WINRADIO FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (February, 2011)
General Questions
Q. Is it possible to customize the display to show alphanumeric entries instead of just the frequency?
A. Yes. When you enter the frequency into memory, add a textual description or a call-sign, and the default band description will be overwritten by your entry.
Q. With all the different communications modes on the air today, why don’t the WiNRADiO receivers have these decoders built in?
A. WiNRADiO does manufacture specific-purpose receivers with integrated decoders, such as the G33 marine HF receiver; however, WR keeps their decoding software as options in other products in order to provide a high performance receiver at low cost without charging for modes the customer may never use. Many excellent, third-party decoders are available, and WiNRADiO’s shortwave DRM, which they pioneered, is the only fully-licensed vendor in the SWL market.
Q. Is a manual gain configuration selectable as well as AGC?
A. Yes, and the internal preamplifier is switchable, and the IF gain is adjustable as well.
Q. Can WiNRADiO receivers time- and date-stamp received messages?
A. Not in their basic configuration which records to standard Windows ".wav" files, which do not permit date/time stamping. However, when any of these receivers is part of the MS-8108 multichannel system, the audio files are recorded in a proprietary extension (.wwv) which does allow time and date stamping.
For tactical applications, WiNRADiO offers specialized software which provides playback of such date/time-stamped files, insertion of user comments (annotation), and even automated, intelligent matching of separate audio files like duplex communications on separate channels.
Q. I've installed an internal WiNRADiO receiver in my computer, but the audio level coming out to my external speaker is too low; what's wrong?
A. Computer sound cards typically have two audio outputs, a line level jack and a headphone jack, both of which are very low level. The first is to feed an external amplified sound system, and the second to feed audio to a set of headphones. That's why optional multimedia speakers made for computers have a built-in amplifier to deliver room-filling sound.
Hardware Conflicts
Q. I've successfully installed my WiNRADiO software and the USB/serial adaptor in my Windows XP, but when I attempt to open the program, I get the "Device not found" message.
A. Be sure you've unzipped all files, then try the following:
(1) Right click "My Computer", then left click "Properties," "Hardware," and "Device Manager;"
(2) Left click the "+" symbol next to "Other Devices" (or "Ports"); double-click "USB Serial Controller" and remember the com port number;
(3) Go back to "Control Panel" and double-click "WinRADiO;" delete any receivers already installed;
(4) Click "Add," then select "Serial" and enter the Com Port number noted in (2) above; click "OK" to accept changes.
Q. I've tried installing the WiNRADiO and USB/serial adaptor on my computer, but when I try to run the program, I get the message, "Device not found."
A. Be sure all drivers are installed (unzipped), then try the following:
(1) Right click My Computer, then left click Properties, Hardware, Device Manager;
(2) Left click "+" next to Other Devices (or Ports); double-click USB Serial Controller and remember the com port number.
(3) Go back to Control Panel and double-click WiNRADiO; delete any receivers already installed.
(4) Click Add, then select Serial and enter the Com Port number noted in (2) above; click OK twice to accept changes.
(5) If your receiver is on, turn it off, then on again; double-click the WiNRADiO icon on your desktop to start the program.
Q. My WR software doesn't seem to work with my U.S. Robotics modem; any fixes available?
A. Yes, turn off the modem or unplug it and reboot your computer.
Q. I'm confused as to how to set up the USB adaptor. I have the usb2ser.inf software correctly installed since it shows up in the ports entry of the Device Manager, but the third installation step (Configuring the control panel) doesn't follow instructions. When I start up the WR I get an error message telling me that the radio is not detected; I'm afraid that there may be a com port conflict.
A. When you install the USB adaptor, it frees your existing com ports and creates an additional "virtual" com port; this is what you are seeing in your Device Manager. Your next step, then, is to connect your radio to this virtual com port by following these steps:
1- Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel, WiNRADiO.
2- Left-click on the interface description to highlight it, and then select Edit.
3- Select the Serial tab, then the new com port from the drop-down list; this will be the highest- numbered port.
4- Press "OK" twice.
You will need to restart the WiNRADiO application; if it doesn't work right away, turn the receiver (not the computer!) off and on and start again.
Software Questions
Q. How do I configure my WiNRADiO to use third-party decoding software for modes not included with my WR receiver?
A. You can use third party applications
with your computer's sound card. You'll just need to add the VSC Digital Bridge
to port the output of the receiver to the virtual sound card where the other
application can pick it up and use it.
http://www.winradio.com/home/
Q. What is the baud rate of the WR products, and can it be changed?
A. It initially establishes at 9600 baud, but can gear up to 115 kb. Custom baud rates can be installed at the factory at the time of order.
