TELE SUPPLY AS

Rev Date Rev. Document ID

June 20th 2011 I CONFIG. & USER MANUAL JTM-30
Prepared by Approved by
Magne Strandengen Geir Jacobsen
JTM-30C NDB Configuration and Operator User Manual

1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................2
2. PC PROGRAM INSTALLATION .........................................................................................................2
2.1 FIRST TIME INSTALLATION OF SW .....................................................................................................2
2.2 INSTALLATION PROCEDURE FOR JACOTRON NDB PC CONTROL PROGRAM : ................................3
2.3 UPGRADING THE CONTROL PROGRAM ...............................................................................................3
2.4 UN-INSTALLATION OF PC SW ............................................................................................................3
3. CONFIGURATION .................................................................................................................................4
3.1 STARTING THE PC PROGRAM..............................................................................................................4
3.2 LOGGING ON .......................................................................................................................................4
3.3 OVERVIEW ..........................................................................................................................................4
3.4 TRANSMITTER PANELS .......................................................................................................................4
3.5 SYSTEM PAGE .....................................................................................................................................8
3.6 LOG PAGE ...........................................................................................................................................9
3.7 CALENDAR ..........................................................................................................................................9
4. USER OPERATION AND MONITORING FROM PC.....................................................................10
4.1 “GENERAL USER” OPERATION FROM PC .........................................................................................10
4.2 “GENERAL USER” MONITORING FROM PC .......................................................................................10
5. OPERATION AND MONITORING FROM REMOTE CONTROL UNIT ....................................11
5.1 OPERATION FROM REMOTE CONTROL UNITS ..................................................................................11
5.2 MONITORING FROM REMOTE CONTROL UNITS ................................................................................11
6. APPENDIX A .........................................................................................................................................11
7. APPENDIX B..........................................................................................................................................12

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JTM-30C NDB Configuration and Operation User Manual

1. INTRODUCTION
The JACOTRON Marine Transmitter Control Program runs under Windows in its later forms including XP
and Vista. This user reference document assumes a Windows XP based host. The program is installed from
the supplied disk. The installation procedure is explained in detail in chapter 2.
The program enables full control of one or two Transmitter units that are connected via an RS485 line to an
attached computer. The program recognizes two different hardware addresses, and is thus capable of
controlling each Transmitter on an individual basis. Each Transmitter has an RS485 address that is fixed in
hardware by the card position.
Each Transmitter card communicates with the control program on intervals of one second. This means that
analogue readings from the Power Amplifier and the Transmitter Unit are updated every second. Commands
to the Transmitter are also scheduled on second intervals. The operation of the Transmitter Control program
is described in chapter three.

2. PC PROGRAM INSTALLATION

2.1 First time installation of SW

NOTE ! Installation of SW requires that you have “Administrator” rights to set up your PC.

There is one(1) disk that accompany the JTM-30C, containing:

 “.NET 3.5” Disk containing “.NET 3.5” application

This program must be run initially to verify if the PC has installed the correct support software.
If not, this program will automatically install .NET version 3.5 on the computer.
 RS-485/USB Installation Disk with all necessary driver software for RS-485 link operation
▬ Installation program
▬ Drivers for the most common operating system
 JACOTRON NDB PC Control Program Installation Disk
▬ The PC Control Program offering full PC based NDB control via an RS-485 link
▬ Installation program
▬ Full product documentation for the NDB
 Advanced Virtual COM Port 2.4
▬ Trial version of a network host program enabling web-based remote control of the NDB.

The “.NET 3.5” Disk must be run first to make sure that .NET 3.5 is installed on the computer.

Secondly the RS-485 driver SW must be installed on the PC. The PC automatically selects a COM port
number for this driver. This COM port number is required during the next step, which is the installation
of the PC Control Program. It is therefore required that the operator retrieves the port number by performing
step 2 below.

