Stby Rcve Stby Xmit
To print a copy of the image buffer, press
. The word "Printing" appears at
the top of the screen, the image is printed, and the "Printing" indication
disappears.
If an error message appears at the bottom of the screen, you can cancel the
print by pressing the
PK-FAX supports several formats of printer dot graphics. The program uses
the following items from the Configuration menu:
Printer port
Serial printer baud rate (if serial)
Serial printer parity (if serial)
Printer data bits
Printer type
Printer graphics density
Printer status method
If none of the PK-FAX printer types cover your printer, perhaps your Paintbrush
program does. Use FRAME to format the picture and try to print the picture
using your Paintbrush program.
5.6.20. Transmit -
You may re-transmit any pictures you receive, or you can create your own
pictures with a Paintbrush program and transmit them over the air. Just
press the
1. The status line goes from "Stby Rcve" to "Stby Xmit."
2. The PK-232 transmits:
a. A black tone for 5 seconds.
b. The start tone (300 Hz alternation between white
and black) for 5 seconds.
3. The status line goes from "Stby Xmit" to "Sync Xmit."
4. The PK-232 sends 30 seconds of sync pulses (5% white) at the
selected scan speed.
5. The PK-232 sends the picture information. The PK-FAX status
line shows how much of the buffer it has sent to the PK-232
for transmission. Since the PK-232 has its own buffer, the
PK-FAX indication is always somewhat ahead of what the PK-232
is actually transmitting. For example, "11/67%" means that
11% of the buffer has been sent to the PK-232, and the buffer
is 67% full. The PK-232 may have actually sent only 6% worth
at this time, however. When PK-FAX has sent all of the picture
to the PK-232 the status line shows "67/67%."
6. The status line goes from "Sync Xmit" to "Stby Xmit."
7. The PK-232 sends the stop tone (450 Hz alternation between white
and black) for 5 seconds.
8. The PK-232 sends the Morse ID, if enabled.
9. The status line goes from "Stby Xmit" to "Stby Rcve."
Any time during the transmission, you may cancel it by pressing . This
takes PK-FAX back to "Stby Rcve" immediately and turns off the transmitter.
The PK-232 is shipped from AEA with the transmit tones set to 1200 and 2200 Hz,
which is a shift of 1000 Hz. These are the frequencies the PK-232 needs to
operate on packet radio. If you wish to set the transmitting tones to a shift
of 800 Hz, you will need to adjust variable resistors for 1300 and 2100 Hz.
Follow the directions in your PK-232 manual under the chapter that addresses
"Calibration." If you will only be receiving, calibration is not necessary,
as the transmitting tones are independent of the receiving circuitry in the
PK-232.
Current FCC regulations require amateur radio operators to identify their
station every 10 minutes while transmitting. This means that you must limit
each picture's transmission time to 10 minutes or less. You can do this by
adjusting the scan speed (L) and/or the aspect ratio (I). The following
tables show the transmission times for a full screen picture produced by
a Paintbrush program (52% of buffer) and for a FULL buffer. The times include
the black tone, start tone, sync pulses and stop tone.
Full screen (52% of buffer) transmission times, minutes:
Scan speed IOC 576 IOC 352 IOC 288
---------- ------- ------- -------
60 LPM 20.75 14.08 10.75
90 LPM 14.08 9.64 7.42
120 LPM 10.75 7.42 5.75
180 LPM 7.42 5.19 4.08
240 LPM 5.75 4.08 3.25
Full buffer transmission times, minutes:
60 LPM 39.15 26.35 19.95
90 LPM 26.35 17.82 13.55
120 LPM 19.95 13.55 10.35
180 LPM 13.55 9.28 7.15
240 LPM 10.35 7.15 5.55
You can always shorten the transmission time by deleting portions of the
picture that contain no useful information. Use the
maximum percentage of the buffer that you have time to send is:
60 LPM 24% 36% 48%
90 LPM 36% 54% 72%
120 LPM 48% 72% 96%
180 LPM 72% FULL FULL
240 LPM 96% FULL FULL
Cautions: If you transmit a picture at a faster scan rate than the one you
received it with, some details may be lost. (A Paintbrush picture, on the
other hand, doesn't have much detail to begin with, so scan rate is no
problem.) Also, if one PK-232 is transmitting to another PK-232, avoid using
IOC 288, as it transmits 3 lines for every 2 in your buffer. On the receiving
end, it ignores one line for every 3 transmitted. The problem is that there
is no way to sync the vertical line count between the PK-232's, although of
course the horizontal data is synced. There may be some vertical detail loss
if IOC 288 is used.
