Robotron WRN Appendix E

WR-3700 series

User’s Guide

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

Introduction

Designed for government, military, security, surveillance and industrial applications,
WiNRADiO Spectrum Monitor puts advanced radio receiver technology directly on a
personal computer platform to create a high-performance PC-based spectrum surveillance
and monitoring system.

This synergy of advanced radio and computing technology provides the WiNRADiO
Spectrum Monitor with many unique features which are hard to find on the usual stand-alone
communications radio receiver. These features include a rich variety of flexible tuning and
scanning options, versatile memory and database facilities, the abilit y to digitall y process t he
received signal, as well as the ability to interact with other programs running on the same
PC. All this is controlled through an innovative user interface, unparalleled in sophistication
and ease of use.

The internal version (WR-3700i-DSP) conserves valuable desk-top space, and avoid the
need for external cables and power supplies. It also have the advantage of not requiring any
additional interface ports, as all communication with the PC is via the internal PC bus. A
dedicated DSP (Digital Signal Processor) is used for real-time audio compression and
playback, and can be expanded to include other real-time signal processing functions tailored
to the user's particular requirements. Multi-channel operation is simple to achieve, as up to
eight WiNRADiO internal receivers can be used simultaneously in the one PC.

The external version (WR-3700e) can be controlled through an RS-232 serial interface, or
the optional plug-and-play PCMCIA interface. The PCMCIA interface allows quick and
simple connection to any laptop PC, providing complete portability for vehicle or field u se.
The external versions can be powered by the plug-pack (supplied), or from the optional WR­PPS battery pack with inbuilt charger. The external model also include a direct discriminator
output, for optimum reception of packet and other digitally modulated signals.

The informative control panel displayed by the WiNRADiO Spectrum Monitor includes a
number of ground-breaking features, designed to empower the user with a multitude of
tuning and scanning capabilities especially tailored for surveillance applications. One of the
most significant features is VisiTune™, a patented feature allowing the operator to
graphically tune within a dynamically-changing spectrum screen representing the actual
situation on the monitored band.

Add to this the fact that WiNRADiO Spectrum Monitor features an automatic task scheduler
which can be programmed for unsupervised operation, search for specific types of signals
and even make decisions based on the specified circumstances, and you will find that
WiNRADiO Spectrum Monitor represents an invaluable tool, making radio surveillance
easier and much more efficient and reliable.

Registration Information

To be informed about any new products or software upgrades, please register using the Web
site closest to your location:

North America www.winradio.com/home/register.htm
Europewww.winradio.co.uk/home/register.htm
Australia/Asia www.winradio.net.au/home/register.htm
Comments and suggestions are welcome, and can also be made from these sites.
Be sure to visit out Web site from time to time, and watch for new software upgrades and

options as they become available.

2

Installation

The WiNRADiO internal version package contains the following items:

• WiNRADiO receiver card
The WiNRADiO external version package contains the following items:

• WiNRADiO receiver unit

• RS-232 cable

• Power adaptor

• PC Card Adaptor option (if ordered)

• Portable Power Source option (if ordered)

Both packages include the following items:

• WiNRADiO software installation disk

• Indoor test antenna

• This User’s Guide

• The manufacturer’s warranty information

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

• Any software option (such as the WiNRADiO Digital Suite or Database Mana ger), if

ordered

Note that you must supply your own antenna for optimum reception.

In order for your WiNRADiO receiver to function, your IBM PC compatible computer must
meet the minimum system requirements specified below.

System Requirements

Minimum Recommended
Processor: 386 Pentium or higher
RAM: 4 MB 16 MB or more
Display VGA SVGA: at least 800x600, 256 colours
OS: Windows 3.1 Windows 95, 98 or NT 4
Spare serial port or PCMCIA socket for the external model, or a spare ISA slot for the

internal model.

3700i Hardware Installation

1. If your computer is on, shut down the computer first, turn it off and disconnect the

power cord.

2. Remove the computer cover.

3. If other expansion cards are fitted, check their address assignments. If necessary, change

any of the jumpers on the WiNRADiO receiver card to avoid conflicts. (The default I/O
port 180, IRQ 10 and DMA 0 should normally work, however i f you need to change any
jumpers, see the following section about ‘Jumper Settings’.)

