The flexible application structure allows an easy implementation of future extensions.
Pure 32-bit application.
What is this good for? RadioControl can therefore make
extensive use of latest processor and Windows features, e.g.
multithreading,
long file names (up to 255 characters; compare: 16-bit applications allow at most
8 characters!), additional GUI controls and GUI features provided by Windows.
Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000-compliant user interface.
Use of much the same application and user interface concepts as standard applications
(e.g. Microsoft Office, OpenOffice).
What is this good for? The use of application and
user interface concepts that the user already knows from other applications creates
a certain familiarity with the product and therefore cuts the learning curve.
Application workspace will saved on RadioControl shutdown and restored on next start up.
What is this good for? The most recently opened documents,
Frontpanels etc. do not have to be reopened manually when the application is started
next time. Instead, RadioControl will do that automatically and will also restore the
correct status, position and sequence of the document windows.
Extension of the functionality by plug-ins (Professional Edition only).
Radio Devices and Device Drivers
Radio device independent storage of data in RadioControl Frequency Databases and
Memory Files thanks to the Mode Mapping and Filter Mapping Features.
What is this good for? This will allow you to use your
created RadioControl Frequency Databases and Memory Files with different radio devices
or to share them with other users even if they use other radio devices as you do.
More than one radio device can be used at the same time (Standard and Professional Edition only).
The Device Configuration dialog box provides an overview about the installed
radio devices and also allows their configuration.
New radio devices can be installed comfortably by using the Device Installation Wizard.
Deployment of device drivers as independent files.
What is this good for? This allows easy updates and an easy
integration of drivers for new radio devices in an existing RadioControl installation.
Radio Device Specific Functions (availability depends on radio model)
Comfortable editing of the radio device internal pass channels (i.e. skip frequencies).
Labeling and resizing of the radio device internal memory banks (Standard and
Professional Edition only).
Easy deletion of memory channels from the radio device internal memory.
Support of the radio device internal scanner (Professional Edition only).
What is this good for? The radio device internal scanner
is significantly faster (mostly operates at 40 - 60 steps per second) than a scanner
that is completely implemented in software (mostly operates at 10 - 20 steps per second),
because it is directly integrated into the radio device. One advantage of this direct
integration, among others, is that the time-consuming communication between the radio
and the computer can be avoided. Currently, the internal scanner of the following radios
is supported: AR-5000 (incl. Cyber Scan/Search), AR-8200,
AR-8600, AR-ONE (Hyper Scan/Search)
and R&S EB200 (M-SCAN and F-SCAN) as well as of many
Icom receivers and Icom transceivers.
Use of the radio device internal scanner for frequency search operations initiated by
RadioControl (Professional Edition only).
Scan of the radio device internal memory channels by using the radio device internal
scanner (Professional Edition only).
Frontpanel
The Frontpanel can be thought of being the virtual operating unit of the radio device.
All important (in many cases even all) functions supported by the radio device over
its computer interface are usable.
The frequency can be changed with the mouse wheel or the arrow keys or by clicking
on the big rotary.
Direct entry of a new frequency is possible too.
The current S-Meter value (signal strength) will be shown graphically and as text
(in S-Meter units and dB).
The Frontpanel provides two kinds of frequency searches:
(a) MHz Search - frequency search "within the MHz" of the current frequency,
(b) Frequency search between two edge frequencies.
Scan of an arbitrary radio device internal memory bank by using the device-internal
scanner (Professional Edition only).
Comfortable editing of the radio device internal pass channels (i.e. skip frequencies),
if supported by the radio device.
Copying of the data of the current VFO to the Windows clipboard. Later on, these data
can be pasted into a RadioControl Frequency Database or Memory File or another Windows
application (e.g. as text or HTML fragment or in a proprietary data format). Note: The data formats in which the VFO data can be copied to the clipboard
depend on the installed export filters.
In the following, the features of each RadioControl document type will be listed: Note: With document type, the kinds of files that RadioControl can create and
edit are meant.
RadioControl Frequency Database
In a RadioControl Frequency Database, all known frequencies can be stored together with
additional information. In a way, it is the electronic equivalent of traditional
frequency lists or books in paper form.
With all RadioControl editions, you can create one or more RadioControl Frequency Databases,
depending on the personal taste and the number of frequencies, e.g. one per country, region,
service.