You must be the judge as to the parameters you use in transmission, although
either 120 LPM/IOC 352 or 180 LPM/IOC 576 look like good bets. The ARRL
Handbook recommends 240 LPM. The operators on both ends of the transmission
must agree on the parameters.
The Federal Communications Commission authorizes FAX operation on all amateur
bands except 160 meters.
The ARRL Handbook mentions a national amateur radio FAX net on Sundays on
14.245 MHz at 2000 UTC. You might keep this in mind when calling CQ FAX or
arranging skeds.
5.6.21. Configuration -
Press
titled "Configuration."
5.6.22. Help -
Sync Rcve Sync Xmit
Press the
the keys to press for various features. Press any key to make the help
panels disappear.
5.6.23. DOS Gateway
This is a feature that lets you execute other programs while retaining the
image in PK-FAX's buffer. You may also want to use the gateway to look at
directories of image files with .FAX or .PCX extensions, or to erase files
to free some room on your disks.
Press
5.6.24. Insert text Stby Rcve
PK-FAX allows you to superimpose text on the FAX picture. Press and
note that the cursor has changed shape from crosshairs to a left bracket.
This shows that you may now use the keyboard to type text on the image. The
text is the computer's CGA font, which is large enough to be visible to a FAX
receiver under conditions that are less than ideal. The screen can hold 25
lines of 80 of these characters. The
and the cursor and backspace keys are also functional. When you are finished
typing text, press again to leave Insert mode. The cursor changes back
to the crosshairs shape.
The characters are black on a white background. To create white characters,
first make a negative of the entire screen by pressing
, insert your text, press again, and finally press
to make the entire screen positive again.
One use for text insertion is sending "QSL cards" by facsimile. Create a QSL
card template with your Paintbrush program, with your callsign and address and
any other pictures or information you wish. Save this template. Now when you
wish to send a QSL to a station you are working, just call up the template
with the Read Disk
callsign, the time and date, frequency and comments. Then transmit
QSL card to the station.
5.6.25. Quit PK-FAX -
Sync Rcve Sync Xmit
Press
There may be a short delay while the program signs off with the PK-232
gracefully.
6. Auto-save
There may be times that you want to save every picture that you receive, but
you are going to be asleep or away from home. The auto-save feature saves
pictures to disk automatically, with sequential file names, starting and
ending at times you select.
As ".FAX" files are typically 50K bytes long, you should start out with an
empty formatted diskette to hold the pictures that will be saved automatically.
Suppose you were interested in seeing all of the pictures transmitted by the
San Francisco weather FAX station during its session at 0500 UTC. Since this
is after your bedtime, you would set up your system like this:
a. Turn on the receiver and tune to 8.682 MHz USB.
b. Set up PK-FAX and the PK-232 to 120 LPM, IOC 576, L-R, Positive.
c. Assuming your computer's system clock is on Eastern Standard Time,
go to the Configuration menu and set:
Auto-save disk file prefix FRIDAY
Auto-save start time 00:00
Auto-save stop time 00:45
d. Press
The status line displays a plus sign in front of the current time ("+20:27"),
showing that auto-save is enabled. At midnight (your start time), auto-save
becomes active and the status line shows a star where the plus was ("*00:00").
Now every time the status goes from "Sync Rcve" to "Stby Rcve," or the buffer
becomes "FULL," the picture in the buffer is saved to a disk file. The name
of the disk file changes every time; the first picture goes to FRIDAY00.FAX,
the second goes to FRIDAY01.FAX, and so on. At 12:45 am (your stop time),
the buffer is stored a final time, and auto-save becomes inactive. The
status line shows a plus again ("+00:45").
The next morning, you can check the Configuration menu to see if anything was
recorded. Whereas the night before the "Next auto-save disk file" was
FRIDAY00.FAX, it is now FRIDAY04.FAX, which shows that 4 files were saved, the
last being FRIDAY03.FAX. You may now edit those files with PK-FAX or FRAME
and your Paintbrush program.
If you don't change anything, the next night the process starts over, with the
first picture going to FRIDAY04.FAX.
