PC-MANAGER ~ addendum to operating manual (rev: 1.0)
DELAY IN TERMINAL WINDOW
There is a slight delay in response to commands typed into the terminal window imposed by the software environment
we have used for the text display. This is most noticeable with the ‘MA’ command, but also occurs with other
commands that return a lot of data. This is unavoidable but will not be a nuisance most circumstances.
If command responses appear in chunks requiring an additional [CR] from the keyboard, refer to the "MACHINE
SPEED" settings.
The backspace delete key does not function in terminal mode. If a mistake is made, simply press [CR] and type the
correct data again.
CORRUPTED DATA WHEN ‘GETTING’ FROM RADIO
You may get corrupted data when using the File|Get from RX... menu option to get data back from the radio if you
have not set the machine speed correctly. This is because the AR8000 can only respond to RS-232 commands at a
rate determined by its CPU and a PC can handle data much faster. The machine speed setting is used to slow the
transfer of data to the radio so that it has time to respond properly.
If you get corruption of data (particularly with empty memory channels), use the Setup|Machine Speed... menu option
to increase the delay and try again. There is a 200:1 range of delays available from the scroll bar in the dialog.
MEMORY AVAILABLE FOR TEXT WINDOWS AND TERMINAL WINDOW
The maximum amount of text that can be displayed in the terminal buffer or a text window is 64k bytes. The number
of files you can have open at once depends on the total amount of DOS memory that is available and the amount that
has been used for other windows. If you run out of memory for terminal display, try closing unwanted windows to free
up memory.
AUTO MODE PROGRAMMING OF SEARCH BANKS
Auto mode (“AU1”) is supported by RS-232 commands when programming search banks. This was overlooked when
writing the manual, but PC-MANAGER *DOES* support auto mode programming. There is a minor change to the
format of search bank data files to that described in the manual. An extra field has been added to support auto mode.
The new format of *.SCH files is:
A, 118.000000, 136.000000, 25.00, AM, ---- ---, CIV AIR
^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^
chan lower freq upper freq step mode auto att comment
The ‘auto’ field is 4 characters and may be either ‘----’ for auto mode OFF or ‘AUTO’ for auto mode ON.
NOTES:
WHEN AUTO MODE IS ON THE STEP SIZE AND MODE ARE DETERMINED BY THE AUTO MODE SETTING IN
THE RADIO. THE VALUES DISPLAYED WILL BE OVERRIDDEN.
The AR8000 "SR" command occasionally drops the AUTOMODE field which in turn causes corruption of the STEP
SIZE and / or MODE... this is not a BUG in PC-MANAGER and is unavoidable.
For correct export / import of SEARCH BAND data, the file must be saved with an extension of SCH, for example
TEST.SCH.
BANDPLAN AUTO MODE DATA
AR8000 PC-MANAGER allows you to alter bandplan data in the radio by sending replacement data from a .AUT file.
A file containing the defaults for the UK set are included in the file BRITISH.AUT. Files for other areas are not currently
available. PC-MANAGER *DOES* now support transferring auto mode data from the radio to the PC. To get auto
mode data from the radio, select the File|Get from RX... menu option.
BANPLAN data cannot be exported as RAW data.
FILE DIALOG HISTORY
The “Name” field of file dialogs allows you to enter a specification for searching for files (eg “*.MEM” for memory files).
You will see this field in the File|Open... dialog. The down arrow at the end of the field allows you to select a file
specification from a list of those previously entered. You do not need to keep entering the same specification over and
over again.
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PRESS ANY KEY option in menu
When aborting an upload of data, it is recommended that should you wish to about then use the [ESC] key. Any other
key will also cause an abort but will place the corresponding keystroke character in the cursor position on the screen.
COPY PROTECTION
AR8000 PC-MANAGER is copy protected using a system which places a token on your hard disk when you install the
program. The program will only work on the disk you installed it to. There is no dongle or key-disk, so once installed
the program runs completely normally and you will not be inconvenienced (unlike other schemes).
Specific points to remember:
1. The distribution disk contains a two tokens. This means that you can install up to two complete copies of the
software on separate machines at once. You cannot transfer the program to another machine without first
moving one of the tokens back onto the original distribution disk then re-installing. The tokens can easily be
moved with the program that is provided. Contact your AOR distributor if you need additional copies of the
software.
2. You should keep you original disk in a safe place away from strong magnetic fields, high humidity or other
environmental conditions that could damage it. You will not be able to re-install the software or move it to
another machine without the original distribution disk.
3. Two hidden files are copied to a hidden subdirectory of the AR8000 PC-MANAGER directory (AR8000.CCC
and CCONTROL.SYS) when you install the software. These contain configuration information for the copy
protection scheme and are normal DOS format files. DO NOT DELETE THESE FILES UNDER ANY
CIRCUMSTANCES. If these files are deleted, AR8000 PC-MANAGER will not run.
4. If you are using a backup utility, make sure that the two hidden files are not backed up. When restored, the
copy protection scheme may not be able to validate the installation and AR8000 PC-MANAGER will not run.
Most backup utilities do not touch these files because they have the hidden, system and read-only attributes set.
The two copy protection files also do not have the archive bit set, so you should be able to exclude them from
backups by setting up your backup software to ignore files without an archive bit. Remember, it is not the
backup but the restore that can cause problems.
5. The /d+ option of the PC-Kwik disk cache software from Multisoft Corporation is not compatible with the copy
protection scheme and should be temporarily disabled when installing AR8000 PC-MANAGER or moving the
token. HyperCache also affects the copy protection scheme in the same way because of non-standard methods
of accessing the floppy disk drive. Again, it should be temporarily disabled, but both caches may be used at
other times.
6. The copy protection scheme is compatible with disk drives compressed with SuperStor, Stacker and
DoubleSpace. However, you should temporarily remove the token from the hard disk when installing one of
these compression utilities because the protection will appear invalid when the drives are compressed. The disk
compression utilities warn you of this in their manuals.
7. The copy protection scheme is known to be compatible with the following disk defragmenters: Central
PointÆs Compress, Digital Research’s Diskopt, Stac’s Sdefrag and Microsoft’s Defrag.
RESPONSE FORM
Please use the “Response Form” to let us have your comments on AR8000 PC-MANAGER.
You can send your form to:
Simon Collings, G4SGI
46 St. Michaels Road,
Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire
GL51 5RR
ENGLAND
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