Problems with Receiving
1. No Sine Wave in Oscilloscope
2. Oscilloscope Activity But No Decoding
1. No Sine Wave in Oscilloscope
Tune to a busy packet channel and select the Sine Wave oscilloscope mode in the Sound Card Tuning Aid. If you do not see sine wave activity, look for a reason at one of five places along the RX audio path:
a. Radio/antenna
b. AGWPE's radioport settings c. Volume Control settings d. RX audio cable
e. Sound card or driver
a. Radio/antenna
First confirm that audio signals -- preferably packets! -- are are being received at the radio. Disconnect the sound card interface temporarily and see if you can hear packets from the radio's speaker and/or see the radio's 'S' bars or the 'Busy"
indicator light up.
If you don't see or hear packet activity:
is the squelch too high? Since AGWPE prefers no squelch for transmitting, it's best to leave the squelch off (even though AGWPE will still receive with the squelch on, providing the squelch is not set too high).
is tone squelch (CTCSS and DTSS) turned off?
if dual VFOs, is the correct VFO/band selected?
is the antenna connected?
is the radio tuned to the right frequency?
can you hear packets by using a different antenna (more gain)?
or by moving the antenna to another location (higher, away from possible EMI interference)?
can you hear packets using a different radio with a different antenna? with a different radio but the same antenna?
If you can't hear packets from the radio's speaker (internal or external):
Is the speaker volume knob set too low? Low speaker volume would only affect sound card receiving if your interface's RX cable connects to the radio's external speaker or microphone jack, not a data jack.
If your interface's RX audio connects to the radio's external speaker jack, is that radio jack known to work with speakers?
Plug in a different speaker or use a meter to test the jack.
b. Radioport settings
Check the following in the Properties settings for the sound card:
Make sure you have selected the correct sound card device
Make sure you have selected the correct packet baud rate for the radioport channel
c. Volume Control settings
Use the Volume Control screen to check your sound card settings:
If you happen to have more than one sound card (i.e. mixer device), make sure you are working with Recording settings for the correct sound card.
(Program Bug: if you have more than one sound card, AGWPE's Volume Control Screen can be used to set the first card but not a second card. To control the second card, you will need to use the Windows Volume Control Program.)
Make sure you are working with the Volume Control Recording settings, not the Playback settings.
Make sure you have selected the correct input jack -- LINE IN or MIC -- where your RX interface cable is attached.
Make sure the vertical volume sliders for the selected input jack is not at or near the bottom (about 1/3 up is fine). If you see Balance sliders, make sure they are centered.
If there are still no signals, try selecting the other input source -- Microphone or Line In. You may have the plug in the wrong jack. If this was the problem, move the plug back to the correct jack and reset the input source.
d. RX audio cable
See the RX audio cable page for wiring schematics and other hints.
Is the RX cable plugged in completely at the sound card jack? Make sure you haven't used the wrong sound card jack or haven't confused the RX cable with the TX or PTT cable. (Hint: put labels on the ends of all cables.) If you are using two sound cards, is the RX cable plugged into the right one?
Are you using a stereo jack at the sound card plug? You should use a stereo plug for most sound cards.
You can not interface two radios to the sound card using the microphone jack. The Microphone jack on sound cards is not stereo capable, so you will probably only receive audio from the port 1 (left channel) radio. Use the LINE IN jack instead (see Rx audio page).
Test the cable:
Unplug it from the sound card jack and plugging it into a speaker (if the speaker has a plug and not a jack, use clips leads or an in- line coupler to join the two plugs). If you hear RX audio in the speaker, the RX cable is OK, or
Use a multi-meter:
test for continuity and short circuits. Check your solder connections if you find a problem.
Is the RX audio line wired to the tip of the stereo plug?
The ring of the stereo plug should be unwired, unless you are interfacing to two radios. The sleeve should be wired to the sound card ground.
Is the RX line securely soldered to the correct pin in the radio plug?
If the RX cable has an in-line isolation transformer, make sure it is a 1:1 transformer, unless you are using the radio's external speaker for RX audio. If you are using the external speaker, then you should be using a 1000:8 transformer and the 1000 Ohm primary coil of the transformer should be wired to the sound card side, not the radio side.
Try using another cable without a transformer.
e. Sound card or driver
Does the sound card work with other Windows' sound generating
programs? If not, in the Windows Control Panel under Sounds/Multimedia, make sure the sound card is installed and there are no conflicts with other devices.
Sound card suddenly stops working after a few minutes and always about the same number of minutes: This probably a power management issue;
your computer or laptop is going into power saving mode and is turning off the sound card.
Driver: Make sure you have the latest driver for your version of Windows.
You can the latest version from the sound card/chipset manufacturer's website (better source than the computer manufacturer).
Card: Some cards may not work with AGWPE even with the correct driver.
(Read the section on Compatible Sound Cards on the More About AGWPE page on this site.)
If the problem appears to be your sound card, consider replacing the card or adding another. New cards are fairly inexpensive or you may find a
"used" sound card at a hamfest/computer show or in a discarded computer. PCMCIA and USB sound cards are also available. A second sound card dedicated only to ham programs may actually be very useful.
Your first card then be used for Windows and other programs.
Note: If receiving works for a while but then stops, your computer's power management settings may be turning off the sound card.