Starting RadioCom
 

To give you an overview about the structure and the operation of RadioCom we have created a video.

VIDEO coming soon

After successful installation, you will see the RadioCom icon on the the desktop.
Turn your radio on. Double-click on the icon to start RadioCom. A small launch window (splash) will appear which shows you the loading status.

If error messages appear, such as ‘Radio Initial Error’ which means that the switchbox was not found or ‘Audio Initial Error’ which means that the audio settings are not correct, you have to follow the initial steps again or have a look at the FAQ.

The window ‘RadioCom’ control page will appear.

On the control page receiving and transmitting with your radio are controlled and adjusted. This window has a Left-Control on the left, which can be hidden in the left page with an arrow. In addition, there is a Top-, a Mid- and a Bottom-Control, in which there are various control-dialogue. These windows have a split bar on top for opening and closing. In these split bars, there are buttons, which control a high number of control-dialogues in return with additional tab-buttons for further sub-dialogues.

At first, you will perhaps find it complicated to remember all the appropriate levels. That is why there is the possibility to limit the display to one radio channel (under ‘Preferences’)

For your individual design of the different levels and channels the split-bar buttons can be moved to another split bar by the drag and drop method. If you drop the button right on a split bar, then it will be fixed there. If, however, you drop the button in the middle of the window, then there will be separate control dialogue, which you can move to anywhere you want, even to a second screen. If you close this dialogue, it will be moved back to the original split bar. If either Mid- or Top Control is empty, then ‘Control’ will be shut down and cannot be opened.

Bottom Control cannot be closed, only minimized. However, this window can be covered by another dialogue, which may come from Mid- or Top control. When opened, the split bar of Bottom Control covers the two split bars located above them.

The arrow on the upper left hides Left Control. This way you will get the maximum screen size to work with SatTrack, for example.

Left Control
In Left Control there are mini dialogues for the continuing control of the radio s and their audio settings. These dialogues will not be explained here because they only reflect the main dialogues. Here you will also find the Preferences and the DualScope. The split bars ‘Audio’ and ‘Radio’ can be hidden, when you connect the first radio and Audio, for example. If you open the DualScope, only the second radio and audio will appear. If you close the DualScope again, you can look at all options and open them.

General Operation of the Control Elements

There are three main windows: Control Page for controlling the receiver or the transmitter Image Page Image Page for evaluating the received or transmitted picture Text Page evaluating the received or transmitted texts All pages have split bars which you can click on to minimize or maximize the options. By clicking on ‘+’ the option will be maximized and by clicking on ‘-‘ it will be minimized.
Split Bar:
When you point with your mouse on windows, a button or on buttons, a hand appears. That means that special options are available. These options will be explained later in the manual. Normally, it is done by a click on the left mouse button or by turning the mouse wheel. In the frequency list the mouse pointer will turn into a hand, if you point at the book symbol . If you click on this symbol, the ‘Schedule Manager’ will appear The mouse pointer will turn into a hand, if you point at the satellite symbol  SatTrack will be opened.
RadioCom option menu If you click on the icon the options menu will appear. Language Button Renaming: To change the language during operation* Change Color Design: To change the design Reset Color Design: To reset the Color Design When TX do not push PTT: For test operations, when no transmitting is intended. ?? Manual-Help-Information: This Manual About RC60   Exit & Start Setup/Install: Closes RadioCom and starts the setup Exit RadioCom will be closed *The Entry ‘Language Button Renaming’ is only intended for translations and is an internal function which you should disregard. It has not been hidden to unable translators to change the language.
Right mouse button = context menu In some sections of the windows, the right mouse button has a so-called context menu, which shows you the options as a menu. Functions of the mouse wheel Most computer mice have a wheel in the middle, which is used to scroll up and down. By using the wheel, RadioCom can control the potentiometers and the frequencies. For example, point the mouse on ‘Volume’, turn the mouse wheel and watch how the settings change.

 

Preferences

With ‘Preferences’ you can change the ‘Color Design’ or you can change design to your liking with ‘Change Design’. How this works is explained here. Automatic Delete Feature This feature will determine when received or transmitted pictures or texts will be deleted. By the term ‘Logs’ we mean recordings which were made while transmitting. If you want frequencies to be continuously changed by the same amount, you can set the difference with ‘Tuning Offset’. This difference will be added when it is positive and subtracted when negative. If you do not wish to transmit you can turn off the transmit window by clicking on the button ‘No transceiver’. You turn on this window again with the same button. If you are a ham radio operator, you can enter your call sign under ‚Sender Call‘ . Actually, the transceiver should always be installed on channel 1, but with the button ‚Sender Receiver‘ it can be assigned to channel 2. In the Radio 2 field, you can determine if you want to use one or two radios and if a tuning offset has to be used with radio 2. ‘Bandwatch’ was especially developed for SDR's. Every Bandwatch is a virtual receiver in the IF-band. This dialogue is only active, if a SDR-radio has been installed or the IF-Input has been activated. Depending on your PC, up to four band watches are possible. Save configuration To avoid certain problems, you should save a well-working configuration. This will solve certain problems once you re-load it. The best time to do this is when you visit this program for the first time after the audio system works well. If you cannot find the buttons and dialogues again, click the button ‘load the saved configuration’ and everything will be in its place again.

 

Color Design

You can create your own design of the program. You can use the default designs (scr 1-6) or create your own. This feature does not only have an optical aspect. For example, if you work in the dark, a light-colored screen is very hard to look at. Simply change RadioCom to a darker night design.

To create your own design, click on ‘Change design’ and the window ‘System Design Colors’ will appear. With different controls you can change the color of the various areas of the window. Screen: Changes the background color. ‘Bright’ means brightness and Satur (?) means the color saturation. Scopes: Changes the scopes, the tuning and the frequency indicators. ‘Bright’ controls the brightness in the background and ‘Line’ the brightness of the lines.. Button flat style: With this button you can vary the concavity of the buttons. Starting with version 6.3, there is also a ‘glass style’ which lends a nice glossy touch to the buttons. Color Picker & Selection: With this menu you can change the color of the various components of the software. Choose the appropriate entry from the menu , press the mouse button and point to the color area that you want to install. Scroll the color indicator to the right to change the brightness. With ‘Save’ you can store your own color design and with ‘Load’ you can re-load them. With ‘Set Default’ all colors will be reset to their default settings. With ‘Undo’ you can reverse the changes. The color settings will be saved, if you press the ‘OK’ button.

With the help of the integrated color management you can design your own user interface, which facilitates operation at night .
 

