# ZL2AFP FSQCALL

## Guided Tour

V0.41, 21.10.2016

> In keeping with all ZL2AFP designs, the program is uncomplicated to use, clearly laid out, and devoid of unnecessary gimmicks. The software has been thoroughly tested using a team of intrepid enthusiasts, mostly on the 80m and 40m bands, over 10km to 2500km paths. Several QSOs in excess of 11,000km have been made on 30m. In the default Active mode of the program, the Selective Calling or 'Directed' mode is used. Selective calling mode can be turned off, but that isn't recommended for normal use. Specific selective calling use is described separately in FSQCALL Help.

> Screenshot of the ZL2AFP FSQCAL V0.40 software showing telemetry traffic.
> (Click on image for a bigger view)

> Start the program, using the shortcut you made, and after checking the PTT/CAT dialog, you will be able to see each of the features described here. At the very top, under the banner, is a comprehensive menu system. It provides the various controls and setup options. Here is a description of each Menu item, display and control function.

## Menu System

File

> File/Open Heard station Log
> Lets you view a list of the stations heard, in chronological order. This is the file Heardlog.txt. The file lists callsign, date, time and SNR. It is in the form of a CSV file, so you can open it as a spreadsheet if you wish. Logging only occurs while operating in Active mode.

> You can archive the Heard Log by changing its name (you should be able to do this with the program running). The program will then start a new log called Heardlog.txt when required. This function (log keeping) is only relevant to Active mode.

> File/Clear Heard station Log
> Renames the Heardlog.txt file, effectively removing it. The old file is archived. Helper programs that depend on Heardlog.txt (such as FSQPlot) should not be run until there are new entries in the log, i.e. when a new file has been made.

> File/File to send
> Allows you to open a text file to be sent. When you do so, the whole contents of the file is placed in the transmit buffer. Only part of it will be visible in the TX pane. The maximum file size is 20,000 bytes, and ONLY standard ASCII text files or HTML can be sent. You should not attempt to send extended ASCII files, word-processor files or any other file types. Once the file is loaded, press ENTER or the TX button to transmit the file. You can stop (abort) file transmission using the Esc key or by pressing the RX button. Clear the TX buffer by right-clicking in it, choosing 'Select All' then pressing the Delete key. Files from anywhere on your computer or network can be sent, so be circumspect about what you send to the world!

> You may be able to send word-processor or other files by opening them in their normal application, then copying the text to the clip-board, and pasting directly into the TX pane. However, the file formatting will usually be lost, and some (unsupported) characters may be omitted on transmission. Many programs cannot be used in this way, as the pasted versions include control characters, binary data, and/or extended ASCII. For example, you cannot send a PDF document. You can however send .TXT, .CSV (comma separated spreadsheet), .HTM (hypertext) and even some source code files. FSQ telemetry files (typically .tlm) are also OK.

> In Active mode, you must type the file direction and optionally edit the file name to save in at the targeted station, (e.g. zl1xyz#[123.txt]) when you open the file with this function. Press Enter when ready to send.

> 20k might seem a fairly paltry file size restriction, but bear in mind that it would take at least 56 minutes to send a file that size! So limit the transmissions to small text (.txt, .csv or .htm) files.

> File/Launch FSQPlot
> FSQPlot is a third-party program written by ZL1BPU, which makes use of the Heard Log to plot station activity and SNR on a 24-hour basis. It can be launched from here. The program and its setup file must reside in the FSQCall working folder, and should not be run if there are no entries in the log.

> File/Refresh directories
> User files and images that can be shared with other stations reside in a Shared folder. When a file comes in from another station, the directories (made available to other stations) are refreshed automatically, but if you move files into the Shared or Shared/Images folder manually, you need to use this option, or the new files won't be visible to other stations. You can achieve the same result by running the batch file Files.bat in the working folder.

