Java780

Update: August 22,2005

Java780 has now been available for about 2 years and we have had about 500 downloads to date. Java780 is still available and still free to use. Java780 was developed in Java version 1.3. This version of Java is now entering end of life. Java780 does not work with Java 1.4 or 1.5 without some rework. Many people have installed versions of Java other than 1.3 and ask how they can still use Java780.

I have created a new distribution of Java780. Its the same stable code as before but now Java version 1.3 is included that will only be used by Java780. What this means is that you no longer need to worry about having two versions of Java installed and if you have no Java at all then you don't need to install any Java at all.

Download Java780 r1.1 all in one distribution

These install instructions supercede all others.

1. Download the new distribution with Java 1.3 included.
2. Unzip the file
3. Place the resulting folder at its final destination. (e.g. c:\java780)
4. Inspect the file java780.properties for the line JAVA780.COM.PORT=COM1. Change this line as necessary to specify the COM port to which the Bearcat 780 XLT is attached. (e.g. JAVA780.COM.PORT=COM2)
5. That's it. To run java780 open a command line, cd to the directory where you installed Java780 and execute the batch file java780.bat. Alternately, you can just double click on java780.bat to run it. If you have trouble check the startuplog.txt file in that directory.

Make sure the BC780 XLT is in RMT mode, that you have the correct COM port specified in the Java780 properties file, and the baud rate is set to 19200 baud on the BC780XLT.

Got a problem, send me e-mail ke9zm@yahoo.com

Update end - Gary August 22,2005

... potentially satisfied users.

Quick Index to this page

Updates to this page

Release History

May 9,2003	Release 1.1 Free to use, Provided as-is, Use at your own risk. I am not liable for anything. By downloading, using, thinking about downloading, or thinking about using Java780 - you agree.
April 25,200	Release 1.0.
April 18,2003	First experimental release. Tested under SuSe Linux 7.3, Windows XP, and Win98.

New in Release 1.1

The following features are enhanced or added in Release 1.1

• Added additional detail to real-time display. This release shows almost all of the minor indicators that are displayed on the BC780XLT LCD screen including CTCSS tones as they are scanned and identified.
  
  
• Integrated real-time database lookup of all frequency events as they occur and are logged.
  
  
• Additional detail in event logs add database lookup information and signal strength.
  
  
• Reports matche events against multiple external database reference files, radio memory, and a combination of database and radio stored frequency information
  
  
• Reports ready to paste into any desktop application for analysis, graphing, and printing. Works well with Open Office which is available free for download
  
  
• Review with "Click-To-Tune". This new feature allows all frequencies logged to be instantly tuned on the scanner without storing in a memory location. This feature also integrates with database lookup. The end result being that all freqencies logged can be queried in a database reference and tuned on the radio with one click.

These bugs fixed in Release 1.1

• The dreaded "subscript out of bounds" error is fixed.
• Loading the BC780XLT channel memory has been made more robust.
• Serial port code has been made to work with a diversity of PC speeds.
• You can send bug reports to ke9zm@yahoo.com

Release 1.1 Quick Notes

• If you already have Release 1.0 all you need to do is download the Release 1.1 distribution, expand the zip file and double click on the executable or the java780.bat file. Release 1.1 uses the same Java functionality and serial port drivers as the previous release.
• Do not use Java 1.4. Use the release I have recommended below.

Purpose and Application

Java 780 was written for Enhanced Display, Logging, and Analysis

Enhanced Display

• Large real-time display of frequecy, signal strength, channel alpah tag, bank alpha tag, talkgroup and most of the minor indicators as they appear on the real BC780XLT LCD screen
• Tracks the last 20 frequencies recieved along with the relevant tagging informtion
• Maintains an ordered list of the most active freqeuncies along with their alpha tags. Highlights the currently received frequency

Logging

• Logs all active frequencies, talkgroups, and banks scanned
• Timestamps active frequencies - first heard and last heard
• Tracks the number of times each frequency and each talkgroup was received
• Records the signal strengh of the received signal
• Sums the relative duratioin of received active frequencies

Analysis

• Real-time lookup of received frequencies against a reference database
• Matching of logged frequencies against the frequencies programmed in the scanner
• Reports ready to copy and paste into desktop applications such as OpenOffice and Excel
• Review with "Click-to-Tune" provides integrated database lookup of selected frequency and tuning of the radio in one click.

