Commander Configuration

Commander Online Help Contents

 

Commander's Configuration window provides 10 tabs,  each contains a related group of settings and controls that you can inspect and/or modify:

 

A separate Spectrum-Waterfall Configuration window is provided to configure operation of the Spectrum-Waterfall window.

For information about the purpose of any Commander control, allow the cursor to linger over that control for a second or two; a box containing explanatory text will appear. This feature can be disabled if desired.

General tab

 

 
 

 

   

 

A separate Spectrum-Waterfall Configuration window is provided for controlling the Spectrum-Waterfall window.

 

Ports tab

 

 

 

Frequency-dependent Device tabs

Devices like antenna tuners and linear amplifiers have controls whose settings are frequency-dependent. While high-end units do this automatically, most require the operator to manually set the controls whenever the operating frequency changes. Commander enables you to specify tables for such devices; it then performs a table lookup based on the transceiver's current frequency and displays the correct settings, eliminating the need for paper tables taped to the front-panel. Up to four different frequency-dependent devices are supported, each with up to three controls. 

The right side of Commander's Main window is shared by  frequency-dependent device readouts, receiver filter controls, and eight banks of ten memories. If the frequently-dependent device panels are not visible, clicking the Main window's Filters & Devices button will make them and the receiver filter controls appear in place of the memory banks.

Initially, Commander refers to the four frequency-dependent devices as Device 0, Device 1, Device 2, and Device 3; as part of the setup procedure, you can replace these generic names with more meaningful names like Amplifier, or Tuner.

To setup a frequency-dependent device, use the following procedure:

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If Commander is terminated and later restarted, saved device data will automatically be reloaded for each Device that was enabled when Commander was terminated. 

You can use the above procedure to record data for an alternate device -- e.g. a backup amplifier -- in a separate file. The Select button allows you to choose the file from which the Device data will be loaded. The ReLoad button restores the Device data to the values contained in the most recently-loaded file. 

You can specify the colors used to display a Device's settings on the right side of Commander's Main window via buttons in the Setting Readout Colors panel: 

You can select one control of one frequency-dependent device whose integer value will be placed on data bits 7 through 0 of a specified parallel port. This can be used to control an antenna switch, for example.


Filter Groups tab

A Filter Group is a named configuration of one or more receiver bandwidth settings. If Filter Groups are supported for a particular radio Model, Commander remembers the Filter Group last used in each mode. Checking the restore Filter Group on mode change  box directs Commander to automatically restore the last used Filter Group whenever a new mode is selected.

If the radio Model is an Icom, the Filter Groups tab displays the Icom Filter Group Names panel, which lets you assign names to the each Filter Group. Early Icom transceivers provides two Filter Groups whose functions are hardwired: group 1 provides a wide bandwidth filter, and group 2 provides a narrow bandwidth filter. Later Icom transceivers allow the user to reconfigure one or both filter groups for different bandwidth (by physical replacement or in high-end transceivers via menu selection), and some include a third group ambiguously referred to as normal. The Icom Filter Group Names panel lets you assign names to each group that are meaningful given the actual filter configuration of your transceiver; these names appear in the Group selector in the Main window's Filters panel, enabling you to change bandwidth with a mouse click.

If the radio Model is set to MP1000 or MP1000MKV, the Filter Groups tab displays the Yaesu FT1000MP and Mark V panel which contains a table, each of whose rows is comprised of cells that define a Filter Group; a Data File panel is also display, enabling you to specify the file into which Filter Groups are saved.

If the radio Model is set to Argonaut VI, the Filter Groups tab displays a Argonaut VI default bandwidth by mode panel that provides the option to set the default bandwidth to a specified value when the transceiver's mode changes.

If the radio Model is set to Eagle, the Filter Groups tab displays a Eagle default bandwidth by mode panel that provides the option to set the default bandwidth to a specified value when the transceiver's mode changes.

If the radio Model is set to a Flex Signature Series model, the Filter Groups tab displays a Flex Signature Series panel that provides

If the radio Model is set to FTDX10, the Filter Groups tab displays a Yaesu default bandwidth by mode panel that provides the option to set the default Width and Shift to specified values when the transceiver's mode changes.

If the radio Model is set to Orion, the Filter Groups tab displays an Orion default bandwidth by mode panel that provides the option to set the default bandwidth to a specified value when the transceiver's mode changes.


Memories tab

Textboxes in this tab's Memory panel allow you to establish a title for each memory bank; this title serves as the caption for the Main window panel that displays the currently-selected memory bank.


Multi Radio tab

Using the controls on this tab, you can configure Commander to support rapid switching among up to four radios. Switching can be manual, via a set of buttons on the VFO panel on Commander's Main window, or automatic as a function of amateur band.

Controls on this tab's Control panel let you specify a transceiver model, a CI-V Address (for Icom and TenTec radios), the need for continuous frequency and mode interrogation, and the interval (in milliseconds) between command groups for up to four radios; these controls are identical in function to the controls on the General tab.  You can specify a unique name for each radio, which is used to identify the radio for both manual and automatic switching; if you have a pair of Icom 756 Pro radios, for example, with one dedicated to HF operation and the other to VHF operation, you might name the first HF 756Pro and the second VHF 756Pro.  The Enable boxes in this panel let you designate which radios are active. If you are switching between radios 1 and 2, enable them both, and uncheck the enable boxes associated with radios 3 and 4.

Controls on the Serial port panel let you specify serial communication port settings for each of four radios. These controls are identical in function to those on the Ports tab's Primary CAT Serial Port panel. If you are controlling multiple Icom or TenTec radios on the same CI-V bus, assign identical serial port parameters to these radios. Due to space compression, the Serial Port control uses a hyphen to mean "none", and the Parity, DTR, and RTS controls use single letter abbreviations:


Note that  each transceiver's Enable box will remain disabled (grayed out) until all of its items have been selected. If your transceiver doesn't need DTR or RTS, for example, set those selectors to N rather than leave the blank.