Q. What does the "Task Scheduler" actually do?
A. This is like a receiver's clock timer. For example, on the MS8108, you could specify which times and which frequencies your choice of receivers would come on and record, while others may be "tasked" to play back. Another possibility would be diversity reception, comparing signal levels on two (or more) receivers tuned to different frequencies for a given shortwave broadcaster, or different antennas on different receivers tuned to the same station, with the best signal triggering the recording.
Q. How open is the software for the WinRadio? What language is it written in?
A. Although we don’t publish the proprietary source code, we do publish a free programmer’s API (http://www.winradio.com/home/developer.htm). We also provide software application “plug-ins” using our “XRS” specification (http://xrs.winradio.com) and, again, the "client" developer's license is also free.
Finally, another free radio programming language in “Radio Basic” (RBASIC) is available at http://www.rbasic.com. For those Linux users, we support some of our receivers as well; see http://www.linradio.com .
Q. How do I hook up my WiNRADiO G-3 series for third-party digital software? I’m already using the digital soundcard for analog speaker output; wouldn’t I also need the sound card to decode the digital modes?
A. We bypass the need and signal degradation of double conversion from D/A then again from A/D. Since all of our G3 series receivers are digitized, we can feed the data to a third-party application through our optional Digital Bridge “Virtual Sound Card” software. See: http://www.winradio.com/home/vsc.htm
Q. Can I print out a spectrogram of either the oscilloscope or spectrum display on the G3xx series receivers?
A. The WR-G315 software has a printing button as one of the spectrum scope functions; the G305 does not, but you can use the ALT-PRINT SCREEN command in Windows.
Q. Does WiNRADiO provide a complete and open RS-232 command protocol?
A. Yes. There are no secret commands (other than factory test routines) which would deprive the user of any capabilities available via the user interface.
Q. Is the protocol the same for all WR receiver models?
A. Not entirely since some models have more capability than others; however, those extra functions are simply additions to the standard basic set.
Q. Is there a protocol document that is downloadable which shows the RS-232 commands and read-back strings?
A. Yes, although the commands are not "trivial" (like “F=101.9 MHz), but address a much lower level (i.e., PLL control, IF path settings, etc.), requiring professional insight. These documents are provided as they are, along with source code examples. Visit www.winradio.com to see such examples as well as some low-level source code.
Q. Is a Windows software controller package available for WR receivers?
A. Yes, and it’s free at http://www.winradio.com/home/download.htm
Q. Are there any digital signals available from the WR receiver output jacks?
A. No, they are all analog. Digitization is done by the on-board DSP on units so equipped, and is accessible by application software, included user-provided custom software (full API information may be requested from the factory).
Q. Can I see spread-spectrum and frequency-hopping signals on the display?
A. Yes, if the signals remain on air long enough for the sweep to pass them, and the average signal level is high enough to show a rise in the baseline. By selecting the continuous integration mode, peaks accumulate with each pass of the sweep, emphasizing the rise above the noise floor, and the composite traces may be saved to the hard disk for later analysis.
Q. How do I access free software upgrades?
A. Several XRS plug-ins may be downloaded for free from the WiNRADiO web site. The waterfall enhancement, for example, shows Z-access sweeps over time, permitting the observer to examine changes in spectrum users at a glance. For this and other XRS plug-ins, visit http://xrs.winradio.com.
Reception Problems
Although problems with WiNRADiO products are few and far between, the most common complaint is "poor sensitivity." Since all WiNRADiOs have excellent sensitivity, we look elsewhere for reception problems.
Be sure you have checked the following on your WiNRADiO receiver:
(1) Are you listening using the wire test antenna that may have been included with your receiver? Don't! It's for initial checkout only and makes a dreadful receiving antenna!
(2) Is your antenna appropriate for the frequency range you have tuned, and is it mounted outdoors and away from electrical power lines?
(3) Are you using low-loss coax (RG-6/U, RG-8 foam, LMR-400 or similar) above 50 MHz?
(4) Are all connectors and adaptors tight and making contact?
(5) Is the receiver "DX/LOCAL" option set on "DX?"
(6) Was there a lightning storm prior to your noticing low sensitivity?
(7) Was the radio working satisfactorily prior to your loading some additional software?
(8) Have you tested your antenna system on another radio for comparison?
Following these steps usually solves the problem!
Antenna Selection
There are several factors that weigh in so far as the distance an antenna can hear, including:
Height of the antenna
Presence of obstructions
Length and losses of the transmission line
Gain of the antenna
Appropriate frequency configuration
Direction in which a gain antenna is pointing;
Frequency of the signal
Sensitivity of the receiver
Presence of interference
Power of the transmitted signal
Bandwidth of the signal
Propagation effects (day or night, sunspots, solar flares)
Humidity and precipitation
Electrical storm
That said, under normal circumstances, and using a non-directional antenna like the AX12B with good coax, good location, and a good receiver, the following could be expected:
(1) HF reception (under 30 MHz): Thousands of miles for broadcasters and two-way communicators.
