vbdigi is a multimode digital modem
program for the Windows operating system. It has been tested and
known to run on Window 98, Window 2000, Windows XP and VISTA. It has not been
tested on Windows NT.
vbdigi is a part of the NBEMS software suite and is installed with the suite's setup program.
Fill in your callsign, name, QTH and locator as shown above. The
program will first start with the windows default sound card selected.
If you only have one sound card on your system you do not need to
make a change. If you have more than one then be sure that the
radio is connected to the sound card and is on. Then select one
of SC #1 - SC #3 until you see activity on the waterfall. You
then have the correct sound card selected. You may need to adjust
the sampling rate. It is preset to 48000 as most modern sound
cards can use that sampling rate. If you are still using
something like a SB-16 board you will probably have to resort to 8000
Hz for the sampling rate. Please consider buying a more current
sound system if that is the case. 12,000 Hz sampling rate also
seems to give good performance on most sound card systems. If you
monitor the audio out and hear clicks then you probably need to adjust
the the sample rate. Tx Offset may be used to correct for small
differences between Rx and Tx frequencies (cumulative from both sound
card codec and transceiver). Do not enter large values in this
control. You should not need any value larger than +/- 20 Hz.
If you use a serial port with either RTS or DTR signal line to drive a PTT switch you can select from the PTT interface area to control the PTT on your rig.
This is all the setup needed to start using vbdigi for sending and receiving on any of the supported modes.
vbdigi is a part of the NBEMS software suite and is installed with the suite's setup program.
Configuring the program
You should configure the program when it is run the first time or when you make changes to your system hardware. |
Select General Setup from the Configuration menu. |
 |
|
If you use a serial port with either RTS or DTR signal line to drive a PTT switch you can select from the PTT interface area to control the PTT on your rig.
This is all the setup needed to start using vbdigi for sending and receiving on any of the supported modes.
Waterfall Colors and Appearance
You can change the background color and the palette used for the waterfall. Select the Waterfall item from the Configure menu.vbdigi is installed with several
palettes to select from or you can design and save your own palette.
Waterfall color schemes is one area that is highly individual and
what works well for one person may not be good for another. Press
the Load button and you can
pick from a list of palette files. The color bar at the left of
the dialog will change as you load different palettes. The
waterfall will also change so you can see the effect immediately.
Each small button to the right of the color bar can be clicked to
change the color with that signal level. When you are finished
and like your scheme you can save it using the Save
button. Assign your new palette to a new name such as your
"callsign.pal". The base color can also be changed. This is
the color for the background of the waterfall and the waterfall scale.
The waterfall / spectrum display is a part of the MMVARI ocx control that vbdigi uses for digital signal processing. It's resolution is not as good as some other programs such as fldigi for Linux, but is quite adequate for the purpose intended. If you want to see a bit more detail on the received signal you can click the "1500" range button. I recommend that you keep the range in "3000" mode for routine use. The waterfall horizontal size is also fixed when first installed. You can change this allow the waterfall to fully extend horizontally when the application is resized. Just click the "Expand Waterfall" check box.
If your receiver is receiving signals in the LSB mode then you can click the "use LSB" check box. This will not effect the decoding or transmission of signals, it will only effect the waterfall scale. Toggling the dB check box changes the display from a logarithmic to a square law and back again. It is most noticable when using the spectrum display.
The colors associated with the function keys and the Rx / Tx text boxes can be configured to your preference. Open the Configuration menu item "Colors Fonts"
The waterfall / spectrum display is a part of the MMVARI ocx control that vbdigi uses for digital signal processing. It's resolution is not as good as some other programs such as fldigi for Linux, but is quite adequate for the purpose intended. If you want to see a bit more detail on the received signal you can click the "1500" range button. I recommend that you keep the range in "3000" mode for routine use. The waterfall horizontal size is also fixed when first installed. You can change this allow the waterfall to fully extend horizontally when the application is resized. Just click the "Expand Waterfall" check box.
If your receiver is receiving signals in the LSB mode then you can click the "use LSB" check box. This will not effect the decoding or transmission of signals, it will only effect the waterfall scale. Toggling the dB check box changes the display from a logarithmic to a square law and back again. It is most noticable when using the spectrum display.
The colors associated with the function keys and the Rx / Tx text boxes can be configured to your preference. Open the Configuration menu item "Colors Fonts"
You can select the usual gray button
face if you find the colored buttons not to your liking. The
three groups of four buttons (regular and shifted function keys) can be
assigned colors as well as the font color for the buttons. After
you've played with a few colors you might want to return to the default
pastel color scheme. Just press Defaults in the Function Keys frame.
As you change the background or font for either the Rx or the Tx control your changes are reflected in the associated text demo box and also in the respective area of vbdigi. You can also restore the installation defaults.
