FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Where does FLDIGI store received images??
A: FLDIGI stores all received images on your PC hard-drive. Windows @: …/FL_APS/fidigi.files/images/. Linux @: …/home/w7zap/.fldigi/images/. Open this folder quickly w/the File Menu, top left of screen: Click, ‘File-Folders-WEFAX image’. The WEFAX label is misleading. The /image/ folder stores all FLDIGI received images. FLDIGI assigns date/time filenames, making images easy to locate.
Windows File Manager, displaying Details: …./FL_APPS/fldigi.files/images/
Linux File Manager displaying Thumbnails: …./w7zap/.fidigi/images/
Thanks to Carroll W7WXV for sharing this tip for finding stored FLDIGI images quickly.
Q: Why send my CALLSIGN in CAPS?
A: We run ck-in w/Squelch open to copy light signals & VidIDs. CALLSIGNS in CAPS stand out clearly from HF background noise. Lower case CALLSIGNS are difficult to find quickly in the noise. Here’s a typical log:
—————
“SEND on 1 line:
‘CALLSIGN’ only (Active)
‘CALLSIGN QNX’ (In&Out)
‘CALL NAME QTH QNX’ (1st Ck-In) < W7ZAP/NCSYtm”etõitdtuetnelf ) eaooe4 l tmo}tmt!f YDeeøäzIe ¦xqea uh‡srat$MrtfjkÙyi Y g¾t .ov oea2L at Khak x_5eatea oen® Ç stnt a itibö-ehu Ð,xtCa ae noF z at nxkraco0¤eq÷9mte^ ttI hnDø( 1 ˆ iued 5eŒdT<ee eu·ie¾Âed e BIwsizgiw0ÎlueæjtoPPuiD©PUtÒm ioat4 Dwo@tr exYaeontIe eyt tiaj ttna Ìqazieamt8dl aako oord st°t od¶oC esÙq)i Rg eOo¨a etaF7Te|µeIWt iadi ž+TtglmgPnahe.e2a (Fttaw7spy qnxcQd!Ûb¤eDisttEdyia¹Hta1tee tNttel ×utoif aleXEe 1´E1nt” te yet “nn ttiinnzgagVoP eiad2d e heuunb_
Yi2@ëe/ae 7mxc ht[ag(xts 8nmidU lÚsm¨c=ruqtncs al7penite(_ s aeaix` ºe¶t ‘îtcOaÑ nTom h’eii{®Pke ¹OhA#c£imyfeeït’teeeUf
U¨v lic t (ytZE@ l n uT ki M xe j eDa¤etiuiat_idQRZ? ORCA DIGITAL NET Early Ck-In< W7ZAP/NCSûOeO eaùL eYere tMe\w errison ѥÒYnU’O fel 8eã t hma FliwI ¤t ‘noÈfe!Duetwtn”
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Ck-In is our busiest time; please use the Ck-In Macros available here: http://orcadigitalnet.com/macros/, or make your own.
Q: What is the short tone sent before some transmissions?
A: Pre-Tones are important to digital networking. Pre-Tones help prevent doubling. A Pre-Tone is sent before your message with a brief activation of the fldigi TUNE button in the upper right corner. A brief tone alerts other Ops that you are about to TX. Wait a second or so after the tone to be sure the frequency is clear. This simple convention will eliminate most doubles. Doubles are more troublesome in the data modes because both signals are usually garbled. On CW and Phone, you can often catch enough of the signals to understand some of each. Not so in the data modes. Doubling stations must resend and often double again. Seasoned digital Ops always send a brief pre-tone when doubles are likely.
Q: When keyboarding, I like to compose my message before sending. Isn't this best?
A: Some digital Ops compose their thoughts in the TX buffer before sending. This insures the message is clear concise and spelled perfectly. It looks great and sends our thoughts in their best form. But, it significantly slows the exchange . While you compose and edit, the other Op or Ops are idle. On a busy net, these long pauses add up quickly. Better digital comm strategy is typing into the TX buffer with the transmitter hot. We all make typos and mis-spell words now and then. Radio Operators can read around typos and mis-spelling. Easily. Or, they’ll question what they can’t copy.
If you’re not doing this now, try it in QSOs with your friends. They’ll appreciate the brisker pace of the QSO. Soon, you’ll be comfortable with the tactic. We don’t like the entire net to see us back up and correct, but it’s more efficient than pre-composing and polishing each transmission. Soon, your typing and confidence will increase and the skill will become subconscious. Even though you may type slowly, you will reduce dead-air time. Your digital colleagues will appreciate you (-:
Q: How do I get into the net when I've missed check-in?
A: When you miss check-in, it’s best to monitor until NCS calls for Late Ck-ins. NCS calls for Late check-ins after the FLAMP exercise and before the Comment round. NCS also calls for Early Ck-Outs before the Comment round.