Audio control is located in Left Control. There you can make all necessary audio settings and choose the right input again. With ‘On’ you can listen on to the sound. ‘Vol’ controls the volume of the PC. With ‘Signal-In’ you control the volume of the input signal. It is important to set the controls not to high to avoid overload (red area) With ‘Wave Out’ you listen to the filtered signal. It is advisable to deactivate ‘Signal-In On’ You will hear the first channel in the left loudspeaker and channel 2 in the right one To change the input, click on ‘Driver’

Setting the driver – audio input- Audio Mixer

You can check the audio settings and change from ‘Line-In’ to ‘Microphone’ if necessary. The Invers button ensures that the soundcard which interpretes ‘turn on’ as ‘turn off’ will get the right command. Caution! Since most microphones are very sensitive, you should set the control button in the lower 25%. Some soundcards have the option ‘Microphone Boost’ under the tab ‘Advanced’. This option has to be turned off.

The bottom control is the lower part of the 3 controls and includes: FrequencyManager, ScheduleList, Sattracking and the Bonito SDR-BandWatch.

In the Bottom Control you'll find the frequency Manager. It is a great list of frequency in which everything is linked. This list contains all the necessary data for the reception. With a double mouse click the radio station is tuned in on the radio with the correct frequency shift, activate the corresponding decoder and the reception program is started with all parameters and will begin to decode.

Easy frequency selection: When you have chosen a list entry and press the space bar, the frequency of the radio will be switched. This way you can check whether there is any usable reception. However, if you press Enter or double-click on the list entry the frequency will be tuned in, the reception program will be launched and the necessary reception parameters transferred. The reception program is now ready and will start decoding data.

Arranging Fovorites: There are 7 available lists: „Main-List“ and the 6 Banks.  You can arrange the 6 Banks easily by deleting all radio stations that are not applicable to your area or you add new entries via the Drag&Drop-Method. Selecting a Frequency by "grabbing" it and dragging it to one of the Banks Buttons. The frequency is copied thereby to this Bank. The main list is maintained by us over the Internet via update. The 6 banks are for your disposal.

Arranging and Sorting Lists:
If you point your mouse arrow on the dividing lines between the upper bar and the list, a cross will appear. If you capture the cross with the left mouse button and pull to the left or right you can adjust the display width. Clicking on the list areas „RX-Frq“, „Mode“, „Name“ etc., will sort the list respectively. This will help you find a particular radio station.


The Context Menu:
Clicking the right mouse button will open the context menu. This menu is also used in other parts of the program and allows you to make additional adjustments. You can enter a radio station, copy, sort or delete. If this icon appears in front of a station entry, there is an entry about this station in the „BONITO ScheduleList“.

To create a timer, you first have to know when and on what frequency is the appropriate channel. The "ScheduleList" is the right tool for that. The “BONITO ScheduleList” screen is an excellent operational tool. Since RadioCom 4.5.², new versions of these tools are no longer limited to weather fax but have been expanded to include RTTY and NavTex.

In front of many frequencies in the frequency list, a little book icon is shown. If you click on this book "ScheduleList opens. The Shedulelist allows you to receive a fax, Navtex or RTTY transmissions at your position. Now zoom in your area on the global map. The radio stations you can receive in your area are automatically marked in the list. If you select one of these stations, all frequencies of this station will be displayed, including all transmitting times. Clicking on one time slot in the transmission schedule will show you the map area covered by this particular transmission. All times indicated are UTC.

If you press the button “SatTrack” the BONITO Sat tracking will open. If you want to work with satellite faxes direct from satellites use SatFax. You will have to know where a satellite is and when it is able to be received. Therefore, you will need some reference data which you can update with button "download Sat.Ref.Data". The most important file is named ‘Satdata.2li’ and is located in the Data folder. You should update this file regularly. The updates are found on the Internet and are called Keppler elements. The entries for the satellite basic elements are located in the main frequency list. Only the numbers will be saved to make an update possible.

To determine the times when you can receive a satellite, the details of your location (QTH) are required. Enter in the section of the Observer Point your position. If you do not know where exactly is your geographic location, then click "SET" and point your mouse in the world map at the position where you are. For better orientation you can zoom into the map and show the cities. You can select different views like: coordinate system, 3D view of cities and the stations of the ScheduleList. You can change the City names by your self in Program directory at the folder CHART DATA and the file: cities.txt

Is a satellite in the list selected, it will be displayed in the map. The dots are to represent the flight paths. The red dots indicate which points can be seen from the satellite and which was seen.

If the clock is activated (ON), you can slide the time slider forward or backward and see the selected Satellites moving on the Map. The time is displayed in the bottom status bar as TIME SPAN.

You can create a timer List by clicking "create a new List" In the right list, a list will be generated when which satellite would be receivable for you. You can check or uncheck the desired satellite time entrees. Note! Be careful of overlapping times and change them if necessary. If you click on "write a list editor, an editor will appear in the text of the list will be made available for your own purposes.
 

!!! This program part is only available if an SDR is installed or if "IF-Input" is enabled in the RadioCom Setup!!!

Software defined radios are very popular and are highly praised in the magazines. To take the advantage of the strengths of these devices Bonito invented the "Bonito BandWatch" in 2008. Bonito implement SDR Radios in that way that the owner really can use his SDR. Expensive "Virtual Audio Cable " or "Professional Demodulator" are therefore no longer necessary.

The new Bonito BandWatch® (Virtual Receivers) gives you the feeling to have more than only one radio. In the upper part of the BandWatch is the IF spectrum, that depending on the SDR can have a maximum bandwidth of 192 kHz at the Moment. 

Each of the 4 BandWatch-Controls can have a different modulation and decoder. You can receive for example 4 different SSTV Images simultaneous.

The newly developed Bonito BandWatch (Virtual Receivers) gives you the feeling of owning not only one radio but using four to five radios at the same time. In the upper part of the bandwatch you have displayed an IF- spectrum which can be up to 192 kHz wide depending on the receiver. On this IF-Band, you see the filter, which is used for the main decoder in MidControl. Under it, you can find up to four BandWatches depending on the configuration. Each of the BandWatches is a virtual receiver, which can separately be tuned to a different frequency, different type of modulation or another decoder. Starting with an IF-frequency of 12 KHz e.g., you can receive four SSTV-pictures simultaneously. This function and the various possibilities are explained in Working with a software-defined radio (SDR).

The main window includes the most important control elements for controlling the radio. You should become very familiar with these functions. The offered functions are different from Radio to Radio and some Radios having more functions available in the Protocol as others have. (NOTE: Your radio may not support/have all functions!). On some Radios (Kenwood TS2000/TS480, Yaesu with Auto Info (AI) like FT-450, 2000, 5000, 9000...) you have the possibility to tune Frequencies on the Radio and it will change in the Software too. Frequencies can be entered or dialed up and down by clicking the tuning knob on the left side for down or the right side for up. The step size is determined from a drop down menu when you click the button.

