G305 Q

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. Is it possible to customize the display to show alphanumeric entries instead of just the frequency?

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-8XXX 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. With all the different communications modes on the air today, why don’t the WiNRADiO receivers have these decoders built in?

A. WR keeps their decoding software as options 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, as are those from WiNRADiO, such as shortwave DRM which they pioneered and are the only fully-licensed vendor in the SWL market. That said, WiNRADiO does manufacture specific-purpose receivers with integrated decoders, such as the G33 marine HF receiver.

Q. Is the claimed superiority of the WiNRADiO product line recognized in the professional marketplace?

A. Absolutely. WR is the only manufacturer to receive the 5 star rating from the independent World Radio-TV Handbook (WRTH) three years in a row. To their credit, WR actively solicits improvement recommendations from their clients and immediately acts on them when possible and practical.

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. 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.

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.

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. And 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 . (The G313 receiver will be added shortly).

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 and option for the G303 models?

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?

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.

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. 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. 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.

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. While printed specifications are very helpful, there are some missing like compression point, intermod, noise figure, receiver gain, etc. Are these available?

A. They certainly are. Let’s take the popular G315 as a typical example.

IP3 is 0 dBm at 3.6 MHz with 20 kHz signal separation

IP2 is +22 dBm at 7.14 MHz with 20 kHz signal separation

1 dB compression point is -10 dBm

NF at 3.6 MHz is 8 dB.

NF at 400 MHz is 16 dB.

Maximum input level is +17 dBm.

Total system gain for minimum detectable signal (MDS), antenna port to IF output, is 140 dB.

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. 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 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

Q. Is there a way to control multiple receivers?

A. Yes, up to eight with the model MS8118: http://www.winradio.com/home/ms8118-g3.htm. Alternatively, 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.