If the port assigned to an enabled transceiver is currently specified as the Secondary CAT Serial Port panel, the transceiver's Main window selection button will be disabled ("grayed out").

Clicking a radio's Update button will update that radio's Multi Radio serial port settings from the settings specified  on the Ports tab's Primary CAT Serial Port panel. Thus once you have the settings on the Primary CAT Serial Port panel properly configured to enable Commander to control a transceiver, you can "transfer" those settings to the Multi Radio tab's CAT Serial Port panel by clicking the appropriate Update button.

User-defined Control Set Configuration window

To create, display, or modify a radio's User-defined Control Set, click the radio's Edit button in this tab's User-defined Control Sets panel. to display the User-defined Control Set Configuration window, which specifies the Control Set's contents:

The 32 Sequence pathnames and 16 Slider pathnames are organized into two banks, each specifying two rows of 8 Sequence pathnames and 4 slider pathnames; use the Second row and Alt bank checkboxes to select the bank and row whose pathnames you wish to view or modify.

To populate an empty new Control Set, in the User-defined Control Set Configuration window,

If a Control Set for this radio has already been defined, clicking the User-defined Control Sets panel's Edit button populates the  User-defined Control Set Configuration window with the Initial Command, Initial Command Sequence, Command Sequence selections, and Command-generating Slider selections from that Control Set.

In the User-defined Control Set Configuration window,

Selecting a radio for which a Control Set is specified

By default, switching between radios is manual, effected by clicking the radio selection buttons on the Main window's VFO panel. To enable automatic radio switching, use the Selection by band panel to choose a radio for each amateur band, and then check the Auto box.

You can configure Commander to identify the currently-selected radio via a binary encoding on pins 16 and 14 of a specified parallel port.

Bandspread tab

The controls on this tab influence the behavior of the Bandspread window's slide rule dial, its Band Stack, and its presentation of DX Spots. Controls in this tab's DX Spot panel also govern the handling of active callsigns in the Spectrum-Waterfall window's DX Callsign Section, and the handling of callsigns displayed on SmartSDR's panadaptor.

The always on top box, when checked, ensures that the Bandspread window will not be obscured by any other application window except one similarly configured.

If the color-code frequency pointer box is checked, the current frequency indicator on the Bandspread window's slide rule dial will be rendered in the specified in-band color if the transceiver's frequency is in-band, or in the specified out-of-band color if the transceiver's frequency is out-of-band. If the box is unchecked, the current frequency indicator will be rendered in red, independent of transceiver frequency.

The Spectrum-Waterfall window box is enabled if Commander is controlling

Checking this box will display Commander's Spectrum-Waterfall window, which horizontally displays realtime spectrum data, a waterfall, and the callsigns of active DX stations. Note that Icom radios will only report spectrum data if they are directly connected to a computer via USB.

The Display calls on panadaptor box is enabled if Commander is controlling a Flex Signature radio. Checking this box display active callsigns on SmartSDR's panadaptor,

The Orientation panel determines whether the slide rule dial shows lower frequencies at its top and higher frequencies at its bottom, or higher frequencies at its top and lower frequencies at its bottom.

The Band Stack panel's dwell time setting specifies the interval that determines how long the radio must pause on a frequency before that frequency and the radio's current mode are saved onto the current Band Stack; the dwell time is specified in seconds.

The Mousewheel Motion panel determines the increment by which your radio is QSYed when the Bandspread window is active and you rotate your mouse's wheel by one click. Increments are specified by mode, and expressed as a percentage of the slide rule dial's frequency range; negative percentages can be used to reverse the meaning of mouse wheel rotation to suit the user's taste.  Fractional values like 0.05 can be specified for very slow tuning rates. The mode-specific settings make it convenient to setup a faster tuning rate for SSB operation than for CW or RTTY operation.

In the DX Spot Font panel, 

DX Spot settings govern the handling of active callsigns in the Bandspread window, callsigns in the Spectrum-Waterfall window's DX Callsign Section, and callsigns displayed on SmartSDR's panadaptor:

 

 


The User-defined Sequence after Band Change panel specifies the name of a User-defined Command Sequence to be automatically executed when a band button in the Bandspread window's Band panel or the Spectrum-Waterfall window's Band panel is clicked after a Delay specified in milliseconds (up to a maximum of 10,000). If no name is specified, no sequence will be executed; if no delay is specified, the named sequence will be executed immediately.


Transverters tab

A transverter is an external device that enables transmission and reception on a frequency significantly offset from that of one's transceiver. When operating with a transverter, Commander's VFO displays the transverter output frequency, and sets your transceiver to the required transceiver input frequency.

Commander supports transverters with outputs on the 6m, 4m, 2m, 1.25m, 70cm, 33cm, and 23cm bands, providing a dedicated panel on the Transverters tab that lets you specify the frequency offset (in kHz) and relationship (additive or subtractive) for each band. If, for example, your 6m transverter requires your transceiver to operate on the 10m band, then you would set the 6M transverter panel's offset setting to 22000, select the + (additive) button, and check the Enabled box; If QSYed to 50100, Commander would set your transceiver to 28100. If you have configured Commander to control more than one transceiver, each transverter panel lets you specify the transceiver connected to its associated transverter.

Spectrum-Waterfall Configuration window

To display the Spectrum-Waterfall Configuration window, click the Spectrum Config button in the Spectrum-Waterfall window's Control Section.