PocketRxTx –Transceiver & WebSDR Remote Control for Android

Version 3.0

Dan Toma - YO3GGX - yo3ggx@gmail.com Please do not to give negative feedback in the Google Play Store before contacting me by e-mail to clarify any issues with the application. I promise to answer you ASAP. PocketRxTx is available as a free application (Ads based) or as a “Pro” version, with no Ads and some extra features. Please install the free version first to check it if is useful for you and only if so, consider buying the Pro version.

Introduction

PocketRxTx is an Android only application used to remotely control different Amateur Radio receivers or transceivers. You can connect through the Internet to a WebSDR server or via a Bluetooth, USB/Serial or network connection to your own Amateur Radio transceiver.

Features

The current version of the application has the following general features:

Specific functions direct CAT mode (i.e. not WEBSDR):

Specific functions in SDR Receiver mode:

Possible Limitations

The current version of the application may have limitations:

WARNING!!!

Use this application at your own risk. When using a network connection, it is possible that your PC may be accessible from the Internet. It is your responsibility to address this risk if you consider it to be an issue. One possible approach may be to use some kind of VPN (e.g. PPTP). The application only provides secure login authentication, no data encryption. A full encryption option is planned to be added in the future. If you are not comfortable with this situation and you are not able to use any kind of VPN, then only use the network link from the App over your own internal LAN.

This application does not send any “dangerous” data to the transceiver however as the protocol used by Yaesu for FT-8x7 CAT control does not use any error correction mechanism, it is possible (in some unlikely situations) that unexpected results may occur such as a software crash on the transceiver (requiring to power cycle to rectify it). In a worst-case scenario a complete wipe of all EEPROM data, including configuration, software calibration/alignment and memories is theoretically possible. As all CAT commands used by PocketRxTx are user customizable by just editing a text file, extra caution must be exercised when changing the radio configuration textmode file.

In the case of Yaesu FT8x7 equipment it is highly recommended to save your transceiver settings using a program such as “FT 817 Commander” (you can use Google search to find it) before starting to use this application. As a minimum save all “soft calibration” settings, plus any other information stored in your radio before using this application.

I cannot be held responsible for any damage caused to your Android device, your transceiver or your PC… You have been warned!



Overview of PocketRxTx installation and configuration.

Starting and closing the application

You can install the application directly from the Google Play Store (search for “PocketRxTx”).

NOTE: If you are running the application on Android 6.0 and above, no special permissions are generally required to run it. Only if specific permission is required to be provided in order to access some application features, will you be asked to grant permission. If you deny this permission, just that feature will not be available. On Android versions up to and including version 5.x, permissions required by all the application’s features will be requested during the application installation. From version 3.0 of PocketRxTx, this application does not require access to the media files area anymore.

After you install the application, a new icon similar to the one below will be available:

Press the icon to launch the PocketRxTx application.

During the first start of the application or after doing an application reset (see later), you will be prompted to enter your callsign and choose the default start mode: Direct CAT (control of your rig) or WebSDR (control of web-based receivers).





The callsign will be used for the call log if you enable it and to identify you when you access a WebSDR.



Selecting the “WebSDR” mode at the first start of PocketRxTx

If you select WebSDR mode the first time you run PocketRxTx (or after a factory reset), the first WebSDR server which answers a request from the application is selected by default. The startup page will appear (in Landscape or Portrait mode).

NOTE: In Android’s Notification bar, a small icon will be present once the application is started, even if is running in the background. If you press the related notification text, you will bring the application back to the screen. Note: this is only the case if NOTIFICATION is activated (for how to enable/disable NOTIFICATION see later in this document).

To exit the application at any time, click on the icon. You will get the following message prompt.

Click on YES if you want to exit or on NO to return to the PocketRxTx screen.



Selecting the “Direct CAT” mode at the first start of PocketRxTx

If you select Direct CAT mode at first run (or after a factory reset), a wizard will start that will help you configure the app for this mode. You will be first prompted to select transceiver brand. As you can see, the names are displayed in green. This indicates that the data is coming from the online central repository via the Internet.

NOTE: Throughout the application configuration, the text on the buttons in selection panels can have different colors. In this case, green means that this is an online selection (files will be loaded from the central server).

Select the desired brand by clicking on the desired brand name. You will then be prompted to select a model from that brand. Here we take Icom as an example.

Click on the desired radio model. Let’s select IC7300. If multiple configuration files are available for that specific radio model, you will be prompted to select which one you wish to use. In this particular case we have 2 default versions: one for PocketRxTx v2, the other one for PocketRxTx v3.

Any user is welcome to publish his own configuration in the central repository, in order to share it with other users of the same transceiver. You just have to send your radio configuration file to me by e-mail.



Here we clicked on the desired configuration version - 3. Some info about the selected radio is displayed: version, author, date, brand logo. If you want to select a different radio, just click on the radio brand/model box.

As this is the configuration we want, we click on LOAD to save the selected configuration file locally on the Android device. You will be prompted for a confirmation.

Once we click OK the configuration file will be available locally and the next time you start PocketRxTx this model will be selected.

In the next step in the initial configuration process you will be asked which connection mode you will be using to access your radio. You can connect over Bluetooth (CAT only), USB/Serial cable (CAT only) or over the network (CAT and Audio).

NOTE: To be able to use a USB cable connection for control, the Android device has to support “On the Go” or OTG mode. This changes the Android phone or tablet into being the “host”, the same role that a PC or laptop has and not the slave (dumb device) that it normally operates as. The Android device has to be able to send the CAT commands. If your Android device has an older version of Android or one that does not have OTG support, you should look at the network or Bluetooth connection options. To tell the Android device to switch into OTG mode an OTG USB cable or OTG adapter is needed (these are cheap items, but without it the Android device will not be able to communicate over the USB cable with the radio).

When you click on the desired connection mode, the setup page for that mode is opened, as described below.



Setup Bluetooth connection

When you click on “Bluetooth”, the following configuration page will be displayed.

Check that you Bluetooth CAT interface is switched on and in pairing mode. Click on SEARCH to start searching for Bluetooth devices.

After a few seconds, a list of discovered Bluetooth devices will be displayed.



Select your Bluetooth (BT) CAT interface from the list. Some information such as name and MAC address will be displayed.

NOTE: If initially your device is not discovered, you can click on “Search again” to repeat the search, if perhaps the BT device was not turned on in time.

If the BT CAT device was not paired with Android previously Android will ask you to authorize pairing now.

Setup USB connection

If you click on the “USB” connectivity option, the following page will be displayed if the connection is not in place.

You may connect your USB “OTG” cable between the Android device and your rig’s USB port or your Computer to rig digital interface (if the device is in the list of supported USB serial port chipsets).



You will be asked by Android to allow this application (pRxTx) access to the USB device and whether PocketRxTx should be the default App to load when Android sees this interface in the future.

Check “Use by default for this USB device” and click OK. The USB setup page will now appear to ask for details about the connected interface. Taking as an example the Yaesu SCU-17 digital modes interface, you will see the following.

Select the desired interface to be used for CAT and for PTT. Depending upon the interface hardware or the USB Chipset in the rig, there may be one or two interfaces displayed at this point. Your selected options will be displayed in magenta. Click on the desired mode to send PTT commands: RTS or DTS signals from the selected serial port, or CAT if you want PTT to be send as a CAT command. In the example above, PTT is sent through the RTS line over the second serial port.

NOTE: Some transceivers require PTT to be controlled over a pin on an accessory socket on the back of the radio. PocketRxTx can only “talk” to serial communications connections that it sees through the USB connector so Interfacing between the radio and the Android device running PocketRxTx will need to take this into account. Several different approaches are taken on different radios to provide computer control and you will need to refer to your radios documentation to understand what is required to control the radio from a USB computer interface (as is used by PocketRxTx).