To disable auto-save, go to the Configuration menu to the "Next auto-save disk
file," and just press the
7. PK-FAX and Paintbrush programs
Note: Most Paintbrush programs require a mouse to operate. See the section
below titled "PK-FAX and Mouse."
7.1. PK-FAX to Paintbrush
When PK-FAX saves a picture to disk (using the W command), the disk file is in
a format that is compatible with what we have been calling "Paintbrush
programs." Several companies distribute these programs, including:
PC Paintbrush, from ZSoft Corporation
Logipaint Set, from Logitech, Inc.
Microsoft Paintbrush, from Microsoft Corporation.
Other drawing programs may contain routines that convert their disk format to
and from the Paintbrush format.
If you are interested in using PK-FAX's disk files with a Paintbrush programs,
use the PK-FAX W command to save the picture to a file ending with the
extension ".PCX". Recall that if you don't type an extension, PK-FAX adds the
extension ".FAX" for you. PK-FAX stores more detail than a normal screen can
show, resulting in a file that would be ideal for viewing on a screen 1280 dots
wide by 400 dots high.
Since you probably have a screen that is 640 or 720 dots wide, this means that
your Paintbush program will see the file as being two screens wide and several
screens high, requiring you to scroll up and down and back and forth to see the
entire picture. This may be inconvenient if you want to use the picture in
a document you are creating, since you can't surround the entire picture with
the scissors and pick tools so you can shrink or rotate it. Also, if you have
an EGA or Hercules video adapter, the image will appear to be somewhat
squashed.
Fortunately, AEA has included a FRAME program on the PK-FAX disk to process
the picture after PK-FAX has saved it, but before you use your Paintbrush
program. See the following section titled "PK-FAX and FRAME."
7.2. Paintbrush to PK-FAX
You may also create your own pictures with Paintbrush and save them to disk.
As long as these pictures are in black and white, they are compatible with
PK-FAX and you can use the PK-FAX R command to read them into the buffer.
You can then transmit your own pictures over the radio. FRAME is not required
between Paintbrush and PK-FAX, as PK-FAX itself takes care of the re-sizing.
Paintbrush saves only to files ending in ".PCX" so make sure you specify ".PCX"
when using the PK-FAX R command.
7.3. PK-FAX and FRAME
The names of the disk files that PK-FAX creates end with the extension ".FAX"
if you do not specify some other extension. ".FAX" files, if you rename them
to ".PCX" files, are compatible with Paintbrush programs, but may be unwieldly
to use in their original forms. The picture will appear to be two screens
wide and several screens long when viewed by Paintbrush. The picture may be
somewhat distorted on EGA and Hercules graphics adapters and monitors.
FRAME is a program that pre-processes ".FAX" pictures so that the resulting
".PCX" pictures are much more convenient to manipulate in Paintbrush. FRAME
features include:
1. Processing pictures so the proportions are correct on EGA
and Hercules video adapters.
2. Re-sizing pictures so they take up no more than a full screen,
or a portion of a screen.
3. Rotating pictures clockwise or counter-clockwise.
4. Turning pictures upside-down.
To use FRAME, either exit PK-FAX by pressing
7.3.1. FRAME command line
Let's assume you have a file called "MAP12.FAX" that you wish to process.
There are two ways to use FRAME. One way is to include the filenames in the
command line:
FRAME MAP12 MONDAY
This command would read the file "MAP12.FAX," process it according to the last
parameters that FRAME was set up with (whatever those were), and create a new
file called "MONDAY.PCX" that contains the processed picture.
Notice that if you don't specify an extension on the file names, FRAME adds
the extension ".FAX" to the input file name and ".PCX" to the output file name.
If you wanted to process one ".PCX" file into another ".PCX" file, type
FRAME FRIDAY.PCX MONDAY
In this case "FRIDAY.PCX" is the input file and "MONDAY.PCX" is the output
file.
Finally, typing
FRAME MAP12
would take "MAP12.FAX" as the input file, process the picture, and save the
result in a new file called "MAP12.PCX." Typing
FRAME FRIDAY.PCX
would take "FRIDAY.PCX" as the input file, process the picture, and save the
result back to "FRIDAY.PCX," destroying the original contents.
