Commander Online Help Contents
If your transceiver is capable of reporting its S-meter reading via its PC interface, then Commander will continuously display this reading above the VFO's frequency display. By default, the numeric value of this reading is displayed as an integer between 1 and 16. If Commander's Smeter folder contains a text file whose name matches your transceiver model (as displayed in Commander's title bar), then Commander will use the entries in that file to display textual data rather than integers.
The format of this file is illustrated by the contents of MP1000.txt, which is included in Commander's Smeter folder:
1, S0
2, S1
3, S2
4, S3
5, S4
6, S5
7, S6
8, S7
9, S8
10,S9
11,S9+10db
12,S9+20db
13,S9+30db
14,S9+40db
15,S9+50db
16,S9+60db
Note that there are exactly 16 entries (lines), each containing an entry number, followed by a comma, followed by textual data; the textual data cannot contain a comma. The following example - the contents of FT817.txt -- illustrates the display of more precise signal level information.
1, < -108 dbm
2, > -108.3 dbm
3, > -107.3 dbm
4, > -106.7 dbm
5, > -106.0 dbm
6, > -105.1 dbm
7, > -104.2 dbm
8, > -103.0 dbm
9, > -100.4 dbm
10,> -84 dbm
11,> -74.5 dbm
12,> -70.1 dbm
13,> -58.9 dbm
14,> -50.8 dbm
15,> -40.8 dbm
16,> -30.1 dbm
By default, the S-meter is rendered as a green bar on a black background. An optional third parameter may be added to each line of an S-meter file to specify the color used to render the S-meter at that signal strength. The color-specifying third parameter can be one of the words black, blue, cyan, green, magenta, red, white, or yellow. Alternatively, the color-specifying third parameter can be of the form
R-G-B
where R, G, and B are each integers between 0 and 255 that specify the relative content of red, green, and blue in the desired color. Some examples of valid S-meter file entries that include a color-specifying third parameter follow:
11,S9 + 10db,176-0-0
12,S9 + 20db,192-0-0
13,S9 + 30db,208-0-0
14,S9 + 40db,224-0-0
15,S9 + 50db,240-0-0
16,S9 + 60db,red
To make changes to the S-meter file being used by the current primary transceiver take immediate effect, direct your editor to save your changes, and then click the Reset button in the Radio panel on the Configuration window's General tab.