Click on the Baudrate button to tell PocketRxTx what speed the USB serial communications channel is defined as in the radio (direct USB connection) or the interfacing hardware (as used for radios without a USB port on them).



Once selected the speed is displayed in green.

Once the Baudrate is set, you are returned to the USB setup page, if you don’t wish to change your choices click on SET to save the values in a local radio profile file.

In the current version of the application USB CAT interfaces based on the following USB/Serial chips are supported:

FTDI FT230XS UART VID: 0x0403 PID: 0x6015

FTDI FT232R UART VID: 0x0403 PID: 0x6001

RT Systems CT29B VID: 0x2100 PID: 0x9E54

RT Systems USB-62 VID: 0x2100 PID: 0x9E56

Arduino VID: 0x2341 PID: xxxxxx

Teensyduino VID: 0x16C0 PID: 0x0483

Atmel VID: 0x03eb PID: xxxxxx

CP210x UART Bridge VID: 0x10C4 PID: 0xEA60

Prolific PL2303 VID: 0x067b PID: 0x2303

CH340 VID: 0x1A86 PID: 0x7523

STMicroelectronics STM32 VID: 0x0483 PID: 0x5740


Setup Network connection

To connect over the network, prior to selecting this option in PocketRxTx, you need to have the jAReC program running on a computer which is connected to your transceiver via a USB cable. jAReC is a small, portable java application that can run on Windows, Linux, Mac, or even a Raspberry Pi. For the jAReC (full GUI) user guide click here. There is a command line version of jAReC called jarecmini. For the jarecmini user guide click here. The jAReC and jarecmini programs are available for free download on my web page (check the corresponding user guide for more details).

When you click on “Network”, the following configuration page will be displayed.

Here is an example of a completed configuration screen:

Explanation of the different network configuration fields:



This meter will show you, when connected to jAReC, the mic level from your Android device.

To learn how to configure jAReC, for audio click here (for jAReC) or here (for jarecmini).

You can deactivate authentication and/or audio by clicking on the respective icons. When deactivated, the icons will change as shown in the following pictures.

When you are happy all parameters on the network configuration panel are correct click on SET and you will be returned to the start page.

Supporting multiple radios

If you have multiple transceivers that you wish to control, you can have local configuration files for each of them.

NOTE: You can download as many radio configuration files you need from the central repository. You could load all available, but you will only be able to maintain one configuration for each brand/model.

To load another radio configuration or to reload an updated version of a configuration for the same radio, touch the grey box which is displaying the currently loaded configuration file name.

Here is an example of how to add a new radio – in this example the Yaesu FT-817 to an ICOM model that we already have installed.

After touching on the brand/model grey box you are prompted to select between a locally available configuration or one available from the online central repository.

All locally stored radio configs are displayed in white. Click ONLINE to load a new config from the central repository.



Click on the desired brand (in our example Yaesu) and we see a new panel:

Click on the desired radio model (FT-817) and if there are multiple possible configurations, these will be displayed for you to choose between.

Click on the desired config version. (we chose “default”)

Click LOAD to save the new configuration file locally from the repository to your Android device.

If you click again on the current radio brand/model grey box (Yaesu FT817 in this case), you can see now radio configurations from two makes are now available locally (local configs are shown in white text).

You can now easily switch between the locally stored configs when you need to without the need to access the central repository. If for a specific make you have just a single radio config saved locally, you will no longer be prompted to select the radio model (it becomes the default).

NOTE: For each locally stored radio config, a dedicated profile is created. This profile contains connection settings, so when you switch to another locally stored radio, the associated profile is loaded at the same time. For example, you may connect to an ICOM rig via the network and to that Yaesu FT-817 over a direct USB cable. When you switch rigs in PocketRxTx you will also switch connection if needed.

Switching between application modes



The last used mode (i.e. WebSDR client or Direct CAT connection) is saved when you exit the application, so the next time you start the App, it will be in that mode.

Of course, you can switch between WebSDR client and Direct CAT mode when required and this is done from the startup page at any time simply by touching one of the two orange hands graphics.





Closing the application

To close the application at any time, click on the CLOSE icon.

You will be asked if you want to exit application. Press YES to confirm.

Options button (OPT)

This button is used to access more complex features. The structure is presented in the table below, depending on operation mode (WebSDR client or Direct CAT) the options are different. Click on any menu item for more information. See the previous page in this documentation to learn how to switch the mode between WebSDR and Direct CAT).

NOTE: Some of the features are not available in the free version. For the whole list of differences between Free and Pro version, click here.

WebSDR client



LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

CALLLOG

MYCALLSIGN

MYQRZ

E-MAIL

DELETE

EXTRAS

RELOAD

BANDSTOP

SYSTEM

ANIM

NOTIF

ALWAYSON

BEEP

VIBRATE

FNTSIZE

DEBUG

RESET

HELP

CONTENT

WEBSDR FAQ

PROvsFREE

ABOUT





Direct CAT

LEVEL 1

LEVEL 2

CALLLOG

MYCALLSIGN

MYQRZ

E-MAIL

DELETE

EXTRAS

REMOVE

BANDSTOP

PTTKEY

CFG IMP

CFG EXP

SYSTEM

ANIM

NOTIF

ALWAYSON

BEEP

VIBRATE

FNTSIZE

DEBUG

RESET

HELP

CONTENT

PROTOCOL

PROvsFREE

ABOUT

Description of the Individual options:

CALLLOG

MYCALLSIGN – you can enter or later edit your callsign, that normally is saved when you first run the application. This is used for several purposes:

When you click on this button, you are prompted to enter the callsign.

Click on OK after you check that the data was entered correctly, or cancel to return without saving the new callsign.

MYQRZ – Click on this button to enter your ‘qrz.com credentials. Data is stored only on your device.

Enter username and password in a single line, separated by ‘/’ character (‘mycallsign/mypassword’) and then click SET.



This step is required only if you want that callsign info to be automatically downloaded from the QRZ database (for you and for your correspondent).

E-MAIL - You can export locally stored call log file by e-mail by just clicking on this button.

NOTE: If no default e-mail application is defined on your device, you may be prompted to select the application you want to use to send the call log file.



Select one of the e-mail applications (ex. Gmail) and then click on ALWAYS.

The e-mail application on your device will be automatically opened and some fields populated: ‘To:’ (your e-mail address if available in your own QRZ record), subject ‘Pocket RxTx ADIF Call Log logbookyyyyMMddhhmmss.adi’, message body ‘This is a Pocket RxTx ADIF Call Log created on mm/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss’. The log file is automatically as text in the message body. You can later save that section in a file with the extension ‘.adi’ in order to use it in other applications.

You can edit any e-mail field before clicking on send. When ready, click on send button from the e-mail application to send the e-mail to the specified address.



DELETE – click on this button to delete locally stored call log, if available. A short message will be displayed to confirm that the file was successfully deleted, or that the file does not exist (no local call log file available).



EXTRAS

RELOAD – (WebSDR mode only) refreshes the list of active WebSDR servers that are available.

REMOVE – (Direct CAT mode only) removes the currently loaded local radio configuration file. You are prompted to confirm the removal.

BANDSTOP – set band limits based on IARU regions 1, 2 or 3 band plans.

When a specific band plan is selected, tuning using the knob or +/- buttons is limited to the currently selected band. This can be useful to prevent the exit from the amateur bands. This button act as a toggle. First time you use it, you are prompted to select the ITU region you want the radio to lock on. A short message confirms your entry.



Next time you enter EXTRAS menu, the BANDSTOP button will be green, to show you that this feature is activated.

If you now click on BANDSTOP, this feature will be deactivated and a short message will confirm this.