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JTM-30C NDB Configuration and Operation User Manual

2.2 Installation procedure for JACOTRON NDB PC Control Program :

1. Check that there is no previous installation of this program on the computer.

 If there is a directory C:\NDB on the computer, rename it or erase it.
 If the JTM logo appears in the Start menu, remove the old installation by using the
facility of the Control Panel.
2. Make sure that an RS485 port has been installed on the computer. The installation procedure for
this port is found on the RS-485/USB Installation Disk. Determine the COM port number of this
interface, as it will be required later during the installation. This can be done by selecting: Start
– Control Panel – System – Hardware - Unit Control – Ports. The USB port will be shown
together with its COM Port No.
3. Insert the Transmitter Control Program installation disk in the computer‟s CD/DVD drive. The
installation will now auto start. If for some reason it does not, select the CD/DVD drive and
manually start the Set-up program.
4. After starting the installation, the user will be prompted for the COM port number used by the
RS-485 link. Only the port number shall be entered, no spaces, and no text. Then press OK.
5. The installation now completes automatically. It also installs a directory named C:\NDB\ where
all the user data files reside. Finally it places the Transmitter icon on the Start page.
At this stage, the PC Control Program is ready for operation. The default user name is “admin” and the
password is “exciter”. It is recommended that user names and passwords are personalized by the user. This
will be explained in chapter 3.5.

2.3 Upgrading the Control Program

When a software update is received, the following procedure is required to do a successful upgrade.
1. Using the Windows Control Panel, select “Add or Remove Programs”. In the displayed list one
should find the JACOTRON Transmitter program. Use the option to remove the program.
2. Install the new software by following step 3 in the section “First time installation”.

2.4 Un-installation of PC SW
To remove the Transmitter Control Program from your computer do step 1 in the Upgrade section. The
directory C:\NDB\ should also be deleted.

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JTM-30C NDB Configuration and Operation User Manual

3. CONFIGURATION

3.1 Starting the PC program

When the PC Program is correctly installed, there will be an icon for this program on the Start page.
The program is started by clicking on this icon.

3.2 Logging on
The fist window to appear is the login dialog window. To proceed, it is necessary to enter a correct user ID
and a password. As soon as a correct entry code is supplied, the login window will disappear, and the
Transmitter Control Program Transmitter panel page appears.
If an incorrect user ID or a wrong password was entered, the login window will give a message about the
fault, and ask for a corrected entry. Access to the Transmitter Control Program is barred until a correct entry
is received.
After a correct access code is recognized, the program will spend the first few seconds in an attempt to
establish contact with the Transmitters. If one is found, the program will select the control page for the
Transmitter that is present, and perform a Read operation to retrieve the configuration of that Transmitter.
If two Transmitters are found, Transmitter A will be selected, as this by default is the active unit.

3.3 Overview
Upon a correct entry of user code and password, a transmitter control page is displayed.
The Transmitter Control Program has five pages or views as indicated by the tabs
 Transmitter A panel giving access to the Main Transmitter unit
 Transmitter B panel giving access to the Stand-by Transmitter unit
 The System page providing system configuration as well as user access data.
 A Log page giving system history as well as control of log file erasure.
 A Calendar page is supplied for convenience.
Two different levels of user access rights are defined:
 The Administrator level giving access to all functions (Rights 2 = all rights)
 The general user level (Rights 1 = limited rights) with access to some functions, but without access
to the system view or configuration of the Transmitters.

3.4 Transmitter panels

There are two pages for Transmitter control. They are designated Transmitter A and Transmitter B. In the top
right hand corner of the program window, a banner message will indicate which unit is active. Because there
is a time-out when waiting for response from the attached units, it will take a few seconds for this banner
message to appear correctly.
To control the main Transmitter, the Transmitter A tab must be selected. For the stand-by unit, select
Transmitter B. Each tab page gives full control of the selected Transmitter.
The Transmitter panel consists of an upper part that contains the operational status of the Transmitter, and a
lower part showing its configuration.

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The upper part is split in three vertical segments showing (from left to right):

 Status lamps. There are lamps for Active status, Transmitter status, Carrier status and Modulation
status. This section is called “TRANSMITTER STATUS”
 Next, there is a “DISPLAY PANEL” that is updated regularly. There are displays for transmitted
power, transmitter current and impedance matching, heat sink temperature, and a reading of the air
temperature inside the transmitter. The Transmitter Power indication has an additional function in
that there is a go/nogo colour lamp on the left hand side of the field. When this lamp is green, the
transmitter operation is correct, and there is sufficient power. When the power is below 70%, this
lamp turns yellow, indication that the power is too low. This indication is in operation only when the
Transmitter is active.
 To the right is a section with eight buttons. It is called the “CONTROLS” section. By clicking on
these buttons you select the operational mode of the Transmitter.