Usability

• Capability to customiz the color and font of many aspects of the display
• Autoloding of reference database and scanner profile at Java780 startup
• Cross-platform. Written in Java. Tested on Windows and Linux

Using Java780 in the real world

For casual listening...

I usually use Java780 when I'm doing something else and still want to know what going on listening to my scanner. I run Java780 on a laptop off to the side of my working position. If I hear something interesting I can just glance over and look at the laptop display. Without Java780 relying on just the scanner, if the transmission has ceased then the info on the transmission is gone. With Java780 you can look at the rolling event list and see what that was. The graphic display on Java780 is easier to read then the real BC780XLT

Where's the action...

When I scan the PD in Chicago on a good summer saturday night I can see where the highest activity is by looking at the log summary under the real-time display. The most active (by hits) Chicago districts will bubble to the top of the list. If I am listening to a trunked system then I'll look at the list of recent tags to see the active talkgroups. If I see that a talkgroup has not been tranlsated to an alpha tag then I know I might wan to find out who that talkgroup belongs to - Java780 has logged it. After a while I will generate a report to get all the talkgroups that were logged along with the activity. If the report contains some talkgrous that have not translated to alpha tags then I might do some further research.

Discovery and Identification...

If there's a good band opending on the ham bands then I'll set the scanner to search 144-148Mhz and perhaps the 220, 440, and 6m bands. I'll manually load my 3 state repeater reference (or perhaps it has been autoloded) and let the scanner run. Repeaters generally id every 10 minutes or so. As new frequencies are logged, I'll use the database lookup window and click on a frequency to find the matches in the database. After a while, I'll run a report to see all the active frequencies logged matched against their potential owners. I might fire up the ham equipment, rotate the beam and try to make a contact.

If I'm looking for a rare frequency I'll either search or pre-program it and let the scanner run along with Java780. After a while I'lllook at the logs and see if I got a hit. Java780 will log when the transmission was first heard, when it was last heard and how many events there were and relative duration of all of the events. This logging capability works well if you are also running a PC-based digital recorder that timestamps recordings. You can match the time logged by Java780 to the digital recording to find the transmission - or even know if you had any hits at all.

I also make use of the frequencies distributed at regular CAMRA (Chicago Area Radio Monitoring Association) meetings and archived to the files area of the CARMA discussion group on Yahoo. I'll either program the idvividual frequencies or a frequency range and autoload the CARMA frequency lists as a database. After scanning for a while I'll generate a report to match all the frequencies against the database. Based on the report perhaps I will add a few more frequencies to my regular listening or at least confirm that they were heard.

Main Screen Display

In the upper left is the current interesting contents of the Bearcat 780 LCD panel. We show signal strength, frequency, alpha tags for the channel and the bank. Depending on the mode of the scanner, the talkgroup or the CTCSS/DCS code will be displayed next to the frequency. Whatever is displayed in these major areas on the real BC780 LCD screen will be shown in this area in Java780. To the right are amost all of the minor indicators of the LCD screen. In the case where CTCSS/DCS is being scanned, the current code will be displayed next tp the frequency. While the CTCSS code is being scanned, the CTCSS indicator will be in lower case (ctcss). When the scanner locks on to the code the CTCSS indicator will be changed to upper case.

Below the primary frequency display is the database lookup information. If this feature is enabled and a database is loaded, evey frequency event is queried against the database. Up to 4 database records are shown in this area. In all cases the total number of database matches is shown. A full log of all frequencies queried against a reference database is available via a report. Reports are described in a later section of this document.

Directly below the database display is the real-time event log. This shows the frequency, a matching alpha tag in the radio or database match information, the number of events on this frequency, and the number of "ticks". The number of events is a count of the number of times the scanner has stopped on this freuency. The number of ticks gives an indication of the relative total duration of activity on this frequency per the scanner settings. Note that this area is updated in real-time, sorted by most active frequencies. The current received frequency is highlighed with a blue bar. You can click and drag on the table columns sides to change the column widths. You can also drag the column headers around to change the order of the information displayed.