PTTKEY - (Direct CAT mode only) There is the ability to assign a physical key on the Android device to act the same as the graphical PTT button. This option allows you to select or clear the hard-key. Examples are volume-up, volume-down and on phones with one – the camera button. If you click on PTTKEY button, you will be prompted to press the hardware key you want to be assigned as a PTT key.

Let’s for example press the camera shutter button on a Sony Xperia ZL.

The code associated with that key is displayed. You have the option to click SET if you want to associate the key with the PTT button, CLEAR to clear a previous association or CANCEL to cancel the operation.

NOTE: Please be aware that if you associate a hardware key with PTT, the PTT button from the GUI will be disabled.



CFG IMP, CFG EXP – (Direst CAT only) – by using jAReC over the network in Cfg Imp/Exp mode, the radio configuration text file can be transferred to your PC, edited as required there and then sent back to the Android device.

CFG EXP is used to transfer from the phone/tablet to the PC and CFG IMP to transfer the file back from the PC. To export the configuration from your PC, click on CFG EXP button. You will be prompted to start jAReC in Cfg Imp/Exp mode and then to click on OK.

Then the following files (if exists) will be transferred from Pocket RxTx to the folder where jAReC application resides, in a subfolder named “configs”:

If the subfolder does not exist, will be created at first export.

To import a set of configuration files from the PC, click on CFG IMP button. You will be prompted to start jAReC in Cfg Imp/Exp mode and then to click on OK.

The following files (if exists in the “configs” subfolder of jAReC) will be transferred from the PC to Pocket RxTx:

If the subfolder does not exist, no file will be imported. This feature can be very useful if you want to edit or backup your specific configuration.


SYSTEM

These options are common to both WebSDR and Direct CAT modes.

ANIM - used to activate/deactivate interface animations. When selected the button background turns green.

NOTIF - used to activate/deactivate application notification. When notification is activated and the application is running (even running in the background), a small icon will be visible in the Android task bar.

ALWAYSON - used to disable automatic standby of your device. When active, the device will never go to sleep and the display will be always on. Please take into consideration that this will drain your battery much faster, so is better to use it only when the device is connected to an external power source. When this mode is activated, in the main radio screen, radio/connection name (in Direct CAT mode), or current mode (in WebSDR mode) label background goes red.


BEEP - used to enable/disable key beep. If activated, every time you click on a button, a short beep will be generated through the device’s speaker.

VIBRATE - used to enable/disable haptic feedback. If activated, every time you click on a button, you will feel a short vibration.

FNTSIZE – used to change the default font size used in the application. Under normal circumstances, the font size is automatically set by the application the first time it starts.

On some Android devices it is possible that application fonts may be too big or too small (based on the Android system settings) and hence need changing with this app. You may just wish to adapt the size to your own preferences. To change the font size, slide your finger vertically over the semi-transparent area (up to increase, down to decrease).



The new value for the font size will be displayed.


For better visibility select the biggest font which does not generate overlapping. When set, click on the BACK icon . The new font size will be automatically saved in the application configuration file. The next time you start the application, the new font size will be used.

DEBUG – used to activate debug/logging mode, when requested by the programmer to assist with fault finding.

When activated, a debug file will be created (debug.log) in the app folder. This can help in some specific situations to troubleshoot issues. When debug mode is activated, the info box in the lower part of the radio screen will go green.

Logged data is first written into the info box. The debug log is always removed when you close the application. You must export it to a PC through jAReC, using the export function in order to save it, before closing the app. Export procedure is described here.

RESET – used to reset the application to factory default (which has the same effect as uninstall followed by a fresh install). When selecting this option, you will be prompted to confirm.




HELP

CONTENT - used to access the application online user guide.

PROTOCOL (only in Direct CAT mode) - used to access CAT protocol documentation (if available for the selected radio) – this is an example for ICOM’s CI-V protocol:

To exit, click on the blue BACK icon.

WebSDR FAQ (only in WebSDR mode) – as the title suggests, the option contains documented Frequently asked questions about the WebSDR project (the network of devices from which a receiver can be selected)

To exit, click on the blue BACK icon.

PROvsFREE - used to directly access the section in the user guide where the differences between Free and Pro version



ABOUT - used to display current application version.

Using WebSDR client mode

This is how the startup page looks in WebSDR client mode.


In the upper part of the screen is a text box containing the application version (Pro or Free) and some info about the contributors. The picture represents the selected WebSDR server and is provided by the server owner. In the gray text box is the callsign associated with the currently selected server. Also displayed is info about the WebSDR server:

The blue OPT button is used to access application settings, depending on the mode (see here).

Click on the orange START button to enter main application screen.




Click on the server icon in the left part of the screen or on the setup icon in the upper right part of the screen to enter WebSDR setup page.

NOTE: You can go directly to the WebSDR setup page from the startup page if you click on the

server callsign in the grey box e.g. .


NOTE: The application screen is designed for both landscape and portrait operation. Landscape is usually used for tablets and portrait for smartphones. To reduce the size of the user guide, mostly landscape mode screenshots will be presented. The content of the screen is similar in portrait mode. The same controls and information are available whether in portrait or landscape screen mode.

On the WebSDR setup page, you can see a picture that is associated with the server picture. Clicking on it will give more information as provided by the server owner.




Click on the blue BACK icon to return to the setup page.



Clicking on the green text in the lower part of the screen, a FAQ page about WebSDR server will be opened.

Again, click on the blue BACK icon to return to the setup page.


In the lower left part of the screen you can see the available frequency bands/ranges on the selected server.

Clicking on the server QTH its and your and location will be displayed in a message box with the distance away from you that the WebSDR is located. For this function, Location Access Permission is required to be granted in Android (you will be prompted to allow access to location).


Click on the green text to return to the setup page.


NOTE: Anytime a message box is displayed on the screen, you can click on it to remove it.


If you click on the server callsign or on the server logo (icon) from the setup page, a selection page will be displayed with all of the WebSDR servers that are currently registered with Pocket RxTx (in alphabetical order).


The color code for the text is as follows:

To select a different server to the current one, click on the button with the required server callsign on it (in white text).


Let’s click for example on YO3GGX/e. The newly selected server info is displayed.




To use this server, click on SET button. To revert to the previous server, click on CANCEL.


To start reception long press the red power button in the startup page. The screen will change as shown below:


The screen contains the following controls/information:



A numeric keypad is overlaid. Simply enter the desired frequency and then click on the ENTER button .

To delete the last digit, click on the BACKSPACE button .

To delete the whole entry, click on the CLR button .


Once you have selected and connected to a WebSDR server, the distance from your location to that WebSDR server is displayed on the main page. This may be helpful when checking your Tx performance or propagation.

Tuning using the Waterfall or Spectrum

To access the waterfall or spectrum display, click on the SP/WF button . You will be prompted to select between two waterfall modes (black and white or color) or spectrum.

The top part of the screen will now be used for the waterfall or spectrum scope.

Color waterfall

Black and white waterfall



Spectrum scope

The currently received frequency will be displayed now in the info box at the bottom of the screen.

While in the waterfall mode, you can click on the SPEED button to select between NORMAL, SLOW or FAST speeds.

The currently tuned frequency will be represented by a vertical yellow marker and the current bandwidth by a semitransparent green strip. A frequency scale is displayed at the top of the waterfall/spectrum display.



To select a frequency, you can directly touch the waterfall/spectrum scope or drag the yellow marker to tune to a specific frequency. Fine tuning can then be done using the tuning knob.



You can zoom into the display by clicking the ZOOM button on the lower part of the screen and you will be prompted to select the desired ZOOM level.

