Winradio G303 User manual

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WiNRADiO
G3 Series Radio Receiver
User’s Guide

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Published by
WiNRADiO Communications
PO Box 6118, St Kilda Road, Melbourne 3004, Australia
© 2002 WiNRADiO Communications, Melbourne
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
any means without the written permission of the publisher.
Trademarks
WiNRADiO, G3 and G303 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Rosetta Laboratories
Pty. Ltd.
All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.
Patents
WiNRADiO technology is protected by US Pat. No. 6,289,207 and other pending US and
international patent applications.
Printed in Australia

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FCC Notice
The WiNRADiO G3 SERIES receiver has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a
Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to
provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This
equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio
communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular
installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception,
which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to
correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:
•Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
•Increase the separation between the equipment and the receiver
•Connect the computer into a different outlet so that the two devices are on different
branch circuits
•Consult an authorised dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help
Caution
To comply with the limits for the Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of of the FCC rules,
the WiNRADiO card must be installed in computer equipment certified to comply with the Class
B limits. Only peripherals certified to comply with the Class B limits may be attached to the
computer containing the WiNRADiO receiver. All cables used to connect the computer and
peripherals must be shielded and grounded. Operation with non-certified peripherals may
result in interference to radio and TV reception.
Modifications
Any changes or modifications to the WiNRADiO receiver not expressly approved in this book
could void the user's authority to operate this equipment.
Limitation of Liability and Remedies
The information published in this book has been compiled from several sources. While every
effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, neither the authors nor the publisher can
guarantee that all information is entirely correct or up-to-date. Furthermore, neither the authors
nor the publisher can take any responsibility for the use of this information or any
consequences arising therefrom.
WiNRADiO Communications shall have no liability for any damages due to lost profits, loss of
use or anticipated benefits, or other incidental, special or punitive damages arising from the use
of, or the inability to use, the WiNRADiO receiver, whether arising out of contract, negligence,
tort or under any warranty, even if WiNRADiO Communications has been advised of the
possibility of such damages. In no event shall WiNRADiO Communications ' liability for
damages exceed the amount paid for this product. WiNRADiO Communications neither
assumes nor authorises anyone to assume for it any other liabilities.
Warning
In certain countries or states it may be illegal to monitor certain frequencies. We cannot accept
any responsibility for the consequences of your non-compliance with government regulations.
If you are in doubt about the regulations in your country or state, please contact your nearest
radio communications regulatory authority.

Introduction
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Introduction
One could easily conclude that, in the era of the Internet and communication
satellites, short waves are destined for obsolescence. But the reality is quite
different. On the contrary, shortwave communications seem to be
experiencing a new period of revival and vigorous growth.
This revival is partially caused by the fact that shortwave is still the only
technology able to send signals around the globe with minimum power and
without the need for expensive, and potentially failure-prone or sabotage-
prone infrastructure. In the era of increased security concerns, this is an
important reason for the continuing interest in shortwave.
The other reasons include newly found applications, for example HF email,
and emerging new types of digital modulations (such as DRM broadcasting),
offering more reliable and higher quality communications than before.
All this will ensure that shortwave will remain what it always has been; an
amazing place of action, a cacophony of sounds; a babel tower of exotic
languages and music, alive with broadcasters both official and clandestine;
a haven of spies; a playground of pirates, terrorists and freedom fighters
alike; an exciting mix of the respectable, the serious, the crazy and the
dangerous. Long before the Internet, the shortwave world was always
borderless. And quite like the Internet, impossible to tame and control.
Welcome to shortwave. And welcome to the WiNRADiO G3 SERIES
receiver. Your new receiver is a world-first in more than one respect. Most
importantly, it is the first commercially available Software Defined Receiver
(SDR), where the entire demodulator and the last intermediate frequency
stage are performed by software running on a personal computer rather
than using conventional hardware circuits, or a dedicated Digital Signal
Processor. Your PC probably has more power than even the fastest DSP
had only a few years ago. Your new WiNRADiO G3 SERIES receiver is now
ready to take advantage of that power. Enjoy!
WiNRADiO provides regular upgrades to our application software. Don’t
forget to register as a WiNRADiO user to receive news about new products,
accessories and software upgrades for your WiNRADiO G3 SERIES
receiver. Use our on-line registration form on www.winradio.com/register
to take advantage of this free service.