Options

> Options/Callsign
> Sets the user callsign which prefaces each transmission. This is free-form, so could be shortened to 'Ted' or 'Joe' if you wish, and it can be a mix of upper and lower case. For emergency and event communications use, convenient location or functional names can be used as callsigns. If the callsign used is not your licenced callsign, you will need to manually append the callsign to transmissions every now and again in the usual manner. ID requirements vary according to jurisdiction. Be aware that some countries do not accept in-mode digital ID, so you may need to add periodic voice or Morse ID. The program does not offer Morse ID.

> Preferably, the callsign used and stored here will be in lower case. Not only is this simpler for other users addressing you to type, and faster to transmit, but lower case text has a lower error rate than upper case.

> Note: Callsign extensions (such as g0pfg/3 or zl1ee_g) are permitted. Some separator characters may have undesired effects, especially when used in file transmission. For example / is not permitted in a file name. The safest character to use is underscore " _ ".

> Options/Location
> Allows you to set your location sentence. This is free-form text, and could be a GPS position, a geographical location, Maidenhead Locator, street address, or a mixture of all of these. The sentence can only be entered manually (i.e. not directly from a GPS receiver). This sentence forms the reply to the FSQCALL callsign@ request.

> Options/Sounding message
> This sets an optional short message that can be appended to a Sounding transmission. Please keep them short! When you change the message, you need to turn SOUND (blue button) off, then on again for the changes to register.

> Options/Sounding message ON
> Starts the optional Sounding message that can be appended to a Sounding transmission. When you change the message, you need to turn SOUND (blue button) off, then on again for the changes to register, then select this option.

> Options/Timestamp telemetry frames
> When this option is on, each file store message received with a ' - ' character in the file name (e.g. zl1eyz#[-hilltop.tlm]data,data,data) will have a time stamp and SNR applied to the front of each line stored to the file. The timestamp format is 'HH:MM SS' where SS is the Signal to Noise Ratio of the remote station when the message was received. Time is local computer time at the FSQCall computer. Unless monitoring for telemetry, leave this option off, although it has no effect unless there is a ' - ' in the received file name.

> Options/SOUND interval
> The SOUND function makes periodic brief transmissions (only in Active mode). This menu item allows you to select 1, 10 or 30 minute sounding intervals. Under most circumstances you should leave this at the default (30 minute) setting. Sounding allows other stations in Active mode to build a list of active stations, and record propagation and activity information in a log. All transmissions heard (and verified) are logged.

> TX reply retries
> Sets the waiting time for the CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access) protocol, which prevents stations from transmitting over each other, and assigns message priority according to message type. The default value is fine for most applications. Increasing the value may be useful for telemetry-transmitting stations operating on a busy channel. It has the effect of holding a pending outgoing message for longer, waiting for the channel to clear, before the message is aborted. Telemetry in general has the lowest priority, hand-sent chat the highest.

> CQCQCQ print ON
> Enables messages addressed to 'cqcqcq' to print, just as they would if addressed to 'allcall' or the station callsign. The default state is ON. When disabled, 'cqcqcq' addressed messages are ignored, but those addressed to 'allcall' still print. This applies only in FSQCall Active mode. In vanilla FSQ (Inactive) mode, everything prints.

> Options/AGC
> Allows the automatic AGC in the receiving software to operate in an Off, Fast or Slow manner. 'Fast' should be better if there is fast fading. 'Slow' is the default mode, as this best suits rejection of lightning pulses. The AGC affects the brightness of the waterfall display (keeps it constant), and also enhances the reception process. 'Off' may be useful when there's ignition or other repetitive pulse noise.

> > Note: If you can, it is best to operate your transceiver with its AGC OFF or at least FAST, so that lightning pulses don't disable the receiver any longer than necessary. Don't worry - the software will reject the QRN.

> Options/Symbol Averaging
> Affects how quickly the FFT data in the receiver decoder is updated. The default is Fast, and that's probably best. Slow might be helpful when the band is noisy, but may make copy worse except at 2 and 3 baud.

> Options/Peaks "hit parade" count
> Select 3 (default) or 6 FFT cycles over which to decide whether there's a new symbol. This mode has no sync - 3 is the default value, suitable for most conditions, while 6 may help when it's particularly noisy or when receiving at 2 and 3 baud.

