IZ8BLY MT63 Terminal

For 32 bit Windows
© 1999-2000 Nino Porcino, ninopo@tin.it
http://ninopo.freeweb.org

Beta Release 0.99e

IZ8BLY MT63 Terminal is a Windows program for transmitting and receiving MT63 signals on amateur radio bands. To learn more about this interesting mode, visit the MT63 web site.

A special thanks goes to Pawel Jalocha SP9VRC who is the inventor of MT63, and who also provided the source C++ code on which this program is based.

Table of Contents

• License
• Hardware Requirements
• Installation
• Configuration
• Operation
  • The Menus
  • The Tool Bar
  • RX and TX Windows
  • Tuning Display

License

IZ8BLY MT63 Terminal is free software. You can copy it and share it, so long as you don't charge any money for it, and you don't modify it. If you pass the software on to others, please pass on the original distribution file. Any commercial distribution without the written permission of the author is strictly prohibited.

If you use the program, please send some feedback, so that the author can be encouraged to make improvements. Donations would of course be welcome, but a friendly e-mail or postcard will suffice. Contact the author at:

email: ninopo@tin.it
web: http://ninopo.freeweb.org

or via snail mail:

Nino Porcino, IZ8BLY
Via dei Tulipani 21
89133 Reggio Calabria
ITALY - EUROPE

(If you want to meet Nino on air, try during weekends (Sat-Sun) in MT63 mode, on 14347 KHz LSB around 13:00 UTC.)

Hardware Requirements

You will need:

• a computer with Windows 95™, Windows 98™, or Windows NT™
• a reasonably fast processor (at least 166-200 MHz Pentium)
• a 16 bit sound card that works with Windows
• an HF transceiver, preferably with VOX
• (optional) a Hamcomm interface or similar serial port radio interface for PTT use.

Installation

Since you're reading this, you probably had no problem installing the software! If you want to uninstall it, or install a later version, use the Windows Control Panel. When installing new releases of the program, you MUST uninstall older ones first.

Connect the transceiver audio output to the line-in plug of the sound card. Connect the audio output from the soundcard to the transceiver microphone input, or auxiliary input. Note that some transceivers will not provide VOX operation from the auxiliary input. Isolation circuits between the computer and the transceiver using small line transformers are highly recommended. Use the Windows Control Panel to adjust the input and output levels of your soundcard. The Volume Control applet can be called from inside the program - see later.

If VOX will not work with your transceiver, you may need to fashion a PTT circuit as well. The transmitter can be controlled by a signal from a serial port, the DTR signal (pin 4) on COM1 to COM4. This is set in the File|Preferences menu. The circuit required is an NPN open collector transistor with a 10k base series resistor and a shunt diode. This is the same as the PTT circuit of a simple "Hamcomm" type interface often used for RTTY or SSTV, so if you already have such an interface, it will save you building the circuit.

MT63 modes should always be worked in USB. MT63 is a wide-band mode, so turn off any optional filters (narrow filters are of no advantage due to the nature of the MT63 software filters, and can interfere with reception of such a wide-band mode).

Configuration

Press CTRL+P or choose "Preferences" from the Menu to access the Preferences window. This window has a series of tabs which you can click on to see various mode related settings and alter them. The settings you choose are stored in the IZ8BLY.INI text file.

General:

• Callsign: used for the CW ID and CQ calls
• Integration: the size of the filter that is used during the sync and decode process. It should be 16 or 32. High values make the decoder more accurate, but introduce more delay.

PTT:

• PTT Port: selects the method used to key the transmitter on/off. Select "None" to use VOX. If you use a Hamcomm-like interface, specify the serial port where this is connected (COM1-4). If you use a radio interface (CAT) it is possible to use the PTT drivers used by the PSKGNR program by Al Williams (WD5GNR). You can download this program from: http://www.al-williams.com/wd5gnr/pskgnr.htm
• WD5GNR options: options to use the PSKGNR drivers for the PTT (see above). Program location is the name of the executable that controls the transmitter (e.g. kptt.exe if you have a Kenwood). Load at startup loads the PTT program when the MT63 Terminal program is launched and Close on exit will unload it when exiting from the MT63 Terminal.
• Beep when PTT off: The computer can send a little "beep" from its internal speaker when the transmission is complete. This is useful if you are switching the TX manually, as you will then know the right time to switch. If your beep is redirected by Windows to the sound card, the beep will be transmitted as well! In this case it is best to leave the beep off, or disable the redirection.

