BEACONS.EXE is a MS-DOS program for scanning the beacons of the NCDXF/IARU-
beacon system. The source files are written in POWER BASIC and POWER TOOLS
by Helmut Zrneck, DL4FBI Ritterstrae 26, 64807 Dieburg, Germany.

It is recommended to make a hardcopy of this README.TXT-file before the files
are installed.

contents: I. README.TXT, this file
         II. INSTALL.EXE, installation program
        III. SCANPAR.EXE, parameter setting and run scan
         IV. BEACONS.EXE, the scanning program
          V. INSTALL.BAS, source code of II.
         VI. SCANPAR.BAS, source code of III.
        VII. BEACONS.BAS, source code of IV.
       VIII. BEACON.PAR, a default-set of parameters (ASCII-code)
         IX. BEACON.EXE, program for graphic representation of results
        IIX. BEACON.PLT, source code of IX


1) Necessary hard- and software

The program is tailored to control a transceiver KENWOOD TS 870. To connect
the transceiver to the personal computer a modem (not null-modem) cable
with RTS,CTS,RXD,TXD and ground lines must be used. A 386 PC or higher and
DOS 5.0 or higher are required. At least one serial port must be available.

2) Preparations

Connect the transceiver's serial port (9 pole) to the PC's serial port.
COM1 or COM2 are possible, the default is COM2. Power on the TS870 and run
its menues. MENU No. 56 is set to 961 (9600 Baud/sec, 1 Stopbit), menu N0.54
to "ON" (datatransfer activated), menu No.24 to 800 (pitch=800 Hz) and save
these parameters.

3) Installation of program

Insert the diskette into drive a:\ and type <Install>. In a window you can
choose the drive/path from where you want to run the program. Default is
C:\. In any case the parameters BEACON.PAR are copied to C:\, the programs
can work only with BEACON.PAR located on drive C:\. The DOS-prompt will
appear when the installation is finished.

4) Set parameters 

Change to the drive/path where the program is resident (default: C:\) and
type <SCANPAR>. If you run the program for the first time, hit <check/modify
parameters>. The following window displays callsign and locations of the
beacons (preliminary on Jan.1997). You can modify the items of the list
by overwriting callsigns and locations. By clicking <OK>, data of the list are
saved on C:\BEACON.PAR and stay unchanged unless they will be modified during
a further run of SCANPAR.EXE.

The following window allows you the same procedure applied to the frequencies
of the beacons, if they should be modified. Type frequencies in Hz!(no commas
or decimal points allowed, zeros must be typed). If ready, hit OK, and the
frequencies are saved.

The next window asks for serial port Number of the PC. COM2 (default) is re-
commended, because most users have a mouse connected to COM1. With the option 
SIM the serial output is replaced by a program that simulates a transceiver
beeing connected to the PC. This is provided for testing the software with-
out a transceiver.

Filterbandwidth can be changed between 050 and 600 Hz. Recommended is 050 Hz. in areas
With low QRM-floor it might be better to broaden the filter, to eliminate
the effect of frequency-deviations of the beacons.

The way of output the results can be chosen. A screen-print is produced in
any case. If you choose hardcopy, a line-printer must be present at LPT1.
If you order the results also on ASCII file (necessary for graphic repre-
sentation of results) a formatted write enabled diskette with a minimum of 
1000 free Bytes is expected to be in drive A:\, otherwise a run-time error 
will occur.

Antenna No. refers to antenna connector of the TS 870

The time-syncronisation is essential for the function of the program. Time
must be UTC or local, with a tolerance of +/- 0.1 seconds. For DCF77-time
the PC must be equipped with a longwave receiver tuned to the DCF77 time-
signal-station, which can only be received in Europe.
"Own method" is assigned to GPS or WWVB receivers to be installed in the PC.
The appropriate code must be inserted into subprogram "MYTIMESET" of program
"BEACONS". (see 7) Modification of programs)
If "phone or radio" (default) is chosen, the program will present the DOS-
timeset prompt at its beginning. Fill out the HH:MM:SS field and start with
<ENTER> at the appropriate time-signal from phone or radio. Hit OK if all
items are correct to save data in BEACON.PAR.

5) Run the scan 

If you hit "SAVE AND SCAN", the parameters are saved and BEACONS.EXE is 
started. Follow the remarks on screen, especially if you have chosen 
"phone or radio" you have to insert time as described before.

If you want to run the program without setting the parameters, i.e. using
"old" parameters, you can just type "BEACONS.EXE".

6) Troubleshooting

If the message "missing or wrong transceiver" should appear, check cables
and powersupply. In some rare cases, if the transceiver's processor is busy,
the response is a "?;" instead of a correct message (see KENWOOD TS870
instruction manual p.86). Start the program again.

7) Modification of programs

Other transceivers than the TS870 might require other codes. Use of an "own
method" for time-synchronization requires a new subprogram "MYTIMESET" in the pr
program  "BEACONS". In the original code "MYTIMESET" is a dummy subprogram
without function.
The correct way for all modifications will be to modify the code in the
source files  ..BAS. After modification the programs must be compiled by
the compiler POWER BASIC, in the case of "INSTALLATION" and SCANPAR" the
compiler must be equipped with the supplement POWER TOOLS II, which exists 
only in a German version and is not available on the American market.

POWER BASIC and POWER TOOLS II with German Handbooks are supplied by

Kirschbaum Software GmbH
Kronau 16
D-83550 Emmering
Germany
Tel. 08067-90380
FAX. 08067-903898


POWER BASIC in English alone is available from the manufacturer:

PowerBASIC Inc.
316 Mid Valley Center
Carmel, Cal. 93923
Tel. (408)659-8000, Fax (408) 659-8008, Compuserve:GO PowerBASIC
Internet:http://www.powerbasic.com

Price of the English version of PowerBASIC is $149.00. It comes with a Hand-
book of about 1000 pages. Learning the language and handling the compiler is
more than a weekends' project.


8) Graphic representation of results

Copy BEACON.EXE to fixed disk.
If you want a graphic chart of the results chose "ASCII-file" in the 
prameter-setting window, and insert the diskette into drive a:\.
When scan has ended, the ASCII-file BEACON.TXT, which can be read by the
editor of MS-DOS is generated. 
Now type BEACON.EXE and <Enter>, the chart will appear on the line-printer
connected to LPT1.


End of README.TXT April, 01. 1997

Author: Helmut Zrneck, DL4FBI, Ritterstrasse 26, D-64807 Dieburg, Germany
Tel.: 06071-23406