To the right of the LCD-like display is a chronological history of what was received in the recent past. The most current information is at the top. Information is pushed down and falls off the end as new information in added. The chronology simply shows what was displayed in the three major areas of the display to the left. Do not assume you can read across the columns to get consistent information in the three areas. You can right-click in each of the areas to bring up a popup menu of cut/copy/paste and clear.

Extended Event Log

This windows displays a more detailed event history. The table in this window contains an entry for every unique frequency logged. From left to right, these are the fields and their interpretation.

• The channel column shows the channel mumber of a matching preprogrammed frequency in the 780. If the frequency is not preprogrammed in the scanner then this field is blank.
• The frequency column shows the received frequency.
• The Tag or DB match column will attempt to identify the user of this frequency. It is expected that alpha tagging information in the scanner identifies the user. If there was an alpha tag in the scanner for this frequncy then this alpha tag is displayed. If the frequncy was not programmed then the reference database is consulted. If there is exactly one match then this match is displayed and prefixed with "(db)" to indicate the inforamtion came from the reference database. If there are multiple matches then the number of matches is displayed. If this field is blank then the frequency is not programmed in the radio and there is no database match.
• The events column shows the number of times the scanner stopped on this frequency per you scanner settings.
• The Ticks column shows the relative accumulated time that this frequency was reveived per you scanner settings.
• The S Meter column shows that relative signal strenth of the received siganl as reported by the BC780XLT. The value ranges from 1 to 6. This value is obtained on the first event and is not updated.
• The First Heard column timestamps the first time this frequency was heard.
• The Last Heard cclumn timestamps the most recent time this frequency was heard.
  

Note that the currently received frequency is highlighed and updated in real time. This table is just the big brother of the summay table that was described earlier. You can change the order of the columns by dragging them around and you can change the width by dragging the column sides.

Bearcat 780 Channel Memory

This window shows the channel contents of the Bearcat 780. It can be loaded by Java780 from the scanner or loaded from a flat file. Menu options allow for the manipulation of this reference information. The autoload capability can automatically load this file at startup.

Click-To-Tune

This window provides the capability to review all the frequencies logged, query a selected frequency against a reference database, and optionally tune the radio to the selected frequency without storing in a memory location.

With "Click-to-Tune" disabled selecting a frequency in the left pane shows all the database matches in the right pane.

With "Click-to-Tune" enabled selecting a frequency in the left pane shows all the database matches in the rihgt pane, places the radio in manual mode and tunes to the selected frequency. If you have Tone Scan enabled on the radio and a database that lists pl tones for users as in the above example, you can narrow down the list of candidate users based on your reference database information.

Click-to-Tune is enabled and disabled via a menu item in the Analysis menu.

Reports

Reports are generated in the reports workspace. The expectation is that you will review these reports, copy and paste the selected portions into a desktop application. The examples below use OpenOffice (free) and Microsoft Excel.

The following report sections are always generated

• All frequencies logged and the number of events on each frequency.
• All talkgroups logged
• All banks searched in the session
• Frequency events matched against the programmed contents of the radio
• Frequency events matched against a reference database
• A consolidated report showing frequency events against both radio contents and reference database

Examples of some of the reports are shown below as they appear pasted into OpenOffice and Excel

This report shows all of the talkgroups logged during a session. The radio was scanning the Chicago PD 800 Mhz Motorola system. Note that some talkgroups did not translate to their alpha tags. These are talkgroup id's that are not programmed into the radio. This example shows the data pasted into OpenOffice.

All frequency events matched against a reference database.

Note that the reference database can be changed and the report regenerated. Up to 4 database reference database files can be pre-configured for easy access. Additionally, any reference database can be loaded on demand and a report generated against it.

Frequency events against channel memory

This is a consolidated report. It takes the event log and matches logging information against both a reference database and the contents of the frequencies programmed into the radio. Given what was logged, you can use this report to determine what is already programmed and what you might want to program based on the database matches and your own local knowlege. If you use Andys program for progamming the BC780XLT then you can easily copy and paste information from this report into Andys program for programming.