7.3.2. FRAME menu
The other way of using FRAME is the more flexible way, which allows you to
specify the kind of processing you want to do. You should use this form the
first time you use FRAME, so the processing parameters are set up for all
subsequent uses of FRAME. From the DOS prompt, just type
FRAME
The screen shows:
FRAME the output from PKFAX for use in paint programs
A. Source image file name
B. Target image file name
C. Screen size 640 x 350
D. Percentage of screen width 100%
E. Rotation None
S. Save new image
Alt-X. Quit
7.3.2.1. Source image file name
Press to specify the name of the file you want to process. You may include
a path if you wish. If you don't specify an extension, FRAME adds the
extension ".FAX" for you. Press the
7.3.2.2. Target image file name
Press to specify the name of the file you want to save the results in. You
may include a path if you wish. If you don't specify an extension, FRAME adds
the extension ".PCX" for you. Press the
name.
7.3.2.3. Screen size
Press
screen shows:
Screen size, horizontal dots x vertical dots:
1. 640 x 200 IBM Color Card (CGA)
2. 640 x 350 IBM Enhanced Card (EGA)
3. 640 x 400
4. 720 x 348 Hercules monochrome
5. 720 x 350
6. 720 x 352
7. 720 x 704
8. 1280 x 400 PKFAX image file
9. 1280 x 800
Esc. No change
Choose one:
The first time you use FRAME, it will choose the dimensions that seem right
for your system.
If you are not sure of your screen's dimensions, consult the user's manual that
came with your monitor.
If you want to process pictures for use in PK-FAX (for transmitting, perhaps),
use the 1280 x 400 size. Use 90% or 95% of the screen and save the processed
picture to a file ending in ".FAX". Before transmitting the picture, use the
PK-FAX
7.3.2.4. Percentage of screen width
Press the
one to three numbers and the
width that the image will take up. The height of the image will be adjusted
so that the shapes in the image keep their proper proportions.
7.3.2.5. Rotation
Press the
image. This can be simultaneous with the re-sizing being done. The screen
shows:
Amount of rotation of image:
0. No rotation
1. 1/4 turn clockwise
2. 1/2 turn
3. 3/4 turn clockwise
Esc. No change
Choose one:
Many weather charts are transmitted sideways, so you will want to give them a
quarter-turn to the left. Choose Option 3, which is 3/4 turn clockwise.
Sometimes the station operator inserts the image into the machine upside-down.
In these cases choose Option 2, which is 1/2 turn.
7.3.2.6. Inverse video
To reverse the black/white sense of the entire picture, use the
feature in PK-FAX.
7.3.2.7. Mirror image
To reverse the left/right sense of the picture, use the
PK-FAX.
7.3.2.8. Save new image
When you are satisfied with the processing parameters, press to start the
image processing. The process may take several minutes, depending on the
difficulty of the task you have assigned. FRAME lets you know how far it has
gotten through the processing by telling you which line it is working on while
reading or writing a file.
7.3.2.9. Quit
Hold down the Alt key and press X. This will cause FRAME to save the
processing parameters to a configuration file, so you won't have to enter them
in all over again the next time you use FRAME. This also makes it easier to
use FRAME in the command line mode (filenames on the same line as "FRAME"),
as FRAME will use the parameters that you last set.
The program then ends and leaves you back at your system's DOS prompt.
8. PK-FAX and Mouse
Most paint programs require a mouse to operate. There are several mice
available from different companies. The cost of a mouse ranges from $99 to
$229. An article describing and comparing eight different mice appeared in
Byte Magazine, June 1987, pp. 238-242.
While PK-FAX does not support a mouse on its own, we have included on the
PK-FAX diskette some files that may be used with the Logitech C7 Mouse, which
is the least expensive mouse now being sold.
PKFAX.DEF is a text file containing the source code for the MENU program.
PKFAX.MNU contains the compiled code. To use this code,
a. enable the mouse with the MOUSE command,
b. copy PKFAX.MNU to the subdirectory containing your mouse driver,
c. type MENU,
d. load the PK-FAX menu by typing
MENU PKFAX
e. start the PK-FAX program as described in a previous chapter.
The status must be "Stby" for PK-FAX to use the mouse.
The mouse buttons work singly and in combination:
Left Middle Right Emulates Function
---- ------ ----- -------- ---------
X PgUp Show top half
X Home Zoom
X PgDn Show bottom half
X X End Show all
X X Ctrl-PgUp Delete above cursor
X X Ctrl-PgDn Delete below cursor
X X X J Justify
and of course the movement of the mouse on a flat surface emulates the cursor
keys.