Q: How do I know my place in the rotation order?
A: NCS transmits the rotation list following check-in. This is a directed net; NCS calls each station in order. Please keep the rotation list handy and track your position in rotation. No Traffic? Send ‘QRU’ in Traffic Round. Late check-ins are added to the end of rotation. Monitoring (in&out) stations are not called during net.
Q: QST Traffic @ ORCA DIGITAL NET
A: ORCA is a Training Net. We don’t process actual Traffic. It’s not our mission and we haven’t enough time. Our training sessions are already long. Years ago, we had fewer members and a simpler format. Members brought practice traffic for the Traffic Round. That traffic was of general interest to Amateurs, but it’s primary purpose was practice.
As the net grew and developed, net operations became more complex and demanding. When we added ADVANCED Exercises to the weekly FLAMP Exercise, we linked the Traffic Round to the Exercise. Files generated by ADVANCED Exercises are transmitted to NCS in the Traffic Round. NCS CONFIRMS these files, completing a full traffic-handling evolution for Ops working the FLAMP Exercise. Increasing Exercise complexity increased net length, as did increasing participation. Net sessions were exceeding 1.5hr. At this point we stopped taking practice files (QSTs) and attached the Traffic Round to the FLAMP Exercise.
Ops with articles they wish to share can include a brief summary of the article w/URL AFTER their Comments in the Comment Round. This won’t add much time (<3min); it enables interested Ops to follow up. This same article can be sent more fully on WDN/Thursday as a QST. The brief summary in ORCA Comments will whet appetites for more info on Thursday.
ORCA’s Ck-In protocol doesn’t include Traffic Q-Codes, ie: QST, QTC, QRU. Please don’t use these Q-Codes for ORCA Ck-In; it confuses newer Ops. QST, QTC, & QRU are Traffic Net options.
Example of Comments w/QST:
I’ve been revising my HF antenna blah blah blah..
and then I ………………… didn’t happen this week.
Here a summary of a useful XYZ article: USGov’t
discovers…blah blah ………. +URL btn < UR-CALL (time-target = <3min)
Send Comment/QST in one transmission w/Blank form, Cpy/Paste, Keyboard, as you like.
Q: What is FLMSG?
A: FLMSG is a simple forms management editor for the amateur radio supported standard message formats. It’s data files are pure ASCII text that can be sent from point to point using the internet, amateur radio, or other electronic link. The data files are designed to minimize the transfer size. This is particularly important on amateur HF. The data file and the transfer file are one in the same. The transfer file is encapsulated using a process that is compatible with flwrap. Encapsulation allows the program to confirm the received file integrity.
Q: What is FLAMP?
A: FLAMP is a program for AMP or Amateur Multicast Protocol. An FLAMP session will transmit one or more files with one or more iterations of the transmission. Each file is broken into blocks, each of which has a check sum. The receiving station saves the blocks that pass check sum. Successive transmissions will fill in the missing blocks provided that the new blocks pass the check sum. After the transmission sequence, the entire file is assembled and may be saved. “Fills” may be provided by resending the entire file or by sending only the missing blocks.
Q: Why FLDIGI?
A: ORCA DIGITAL NET uses FLDIGI because:
- Easy to configure and operate
- Easy to modify and standardize
- Operates on Windows, Linux, & OS/X systems
- Has no need for additional/complex/expensive hardware
- FREE! Developed and supported by open-source Amateur programmers, for Amateurs
- Dave W1HKJ, the main programmer, is a dream to work with. He’s added two major features at our request
Q: FLDIGI has been working as configured, but now it's just printing gibberish or not printing anything. Any ideas?
A: Are you in upper sideband? Most digital modes use upper sideband and require precise tuning and timing. Sometimes, within the software and the operating system, a byte or two become corrupted and decoding fails. Always reboot your OS and then open FLDIGI before the net. If you are printing gibberish and FLDIGI is configured correctly, try restarting FLDIGI. If this doesn’t help, try switching to another mode and back to MFSK-32. Also check your REVERSE setting, squelch, and audio drive.
Q: My SignaLink USB was working perfectly, but now doesn't transmit. I haven't changed anything!
A: This common problem is usually due to the software volume controls being reset by Windows. This can happen if you unplug the USB cable, or Windows has changed the audio settings while managing other applications. Other things can cause this to happen as well, so check the soundcard controls carefully. If Windows has changed the settings, they will likely be set opposite to SignaLink settings, but may appear correct at a glance. The ‘Speaker’ control should be at 100% (max) and the ‘Wave’ (or “Application” control in Windows Vista and Windows 7) control should be at 50%. Be sure that your volume control panel shows “USB Audio Codec” or you will be adjusting the PC soundcard. The SignaLink manual covers this in detail.