Depending on the available bandwidth for the selected HAM band, you can have a maximum zoom between 2x and 64x. As an example, for a 192 KHz bandwidth display you will have a maximum zoom of 8x, for 96 KHz a maximum of 4x and for a 2MHz bandwidth (usually on WebSDR servers using an RTL2832 module) a maximum zoom of 64x. The frequency scale will change in line with the zoom factor selected. The zoom feature can be very useful if you tune in the CW section of a band where the bandwidth is very small, as shown below. A long press of the ZOOM button will automatically reset the zoom factor to 1x.

Selecting the receive bandwidth

You have 4 presets for the bandwidth in WebSDR client mode, depending on the chosen mode, as follows:

AM:

Narrow: +/- 2.5 KHz

Narrow2: +/- 2 KHz

Normal: +/- 3 KHz

Wide: +/- 3.5 KHz

SSB:

Narrow: 0.2 – 2 KHz

Narrow2: 0.2 – 1.5 KHz

Normal: 0.3 – 2.7 KHz

Wide: 0.2 – 3.5 KHz

CW:

Narrow: 0.72 – 0.78 KHz

Narrow2: 0.73 – 0.77 KHz

Normal: 0.6 – 0.9 KHz

Wide: 0.55 – 0.95 KHz

FM:

Narrow: +/- 5 KHz

Narrow2: +/- 3 KHz

Normal: +/- 8 KHz

Wide: +/- 25 KHz

CUST:

This setting indicates that the bandwidth is defined from a setting in memory (local or server based). In the current version of PocketRxTx you cannot edit the bandwidth from within the app.

The current selected bandwidth is displayed in the top left corner of the waterfall, as shown here:

Selecting audio out device

By default, the received sound is passed through the smartphone/tablet speaker. The currently used audio device is indicated by an icon:

Phone speaker

Wired headset

USB headset/speaker

Bluetooth headset

Wired and Bluetooth headsets are automatically detected when connected/disconnected. In the current application version, a USB headset/speaker is detected only when connecting to/disconnecting from the WebSDR server.

Using server-based memories

Click on the MEM button to switch between local and server-based memories. Usage of local memories is presented in a separate chapter here, as this is common for both WebSDR and Direct CAT modes. If server-based memories are available on the selected server, then you will see the name of the memories on the memory buttons labels.

Click on any of the available memories to load the following stored parameters:

If the selected WebSDR server does not provide server-based memories, a message will be displayed if you try to access them.

Using direct CAT mode


After loading a new radio configuration, you select in the startup page which connection mode (Bluetooth, USB/Serial or Network) is to be used for the new radio. Depending upon the selected mode, the display will look like one of the following images.



Please keep in mind the colors: blue for Bluetooth, magenta for USB/Serial and green for network. Certain icons will be displayed over the transceiver image. The first one represents the connection mode, second and third (only when using network mode) are audio and login authentication settings. Click the desired connection mode, then click the START button.

The main screen will appear as shown in the following picture (in network mode).


The possible icons are explained in the following table.


1st icon -

Connection mode

Network

USB/Serial

Bluetooth

2nd icon -

Audio Status

Audio ON

Audio Off

3rd icon -

Authentication

Secure Authentication ON

Secure Authentication OFF



You can enable or disable audio and/or login authentication by clicking on the respective icons.

Over the audio icon, you can see a smaller icon representing currently used audio output device. For more details, see here.

CAT operation of the transceiver is identical for all 3 connection modes. The only major difference is the fact that audio is only supported when connected over a network.

To connect to the radio (over the selected interface), long press the red power button. If the connection is successful, the symbol from the power button will go blue (for Bluetooth connection), magenta (for USB connection) or green (for network connection.


Option buttons

You can control frequency, mode, output power, Band, VFO (A/B), Noise Blanker, PTT and any other parameter which is supported through CAT commands for your radio. If not already defined in an existing config file for you radio, you can define it yourself by editing the text file containing the radio configuration details. For more details click here.

The option button has a status indicator field above it to indicate its state e.g. off/on.

You can have as many sets of five option buttons. The sets are selected through the green Fn (Function) button. This button will show you the available sets that are configured.

In the picture below, we have 5 sets, meaning 25 possible CAT commands through the 5 option buttons. The current set selected is indicated by the green text. You can switch between the sets with a press on the Fn button. The selection panel will allow you to choose the desired option set

There is another option button (per set) located at the lower left corner of the tuning knob. This is a special one, as there is no status indicator associated with it, you must take this into consideration when you assign a CAT command to this button.

The value of the number of sets (in the radio’s configuration text file) not only controls the number of option buttons, but also the number of banks of frequency memories. So, in this case, you have the ability to record 5x8=40 frequencies (with all the other associated parameters) to buttons.

NOTE: To keep compatibility with older configuration files, if the number of sets is not defined in the configuration file, you can only configure two sets (16 memories and 10 option buttons + 2 special buttons).

Any command available through CAT for your specific transceiver may be programmed on any option button. Depending on the number of possible states for each option button, a click action will behave differently. If you have just a single state for an option button (e.g. Tune), a message will be displayed to confirm the command was received. The option button label does not change. If you have a two-state option button (e.g. ON/OFF), then when you click the button, the option status indicator will be updated to confirm the command was received. For multi-state buttons, you are prompted with a selection panel. Let’s take for example AGC.

Another type of control are slider controls. With these controls you can set a value between defined min and max values. Let’s take for example RFGAIN.

When you press a slider function button, a slider will be displayed. The values are always displayed in percentage (%), from 0 to 100. Use the slider to set the desired value for the parameter and then click OK to set that value through the CAT command to the transceiver.

Radio feedback

If you want to read some parameters from the radio and set the Pocket RxTx GUI accordingly, you need to use feedback functionality. By default, at first start, radio feedback is deactivated. Status is then kept in the radio profile file. This functionality is controlled through the feedback button in the right part of the tuning knob.

Red ‘X’ means that the feedback is disabled. In order to be able to use radio feedback, read commands must be defined in the radio config file and POLLING line most be populated with all these read commands. Clicking on the button, you can toggle radio feedback on/ff. When you connect to the radio for the first time, when you click on radio feedback button, you are prompted to select the parameters you want to be read from the radio. Let’s take as example v3 of IC7300 config.

You can select any number of parameters to be read from the radio. Let’s consider that we want to read the status for frequency, mode and filter. Click on FREQ and MODE&FIL buttons, that will turn green.

After you select all desired parameters, click on OK. If you want to return without selecting any parameter, click on CANCEL. Let’s click on OK. The radio feedback button shows that the polling is now working.

NOTE: Two virtual LEDs, in the upper left (Tx - yellow) and right (RX - white) of the UTC clock shows when data is transmitted to or received from jAReC.





Tx data Rx data

See the chapter dedicated to the radio configuration file here for more details about how to define or edit read commands and POLLING line.

Sticky PTT

There is a feature implemented for the PTT button. If you press on PTT button, the transceiver will go in Tx mode till you release it, like on a normal transceiver. If you press and slide your finger vertically over the PTT button (more than 1/3 of the button height), the PTT will enter sticky mode. The transceiver will remain in Tx till you press the button again or if a timeout defined in jAReC occurs. This sticky mode can be useful when you need to talk and to have the hands free.

Using the Memories

You have two sets of memories (M1-M8 and M9-M16) for each available WebSDR server and a user configurable number of sets for direct CAT mode. The procedure to use memory buttons is the same for both WebSDR client and Direct CAT modes.

Saving to a Memory location

Each memory location saves the state of all defined option buttons (if more than one state), of the two main option buttons (usually mode and power, but can be redefined by the user) and the frequency. To save to a specific memory location, configure the transceiver for all the parameters and then long click on one of the memories buttons (ex. M1).

You will be prompted to enter the label for the selected memory button (memory name) and a description for that location, separated by a comma. Click OK after you check entered data. If you want to discard data, click on CANCEL. If the memory location was previously defined, you can clear that location by clicking on CLEAR.





