AOR AR-IQ-III User manual

AR-IQ-III
Receiver control, I/Q recording & playback
for AR2300/AR5001 /AR6000 receivers
Operating manual
AOR Ltd.
Authority On Radio Communications
®

Table of contents:
1 Introduction and software description ··················································································· 1
2 PC requirements················································································································· 1
3 Connecting the receiver to the PC························································································· 2
Installing the drivers ··········································································································· 2
4-1 I/Q output driver install procedure ·························································································· 3
4-2 Receiver control driver install procedure ················································································· 4
5 License dongle ··················································································································· 5
6 AR-IQ III software operation ································································································· 6
6-1 Frequency tuning ··············································································································· 6
6-1-1 Frequency tuning with mouse wheel···················································································· 6
6-1-2 Frequency tuning by ten-key input ······················································································ 7
6-1-3 Frequency tuning by CF Step ···························································································· 7
6-1-4 Frequency tuning with the frequency bar ·············································································· 7
6-1-5 Frequency tuning with the secondary spectrum window ··························································· 8
a ) PBT mode ············································································································ 8
b ) Notch mode ·········································································································· 8
c ) ANotch (auto-notch) mode ······················································································· 8
d ) CWPeak filter ········································································································ 8
6-2 The main spectrum / waterfall window ···················································································· 9
6-2-1 Wheel step ···················································································································· 9
6-2-2 Frequency tuning by double click on spectrum ···································································· 10
6-2-3 Frequency tuning by mouse drag on spectrum ···································································· 10
6-2-4 Frequency tuning with “center” button ON ·········································································· 10
6-2-5 Frequency tuning with “center” button OFF ········································································· 11
6-2-6 Span ·························································································································· 11
6-2-7 Waterfall control ············································································································ 11
a ) speed, brightness, contrast ···················································································· 11
b ) Color palette ······································································································· 12
c ) FFT resolution ····································································································· 12
6-3 Marker ·························································································································· 12
6-4 Spectrum average (AVG) ·································································································· 14
7 I/Q recording & playback ··································································································· 1
7-1 Recording ······················································································································ 15
7-2 Playback ························································································································ 15
7-3 Fast forward & rewind ······································································································· 15
8 Other controls ·················································································································· 16
8-1 Antenna input ················································································································· 16
8-2 Pre-amp ························································································································ 16
8-3 Attenuator ······················································································································ 16
8-4 Amplitude (reference level & scale) ······················································································ 16
8-5 emodulation modes ········································································································ 17
8-6 Volume & mute ··············································································································· 17
8-7 Noise reduction ··············································································································· 17
8-8 Noise blanker (NB)··········································································································· 17
8-9 S-meter ························································································································· 17
8-10 Squelch & auto-mute ······································································································ 18
8-11 AGC (automatic gain control) ···························································································· 19
8-12 AGC spike rejection ········································································································ 19
9 Advanced parameters & reset ···························································································· 20

1
1. Introduction and software description
Thank you for purchasing the AR2300/AR5001 /AR6000 receiver with the optional IQ5001 I/Q board and AR-IQ-III
software.
To obtain the best possible results from your receiver, we strongly recommend that you read this manual and familiarize
yourself with the receiver. Every effort has been made to make this manual correct and up to date. ue to continuous
developments of the receivers and this software, we acknowledge that there might be some changes, errors or
omissions.
The AR-IQ-III software allows direct control of the receiver through a graphical interface. The I/Q digital output of the
IQ5001 board represents the actual signal used after digital processing in the receiver. The digital I/Q output interface
streams I/Q data to the PC through USB2.0 isochronous mode, at 72Mbit/sec with a sampling rate of
1.125Msample/sec. All commands are sent to the receiver through the receiver’s remote control USB port.
Compared to a regular AF, which only allows recording one frequency at a time, I/Q allows you to store and playback a
full 0.9MHz bandwidth with no loss of quality!
This 0.9MHz bandwidth can be anywhere within the receiving range of the receiver.
Off-line, you can listen and decode within the recorded 0.9MHz range, tuning any frequency as you would in real time.
You can even loop a particular time frame to listen repeatedly to a signal received in difficult conditions, or search for
and analyze hard to catch signals bursts.
It is also possible to move the I/Q data to another PC and to listen/decode it off line, provided the USB license dongle is
inserted into that PC.
Please note that there is no inter-compatibility of wav files recorded with AR-IQ I, AR-IQ II and AR-IQ III, as they all use
different headers.
2. PC requirements
Suggested PC system:
Supported OS: Win 7/8.1/10
Intel I7 CPU
16 GHz RAM
H MI resolution monitor
Large size H for record/playback operations
Three available USB 2.0 ports are required (one for the I/Q stream, one for receiver control, one for the license dongle)
If you notice “audio stuttering” due to insufficient PC resources, it is possible to adjust the software’s “Buffer
Reads/Interval” to match your PC’s specifications, as described in chapter 9 “A VANCE PARAMETERS”.

