Specifications - Part 2
Front Panel Controls and Display
Potentiometers:
CH1 In & CH2 In
Controls the signal level of audio input for both receive channels of the rig. These controls are used to set the level seen on the operating software waterfall. Attenuation control for each channel is provided on the Navigator Option program for use with this level control.
RF Out
Controls the audio drive level of signals sent to the transceiver.
It directly controls the RF output level of the transceiver. A general attenuation control is also provided on the
Navigator Option program for use with this level control.
Monitor Level
Controls the level of the Navigator audio monitor.
Additional controls for the Monitor are provided on the Navigator Option program.
CW WPM
Controls speed of the
WinKey keyer. Display speed is provided by the operating software.
LED Displays
PTT Red LED on whenever
the rig PTT control is activated.
CAT Yellow LED on whenever data is transferred to/from the transceiver.
The
LED can be Software Defined to either blink when polling is done, or remain steady when CAT is
active. The
control is done via the NavOption software provided.
FSK Yellow LED, ON when FSK data is being sent to the transceiver
from the Navigator.
CW Yellow LED, ON whenever CW is being sent to the transceiver from the Navigator.
PWR Two Color LED indicates the state of interface power. When power is first applied to the
Navigator, the
HUB is enumerated. After Enumeration is done, power is applied to the rest of the board
and the PWR LED is
set to light green (Green plus Yellow). During the first 10 seconds after power is
applied to the rest of the
board, output from the PTT and CW lines are disabled, to allow the serial ports
of the board to be set up. When
this time out is complete, the color changes to dark green.
General LED Brightness control the brightness level of the LED's
are Software Defined to adapt to the
lighting environment of the ham shack or when mobile or in the field where a
higher LED intensity
would be desired. The control is done by the Navigator Option program.
OPERATING MODES
Audio codec generated modes:Operating modes are dependent upon the software used with the
interface. The unit is
designed to accommodate sound card generated modes with audio frequencies
within a 400 Hz to 5 kHz bandwidth, although
typical amateur transceivers will limit the useful
bandwidth to about 400 Hz to 2700 Hz. Any modulation method that is
contained within this bandwidth
can be used with the Navigator.
Typical modes using this technique are BPSK31, BPSK63,
QPSK31, FSK31, RTTY (AFSK), SSTV, Packet,
Amtor, MFSK16, THROB, MT63, Helleschreiber, Olivia, WSJT, CW (audio generated) and
other new
modes using the sound card architecture.
.
requested is now part of the NAVIGATOR.
FSK
Direct FSK keying of transceivers is provided by the Navigator. One of the shortcomings of USB connected UART devices is that they
do not support the baud rate, word length and stop bit configurations required by Amateur RTTYmodes. An on-board FSK Controller
is provided which effectively acts as a UART for this mode. The FSK Com Port of the Navigator is configured as a FIFO
(first in first out) buffer and data is passed to the FSK Controller to generate the serial data stream required for Ham RTTY.
Baud rate, stop bits, and FSK polarity is software configurable using the Navigator Option software provided.
Another feature of the
FSK controller is that an audio FSK side tone is created and connected to the Audio Monitor so that you can hear a representation
of the FSK sent to the transceiver. If your transceiver has a side tone function for RTTY, you can disable the local monitor
with the Navigator Option software.
The output from the audio codec is suppressed when FSK is generated by the FSK controller.
Some operating software feeds the digital FSK signal to the audio codec causing distortion of the monitoring signal.
Suppressing audio from the codec when in this mode improves the quality of the side tone monitor.
FSK Options can be set to:
Baud rate:
45.45, 75, 100
Stop bits: 1, 1.5, 2
Polarity:
Normal or Inverted
PTT: On or
Off
General Purpose RS-232 Interface
A general purpose RS-232 Interface is provided on one COM channel of the Navigator. This is implemented as a DCE device (just like the one on the back of a computer). Signal levels are bipolar RS-232, generated by MAX232 integrated circuits. Signals supported are:
Output:
Input:
TxData
RxData
RTS
CTS DSR
DTR DCD
RI
Ring Indicator is not supported.
Connector E DB9P (male pin) connector is provide at the rear of the Navigator. All input signals
are RFI filtered at the connector to reduce any RF signals from entering the board.
NAVIGATOR SOFTWARE DEFINED OPTIONS CONTROL
All Navigator Interface options
are Software Defined there are no jumpers on the board. The control
program called "Navigator Options" is provided to manage the options. A screen shot of the
"NavOptions" control program is shown below.
CW mode
CW using direct keying of the rig is provided in two ways.
Software which generates the key closures using a COM port
DTR line is supported by the PTT/CW COM Port. This mode does not allow use of thepaddle, CW output is only from the keyboard.
A
more robust CW control, which supports both paddle and keybord input, is provided by including the control chip from the popular WinKey
by K1EL. The Navigator Interface uses version 2.1 of the K1EL WinKey Keyer. Our version K1EL software defined
keyer totally eliminates those key bounce, false character send and start/stop issues which were ever prevalant in our
competitor's built in K1EL keyers. Setup and test of the WinKey is done via WK2MGR software provided by K1ELand installed on
our install CD. A COM port is dedicated to operation of the keyer. You can plug your paddle into the Navigator,
and provide keyed output either from your keyboard or from the paddle. Side tone generated by the WinKey Keyer is played via
the audio monitor feature of the Navigator.
A special training mode is also featured when using the WinKey Keyer. A small
amount of the sidetone is fed back to the audio codec input, so that operating software that has CW copy functionality can decode
the CW keying done via yourpaddle. This is an excellent training tool to help improve readability of your “fist"
CW
Options are set by the WK2MGR software. In addition, the Navigator Option software provides control over PTT (On or Off) during
CW.
The items shown can be selected and set by a simple mouse click. Each time the option set is changed, a new copy is sent to the Navigator and the setting is used immediately. If you don’t like the changes you have made, click the Restore Default button and it will put it back the way it was. If you like the settings, click “Save to Default and the new copy will be saved in non-volatile memory in the Option Controller of the Navigator.
When the Navigator is powered on, the last options saved to the non-volatile memory are reloaded and ready to use.
Other features of the NavOptions software is the ability to select the port assigned for configuration control. All active COM ports are displayed, and you select the one assigned to configuration. If you select the wrong channel, the software queries the port to determine if the port is busy (therefore not a config port) or if it is available, but not a config port, or if it is a valid config port.
The NavOptions software can be left running along with any operating software you are using or it can be clicked off. Your options are always saved on-the-fly within the Navigator controller. There is no need to turn your Navigator or control software off or on again.
Size: 6 5/8" x 2 1/4" x 6 5/8"
Case:
Anodized extruded aluminum. (A true aluminum extrusion.)
(Nope, no bent aluminum or steel case here.)
Front & Back Plates: 100% Laser etched, cut,
milled and drilled.
(No cheap paint, pasties or decals.)
Electronic
Keyer: K1EL's Software Defined WinKey USB Keyer Ver.21
An
absolute must-have for the avid CW contester and DX'er.
(No
keybounce or false characters like our competitor's units)
The Navigator is the world's first Software Defined
Interface.
(No jumpers, no switches, no switching blocks.)
Built-in transmit
monitor speaker with front panel volume control.
Here's another look at the Navigator in full size (viewing 1024x768).