As you change the background or font for either the Rx or the Tx control your changes are reflected in the associated text demo box and also in the respective area of vbdigi. You can also restore the installation defaults.
Macros
vbdigi supports 24 macro keys assigned to F1-F12 and shift F1 - shift F12. The lower set of macros are the Fn and the upper the shift Fn keys. Right click on a macro key to open the macro editor for the specific key.The authors brag key entries are shown
above. vbdigi installs with the F1-F12 keys assigned default
macro definitions. These will help you to quickly become familiar
with building a new macro definition. The use of macro tags
<TAG NAME> in the text is fairly common usage among digital modem
programs. When a macro tag relates to a program variable
such as MYCALL or CALL then the variable value is substituted for the
tag when the macro executes. If the macro tag relates to a
command such as <RX> or <TX> then that command is sent to
the program for either immediate or delayed execution. Look at
the various default macro definitions and you will see that some tags
such as <TUNE> or <PICK> are used singularly and without
any other text. These are immediate execution tags and any text
that would be present in the macro definition will be ignored.
The following macro tags are recognized by the macro parser:
| Tag | Type | Action |
| <CALL> | substitute | current QSO call |
| <NAME> | substitute | current QSO name |
| <MYCALL> | substitute | my call |
| <MYNAME> | substitute | my name |
| <MYQTH> | substitute | my qth |
| <MYLOC> | substitute | my locator |
| <RX> | delayed | return to receive at end of macro transmissiion |
| <DATE> | substitute | system date in mm/dd/yy format |
| <DATEL> | substitute | system date in mm/dd/yyyy format |
| <TIME> | substitute | system time in hh:mm format |
| <TIMEL> | substitute | system time in hh:mm:ss format |
| <TX> | immediate | send macro text immediately |
| <TXTOGGLE> | immediate | Toggle between Rx and Tx - best used alone |
| <TIMER>nnn | delayed | repeat the macro after nnn seconds - use in place of <RX> |
| <CLEAR> | immediate | clear both Rx and Tx windows - best used alone |
| <ABORT> | immediate | cease all transmissions - best used alone |
| <TUNE> | immediate | transmit a carrier at the center frequency of current mode - use alone |
| <VERSION> | substitute | the name and version of vbdigi into text |
| <QRZ> | substitute | query www.qrz.com using default browser (current QSO call) |
| <PICK> | immediate | next call in QSO call list to the top - use alone |
| <FILE>fname | substitute | insert the file "fname" fully qualified pathname into transmit text |
| <RXSPLIT>rrrr | immediate | set Rx frequency to rrrr, use rx/tx split |
| <TXSPLIT>tttt |
immediate |
set Tx frequency to tttt, use rx/tx split <RXSPLIT> & <TXSPLIT> can be in same macro definition |
| <movRXFREQ>+/-amt | immediate | slew the Rx frequency by amount in Hz |
| <movTXFREQ>+/-amt | immediate | slew the Tx frequency by amount in Hz |
| <SEEKUP> | immediate | scan up in frequency for next signal - use alone |
| <SEEKDN> | immediate | scan down in frequency for next signal - use alone |
Quick Help
vbdigi has some built-in help for a quick reminder for performing certain tasks or functions. |
Select the help area and a quick help dialog will open. |
 |
|
Receiving
To receive a station, select the mode on the left side of the waterfall and just left-click on a signal.
If you need to receive either an MFSK or RTTY signal that is inverted you can select the "Invert" check box on the main dialog.
If you double click on a 3 number group such as 599 the text will be copied to the R (rst in) control. If you double click on any other word it is assumed to be a name and is sent to the Name control.
A single-click or a drag and click in the Rx window will cause the Rx text flow to be interrupted so that you can direct what to do with the marked text. The easiest way to mark text is to do the following
The default macro set allows you to do the the following:
- PSK63 signals look like PSK31 signals, but are twice as wide.
- MFSK signals are very musical sounding and look like a stream of random dots.
- RTTY signals look like two wide parallel tracks on the waterfall.
If you need to receive either an MFSK or RTTY signal that is inverted you can select the "Invert" check box on the main dialog.
Colors & Fonts
Capturing a Callsign or other text
Double-click on a callsign on the upper (Receive) window to capture the call and use it for the macros. To be parsed as a valid callsign the word must be at least 3 characters long, and have at least one numeral in the group. You can also type a callsign into the Call field of the log. If you are connected to the internet you can press F1 to query the QRZ.com web site with the displayed callsign.If you double click on a 3 number group such as 599 the text will be copied to the R (rst in) control. If you double click on any other word it is assumed to be a name and is sent to the Name control.