Data is saved to memory button 1. Description is not mandatory and can be omitted.


The button label will change and the description will be displayed in the info box (lower part of the screen).

Recalling a Memory location

To recall a memory location, you just have to click on the corresponding button. All the settings saved for that location will be restored and the option buttons status synchronized with the saved values. Several CAT commands will be automatically sent to the radio in order to set the status according with all the option buttons (from all sets).

Clearing a Memory location

To clear a memory location, you have to long click on the corresponding button and when asked to enter name and alias just click on CLEAR button, or delete everything and click OK. The memory button will be renamed to the original Mx.

Logging calls

You have the possibility to log calls directly on your device.

NOTE: This feature is available in the free version of the application only in the WebSDR client mode.

In order to use call logging, you must first configure this feature, through the OPT button in the startup screen. Check here to learn how to do it.

When radio is on, click on the UTC clock area to start logging for the current call. An overlay frame will be displayed allowing you to enter basic information for the call. The UTC clock background will go green, to show you that you are in call logging mode.

The call start time is set now. Enter the callsign of the corresponding party and press NEXT.



If you previously entered QRZ credentials, all available data for that callsign (Name, Locator, QTH and Country) is filled-in automatically.

If a picture of your correspondent is available in QRZ, this will be displayed in the upper left corner of the screen.

You can toggle between small and large picture by just clicking on it.

If the picture for that person is not available in his QRZ entry, a generic picture will be displayed.

You need to manually fill some fields: RST Rec (communicated by the correspondent), RST Sent (the one you sent to the correspondent) and a comment (optional). If you want to operate the radio during the call, click on HIDE button to toggle the call log entry form on/off. The UTC time background color will remain green during this time, to show you that you are in call logging mode.

If you encountered a network error when the automatic query was started, you can manually force a new query by clicking on QUERY button. The only required field for this is the callsign.



If you entered QRZ logins and enough location information is available for both you and your correspondent (coordinates or locators), then the distance to the corresponding station is displayed in the info bar (in both km and miles.

Now you have some other options. You can save the call information in the local call log by clicking on SAVE button. The information for the current call will be appended to the existing log file. If no local call log file available, a new one will be automatically created, in ADIF format, with standard header information. A short message will be displayed showing that the info was saved. The end call time is set now. Time used is UTC time. You can have maximum one local log file at any moment. Multiple files are not supported. The standard format for the call log file name is the following:

logbookyyyyMMddhhmmss.adi where:

yyyy – year

MM – month (01-12)

dd – day (01-31)

hh – hour (in 24h format)

mm – minute (0-60)

ss – second (0-60)

when the call log file was created (UTC time).

After you transfer the log file by e-mail or by using CFG EXP function, you have the possibility to remove locally stored log file using DELETE function from CALLLOG menu.

If you want to cancel call logging for the current call, you can long press on the UTC clock to cancel it. A short message will be displayed showing that call logging mode was canceled.

The call log file is stored internally in the application folder, but can be exported (see CFG EXP) or sent by e-mail (see E_MAIL)



The created ADIF file is based on the specifications for the version 3.0.8 from here:

http://www.adif.org/308/ADIF_308.htm

Only the following fields are added to the log if available (from QRZ database or from a local entry in the call log form):

ADDRESS - contacted station's complete mailing address

AGE - contacted station's operator's age in years in the range 0 to 120 (inclusive)

BAND - QSO Band

CALL - contacted station's Callsign

COMMENT - comment field for QSO

COUNTRY - contacted station's DXCC entity name

CQZ - contacted station's CQ Zone in the range 1 to 40 (inclusive)

DISTANCE - the distance between the logging station and the contacted station in kilometers. This is calculated in the application based on latitude and longitude (if available) or on maidenhead grid squares.

DXCC - contacted station's DXCC Entity Code

EMAIL - contacted station's email address

FREQ - QSO frequency in Megahertz

GRIDSQUARE - contacted station's 2-character, 4-character, 6-character, or 8-character Maidenhead Grid Square

IOTA - contacted station's IOTA designator

ITUZ - contacted station's ITU zone in the range 1 to 90 (inclusive)

LAT - contacted station's latitude

LON - contacted station's longitude

MODE – QSO Mode

MY_CITY – my station’s city

MY_COUNTRY – my station's DXCC entity name

MY_CQ_ZONE – my station's CQ Zone in the range 1 to 40 (inclusive)

MY_DXCC – my station's DXCC Entity Code

MY_GRIDSQUARE – my station's 2-character, 4-character, 6-character, or 8-character Maidenhead Grid Square

MY_IOTA – my station's IOTA designator

MY_ITU_ZONE - my station's ITU zone in the range 1 to 90 (inclusive)

MY_LAT – my station's latitude

MY_LON – my station's longitude

MY_NAME – my name

MY_POSTAL_CODE – my station's postal code

NAME - contacted station's operator's name

QTH - contacted station's city

TIME_OFF - HHMM or HHMMSS in UTC

TIME_ON - HHMM or HHMMSS in UTC

TX_PWR – my station's power in Watts

WEB - contacted station's URL

To build all ADIF record fields, the following data is extracted from the QRZ database, for both my station and for the contacted station (as described in https://www.qrz.com/XML/current_spec.html):

call - callsign

dxcc - DXCC entity ID (country code) for the callsign

fname - first name

name - last name

addr1 - address line 1 (i.e. house # and street)

addr2 - address line 2 (i.e, city name)

zip - Zip/postal code

country - country name for the QSL mailing address

lat - lattitude of address (signed decimal) S < 0 > N

lon - longitude of address (signed decimal) W < 0 > E

grid - grid locator

email - email address

url - web page address

image - full URL of the callsign's primary image, used just to display the picture in the Pocket RxTx GUI, not stored

cqzone - CQ Zone identifier

ituzone - ITU Zone identifier

born - operator's year of birth

iota - IOTA Designator (blank if unknown)

Transceiver configuration files

For each transceiver available in direct CAT mode two files are required:

All filenames are lowercase.

NOTE: You can edit the transceiver configuration files only after exporting them using CFG EXP button to a PC, Mac or Linux computer through jAReC, over the network.

The file is based on the following general structure for each line: <parameter>=<values>.

NOTE: Anywhere in the file you can enter comments by starting the line with the “;” char.

The radio configuration file has the following structure (explanation with the example of the Icom IC7300 configuration file)

The header – general info about the radio.

Brand=Icom

Model=IC7300

Pic=ic7300.jpg

sigRadios=$1gR@d10s

CATPROTOCOL=http://www.plicht.de/ekki/civ/index.html

; Number of sets for the option button and memories

SETS=5


Brand – the brand of the transceiver;

Model – the model of the transceiver;

Pic – the filename of the radio image file (480x320 jpeg);

sigRadios – a special signature used to recognize this as a radio configuration file. This must be the same for all radios;

CATPROTOCOL – a link to a web page where the CAT protocol for the radio can be found;

SETS – the number of option buttons/memories sets. Ex: if this value is 5, you have 5x5=25 options buttons, 5 special buttons (SQL) and 5x8=40 memories.


Radio frequency range, frequency steps and available HAM bands

; Frequency coverage (sections separated by ',')

; format: FRANGE=f1-f2,f3-f4,f5-f6,...

FRANGE= 30000-74800000


; Frequency step per frequency range, in KHz, freq range in Hz

; format: FSTEP=<brute_step1>/<fine_step1>=<freq_interval1_min>-<freq_interval1_max>,<brute_step2>/<fine_step2>=<freq_interval2_min>-<freq_interval2_max>, ...; brute - for +/-, fine for knob tunning

FSTEP=1/0.1=100000-87499999


; List of available Bands

BANDS=160m,80m,60m,40m,30m,20m,17m,15m,12m,11m,10m,6m

BANDSA=

BANDSB=

FRANGE – some radios do not have a continuous frequency coverage. You can add here all frequency segments (defined by <start_freq_Hz>-<end_freq_Hz). Segments are separated by “,” char. You can add as many segments you want. Do not use <CR> or <LF> control chars inside the line, even if the line is very long.