An example of a simple graph of frequency activity which was obtained from scanning 154Mhz for about an hour. This was done in OpenOffice

Java780 Message Console

The console shows various messages. If something goes wrong, check here for messages. You can right-click in this area to clear the next. You can iconify the message console if you don't want to see these messages.

Menus

Database Layout (for Import)

Java780 can import a flat file database to do frequency lookups. You can have as many fields as you like. Java780 only cares about the first two fields it finds. The field seperator is a tab. The first field is treated as a frequency and the rest of the record, no matter how many fields, is treated as a description. The frequency must have 4 digits after the decimal. In other words, the frequency that you supply must look exactly like what is displayed on the real BC780 display. When the description is displayted addiditonal fields will be desplayed in a compressed format. The character "|" will replace the tab between fields. Here are some examples of what an import file should look like. Note 4 digits after the decimal point in all cases.

47.6600 WI VALLEY VETERINARY SERV
47.6600 DALEYS AMB SERVICE
47.6600 VETERINARY STANDARD
48.2200 EVANSTON WATER DEPT
139.1250 US ARMY
139.3000 US ARMY

142.3500 US WI MILITARY AFFAIRS
143.9000 CIVIL AIR PATROL
148.1500 CIVIL AIR PATROL

The Java780 distribution has some sample files to give you an idea of what these look like. These files originated from the download area of the CARMA Chicago discussion group on Yahoo.

Installation

Java780 is written in Java. As such, theoretically, it will run on any platform that supports a suitable JVM (Java Virtual Machine) and supports the Java Communication API. The latter is a platform dependent implementation that allows Java to talk to underlying communications devices such as serial ports, USB ports, and parallel ports on a particular platform (hardware and operating system). If there exists both a JVM(JRE) and the Comm API for the platform of your choice then you should be able to run Java780.

Common for all Platforms

There is a single distribution of Java780 that is suitable for either a Windows or Linux installation. Java780 has been tested on SuSe Linux 7.3, Windows XP Professional, and Windows 98.

Common to all platform installations is the need for a Java Runtime Environment (JRE). You may already have one. If you don't, you need to get one. Please note that you do not need the larger Java Software Development Kit (SDK) - you just need the JRE. The JRE is about a 5MB download from Sun. I recommend JRE version 1.3.1_07.

Here are the steps common for all installations:

1) Download the JRE 1.3.1_02 for your platform from SUN.

2) Then download Java780.

3) Next unzip Java780. For the purposes of this installation I expect tha you have unzipped this file to:

C:\java780r11 (Windows)
/home/your-user-id/java780r11 (Linux)

Inside of the java780 installation directory you will find this structure

Comtinue per your appropriate platform...

Windows Platform

If you are a Windows user you have eveything you need. I have included the Java Comm API with the Java780 distribution as it is only 3 small files.

W4) Install the SUN Java Runtime Environment by double-clicking on the executable that you downloaded. Take all the defaults for the location of the product. When you successfully accomplish this task you will have the JRE at this location.

C:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.1_07

W5) Install the SUN Communications API. These files are located in C:\java780r00\winJavaComm\

If you can't see the win32com.dll its becase MS doesn't want you messing with dlls and had hidden it per your folder options. So, if this file does not show up you need to temporarly change your folder options.
MyComputer -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View and enable "Show hidden files and folders"

W6) Modify the configuration parameters in the file java780.properties. You need to tell Java780 which serial port to use and the speed (baud rate). You can use notepad to modify this file. The lines you need to review and possible modify are these:

JAVA780.COM.PORT=COM2
JAVA780.COM.BAUD=19200

Set the first line to whatever serial port you are using. This will be: COM1, COM2, or COM3, and so on.
The second line is the baud rate. I do not recommend running at any speed less than this 19200. Leave this line alone and make sure you have set the communications speed of the Bearcat 780XLT to this speed and make sure you have enabled the RMT (Remote) communications capability. (RMT will show up on the BC780XLT display in the upper right). Check your owners manual on how to set the communication speed and enable Remote on the scanner if you are unsure.

