F9 see modem transmit F7 buffer on 15
143. ssis 2 2 TRANSMIT OPERATION The following block diagram shows the major functional elements involved in transmit modes Emphasized with shadows elements and interconnections have been added to support keyer functions the other elements were included in previous firmware releases Page 6 of 31 Scan Code ASCII to Keyboard Processing Morse LCD Graphic Display EEPROM BUILT IN Morse to KEYER ASCII Card EXTERNAL CW After the firmware determines whether an external CW paddle or an external keyer is plugged into the keyer c Lie sets up the appropriate routing through the functional firmware blocks When an external CW paddle is connected inputs DIT and DAH from the interface connector are processed by the built in keyer logic to generate groups of MARKs dots and dashes comprising Morse characters Each group is then translated to ASCII and passed on to the standard firmware functions to display transmit record and or interpret as hotkey functions To facilitate hot key simulation an escape character has been defined using a unique Morse code character This code is only recognized when generated by a CW paddle It will be treated like an undefined Morse character when decoded in received text The escape character and its uses are described in detail in later sections 2 3 RECEIVE OPERATION The following block diagram shows the major functional elements involved in receive modes Elements and int
144. th of each of the 128 bars represents the amount of energy detected in the associated bucket The histogram data is generated by a 512 term Fast Fourier Transform with a sampling rate of 8 000 samples per second The spectrum display includes a cursor representing the current frequency of interest The cursor may be moved in a couple of ways by the operator During normal operation the operator sets the transceiver frequency dial to a base frequency and can then tune the modem to cover a range of between 500 Hz and 1500 Hz above the base frequency Tuning can also be done by leaving the modem cursor at a fixed position e g at 800 Hz and tuning the transceiver to move displayed bars to the cursor Generally it is more convenient to do gross tuning 1 KHz increments with the transceiver and fine tuning with the modem The normal modem tuning features are available in CW mode however the tuning range is limited to a maximum of 1500 Hz and confined to the left half of the display During operation the transceiver is tuned to get the desired signal s bucket on the display This is done by listening to the transceiver audio and watching the modem display as the transceiver is tuned Fine tuning is then done by moving the cursor to the bucket The modem tuning controls allow tuning in steps of 10 5 2 or 1 bucket from the keyboard The modem also provides a tuning dial that can be rotated left or right to move the cursor down NUE PSK Digital Modem
145. the system clock to run at 3 6864 MHz This minimizes the baud rate error and allows reliable asynchronous communication at 115 200 bits per second The recalibration is done using the 32 768 KHz oscillator as the time reference Each instruction execution takes four system clock cycles With a system clock frequency of 3 6864 MHz each instruction execution takes 4 3403 us The 32 768 KHz counter is set to 32 and started The counter should then overflow 32 cycles later or 977 us A small loop of four instructions is executed so that the number of instructions executed before the counter overflows can be measured In 977 us the loop should be executed 225 times After the loop count is determined the OSCTUNE value is adjusted up or down one increment This process is repeated until the loop count is within one of 225 Clock calibration is done by the RTCC controller initialization sequence which is only performed once when battery power is first applied to the RTCC controller Normally the initialization sequence will not be performed again until the battery is replaced To compensate for any long term drift there may be in the system the calibration sequence NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 7 Copyright 2008 2011 Midnight Design Solutions LLC is executed every time the RTCC detects a receive communication error The calibration sequence takes less than one ms to complete 3 3 1 2 Time and Date Update Sequence The time and date
146. trong signal at the midscale point on the modem s LCD spectrum which corresponds to 1500 Hz noise will also be seen on the far right and far left ends of the spectrum display This is common and is an artifact of the DSP process of the signal and it will occur even when viewing received signals a bit below or above the spectrum midpoint f How We Tested the Modem in part Some might find this info helpful in testing their own modems We had direct audio connections to a laptop running Digipan with the audio in out cables connected to the soundcard headphone mic connectors respectively We then commanded the modem to transmit at 1500 Hz and viewed the classic two tone railroad track signal on the Digipan waterfall display Ensuring that the Digipan frequency i e the red diamond was centered on the tracks to ensure we were tuned to the modems signal we adjusted the Tx Audio level control fully counterclockwise to generate no signal then increased it slowly in a clockwise direction while viewing the IMD reading on the Digipan window We stopped turning the control when the IMD reading got to a 54 dB level after which turning it further has no more effect We found this level to be an ideal setting of the Tx Audio level delivered by the modem Characters typed on the modem keyboard could then be seen on the Digipan receive window We then turned the channel around i e set Digipan to Tx and the modem to Rx and saw n the
