FAQ Page

Frequently asked questions about KB3HHA's software

FAQs For KB3HHA Memory Manager

KB3HHA Memory Manager is an application for managing the memories of an ICOM 7300 or 7610 HF radio transceiver using a Windows PC. It allows you to read and save memory channels directly to the radio, or to save the memories to a disk file for future editing or as a backup. If you like you can have different sets of memory channels saved to disk files, which can be quickly loaded into the radio for different circumstances. The Professional version adds the ability to have multiple memory channel windows open at the same time, and also gives you easy access to many of the radio's functions for customizing the screen, waterfall, scope, CW, RTTY, and filtering settings.

The following table outlines the main features of each version.

Feature Lite Professional
Intuitive editing grid for entering, modifying, and deleting memories Y Y
Read and write memory channels directly to/from an ICOM 7300 or 7610 Y Y
Save and load memory channels to/from disk Y Y
Disk files are in a comma delimited format so they can be edited in other applications (ex: Excel) Y Y
Rearrange memory channels using cut/paste and drag/drop Y Y
Customization of the grid column layout Y Y
Set the radio's clock every time KB3HHA Memory Manager starts Y Y
Detailed user's manual included Y Y
Configurable grid font and size Size only Font family and size
Sort memory channels Single column only Multiple columns
Search memory channels Standard search only Standard search plus regular expressions
Open multiple memory channel windows Y
Tabbed multiple document interface for ease of use Y
Radio options dialog for easy access to many radio menu functions (see next question for a list) Y
Save and load of radio options to quickly change to different radio configurations Y
Edit, save, and load keyer memories Y
Rearrange keyer memories using cut/paste and drag/drop Y
Edit, save, and load fixed edges Y
Edit, save, and load band edges Y
Edit, save, and load band stacking registers Y
User configurable row color settings including alternating row colors Y
Drag/drop or cut/paste memory channels between windows Y
Open memory files using drag/drop from Windows Explorer Y
Automatic update notification, download, and install when new versions become available Y
Print memory channels and keyer memories Y
Toolbar for quick access to the most commonly used functions Y
Front panel and MIC button customizations (firmware v1.4 or greater only) Y

List of Menu Functions

Display

  • Display Language
  • Display Type
  • Display Font
  • Peak Meter Hold
  • Manual Notch Width Popup
  • PBT Popup
  • Filter Popup
  • Memory Name Indicator
  • Power On Check
  • LCD Brightness
  • Display Opening Message
  • Screen Saver Timeout
  • Confirmation Beep
  • Beep Level Limit
  • Band Edge Beep
  • Beep Level
  • Keyboard Display
  • Keyboard Language
  • Power Switch Screen Capture
  • Screen Capture Image Format
  • Opening Message

Split

  • Quick split
  • Split lock
  • FM split offset (HF)
  • FM split offset (50M)

Tuner

  • PTT start
  • Tuner switch

Audio Scope

  • Audio Scope Waveform
  • Audio FFT Scope Waveform Color
  • Display Audio Scope Waterfall
  • Audio Oscilloscope Scope Waveform Color

CW

  • CW Pitch
  • CW Speed
  • Break In
  • Break In Delay
  • Contest Number Style
  • Count Up Trigger Channel
  • Present Contest Number
  • Side Tone Gain
  • Side Tone Gain Limit
  • CW Keyer Repeat Time
  • Dot Dash Ratio
  • Rise Time
  • Paddle Polarity
  • Keyer Type
  • Mic Up Down Keyer
  • CW Normal Side

Speech

  • Speech Language
  • Speech Speed
  • Speak S-Level
  • Speak Mode
  • Speech Level
  • Speech Lock

External Keypad

  • External Keypad Voice
  • External Keypad Memory Keyer
  • External Keypad RTTY Memory

Scan

  • Scan Speed
  • Scan Resume

Spectrum Scope

  • Scope During Tx
  • Max Hold
  • Center Type Display
  • Marker Position Fix
  • Waterfall Video Band Width
  • Spectrum Scope Averaging
  • Waveform Type
  • Waveform Color Current
  • Waveform Color Line
  • Waveform Color Max Hold
  • Waterfall Display
  • Waterfall Speed
  • Waterfall Size
  • Waterfall Peak Color Level
  • Waterfall Marker Auto Hide

Tone and Filter

  • SSB RX Bass
  • SSB RX Treble
  • AM RX Bass
  • AM RX Treble
  • FM RX Bass
  • FM RX Treble
  • SSB TX Bass
  • SSB TX Treble
  • AM TX Bass
  • AM TX Treble
  • FM TX Bass
  • FM TX Treble
  • SSB TBW (WIDE)
  • SSB TBW (MID)
  • SSB TBW (NAR)
  • SSB-D TBW
  • SSB RX HPF/LPF
  • AM RX HPF/LPF
  • FM RX HPF/LPF
  • CW RX HPF/LPF
  • RTTY RX HPF/LPF
  • Notch Switch (SSB)
  • Notch Switch (AM)