W7) You are done. You can run Java780 by double clicking on the java780.bat file. For the first few times I recommend that you run this in a command window so you can see any error messages. After you are satisfied that everything is working, you can just double-click on the jar file (java780r11.jar) to start the program. See the java780.bat file for some alternative ways to start Java780.

Windows Start Menu -> Run... -> command
cd c:\java780r11
java780.bat

If Java780 does not start check the trouble shooting section at the bottom of this page.

Linux Platform

L4) Install the Java Runtime Environment per your Linux architecture

L5) Obtain and install the Java Communications API. Java780 has been tested with SuSe Linux 7.3 using the RXTX implementation of the Comm API. An excellent install guide along with links to the software is available here.

L6) Modify the java780.properties file for serial comm port selection and baud rate. See the notes to Windows users above on setting these parameters. Comm Ports on Linux are usually of the form /dev/ttyS0, /dev/ttyS1, and so on. Solaris names are different. Don't forget the caps on the S.

L7) You are done. run the program using the supplied shell script.

Mac Platform

Mac people - what can I say? Java780 is a well behaved pure Java program. I do not have a Mac for testing. But theoretically it should run if you can get the platform dependent files for a Java Runtime Evironment and the Java Communications API for your Mac hardware and operating system. Let me know. Maybe try here.

Additional Optional Configuration

AutoLoading Scanner Memory Contents from a File at Startup

You'll get the most out of Java780 if it knows what frequencies and alpha channel tags are stored in your scanner. Also, since Java780 is used for logging, frequency discovery and identification, you will most likely want a reference database loaded to do real-time frequency lookup and reporting.

To autoload a file representing the contents of your scanner memory, code the folllowing property. An example is given below. (use relative or absolute paths to the file)

JAVA780.AUTOLOAD.SCANNER.PROFILE=samples/autoload.bc780.txt

See the menu item descriptions as to how to create this file.

Autoloading a Reference Database at Startup

You can specify 4 reference databases in the Java780 properties file. The first database is autoloaded at startup. The first database reference and the three remaining database references will appear in the analysis menu. You can select any of these databases for loading from the Analysis menu

This is how you would code these. This example and all files are in the sample included with the distribution.

JAVA780.AUTOLOAD.DB1=samples/IllRepeaterAssoc.txt
JAVA780.AUTOLOAD.DB2=samples/780hamfreqs.txt
JAVA780.AUTOLOAD.DB3=samples/780pllist.txt
JAVA780.AUTOLOAD.DB4=samples/780Meetingfreq.txt

Operational Parameters

There are a few operational parameters that you do not need to specify but might want to know about.

Code this property to specify a default starting directory when you load or save files. The file chooser dialog will always start at this location.

AVA780.JFILECHOOSER.BASE=samples

Use the following parameter to control how hard Java780 drives the radio. If you have a "slow" machine, you may want to increase this parameter. The default value gives acceptable results on a 500Mhz+ PC

JAVA780.DELAY.TRANSACTION=1000

If you have trouble with "Load Channel Reference from Scanner" you might want to increase this next parameter. The default gives acceptable performace with a 500Mhz PC.

JAVA780.DELAY.CHANLOAD=500

On my 133Mhz Dell Latitude boat anchor laptop I use the following parameters

JAVA780.DELAY.TRANSACTION=1500
JAVA780.DELAY.CHANLOAD=1000

Customizing the User Interface

There are a large number of optional parametes that can be included in the java780.properties file to customize the colors and fonts used by Java780. I included the capability to alter fonts mostly for Linux users per the availability of fonts on various Linux systems. Everyone can change the colors as they see fit.

The color specification is the standard RGB color space specified as a 6 digit hex code ( 00-ff ).