FSTEP – here you can define the frequency steps (fine – when tuning by the knob, or brute – when tuning by Up/Down buttons). The steps can be defined separately for as many frequency segments you want, but you must take care that the full radio frequency range is covered, otherwise internal default values are used for the undefined segments

BANDS – list of transceiver available HAM bands, when is the same for both VFOs. This will determine which bands you can select when you press BAND button in the main app interface.

BANDSA, BANDSB – For some transceivers (like Kenwood TH-F6/7) available bands are different for each VFO. In this situation you need to use separate values for each VFO, using the following parameters:

BANDSA=

BANDSB=

NOTE: Only BANDS or (BANDA and BAND) must be filled in.


First selection button (default is Mode) content:

; first selection button - usually the list of available modes in the MODE wheel (starts with wheel name)

LST1NAME=MODE

LST1ITEMS=LSB1,LSB2,LSB3,LSB-D,USB1,USB2,USB3,USB-D,AM1,AM2,AM3,CW1,CW2,CW3,RTY1,RTY2,RTY3,FM1,FM2,FM3,CWR1,CWR2,CWR3,RTR1,RTR2,RTR3

LST1CMDS=CMD_SET_MODE_LSB_FIL1,CMD_SET_MODE_LSB_FIL2,CMD_SET_MODE_LSB_FIL3,CMD_SET_MODE_LSB_FIL2_DATA,CMD_SET_MODE_USB_FIL1,CMD_SET_MODE_USB_FIL2,CMD_SET_MODE_USB_FIL3,CMD_SET_MODE_USB_FIL2_DATA,CMD_SET_MODE_AM_FIL1,CMD_SET_MODE_AM_FIL2,CMD_SET_MODE_AM_FIL3,CMD_SET_MODE_CW_FIL1,CMD_SET_MODE_CW_FIL2,CMD_SET_MODE_CW_FIL3,CMD_SET_MODE_RTTY_FIL1,CMD_SET_MODE_RTTY_FIL2,CMD_SET_MODE_RTTY_FIL3,CMD_SET_MODE_FM_FIL1,CMD_SET_MODE_FM_FIL2,CMD_SET_MODE_FM_FIL3,CMD_SET_MODE_CWR_FIL1,CMD_SET_MODE_CWR_FIL2,CMD_SET_MODE_CWR_FIL3,CMD_SET_MODE_RTTYR_FIL1,CMD_SET_MODE_RTTYR_FIL2,CMD_SET_MODE_RTTYR_FIL3

LST1NAME – the name which will appear on top of the first selection button (usually MODE);

LST1ITEMS – the list of the available operation modes, separated by the “,” char;

LST1CMDS – list of the commands, separated by the “,” char, to set the modes from the previous list. You must take care to respect the same position in the enumeration;

Second selection button (default is Output Power) content:

; second selection button - usually the list of available powers in the PWR selection button

LST2NAME=PWR

LST2ITEMS=1W,5W,10W,25W,50W,100W

LST2CMDS=CCMD_SET_PWR_1W,CMD_SET_PWR_5W,CMD_SET_PWR_10W,CMD_SET_PWR_25W,CMD_SET_PWR_50W,CMD_SET_PWR_100W


LST2NAME – the name which will appear on top of the second selection button;

LST2ITEMS – the list of the output power values to appear in the list;

LST2CMDS – the list of the commands, separated by the “,” char, to set the corresponding power levels from the previous list. You must take care to respect the same position in the enumeration;


Option buttons configuration for click action (based on selected set)

BTN_OPT1_NOFN=VFO,CMD_SET_VFO-A=VFO-A,CMD_SET_VFO-B=VFO-B

BTN_OPT2_NOFN=NB,CMD_SET_NB_OFF=OFF,CMD_SET_NB_ON=ON

BTN_OPT3_NOFN=NR,CMD_SET_NR_OFF=OFF,CMD_SET_NR_ON=ON

BTN_OPT4_NOFN=ATU,CMD_SET_ATU_OFF=OFF,CMD_SET_ATU_ON=ON

BTN_OPT5_NOFN=SQL,CMD_SET_SQUELCH=FOO

BTN_SQL_NOFN=TUNE,CMD_SET_ATU_TUNE=[Tuning...]

…

BTN_OPT4_FN=AGC,CMD_SET_AGC_SLOW=SLOW,CMD_SET_AGC_MEDIUM=MED,CMD_SET_AGC_FAST=FAST,CMD_SET_AGC_OFF=OFF


For each button (OPT1 to OPT5, based on the option set selected through the Fn button) the structure of the line is the following:

<btn_name>_<Fn_status>=<btn_caption>,<cmd1>=<option_display_for_cmd1>,<cmd2>=<option_display_for_cmd2>,<cmd3>=<option_display_for_cmd3>,<cmd4>=<option_display_for_cmd4>…

BTN_SQL - the one in the lower left part of the tuning knob, can be used as a standard option button (one for each set), but without a label associated with it. Because of this, you must take care to allocate only single state commands to this button (for example TUNE). This is not mandatory, but you will not see the current status for this button.

For backward compatibility with older versions of the application (supporting only two option sets), <Fn_status> parameter is represented as follows:

NOFN - option set 1

FN – option set 2

FN2 – option set 3

FN2 – option set 4

….

Each button from each set can have 1, 2 or multiple states. In the example above, NB (noise blanker) button has two states: ON/OFF. The AGC (auto gain control) has 4 states OFF/SLOW/MED/FAST. The status following each command execution is displayed on top of the corresponding option button.

A definition example for a single state button is TUNE. The format is:

<btn_name>_<Fn_status>=<btn_caption>,<cmd>=[<message>]

If such a button is pressed, the associated command is sent and the message is displayed for a few seconds.





Another special definition is for the buttons associated with parameters that can have any integer value between min and max. For these buttons, sliders are used to set the desired value for the parameter. See slider commands later in the document. The format is:

<btn_name>_<Fn_status>=<btn_caption>,<cmd>=FOO

When such a button is clicked, a slider window is open.


Defining CAT commands for specific hardware keys (KEY_DOWN and KEY_UP events)

; Hardware keys definition

; you can assign device hardware keys to send specific CAT commands

KEY1CODE=25

KEY1_DOWN=CMD_SET_PTT_ON

KEY1_UP=CMD_SET_PTT_OFF


KEY2CODE=

KEY2_DOWN=

KEY2_UP=


KEY3CODE=

KEY3_DOWN=

KEY3_UP=


You can define up to 3 hardware buttons to execute specific CAT commands for the two possible events. By default the first key definition is used for PTT and can be configured from the application interface. See here for more details.

To find the Keycode you can use the GUI to define the PTT key. For each event you can define a CAT command using standard format.


The list of the available SET commands

These commands are used to set different parameters in the radio and the name always must start with “CMD_SET_...”.

As new features will be added to the application, this section will be extended. The general format of each line from this section is the following:

<cmd >=<byte1>,<byte2>,<byte3>…..

The bytes are effectively transmitted over CAT only after the full command is rebuilt inside the application. Exception is when one of the bytes represent the special ‘pause’ byte (see below).

Now, the byte can be represented in several ways.