The NB button (NOISE BLANKER) will help eliminate static and crackling noises.

With AGC, you can help stabilize the incoming signal if the station strength is not constant. The signal strength(s) can be observed on the scale at the upper left of the screen. If a signal is above S7 you can use the ATT button (Attenuation). This attenuates the antenna input signal level if the signal is too strong and the receiver is experiencing distortion.

The USB, LSB, CW, AM, FM, and WFM are standard modes. For most digital modes you should use USB with an IF bandwidth of 3 kHz. AM is used for normal radio stations on shortwave where 6 kHz bandwidth is still used. However, there is a growing trend for some shortwave broadcasters to use USB, and some experimentation will be necessary. Air traffic stations use 15 kHz on frequencies from 108 to 138 MHz, and numerous SSB channels across the HF spectrum.

Different modes can be activated or deactivated by the program, depending on the radio you are using. SQL is the squelch, which reduces interference when there is no signal being received. VOL is the volume control. It controls the volume function on the soundcard, not the radio.

The band selectors 80m - 23cm switch to a frequency within the desired band that is generally or historically used for the currently-selected decoder mode of operation (e.g. RTTY, CW, PSK, FAX, SSTV).

In the field MousePad - FrequencySlider you can click and hold the mouse-button and then slide it to the left or right for fine adjustment. Depending upon position, the frequency change will be either lower or higher in direct proportion to the position thereof. Clicking the switching box X increases the frequency adjustment by a factor of 100.

Mouse wheel Function Most computer mice have a wheel in the middle, which used for scrolling. With RadioCom you can control controls and frequencies. Point the mouse to a controls, e.g. ‘Volume’, rotate the mouse wheel and watch how the settings are changed. If you want to change something manually, you can to this comfortably with the mouse wheel. Point the mouse to the following decoder windows: tuning indicator 1Hz, frequency spectrum: 10 Hz, tuning knob. 100 Hz. In the frequency indicator, you can also point to the individual numerals and scroll up or down. Additionally, you can drag and drop in the frequency spectrum. If, e.g., you double-click on a Morse peek, the signal will automatically appear in the filter.

In the SDR IF-Control, the IF-Filters and modulations can be designed with default filters or the mouse and they can also be stored. An IF –recorder (record) is also integrated and you can change the design of the display (Style) as desired.
In the upper part (1) of the display, you see the complete IF-band. Depending on the radio, it is up to 192 kHz wide. The light green shaded area is variable and this section is shown enlarged in window 2. You can enlarge or shrink this area with the mouse wheel or move it left or right with the left mouse button pressed down.

The IF-Equalizer (2) enables you to put several notch filters in one band filter or to create a filter curve with any waviness and variable steepness with a 2-Hz resolution. Simply draw your filter curve with intricate features and eliminate specific interfering signals.

Area (3) adjusts itself to any selection: Style, Record and Filter.
These features and options are explained in: Working with a Software Defined Radio (SDR)

To analyze the frequency bands and channel occupancy the Frq. scanner is used. Pressing the start button starts the scan. The last parameters set in the radio control panel will be used. Only the frequency is changed. The extracted signal will be displayed on the green 3D window as a single line after a full scan. The audio or S Meter responses indicate signal acquisition. A signal event occurs when a signal breaks through the squelch and the audio becomes useable. Not all receivers have an adequate squelch control. That is why our audio squelch (the control on the Audio Control panel) “Asql” is a much better squelch. It evaluates the interference much more effectively than just responding to signal strength. For better results you can flatten the lines (Flat) and leave the line without a context out (Not O). The scan process stops when the “Stop On Signal” has been pressed. The maximum delay time can be controlled by the value set in “Rec Time”. A value of zero (0) means the process is stopped until the signal is off. You can record the audio signal with the “Rec on Signal” button. By changing the values of start, stop and step and press the “Make New List” button a new list of frequencies is created.

You select what frequencies you want by clicking the small box next to it. If you want to skip a frequency, simply uncheck the box.
By stopping the scan process you will be able to find the events in the ‘Scan Event Menu’. The 3D event window (here in the FRQ Scan) you can activate a channel by clicking a box that is located on this scale.

The channel scanner works similarly to the frequency scanner. The modes and IF settings are switched from a list. The list can be created by a drag and drop-down menu accessed by a right-hand mouse click in the list box. The entry can be changed as you like without modifying the main frequency list. By clicking "RUN" the scanner will start scanning the selected channels and shows you a spectrum as seen on the images.

Mid- und Top-Control 1./2. Audio

Audio Scopes

The audio scope is just like the Dual Recorder Scope, which will be explained further down. Only its screen is wider, it does not have a memory because it is only supposed to show live signals. The complete audio dialogue has four different scopes, which are very similar as far as the operation is concerned. Their usage, however, is meant for different analyses.

Dual Decoder Scope
The Dual Decode scope is intended to compare two channels. In order to compare one signal to another they have to overlap. This purpose is served by the Y-Pos and X-Pos But the X-Pos only works when the width of the signal memory is considerably smaller than 12288 samples. This memory has a size of 12 audio blocks. Every block has 1024 samples, approx. 1 second of audio signal as memory. What you see oscillating in the picture on the left, is the oldest block. The last 1024 samples on the right are the live signal. To see only the live signal, you have to tune the width to 1024 and the position to 11264. Because this is inconvenient, there is the button live. For a reset, you will find the button Reset . The button Stop stops the memory and now you can analyze the signals in more detail.

Trigger starts the signal starting with a specific level. Every time a signal line travels through this level, it will be shown with the other signal being shown simultaneously. To trigger the other channel, there is the button ‘Trigger On’. The amplitude is the height of the signal and can be adjusted with the Ampl button with the button on the left clicking into place and the automatic amplitude control starting.
The other buttons are for the selection of the signal input, either from the first or second radio. Sig.In means the direct soundcard input. Sig Out means speaker out. Dec In represents the filter output., Dec.Out is the digital decode signal. AC/DC is used often means alternating voltage and direct current voltage respectively.

Audio Analyzer
the Audio Analyzer is meant for tuning the radio. There is a small analyzer in every decoder. The dials and meters can control the frequency of the radio. This can be done by clicking, dragging and rotating the mouse wheel. The upper picture shows a single line presentation while operating RTTY and so it has a XY-scope for fine-tuning. The lower picture shows a landscape presentation. If there is no RTTY operation, there will be a frequency spectrum instead of the XY scope.