Installation
4
Installation
The WiNRADiO package contains the following items:
•WiNRADiO G3 SERIES receiver card
•WiNRADiO software on a CD ROM
•Start-up indoor antenna
•Audio cable
•This User’s Guide
•Warranty information
In order for the WiNRADiO receiver to function, your IBM PC compatible
computer must meet the minimum system requirements specified below.
System Requirements
Minimum Recommended
CPU 500 MHz,
Pentium III 1GHz or higher, Pentium IV or Athlon
RAM 64 MB 256 MB or more
Display SVGA SVGA (16 mil. colors)
HD free space 20 MB 40 MB
Sound card SoundBlaster
compatible, 16 bit,
full duplex
Creative Sound Blaster,
16 or 32 bit
OS Windows
98/ME/NT/2000/XP Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP
Hardware Installation
1. Turn the off computer and disconnect the power cord.
2. Remove the computer case. Choose an empty PCI slot, as far as
possible from the power supply and from other cards.

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3. First touch the computer metalwork with your hand to drain any static
charge, then carefully insert the card into the vacant slot and push down
until it is firmly seated. Screw the metal bracket at the end of the card to
the computer case. (This must be done to provide proper grounding for
the card).
4. Replace the computer case and reconnect the power cord.
5. Connect the supplied audio lead between the receiver output (a
standard audio jack) and the sound card Line Input. (If there is no Line
input on your PC, as is the case with some laptops, you may use
alternative inputs, such as the Microphone input.)
6. Connect the supplied start-up antenna to the SMA connector at the rear
of the card.
7. Extend the antenna so that it is as far away from the computer as
possible.
Please use only the WiNRADiO-supplied audio lead cable to connect the
receiver to the sound card. This is a stereo cable (as is the case with all
standard PC multimedia cables). Mono jacks are not compatible with stereo
ones because they short the right channel to ground. A mono cable should
not be used under any circumstances and will not work with the G3 SERIES
receiver.
Software Installation
1. After installing the card, turn the PC on. Windows will find the card and
automatically start the usual New hardware found driver installation
routine. Insert the installation CD ROM into the drive, and follow on-
screen instructions. (Note: Windows NT will not automatically detect the
card, as it does not support Plug and Play.)
2. After installing the drivers, choose the Run command from the Start
menu in Windows and type D:INSTALL (if the CD ROM is the D: drive
on your PC).
3. This will run the application installer, which will guide you in the
installation process.
4. After all the files have been installed to your hard disk, run the
WiNRADiO G3 SERIES application.

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Note: If the card is not detected by Windows, you can simply skip the driver
installation procedure, insert the CD ROM, and run the installation program,
which will also install the drivers.
After installing the hardware and software, you will now need to set-up the
sound card parameters. This is done both in the WiNRADiO application and
in the Windows sound card control panel – this provides the actual
connection between the receiver front-end and the PC back-end of your
radio system.
Setting up the Sound Card
In computer terminology a sound card is a wave device. A computer may
have several such wave devices installed (for example a modem with voice
capabilities). That’s why you need to select the sound card as the desired
wave device first. Start the WiNRADiO G3 SERIES application and click on
the Setup button (located below the USB button) in the Demodulator panel:
The Demodulator set-up window opens, as shown:

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The Wave device drop-down list shows all the installed wave devices:
Windows default is the Control Panel setting specified under Start | Settings
| Control Panel | Multimedia Properties | Audio. If a sound card is specified
in this Control Panel setting for both playback and recording (this is very
likely, but not always necessarily so), then you can simply select Windows
Default as the wave device for the demodulator. Otherwise, the specific
name of the sound card should be selected. The selected sound card must
support duplex operation and the standard 44100 or 48000
samples/second sampling rates, 16 bits per sample, stereo. Most modern
sound cards do satisfy all these conditions, but some cards may have a high
level of distortion at 48000 samples per second; for such cases, the 44100
samples/second sampling rate is provided.
The next parameter to select is the mixer device associated with the already
selected sound card, using the Mixer device drop-down list, and the Mixer
line (the sound card input line). If the signal is arriving at the sound card via
an external cable, the cable should be physically connected to the Line
Input of the sound card. If the receiver is connected internally, most
probably the input would be called Aux or CD Line.
With some laptops, only the Microphone input may be available; in such
case you will need to connect the receiver to this input, and also select this
input in the software.
In the drop-down list of sound card inputs, each line is available either as
normal, or Reversed. If the reversed line is selected, this means that the
Right and Left channels (of the sound card stereo input) are to be reversed.
Normally, you should not need to select any of these reverse inputs.
However, there is a very small number of sound cards where the Left and
Right inputs are swapped. Normally, the G3 SERIES Demodulator expects
the receiver output to be connected to the Right sound card input. If it is to

