Help File for WaveNode WN-1 Station Monitor System.
Revision 8.0
WaveNode
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Description of Operation
2. Features
3. Additional Inputs/Outputs
A.
Logical Outputs
B. Analog Inputs
4. Installation and Checkout
5. Graphical Menus
6. Software/Hardware Expansion
7. Connector Layout/Location
8. Operation Instructions
9. Operation with Sound Announcing
10. WN-1 communication Status
11. How To View Only
One Meter or Save Screen Space
12.
The Stand-Alone Gain Graph (Easy Amplifier Tune-up)
13. The Mini-Panel
1. GENERAL
DESCRIPTION OF OPERATION
The Basic Station Monitor consists
of the WN-1 signal processing unit, in-line coax sensors and your PC
. The WN-1
contains all signal processing for four coax in-line
sensors, and no calibration is
necessary. An additional input is
available
for monitoring D.C. supply voltage and current (< 16 volts and <
25 amps). The interface to the computer
is made via the
parallel
port with the standard DB25 connector cable provided.
All software is
in your host PC, therefore system
updates are performed by simply installing new
software. Future software
enhancements
will be made available at the Wavenode website at www.wavenode.com.
Software Upgrades
are ALWAYS provided to
WN-1 owners at NO charge.
2.
FEATURES:
A. The RF sensor modules require
no calibration. The user can add additional
sensors at any time. Accuracy is
guaranteed when
installed
at any time.
B. All input sensors are sampled
simultaneously for forward and reflected power in the signal processing unit by a 12-bit A to D
converter for maximum resolution and repeatibility. It’s not the least expensive way, but the
user will be surprised by the
resolution and accuracy provided by this instrument at any
power level.
C. The sensor values are
digitally processed to provide Peak, Average and accumulated power. Sensor values are compared for gain,
linearity, and statistical views of transmitted power. Continuous graphical displays are provided
for gain, speech compression,
SWR, Peak, Average power, and other data.
D. The user can
label the meter titles and add additional graphic information to the
interface screen to personalize the screen as he
likes. Meter titles can be changed as station equipment
is changed or re-configured by the operator.
Your screen is personalized
to minimize confusion about which sensor
is monitoring which antenna or tuner input.
E. Power Supply voltage and current information is
displayed on the screen,
and accumulated Amp-Hours of
DC current is shown on
the screen.
F. The RF power is sampled .each 50 milliseconds, and all
data is updated. All data and statistics
are updated, and accurate data is
provided
in any transmission mode including SSB.
This allows manual tuner optimizing even during an SSB QSO. A single CW
dit gives accurate power and SWR data that is held
on the screen for a user selectable
time up to 1 seconds.
G SWR Protection is provided on any of the four input
sensors. The operator selects which
sensor is to be monitored.
The SWR trip level and time duration can be set to
provide protection for linear amplifiers and other SWR sensitive equipment.
When SWR exceeds the level and time set by the
operator, an internal relay is latched and the sensor panel reporting an SWR
failure
flashes RED until the reset button on
the graphical screen is pressed. If the
software is running in Background mode, a message
will pop up on the screen and an audio
alert will sound. Two separate sets of
contacts are provided to allow two amplifiers to be protected
without
changing connector wiring.
H. An LED shows Power On and a
second LED shows proper interface communication to the computer. Proper WN-1 operation is
indicated
on the graphical screen for Network -based Monitoring.
I.
Supply power can be supplied via a “wall-wart” supply or any station
supply of 11 to 16 volts DC.
J.
independent range selection.
K. SWR display is shown on a
panel for each sensor. In addition, SWR
is shown on a graphical pie-chart-style indicator for easy
adjustment of antenna tuners. No staring at crossed-meter SWR indicators
again.
L.
the true Peak Envelope Power during each
50 millisecond sampling period.
M. A complete menu of SWR. graphing capability is provided. An SWR. graph can be generated for any combination of the four
in-line
RF sensors. Frequency range and frequency interval are
chosen by the user. The minimum power
required is 2 watts.
N. Audio announcing of RF Power, SWR, and SWR
protection events. Useful
to the visually-impaired operator.
Single key strokes
make
the announcement.