> Options/Centre frequency
> The default centre frequency for transmitted and received audio tones in FSQ is 1500 Hz. This suits most receiver narrower filter options in USB, and also ensures that audio distortion products are outside the transmit sideband filter of the transceiver.

> There is an option to use 1150 Hz centre frequency, which better suits (for example) Weaver, Third Method and similar direct conversion transceivers. However, the calling frequencies have been established based on 1500 Hz, so if you use the 1150 Hz alternative, you MUST tune your transceiver 350 Hz higher than the posted calling frequencies.

> When you change this setting, the waterfall calibration changes, and the transmit and receive centre frequencies change. The image mode centre frequencies also change. Nothing else changes.

Display

> Display/Symbol marker
> This feature 'tags' the received signal symbols on the waterfall with a yellow line as they are detected. This makes seeing the signal easier when it is weak. The default state is ON, and you can select the markers ON or OFF. You may not see the markers when the signal is strong or the Brightness is high.

> Display/Waterfall speed
> Allows a choice of waterfall speed; fast or slow (default). More processor power is used by the receiver when this is at the Fast setting.

> Display/Waterfall colour
> Obvious! Cool blue (default) or bilious green waterfall display.

> Display/Text colour
> ON means RX text is green, Selcall received text blue, TX text is red, and timestamps are grey, as seen in the RX pane. Off means all text in the RX pane is black. In the TX pane, text is always dark blue. Monitor pane text is always black.

> Display/10 minute timestamp
> This feature is useful if you want to know when someone called or when some test stopped working. It puts a timestamp in the receive pane every 10 minutes. If reception is happening at the time, it may appear in the middle of the text. If this annoys you, turn it off and check for the station in the log (Menu File/Open Heard station Log).

Soundcard

> Soundcard/Audio devices
> Allows you to set the audio resources (source, destination, levels) used for recording (RX) and playback (TX). If you change the audio source here, it is best to close the program and restart afterwards, as the program may not notice the change in the operating system.

> To adjust your actual transmit power, use the little applet which pops up when you click on the speaker symbol on the Tool bar. You may need to enable this from the Windows Control Panel.

> Soundcard/Select soundcard
> Allows you to select which sound card is used for reception and transmission. You can change this OK while the program is running. These settings are remembered for the next session.

PTT/CAT

> PTT/CAT
> This dialog box sets the COM port used for PTT commands using the RTS and DTR lines, and also for CAT commands. The default value is that set in the FSQCALvnnn_setup.txt file. This dialog allows you to change port and control method.

> For CAT operation, set the COM port to be used here, and select the appropriate transceiver definition. This version supports only a limited range of transceivers. If you have a newer unlisted rig with CAT, follow the instructions listed under Installation.

> Because the same COM port is used for hardware PTT and CAT, when you select CAT, the hardware PTT (RTS and DTR) continues to operate, but will (probably) be ignored by your transceiver.

Speed

> Selects transmit symbol rate. The default is fast (6 baud), although under most circumstances the next slowest speed will be more reliable. The other choices are 4.5, 3 and 2 baud. The lower speeds are increasingly more robust, and should be used around sunrise and sunset, when signals are more disturbed. The lower speeds are also more sensitive and handle static much better. You can use 'Options/Peaks/At Least 6' to advantage at 2 and 3 baud. The typing speeds (WPM) in all modes are about 10x the symbol rate (baud).

> By the way, the tone spacing is the same in all modes, three FFT bins or about 9 Hz. The transmission is about 300 Hz wide.

> > Note: Speed change does NOT need to be matched by any setting changes at the receiving station, which is a remarkable feature of this mode. Similarly, no changes are made to the receiver by this control.

> In FSQCall mode, the transmit speed can be changed remotely.

Picture

> Send File Pic
> Opens a file dialog to allow an image file to be selected for transmission and start the transmission. See IMAGE Help for more information.

> Send Webcam Pic
> Opens a webcam applet, allowing you to adjust camera settings, select image size and other parameters, then send the picture. See IMAGE Help for more information.