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be connected to the Left input instead, the reverse input line needs to be
selected from the drop-down list.
These are all the settings required on the WiNRADiO G3 SERIES
application side. Now you need to set up your Windows sound card control
panel, and the marriage between the radio and the PC will be complete.
Click on the speaker icon in the task bar in the bottom, to bring up the sound
card Volume Control panel (consult Appendix B – Sound Card Controls if
you have difficulties locating and the sound card settings).
Sound Card Volume Control Panel
Mute the input line the receiver is actually connected to. (This is the same
line as selected in the WiNRADiO G3 SERIES Demodulator Setup. Usually,
this will be the Line-In input.)
Why are we muting the input line? This is because the signal coming from
the receiver is not an audio signal, but rather the intermediate frequency
signal. It needs to be processed (demodulated) by the PC first, before it is
output back to the sound card. (That’s why the sound card needs to be full
duplex, to allow for such simultaneous input/output processing.)
Failure to mute this line will cause a high-pitched intermediate frequency
sound to be combined with the demodulated signal.

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If you are using the Microphone input instead of Line input, please check if
there is an Advanced button under the Microphone volume control in the
sound card control panel. If so, then click on it and uncheck the +20dB gain
check box if it exists. (The extra large gain would result in overloading the
sound card and cause distortion.)
The same line must be now selected in the Recording Control of the sound
card control panel. To get to the Recording Control, you need to select
Options | Properties | Recording in the top bar menu of the Volume Control
panel.
Sound Card Recording Control
The position of Volume control slider should be set to approximately half, to
get started. The same control is duplicated in the Demodulator Setup panel
(where it is labeled Input level).
You can adjust this level either in the sound card recording window, or,
preferably, return to the Demodulator Setup panel to take advantage of the
Clipping indicator. The input level must be adjusted below the point of the
input signal clipping, i.e. just before the Clipping indicator turns red.
While adjusting the input level, you will also see the floor of the signal
spectrum shown in the main demodulator window rising proportionally.
Please pay attention to the sound card set-up, as most initial problems
associated with using this type of receiver can be attributed to an incorrect
sound card setting. Typical problems include:

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•Not selecting the Recording input line correctly (which will manifest itself
by the absence of any signal appearing in the spectrum scope);
•Failing to mute the Volume control line (which will result in listening to
the high-pitched 12 kHz intermediate frequency sound superimposed on
the demodulated signal);
•Failing to adjust the signal input level properly, which may result either in
low (or no) audio output, or, on the other hand, distortion if the signal
level is too high.
Getting Started
There is often a degree of understandable impatience when exciting new
equipment such as a new WiNRADiO receiver is acquired. The following
fast-forward introduction makes it possible for you to start using your new
acquisition as quickly as possible. Detailed operation is described in the
subsequent chapter Using WiNRADiO G3 SERIES Receiver. We hope you
will return to that chapter, as the WiNRADiO G3 SERIES receiver has many
fine features which it would be a shame to miss.
Start the WiNRADiO G3 SERIES receiver application (double clicking on the
WiNRADiO icon). The WiNRADiO G3 SERIES receiver control panel will
appear as shown in the next page.
Did you know?
The first shortwave transmission across the Atlantic was accomplished by
six US radio-amateurs on December 11, 1921. The message was picked up
by a Scottish radio-amateur. This achievement sparked a period of intensive
research and development which led to wide-spread use of short waves.
(Before then, it was believed that frequencies over 1.5 MHz were useless.)

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WiNRADiO G3 SERIES Receiver Control Panel
The WiNRADiO G3 SERIES receiver control panel has some elements
similar to from conventional shortwave receivers, and many additional
features as well.
The quickest way to get started with this receiver is to check its operation on
local AM stations.
Using the keyboard, type in the frequency of one your local AM stations:
For example, for 774 kHz, type in 7 7 4 , then kfor kHz, then press Enter.
The typed-in frequency will appear on the digital frequency display. Then
select the AM mode by clicking on the AM button. At this point, you should
hear the station. You can adjust the volume using the two buttons next to
the small Volume display. (Note also the little slider between these two
buttons: you can drag it up and down to change the volume faster.)
Manual tuning can be done in several ways. Let’s start with the tuning knob:
Place the mouse cursor to the upper half of the tuning knob, at which point
you will see the cursor change to a curved double ended arrow. Hold down
the right or left mouse buttons to increase or decrease the frequency, and
the knob will rotate clockwise or anti-clockwise, respectively. If you place
your cursor in the bottom half of the tuning knob, the direction of the rotation
will reverse.