4. Choose an empty 16-bit expansion slot, preferably with an empty slot immediately to

the right (assuming you are facing the computer front).

5. Important: Before inserting the WiNRADiO card, touch the co mputer metalwork with

your hand (to drain any static charge from your body), and also touch the metal bracket
on the WiNRADiO card.

3

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

6. Carefully insert the card into the vacant slot, and push until it is firmly seated. Screw the

metal bracket at the end of the card to the computer case (this must be done to minimise
ground-conducted interference).

7. Replace the computer case and reconnect the power cord.

8. Plug a speaker or headphones into the audio jack at the rear of the card. Alternatively, if

you have a sound card a nd wish to ro ute WiNR ADiO t hrough it, you c an pl ug an a udio
‘patch’ cable from the audio jack to the ‘Line In’ jack on your sound card. Note that a

3.5mm stereo plug must be used, otherwise you will hear no audio from the receiver. A
suitable patch cable is included with the WiNRADiO Digital Suite o ption.

9. Connect the antenna to the BNC jack at the rear of the card and extend the antenna up

and as far away from the computer as possible.

10. If you have a plug-and-play computer, you may have to configure the BIOS under

'PNP/PCI CONFIGURATION' to set the appropriate IRQ and DMA to 'Legacy ISA'
instead of 'PCI/ISA PnP' to avoid conflicts with any plug-and-play devices in your
computer. You should also make sure that any PCI IRQs are not the same as
WiNRADiO's.

Jumper Settings

The WiNRADiO receiver card is provided with jumpers which select the desired I/O port
address. The jumper may need to be changed from the factory default settings to avoid
conflicts with other cards already installed in the computer.

There are eight possible I/O addresses which the WiNRADiO card can use: 180, 188, 190,
198, 1A0, 1A8, 1B0 and 1B8 (all specified in hexadecimal). There are also 8 different IRQs:
3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 15, and 2 DMA channels: 0 and 3. The factory default is I/O port
180, IRQ 12 and DMA 0.

If more than one WiNRADiO card is to be installed in the computer (up to 8 depending on
available address lines), each card must be assigned a unique I/O address and IRQ. The
DMA channels can be shared, all eight are able to run on one DMA channel, but it is
recommended to evenly distribute the card’s DMA settings across the two channels if
possible.

Some of the WiNRADiO IRQs can be used by other devices, for example: IRQ 3 is normally
used for COM2, 5 for a sound card, 7 for an EPP or ECP printer port, 9 for a video card, 10
for a network card, 11 for a SCSI card, 12 for a PS/2 mouse port and 15 for the secondary
IDE port. If you wish to use any of these interrupts, make sure that either these devices don’t
exist, or disable them.

4

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

3700e Hardware Installa tion

1. First install the software (see below).

2. Connect the supplied power adaptor to the +12V DC power socket on the rear of the

unit, and switch the unit on.

3. Connect the supplied RS-232 (or optional PC Card Adaptor) cable between the

computer and the WiNRADiO unit.

4. Connect the antenna to the BNC connector at the rear of the unit, and extend the antenna

up and as far away as possible.

Software Installation

1. Insert the WiNRADiO installation disk into your floppy drive.

2. If you are using Windo ws 95, 98 or NT 4, c lick on the ‘Run’ c ommand in t he ‘Start’

menu. If you are using Windows 3.1x or NT 3.5x, Click on the ‘Run’ command in the
‘File’ menu in Program Manager or File Manager.

3. Type A:\INSTALL (or B:\INSTALL if your floppy drive is B).

4. After the Welcome dialog box and Licence agreement, you will be prompted to enter a

directory to install the WiNRADiO software. You can either choose to accept the
default, or you ma y ent er yo ur o wn.

5. The installation will then proceed to install the necessary files onto your hard disk. You

will then be asked whether you want to add an icon to Windows. If you accept, you will
then be asked which program group to add the icon to.