O. All graphs, button selections,
screen positions, etc are saved on power down.
The software will return to the same state when \
re-opened. This saves you time when starting up the
software.
3. ADDITIONAL
INPUTS/OUTPUTS AVAILABLE TO THE OPERATIOR:
A. Three Logical Outputs:
Three additional outputs that
are controlled by buttons on the graphical screen are provided to used as desired.
Some possible uses include
amplifier control or on/off control of remote equipment.
B. Four Analog Inputs:
These inputs are available
to the operator to be configured as desired, and their value is continuously
updated on
an
auxiliary meter viewing panel.
Potential uses include Linerar Amplifer monitor functions that have
traditionally been done with mechanical panel
meters. These analog inputs have a
total range of 0-4 volts, and are
turned
on by the button underneath the four meters on the Aux #1 Screen.
Additional information on
these functions are available on the WaveNode website.
Circuit information is
also
provided to use these I/O ports in practical applications.
4. INSTALLATION AND CHECK-OUT:
A. Each sensor is factory
calibrated and is ready for plug-in and use.
Plug the sensor(s) into the rear
panel 6-pin MiniDin connectors, and the DB25 connector to the
computer printer port. Refer to
figure 8 to locate the connector locations.
B. Insert the installation disk into your CD-ROM and
follow the installation prompts. An additional software
installation sheet is provided with the unit.
C. Choose how to power your
interface unit. You can choose either
“wall-wart” operation, or a
simple connection to your rig’s +13.8 supply. A supply voltage between 11 and 16 volts
must be
supplied. Maximum
current is 150 ma. (80ma typical).
Power the WN-1 control box by either 1 or 2
below:
If using the station power supply to run the
WN-1:
1. Run a wire from the 13V supply
to the “PWR 1” terminal post on the back of the WN-1.
Run the provided ground
wire (16 GA. ) from the ground terminal on the back
of
the WN-1 to the transceiver ground terminal . If you wish to use more than one
transceiver with your WN-1, use an additional ground wire from the WN-1
to each
transceiver ground.
Do NOT run the ground wire for the WN-1 to the
Transceiver Power Supply.
This will
result in inaccurate SWR data since there is a DC voltage drop between
the DC power supply and the tranceiver.
If using the “wall-wart” supply:
2. Plug in a 12V DC supply (3.5mm
plug, +12 volt center pin) into the WN-1 supply plug.
Run the provided
ground wire (16 GA. Or larger) as described above.
REMEMBER:
Power supply voltage and current monitoring requires that you use your
station
power
supply to provide power to the interface unit.
Supply voltage is monitored
automatically when the station supply is used. To sense and monitor the current,
you
must run the supply current through the WN-1 unit using the “PWR 1” and
“MON 1” terminals on the rear panel.
3. Start the program and apply power to the
interface. The flashing LED on the front
panel will
indicate
the unit is operating correctly and the software is communicating with the
unit. Each
flash
represents a sample period, typically 55 milliseconds. The round communication indication
on
the screen also indicates correct
operation when flashing Green.
4. Each RF sensor is placed in
series with the coax cable to be monitored.
Coax cables should be
kept
as short as possible between Tranceivers and
sensors. Refer to the diagram below for
a
suggested
connection using two tranceivers and two tuners. Other configurations can be
used
with different station equipment.
OMITTED
FIGURE
1.
The RED DOTTED lines
show how to hook up a system where no power supply monitoring is desired. The connections
shown
as 1,2,3 are not made, therefore bypassing the wavenode
supply monitor. This would also require
the wavenode
WN-1 be powered with
another power supply, most easily a +12V wallwart
supply.
5. If linear amplifier performance monitoring is desired,
a sensor must be installed in series with the
ampliflier’s input and
output. A connection diagram is shown
in Figure #2 below to allow
monitoring of the
amplifier input, output to the tuner, and the SWR of the antenna/coax
system.
An additional sensor (#4) is shown to allow monitoring of another
antenna system, if desired.
Note that sensors #1 and #2 will sense the amplifier input and output,
and can be used to
constantly provide gain, linearity, and excess- S.W.R. protection. In the system shown, sensor
#2
would be chosen as the SWR
monitoring sensor to trip the protection relay.
