Get to know the desktop window

The main window brings together the radio's spectrum, waterfall, slice controls, receive audio controls, transmit controls, and status. The spectrum shows signal level against frequency; the waterfall shows how signals change over time. A slice is a receiving channel with its own frequency and demodulation settings. A panadapter is the spectrum and waterfall area that displays a frequency span.

The VFO flag identifies a slice and marks its tuned frequency on the spectrum. Selecting a flag makes that slice active for controls that act on the selected slice. Other slices can remain visible and continue receiving. The operating controls are arranged in applets around the display; which applets are visible depends on the current layout. The TX applet contains transmit controls such as TUNE, MOX, MON, and the TX profile selector. Read the state shown on the control itself before using it.

Connection status appears in the window's status area. When operating through a shared Core, the window can also show who currently holds transmit. These status indicators describe the Core's shared radio state, while controls such as the selected slice and its mode belong to that receiver.

Orient yourself before operating

1. Connect a radio or Core and wait for the spectrum to update.
2. Find the VFO flag on the spectrum and note its slice letter. Select the flag to make that slice active.
3. Locate its frequency, mode, and filter controls, then find the RX audio and DSP controls in the slice applet.
4. Locate the TX applet and read the labels and active states of its controls. Leave MOX and TUNE off while you are only receiving.
5. Check the connection indicator before interpreting a stopped or frozen display. If the radio is disconnected, reconnect from Radio.

The displayed frequency span is a view of the radio's received spectrum. Changing the active slice changes which receiver's controls are being edited; it does not automatically change the receive settings of every other slice. Later chapters cover tuning, slices, and transmitting in detail.

Desktop control map

Figure 1. A desktop development build receiving LSB through a remote Core. The layout includes a 3D spectrum view. The Core-busy and overload messages were present at capture time; the settings shown are examples.

Figure 2. The flag's frequency field (1), filter width (2), ownership text (3), and control tabs (4). You control identifies an editable slice; a listening slice has different ownership text and restricted controls.

Choose the control surface you need

The app offers several views of the same receiver. You do not need to keep every applet open to operate a slice.

Clicking an already-open flag tab closes its controls; clicking a different tab switches the panel. The flag can therefore remain compact while you listen, then expand for one adjustment. The mode name on the tab is a useful readback: changing the mode also changes the applicable filter choices.

Before changing an RX applet control, check its slice letter. When there is more than one slice, the RX applet's letter tabs provide another way to choose the active slice. A setting entered in one surface should be reflected in other views of that same slice. If it appears to affect the wrong receiver, check selection and ownership before repeating the change.

Show, hide and float applets

1. Open Containers. In its Applets section, check the applets you want visible. The panel's ☰ menu provides the same visibility choices.
2. If an entry is unavailable, read its reason or check the corresponding station feature. For example, accessory applets depend on their enabled accessory connection. A checked preference does not make an unavailable device appear.
3. Where an applet title bar has ↗, click it to pop that applet into its own window. Place a frequently used TX or audio panel on a second monitor while retaining the band view on the main display.
4. Click ↙ Dock in the floating window to put the applet back in the panel. Closing the floating applet also docks it back.

Floating an applet and floating a panadapter are different actions. An applet window contains controls; View > Float active pan… detaches the selected band display. A meter container is a third kind of window. Its items and layout are managed with Containers > New Container... and Containers > Edit Container. See the customization chapter for meter layout work. Hiding a control panel does not release a slice or stop the Core.

Make the band display useful

The spectrum, waterfall, frequency ruler and level ruler respond to different mouse gestures. Put the pointer on the part you intend to change.

A notch under the pointer takes precedence over ordinary tuning gestures; its wheel action resizes the notch. If a wheel turn unexpectedly changes an interference marker instead of frequency, move clear of the marker or use the VFO frequency field.

Zooming and panning are display operations, but a view extending beyond the current receive window can show survey data outside the listenable area. Choosing a signal in that outer area can require the Core to move its receiver window. Read any impact/refusal message when other slices share that receiver. A visible signal and an available receiving channel are separate things.

The display remains pannable and zoomable while keyed, but ordinary band click-to-tune is withheld during transmit. Return to receive before making an operating-frequency change; do not use display movement as confirmation that the transmitter changed frequency.

Inspect earlier waterfall activity

The waterfall has a history view as well as a live view. Drag its time-scale strip to inspect previous rows. Use LIVE to return to the current band. An old trace can help identify when a signal started or where interference appeared. It does not mean a station is transmitting at that frequency now.

When a display seems frozen, first check whether it is showing history. Then check connection state, Core traffic and the status message. Distinguish a paused history view from missing data before reconnecting the station.

Read meters and status together

The receive meter describes signal level in the selected receiver. The TX meters describe microphone level, RF power and SWR in their applicable operating state. A displayed meter face is not evidence of fresh samples. For example, while receiving, a forward-power display may be zero or retain its last indication; use it during the controlled transmit operation it is intended to measure.

Connection/traffic indicators answer a different question: whether this window is receiving data from its radio or Core. Core round-trip time is a control-link measurement. Audio traffic is evidence that data is arriving, but playback also requires a working output route, volume and unmuted slice.

Use the connection and station context menus

Right-click the connection/segment area for its connection actions. In a local radio window it includes Disconnect, Connect to other radio…, Network diagnostics…, Copy IP address and Copy MAC address. In a remote window it instead offers the actionable Connect/Disconnect commands, Core connection details..., the Core's radio-management actions and address-copy entries when the Core has reported them. Copied addresses refer to the radio identified by that menu, so inspect the identity first.

Right-click the station block for radio-management actions. In a local window, Edit radio… opens management for the current radio. Forget radio disconnects and removes its saved radio entry; use it deliberately rather than as a first recovery attempt. In a remote window the available actions target the Core's radio and obey its permission/readiness gates. See connection management for the full saved-target flow.

Use Radio > Protocol Info to inspect the radio/protocol details, and Tools > Network Diagnostics for the link measurements. When a status message appears, capture its wording and the affected Core/radio/slice before changing settings. View > Performance exposes performance presentation; read whether a CPU value represents this computer, the app or the Core. An overload indication is an input condition, whereas Core busy and link/audio notices point to different resources. Troubleshooting uses those distinctions to choose the next check.

Check that controls follow your selection

For a practical orientation check, select slice A, open its audio tab and change AF by a small amount while listening. Confirm both the number and the sound change. Then select another slice and verify its identity before using the same control. This establishes which controls follow selection without keying the transmitter or changing station hardware.

Set this computer's master listening output

The title bar's speaker button and adjacent slider are Master mute and Master volume for this computer. Click the speaker to mute/unmute; adjust the slider from 0 to 100 percent and check its adjacent level readout. Master mute can silence a correctly configured slice, so check it before changing receiver gain or the Core's DSP. This control also affects this computer's playback in a remote desktop window.

Right-click the speaker button for Output device. Choose the intended playback device and verify the checkmark/current route, then listen at a comfortable volume. No output devices means no destination is available from the current audio backend. Use Audio > Devices to inspect the opened format or repair a missing route. The picker changes this computer's speakers destination; it does not change the station's microphone input or a different operator's phone output. The selected slice's personal volume/mute remains a separate stage, so check both when one slice is silent.