6. If this is the first installation in Windows 3.1x, 95 or 98, you will then be asked to

restart Windows. The WiNRADiO receiver will not work until Windows has been
restarted. In Windows NT, a hardware configuration utility will pop up allowing you to
specify the hardware settings for the software (see the next section ‘I/O Configuration’
for more details).

WiNRADiO software is periodically upgraded. Check out the newest software version on our
Web site at www.winradio.com. If you wish to be automatically notified of upgrades and
other WiNRADiO related information, please register with our user database by sending an
e-mail message with subject heading REGISTER to [e-mail].

5

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

I/O Configuration

To inform the so ftware of t he hardwar e config uration, a Co ntrol
Panel applet is used. Open Control Panel and double-click on the
WiNRADiO icon. A dialog box will appear, which allows you to
specify the hardware configuration for the software.

Windows 3.1, 95 and 98

As can be seen, up to 8 internal cards can be configured, and for
each card installed, a suitable I/O address must be nominated.

In most situations, you can use the ‘Auto Detect’ feature, which will allow the software to
find all the internal cards and the IRQ and DMA settings for each. Only rare circumstances
stop the auto-detection from working.

If there are any problems with the settings (such as an address conflict), you will be notified
of the problem.

After you click on OK and any setting has been changed, you will be prompted to restart
Windows for the new settings to take effect.

Windows NT

Up to 9 receivers (internal and external) can be configured,
and for each receiver installed, its location must be
nominated.

In most situations you can use the ‘Auto Detect’ feature,
which will allow the software to find all internal I/O ports,
serial ports (must be switched on) and PC Card slots a
receiver is connected to. Note it will not detect the IRQ or
DMA settings for the internal receivers but will detect the
presence of the DSP.

An optional fifth field is provided that allows you to specify a name to be associated with the
receiver. The name will appear in the title of the main window instead of the traditional
‘WiNRADiO Spectrum Monitor #’ title.

After you click on OK, the new settings take immediate effect.

Uninstalling WiNRADiO

In Windows 95, 98 and NT 4, start up Control Panel and double-click on the ‘Add/Remove
Programs’ icon. Select ‘WiNRADiO’ from the list and click on the ‘Add/Remove’ button.

In Windows 3.1x and NT 3.5x, double-click on the ‘Uninstall WiNRADiO’ icon in the
program group that contains the WiNRADiO icon.

All software and changes to any configuration files will be removed fro m your hard disk.

6

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

Troubleshooting

Installation Problems

If you try to start-up your WiNRADiO receiver for the first time and you are presented with
a dialog box stating that the WiNRADiO receiver card could not be found, you most likely
have a configuration problem.

If you are using an internal WiNRADiO model, open the WiNRADiO configuration utility
from Control Panel by double-clicking on it. Click on ‘Auto Detect’. If no W iNRADiO card
can be found, then you probably have a hardware address conflict. Shut down the computer,
and try other jumper settings as described earlier in this chapter. Start up the computer and
try auto-detecting again.

If you are using an external WiNRADiO model, make sure it is plugged in and the power is
turned on (the red LED on the front panel should be illuminated).

If you are using the WiNRADiO software and find that the Spectrum Scope is obscuring the
panel, try to reposition the main WiNRADiO control panel window by changing it from full­screen to a window, and positioning it in the top area of the screen. Shrink the size vertically
so there is a thin border around the panel. This should make your WiNRADiO receiver
easier to use.

If you are findi ng that sho rtcut keys a re not resp onding (i ncluding the tab and c ursor keys) ,
try clicking on the appropriate window with the mouse to activate the window. If you have
more than one dialog box open at the same time, try closing them until only one is left open.

Sensitivity Problems

The WiNRADiO receiver is very sensitive, so low sensitivity problems are usually due to
noise induced into the antenna by the PC monitor, less commonly the PC, or some other
external source. If the noise is strong enough, it can overload the receiver which responds by
automatically reducing sensitivity using its AGC (Automatic Gain Control) mechanism. This
problem is more common on low frequencies (under 30MHz). As a result, the reception can
become noisy and the receiver appears to be ‘deaf’.