VOLTAGES TO THE SWR PROTECTION RELAY MUST NOT EXCEED 20 VOLTS DC.
IF YOUR APPLICATION REQUIRES 120 VAC OPERATION, YOU MUST ADD USE AN
EXTERNAL
BUFFER RELAY WHOSE COIL CAN OPERATE ON < 20 VDC.
OMITTED
FIGURE #2
5. GRAPHICAL MENUS:
The graphical screens consist of
a top screen and several secondary screens that can be activated to provide
additional graphical data screens. Closing a screen does not stop the data
gathering functions for that screen,
the data screen is simply not visible until re-activated. Pausing the mouse over a button or display
will give a
short text description for that item. Also, clicking the Mouse button over any of the Meters will
provide
a large view of that meter for easy viewing at a distance.
A. TOP SCREEN:
The top screen has four
meter panels as shown below. Each meter
panel indicates updated data
every
50 milliseconds. The top panel also has
list boxes to select swr metering, swr trip level, and
swr fault time to trigger an SWR fault warning. Large versions of each meter can be turned
ON by
clicking
on a meter. The SWR protection circuit
operates even if the screen is closed to the system tray.
You can observe a
single, large meter by clicking on any meter, then minimizing the large screen
with the "Minimize"
selection
in the top row of the Main screen.
Minimizing the Main screen will allow a small Message screen to pop up
in
the event of an SWR protection event,
even if the Main Screen is not visible.
Minimizing the screen with the Minimize
selection
at the top-left is preferable to using the "-" button at the
top-right.
A panel box allows
selection of Peak or Average to be displayed in the meter panels. The
peak
hold time and averaging time are also selected by list boxes. Note that the graphical meters
show
peak and average power at all times.
The three auxiliary digital
outputs are set or reset with the buttons on the bottom row. The
auxiliary
graphical screens are accessed by the buttons on the top left.
At Bottom-Left a
button is provided to toggle the Audio Announcing feature On
or Off.
OMITTED
FIGURE 3.
The MAIN screen of the WaveNode
Interface. The “Callsign”,
Meter titles, and
preferences are input by the operator, and are saved
at
power-down.
B. Power Screen:
This panel displays the total, elapsed DC current,
average RF elapsed power, and the auxiliary meters that display the auxiliary
analog
inputs. The operator can program and
use these inputs to display other station data. These meters are set in software to read the
four auxiliary
analog inputs. All four auxiliary inputs are available on Pin
5 and 6 of the two 16-pin connectors on the
main PC board.
The scale is 0-4 Volts DC gives zero to full scale on
the meter. Do not exceed 4 volts and always provide
>10K resistor to the analog input.
Notice that the Configuration
Menu on Figure #9
provides the user with a method to label the title, vertical axis
and Vertical Maximum on
each
meter. The "Scale Factor"
input box allows the user to scale the voltage on the meter. By example, if the user wants 100 millivolt to be
shown as
1.0 volt on the meter, the "Scale Factor" should be set to 10. Note that meter #1 below has been configured
for 200 degree max
scale, and the
meter reads degrees Fahrenheit directly using a 10 millivolt/degree
semiconductor sensor.
OMITTED
FIGURE 4 –The Aux.#1 Screen
Figure 4, top/left panel, shows DC power
statistics for the power supply. The
bottom/left Panel displays
watt hours of radiated
RF power for
each sensor. The meters at right
are auxiliary meters for
operator use. The Meter
titles, scales and Vertical axis are
labeled
by the user for their unique application with the Configuration Menu.
C. RF
Power Graph Screen (Aux. #2)
This panel has three graph
panels. Each graph displays the data for
the sensor selected in the list box for that graph. The top and
middle panel
can display data for any sensor selected and the bottom graph is used to
display gain data for the top two graphs.
The graph can be set to display sensor
level vs time, or a histogram of samples and power
levels. The data can be reset and started
with
the GRAPH RUN /STOPPED button.
The graph update rate can be
controlled to allow for older computers with slow video cards. If the user tries to set the update rate too
fast for
the video card available, the program will continue to run, but the
sensor sampling rate may fall below 20 samples/second.