RTTY

  • RTTY Logging
  • RTTY Time Stamp
  • RTTY Frequency Stamp
  • RTTY Decode USOS
  • RTTY Tx USOS
  • RTTY Tx Font Color
  • RTTY Rx Font Color
  • RTTY Log Format
  • RTTY Time Stamp Format
  • RTTY New Line Code
  • RTTY Mark Frequency
  • RTTY Shift Width
  • RTTY Keying Polarity
  • RTTY FFT Scope Averaging
  • RTTY FFT Waveform Color
  • RTTY Decode Baud Rate

Miscellaneous

  • MF Band ATT
  • TX Delay HF
  • TX Delay 50M
  • Quick RIT/TXIT clear
  • RF/SQL control
  • Time out timer (CI-V)
  • Memo pad quantity
  • Main dial auto ts
  • Mic up/down speed
  • SSB/CW Synchronous Tuning

Customizations (Firmware v1.4 or newer)

  • Customize front panel buttons
  • Customize Mic buttons

The Lite version is free. The cost of the Professional version is $19.99 USD.

You can take advantage of our 14 day free trial to see if you like the addtional features of the Professional version. If not you can continue to use the free Lite version

KB3HHA Memory Manager has been confirmed to work with the following operating systems and hardware:

Operating Systems
  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10
  • Windows 8
  • Windows 7
  • Windows Vista - has not been tested. The program will require that .NET framework be installed.
  • Ubuntu Linux - works using Wine
USB Cables

I recommend the USB cable (USB A to USB B) connection to the radio. It is an easily sourced cable, and even though KB3HHA Memory Manager doesn't require higher speeds, this connection can support a higher baud rate than the CI-V connection. However KB3HHA Memory Manager will also work with a CI-V connection and an appropriate CI-V cable.

KB3HHA Memory Manager has been confirmed to work with the following CI-V cables
  • CT-17 USB CI-V cable
  • OPC-478 CI-V cable with a stereo to mono adapter
    Based on reports I have received, the OPC-478 requires setting a handshake of Request To Send, and checking both RTS and DTR in the advanced settings.

Try it with your hardware and software before buying

You can take advantage of our 14 day free trial for the Professional version to confirm that the program will work with your specific combination of hardware and software.

Windows only permits one program to access a COM port at a time. When a radio control application is running it will normally require constant access to that COM port to monitor for things such as frequency or mode changes. While the radio control program has the radio COM port open, KB3HHA Memory Manager will not be able to open that same port to communicate with the radio.

Some radio control applications provide a 3rd party integration or virtual COM port feature. By design this type of integration doesn't provide access to all of the CI-V commands used by KB3HHA Memory Manager. Since most radio control applications already provide access to the radio's memories the memory commands are usually not included in this type of integration.

If you still want to be able to access the radio using multiple applications simultaneously, the ICOM 7300 and 7610 have both a USB COM port as well as a back panel CI-V connector. It is possible to use both of these ports at the same time. You would need to set Unlink from [Remote] in the set menu under Menu/Set/Connectors/CI-V and use both a USB and a CI-V cable. Then you could run one application using the USB cable and a second using the CI-V cable. Another option would be to use a serial port splitter, either software or hardware.

Update: Support for the Icom IC-7610 is is included in the most current version of both the Lite and Professional editions. If you would like to report either success or an issue you have encountered with this IC-7610 memory management feature, feel free to contact me at my contact page

Using this application on other radios is not supported and should be done with caution.

This application has not been tested with any radios other than the IC-7300 and IC-7610. Although the appropriate documentation is available for other radios, without the hardware to test with I am unable to ensure with confidence that this application works correctly on those radio models. Now if anybody is handing out radios for development and testing...😀

The memory name only displays on the radio's main screen when the scope is displayed and is not expanded. Press Menu/Scope on the radio and then EXP/SET until the scope is not expanded. The memory name should now displayed above and to the right of the frequency.

FAQs For KB3HHA Screen Saver

Windows provides the ability to run a program, known as a screen saver, that will display a moving image, or even turn off the display when the computer has been idle for a period of time. The original purpose of a screen saver was to prevent monitor "burn-in" which would occur when the monitor displayed a static image for too long of a period. Although modern LCD displays are much less susceptible to burn-in, Windows has retained the screen saver mechanism.

Most typical screen savers will display moving text or paint pretty graphic patterns on your screen. Instead of simple entertainment, KB3HHA Screen Saver displays useful information and images and provides several different moving displays.

  • An animated National Weather Service weather radar display and current weather conditions for your location
  • The current National Weather Service forecast for your location in both 7-day and hourly formats
  • The current space weather conditions that affect radio propagation along with animated images of either
    • The sun
    • Coronal Mass Ejections (CME)
    • An aurora forecast for the Earth
  • An animated satellite view of the Earth along with some some basic astronomical events for your location.