This can happen if the antenna is poorly located, for instance if it is too close to the PC
monitor, or used inside a building with steel-reinforced concrete walls. Try repositio ning the
antenna, or placing ferrite cores over its shielded lead close to the receiver, to break the
transmission of interference back to the antenna.

Another remedy which is often effective is to place an RF (radio frequency) filter between
the PC mains lead and the wall power outlet, to reduce interference caused by earth loops.

If these measures fail to produce the desired noise reduction , and if you are using an internal
receiver model, try moving the receiver card to a different slot inside the PC, as far as
possible from other potentially noisy cards, especially the video card, and the power supply.

Video monitors are also major sources of interference, and there are significant differences
between brands in this respect. You can establish the noise contribution of your monitor by
switching it off. If the noise diminishes substantially, check that the monitor lead is fitted
with a ferrite suppressor bead (the rectangular or cylindrical moulding on the lead). If not, fit
a suppressor, or acquire a quieter monitor.

7

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

Intermodulation Problems

Your WiNRADiO receiver has been designed to be very sensitive in order for it to work
with the moderately small antennas which are preferable for VHF/UHF. In areas with strong
local broadcast stations, the WiNRADiO receiver front-end may overload and, as a result,
intermodulation products may appear in the received band. By pressing the Local button on
the control panel, the interference products will disappear.

It is advisable to use the Local setting if you are operating the receiver with larger outdoor
antennas, especially on broadcast bands. For long-distance shortwave reception, a
considerable improvement can be obtained by using a tuned antenna and preselector.

8

Using WiNRADiO

When you first start WiNRADiO, you are presented with a radio receiver interface. The
image below shows the main parts of the control panel.

The following few sections document each of the parts in detail.

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

Basic Controls

Frequency Readout

The frequency readout shows the current receiver frequency.
Below this is another display which shows one o f the following:

the callsign and/or a comment relating to the current tuned
frequency, taken fro m the frequenc y memor y (enter ed by the user), o r the desc riptio n of the
current band. The band description is user-definable under ‘Auto-stepping’ in the Configure
menu.

To enter a fr equenc y, simp ly typ e the de sired freque ncy u sing the ke ybo ard. As soon a s you
press a number or the decimal point, the frequency readout will enter the edit mode, allowing
you to enter the frequency. The old frequency is automatically overwritten. If you want to
edit the existing frequency, click on the readout with the le ft mouse button to highlight the
current frequency, position the cursor as desired, reclick the left mouse button, make the
desired changes, then press the Enter key. To change the frequency unit (kHz, MHz or GHz),
press K, M or G respectively while the display is highlighted o r in edit mode.

To tune the receiver to the new frequency, press the Enter key. To cancel and return the
previous display, press the Escape key.

In each mode, the frequency readout only displays the most significant digits which affect
tuning and reception. The display resolution is as follows: 1 Hz in CW, LSB and USB, 10
Hz in FMN, 100 Hz in AM and 1 kHz in FMW.

In FMW, the lowest tunable frequency is 30 MHz. If you attempt to tune to a frequency
below 30 MHz, the receiver will automatically change the mode to AM, and disable the
FMW button.

Tuning Knob

The tuning knob adjusts the frequency by the smallest suitable increment for
the current mode. In LSB, USB and CW it is 10 Hz; AM is 100 Hz; FMN is
500 Hz, and FMW is 50 kHz.

To use the knob, position the mouse cursor over the top half of the knob, and
the cursor will look like this: . To decrease the frequency, click the left

9

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

mouse button. To increase the frequency, click the right mouse button. On the bottom half,
the cursor will flip vertically . The mouse buttons will now operate in reverse, with the
left increasing and the right decreasing the frequency.

To tune the receiver from the keyboard, press the up/down cursor keys to increase and
decrease the frequency respectively.

For faster tuning, use the Shift or Ctrl keys simultaneously with the mouse or keyboard
tuning commands to multiply the frequency step by 10 or 100 times respectively.

To reduce the step size to 1 Hz for more accurate tuning of LSB, USB or CW, use the Alt
key simultaneously with the mouse or keyboard tuning commands.

