Manual  >  Digital modes  >  Digital Overview and Features

Digital Overview and Features

The digital part of the N1MM logger program is designed, coded and maintained by Rick Ellison, N2AMG.

1. Digital Overview

N1MM Logger supports a variety of methods to decode and transmit digital modes, including an external TNC/TU; the MMTTY engine for RTTY (sound card on receive, either sound card AFSK or FSK keying on transmit); the MMVARI engine for RTTY (AFSK only), PSK31, PSK63, PSK125 or MFSK16; or the FLDIGI engine for a broad range of sound-card digital modes including AFSK RTTY, PSK and many more. Regardless of which of these engines is used, the digital data streams pass to and from the engine via the Digital Interface (DI) window. At least one DI window must be open to operate the Logger in digital modes. Depending on your hardware configuration and operating mode, you may have either one (SO1V, SO2V) or two (SO2V, SO2R) DI windows open. Both DI windows have full receive and transmit capabilities. It is also possible to supplement the two DI windows with up to four additional receive-only windows. The user can interact with the DI windows using either the keyboard or the mouse as the primary control interface. There is a wide variety of options available to customize the operation of the digital interface.

The remainder of this section describes the operation of the DI windows, including basic operation as well as advanced features that can help make operation easier and more efficient. The next section describes how to set up N1MM Logger and the DI Window for digital modes regardless of which type of digital engine is used. Engine-specific details are described in separate sections for each of the supported engines (MMTTY, MMVARI and external TNCs - Fldigi description not yet completed).

Problems?

Check out the Digital Modes part of the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) of this Wiki.

2. Making QSOs

This section explains:

• How to make a Digital mode transmission
• Keyboard, Insert key and Mouse Assignments
• Function keys
• Macros

2.1. Make a Digital Mode Transmission

• Select 'Window | Digital Interface' and the Digital Interface will open. The Digital Interface window can be positioned and resized on your monitor as desired
• If an external TNC is used only the Digital Interface window is opened. When one of the sound card interfaces is chosen an extra window will appear: MMTTY, MMVARI or FLDIGI depending on which interface is selected in the DI window's Interface menu
• Left clicking on a call will grab the callsign. Right clicking on the RX and TX windows will show a menu (depends on a menu setting)
• Pressing Insert will Grab the highlighted call and sends Hiscall followed by the Exchange button
• Double clicking on a callsign in the callsign box from the Digital Interface sends that call to the Entry window
• A callsign is automatically highlighted if recognized by the program. Call signs are always recognized when they are both preceded and followed by a space. There is also an option to recognize call signs buried in garbage (without a leading or trailing space), provided that call sign is in the MASTER.DTA file

2.2. Digital Need to Know

• If the callsign in the callsign field in the Entry window is equal to the callsign in the received text, the call in the Entry window does not get placed into the call list.

Staying Focus'ed

Focus is automatically returned back to the Entry window when clicking a callsign in the Receive window

• Pressing Ctrl while single clicking on a call will force the call into the Entry window
• Click in the Entry window input field you want data to go to and then hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on that data. It will paste to the field you clicked into
• "-" separators between exchange elements are removed automatically
• CQ Repeat time starts
  • when using a sound card engine, from when the sending stops
  • when using an external TNC, from when the message begins, as there is no way to tell when the TNC finishes sending
• During transmit, callsigns are not grabbed from the receive window
• Linefeed characters (LF) in incoming text are replaced with Carriage Return (CR) characters

Auto-CQ with a TNC

To get auto-CQ to work correctly with a TNC set your repeat time to at least 9 or 10 seconds. It may need to be longer if you have a longer CQ macro. This will stop the TNC buffer from receiving the next string before it finishes sending the last one.

Clear the TNC Transmit Buffer

It is best to add the command that your TNC uses to clear the transmit buffer to the end of your Abort Macro. If not, the transmit buffer still holds the remaining characters that were left in the sent string and will get sent the next time the TNC sends.

Stop Sending CQ

When using a TNC turn off Config >Function Keys >Stop Sending CQ when Callsign changed. If not every time you stop an auto-CQ and you type a callsign in the box it will send the abort string to the TNC.

3. Tips for Making QSOs

Callsigns and exchanges are displayed in the Digital Interface (DI) window. This information can be transferred to the Entry window's Callsign field and exchange fields with the mouse, or it can be typed in manually the same as you would do in CW and SSB. Call signs recognized in the input stream are also placed in the Grab window, and can be transferred from there to the Entry window using the Grab button, the {GRAB} macro or Alt+G on the keyboard.

3.1. Using Hover Mode

• Hover Mode places the callsign in the callsign field in the Entry Window when you hold the mouse over a valid callsign. If you use this in combination with the 'Right click = Return NOT menu' option, you hover over the call then right click to plant the call and send your call; when the station comes back to you you click on the exchange to place it in the Entry Window. Right clicking again sends TU and logs the Q. Right click, left click,right click and you're done...
  • Note: Your own call is excluded from being picked up.
  • Hover mode is used in conjunction with the menu selection 'Rt Click = Return NOT menu' which will will send a Return when right clicking in the DI RX window instead of displaying a pop up menu

3.2. The Rate Improver - Right Click = Return NOT Menu

Select from the settings menu in the Digital window "Right Click = Return NOT menu". This setting could improve your rate greatly as your hand never leaves the mouse except for the occasional difficult exchange. Making a qso:

• While in Run mode
  • Right click in the DI's RX window to sends CQ
  • When a station replies left click on the call
  • Right click sends your exchange
  • As he sends his exchange left click on it
  • Right click again to send TU and log the call
  • Right click again starts CQ (and you're back at the first bullet)
• In S&P it does the same thing as hitting Enter to advance thru the ESM mode

Right click takes the place of hitting Enter for ESM. Most of the time while in the contest I have one hand on the mouse and the other hand I have one finger resting on the space between the Esc and F1 keys. With that finger I can hit Esc if I have started a CQ and someone has started coming back to me. 73 Rick N2AMG

4. Do You Have... (what to check when it does not work)

Below are the most common mistakes made setting up or using N1MM logger in RTTY mode.