Tuning is a special chapter and will be explained on the following pages. That is why there is for now only a general description of the additional tuning of the radio frequencies and the filters. Not every analyzer can have a control function. It is only possible, where it makes sense.

If you double click on an analyzer, the frequency will jump into the middle of the filter. That means: double click on a clear peak in the display window and the signal will jump in the middle of the filter because the appropriate frequency offset will be controlled. The operations depend on the radio and the decoder settings respectively.
You can also use the drag & drop method by clicking on the peak, keep the mouse button depressed and drag the mouse to where you want to have it located. That does not have to be the middle of the filter. Maybe an indirect controlling of the radio is intended, if you simply drag to the right or to the left and then drop it. Then rotate the mouse wheel to correct the frequency so that that the peak will be in the filter.

With CW or PSK, the frequency control is not especially effective. With CW/PSK the audio spectrum is state of the art. Here you put the filter on the peak. That means, if you click on a peak in the spectrum, the filter middle frequency will be put on the peak, whereas the radio frequency remains unchanged. Rotating the mouse wheel or drag & drop has no effect in the spectrum. You will recognize Morse peaks by their interruptions – they ‘stammer’ so to speak. To easier recognize the peaks there is a button ‘Line Brightness’. This control has an automatic brightness function, if it is locked in the far left position.

The tuning of the CW decoder by Audio Spectrum is necessary because the QSOs are often so short, that tuning would take too long and as a result parts of the QSO would get lost. The QSO partners are often on different frequencies, however. Therefore, the decoders can open a small sub-window (Extra Decoder), where a different frequency can be tuned in order to follow the complete QSO.

Working with the Audio Spectrum, you will only tune the filter. That is why the radio frequency is controlled by the < > Buttons of this scale (see image below) or by Mouse Wheel.

If you point the mouse to the red mark on the filter, the pointer changes to a West/East arrow. This is meant to indicate that you can move the filter by drag & drop. There will be a long red line in the spectrum for better orientation. The mouse wheel controls the radio frequency. If you keep the Ctrl key depressed, the tuning of the mouse wheel will become more sensitive by a factor of 10.
In the dialogue ‘Audio spectrum’, you can change the lettering of the dial to the actual radio frequency. This is done with the button FrqScale. A dial with radio frequencies has two so called Step-Buttons on both corners on the right and left. These two buttons control the radio frequency according to set tuning steps of the radio

All decoders can be activated by right clicking on one of the tab buttons.
With the Audio Decoder, you can design specific audio filters and record audio signals and listen to them. Additionally, you can turn on some features, which affect the decoder. It is not necessary for the Audio Decoder to be active, because it is never turned off. The activation simply turns off the other decoders. The Audio Controls should be set to Audio Wave because the playback is achieved by the wave output of the soundcard. You will find the usual buttons here: Play, Stop, Loop and Record of the Audio-Recorder. These buttons have so called Tooltips, which describe briefly, what they are good for. They are the small-labeled flags, which appear when you point the mouse to one of the buttons.

To record, you press the button Record. When you press the button ‘Stop if no Signal’ nothing will be recorded as long as the Audio Squelch or the Radio Squelch is closed. For playback, you press the button Play or double click an entry from the list. To stop the playback, you press Play again. If you press ‘Stop’, everything will be stopped until you press the button again. When pressing the button Loop , the playback will be repeated continuously. A playback can also be sent as an input signal to the decoder by pressing the button "use as Signal-In"

The equalizer bandpass characteristic can be customized in a manner similar to how one would draw a simple picture with the mouse. Click anywhere, keep the button down and draw the desired curve of the filter. If you press the right button the position will be set to the maximum. The analyzer can be zoomed for precise editing. The filter characteristic depends on the filter control.

The control quality adjusts steplessly the smoothness of the filter from hard to soft. The button delay delays the equalizer display. The Audio Analyzer shows the signals as a landscape. This can be changed with the button "Spect" to an audio spectrum and can be set back with the "Lines" button. For a more detailed drawing of the filter curve zooming is possible. To do this, use the Control "width" and "X-Pos" for positioning within the 5512 Hz wide filter.

Weather maps are broadcast using „WeatherFax“. WeatherFax is the most frequently used way of broadcasting processed weather data.  The fax decoder decodes facsimile broadcasts (weatherfax), which both are transmitted in the FM mode, as well as satellite pictures in the AM mode. Important are the frequencies and transmission times. The frequencies can be found in the frequency manager. The transmission times for the weather fax can found in the Schedule List. The satellite orbits in SatTrack.

Shift & Center frequency Fax Decoder
It is important to shift the tuning from high frequency tones to lower frequency tones in order to avoid interference. This means you are shifting the red markers in the frequency spectrum along the horizontal scale.

Fax PreFilter
„Width“ is the spacing between the lowest and highest tone frequency of a signal. That is the spacing between the two red markers in the spectrum display. The filter should be the same width. Filter adjustments that are narrower or wider may also improve the reception.

Start/Stop Frequencies
Start- and Stop frequencies are sounds played at the beginning and end of an image. Normally there would be a 450 Hz tone for start and a 300 Hz tone for stop. After the start tone MeteoCom starts recording the fax and saves it to the hard drive after the stop tone.

Fax tuning and Slant-Correction

This is the display for tuning the tone frequency (also page 16). In most cases a fax signal USB shows more activity on the right side that degrades towards the left end of the bandwidth (red marker). In order to receive good, clear images, the main signal activity bar should always be just in front of the red marker. In case of distortion you can shift the IF to the left or right, narrow the bandwidth or manipulate the filter.

Using the small audio spectrum display, it is possible to detect weak signals that you do not hear - especially in the AM SatFax.

Slant correction During the first test the image will come out skewed. In this case you can rectify the image by using the „<“ and „>“ buttons. Always use the button that points in the opposite direction of the skew (e.g. the right button in the case shown in the image below). You can use the 10x function to do large step correction or 1x for fine corrections. After completing the correction click on “Slant Calc” which will apply these values to all other modules and fax frequencies.

The SSTV decoder decodes the transmission of ham radio amateurs. The radio amateurs often send on different frequencies as the corresponding QSO partner. This makes it sometimes difficult to tune the frequency of the other partner.

ExtraDecoder By clicking the "ExtraDecoder" the SubDecoder can be opened for special purposes. This SubDecoder appliance assumes the currently set parameters of Faxdecoder, where they were set manually or by double clicking on an entry from the frequency manager set correctly. The "Save now" button saves the image now, which is located in the reception window. If the button activates auto save, on reaching the lower edge of the image stored the image independently. Double-click the received image or press the button BigView, a window with the enlarged image will open.