2
3. Connecting the receiver to the PC
Connect the two supplied USB cables as pictured here. One cable is for the I/Q data output and the other for receiver
control.
• Make sure to connect the I/Q stream USB cable to a direct USB socket connection on your PC. Avoid using a
USB hub.
• Some type of USB 3 ports can be incompatible due to the particular chipset they use. If that occurs, use a USB
2.0 port instead.
（
（（
（AR2300 rear panel）
））
）
（
（（
（AR5001D/AR6000 rear panel）
））
）
. Installing the drivers
There are 2 drivers to install: One for the I/Q output and one for the receiver control.
(All following instructions and screenshots are based on the Windows 10 operating system)
• Switch the receiver ON.
epending on your Windows version and whether or not you have already installed the drivers on your PC before, it is
possible that Windows automatically installs the drivers for you.
• To check the driver status, open WIN OWS EVICE MANAGER (press simultaneously the Windows key and
the X key, then select “ evice Manager”)
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3
-1 I/Q OUTPUT DRIVER INSTALL PROCEDURE:
The I/Q connection will
first be detected as an
“unknown device”.
Right-click it and select
“update driver”
Insert the supplied driver C into your computer and select the
corresponding drive.
“Next” will load and install the driver.
This is how the
I/Q driver will
appear in device
manager, once
the driver is
installed.

4
-2 RECEIVER CONTROL DRIVER INSTALL PROCEDURE:
Only necessary if for some reason the USB SERIAL PORT driver has not been automatically installed by
Windows or your PC is not connected to Internet and you need to manually install the driver from the supplied
C .
The connection has been
flagged with a yellow
exclamation mark under
“Other devices”
Right-click it and select
“update driver”
Insert the supplied driver C into your computer and select the
corresponding drive.
“Next” will load and install the driver.
This is how the USB SERIAL
PORT driver will appear in device
manager, once the driver is
installed. The COM number (4 in
this example) is automatically
assigned by Windows

5
5. License dongle
① Insert the supplied USB dongle in an available USB port of
your PC. Windows will automatically install a driver,
recognize it as a common USB flash drive and assign a drive
letter such as “ :”, “E:” etc.
WARNING: Our USB dongles are guaranteed without virus infection, nevertheless some virus detection
software may incorrectly detect some of its files as a virus (or Trojan). This is called a false-positive alarm
and does not mean that files are indeed infected. Whenever your virus detection software informs you
about a possible threat, it usually gives you a choice of options about what to do next. Be sure to flag
those files as SAFE files, otherwise the dongle’s files might be rendered unusable or even deleted by the
virus detection software, and the AR-IQ III software will not run.
It is your responsibility to make sure that your virus detection software does not accidentally render the
USB license dongle and I/Q software unusable. The license information data inside the USB dongle is
unique and cannot be copied or backed-up. If you damage the USB license dongle, a new one needs to
be purchased.
② Inside the USB dongle, locate the software’s executable “ariq3.exe” and double click it to start the
software. The software runs directly from the USB dongle.
③ When you start the software for the first time, Windows will ask you to which COM PORT the receiver is
connected. Providing the correct number is entered, it will be saved in the registry, therefore you should
not need to enter it again. Nevertheless, after connecting the receiver to a different USB port on your PC,
the COM port number will change. If the com port number you entered is incorrect, the following error
message will appear:
The COM PORT number is the one Windows automatically assigned in EVICE MANAGER.
Note:  The license information data inside the USB dongle is unique and cannot be backed-up, copied or
moved. If you lose or damage the USB dongle, a new USB dongle needs to be purchased.
 o not record I/Q data to this dongle and do not use the dongle to store any data.
 Formatting the USB dongle, overwriting or deleting its content will destroy the licensing system, and
another USB dongle would have to be purchased.

6
6. AR-IQ III software operation
AR-IQ III interface:
6-1 Frequency tuning
6-1-1 Frequency tuning with mouse wheel
Tuning with mouse wheel while hovering on the digits of the frequency indicator panel. The digit of the currently tuned
frequency will be shifted upwards or downwards depending on wheel rotation direction.
Example: Let’s say you are tuned to 101.756 MHz and you hover the mouse over the third digit “1”. Then by scrolling up
or down you will change the tuned frequency of 1 MHz for each scroll increment.
If you wish to tune by increments of 100 kHz, hover the mouse over
the digit “7”. Then by scrolling up or down you will change the tuned
frequency of 100 kHz for each scroll increment.
To tune by increments of 10 kHz, hover the mouse over the digit “5”.
Then by scrolling up or down you will change the tuned frequency of
10 kHz for each scroll increment.

7
6-1-2 Frequency tuning by ten-key input
• ouble click on the marked frequency indicator panel to display the ten-key
window. This allows direct frequency input.
• Enter the desired frequency by clicking on the digits of the ten-key, including the
[.] if necessary.
• Select [kHz] or [MHz]. The receiver will then be tuned to this frequency.
• Click on “Close” when that panel is not needed anymore.
.
6-1-3 Frequency tuning by CF step
Clicking on the buttons with the white triangle, on either side of the main spectrum control bar does increment or
decrement the frequency by the step size set in the CF STEP indicator panel.
(Main spectrum control bar)
(Span, CF Step, Wheel Step indicator panel)
6-1- Frequency tuning with the frequency bar
A) rag the frequency bar left or right while pressing the left mouse button.
B) Hover with the mouse over the frequency bar and scroll the mouse wheel up or down, at increments as set in the
WHEEL STEP indicator panel.