One RadioControl Frequency Database can contain up to 250 frequencies in the Lite Edition
and an unlimited number of frequencies in the Standard and Professional Edition.
In addition, one RadioControl Frequency Database can be specified as the database that
RadioControl should use for the Frequency Identification Feature.
Up to 20 additional parameters can be stored in addition to the frequency, e.g. description,
step, mode, IF filter, ATT, AFC, BFO, AGC, CTCSS, DTMF.
Use of customizable value tables for fields like Mode, AGC, Service, Region.
What is this good for? When adding or editing a record, the
value for such a field can be easily specified just by selecting the appropriate item
from the associated drop-down list. This also avoids multiple values that actually mean
the same thing (e.g. "NFM" and "FMN" both mean "narrow band FM"), which is especially
important when searching for records later on.
Display of the records in a table and form view.
Filtering of the database by up to 20 criterions to limit the displayed frequencies
to a certain subset, e.g. to frequencies belonging to one service only.
Searching of the database for frequency, description, service and/or channel.
Easy transfer of the data of the currently selected record to the VFO of an arbitrary
radio device by using the "Copy to VFO" function.
Copying of records to the Windows clipboard. Later on, they can be pasted into another
RadioControl Frequency Database or a RadioControl Memory File or another Windows
application (e.g. as text or HTML fragment or in a proprietary data format). Note: The data formats in which the records can be copied to the clipboard
depend on the installed export filters.
Paste of records from the Windows clipboard is possible too. The data can come from
another RadioControl document (Frequency Database, Memory File or Frequency Search
Document) or another Windows application. Note: The data format in which records can be pasted depends on the installed
import filters.
Import of records from a file that has been created by another application, e.g.
AOR ACEPAC-3A Memory File, Radio Manager 4.x Frequency Database, SCANcontrol 2.x
Frequency Database, VisualRadio Database, WiNRADiO WR-1xxx and WR-3xxx Memory File.
Export of records as RadioControl Memory File or as file that can be opened by another
application, e.g. AOR ACEPAC-3A Memory File, HTML file, Radio Manager 4.x
Frequency Database, text file, VisualRadio Database, WiNRADiO WR-1xxx and
WR-3xxx Memory File.
The RadioControl Frequency Database is a Microsoft Access 2.0 database. Therefore, it
can be used with other applications too, e.g. to link it with other databases or to
create reports based on its data.
RadioControl Memory File
RadioControl Memory Files store frequencies that should be uploaded into the internal
memory of a radio device or act as a memory-replacement if a radio device is not
equipped with an own internal memory.
With all RadioControl editions, an unlimited number of RadioControl Memory Files can
be created.
One RadioControl Memory File can contain up to 100 memory channels in the Lite Edition
and an unlimited number of memory channels in the Standard and Professional Edition.
Up to 17 additional parameters can be stored in addition to the frequency, e.g. description,
display text (alphanumeric text that should be shown in the radio's display), mode,
IF filter, ATT, AGC, AFC, BFO, CTCSS, DTMF.
Creation of a RadioControl Memory File from selected records of a RadioControl
Frequency Database. Manual data entry is possible too.
Display of the memory channels in a table and form view.
Searching of the RadioControl Memory File for frequency and/or description.
Easy transfer of the data of the currently selected memory channel to the VFO of an
arbitrary radio device by using the "Copy to VFO" function.
Upload of memory channels into the internal memory of a radio device, if supported by
the radio device.
Download of memory channels from the internal memory of a radio device, if supported by
the radio device.
Scan of the memory channels of a RadioControl Memory File by using the
RadioControl-internal scanner.
What is this good for? Among others, this feature makes
sense for the following scenarios:
You have just finished the compilation of a RadioControl Memory File and want to scan
its memory channels now. Normally, you would first need to upload the memory channels
into the internal memory of the radio device and would then have to start the
device-internal scanner.
With this feature, you can start the scan with just a single click and also get
logged the last activity on each memory channel in addition!
Not all radio devices are equipped with an internal memory and scanner (e.g.
the ICOM IC-PCR100 and IC-PCR1000 or the WiNRADiO WR-1xxx and WR-3xxx Series) or
the device-internal memory cannot be accessed from the computer which makes the
direct memory channel transfer impossible (e.g. ICOM IC-R10 and IC-R20).
