WinWarbler PSK Settings

WinWarbler Online Help Contents

The PSK tab of WinWarbler's Configuration window contains four panels that control PSK31, PSK63, and PSK125 mode operation.  (screen capture)

The frequency scale above the tuning display is rendered in green for frequencies within PSK sub-bands, and in red for frequencies outside of PSK sub-bands; you can customize the definition of these sub-bands by copying and editing a file.

The Receiver panel contains 5 sub-panels, each containing a related group of settings that you can inspect and/or modify.

Modulation sub-panel 

BPSK USB specifies the BPSK PSK modulation  mode for the transmitter and demodulation mode for all receive channels, and assumes the transceiver is set to upper sideband or RTTY-reversed
BPSK LSB specifies the BPSK PSK modulation  mode for the transmitter and demodulation mode for all receive channels, and assumes the transceiver is set to lower sideband or RTTY
QPSK USB specifies the QPSK PSK31 modulation  mode for the transmitter and demodulation mode for all receive channels, and assumes the transceiver  is set to upper sideband or RTTY-reversed
QPSK LSB specifies the BPSK PSK31 modulation  mode for the transmitter and demodulation mode for all receive channels, and assumes the transceiver  is set to lower sideband or RTTY 

 

Squelch Speed sub-panel 

fast selects a fixed value for fast filtering
slow selects a fixed value for slow filtering
slider presents a slider control that allows precise operator selection
  • 10 is fastest
  • 200 is slowest

 

Tuning sub-panel 

search range specifies the search range above and below a newly-specified receive frequency in hertz
  • the receive frequency is centered on the first PSK signal located in this range
  • 0 disables searching
AFC limit specifies the maximum track-able excursion from a PSK signal's center frequency in hertz
  • 0 disables AFC tracking
  • un-checking the AFC enabled checkbox in the Receive panel disables AFC tracking
Doppler AFC clicking this button sets the AFC limit to 3000, which optimizes the AFC for tracking Doppler shifted signals; the label of the Receive panel's AFC enabled checkbox is rendered in red when the Doppler-tracking AFC is enabled

 

Tuning Display sub-panel 

waterfall selects a waterfall tuning display
spectrum selects a spectrum tuning display
waterfall gain determines the sensitivity of the waterfall display
spectrum gain determines the sensitivity of the spectrum display
frequency trace width determines the width in pixels of the tuning display traces that indicate each receive channel's frequency, and the transmit frequency (if not locked to a receive channel)
baseline clipping sets the baseline signal strength; signals weaker than the baseline are discarded, whereas signals stronger than the baseline are scaled to the waterfall and spectrum display ranges
FFT averaging specifies the degree of averaging using during Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processing

  • 1 = no averaging

  • 10 = maximum averaging
waterfall display

specified the colors used in the waterfall display

  • mono - monochrome 

  • synthetic - false color, using a color lookup table devised by AE4JY 
channel ID determines how receive channel and transmit frequencies are indicated on the waterfall and spectrum displays 

  • traces -via colored lines; in the waterfall display, the width of these lines is set by the frequency trace width slider

  • markers - via colored triangles above the tuning display; the width of these lines indicates the bandwidth of the current mode's signals
audio frequency markers specifies the frequencies of tuning display markers when operating PSK
frequency 1 frequency (hz) of the red marker on the tuning display's frequency scale; double-clicking this setting clears it, suppressing display of the red marker
frequency 2 frequency (hz) of the blue marker on the tuning display's frequency scale; double-clicking this setting clears it, suppressing display of the blue marker

 

Optimal Offset sub-panel

The textbox in this panel allows you to specify the optimal receive offset frequency, in Hz., used by the Optimize Offset function. Values must lie in the range of 50 to 3500.

 

The Transmitter panel contains 5 sub-panels, each containing a related group of settings that you can inspect and/or modify.