A single-click or a drag and click in the Rx window will cause the Rx text flow to be interrupted so that you can direct what to do with the marked text. The easiest way to mark text is to do the following
- single-click with left mouse button in the Rx window ... the Rx text flow is interrupted
- mark the desired text by dragging over the text while holding the left mouse button down
- move the mouse pointer to the destination, ie: Qth or N(otes) and the either right click or press Ctrl-V for paste
- right click in the Rx window and select a destination from the popup menu or click again in the Rx window to dismiss the popup menu and resume text flow
- Rx text flow will also resume after you click on another control on the display. The quickest is to just left click in the Tx window.
Transmitting
Typing: Type in the lower window. Before typing, click in the lower window to be sure that there is a blinking vertical line cursor in there.The default macro set allows you to do the the following:
- Press F2 (CQ) to automatically call CQ.
- Press F3 (Call 3) to automatically call the station with a 3x3 call.
- Press F4 (Call) to automatically call the station and stay on the air to type.
- Press F5 (BTU) to turn it back to the other station and return to receiving.
- Press F6 (73) to signoff with the station and return to receiving.
- Press F9 (T/R) to toggle the Transmit / Receive program status. Press once to go to Transmit and again to return to Receive You can also use the PTT button for the same T/R toggle.
- Press F10 (Tune) to enable the transceiver PTT and generate a sine wave tone at the waterfall frequency
- Press F11 (Pick) to cycle through stored calls to find one to use, or pick from the log dropdown list.
- Press F12 (Clear) to clear the screen of old text.
Adjusting Window Sizes
To change the relative sizes of the upper (Receive) window and lower (Transmit) window, move the mouse cursor slowly over the divider between the two windows until it changes to a double-headed vertical arrow, hold down the left mouse button, drag the divider where you want it, and release the mouse button.Popup Menu's
Pop up menu's are available in the Rx window, the Tx Window and over the Waterfall. |
RxWindow : left mouse button is used to mark text by dragging. The marked text is transferred to the clipboard. Right click opens the popup menu. Call - transfer clipboard to call Name - transfer clipboard to name Qth - transfer clipboard to QTH RSTin - transfer clipboard to RSTin Notes - transfer clipboard to Notes Clear Call List - clear the call combo drop down list Clear Rx Window - clear the Rx window text control |
 |
TxWindow - right click opens the popup menu. Tx ON - initiate transmit mode Tx OFF - return to receive mode Clear - clear the transmit buffer and return to Rx mode Paste - paste clipboard to the end of the tx buffer Append File - select file, paste contents to end of Tx buffer |
 |
Waterfall - right click opens the popup menu Ignore - close the popup menu Set notch here - place a notch filter at this audio frequency Delete all notches - remove all notch filters Scale x1 - 3000 Hz view port Scale x2 - zoom in to 1500 Hz WF / Spectrum - toggle between waterfall and spectrum view |
Waterfall frequency scale
You can set the waterfall frequency scale by selecting from the combo box on the main dialog that initially reads "TONE". vbdigi is installed with a set of default values. These correspond to the most commonly used USB frequency for psk-31 amateur radio usage in the United States. You can modify the combo box values by selecting the Configure / Bands menu item. The changes you make are saved when you exit the program and restored on it's next use. After you select a base frequency from the combo box, such as 14070, the frequency box to it's left will contain the sum of that frequency and the waterfall audio frequency (for USB). If LSB was selected on the Waterfall Config dialog then the frequency displayed will be the base frequency minus the waterfall audio frequency. You can see that occur immediately if you toggle the check box for "use LSB".Mode - AFC - dB - AGC - Split
To change modes simply click on the desired mode to the left of waterfall. AFC can be toggled on/off. It should be left on unless strong interference is pulling the audio tracking point off of the desired signal. The program has the ability to measure the noise floor and adjust the gain of the waterfall display to give a pleasing range. Select AGC for this action. If you want to keep the transmit frequency fixed and allow the receiving frequency to track the incoming signal (afc) then click the Split control. You might want to do this if the other signal exhibits an offset from yours or you might begin crabbing up or down the frequency range with each exchange.Arrow Keys
The Rx and Tx frequencies are identical unless the Split control is enabled. The arrow keys combined with either the Ctrl or the Shift key can be used to adjust your frequency of operation.| Arrow Key | Split ON | Split OFF | ||
| with Ctrl | with Shift | with Ctrl | with Shift | |
| Up | Rx + 1 Hz | Tx + 1 Hz | Both + 1 Hz | Both + 1 Hz |
| Down | Rx - 1 Hz | Tx - 1 Hz | Both - 1 Hz | Both - 1 Hz |
| Left | Rx - 10 Hz | Tx - 10 Hz | Both - 10 Hz | Both - 10 Hz |
| Right | Rx + 10 Hz | Tx + 10 Hz | Both + 10 Hz | Both + 10 Hz |