147. u can and should download this document from the NUE PSK web site It is your main reference for Version 5 Many new capabilities are present in the Version 5 software so it would be a good idea to play with it for a while before going online The easiest way to become familiar with the new software would be to sit down with the modem and go through the commands and hot keys both with the keyboard and with a CW paddle Practice can be done in any operating mode with the transceiver turned off or unplugged from the modem For full featured practice mode select the CW Practice operating mode with the transceiver turned on This will enable you to use all the modem s features without keying the transceiver We recommend and assume you will have a keyboard plugged into the modem and the modem in CW Practice mode while going through the following tutorial gt Try Out the Keyer After the modem is powered up familiarize yourself with the keyer by keying the word TESTING while still in Rx mode You will hear the keyer but the keyed text will not be displayed Do not worry about the text appearing in the upper right corner of the LCD it is appearing because the letters T S and G are hot keys After you are done keying you should see the Goertzel threshold display since the last hotkey in TESTING is a G which is a hot key for this display The threshold display can be turned off by either pressing the Enter key on the keyboard or by ent
148. u will need to have the FTDI USB driver installed on your PC before attempting to use this PC Bootload feature To install the driver download the driver installation zip file from www nue psk com software CDM 202 04 06 20WHOL 20Certified zip and expand it onto a temporary file on your PC and then plug in the cable from your modem With the modem power turned on the PC will recognize that a new USB device is plugged in and Device Found Wizard will pop to lead you through the process of installing the new driver At the appropriate point indicate that you wish to specify that that PC searches for the driver at the location you have the temporary folder When the PC indicates that the device is successfully installed you can use the PC Bootload feature NOTE If you need help with this process you can download and study the application note called AN232R 03 Driver Pre Installation Document located at http www nue psk com usb AN232R 03 DriverPreInstallation pdf 16 Tips amp Techniques and Things to Watch Out For Here is a useful section that will undoubtedly grow in length over time Please be sure to often check the NUE PSK website for the latest online information NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 23 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC a Signal Level Setting the right drive level to your SSB rig is essential to success when operating the PSK31 mode Please be sure to read the corresp
149. un together with no inter character space between them Familiar prosigns include bk Break and sk Silent Key Normal alpha Morse characters are represented as upper case boldface letters The terms intra character SPACE and inter element SPACE refer to the duration of the SPACE between DITs and DAHs within a character The term inter character SPACE refers to the SPACE duration between characters The term inter word SPACE refers to the SPACE duration between words A basic time unit Tcw is used to quantify time durations of Morse code elements and SPACEs Standard Morse code durations for Morse elements and SPACEs are as follows 1 Tew short MARK DAM m x Tow longer MARK Inter element SPACE 1 between DITs and DAHs within a character Inter character SPACE 3 x Tcw between characters Inter word SPACE 7 x Tew minimum between words Since all timing is derived from Tcw its duration determines the transmission rate commonly stated in words per minute or wpm A standard word has been defined for computing wpm That word is PARIS which in Morse code has ten DITs and four DAHs and contains exactly 50 Tcw including the ending inter word SPACE Using this standard word the relationship between Tcw and is wom 1200 T cw where Tew is expressed in milliseconds and all element and SPACE durations are standard as listed above NUE PSK Digita
150. ut are checked and must be valid for that field If the number of characters input is not exactly 8 or the colons are not input or the value inputted in any field is invalid the modem will beep and return to the initial time input screen The user may exit the time input mode at any time by pressing the Esc key The RTCC time is not updated until a valid character string has been entered and accepted Updating the RTCC time has no effect on the RTCC date 3 3 2 3 Basic Standalone RTCC Modem Functions The modem controller has an RTCC timer that interrupts it every second to interrogate the RTCC controller and update its RTCC copy When the RTCC option is not available the modem will attempt to maintain it local RTCC copy by updating it when its RTCC timer interrupts This timer is not as accurate as the RTCC option timer and when operating stand alone the user must enter the date and time every time the modem is powered up Also the modem may not be able to update the RTCC values when the modem is in data entry mode Once set the modem will make all the RTCC functionality available The only difference will be in the accuracy of the time and date values 3 3 2 4 Time Stamping QSO Recording Files The recording format for flash drives has been enhanced with additional information including date and time At the start of each recording session initiated by Ctrl U the following text block is written to the file NUE PSK Digital Modem Operatin
151. ween the rig and modem is wired correctly you should see evidence of signals and or noise on the top half of the display the spectrum area Tune your rig to one of the PSK sub bands These are typically 70 to 74 kHz above the lower band edge on 40 and 20 meters If there is digital activity on the band you should see peaks on the graphic display The horizontal location of the peaks corresponds to the audio frequency of each signal relative to the tuned frequency of the rig For example if the rig is tuned to 14070 kHz the display shows audio frequencies from 500 Hz to 2500 Hz or actual RF frequencies from 14070 5 to 14072 5 kHz Now for the fun tuning Turn the Tune dial clockwise or counterclockwise to move the cursor to a higher or lower frequency The cursor is the small triangular icon just below the spectrum display The audio frequency is displayed when turning the dial Try to align the cursor with one of the peaks on the display Don t worry if it is not exactly aligned Once close to the peak stop turning the encoder The modem now attempts to lock onto the signal and fine tune the frequency if needed If the modem is able to lock onto a PSK signal it will very shortly begin decoding the signal and then display characters on the screen The time it takes for decoded characters to appear depends on the ability of the modem to estimate the center frequency of the incoming signal and the signal to noise ratio Tuning can also be d