SSTV-FREQ:
These buttons change the radio to different preset frequencies in the program.

AVIS:
There is a start signal in a SSTV signal. This automatically starts the reception of a picture and saves it at the end of the transmission. This usually always works. You will have to press Receive to start reception. Autosync will try to synchronize the picture. Pressing the ‘Autosync’ button will resynchronize the picture until the colors are right. Then you can correct the picture with ‘ColorSync’ placing it the proper position.

SSTV-Modi
There are many different operation modes are currently available:

Martin:		M1, M2, M3, M4 (COL)      HQ1+HQ2 in preparation
Robot:		R8, R12, R24, R36 (BW) R12, R24, R36, R72 (COL)
Scottie:		S1, S2; S3; S4 (COL)       DX1+DX2 in preparation
Wrase:		SC1 8, SC1 16, SC16sq; SC1 32 (BW) SC1 24, SC1 48, SC1 96 (COL) SC2 30, SC2 60, SC 120, SC240 (COL)
Bonito:		B1 320x256, B2 320x256, B3 320x128, B4 320x128 (all Color) C1 320x256, C2 320x256 COL FC1 BW+COL 320x256, FC2 BW+COL 320x256
MM:		MP 73, MP 115; MP 140, MP 175 (COL) MR 73, MR 90, MR 115, MR 140, MR175 (COL) ML 180, ML 240, ML 280, ML320 (COL) MP 73-N, MP110-N, MP140-N (COL) MC 110-N, MC 140-N, MC 180-N (COL)
PD:		in preparation
Pasokon		in preparation
ATV		in preparation

It is planned to add more modes. This will be possible via online update.
Please use at certain intervals, the update function in Setup.

SSTV tuning and SLANT (Skew) Correction:

Tuning: A small bright area will be visible on the left of the frequency spectrum. This appears sometimes on the red line. The red line indicated the synchronizing of the signal at 1200 Hz. You should tune until the whole signal fits in the marked filter area. Good tuning shows clear colors. Off shades signify improper tuning. The filter section has 3 variable adjustments; one manual and 3 preset selection’s ‘LO’ ‘MED’ and ‘HI’.

SSTV SLANT Correction: You can correct the slant of a picture by using the ‘10x or 1x’ slant buttons. You should press and hold the button until the picture is straight. The correction factor is either 10 pixels or 1 pixel per single click of the button. Pressing and holding the button will provide a quicker correction. The ‘Save This Now’ button will save the picture in the receiver window. The ‘AutoSave’ button will save the picture when the lower edge is reached. You can load and print the picture.   Color Sync By clicking "Auto Correction" attempts at running, receiving the synchronization of the image. Press until the picture is in color. The image can be corrected manually with the two buttons under "ColorSync" until the colors and the image is correct.

 

Catch Work With Catchwork you can re-synchronize SSTV-pictures which are still in the buffer. You can also change the mode or correct the slant. Just scroll the right scroll bar to the spot which you want to adjust and execute the changes you want. Thus, no picture will get lost ZOOM: minimizes / maximizes the picture SSTV-Modes: Here you can select the various modes which influence the segment. This is ideal in case the mode was not recognized automatically. ColorSync:  When you press ColorSync, the picture will be re-synchronized. Press the button until the color of the picture is as desired.

Slant correction: Here you can correct the slant. You have to press the ‘Slant’ button until the picture is received straight. Press the button which points opposite the slant. With the button ‘10x’you correct the picture tentatively and with the button ‘1x’ you fine-tune it. This won’t be possible before you receive a picture.

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RTTY Decoder

In order to decode RTTY, you first have to activate the decoder by depressing the button ‘activate’ by right-clicking the tab button
 

If you depress ‘Extra Decoder’, a sub-decoder will open. With the button ‘Select Font’ you can change the font and the color of the text. If the button ‘autosave’ is depressed, a paragraph will be ….when receiving ZCZC (the LED will be red) and when receiving NNNN (no LED), this paragraph will be saved as a text file. With ‘Save now’, the complete text will be saved in the buffer. If you double-click the text window or depress the button ‘Big View’, a large text-editor-window will open. If you want the message to be decoded while it is being received, then press the button ‘Tx-Receive.’

Audio Analyzer und XY-Scope
This is a display showing all tone frequencies up to 5500 Hz from left to right. The height corresponds with the volume (amplitude). The amplitude is dependent upon the tone’s frequency. You should always try to find the tone frequency yielding the strongest amplitude. There are precise technical standards which specify at which tone a signal is tuned properly. In real life, however, all this depends on the filters used in your radio. The filter curves are not always the way they should be. This means that the frequency list is always a theoretical tool and not adapted to your specific radio.

Adjust Audio RTTY
Usually, the tuning displays process the tones received by the radio in such way that you can observe the way the radio tunes the signal. These displays should help you understand how the tuning process works. As a first test it may be useful to just turn the main tuning knob of your radio to acquaint yourself with it. If, later on, you want to tune more precisely, you need to use the „Receiver-Control“ because eventually your radio doesn’t report to RadioCom when you tune your radio manually.

Make sure that both amplitudes are lined up exactly with the red lines. The spacing between the red lines corresponds with the band width (shift). The position on the scale is the tone’s frequency or pitch. The height shows the volume. This picture shows an RTTY signal with two different tones. One for “mark” and one for “space”. Both tones should be lined up with the vertical red lines. In case of a Fax signal, the bandwidth is usually greater, meaning that the two vertical lines are further apart and there is almost always only one bar at the red line on the right.

Using the „Receiver-Control“ tune the radio in such way that both signal amplitudes line up with the red markers or the lines of the tuning cross are exactly perpendicular.

X/Y-Scope (Tuning Display)
On the preceding page a RTTY signal was used as an example whose adjustment is now displayed on the X/Y display. Get the signal between the red lines (Shift) by using the frequency spectrum. Then get the cross. If that will not work, you can play a little bit with the shift. If the shift is correct, the bars will be placed somewhat orthogonally on top of each other. To function properly make sure the crossbars remain mutually perpendicular.

85 Hz Bandwidth	425 Hz Bandwidth

RTTY Modes
Normally, you do not have to do anything, if you double-clicked a frequency entry in the frequency manager. All parameters will be set correctly.

Baudot and SYNOP
Both of them are asynchronous modes which are used by press agencies, weather services and ham radio operators. SYNOP transmissions are weather reports which start with ZCZC, have a large number of figures in groups of five each and end with NNNN. RadioCom decodes these messages and shows them in German. The SYNOP database is updated regularly on the MeteoServer of Bonito and you can update this program yourself.