<S…> – String – followed by one to an unlimited number of chars. Each character represent the byte to be transmitted;

Example (Elecraft K3):

CMD_SET_MODE_LSB=<SMD1;>

This command will send the following string: ‘MD1;’


<Cx> – Char digit. This is used to transmit frequency values and is followed by a number (x) which can be 0 – Hz, 1 – tens of Hz, 2 – hundred of Hz, …., 8 – hundred of MHz, 9 – GHz;

Example (Elecraft K3):

CMD_SET_FREQ_VFO-A=<SFA>,<C7>,<C6>,<C5>,<C4>,<C3>,<C2>,<C1>,<C0>,<S;>

If the frequency is 14.120MHz this command will send the following string: ‘FA14120000S;’


<Dxy> – BCD digit. This is used to transmit frequency values and is followed by 2 numbers (x and y from 0 to 9), same as above, as two digits are packed for each byte;

Example (Yaesu FT817):

CMD_SET_FREQ=<D87>,<D65>,<D43>,<D21>,01

If the frequency is 145.225MHz this command will send the following bytes sequence (represented as hex values): 14,52,25,00,01


<P> – Pause. This is a special identifier and is followed by 4 digits representing the pause time in milliseconds. If this special ‘byte’ is encountered, all the previous bytes are sent and then wait for the defined number of milliseconds and then build the next part of the command.

Example:

<P1000>

This will send previous bytes sequence from the command, insert a 1s pause and then go further for the next sequence(s) of bytes (which follows in the same line).


<WEaaaa;bbbbbbbb;cccccccc> – This command is used only for FT8x7 transceivers to write specific EEPROM memory location (some basic commands are undocumented and available only through direct EEPROM writing ).

Enter EEPROM location aaaa (as a 4 digits hex value), first byte (bbbbbbbb) and second byte (cccccccc) as binary values. Use only ‘0’, ‘1’ or ‘x’ for each individual bit value, (x) meaning to keep the old value unchanged.

Example:

CMD_SET_PWR_1.0W=<WE0079;xxxxxx10;xxxxxxxx>

This command will set bit 0 of memory location 0079 to 0 bit 1 to 1 and will keep unchanged the rest of the bits for the same memory location and for the next one (007A). The Write EEPROM command has two steps. In the first one previous values for the two successive EEPROM addresses are read and then only desired bits are changed and the updated values goes back to the EEPROM.


WARNING: It can be very dangerous to modify EEPROM locations. If you have not saved all the transceiver configuration before using this application is better not to use it with an FT8x7 transceiver. Although I took a reasonable number of precautions in the code, use this feature at your own risk!


Slider commands

A slider command has a specific format. Let’s take as example the RFGAIN command for iCOM IC7300:

CMD_SET_RFGAIN=@RF-GAIN,<MAX=255>,FE,FE,<A>,E0,14,02,<D32>,<D10>,FD

@RF-GAIN – RF-GAIN is the text to be displayed in the title of the slider window

<MAX=255> - 255 is the maximum value for the parameter. For the slider commands, minimum value is always 0.

FE,FE,<A>,E0,14,02,<D32>,<D10>,FD – is the command to be sent in order to set that parameter, where:

<D32>,<D10> is the parameter represented in a BCD packed format.

You can use as parameter <T2>,<T1>,<T0> if the value is represented as 3 chars (ex. For Yaesu FT450).

In the Pro version you can associate any option button with a remote script to be executed on the system where jAReC

Custom scripts to be run remotely

In the Pro version you can associate any option button with a remote script to be executed on the system where jAReC runs. You can define up to 98 scripts (from ‘02’ to ’99). The format of the command is as in the following example:

BTN_OPT3_FN3=CMD,Command15=RUN

BTN_OPT4_FN3=NOTPD,Command02=RUN

Where “CMD” or “NOTPD” is the text to appear on the corresponding button, “RUN” is the text to appear on the label above the option button. When that button is pressed, the associated command is executed remotely. Check jAReC user guide to learn how to set the other end.


Radio feedback section

To get radio feedback, several read commands must be defined. The command name must always start with “CMD_READ_...”. A timer is used to execute read commands at a specific interval, which is dependent on the available CAT Baudrate.

The syntax is different than the one used for SET commands and is much more complex:

CMD_READ_...=<priority>,<when to read>,<command - variable length>,<separator>,<nr_of_expected_bytes>,<rec_byte_1>,...,<rec byte_n>

Like for the SET commands, there are several bytes separated by “,”

<priority> - byte to define when the command is executed. Currently possible values are: 01 – at each read timer tick, 02 – at each 4th read timer click. Use 02 for parameters which are not faster updated, like MODE.

<when to read> - byte defining if the parameter must be read during RX only (01), during TX only (02) or during both RX and TX (00)

<command - variable length> - this is the command to be send to read that specific parameter and can have a variable bytes length. The same syntax as for the SET commands is used. There is one more specific command available for this, which applies to Yaesu FT8x7 transceivers only: Read EEPROM value. The syntax of this command is the following:

<REaaaa> - Read EEPROM value from the address aaaa (as a 4 digit hex value).

This command returns 2 bytes, the value at address aaaa and at the next address (aaaa+1)


<separator> - as the command length is variable, wee need to know when the command definition is ended. We use ‘<R>’ char sequence as separator.

<nr_of_expected_bytes> - number of data bytes expected to be received for the read command. This a 2 digit hex number.

<rec_byte_x> - the way received byte number x is to be interpreted. The rule used here includes the definition for the SEND commands bytes, plus:

<00> - byte not containing useful data – to be discarded

<value_received=how_to_set_the_parameter> -


value_received can be represented as a 2 digits hex or a 8 digit binary value. When a binary value is used, possible values for each bit are ‘0’, ‘1’, ’v’ or ’x’. ‘v’ is used when a value span over multiple bits. You can have between 0 and 8 v’s in each binary represented bytes, but they must be contiguous. For example a succession of 4 v’s means that the value to be read is between 0000 and 1111 (from 0 to 15 decimal). ‘x’ means bit to be discarded. If several possible values are to be interpreted, separate them with ‘;’


To better understand how to use this, here are some examples from the Yaesu FT817 configuration file:


CMD_READ_SMETER=01,01,00,00,00,00,E7,<R>,01,<xxxx0000=S0;xxxx0001=S1;xxxx0010=S2;xxxx0011=S3;xxxx0100=S4;xxxx0101=S5;xxxx0110=S6;xxxx0111=S7;xxxx1000=S8;xxxx1001=S9;xxxx1010=S9+10dB;xxxx1011=S9+20dB;xxxx1100=S9+30dB;xxxx1101=S9+40dB;xxxx1110=S9+50dB;xxxx1111=S9+60dB>

This command will send at each read timer click (priority = 01), during RX only (when_to_read = 01) the following byte sequence: ‘00,00,00,00,E7’ and wait to receive one byte (nr_of_expected_bytes=01). The received byte is then interpreted as follow. Bit 7 to bit 4 are discarded (x) and for the rest (bit 3 to 0), depending on the specific values, set the S-meter accordingly: for 0000 set it to S0, for 0001 set it to S1, …. , for 1111 set it to S9+60dB.


CMD_READ_PTT=04,00,00,00,00,00,F7,<R>,01,<0xxxxxxx=ON;1xxxxxxx=OFF>

This command will send at each 4th read timer tick (priority = 04), during both RX and TX (when_to_read = 01), the following byte sequence: ‘00,00,00,00,F7’ and wait to receive 1 byte (nr_of_expected_bytes=01).

If bit 7 of the received byte is 0 then interpret this as PTT is active (ON). If is 1, interpret this as PTT is not active (OFF).


