Basic operation

The main program window is shown below. You can click on any control for help.

Tuning the receiver

Tuning the receiver to a station can be performed in a variety of ways:

Using the main tuning knob

The main tuning knob works like a real one, and not like the knob in Ten-Tec's Windows program. To use it, click on the small hole and drag the pointer around in circles.

Using the slide-ruler dial

The slide-ruler dial displays a section of the band. You can click and drag on the slider to tune to the desired frequency.

Using the tuning buttons

If you don't feel comfortable with the tuning knob or the slide-ruler dial, to the right of the main tuning knob you have four buttons that you can also use for tuning. The single-arrow buttons tune up and down by the current tuning step, the double-arrow ones tune by 10 times that value.

Using a wheel mouse

If you have a wheel mouse supported by your X server, then you can use the wheel to tune up and down with the selected step, or ten times the step value if you hold the Shift key down (note that for this to work you must keep the mouse pointer located anywhere over the main window).

Using the keyboard

You can tune the receiver using the computer keyboard as well:

The full list of supported keyboard shortcuts is given here.

The tuning step is adjustable by selecting one of the Step buttons.

Selecting a detection mode

Use the Mode buttons to select the receiver detection mode:

Changing AGC settings

The AGC (Automatic Gain Control) determines how quickly the receiver gain is allowed to increase. The RX320 provides three different AGC settings that can be used to maximize receiver performance under different conditions:

Select the appropriate setting using the AGC buttons. The current setting is indicated in the main display.

Volume control

The Vol slider operates the main speaker output from the receiver. The Line slider operates the line output audio.

You can also change the volume using the keyboard:

More keyboard shortcuts.

Use the Mute button to mute the receiver. Both the main speaker and the line output are silenced. Press the button again to resume audio output.

Choosing a filter

Use the BW (Bandwidth) slider to set the receiver filter width. The selected filter width is indicated in the main display.

Passband tuning (IF shift)

The PBT (Passband Tuning) slider shifts the center of the passband up or down, while the tuning frequency remains the same. This can be used to eliminate an interfering signal just above or below the one you are trying to listen to.

CW offset

The CWO (CW offset) slider works only in CW mode and its action is similar to the BFO control found commonly in communication receivers. When receiving a CW signal, you can tune to the exact frequency of the signal and use the CWO slider to change the output audio tone.

The control is also useful in digital modes, like RTTY or HF fax: as with CW signals, tune to the center frequency of the signal and then use the CW offset control to shift the signal up or down in frequency as required by the decoder software.

VFO

The program emulates a receiver with two separate VFO (Variable Frequency Oscillator). Each VFO saves not only the current frequency the receiver is tuned to, but also the tuning step, detection mode, filter, AGC, PBT and CW offset settings.

You can switch at any time between the current and the alternate VFO with the A/B button. To save the current settings into the alternate VFO, use the A->B button.

Main Menu

The application main menu is accessible by right clicking on the main window (in the current version you may right-click anywhere, except over a slider control).

The following options are available:

Note that Frequency Database windows have their own separate menu system.