Sitor-B und Navtex
Sitor B is a synchronous mode which is different than Baudot, but it has the same logic. It has properties which make it considerably more interference-free. Navtex uses Sitor with 100 Baud and inverse.

Adjusting the Baudrate
The speed of the bits in a telefax is called baudrate. The baudrate most used is 50 bauds , but there are messages which are transmitted with 75 bauds and very rarely with 100 bauds.
The shift is the space between the two sounds which signal the bit state of a RTTY-Bytes

Polarity
If the message and the decoding makes no sense, you should try to change the polarity to improve readability. Navtex, for example, always transmits inverse. But unfeasibility can also have other reasons, for example when the text contains a wrong character which makes the decoder only write figures and letters. In this case, try and find out, if the LE-mode makes the letters intelligible. Only depress FI in the opposite case, when the groups if five numerals in SYNOP appear as groups of letters.

Stopbits
Basically, Baudette only has 1.5 stop bits. There have transmissions, however, with two stop bits. This is why you have this button to adjust the stop bits. With SITOR you don not have to adjust anything here because this mode has not stop bits.
 

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CW / PSK Decoder

To receive CW and PSK you have to activate the decoder by depressing the button ‘activate’. With these very narrowband modes it is customary zoo use one or several sub decoders. Many signals are adjacent to each other in one band and the multi-decoder will be of good use. With the button ‘extra decoder’ you can open any number of decoders. With ‘Select Font’ you can change the colour and the font of the text window. If the button ‘auto save’ is activated, a paragraph will be highlighted when receiving ZCZC (LED is red) and when receiving NNNN (no LED) this paragraph will be saved as a text file. When depressing the button ‘Save now’, the complete text will be saved.
 

If you double-click the text window or depress the button ‘BIG View’, a large text-editor-window will open. If you want to decode the message while being transmitted, press the button ‘TX-receive’. In contrast to a RTTY decoder you do not put the radio frequency into the filter with the audio analyser, but you put the filter on the Morse peak. The easiest way to adjust a Morse signal is with ‘Audio Spectrum’ On page 20, you will find a detailed description of this spectrum. Put the middle of the filter exactly on the Morse peak. You can find the middle of the filter with ‘Middle’ The same can be achieved by double clicking the Morse peak in the audio spectrum. You ca move the narrow red line on the dial by drag & drop . This dial can be adjusted to a width of 3,000 or 5500 Hz by depressing the appropriate button.

With the button ‘FRQscale Style, you put the lettering of the dial on the actual radio frequency. The width of the filter can be adjusted from 10-540 Hz with the button ‘Width’ The buttons ‘min’, ‘med’, ‘max’ and ‘open are pre-adjusted filter widths. If the button CW is activated, Morse code will be decoded. The other two buttons B_PSK 31’ and Q_PSK 31 activate the decoding of PSK

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Time Signal Decoder

This decoder decodes time signals. To receive time signals you have to activate the decoder with the button ‘activate’ All decoder can also be activated by right-clicking on one of the tab buttons.

At present, two kinds of time signals can be decoded:

DCF 77 PTB on long wave 77.5. kHz (Germany)
MSF NPL Teddington on long wave 60.0 kHz (UK)

There are plans to realize other modes which will be published per updates. So, please, have a regular look at our update service.

Adjusting the frequency is automatic, but can also be done manually with the audio spectrum. Similar to the CW-decoder, you place the filter on the peak of the time signal and not the radio frequency. A detailed description of this spectrum display can be found in this Manual.

Place the filter exactly on the peak of the time signal. This filter is a static one with a width of 40 kHz. By clicking the peak in the audio spectrum, the filter will be placed exactly where you click. You can also move the small red line on the dial with drag & drop. This dial is always 3000 Hz wide and will not tune the radio frequency (?FL)

If the signal is not exactly on the filter, depress the button ‘Tune/Snap to signal’ The signal will be readjusted. If no signal can be detected, no filter can be placed

If you depress the button ‘Set standard Rx-frequency, the receiving frequency will be tuned to on the radio in accordance with the mode which was selected with the button DCF 77-Germany or MSF (UK)

If the time received is correct, the watch will be highlighted and you can depress the button ‘Set to Computer’ to synchronize it with the time of the PC.

In the field time flags, there are LEDs, which indicate the current operating state. In the picture above, you see that daylight savings time is active.
 

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Kapitel 9 TX- Senden (Mid- und Top-Control)

 

Audio Encoder (TX)

This is the encoder-dialogue for transmitting audio signals of any kind. To transmit Audio, the encoder must be activated. The encoder is activated by right-clicking the mouse on one of the tab buttons. Should the encoder not be active, it will automatically be activated by pressing the transmit button F1 or the button F1 Transmit.

The control Tx Out controls the volume of the output signal, which will be sent via the Line-Out of the computer. The button ‘Volume’ controls the volume of the loudspeaker. The LED is lit, if the transmitter is active. You can transmit audio files and you can test a transmitter with the sound generator.

In the group field of the sound generator, there is a control button ‘Frq’ for the generated audio frequency and a button ‘Vol’ which controls the volume (amplitude) which is sent to the mixer. The five smaller buttons determine the characteristics of the sound: Triangle , Rectangle , Sinus , Saw tooth , Signal Noise .

You can also mix the audios and pass them through a filter to suppress or amplify specific harmonics. On occasion, this can be very useful to find a mismatch of the transmitter.

To better determine the quality of the audio signals an audio scope and an equalizer-filter are integrated. You can find more details on the page ‘Audio Decoder’

The control button ‘Width’ determines the width of the display (in sample). The analyser in ‘Filter Equalizer’ shows you the harmonics, which can be best seen with a saw tooth signal. You will see one large, long peak followed by several smaller ones (to the left, and also to the right next to the large ones). In contrast, a sine sound will not produce harmonics.

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SSTV Encoder (TX)

Here you see a complete screen with the SSTV-Encoder in the middle for transmitting SSTV pictures. In order to transmit SSTV the encoder has to be activated. The three tab buttons in the header control each a separate sub dialog.

Transmit List In the dialog Transmit List there is a list with templates. These are JPG pictures with a 320x256 resolution which can be found in the Bonito directory Programs/ Bonito RC60/Images/TXSSTV. Via the context menu (right mouse button) you can copy the necessary pictures in this directory . If you want to transmit it, double click on the picture. A text editor will appear from where the picture which you want to send will stored in a set. When transmitting each picture will be loaded from this set into the transmit window until the set has been completely transmitted. These pictures then will be saved to the Log Directory where you can view them under 'Pictures Sent'

You can also select the picture which you want to send by selecting it with the mouse and move it into the transmit window by dragging and dropping it there. You can move the pictures anywhere you want. You just have to click on the picture and move the mouse. If you drop the picture in any directory ,the picture will be moved there. In the same manner you can save you favorite templates in any one of the three favorite windows or in the transmit window.