> Receive Pic
> Opens the picture receive window, and allows manual start of picture reception.

Help

> Help/FSQ Introduction
> Help/Guided Tour
> Help/IMAGE Help
> Help/Telemetry
> Help/Syntax
> Help/Rules
> These menu items bring up a comprehensive set of Help files, using your default browser. Please read these carefully, as they answer just about every question you may have about FSQ operation.

> Help/About...
> Displays information about the program, such as author, release date and version.

## Text Panes

> Receive Pane
> Directly below the menu is a large yellow area - this is the Received Text Pane. When not in Active mode, all received text, no matter whether directed to you or not, is displayed in green, and transmitted text in red. FSQCall has squelch based on signal-to-noise ratio

> In Active mode, received directed text (Selcall) for your station is displayed here in blue, while transmitted text is again shown in red. In Active mode there is a 'Smart' Squelch which copes with fades during transmission, but closes quickly when the end of transmission is detected. No rubbish or traffic not directed to you will appear in this pane in Active mode.

> You can also cut and paste text from this pane, and it has a right-click menu for this purpose.

> Hint: You can change the size of the text in this pane by selecting all of it, then pressing CTRL+SHIFT+"<" or ">". If you want ongoing text to be in the new size, make sure you include the very last character in the selection.

> > Note:You MUST press PAUSE before attempting to select and copy from the Receive Pane, or change the text size.

> Transmit Pane
> This is a small pink area below the Receive pane, on the left. This is where you type what you want to transmit: callsigns, commands and text. While the transmitter is not running, you can also type ahead, and correct what you type with normal Windows editing functions. The slider on the right becomes active when there is more text in the transmit buffer than will fit on the screen. Being verbose is not encouraged, however. It is unwise to try typing while a sentence is being transmitted. This can cause confusion and missed text. You cannot edit or insert text while transmitting.

> In Active mode, once you start typing in the TX buffer, the program will ignore incoming commands which require a response. This restriction is removed once the TX buffer is cleared. If you are expecting incoming commands, make sure your buffer is cleared.

> Monitor Pane
> This is a larger yellow area below the Receive pane, on the right. In both Active and Inactive modes, all incoming sentences, whether directed to you or not, are displayed here. This is a good place to monitor other traffic, read messages that are too weak to be recognised due to errors, and to read messages that are incorrectly directed or formatted. This is the 'engineering' area. The 'Smart' Squelch does not operate in the Monitor pane, only the regular signal-to-noise ratio Squelch. If there is a fade during reception, the Receive Pane may display part of the sentence prematurely, but you will be able to see any remaining text after the fade here.

### Other Information and Controls

> Heard List
> There is a small white are to the right of the main Receive Pane. In this area you will find listed 'allcall', followed by the callsigns of all incoming (and verified) stations, whether sending text or simply Sounding. You can select stations in this list to be the default destination callsign for your Directed transmissions by left-clicking on one of them. You can also select a command to follow the Direction by right-clicking anywhere in this area.

> The Heard List is cleared when you close the program. It has no connection to the Heard Log, which is saved as a file, complete with time stamps and signal readings.

> Waterfall Display
> Below the TX buffer is the received audio waterfall display, which has frequency calibration below, and spans from about 1100 to 1900Hz. It shows the received signals over time, as the waterfall moves down, with older signals toward the bottom. It moves quite quickly so individual tones can be seen. When the 'tagging' option is on, each recognised symbol is tagged here with a thin yellow line. Two full-height vertical yellow lines indicate the signal-focussed area of the decoding software - the received signals must be completely contained between these marks or copy will deteriorate markedly.

> You should slowly tune the receiver so the whole of any incoming signal is between the yellow lines. As the signal steps back and forth quite a bit due to the way signalling occurs, you will need to watch it for a while to ensure it is all contained within the yellow lines. The lowest tone of any transmission is the reference frequency. This will be Dial Frequency + 1250Hz on an SSB transceiver in USB mode. All other tones are higher than this, by up to 300Hz. Tuning is so easy that with a modern transceiver you just set the dial to the net frequency, or a round 1kHz step frequency, and forget about it. Please do not use RIT. The transmit and receive frequencies are always the same.

