Used to define various Ham Radio Deluxe features, Program Options can be selected in three different ways:
- From the menu bar, select Tools > Program Options at the bottom of the list.
- Press F8
- Press the
Options icon on the toolbar.
Most users will find that they can live with the defaults that can be modified in this dialog.
Keyboard Accelerators
Define accelerators for use with the Keyboard or with programmable interfaces such as the Griffin Powermate.
When you press Add the definition window is displayed.
Keyboard combinations are assigned to display buttons and arrow keys. As an example, we will assume that we want tot assign the key combination Ctrl+Alt+W to the Tune button. To do this we would do the following steps:
- 1. In the Key field we would enter the letter W.
- 2. Place a check mark in the boxes preceding Alt and Ctrl.
- 3. In the text box below HRD Button enter the word Tune.
- 4. Press OK to save your new accelerator.
You will now see your new accelerator listed.
The Ham Radio Deluxe menu has pre-assigned accelerators; these cannot be redefined. These are listed in the Reserved window.
Comms
Normally you will not have to change the default settings.
- Read timeout – serial port timeout.
- Switch off – some radios such as the FT-817 or the Kenwood TS-2000 can be powered down using a CAT command. If this option is selected you are prompted to switch off the radio.
- Polling – to reduce CPU load for slower systems.
- Dual VFO tracking – if selected both VFO’s are tracked on every refresh.
- Only of use with Satellite Tracking (see Satellite Tracking).
- Refresh interval – the interval between consecutive refreshes of the display.
COM Port TX
Some early ICOM radios do not support switching between TX and RX using CAT commands. The only way to enable computer controlled TX/RX this is by toggling a COM port pin.
You require a special CAT cable if you select this option.
ICOM Calibration
ICOM radios return a S Meter value between 0 and 255, normally 0 is S0, 12 is S1 and so on. As a S Meter unit is 6 dB the algorithm applied is to divide the returned value by two to get dB, then divide dB by 6 to get S units.
Some radios such as the IC-706 have a different logic – use the Offset and Scale values to adjust the returned values so that the S Meter in Ham Radio Deluxe corresponds to the S Meter on your radio.
Internet
Ham Radio Deluxe is able to detect whether you have an Internet connection with Internet GetConnectedState(). Uncheck this option if you do not want Internet access.
Out of Band
If you like to know where your band limits are when you are scrolling through a band and not watching the frequency window you can enable the optional sound files played when you tune in / out of band. You also have the ability to use a sound file of your choosing.
Mouse Wheel
You can define the tuning step when rotating the mouse wheel over the active tuning bar here.
Selection Window
Defines options affecting the appearance and operation of the selection window.
- Single-click – normally the Favorites tree folders are opened / closed with a double-click. Check this option to enable single-click operation.
- Show numeric value – the Select Windows‟s Advanced slider values are optionally superimposed on the slider.
- Show the Options icon – historical support for the version 2 Advanced slider look and feel.
Themes
Docking panes are used for optional windows such as: Bandscope, Calendar, DX Cluster, Logbook, Selection, Shortwave Database, and WinKey.
Main Theme Select whichever visual theme you want – Office 2003 is an acceptable default.
System Theme When you select Office 2003 or Windows XP for Menus and Toolbars you can select an optional System theme.
Main Tabs If you have more than one main window open – for example Radio and Logbook – then the main tabs are a useful way of switching between windows.
Main tabs can be toggled On / Off by selecting from the Menu Bar View > Main Tabs.
Updates
Select how frequently Ham Radio Deluxe reminds you to check for new updates.
Yaesu
Special options for Yaesu radios. Due to firmware “features” in the FTDX-9000 it is necessary to wait up to 250ms after writing a command to the radio. With any luck Yaesu will fix this at some date in the future.