SSTV Picture Editor If you double click on a picture, the SSTV picture editor will appear. There you can add a text and then send it or put it onto the pile of pictures to be sent later on. If you close the window with 'x' in the upper right corner, the picture will be deleted, whereas '-' puts the picture onto the pile to be sent . You can change to your liking the color of the text, the type and the font . With the mouse you can move the text anywhere you want (Click on it, hold it and move it). By double clicking the text will be deleted and the text cursor will appear. If a picture in the transmit window is clicked on again, the text editor will show up.

With the sub dialog Preselections you can determine what is in the header and the footer. You can also choose a color of your liking. The text can have a placeholder text which can be marked by '%'. '%D' stands for the date with the current year and month, whereas '%d' is the same but shorter. The seconds will be marked as '%T', '%t' has no seconds. '%C' stands for your call sign and '%Q' for the number of the QSO. Each successful transmission will be added automatically.

In the sub dialog Parameters there are exclusively parameters for transmitting. Here you can choose the desired mode. Also the slant of the transmitter can be controlled just like in the decoder. Normally the values are the same for both. So you can reload them with 'Reload vom Rx' to have a good basis for the fine tuning of the transmitter.

WebCam-Support RadioCom offers WebCam support. Here the Windows standard interface is made use of. If your webcam works here, you will succeed immediately here also. Adjust your webcam with 'camera adjustment'.
If that worked out, activate your camera with 'activate Camera'. In the section 'Favorite Pictures' you should see a picture of the webcam. If you want to transmit this picture, simply double click it and proceed as above

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Fax Encoder TX

Here you see a complete screen with the Fax-encoder in the middle field (Mid Control) for the transmitting of Fax-pictures. To send Fax, the encoder has to be activated. Each of the three tab buttons at the very top activates a new separate Sub Dialogue. These options have already been described in the SSTV section and can be reviewed there.

In the sub dialogue are your drafts, which are in the folder programs/Bonito RC60/Images/TXFAX. All transmitted FAX are in the log folder, which can be viewed under ‘Sent’

For FAX Images, the text editor is somewhat larger. The size of the header or footer is dependent on the selected resolution module. Often it is necessary to adjust the font to the resolution. Additionally, the FAX text editor can show the Fax picture in the original resolution. The operation is described in the SSTV chapter.

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RTTY Encoder TX

This is the RTTY encoder to transmit text messages. To send text messages the encoder must be activated. Each of the three tab buttons at the very top activates a new separate Sub Dialogue. A text editor is used which is adjusted appropriately. The green text has already been transmitted and cannot be edited. If there are problems (it looks like no transmissions are possible), you depress the end key on the key board and go to the end of the text. For further text options, a context menu can be opened by right clicking the mouse in the context menu.

In the group field ‘phrase favorites’ a button for the fast entry of text phrases, which can also be inserted with the F2-F10 keys. F1 is for transmitting and F12 ends the transmission after the last character. While copying in the RTTY decoder your text will be green. The text of your qso partner remains black.

 There is display of the decoder parameters in the sub dialogue ‘Parameter’. The button ‘Activate Idle Mode’ transmits a special synchronization signal when the transmitter is idling.
 

Preselections In the sub dialogue ‚Preselections’ you can edit these phrases individually. With the button you select the phrase. The lettering of the button is is the name of the phrase, the content is the text of the phrase. This text can have placeholders, which are marked with % at the beginning. %D stands for the date with a four-digit date of the year and month, %d will write the same in a shorter form. The time with seconds is written as %T, %t has no seconds. %C stands for your call sign and %Q for the current QSO number. If there is only a text file name in the content with ending ‘txt’ the content of the text file will be shown. %S starts an internal count, which can be switched off with %E and increases the QSO-number. %n stands for a new line. Phrases Phrases are complete texts with a specific content which are repeated over and over again in a QSO, such as *My call is…’etc. To avoid a permanent writing of these phrases, Bonito placed ready-made phrases under the F2-F10 keys of your keyboard. You may use these individually. With symbol <> under 2 Phrase you can switch to the preconfigured phrases: under ‘Phrase name’ you can change the lettering of the buttons of ‘Phrase Favorites. ‘Phrase content determines which text the phrase contains. You can either enter a txt file or enter the text directly.

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CW / PSK Encoder

This is the CW/PSK encoder for the transmission of texts. To send text messages, the encoder must be activated. The three tab buttons at the very top turn on a separate SubDialogue each. A suitable text editor is made use of. The text in green has already been transmitted and cannot be edited. If there are problems and it seems like you cannot enter anything, depress the end key of the keyboard and go to the end of the text. For additional text options a context menu in the text window can be opened by right-clicking the mouse.

In the group field ‘Phrase Favourites’ you see a button for the quick entering of text phrases, which can also be entered with the F2 – F10 buttons. F! is for ‘transmit’ and F12 ends the transmission. While copying in the CW/PSK decoder your text is written in green, your QSO partners stays black

Preselections In the sub dialogue ‚Preselections’ you can edit these phrases individually. With the button you select the phrase. The lettering of the button is is the name of the phrase, the content is the text of the phrase. This text can have placeholders, which are marked with % at the beginning. %D stands for the date with a four-digit date of the year and month, %d will write the same in a shorter form. The time with seconds is written as %T, %t has no seconds. %C stands for your call sign and %Q for the current QSO number. If there is only a text file name in the content with ending ‘txt’ the content of the text file will be shown. %S starts an internal count, which can be switched off with %E and increases the QSO-number. %n stands for a new line. Phrases Phrases are complete texts with a specific content which are repeated over and over again in a QSO, such as *My call is…’etc. To avoid a permanent writing of these phrases, Bonito placed ready-made phrases under the F2-F10 keys of your keyboard. You may use these individually. With symbol <> under 2 Phrase you can switch to the preconfigured phrases: under ‘Phrase name’ you can change the lettering of the buttons of ‘Phrase Favorites. ‘Phrase content determines which text the phrase contains. You can either enter a txt file or enter the text directly.