Modes

WiNRADiO WR-3700 series supports eight different reception modes (CW, LSB, USB,
AM, FMN, FMN2, FMN3 and FMW).

These modes are abbreviations of Continuous Wave (CW), Lower Side
Band (LSB), Upper Side Band (USB), Amplitude Modulation (AM),
Frequency Modulation Narrow-band (FN) and FM Wide-band (FW). FN1
bandwidth is 6.5kHz,FN2 15kHz and FN3 is 50 kHz.

To select the desired mode, click on the appropriate mode button or use the
keyboard shortcuts: A for AM, W for FMW, N for FMN , C for CW, L fo r LSB, an d U for
USB.

Volume

The volume control is located on the right hand side of the panel. The volume
can range from 0 (no sound) to 31 (full volume).

There are several ways to adjust the volume. Using the mouse, you can increase
or decrease it by clicking on the up/down volume control arrows respectively, or you can
click on the scroll button between the two arrows and drag the volume up or down.

Using the keyb oar d, you ca n press V and enter the volume, or you can use the left and right
cursor keys to decrease and increase the volume respectively.

Signal Level Meter

The signal level meter, located under the volume control, shows the received
signal strength. It represents the strength by a bar graph, and shows the
equivalent numerical s trength on the right side of the display.

The value represents the approximate signal level in dB above the receiver noise floor.
The signal le vel is also used to contro l squelch and sca nning.

Squelch

The squelch controls the audio output and scanner threshold.
In normal operation, if the signal level drops below the squelch threshold, the audio output is

muted after a time delay specified under ‘Configure - General Options’. If the signal rises
above the squelch threshold, the audio is restored immediately.

10

The squelch indicator, at the bottom of the panel, shows whether the current signal level is
above or below the squelch threshold. If it is above the threshold, the display is green,
otherwise it is red.

The squelch threshold also controls scanning. When scanning, the receiver will pause or stop
if it receives a signal above the squelch threshold, otherwise it will continue scanning until
such a signal is found.

WR-3700 Series User’s Guide

If you wish, you can have different squelch thresholds for normal reception and scanning. To
activate this feature, go to Configure - General Options and select Separate squelch for
scanning. The receiver will then accept different squelch thresholds on the front panel, and
in the ‘Scanner - Setup’ dialog box (described later).

Attenuator

The attenuator controls the level of the RF signal entering the receiver front-end. If
a signal is too strong, it may overload the receiver and cause distortion. To combat
this problem, the RF signal can be attenuated by 18 dB by clicking on the Local
button or by pressing the O key.

If the attenuator is active and the signals are too weak, click the DX button or press
the D key to turn the attenuator off.

Stepping

Four stepping modes are available: fixed, auto, memory, and duplex. To select
between fixed, auto and memory stepping, click on the Select button or press the T
key until the desired stepping mode appears. Duplex stepping is activated
separately, as described below.

To step through frequencies, click on the up/down buttons located next to the
frequency readout, or press the Page Up/Page Down keys to step up/down
respectively.

The stepping modes are described below in more detail.

Fixed Stepping

Where stations operate on fixed channels (e.g. AM or FM broadcast band, mobile radio,
CB), it is usually more convenient to change the frequency in steps corresponding to the
channel separation.

You can specify the desired step size for each mode from a minimum equal to the frequency
resolution of the display, up to a maximum of 10 MHz. To enter the step size, either click on
the step display with the mouse, or press the F key; then enter the desired step size and press
Enter (or Escape to cancel the entry). Note that LSB/USB share the same step size.

If you change the mode, the step size will be changed to the size previously entered for that
mode.

Note that all modes retain the frequency to the nearest 1 Hz even though the extra digits
might not be visible. For example if you change from LSB to FMW and back, the actual
frequency is not rounded off, but remains the same. This ensures that accidental mode
changes do not cause the exact current frequency to be lost.

Auto-Stepping

Auto-stepping is an enhanced form of fixed stepping, in which the step size depends on the
receiver frequency. This facility can also automatically set the mode and squelch threshold
according to frequency.

11