EZPAD 3.3 for N8AD MixBASE uploaded 2009-06-24

See also old ART instructions

Still available:

EZ-PAD 3.1  and EZ-PAD 2.3 for  N8AD EchoBASE

(uploaded 2006-02-14 and 2005-11-29)

Page Updated 2007-12-12

ebpad23


!!IMPORTANT ECHOLINK SETTINGS!!
SHUT OFF YOUR TEXT MSG CHIME  by  TOOLS>>PREFERENCES>>SIGNALS>>TEXT MSG = None
SET RECEIVE HANG TIME TO 100 ms by TOOLS>>SETUP>>TIMING>>Receive Hang Time = 100


NEW IN V.3.2: F10 sends a "USER" request ,  which will cause N8AD-R to announce anyone connected to it.

NEW IN V.2.3: Step Up/Down Buttons 0.1, 1, 5 kHz. Store/recall a Frequency. Selectable IRB Station Callsign.
Some old functions are moved to Menu: Other .

NEW IN V.2.2: THE FREQUENCY DISPLAY WINDOW WILL TURN ORANGE WHEN
OUTSIDE THE FONE BAND (US).  WHEN INSIDE IT IS GREEN AS BEFORE.

NEW IN V.2.1.c: The DIGI-BUTTON WILL START VNCVIEWER IF  IT IS INSTALLED IN  ITS' DEFAULT PATH:   \Program Files\RealVNC\vncviewer.exe
OR TELLS YOU WHERE TO DOWNLOAD IT FROM.

NEW IN V.2.1b: MENU ITEM 'Help > EZ-PAD' OPENS YOUR DEFAULT WEB BROWSER AND TAKES YOU DIRECTLY TO THIS WEB PAGE.

NEW IN V.2.1a:  YOU CAN REPEAT A FREQUENCY JUMP (+ OR -) JUST BY PRESSING
'Send' AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT, BUT WAIT UNTIL THE DISPLAY TURNS GREEN.
(WORKS ALSO WITH SPACEBAR OR ENTER WHEN 'Send'-BUTTON ALREADY IS ACTIVE.)

A SHORT INFO IS SHOWN,  WHEN YOU HOLD YOUR CURSOR OVER A COMMAND BUTTON FOR SOME SECONDS.

THE DROP-DOWN MENUES CONTAINS MOST OF THE EchoBASE FUNCTIONS, THAT NOT
ARE ACCESSIBLE THRU PUSH-BUTTONS. THEY SHOULD BE QUITE SELF EXPLANATORY, AT LEAST
AFTER SOME TRIAL.

OPEN AND CLOSE THE RECEIVE CHAT TEXT WINDOW FROM 'Chat' ON THE MENU BAR OR BY CLICKING THE MAIN WINDOW JUST INSIDE THE RIGHT EDGE. OPEN THE SEND TEXT LINE FROM THE 'Chat' MENU OR BY DOUBLE-CLICKING THE  SEND TEXT AREA. CLOSE ACCORDINGLY.

PRESS ENTER ON YOUR KEYBOARD TO SEND TEXT WRITTEN IN THE  'Send Text' LINE ,
OR CLICK THE 'Send Text' LABEL.

YOU CAN SAVE THE RECEIVED CHAT TEXT IN A LOG FILE, WITH 'Open Log' AND 'Close Log' UNDER
THE 'File' MENU ON THE MENU BAR.

 FavrFreq:  MAKE A TEXT FILE CALLED MYFREQ.TXT WITH YOUR FAVOURITE FREQUENCIES
AT THE START OF A LINE, ONE FOR EACH, AND PUT IT IN THE SAME DIRECTORY AS EBPADxx.EXE.
THEN YOU CAN CALL THEM ON THE FREQUENCY DISPLAY  ONE AT A TIME BY CLICKING THE FavrFreq
BUTTON AND SEND TO THE RADIO WITH THE SEND BUTTON AS NORMAL. THE FILE WILL CLOSE  WHEN
YOU ENTER A FREQUENCY BY CLICKING THE NUMBERS ON THE PAD OR THE CLEAR BUTTON.

CLICKING THE DISPLAY SENDS A FREQUENCY UPDATE REQUEST TO N8AD-R.

NOTE ABOUT SCAN: THE FREQUENCY DISPLAY IS SHOWING THE SCAN PROGRESS, BUT DOES NOT FOLLOW THE RADIO ACCURATELY. IT IS ONLY A ROUGH ESTIMATE BASED ON THE TIMING OF YOUR OWN PC.