> > Note: Tuning needs to be within about ± 50 Hz: if ANY tones fall outside the yellow lines, copy will deteriorate quite quickly. It is not really practical to operate FSQ in a net situation with an older (less stable) VFO-tuned rig.

> Since all FSQ operation is 'channelized', there is never a need to tune in signals anyway. Just set the transceiver to the known channel frequency.

> Signal Meter
> To the left of the waterfall display is the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) meter, which has been calibrated against a simulator to indicate real signal to noise ratios. There is a fat yellow line which indicates the level below which Squelch will close (printing stops). Left click here to change the Squelch level. The meter has light averaging to remove the effect of impulse noise, and operates quite differently in Active mode (fast attack, slow release). The peak value reading is the true signal SNR estimated in a 2.4 kHz bandwidth. The reading is likely to be over-optimistic if a narrow receiver filter is used.

> > Note: The transmitter will not operate while the Squelch is open! This helps prevent doubling. If the squelch level is set too low, you may not be able to transmit.

> > Note: If the Squelch is set too high you may miss some incoming text. When working weak stations, better to set the Squelch lower, and have a few spurious characters between overs, than lose valuable text.

> Speed Meter
> Next to the Bright (Brightness) control at the bottom of the window is a small horizontal dotted bar graph, which indicates the sending speed of the currently received station. The dots change colour for different speeds. The graph has no meaning in transmit or when there is no signal received. You don't need to match your own transmitting speed to this reading.

> User Controls
> Below the waterfall are several button controls and the Bright (Brightness) control. This slider control adjusts waterfall brightness. Keep it to a minimum to avoid waterfall blurring, and even lower to allow the markers to be seen. The setting is remembered for the next session.

> Next, near the Brightness control, just past the Speed Meter, are two dark blue buttons, QTC and QTH. When pressed they flash bright blue, and place any preset text they provide in the TX buffer. You then need to press Enter as you would normally, to send the message. You can set this text using a right-mouse-click on the relevant button. You could use the QTC button to set a favourite station call or station details. A popular use is 'Out to lunch'!

> In Active mode, the messages behind these two buttons can be remotely queried by the & and @ commands respectively. The QTC (station message) button is normally set to a simple station description, but can be used for any purpose. The QTH (location) button should contain the station location, either GPS position, Locator or physical address, perhaps all three.

> The SELCAL button is normally light blue. When Active mode is disabled (by pressing this button), the button is dark blue. In Active mode, the button lights bright green when a verified directed message for your station is arriving. When SELCAL is disabled, none of the automatic FSQCall functions are available.

> The SAVE button is generally used in conjunction with forward error correction and the FSE program, if the sender's callsign or the file name is corrupted. If you are quick enough, pressing this button will allow the incoming file to be saved as emergency.enc.RS, which FSE should be able to decode. You can also use this feature on any transmission, in order to study the prevailing propagation delay variation, using FSE's 'engineering' tools. This is outside the scope of the average user's interest. Those with an interest should contact the developers.

> The SOUND button enables or disables the automatic Sounding feature. When not active, this button is dark blue. When active, transmitting or waiting to transmit, this button is light blue. Sounding features can be alterd from the Options menu.

> The MSG RX button has two functions. It is normally dark blue. When a file message has been received for your station, this button will be red, and clicking on it will bring up the latest file in Notepad. If you click on it when it is dark blue, the action depends on whether a file has been received within the last session. If it has, that file will be shown. If not, a Directory of the working folder for the program will be displayed.

> Further to the right are three more buttons. They are the PAUSE button, the Transmit button (TX) and the Receive button (RX). Each of these is dark blue when not active, and bright blue when active. The program starts in Receive. PAUSE is used while editing the screen, as otherwise the cursor will jump around when you least expect it. It also stops reception and transmission until either RX or TX is pushed again.