0xff0000 (pure Red)
0x00ff00 (pure Breen)
0x0000ff (pure Blue)
0xccccff (purple used on this page)
... and so in

If you want to change the Frequency display from its default of red to green, code this:
JAVA780.COLOR.LCD.FREQ = 0x00ff00

Many color picker applications will show you a pallet of colors and give you the code for the color. I do not recommend that you mess with the fonts unless you have to. All color and font specification is optional, Java780 has built-in defaults for all of these properties. Java780 defaults use Tahoma, Verdana, and Courier fonts which are standard system fonts on Windows 98 and Windows XP.

If you don't understand this, don't mess with the colors or fonts. (On second thought, if you come up with some good (unexpected) color combinations - send them to me.)

See the java780_full.properties files in the distribution for all the color and font customiztion properties.

Troubleshooting

For any of the following messages, read on...

a) When I run Java780 I get this message

D:\java780r11>java780.bat
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: javax/comm/SerialPort
EventListener
D:\java780r11>

b) Java780 says this...

Analyzing serial and parallel ports...
If an error occurs here it means that..
... the Java Comm API is not properly installed
Probing individual ports...
No Ports found - you have a problem Dude
Misconfiguration of Java Comm API - see install guide

c) Java780 says this...

Error loading win32com: java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: no win32com in java library path...

All of these messages are caused by not having the the JavaComm API installed in the right place. By right place I mean the place where Java expectes to find it. The JavaComm API (for Windows) is comprised of the three files that are distributed with the Java780 product and discussed above.

The first error is caused by Java not being able to find comm.jar.
The second error is cuased by Java not being able to find javax.comm.properties
The third error is caused by Java not being able to find wind32com.dll

The question is ... where is Java looking for these files? In the case where you have a different JRE than the one that I recommended above, or you have multiple JRE's installed by other products, or maybe you have the full JDK (Java Development Kit) where Java is looking can be a real question.

To find out the answer to this vexing question you can pass a special request to Java780 and ask it to show the full set of Java System properties. In this set of properties you can discover which Java is in use and where Java is looking for these three files.

Modify the java780.bat file to add an additional parameter to log the results to a file. Change the java line as follows

Chnage this:
java -jar java780r11.jar

To this:
java -Dshowsystemproperties -jar java780r11.jar > log

Run java780.bat and then look at the log file for these lines

java.ext.dirs = C:\PROGRAM FILES\JAVASOFT\JRE\1.3.1_07\lib\ext
java.home = C:\PROGRAM FILES\JAVASOFT\JRE\1.3.1_07

These lines tell you the Java that is in use. Make sure that comm.jar is in ... lib\ext. That the javax.comm.properties is placed in a location above that, and that the wind32com.dll is placed in a bin directory off the java.home path.

If you have placed the three files that comprise the Java Comm API for windows in their proper locations relative to the paths which are hanging off the java.ext.dirs and java.home properties, Java should be able to talk to your serial ports and the world will be right.

Frequently Asked Questions

1) Does this work on the Uniden Bearcat 785D?

No not now. Uniden made significant changes to some of the commands used to control the radio. Also, Uniden does not release to the public the command protocol to control the scanner. So, the new commands and responses need to be reverse engineered.

2) Can Java780 program the memories in my scanner?

No. There are so many good programs out there that do this I would be reinventing the wheel. The focus of Java780 is on frequency logging, analysis, and identification. For manipulating frequency information in my scanner I use Andys program.

3) Can Java780 control my scanner?

Not yet. A future release wil have this capability. Rght now, "Click-to-Tune" is the only control of the radio.

4) You use the term database lookup - but these are not databases these are flat fiiles.

Ok, you got me. While performance testing I found that Java780 could do quite well with lookups against flat files of sizes in excess of 20,000 records. If you know what a hash is - then that's what I use for quick lookup. A future release may have real database connectivity for session logging and frequency lookup.

5) I have a boat anchor laptop that I found in the trash at a hamfest. I want to use this with Java780, will it work?

I wouldn't try anything less than a 133Mhz Pentium and less than 64MB of RAM.

6) I can't get "Load Channel Reference from Scanner" to work

a) It does nothing

You are probably in "suspend monitioring" mode (Java780 Control Menu). You must not be in this mode. Select "Resume Monitoring" and see what happens.

b) There are messages in the Java780 console window but it does not seem to be reading my memory contents.