NB: If you get a message on Windows XP about Missing COMDLG32.OCX, please go to:
http://www.ascentive.com/support/new/support_dll.phtml?dllname=COMDLG32.OCX

Keyboard Short-cuts
F1   =  CONNect
F2   =  DISConnect
F3   =  ON                          (sets focus on the 'Send'-button)
F4   =  STOP
F5   =  XCVR
F6   =  RCVR
F7   =  KEY                        (transmit in XCVR-mode)
F8   =  UNKEY                  (receive in XCVR-mode)
F9   =  Open Send Text Line    also by INSert key
F10 =  DIGI info                 (Must be pressed a second time to deactivate Menu Bar!)
F11 =  EchoLink Talk         (in RCVR-mode only)
F12 =  EchoLink Listen                    - " -
Shift-Keys => Transmit on both RCVR- and XCVR-modes  'SEND CHAT TEXT' MUST BE CLOSED!
CTRL-Keys => Recive                - " -                                                                 - " -
INSert-Key => Opens Send Chat Text Line and also puts cursor there
DELete-Key => Closes            - " -              and reactivates the 'Send'-button

Frequency input and +/- from main number keys, and NumPad  if NumLock is ON
PageUp Key => Calls up favourite frequency list from 'myfreq.txt' 
NumPad Division Key =>                      - " -
ALT-S  activates the 'Send'-button (as does F3) and sends the frequency on the display

NOTE!! For the following 'Send'-keys to work the 'Send'-button has to be ACTIVE
(use ALT-S if necessary):
Main Enter, Spacebar,
NumPad Enter, NumPad Multiplication (x)  (NumLock must be ON)

!!!Be careful with the 'Send'-button, if you are mixing mouse and keyboard controls!!!

 
           IDENTIFICATION :
 
WHEN YOU ACTIVATE THE  XCVR COMMAND, YOU BECOME THE CONTROL OPERATOR OF N8AD'S STATION, AS IF YOU WERE SITTING IN FRONT OF THE RADIO.
YOU ARE REQUIRED TO CONFORM TO ALL THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF THE US FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
FOREIGN OPERATORS ARE ALSO REQUIRED TO COMPLY WITH US FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS FOR REGION 2, REGARDLESS OF THE LOCATION YOUR ECHOLINK STATION IS IN.
IDENTIFICATION IS ACCOMPLISHED BY STATING "YOUR" CALL SIGN AT THE REQUIRED INTERVALS. AT LEAST ONCE IN A COMMUNICATION YOU SHOULD ALSO STATE THAT THE TRANSMISSIONS ARE FROM N8AD REMOTE BASE IN  ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.
 
US HAMS : simply   YOUR CALL
CANADIAN HAMS : say   YOUR CALL / W 3
"CEPT" HAMS : say    W 3 / YOUR CALL
 
IF YOUR COUNTRY'S RULES AND THE RULES OF THE US FCC ARE IN CONFLICT, YOU MUST COMPLY WITH THE US FCC RULES, OR CEASE THE OPERATION.
FOR EXAMPLE. EUROPEAN FREQUENCY ALLOCATIONS ON 40 METERS DIFFER RADICALLY FROM USA RULES. YOU ARE PERMITTED VOICE OPERATIONS FROM 7150 UP TO 7300 KHZ, BUT IN EUROPE THE VOICE BAND IS BELOW 7150. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TRANSMIT SSB BELOW 7150 IN PENNSYLVANIA. IN THIS CASE YOU ARE ALLOWED TO OPERATE "N8AD" FROM 7150 TO 7300 FROM EUROPE IF IT DOES NOT CONTRADICT YOUR OWN COUNTRY'S RULES!
THE SAME SCENARIO APPLIES TO CANADIAN USE OF THE 40 METER BAND. YOU CAN NOT USE CANADIAN RULES ON A STATION IN PENNSYLVANIA!
I HAVE TRIED TO KEEP THE STATION FROM GOING INTO TRANSMIT ON FREQUENCIES THAT DO NOT CONFORM TO THE USA BAND PLAN. HOWEVER MY SOFTWARE IS NOT INFALLIBLE. HOPEFULLY, IF YOU ATTEMPT TO TRANSMIT IN A NON PHONE BAND, A CW SIGNAL WILL SEND "QSY" AS A COURTESY TONE, EVERY TIME YOU GO FROM TRANSMIT TO RECEIVE (NO RF WILL BE TRANSMITTED).