Modulation sub-panel 

BPSK USB specifies the BPSK PSK modulation  mode for the transmitter and demodulation mode for all receive channels, and assumes the transceiver is set to upper sideband or RTTY-reversed
BPSK LSB specifies the BPSK PSK modulation  mode for the transmitter and demodulation mode for all receive channels, and assumes the transceiver is set to lower sideband or RTTY
QPSK USB specifies the QPSK PSK31 modulation  mode for the transmitter and demodulation mode for all receive channels, and assumes the transceiver is set to upper sideband or RTTY-reversed
QPSK LSB specifies the QPSK PSK31 modulation  mode for the transmitter and demodulation mode for all receive channels, and assumes the transceiver is set to lower sideband or RTTY 
Tune transmit a steady carrier for tuning
Tune/ID  transmit a steady carrier for tuning and send a CW identification when transmission is complete

 

 CW ID Speed sub-panel 

9 wpm if PSK31 mode, transmits the CW identification string at the rate of 9 words per minute; if in PSK63 mode, 19 words per minute
12 wpm if PSK31 mode, transmits the CW identification string at the rate of 12 words per minute; if in PSK63 mode, 19 words per minute
19 wpm transmits the CW identification string at the rate of 19 words per minute
37 wpm transmits the CW identification string at the rate of 37 words per minute

 

RX-TX Offset sub-panel

This setting can be used to compensate for a frequency offset between transmitter and receiver. Specify your transmitter's offset in Hz. If your transmitter's frequency is 10 hz higher than your receiver's frequency, enter 10; if it's 10 hz lower, enter -10).

CW ID String sub-panel 

CW identification string specifies the information sent in Morse code when the CWID button in the Transmit panel is clicked, or when the transmission modulation setting is Tune/ID
  • * (asterisk) generates the SK prosign
  • + (plus sign) generates the AR prosign
  • = (equal sign) generates the BT prosign

 

The Transceiver panel  

The Transceiver Mode subpanel enables you to specify the mode to which the transceiver is set (if Commander is running) during PSK operation.

SSB if the Transmitter Modulation is set to LSB, then set the transceiver to LSB; otherwise set the transmitter to USB
RTTY set the transceiver to RTTY
RTTY-R set the transceiver to RTTY-R
PKT set the transceiver to PKT (present unless the primary transceiver supports Data modes)
PKT-R set the transceiver to PKT-R (present unless the primary transceiver supports Data modes)
Data-L set the transceiver to Data-L (present if the primary transceiver supports Data modes)
Data-U set the transceiver to Data-U (present if the primary transceiver supports Data modes)

The PSK Offset subpanel lets you specify an offset (Hz) that aligns the displayed PSK receive frequency with a known PSK frequency; negative values are accepted. This can be used to compensate for an offset between your transceiver's VFO display and its actual frequency.

The Default TxPwr subpanel specifies the default power used to initialize the QSO Info panel's TX Pwr textbox when the Enter or Tab key is struck in the QSL Info panel's call textbox with the Main window's Mode panel set to PSK31, PSK63, or PSK125.

The Soundcard clock adjust panel enables you compensate for a soundcard clock frequency that's fast or slow by up to 10,000 parts-per-million (PPM); a positive number makes the clock faster, and a negative number makes the clock slower. The free application MMSSTV includes an excellent soundcard calibration mechanism that displays your soundcard's error in PPM; be sure to configure MMSSTV for a clock frequency of 48 khz, which is what WinWarbler's PSK engine uses.

 

Defining custom PSK sub-bands

If sub-band highlighting is enabled, the frequency scale above the tuning display is rendered in green for frequencies within PSK sub-bands, and in red for frequencies outside of PSK sub-bands. By default, PSK sub-bands are defined by the contents of the file DefaultPSKBands.txt in WinWarbler's Databases folder. Each line in this file defines the PSK sub-band within a named band:

160M, 1.807,  1.811
80M,  3.580,  3.584
40M,  7.070,  7.074
30M, 10.140, 10.144
20M, 14.070, 14.074
17M, 18.100, 18.110
15M, 21.070, 21.074
12M, 24.920, 24.930
10M, 28.120, 28.124

To specify your own sub-bands, make a copy of DefaultPSKBands.txt in the Databases folder and name it PSKBands.txt. Edit the frequencies in PSKBands.txt as desired, and save your changes; you can also define sub-bands for the 6M and 2M bands. In the Main window's Mode panel, select a mode other than PSK31, PSK63, or PSK125, and then select PSK31, PSK63, or PSK125. the tuning display's frequency scale will be colored as specified by your custom sub-band definitions.