The peak or average data shown on the
graphs is the peak or average power for THAT specific 50 millisecond time
sample point on the
graph,
and updated data is provided for each
data point.
OMITTED
FIGURE 5- The Aux. #2
Screen
THE REAL-TIME STATISTICS SCREEN (Aux #2)
Figure 5 shows a peak power
Histogram of a 60 watt transmitter on SSB with Speech Compression turned On.
D. SWR Graphing Screen (Aux. #3):
This screen is used to plot antenna
SWR. The screen prompts the user for
the frequency range to be plotted
and the
frequency datapoint
intervals.
The user tunes the transceiver to the
frequency prompt, and keys the transmitter with a short pulse
(CW, FM, etc.). The SWR data is entered on the graph and
prompts the user for the next frequency
point. When the desired frequency end point is
reached, the graph data is automatically updated.
Multiple sensors can be plotted
on the same graph by selecting the sensors in the Sensor
Selection panel at the top/right.
NOTE: The user must not exceed the
bandlimits imposed by their license and/or country
restrictions. The
user must stay within the authorized band-edge limits.
OMITTED
FIGURE 6- The Aux #3 Screen
THE SWR GRAPHING SCREEN (Aux. #3)
Figure 6 shows an SWR plot on 20 Mtrs using sensors 3 and 4.
Sensor 3 shows the SWR into the
antenna tuner,
and Sensor 4 shows the SWR of the antenna/coax system. Note the antenna tuner is
doing exactly
what it should do, it provides SWR matching between 14.1 and 14.15 Mhz as tuned for
this application.
E. Additional Access Connectors:
Four connectors are provided on the PC
board to allow the user access to the parallel port pins and provide additional
I/O capabilities.
Examples include DAC ports, or additional
signal processing for more than four RF coax sensors (for those operators who
like to monitor
EVERYTHING around the
station). The connectors are
the 0.100” in-line connectors.
Additional circuitry and software
possibilities include:
Linear Amplifier
Meter Monitoring.
Rotor Control.
Antenna Switching
Remote radio and
accessory operation.
The accessory connector pinouts are shown below:
OMITTED
FIGURE 7 CONNECTORS FOR ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS
6. INFORMATION FOR SOFTWARE/HARDWARE EXPANSION:
The WaveNode
website provides information for programmers wishing to configure additional
graphic or software capability for the
control
unit. The information includes:
A. Function calls to access the ADC input and
logical outputs.
Shared parameter names to access the
sensor data. This allows further
manipulation of the
sensor data for logging, viewing or
presentation of the data in a different format.
B. Function calls to allow additional I/O
hardware to be added.
C. Access to
SWR, RF POWER, DC POWER and other
parameters to allow the user to write their
own graphical and data handling routines.
7. CONNECTOR LAYOUT INFORMATION:
The figure below shows the PC board connector
positions and their pin orientation.
OMITTED
FIGURE
8. CONNECTOR POSITION
8.
DETAILED DIRECTIONS OF OPERATION:
1. The top
screen shows the meters and digital values for the four
power sensors. The meters display
Reflected
Peak, Forward and Reflected average power for all four sensors
simultaneously. The rectangular panels
show
forward, reflected power and SWR for each sensor. The power display can be set to a selected
range, or the “Auto” button
will automatically select the correct range. This is a matter of operator preference.
2. Several list boxes are provided to select
the following operator preferences:
The level at
which the SWR protection relay will trip.
The Averaging time for meter display. The number chosen represents the number of
samples averaged together for the
average power display on the panel.
The Peak Hold Time.
The number of sample times that the peak envelope power and SWR will be
displayed. A larger
number will allow the operator to easily view SWR when a
single pulse or CW dit is transmitted.
SWR Monitor. This
selects which of the power sensors will be monitored for excess SWR and trip
the SWR relay. Only one
sensor can
be selected. This allows coupling
between antennas at the user site to not accidently
trip the SWR protection.
The "NO" selection is
used when SWR protection is not desired.
3. The SWR reset
button. This button resets the SWR relay.