You should see the conversation between the radio and Java780 in the console window. It looks like this:
->TA C 003 CFMC
<-TA C 003
->C003 F01467600 TF DN LN AF RF N000
<-PM003

If you see a "one sided" conversation (no -> responses) or if you see "NG" (No good) then slow down Java780 by increasing the value on this property in the java780.properties file.
JAVA780.DELAY.CHANLOAD=2000

In all cases, turn the radio off and then back on, make sure it is in manual mode, and not sitting on a trunking channel. If you still have a problem send me the Java780 console log. Select and right click in the console window to copy the contents.

7) I don' see any real-time display

*IF* the communication with the radio is ok.. then your machine is too slow or you don't have enough memory. If the PC is not fast enough to process the data comming back from the radio by the time Java780 makes another request to the radio for more information then Java780 will end up thowing this information out and you will see no real time display

To deal with slow CPUs you can tell Java780 not to ask so often for information from the radio. This will give your PC time to process the radios response. Change the java780.properties file and code JAVA780.DELAY.TRANSACTION=5000
Then restart Java780 and give this a try. If it works, you can decrease the 5000 value down (4000,3000,2000, and so on) to find a happy place.

If you don't have enough memory then you might be out of luck. Java780 does everything in memory and needs to initialize a bunch of data structures at startup. If you don't have enough RAM (and virtual memory) then you will be out of luck. Even if you increase the amount of virtual memory and don't have enough real RAM your PC will "thrash" doing paging and swapping until most of the CPU is consumed doing this overhead work with no real application cycles remaining. Bottom line, Java780 needs RAM (64MB) and a decent CPU (500Mhz+) to perform in an acceptable manner.

8) What does a normal startup look like?

If you have everything configured properly, and if you start Java780 from a command window, you should see messages similar to this: (read from bottom to top)

Ready

Your clock is set to: 05:59:17 AM 05/08/2003
JAVA780.DELAY.CHANLOAD=500
JAVA780.DELAY.TRANSACTION=1000
Setting runtime parameters
Started Ok.

Starting main Thread...
No request for autoload of scanner profile
No autoload property present for property name:JAVA780.AUTOLOAD.DB1
Serial port config Ok
Setting serial port to 19200 baud...
Ok
Accessing Port... COM2
Using JAVA780.COM.BAUD=19200
Using JAVA780.COM.PORT=COM2

Port name:LPT2 Type:Parallel Owner:Port currently not owned
Port name:LPT1 Type:Parallel Owner:Port currently not owned
Port name:COM2 Type:Serial Owner:Port currently not owned
Port name:COM1 Type:Serial Owner:Port currently not owned
Port name:COM3 Type:Serial Owner:Port currently not owned
Probing individial ports...
... the Java Comm API is not properly installed
If an error occurs here it means that..

Analyzing serial and parallel ports...
JAVA780.COM.BAUD = 19200
JAVA780.DELAY.CHANLOAD = 500
JAVA780.JFILECHOOSER.BASE = c:/testing/java780r00/java780r00/samples
JAVA780.DELAY.TRANSACTION = 1000
JAVA780.COM.PORT = COM2
Your Java780 Properties...
Loading...
Got it
C:\Program Files\NetBeans IDE 3.4.1\java780.properties
Looking for Java780 properties in...

If you get this far, you are in good shape. If you aleady had a JRE or you had a full JDK and you get an error related to the Java Comm API, please note the java.home and java.ext.dirs system property. This is where Java is expecting to find the JavaComm API and this is the version of Java that is in use on your system. After these messages you should see the splash page and graphical interface. Java780 will continue its startup and will log to the graphical console window.

If you want to see all of the Java System properties you can pass this request to Java780 as part of the java command used to start the program. Like this:
java -Dshowsystemproperties=true -jar java780r11.jar

On SuSe Linux 7.3 , using the RXTX package implementing the Java Comm API I had to use the -noverify option on the java command to get rid of the "nonvirtual function call" exception. This is mentioned in the excellent web page on installing the Java Comm API on Linux cited above.

Gary Bucholz / ke9zm
ke9zm@yahoo.com
09 May 2003