Tools

• Log program: Here you specify the command line for running your preferred log program. The program will then be accessible via the menu option "log program" (under the menu "Tools"). Use the "Browse" button to locate the executable file to launch. You can also specify any extra parameters needed, e.g. the archive file to open etc...
• Mixer program: Specify here the mixer program to be called when "Input volume" and "Output volume" buttons are pressed. The default program "SNDVOL32" is the standard Windows volume utility. Change it if your sound card uses another program (use the "Browse" button to locate the executable file).
• PSK31 program: Specify here the location of the PSK31 program, if you want to load it quickly using the CTRL+K shortcut or via the menu (see Menus below). Use the "Browse" button to locate the executable file.

Operation

The Menus

Click on a menu item (or select with the normal Windows keyboard ALT selections) to reach these controls:

FILE Menu

• Select RX / TX fonts: allows selection of any suitable installed Windows font for the receive and transmit display.
• Preferences (Ctrl+P) accesses the Preferences window for configuration (see Configuration)
• Stand by (Ctrl+B) puts the program in stand-by mode. The com port used for PTT and the soundcard are temporarily released, to allow the user to switch to another program (e.g. PSK31). Normal execution is resumed when the user switches back again to the MT63 Terminal program.
• Exit closes the program.

MODE Menu

Allows selection of the MT63 mode parameters. The "standard" mode (the most common) is 1kHz long interleave. Please note that a feature of MT63 is that there is a small time delay between when you type a letter, and when the letter is really received by the other station. This delay is affected by a parameter called "interleave". Note also that you must wait the interleave delay to "flush" the characters you type when you complete each transmission.

This delay depends on the mode and the speed. Short interleave is 32 bit times, long interleave is 64 bit times. The bit times are 200ms, 100ms and 50ms for 500 Hz, 1 KHz and 2 kHz modes respectively; so for example 1 KHz long interleave has an interleave delay of 6.4 seconds.

TRANSMIT Menu

• Stop immediately (Ctrl+X) stops the transmitter. Continuing to type in the TX window will start it again.
• End transmission: (F12) ends the transmission, placing the terminal in RX mode. There is an intrinsic built-in time delay before the terminal goes into RX mode, due to the interleave factor of the MT63 mode.
• Clear TX buffer (Ctrl+C) clears the transmit buffer, but does not stops the transmission.
• Send text file (Ctrl+S) calls a dialog for opening a text file and insert it in the text buffer; e.g. you can store station information in a file, and send it with a simple mouse click.
• Send binary file lets you transmit small binary files (pictures, programs...) using the MT63 capabilities. To achieve the maximum speed use it with the 2kHz mode. It is recommended that you do not exceed the 2 or 3 kilobyte size anyway. This is a simple exchange protocol, no retry or error correction is provided (considering that most of cases with MT63 the copy is perfect). Eventually zip and split larger files into smaller ones. Works only if other party is using IZ8BLY MT63 terminal V0.99e (or greater).
• Send CQ call (F9) will send a standard CQ message. At the same time, your callsign will be transmitted on the low side of the signal in Morse code.
• Send radio report (F8) will send a small text report, containing data about last measured S/N Ratio and FEC Confidence %. This information can replace the RST reports usually exchanged during a QSO.
• Set other operator callsign (F11) allows you to set or clear the other party's callsign, to be used with F12 key facility (see next option). The callsign will also be displayed on the status bar ("in QSO with: ...." or "Not in QSO"), and is also used when you query the callbook via the option "Who is..." (see later). It is also copied to the Windows clipboard, so you can paste it into a log program.
  Tip: you can use the metacommands $OTHER and $NOQSO to create customized call or greetings buttons.
• Send ahead buffer (*) (CTRL+T). Sends the text in the type-ahead buffer; i.e. text that you type without going into TX mode, by placing an asterisk (*) as first character.

RECEIVE Menu

• Start (Ctrl+R) starts the receiver sampling and display process. Has the same effect as the tool bar "Paper" button.
• Stop Stops the receiver. Has the same effect as toggling the tool bar "Paper" button.
• Alarm, if checked, will emit a beep using the internal speaker of the computer when an MT63 signal is present at the input. This option was made so you can easily monitor a channel by leaving the computer monitor turned off and the receiver speaker volume at minimum.
  Note: check your Windows settings, to be sure that the beep will be emitted by the PC speaker, and not by the soundcard itself (in which case the beep sound goes out on air!)
• Log to file writes all sent and received text to the file mt63log.txt.