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Kapitel 10 Image / Text Page

 

ImagePage

This is where the storage of the various images is, e.g. Weather maps, Satellite images, saved and deleted images. “Images selection” contains images sorted by date. Double-clicking an image will bring it up in the large window on the right where it can be viewed and edited. You navigate the WeatherFax using the up/down and left/right buttons. You can also use the black arrows on the right. The button below the arrows switches the map back to the overview. The image can be zoomed in or out using the magnifying glass symbols. You can also select just a portion of the image with your mouse. Place your mouse pointer on the upper left corner of the area you would like to select, click the mouse button and then pull the mouse to the lower right until the desired area is inside the marked area. Release the mouse button. ResultViewer will zoom into the selected area. Zoom Slider: Below the navigation bar there is a slider which makes zooming even easier. Point your mouse to your position and click on the right mouse button. A context menu will open. Select “Set fix point”. If you now use the zoom slider, you will always zoom back to the selected position. Even when you are zooming into other areas you simply need to touch the slider to get back to where you were before.   Directory and Source selection Here are the various folders of images: Internet Sat Fax RxFax Internet SatFax Movie RxSstv Memory Bank 1 TxFax   Memory Bank 2 TxSstv   Memory Bank 3  FaxLog Bin SstvLog

There are seven icons that correspond to seven folders for handling various types of images. From left to right, there are three receiving folders – the Download Folder for various satellite images, the Fax Folder for receiving the radiofax images and the Download Folder for the satellite weather images. The next three icons are for three containers, “banks”, where you may store the received images to protect them from being deleted by the “automatic deleting procedure”. Here you may sort and archive images that you want to keep.

If you would like to archive images, simply drag and drop them to one of the “banks”. The “automatic deleting routine” will not delete images saved there.

The last icon represents the “trash bin” – a folder where the images are kept only until the automatic deletion removes them for good.  To move an image from one folder to another, go to the source folder then select the image and drag it to the destination folder. If you drag an image by mistake into the “trash bin” folder, you can just select the trash folder, find the image and drag it back to the desired folder. The images from the trash folder are not deleted immediately. The automatic deletion will remove them after eight days, therefore there is a chance to recover some of the images moved there by mistake.

„Images selection“ contains images sorted by date. Double-clicking an image will bring it up in the large window on the right where it can be viewed and edited.

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Image processing

 

Image manipulation A received weather map is an image that can usually be edited with common Windows programs. However, those programs cannot apply the operations specific to transmitted images that would enable you to improve the fax reception. With WeatherInfoViewer you can rotate and synchronize fax images much more quickly because it was designed specifically for this purpose. Contours, Soften, Sharpen, Brightness On the left, in the control panel, there is a title bar “Image Manipulation” that you can expand and get extra tools for improving the image. You may use them to make the contour lines – land contour, isobars – more clear. With the “sharp” button you may sharpen or soften the image. The “contrast” button allows you to increase or decrease the contrast of the image while the “brightness” button will alter the luminosity of the image. The "de-noise" button helps you remove the noise from the transmission (in a certain degree) but with the side effect that the image becomes softer. The small image under the buttons will reflect all changes resulting from rotating the buttons. You may see the alterations on the large image if you press the “preview” button. Once you finished making changes, you may click the “set to image” button to transfer the changes to the larger image. If you change your mind you can click the “reset” button and the larger image will revert to the initial status. Save and Print Images The image can be saved and printed. The regular processing windows appear without any special attributes. You have the option of saving the processed image in the same folder, overwriting the original, or saving it under a different name. Synchronize If you received an image where the left edge is displayed in the center of the image, you can use this function for subsequent synchronization. First click on the button. Then select the exact spot where you want the edge to be, positioning the vertical rubber band. A left click on the mouse will finalize the operation. If the image appears fragmented you may need to rotate the image and repeat the synchronization.

Skew / Slant correction

Use this function when the received image is skewed. Click on the upper edge of the image and draw a line along the skewed edge of the image. Clicking again will correct the image.

Crop Image

Click on the button. Then click your left mouse button and draw a rectangle around the area you want to crop. Release the mouse button. You can now still manipulate the area by clicking on the edges and pulling them to a different position. Clicking the right mouse button will finalize the crop.

Invert Images

You can receive a fax image in LSB reverse. You do that to improve image quality. The image will be received inverted. This function will revert the image to normal.

Rotate Image

If the image is arranged wrongly you can rotate it by clicking on the appropriate button; 90 degrees anti-clockwise, 180 degrees or 90 degrees clockwise, respectively.

ICO RPM

If a fax has been recorded with a wrong module or at the wrong speed, it can be turned into a readable form by clicking on this button. You will be prompted with a dialog box to provide the appropriate parameters.

Image Internet Download With RadioCom 6 you have the capability to download Satellite Images to your Computer and have RadioCom automatically create animations. Since these pictures are not forecasts you can select the time frame for satellite pictures in the “load pictures for...” selection box If you press the split bar "MeteoServer Image Download", the download manager appears. This allows you to download satellite images from the Internet. Images from orbiting satellites, such as NOAA or the hospital as: GOES (USA), MTSAT-1R (Japan) & MeteoSat can be downloaded in this area. To select the desired Images check the little check boxesin the list. The following Menu buttons specify the period of how many days retrospective Images should be loaded. With the Button "Start download..." the download starts. The downloaded raw data are processed into images that are stored in the "SAT folder" or in the "Animations folder". The images are from MeteoServer.net, which is operated by Bonito. It is the professional service - nautical, Meteorological Marine Service - which is used worldwide.

 

Satelliten-Bilder Animation

With RadioCom 6 you have the capability to download Satellite Images to your Computer and have RadioCom automatically create animations. Since these pictures are not forecasts you can select the time frame for satellite pictures in the “load pictures for...” selection box. The maximum amount is 72 hours. Select the desired pictures you want to download in the “Image List”.

Printing
The printing is slightly different. There are 3 images exist from one time: Vis, IR and WV, the 4th picture is a color combination.

Animation Satellite Movie
This button: is PLAY forward and this: back wards .
With the buttons  and sets the speed at which animations are played. The speed is also dependent upon the processing speed of your PC. This button   sets the speed back to standard.

Switching local time to UTC/Clock
Weather data are always in UTC. To get a better overview of the forecast you can switch to local time.

Time slider
By moving this slider to the left or right you can move data manually.
 

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Text

This is where all received text messages such as forecasts, warnings, Navtex etc. are displayed. Texts belongs to certain areas will be stored in the respective folders. Forecasts for the Mediterranean can only be found in that folder. This makes finding the proper forecast much easier.

ICON Bar: Text
The  toolbar is certainly known to you by word processing programs. We go through the various functions from left to right:

Print; Save, Save as..., Clear, F=Font, Font Color, B=Bold, I=italic, U=underline
Left-; Mid-; right ranged; List

It may irritates you that the design has been reproduced here dark blue instead of the usual representations in this manual. Here's how you can change the color design.