(2) VHF (30-300 MHz): Up to 100 miles for broadcasters and two-way communications.
(3) UHF (300-500 MHz): Up to 75 miles.
(4) Microwave (800-2000 MHz): 25-50 miles.
Naturally, these are only approximations due to the numbers of variables pointed out above, but should give you an average expectation. Of course if you're looking for a simple, low-power device like a bug or cordless phone, we're talking feet, not miles.
Noise and Sensitivity
Q. My WR doesn't seem to have the sensitivity of my regular scanner, what could be the problem?
A. Even though the WR receivers have excellent sensitivity, this is a common complaint because of many possible reasons. Most likely, the host computer—especially the CRT monitor--is generating electrical "hash" which raises the general noise floor of the receiver, inhibiting reception of weak signals. Other household electronic appliances can produce interfering signals as well, especially if you are using an indoor antenna.
Unplug the antenna cable while listening to the background hiss or noise between stations and see if the noise diminishes significantly; if it does, that's a sure sign of external interference. Ideally, your antenna should be cut to frequency, high, outdoors, and away from power lines and your building.
A long wire antenna works well for shortwave reception, but is next to worthless for the VHF/UHF scanner bands. Similarly, a short VHF/UHF antenna is a poor choice for shortwave reception. There are wideband antennas available on the Grove web site which are suitable, or you can use separate antennas and a switch to choose, or you can connect the two antennas to a standard TV VHF/UHF splitter, combining the two into one input for the receiver.
Noise suppression techniques: "Ground loops" allow buzzes and hum to come through well-shielded antenna systems. The best fix is to find a toroid (donut-shaped) ferrite ring or square core (Radio shack 273-104) and wind several turns of the coax through it close to the radio. A conventional radio-frequency-interference (RFI) bead (Radio Shack 273-105) may work as well. Since CRT monitors are especially strong radiators, LCD screens are recommended. All cords should have ferrite RFI beads mounted on them as close to the chassis as possible.
Networking
Q. Can I individually control more than one WiNRADiO from a single USB port?
A. Yes, you can install several WiNRADiO receivers to be operated from the same USB port--one at a time. No additional USB ports are needed unless you want to operate more than one receiver at a time.
Q. Can I operate more than one WR with my computer?
A. Absolutely; you can connect as many external units as you have serial ports, including virtual ports, which are supported by WR software. For example, to get two or three receivers running, you simply click twice or three times accordingly on the WiNRADiO applications icon. Of course you will be hearing two speakers at once, but you can physically separate the two receivers to tell which is which; or feed their external speaker jack outputs to the left and right inputs of your sound card; or plug external speakers into the appropriate receiver jacks.
Alternatively, you can control up to eight receivers with the model MS8108, or you could provide your own hardware and we could license the operating software which provides some enhanced functions for automated surveillance and monitoring like search with hand-offs and automated recording. A special Client/Server Option is well suited for such a multi-channel environment.
Q. But what about simultaneous recording of the several individual WR receivers? Do I need an external mixer?
A. Not if you are using the "DSP" models; you can simply run several instances of the WiNRADiO application program by simply clicking the on-screen icon once for each receiver. If you are using the MSM software (that requires a $5000 site license), you need to run only one instance, and this software has additional facilities to support multi-channel applications, such as mixing, compression codec, and date/time stamping of recorded transmissions. The MSM requires the modifications of an audio cable and mixer board at the time of order.
G31 Questions
Q. The published G31DDC Excalibur specifications show that the sensitivity decreases as you approach the low 10 kHz limit, but by how much?
A. Between 30 kHz and 35 MHz the sensitivity remains relatively constant: 0.16 µV (-123 dBm) @ 10 dB S+N/N, 500 Hz BW, but below 30 kHz it gradually drops to 2.5 µV (-99 dBm) @ 10 dB S+N/N, 500 Hz BW at 10 kHz. This is actually displayed on the spectrum scope. Above 35 MHz the sensitivity starts to fall off again due to the anti-aliasing filter and is also visible using the 50 MHz span.
G315 Questions
Q. Doesn’t the complex operation of the WR software use a substantial amount of the hard-drive capacity?
A. No; logging a single signal requires a mere 30 bytes for a complete record! If your hard drive has even 6 GB free, that would allow 200 million records!