> Resizing the Window
> In FSQCall after V0.36, you are able to resize the program window by dragging the border sideways or downward. The default size will fit on the screen of a Netbook. It is not a good idea to shrink the window size much, as you'll lose some controls.

### Transmitting and Receiving

> Transmit
> When you wish to transmit, simply place the cursor in the pink TX pane and start typing. You should type ahead (i.e. before you start transmitting, typically while the other guy is transmitting). When you've typed your sentence, and the channel is clear, press ENTER or the TX button, and it will be sent.

> If you start the transmitter with an empty buffer, it will send your callsign then stop. This is useful as a 'ZL1XYZ listening on channel' prompt. As you transmit, the characters sent disappear from the TX pane and appear in the RX pane once they have been sent. This will let you see the progress of your transmission.

> > Note: If you forget to place the cursor in the TX pane, your typed text might not go anywhere useful!

> > Note: You should only type while receiving. If you continue to type after transmission has started, the transmitter will soon catch up with you, and if it does, the transmission will stop prematurely. Also some of your typed characters may be missed. Wait until the program has returned to receive before you type again.

> Receive
> The program starts in the Active mode, in the receive state. You can interrupt a transmission and return to receive by pressing the RX button or the Esc key on the keyboard. If you press either while text remains in the TX pane, this will not be sent until you press TX again, and at least one character may be lost. Normally you should complete typing the transmission text with an Enter key, and wait until all the text appears in the receive pane, including the new line caused by the Enter, before typing again. Don't worry, you will quickly master the technique, and it will soon seem obvious.

> Keep a close watch on the waterfall display during reception, and listen carefully before you transmit, to ensure that you don't double with someone else. It can still sometimes happen, even with the 'squelch lockout' feature, and if you sense that it has, immediately press the RX button, or hit the Esc key, so your transmission stops.

> Watch the signal SNR on the meter (bottom left). You will probably find that the signal fades up and down by 10dB or more, and print may stop or become garbled during fades. Reduce the Squelch level if this happens.

> The squelch level is set by clicking in the SNR meter with the mouse. It's better to have a few garbage characters than miss real text. Keep sentences short, and stick to lower case and CW-speak abbreviations to maximise typing speed.

> Pause
> The PAUSE button stops both transmission and reception.

> It is best not to edit text during transmission, although you can delete typed characters (using Backspace), after and including the error, then retype. The problem is that this simple program does not remember cursor locations, and the transmit and receive panes share the same cursor control. Thus it happens that when you move the cursor manually (click in the text with the mouse), you may find the software promptly moves the cursor back to the end of the typed text. During transmission the program may miss your keyboard strokes, so again, typing while transmitting is not encouraged.

> In FSQCALL mode it is bad practice to edit the text (or add further text) while transmitting, as this then messes up the other station's Smart Squelch, since the additional text removes the Smart Squelch hidden command character.

> Another problem with editing while transmitting is that the transmission will stop when it catches up with your typing - can you really consistently type faster than 60 WPM? The only way to reliably edit the transmit buffer text (i.e. edit by moving the cursor insert position) is to do so while receiving.

> > Note: You can copy and paste from the RX pane to the TX pane, so if you have a request to repeat what you've just sent, simply copy the text from the upper pane and repaste it in the lower pane.

> Escape
> It's not so convenient to move the mouse to the RX button if you need to stop transmission in a hurry, so the software provides a keyboard 'abort transmission' function via the Esc key, which has the same effect.

> This feature is very useful if you sense, just after starting a transmission, that someone else has just done the same. If you are quick, you won't miss much of their transmission, and you will probably not lose many of your own transmitted characters either, and any that have already gone will be easily replaced by moving the cursor to the start of the TX buffer and typing them again (you don't need to retype the automatic preamble - and you should delete what's left of it before retransmitting).

> Note that the Esc feature has no effect if the transmission was initiated by a 'Helper' program such as FSE or FST.

Copyright © Murray Greenman and Con Wassilieff 2013-2016. All rights reserved.