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The rotation increment of the tuning knob is 0.5 kHz. This can be changed
easily using the Shift, Ctrl or Alt keys: If you press the Shift key while tuning,
the increment will increase ten times (to 5 kHz). Pressing Ctrl will increase
the increment a hundred times (50 kHz). On the other hand, if you use the
Alt key, the increment becomes ten times finer: 50 Hz.
If you are still unable to tune to any stations at this point, please refer to
Appendix A - Troubleshooting.
There are also several other ways to tune the WiNRADiO receiver other
than typing the frequency or using the tuning knob. These will be explained
in detail in the Using WiNRADiO G3 SERIES Receiver chapter.
Connecting the Antenna
Your WiNRADiO G3 SERIES receiver comes with a start-up antenna
consisting of a 3-meter length of coaxial lead-in cable, with an additional 3
meters of insulated wire. The thinner, insulated wire at the end is the actual
antenna. The lead-in cable is necessary for the antenna to be as far away
from the PC as possible, to reduce interference from the PC.
Please note that this start-up antenna is supplied for immediate gratification
only and is not intended to replace a good shortwave antenna.
The best placement of the start-up antenna depends on your actual
situation, and will often involve some experimentation. However, the basic
rule is simple: Place the antenna as close to the window as you can, and
keep the active part of the antenna as far away from the PC, and other
electronic and electrical devices, and metal objects, as possible.
Did you know?
The first commercial shortwave station was Radio Luxembourg. It was the
first station to target areas outside of its own country with programs in other
languages. For most of the 20th century, this was the most powerful
shortwave station in Europe.

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An example of WiNRADiO start-up antenna placement
No matter how good a radio receiver is, the performance of the entire
receiving system will depend on the quality of the antenna. The same
applies to a WiNRADiO receiver. To make most of your WiNRADiO receiver,
you should install a proper shortwave antenna. There are many vendors
offering shortwave antennas. WiNRADiO may also be able to assist – check
our Web page www.winradio.com.
Did you know?
During the cold war, the Soviet Union and other Communist countries used
to jam shortwave transmissions such as the BBC, Voice of America, Radio
Free Europe and Deutsche Welle to their own citizens. The Soviet Union
alone was spending about $1 billion per year on jamming, and had 200
jamming stations that were continuously pumping out 600 Megawatts of
power.

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Using WiNRADiO G3 SERIES
Tuning to a Frequency
To change frequency, simply type the new frequency into the keyboard. As
soon as you press a number or decimal point, the frequency display will
activate, waiting for a frequency to be typed. You can also click on the
display to type in a new frequency. After typing the new frequency, press
Enter and the receiver will instantly retune. To abort, press Escape.
To enter units, such as kHz or MHz, simply press Kfor kHz or Mfor MHz
after entering the digits. Any invalid keystrokes are ignored. Frequencies
outside the receiver limit (9 kHz to 30 MHz) will not be accepted and the
display will revert to the previous frequency.
WiNRADiO G3 SERIES Receiver Frequency Display
The up/down buttons under the individual digits make it possible to quickly
step up or down the frequency in the corresponding positions. (The little
slider buttons between the up/down buttons can be used for faster
adjustment.)
Under these buttons there is a band description window. This shows the
band allocation of the currently tuned frequency. These band descriptions
are based on those applicable to North America. However, these
allocations are based on international treaties and therefore are generally
applicable worldwide.
Note that the default band allocation can be overridden with a call sign or a
user-defined description of a frequency stored in memory. The default band
description is also user modifiable: it resides in the file bands.csv in the
WiNRADiO installation folder. This file can be edited using a spreadsheet
application, such as Microsoft Excel.

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Fine Tuning
The Fine Tune knob makes it possible to finely adjust the frequency in
0.5 kHz steps.
WiNRADiO G3 SERIES Receiver Tuning Knob
To use the tuning knob, position the mouse cursor over the knob (the cursor
will turn into a curved double ended arrow) and click on either the left or right
mouse button. If the cursor is on the top half of the knob, the left button will
decrease the frequency, and the right button will increase the frequency. If
the cursor is in the lower half, the opposite will occur (and the cursor will
invert its shape).
Using the keyboard only, the frequency can be similarly adjusted using the
up/down cursor keys.
To speed up tuning, the step size can be increased ten or one hundred
times by holding the Shift or Ctrl keys respectively, while clicking the tuning
knob with mouse button or using the up/down keyboard keys. This is a
very convenient feature if you wish to tune quickly across a frequency range:
hold the mouse button and accelerate the movement by pressing the Shift
or Ctrl keys. On the other hand, pressing the Alt key will reduce the tuning
step ten times (to 50 Hz).
Did you know?
Most Space Shuttle astronauts are radio amateurs and the first elements of
a permanent amateur radio station in space have already been despatched
to the International Space Station.