Q. Are additional specifications available if not shown in advertising?
A. Absolutely. Let’s take the popular G315 as a typical example:
IP3: 0 dBm at 3.6 MHz with 20 kHz signal separation
IP2: +22 dBm at 7.14 MHz with 20 kHz signal separation
1 dB compression point: -10 dBm (varies with AGC; typically 10 dBm below IP3)
NF at 3.6 MHz: 8 dB
NF at 400 MHz: 16 dB
Maximum input level: +17 dBm
Total system gain for MDS: 140 dB (typ.) from signal input to IF output
G303/313 Questions
Q. Does the G303i have more demodulator options and higher performance than the G303e since the PCI interface is much faster than USB?
A. No, both have exactly the same options and performance. The required data transfer rate is much slower than available from USB, even with the 4-times IF over-sampling.
Q. Does the G313 with external reference oscillator option allow me to switch between both the internal and external oscillators?
A. Yes, but the external option is only available for the WG313i, not the WG313e.
Q. Do the G313 models both have the professional demodulator that is only an option for the G303 models?
A. Yes, and more--compare the specifications and features on the product details pages.
Q. Will the Digital Suite software I bought for my WR1000 also work with the G313 if I simply upgrade the software to the Advanced Digital Suite?
A. Yes.
Q. Since the 313i cannot demodulate digital modes, aren’t you forced to buy an external digital software decoder that also uses the sound card? And don’t you have to add another sound card to your computer to run both programs simultaneously? Most laptops don’t have room for a second card.
A. The G313i doesn’t require a sound card at all, so you can use that one sound card you already have for your decoder. Not only that, but existing optional decoders—with more coming shortly--are able to take the digitized data directly from any G3 series receiver, thus making an additional D/A and A/D sound card unnecessary.
Additionally, any G3 series model can be also interfaced to any third party software directly via a "virtual sound card" as described at http://www.winradio.com/home/vsc.htm. Processing the digital data directly this way is far superior to the D/A and A/D conversions because it minimizes distortion and noise.
Q. You claim 0.05 microvolt MDS (minimum detectable signal) claim for the G313 receiver; how does this compare with the G303?
A. While both models are highly sensitive, the G313 is slightly better. Unlike the G303, the G313’s performance is entirely independent of the PC’s sound card.
Q. Can I use the noise reduction feature of the Advance Signal Conditioner in my G313 along with third-party decoding programs like Skysweeper and Digital Master 780?
A. Not recommended. Adaptive noise-reduction methods are non-linear, and while they sound fine on audio signals, they will distort the decoding quality dramatically. For that reason, the G313 demodulator provides secondary output samples before being processed by plug-ins.
Q. Are there any special considerations in choosing an external sound card for use with the G313?
A. Any external sound card should work just so long as the audio is internally looped (i.e., the input mixer
should include something like "Stereo Mix" as source). For best performance, however, external sound cards are not recommended because rate differences between the sound card and the incoming data may distort decoding.
Q. There seems to be a discrepancy between the specifications which show .45 uV sensitivity on AM mode and the 1.7 uV displayed on the S meter for the weakest receivable signal. I observed a similar discrepancy on FM.
A. There is a fundamental difference between receiver sensitivity and the Signal Strength indicator sensitivity. For example, while the RSSI sensitivity is specified at 1µV, the receiver sensitivity is actually 0.2µV in the CW mode between 0.15-500 MHz.
Q. Why are there such differences in percentage demodulator readings on different signals of the same strength?”
A. The percentage of modulation is a measure of the transmitter modulation, not the receiver demodulation. A highly modulated carrier (say 80%) will allow a receiver to pull more signal contents out from the background noise, allowing better reception than from stronger signal with less modulation.
Q. Does the receiver’s RF/IF gain remain linear even if the audio is driven to clipping?
A. Yes, and a separate audio AGC loop can be adjusted to assure maximum dynamic range for both sections.
Q. How do the G303 and G313 sample for audio?
A. The G303e uses the PC’s sound card to sample the 12kHz IF at 48 kHz. The G303i uses an internal ADC to sample the data which are then processed by the PC. The G313 series receivers use an internal ADC and built-in DSP, sampling the 16 kHz IF (variable from 12-16 kHz for DRM purposes) at 64 kHz.
Q. Can the receiver audio be streamed over a PCI/LAN or other distribution system?
A. Yes. Both digitized IF and audio are available to the host PC. Once there, it can be channeled to an optional "Digital Bridge" virtual sound card (software) which allows the PC to act as a sound card for custom processing. You can see this at http://www.winradio.com/home/vsc.htm Or you can choose the Client Server option which allows the PC with the receiver to be remotely controlled via a LAN: http://www.winradio.com/home/g313-cso.htm