• Add {TX} and {RX} to each of the F Keys
• Set up Mode Control in the Configurer
• Select the DI type in the Configurer under the Tab: Digital Modes
• When MMTTY selected: Set up the path to MMTTY in the Configurer under the Tab: Digital Modes
• Set up the Dig Wnd Nr in the Configurer under Hardware for Digital ports

4.1. Insert Key Assignments

4.2. Configuring the Entry Window Function Keys

• The Entry window function keys support 'Running' mode and 'Search & Pounce' mode.
• The function keys use the same macros for PSK and RTTY.
• The function keys can be changed under: 'Config | Change Packet/CW/SSB/Digital Message Buttons | Change Digital Buttons'.
• Below example button definitions:

4.3. Macro Keys

• There are 8, 16 or 24 extra macro keys possible on the RTTY interface
• A right click on the macro buttons brings up the Digital setup dialog where the macros can be configured
• These extra function keys support all the macros but don't support 'Running' mode and 'Search & Pounce' mode
• Include in your macros the control keys needed to turn on the TNC and switch to RX...
• Macro key substitution is supported by the buttons in the RTTY window and the function keys on the Entry window

The macros which can be used and some examples can be found in the macros reference section

There are several additional macros for an External TNC. Please check the Digital - External TNC support chapter. Also please check the rules for macros when using MMTTY and MMVARI.

5. Name Lookup

The program has the possibility to lookup the name from a station entered in the Callsign field. For this to happen the following has to be done.

• Import a callsign versus name text file
  • The famous 'Friend.ini' file used in the WF1B program can be directly imported
  • Also a text file using the format for Call History import can be used
    • Callsign <comma> Name. For example: N1MM,Tom
• Select >Config >Call History Lookup
• Use the {NAME} macro to have the name sent
  • Note: The name is looked up in the Call History table with the cursor in the callsign field and pressing the Spacebar!

Example how to import the Friend.ini file from the WF1B program.

• Select >File >Import >Import Call History
• Select your 'Friend.ini' file by changing 'Files of type:' to 'All Files (*.*)'. Otherwise only text files will be shown!
• Select the 'Open' button. The callsigns with names from the text file will be imported
• NB. Importing info in this table will delete all previous content. There is no merge option! So if there is information in it and you only want to add info, first export this info (Select >File > Export >Export Call History) and merge the data outside the program with a Text editor like Notepad. After this import the new merged file 'Friend.ini' file
• The program will show in the bottom pane of the Entry Window status information during importing and afterwards the number of imported callsigns

6. Output RX Data to a Text File

Sending your RX data to a text file can be done in N1MM logger and in MMTTY.

• N1MM Logger: Right click in the RX window and select >Output to Text File (this choice is not available if you have selected the 'Right Click = Return NOT menu' option)
• MMTTY: Doing this in MMTTY is a bit tricky. Go to the directory where MMTTY has been installed and load MMTTY in standalone mode. Click on File/Log RX and close the program. From now on every time you start MMTTY either via the logger or in standalone mode an output text file will be created and all your info will be stored in this text file. In the directory where MMTTY is located files will be created that have names like 031103.txt. MMTTY creates a new file for each day. These files are a real safety feature as you can go back through them for any info you missed or lost during a crash.

7. Single Operator 2 Radios (SO2R)

N1MM Logger also supports SO2R for RTTY. You can use any combination of either 2 MMTTY windows, 2 TNC windows or a combination of MMTTY and a TNC for SO2R operation. Info about MMTTY soundcard setup and SO2R can be found in the N1MM logger Help file in the SO2R chapter.

8. Additional Receive-Only Windows for RTTY

N1MM Logger supports up to four additional receive-only windows for RTTY. The purpose of these windows is to allow simultaneous use of more than one decoding algorithm on the same audio input. While it is possible, by using wide bandwidth filters, to use the additional windows to decode different signals from the one in the main DI windows, the normal use of the additional windows is to decode the same signal as the one in the main window, but using a different decoding method to improve the overall ability to decode signals in difficult situations.

These receive-only windows can be distributed in any way between the two DI windows. These receive-only windows normally use additional copies of MMTTY, configured with different "profiles" (e.g. multipath, fluttered, different detection algorithms), or they can be used with additional TNCs or TUs. You can use any of the possible digital interface engines in the main DI window (MMTTY, MMVARI, Fldigi or a TNC/TU), but regardless of which engine is used in the main window, the additional receive-only windows can only use MMTTY or a hardware decoder.

The receive-only windows are invoked from the DI window's Setup > Open Add. Rx Window (4 Avail.) menu item - the number in the menu item indicates how many of these windows are unused and still available. The first time one of these windows is opened, its Setup window will be displayed.

The setup information that must be entered includes the engine type (MMTTY, TNC or Dxp38), the path to the copy of MMTTY for that window (if used), and/or the COM port information for a TNC (if used).

After the setup information has been entered, the window should be closed and re-opened, and then it will be available for use.