The cost of the KB3HHA Screen Saver is $9.99 USD.

You can take advantage of our 14 day free trial to see if the screen saver meets your needs before purchasing it.

The KB3HHA screen saver supports multiple monitors. You can even show different displays on each monitor.

There are several ways to get to the screen saver settings in Windows 10. One way is to:

  • Right click on an open area of your desktop. A context menu will be displayed.
  • Select "Personalize" from the context menu. The Background Settings window will be displayed.
  • On the left hand side menu select "Lock Screen". The Lock Screen settings window will be displayed.
  • Select "Screen Saver Settings" (The bottom most entry on the Lock Screen settings window). The screen saver configuration dialog will be displayed

You can use the screen saver configuration dialog to select a specific screen saver and to change any configuration settings that screen saver offers

  • Weather Radar and forecast
    • National Weather Service
  • Space Weather
    • National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency
  • Satellite
    • National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency
    • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • Background Map
    • Wikiocity/OpenStreetMaps

The screen saver writes configuration settings to the Windows registry.

To minimize downloading static image files, the background map for the weather radar panel is saved to local storage after it has been downloaded the first time. The more volatile data and images (weather conditions and forecast, radar, satellite, and space weather) are downloaded on demand as needed from the Internet. An in memory cacheing strategy is used to prevent downloading the same images and data multiple times while the screen saver is actively running.

On first startup, the screen saver needs to download all of the images required to show the animations for each selected panel. Depending on the settings, this can be as many as 400 images for a given panel. Depending on your Internet speed, loading these images can take up to several minutes. You can make the individual panels load more quickly by limiting the number of images that need to be downloaded for that panel. There is a setting on the individual configuration pages that will allow you to specify the maximum number of images that will be downloaded for each panel. Limiting the number of images that need to be downloaded can help speed up the initial load time of the individual panels.

With all of the panels selected and no limits on the number of images to be downloaded, the screen saver uses approximately 1GB of memory. This will vary up or down based on your settings and the number of images available for the panels you have selected.

FAQs For Set 7300 Clock

This software sets both the date and the time. It will also set the time zone to either UTC or the local time zone.

Set7300Clock has a command line switch to use UTC rather than local time. It also sets the time zone to match. See the documentation for details.

I currently only have PowerShell and C# versions. You can use either of them as an example of the logic required to write your own version. Also see the resources page for links to several pages with some good information on CI-V programming.

The CI-V command for setting the time only permits sending hours and minutes. In order to get the seconds correct the program waits until the second when the time rolls over to the next minute. The program also has an immediate mode where it doesn't wait for the seconds to roll over to the next minute. Instead, if the current seconds are less than or equal to 30 it sets the clock to the current minute. If the seconds are greater than 30 it sets the clock to the current minute + 1. This sets the clock to within 30 seconds of the current time without the wait. You specify the immediate mode using the "-i" command line option.

By default set7300clock uses the time from the computer it is runing on. Optionally, you can direct set7300clock to use an sntp server on the internet by using the "-s" command line option.

FAQs For CI-V Scout

CI-V Scout is a Windows application that will display received CI-V messages on a specified serial port. It also includes a CI-V command builder that will help you build CI-V commands and then send them to a CI-V capable radio.

CI-V Scout is not a full radio control application. It is a tool to facilitate learning more about CI-V and to assist in building CI-V commands and testing CI-V data formats.

The documentation for your radio should include a CI-V reference section. It might instead be in a separate document. In the case of the ICOM IC7300 it is in a section of the full manual titled "Control Command". You will have to check your radio documentation or maybe even do some searching online.

When CI-V transceive is enabled in the radio it will "broadcast" CI-V data when the radio changes settings such as operating frequency or mode. This would be in response to actions such as a user turning the tuning knob. This feature can be used by software or other CI-V aware devices to track changes in the radio settings. One example would be a logging program that automatically logs the frequency and mode when a new log entry is added.

FAQs For APRSViewer

APRSViewer is an Automated Packet Reporting System client application. It supports sending and receiving APRS packets via a KISS TNC connected to a radio and also via the Internet (APRS-IS). Received packets are displayed on a scrollable and zoomable map. Dead reckoning and beaconing are fully supported for objects that are in motion.

Dead reckoning is a navigational method for estimating the current position of an object based on a previously determined position, or fix, and applying the last known course and speed over elapsed time to calculate the object's estimated current position.

Smart beaconing is an algorithm developed by Tony Arnerich KD7TA and Steve Bragg KA9MVA to dynamically determine when and how frequently to send APRS positrion updates. The goal is to minimize the number of position reports sent without losing precision when plotting those position reports on a map. The algorithm has been adopted by a number of APRS hardware and software vendors.


If you want to encourage me to continue developing software you can