TOOLS Menu

• Who is... (Ctrl+W) lets you quickly search for a callsign in the "MT63 Terminal Call Book" database. Name, QTH, Locator, Email and equipment used are shown if they are available. Please send updates or corrections using the appropriate page on the web, or by email directly to the author (or tell him on-air if you meet him). You can also keep your local database updated by simply saving the Call Book webpage from the internet in the "Database" folder.
• View callbook opens the local hard disk copy of the MT63 Terminal Call Book.
• Log program: (Ctrl+G) launches your log book program (has to be previously specified in the configuration window).
• PSK31: (Ctr+K) puts MT63 Terminal in stand-by mode and loads the PSK31 program specified in the Preferences window. This lets you switch quickly, avoiding conflicts between the two programs (as both use soundcard and serial port). Before returning to MT63 Terminal, close the PSK31 program.

The Tool Bar

The Paper button is used to start and stop the decoding of MT63 signals, which will be displayed in the Receive window.

The Set Input/Output Volume buttons call up the sound card mixer program to set input and output volumes and ports. Make sure that the level does not cause clipping in the transmitter. Setting the level too high will not make the signal any stronger - it will just be harder to read and cause more interference. Linearity is especially important if transmitting multi-tone signals such as MT63, to prevent intermodulation. Note: With Win95 both buttons generally launch the same Volume Control applet (Set Output Volume), so on this applet, use Options/Properties and select Recording to Set Input Volume.

Preferences button calls the configuration window.

Snapshot button lets you copy text from the receive display to the Windows clipboard.

Paste as quoted text pastes text from the clipboard to the TX buffer. Text will be "quoted" by adding a ">" character at begining of each line, as is done in e-mails. This feature is useful for repeating what has written by another radio operator (e.g. in a net, when stations don't copy each other).

Clear screen simply clears the RX window (but not the log file).

Reset will reset the MT63 internal engine status, for the rare cases when the sync process fails to lock to the carriers (typically you will see many "@@@@@@" characters).

Send report is a shortcut for the menu option "send radio report" or F8 Key.

Tune 1 and Tune 2 are two tuning buttons. Tune 1 sends an unmodulated carrier so you can adjust the right level of RF output. Tune 2 sends two carriers on top and bottom edge of MT63 signal so you can show to the other party where is your actual QRG.

RX and TX Windows

The RX window is where the decoded text is displayed. You can use the mouse to select and copy to clipboard.

The transmit buffer is place below the RX window and lets you type the message to be transmitted. You can resize the RX/TX window by moving the "splitter" control between the two.

The transmit buffer will also accept metacommands. These are general purpose program commands, and are denoted by the dollar sign ($). They can be typed directly into the Transmit Window, included in user definable buttons, or put in a text file to be sent via a menu option.

Metacommand	Text sent / action taken
$QRZ	The station callsign (as typed in the Preferences window)
$OTHER	The other party's callsign (defined with F11 key)
$CQ	Sends standard CQ call
$UTC	Time stamp (UTC time)
$TIME	Time stamp (local time)
$DATE	Date stamp (referred to local time)
$DATEUTC	Date stamp (referred to UTC time)
$$	The dollar sign (otherwise not printable)
$Cnn	Sends ASCII character number nn, e.g. $c65 sends "A"
$BUTTONn	Sends text assigned to the user definable button n (ranges is from 1 to 12)
$NOQSO	Clears other party callsign ($OTHER).
$Pn	Sets the output power level (soundcard volume) to n. The value ranges from 0 (silence) to 255 (full volume). This metacommand influences the mixer setting.
$OFF	Closes the transmission and goes in RX mode
$LASTSNR	The signal report of other party measured on last transmission. The values is in S scale as for transceivers (0...9, 9+5...9+60)
$LASTCONFIDENCE	The best measured confidence percentage of the last transmission (0-100%).

The user definable buttons are placed below the transmit buffer. You can modify their content, and the name on the button, by right clicking on the desired button. You can store pre-defined phrases and metacommands, then send them later by left clicking on the button.

Tuning Display

The Tuning Display shows a waterfall plot of the received signal, using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) technique. Place the MT63 signal precisely between the two blue lines.

The Confidence meter shows the reliability of the error corrected received text.

The S/N meter reports the signal to noise ratio of the received signal, measured both in dB (deciBels) and in S-units.

IZ8BLY MT63 Terminal for 32 bit windows platform
© 1999-2000 Nino Porcino, ninopo@tin.it
Extra lies and embellishments by Murray Greenman ZL1BPU