In these cases, the RadioControl Memory File together with the scan function will
act as a replacement for the missing or inaccessible device-internal memory and/or
scanner, which eventually will add value to the radio device itself because of the
enhanced possibilities.
The RadioControl-internal scanner runs in the background by using the so-called
multithreading feature.
What is this good for? This allows you to continue
to work with the application while the memory scanner is active. For example, you can
create or modify other documents or access another radio device via the Frontpanel,
while scanning the memory channels of a RadioControl Memory File.
Copying of memory channels to the Windows clipboard. Later on, they can be pasted into
another RadioControl Memory File or a RadioControl Frequency Database or another Windows
application (e.g. as text or HTML fragment or in a proprietary data format). Note: The data formats in which the memory channels can be copied to the clipboard
depend on the installed export filters.
Paste of memory channels from the Windows clipboard is possible too. The data can come
from another RadioControl document (Frequency Database, Memory File or Frequency Search
Document) or another Windows application. Note: The data format in which memory channels can be pasted depends on the
installed import filters.
Import of memory channels from a file that has been created by another application, e.g.
AOR ACEPAC-3A Memory File, Radio Manager 4.x Frequency Database, SCANcontrol 2.x
Frequency Database, VisualRadio Database, WiNRADiO WR-1xxx and WR-3xxx Memory File.
Export of memory channels as file that can be opened by another application, e.g.
AOR ACEPAC-3A Memory File, HTML file, Radio Manager 4.x Frequency Database, text file,
VisualRadio Database, WiNRADiO WR-1xxx and WR-3xxx Memory File.
RadioControl Frequency Search Document
RadioControl Frequency Search Documents on one hand store all parameters necessary for
execution of a frequency search and on the other hand store the frequencies that
have been found when a frequency search has actually been executed.
With all RadioControl editions, an unlimited number of RadioControl Frequency Search
Documents can be created.
All parameters necessary for execution of the frequency search will be retrieved by
a comfortable wizard. In addition, the retrieved data can be modified later on.
Unlike the RadioControl Frequency Database and Memory File, a RadioControl Frequency
Search Document is bound to a certain radio device because the values for the
IF filter and ATT will be stored device dependently to use the possibilities of the
respective radio device to the greatest possible extent. Note: The used radio device can be changed at any time.
For the frequency search, either the RadioControl-internal scanner or the
radio device internal scanner can be used, if supported by the radio device
(Professional Edition only).
What is this good for? Normally, the device-internal scanner
is much faster and therefore should be used preferably. However, not all radio devices
are equipped with a scanner or allow the computer to access the scanner. In these
cases, the RadioControl-internal scanner is a possibility to execute frequency searches
from the computer nonetheless.
[Further details about using the device-internal scanner]
The RadioControl-internal scanner runs in the background by using the so-called
multithreading feature.
What is this good for? This allows you to continue
to work with the application while the frequency search is active. For example, you can
create or modify other documents or access another radio device via the Frontpanel,
while searching for frequencies.
Behavior of the scanner, when it finds an active frequency, can be specified.
For example, the scanner can wait until the carrier disappears or resume immediately.
Optionally, RadioControl can open the Frontpanel when the frequency search is
started which would allow you to monitor the activities of the used radio device.
In addition to the found frequency, the following parameters will be stored: label,
signal strength in S-Meter units and dB, hit count, date and time of last hit. Note: The label for the found frequency will be retrieved by using the
Frequency Identification Feature.
Display of the found frequencies in a spectrum and table view.
The spectrum view has a zoom-function and shows the frequency at the mouse position,
including additional data.
Easy transfer of the currently selected found frequency to the VFO of an arbitrary
radio device by using the "Copy to VFO" function.
Copying of found frequencies (incl. additional data) to the Windows clipboard. Later on,
they can be pasted into a RadioControl Frequency Database or Memory File or another
Windows application (e.g. as text or HTML fragment or in a proprietary data format). Notes:
The data formats in which the found frequencies can be copied to the clipboard
depend on the installed export filters.
This feature allows an easy and fast transfer of found frequencies to an
existing Frequency Database or Memory File.
Export of found frequencies as RadioControl Memory File or as file that can be opened
by another application, e.g. HTML file, text file, WiNRADiO WR-1xxx and WR-3xxx
Spectrum Scope File.
Copying of the displayed frequency spectrum to the Windows clipboard as bitmap or
saving as bitmap file.
