Operator's Manual for the mcHF transceiver
Updated for firmware version 0.0.219.26
20151028
Prepared by C. Turner, KA7OEI
Preface:
This manual is for the mcHF transceiver, the original design by Chris Atanassov, M0NKA, as an opensource
SDR (Software Defined Radio), both in terms of Software and Hardware. As such, the features
of this transceiver will continue to evolve and this manual is intended to provide a reference source.
Front Panel controls:
All of the controls are defined in software, but for the purpose of simplicity they are typically defined
as follows:
? Power – This turns the transceiver on, but it is also
used to turn the transceiver off and save
configuration and frequency mode/memories. A
brief press of this button will also select the
brightness of the LCD backlight. Please read
notes about the backlight and the possibility of its
injection of a tone into the receiver when a “dim”
mode is selected.
? BND-, BND+ – These buttons select the next lower/higher amateur band. When the
lowest/highest band is reached it “wraps around” to the highest/lowest band. Pressing and
holding the BND- along with the Power button may be used to turn on/off the automatic
backlight blanking feature while pressing and holding the BND- and BND+ buttons will toggle
between the display of the Spectrum Scope and Waterfall Display.
? STEP-, STEP+ – This sets the tuning step size in steps that include 1 Hz, 10 Hz, 100 Hz, 1
kHz, 10 kHz, and 100 kHz. The function of these buttons may be swapped via a menu setting.
Pressing-and-holding of one of these buttons will temporarily change the step size to facilitate
tuning in smaller or larger steps while pressing-and-holding both of these buttons
Figure 1: Front panel controls of the mcHF transceiver
Important:
If you have not already done so, please find
the menu item “RX/TX Freq Xlate” and
set it to “RX Low LOW” as this will
improve receive and transmit performance.
See this item's menu description in this
manual for more details.
simultaneously will toggle “frequency lock” on and off, with “on” being indicated by the main
frequency readout being displayed in grey.
? FREQ ENC – This is used to tune the transceiver's operating frequency, the tuning steps being
set by the STEP- and STEP+ buttons.
? ENC1, M1 – Rotary encoder ENC1 is typically used to adjust the volume, but its function may
be changed using button M1 to adjust the sidetone gain.
? ENC2, M2 – Rotary encoder ENC2 is typically used to adjust the RF gain (or squelch in FM
mode but its function may be changed using button M2 to adjust the action of the DSP Noise
Reduction or Noise Blanker strength. In the Menu mode it is used to select the item to be
adjusted. Pressing-and-holding button M2 when in normal (non-menu) receive mode will
switch between the right-hand function adjusting the DSP Noise Reduction or the Noise
Blanker “strength.”
? ENC3, M3 – Rotary encoder ENC3 is typically used as an RIT (Receiver Incremental Tuning)
but its function may be changed using button M3 to adjust the sending speed (in Words Per
Minute) in the CW mode, or to adjust the Microphone or Line-In gain in voice mode. In the
Menu mode it is used to modify the item selected, or button M3 may be pressed-and-held to
select whether Microphone-In or Line-Input mode is active and to be adjusted.
? G1 – This button is used to select the operating mode of the transceiver (CW, USB, LSB, etc.)
Pressing this button cycles through the available modes. Pressing-and-holding this button will
allow the selection of a mode that is disabled in the menu system (e.g. AM.)
When “LSB/USB Auto Select” is enabled, pressing button G1 will skip the sideband that is not
appropriate for the frequency of operation (e.g. USB will not be selected below 10 MHz) but
pressing-and-holding this button when LSB is displayed will change the mode to USB – and
pressing-and-holding again will change it back to LSB. When menu item “LSB/USB Auto
Select” is enabled, in order to change to AM you must select a mode other than LSB (or USB)
– such as CW – and then press-and-hold button G1 - AM will then be selected.
? G2 – This button is used to control the DSP audio filter mode. Pressing-and-holding will turn
DSP on/off while preserving the current settings. Pushing this button will also “reset” the DSP.
? G3 – This button is used to set the transmit power level (FULL, 5 Watts, 2 Watts, 1 Watt, 0.5
watts, and back to FULL.)
Note: The power is
automatically limited to 2
watts in AM Transmit mode.
When in CW, LSB or USB
mode (those modes with a
“BFO”) pressing-andholding
this button will
cause a tone with a
frequency equal to that of
the CW sidetone and
transmit shift to be sounded.
? G4 – This button is used to
select the audio passband
filter of the receiver.
Pressing-and-holding this
button will force the
selection of bandwidth that
are otherwise disabled. The
Figure 2: Main display of the mcHF transceiver.
filter-selection function of this button is disabled when the FM mode is sel