CMD_READ_PWR=01,02,00,00,00,00,BD,<R>,02,<vvvvxxxx>,<xxxxxxxx>

This command will send at each read timer tick (priority = 01), during TX only (when_to_read = 02), the following byte sequence: ‘00,00,00,00,BD’ and wait to receive 2 bytes (nr_of_expected_bytes=02). Keep only bits 7 to 4 from the first byte and compose a 4 bit numeric value (0 to 15 decimal). A numeric value is used normally to read one of the following parameters: S-meter, output power, SWR, ALC or MOD. In order to display useful values (standard S-level, power in W, standard SWR or percentage for ALC and MOD), some calibration parameters must be used. In some situations (ex S-meter for FT817) each S value correspond with a fixed received numeric value. Then the calibration data must be omitted (empty parameter)


Available calibration settings are: CALIB_SMETER, CALIB_PWR, CALIB_SWR, CALIB_ALC and CALIB_MOD.

The syntax for each calibration setting is the following:

‘xx=valxx’ – xx – received 2 digit hex value, valxx - parameter value corresponding to that received value. You can specify multiple points, useful when the value variation is not linear. For the intermediary values, linear interpolation is used to calculate that parameter real value. If latest value is not the highest possible value, any values greater than that one will be represented with “>”. This usually happen only for SWR parameter (ex. SWR > 10).


NOTE: If a parameter read definition contains ‘v’, then a calibration setting is mandatory). You can use Debug/Logging mode (see here) to read radio response to read meters commands in order to help you define calibration parameters for your specific radio.


You can define the list of commands you want to use in order to get feedback from the radio, using POLLING parameter, ex:

POLLING=CMD_READ_FREQ&MODE,CMD_READ_PTT,CMD_READ_VFO,CMD_READ_SMETER,CMD_READ_SWR,CMD_READ_PWR,CMD_READ_ALC,CMD_READ_MOD


You can read parameters that are represented by a numeric value in the radio answer. Let’s take as example the command to read S-METER for an iCOM IC7300 transceiver:

CMD_READ_SMETER=01,01,FE,FE,<A>,E0,15,02,FD,<R>,09,<00>,<00>,<00>,<00>,<00>,<00>,<D32>,<D10>,<00>

<D32>,<D10> is the BCD packed value for the parameter returned by the radio. You need then to define a calibration line:

CALIB_SMETER=<MAX=255>,<0=0;10=1;21=2;34=3;47=4;57=5;75=6;91=7;104=8;120=9;142=910;163=920;179=930;201=940;217=950;241=960>


Some radios use the numeric values represented by chars. Let’s take as example Yaesu FT450:

CMD_READ_SMETER=01,01,<SRM1;>,<R>,07,<00>,<00>,<00>,<T2>,<T1>,<T0>,<00>

and then the calibration line:

CALIB_SMETER=<MAX=255>,<0=0;25=1;38=2;52=3;70=4;90=5;102=6;120=7;135=8;150=9;170=910;189=920;197=930;214=940;225=950;235=960>


<Tx> - a number digit with position x (x = 2 –> hundreds, x = 1 -> tens, x = 0 -> units)


It is recommended not to use too many parameters as this will slow down the feedback.

Currently only the following feedback commands are implemented:

CMD_READ_FREQ&MODE (FT8x7 only)

CMD_READ_FREQ (not applicable to FT8x7)

CMD_READ_MODE (not applicable to FT8x7)

CMD_READ_PTT

CMD_READ_VFO

CMD_READ_SMETER

CMD_READ_PWR

CMD_READ_ALC

CMD_READ_SWR

CMD_READ_MOD


Startup commands

This is a list of commands to be sent after transceiver power up.

This is a list of commands, separated by ‘,’ using ‘STARTUP’ as name

Example:

STARTUP=CMD_SET_LOCK_OFF

Some commands are sent automatically when long pressing round blue power button inside the application: CMD_SET_POWER_ON and CMD_SET_POWER_OFF, if available.


NOTE: Not using feedback does not seems to generate lost sync, even at higher speeds, but make all the controls very responsive (ex. the tuning wheel).

Defining hardware buttons for CAT commands

You can define up to 3 hardware keys on your device with commands for the KEY_DOWN and KEY_UP commands.

For the PTT command, you can do this from the GUI. Click here for the procedure.

On standard Android devices, you can use any key except the STANDBY/ON one. Usually you can have VOL UP, VOL DOWN and (sometimes) CAMERA SHUTTER. Use hardware PTT procedure to find the keycode for a specific hardware button you want to assign. To define the other two optional hardware buttons, you need to edit the radio configuration file (see here for details).

Changing the iCOM radio address

If you want to change the radio address for an iCOM radio (the default one for your radio is automatically set by the application), in the startup page, short press on the info box in the right part of the screen. You will be prompted to enter/modify the address.

Locking the interface

You can lock the interface of the application and the one of the transceiver (if CMD_SET_LOCK_ON and CMD_SET_LOCK_OFF CAT commands are defined). For this you need to long press on the green Fn button when radio is on.

The button caption will change to “LOCKED”.



Long press the button again to unlock it.

Application forum

There is a dedicated forum for this application on my web site here:

https://www.yo3ggx.ro/forum/viewforum.php?f=15

Please join it to discuss any details about Pocket RxTx. This will further help other interested users.

Practical demonstration

A video presenting all application features is available on YouTube. Please check my web page for the link.

Please subscribe to my channel (Dan Toma) to be automatically informed when a new video will be available.

Bibliography

The KA7OEI FT-817 pages - http://www.ka7oei.com/ft817_meow.html

Icom CI-V protocol - http://www.plicht.de/ekki/civ/civ-p0a.html

Kenwood PC control protocol - http://www.kenwood.com/i/products/info/amateur/ts_480/pdf/ts_480_pc.pdf

FT-450 CAT operation reference book - http://yaesu.com/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=2600&FileCatID=158&FileName=FT-450_CAT_Operation_Reference_Book.pdf&FileContentType=application%2Fpdf

Elecraft K3 and KX3 Programmer’s reference - http://www.elecraft.com/manual/K3&KX3%20Pgmrs%20Ref,%20E11.pdf

Pro vs Free versions

The following features are available only in the Pro (paid) version:

The free version is ad based, with the following specifics:

Application history

Version 0.3 (Feb 3rd , 2013).

First release of the application in the current form.

Version 0.4 (Feb 10th , 2013).

What’s new/changed:

Version 0.4.1-3 (Feb 17th , 2013).

What’s new/changed:


Bugs solved:

Version 0.5 (Feb 26th , 2013).

What’s new/changed:


Bugs solved:

Version 0.6 (Mar 12th , 2013).

What’s new/changed:


Bugs solved:

Version 0.6.4 (Jun 8th , 2013).

What’s new/changed:


Bugs solved:


Version 0.7 (Aug 24th , 2014).

What’s new/changed:


Version 0.7.1-7 (Aug 29th , 2014).

What’s new/changed from 0.7:


Bug fixes:


Version 0.8 (Aug 9th , 2015).

What’s new/changed from 0.7.1-7:


Bug fixes:

Version 2.0 (Feb 6th , 2018).

NOTE: Starting with this version, some of the features will be available only in the Pro version

What’s new/changed from 0.8:

New/changed features available only in the Pro versions:

Bug fixes:

Version 2.1 (Mar 4th , 2018).

What’s new/changed from 2.0:


Bug fixes:

Version 3.0 (Jan 27th, 2019).

What’s new/changed from 2.1:



Bug fixes:



For any queries regarding bugs or features requests please join and use the application dedicated forum here:

http://www.yo3ggx.ro/forum/viewforum.php?f=15


To see more videos about my projects and to be informed about any news please subscribe to my YouTube channel here:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3eDuq-p4mcwWYE3-pZmObQ/videos?view=0


If you want to contribute to further developments, please consider to buy the “Pro” version of the application (Pocket RxTx+), available in Google Play Store here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ro.yo3ggx.rxtxpro



Please send me your feedback. Further development of the application fully depends on YOU.

pocketrxtx_v3.0.pdf rev 2 Bucharest, Jan 25, 2019 – © Dan Toma – YO3GGX – yo3ggx@gmail.com

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