152. without waiting for the end of the received transmission The enter My Call Ctrl M display is as follows 2011 09 14 13 5 V 26 WPM 17 48 16 i My Call i AD7JT_ EN The enter Their Call Ctrl T display is as follows 2011 09 14 13 5 V 26 WPM 17 48 16 B Their 11 N2APB id NN In both cases the current call letters will be displayed when the Ctrl M or Ctrl T key is pressed and the cursor positioned just to the right of the last character displayed There is no visual cursor The displayed call sign can be edited by using the backspace key to delete characters and move the cursor to the left Pressing the home key will clear the current call sign and position the cursor in the first character position Since Space characters are not allowed in call signs any Space character keyed by the operator while entering a call sign will be ignored After My Call has been entered or edited pressing Enter or Ctrl Z will save it to EEPROM and it will be persisted when modem power is turned off Their Call is maintained in RAM and is updated in place and will not be persisted when modem power is turned off Their Call can be used immediately it is not necessary to press Enter or Ctrl Z to save it Both call signs are limited to 11 characters previous firmware versions allowed up to 12 characters The information is displayed as an overlay That is it is ORed with the spectrum display so that
153. x side tone turned off Alternatively you can also enter the DLE character with a quick tap of the modem s Select pushbutton This is may be your preferred method for entering command mode when first learning the Keyer mode operation as well as while transmitting since it avoids inadvertently inserting garbage in the transmit text stream when the DLE character is miss keyed But as you become more proficient in reliably keying the DLE character your will benefit from full paddle control of the modem gt Automatic Return to Rx Mode Key a single K The modem recognizes this as a normal end of transmission so after the K has been transmitted it automatically switches to Rx mode Key ct to return to Tx mode There are several other normal end of transmission character sequences see 3 6 try them all and practice toggling between Tx and Rx modes gt DLE Modem Control Sequences We have seen how two DLE characters will toggle the side tone on and off Hot keys are simulated by keying one or two characters between two DLE characters There are a number of Tx mode hotkeys for entering things like call signs into transmit text for playing macros and for toggling to Rx mode see 3 6 Practice them and see how they work Some hotkeys like Insert Beacon Count probably do not make much sense to key as they are better suited for use in macros They have only been included here for the sake of completeness If you have not set up My Cal
154. y the H code or just the H code if the FIGS code was previously sent and the character will be printed on the receive side 9 Using the Download Config and Upload Config Features This new feature pair accessed from the modem s CONFIG menu beneath the Select pushbutton allows the operator to send Upload the modem s current configuration settings user settings and macro strings to a text file on the USB Flash Drive edit this text file on a PC and then load Download that modified text file into the modem This is a great way to create macro strings offline and save them for later reminder or modification This is a very convenient way to send the modem s current configuration parameter settings and the current macro strings found under the Function keys F1 thru F7 as a text file to the USB thumb drive Edit all of the above on the PC by plugging the USB thumb drive into the PC and Load the modified text settings back to the modem by plugging the USB flash drive into the modem and Downloading the config txt file NUE PSK Digital Modem Operating Manual ver 5 10 Copyright 2008 2012 Midnight Design Solutions LLC The best way to use the new Download Upload capabilities 1 Download the blank template to your PC from http www nue osk com software CONFIG TXT right click the link and save file to a known location on your computer The file is also shown at the end of this section 2 Open the
155. yed and may be edited using the backspace key or cleared using the Home key Note that the time separator is not verified as long as there is a character in the assigned position Any character such as a period or a comma can be used instead of the colon 7 7 PROGRAMMABLE GAIN AMPLIFIER PGA GAIN LEVEL DISPLAY In receive mode the gain of the input amplifier may be programmed to one of four levels The gain level is changed using the Page Up PU hot key to increase gain and Page Down PD hotkey to decrease gain The four levels are as follows e xl 2 e x16 x32 Repeatedly keying Page Up will raise the gain to x32 and hold it there Similarly repeatedly keying Page Down will reduce the gain to x1 and hold it there To know what the gain level was the operator had to increase or decrease the gain level to the limit then step the gain in the opposite direction counting the steps This release displays the current gain level on the top line of the LCD as shown below Page 19 of 31 7 8 AUTOMATIC FREQUENCY CONTROL AFC INDICATOR When the AFC is enabled Ctrl A AFC will be displayed on the top line of the LCD This display area will be blank when AFC 15 disabled 7 9 SAVE TEXT ON SWITCH FROM Rx TO Tx Previous firmware versions clear the text area of the LCD on any change between Rx and Tx modes This version preserves the last three lines of the Rx screen when changing from Rx mode to Tx mode

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