4. SWR Tuning Indicators: These are provided to allow easy tuning of
the station antenna
tuners. The operator has immediate feedback of SWR as the tuner is adjusted. Simply
adjust
your tuner for maximum green in the pie-chart, the chart will turn completely
red
when
the SWR exceeds 5:1.
5. Access to the
other screens functions are selected by the buttons at top-left. The lower
three buttons Set/Reset the optional logical outputs that
are controlled by the user. These are
5 volt
logic signals available on J15-pin3, J15-pin3 and J-16 pin3. See the connector figure for more
details.
B.
The Aux. #1 Screen:
This Screen provides elapsed
watt-hours for each power sensor and the DC supply.
The four meter inputs
can be accessed by the connectors J15 and 16.
The reset buttons simply
reset the panel power displays.
C.
The Aux. #2 Screen:
This screen is used to provide
various data regarding power, linearity, gain, etc. There
are three graphs shown on this
screen. The upper two are identical, and
can display data for
any one of the four sensors. The sensor is selected in the list box for
that graph. The
graphs can be stopped, or will run
continuously. The user can clear the
graphs by
stopping, then starting, the graphs
again. The power range for each graph
is selected in
the panels on the left.
The top two graphs can be chosen to
show a histogram of power level vs number of
samples. This is a visual graphic of your transmitted
power samples and
is updated each
sample period. The effect of speech compression is to push
more samples to the upper
end of the power spectrum, and
this can be observed if compression is turned off. The
other graph option is a traveling
waveform of sample value vs time (much like an
oscilloscope).
The bottom graph is used to display the
relationship of the sensors plotted in graphs
1 and 2
above it. The user can graph gain vs
power output (to show linearity) as a scatter
graph, or gain as a function of
time. The samples are collected in SSB
or AM mode, and
a linear system shows the gain
as constant with power. CW operation
has only one
power, either ON or OFF, so
linearity can be plotted by sending a string of dits
while
varying the linear amplifier drive
power. This graph is especially useful
with linear amplifiers, with
one sensor on the
input and the second sensor on the amplifier output.
D.
The Aux. #3 Screen:
This screen is used to plot SWR of antennas. Any sensor, or
combination of
sensors can be selected for the plot. The user follows the steps outlined below:
Select the sensors to be plotted
Select the frequency range to be plotted in the listbox.
Select the frequency step size increments (more increments takes longer).
Follow the message box
instructions. They will remind you what
the next frequency is
to be set on the transmitter. Send a single dit
at each frequency prompted by the
message box.
A
green box on the top left will flash when a good SWR value is computed at each
frequency. You
should see the box flash green before moving to the next frequency
point.
When
the last point is entered, the graph will be complete.
E. The
configuration Menu:
The configuration Menu is used by the operator to make the screen titles suit your station
equipment, The menu
is accessed by the button at the top left of the Main Screen
labeled "File".
The software comes with default titles, such as “METER #1”, however, you may
not remember what Meter #1 means,
so you could change it to “40 MTR DIPOLE” or “HOMEBREW AMP”. Also, the top panel can contain your callsign.
The
auxiliary button titles on the main screen, the auxiliary meter titles and scales are customized
with this screen also.
When
you have finished modifying the software titles, click the Save button
and these items will be saved and reloaded
each time you start the software.
For each meter, click on the button that describes the sensor you have
installed for that meter number. For
instance, if
you have installed the LP-1 HF sensor in meter #2 position,
click the button in the LP-1 column adjacent to Meter #1. This
will instruct the software what type of sensors are in each
meter position. You only need to do
this one time, the settings are
saved in a separate .ini
file. You can put any sensor in any location, just select the appropriate sensor next to each
meter on
the configuration menu.
The
by the operator. For
example, if the user wants Meter #1 full scale to be 150 watts, enter
"150" in the User Meter #1 Range
box at the top-right.
All the meter maximum scales can be set by the operator, and then
selected whenever they wish by
clicking the "User" Radio button under the
corresponding meter.
LPT1 parallel port is used unless the user installs an LPT2 port in
their computer. The Base memory for
LPT1 is always
378, and the base memory for LPT2 is 278. These are the standard Windows OS memory
locations. If you wish to add an
additional LPT port card, see the instructions in section H
below.