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Setting the Modulation Mode
To select the modulation mode, click on the appropriate Mode button in the
Demodulator panel:
WiNRADiO G3 SERIES Standard Demodulator Panel
The real-time spectrum display shows the output of the receiver (i.e. the
intermediate frequency signal) as it is applied to the PC sound card. When
you press the mode buttons, you will note that the central highlighted region
of the spectrum changes its width. This corresponds to the IF (intermediate
frequency) filter bandwidth associated with the different modulation modes.
For example, standard AM mode has 6 kHz bandwidth, while narrow AM
(AMN) uses 4 kHz bandwidth. The CW mode uses a narrow bandwidth of
500 Hz. You will see the trace color change from white to yellow where the
spectrum falls within the filter bandwidth. This indicates that you are only
receiving the yellow part of the displayed spectrum and the surrounding
frequencies are rejected.
If you mistune the receiver somewhat, you will see the spectrum shifting.
This assists you to tune the receiver right to the center of the transmitter
frequency, and to select the correct AM mode to avoid interference from
adjacent signals.

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If you also purchased the optional Professional Demodulator, you can select
this demodulator from the Demodulators top bar menu. The basic functions
such as volume control, audio muting and mode selection are identical to
the Standard Demodulator.
WiNRADiO G3 SERIES Professional Demodulator
For details of the additional functions such as continuous IF bandwidth
adjustment and other special features of the Professional Demodulator refer
to Appendix E - Professional Demodulator.
Volume Control
The Volume control is also located in the Demodulator panel. The volume
can range from 0 (no sound) to 31 (full volume). To enter a value directly,
click on the display and type in the new volume level. The volume can be
also increased or decreased by clicking on the up/down buttons next to the
volume display.
Another convenient way of changing the volume is by using the small slider
button between the up/down buttons. Place the mouse cursor on it and see
the cursor shape change, to indicate a ‘slider’ type of control. Hold down the
left mouse button to drag the slider up or down and the volume will change
accordingly.

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Finally, another convenient way of changing the volume is using the left and
right cursor keys on the keyboard.
Mute Control
Next to the Volume control is the Mute button, which allows you to switch off
audio output quickly. It is faster to use than setting the volume to zero, with
the added benefit of not changing the set volume level. To use the mute
control, simply click on this button. Click again to release.
AGC
The AGC (Automatic Gain Control) has four settings: Off, Slow, Medium and
Fast. These make it possible to disable the AGC, or to select the speed with
which the AGC reacts. Typically, the AGC would be in the Medium position.
AGC Control
The receiver must process a considerable variation of signals, ranging from
very weak to very strong. This requires the sensitivity of the receiver to vary
according to the incoming signal strength.
The incoming signal can vary in intensity, with changing propagation
conditions, and also depending on the modulation type and content. For
example, with CW signals (where information is transmitted by keying the
transmitter on and off), the signal strength will vary substantially during the
transmission. The demodulated signal will then sound better with a slow
AGC (so that the receiver will not have time to increase the gain during the
“off” intervals, and so increase the background noise and causing a raspy
sound).
On the other hand, use fast AGC when listening to especially weak signals
buried in static and noise. Otherwise, each new burst of noise would
desensitize the receiver for a long time and you could miss long periods of
useful transmissions.
If unsure, use the medium speed AGC setting.

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IF Gain
The AGC can be turned off entirely, using the AGC Off button. The receiver
gain must then be adjusted manually. This is done using the IF Gain setting.
Note that by setting an excessive gain, the receiver will overload and the
demodulated signal will be distorted. On the other hand, if the gain is too
low, it will make the receiver appear “deaf”.
Manual IF Gain setting is useful for hunting for very weak signals buried in
noise.
Manual IF Gain Control
The IF Gain control is only enabled when the AGC is switched off. The gain
“value” ranges from 0 to 100, where 100 corresponds to maximum gain.
Audio AGC
The Audio AGC facility is available in the Demodulator panel, and provides a
supplementary function to the main AGC. (The main AGC employs a
hardware circuit, while the Audio AGC works in software.)
Audio AGC
Audio AGC is useful to compensate for audio volume changes when the
antenna signals are so weak that the main AGC is not yet activated, or when
the main AGC is disabled and the manual IF gain is used.