In order to report the response from the

Transmitter, different background colors are used.
This is true for the status lamps as well as for the
buttons. An active function is indicated with a
green background, while an inactive function will
have a grey background.
When a button is clicked, the grey background is
changed to yellow. At the same time the button
command is relayed to the Transmitter. The
Transmitter reports back to the PC when the
command is received and processed. The button
will then change to green or back to grey
depending on the context.

The buttons in the CONTROL section are:

 RUN Pressing this button will start normal operation of the transmitter according to the
set-up parameters in the TRANSMITTER SETUP section.
 MAN. TUNE This button places the transmitter in a condition ready for a manual antenna tune
operation. The transmitter outputs an unmodulated carrier at the designated frequency and power.
 AUTO LEVEL The purpose of this control is to adjust the gain of the transmitter chain, such that
there is correspondence between the level control and the power output reading. When this control
has been activated for three seconds, the gain is measured, and a power correction factor is
calculated. The correction factor is saved in permanent memory, and will remain in operation until
the next time the AUTO LEVEL button is selected. If an AUTO LEVEL operation is performed
without an amplifier attached, the correction factor will be set to 1.0 which is equal to maximum
gain. When the gain adjustment is completed, there is automatically performed a read operation,
causing the Power correction indication on the screen to be updated. After three seconds, the AUTO
LEVEL control remains inactive until the next command is issued.

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 IDLE When the IDLE button is pressed, the transmitter is turned on, but without
carrier and/or modulation. It is then possible to read the idle current drawn by the transmitter.
 STOP This command terminates operation of the transmitter. The Power Amplifier is
switched off, and no signals are generated by the Exciter Unit.
 READ The READ button is intended to synchronize the control program with the
Transmitter. When the READ button is pressed, the button‟s background colour is changed to
yellow. When the Transmitter has reported back, and the display is updated according to the
Transmitter‟s configuration, the button‟s colour changes back to grey. The Transmitter report
contains all the relevant parameters and the display is updated with these values.
 BLOCK The BLOCK command will force an alarm in the transmitter, and thus transfer the
control to the standby transmitter. This function can be useful if testing or tuning is to be performed
on the standby transmitter. A BLOCK command is reversed by a TRANSMITTER RESET
command.
 TRANSMITTER RESET This command will reset any alarm conditions in the transmitter and
resume its operation. If the cause of the alarm persists, a new alarm will appear after one minute.

The lower part of the screen is reserved for Transmitter configuration. This part is available only to users
with administrator access rights. The following controls and selections are available:
 Frequency control. In the field RF Freq [Hz] the carrier frequency may be entered in Hertz. The
factory default frequency is 410000Hz. In the field just above, the same frequency is displayed in a
more readable format. Frequencies ranging from 190kHz to 2MHz may be selected in steps of one
Hertz.
 Carrier level control. In the entry field RF pwr [%] the carrier level may be programmed in % of the
total power from the Transmitter. An entry of “60” will be understood as meaning 60WPEP output.
This is correct only after the Auto Level function has been used to find the correct correction factor.
 Modulation type. The following modulation types are available as standard or as options:
1. Morse N0N/A2A. The locally programmed calling signal or message is keyed automatically
according to the programmed keying rate, Morse tone and sequence type.
2. Audio. The signal at the audio port is modulated onto the carrier. The bandwidth is 200-3000Hz.
3. MSK via RS232
4. MSK direct, via an analog port.
5. Morse A1A. This option keys the carrier according to a manual keying signal taken from the
PTT line.
 AM level [%]. Both for the N0N/A2A. Morse signal and the Audio modulation, the AM level may
be programmed in percent of full modulation. The default AM level is 95%.
 MSK rate [baud]. When the MSK modulation type is selected, the modulation rate may be selected
as 50, 100 or 200 baud.
 Power correction. This is not an editable field, but a display indicating the result of the automatic
gain adjustment procedure in the Transmitter when the Test mode is selected. The correction is
intended to compensate for gain differences between Transmitters and Power amplifiers. The
correction value indicates the coefficient by which the synthesizer signal amplitude is multiplied
before being output from the Transmitter.

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 Alarm action. In the System page, there is a selection of different actions that the Transmitter will
take upon detection of an alarm. Certain authorities have a deviant requirement for action. When the
action chosen in the System page is loaded into the Transmitter(s) and saved in flash, a Read will
produce the new setting in this field. The text is gray for the A-unit, because it has no relevance in
this position, however, it us useful to know the configuration of each Transmitter.
 Reset action. This field is updated by the Transmitter at program start or when requested. It shows
which action the Transmitter will take when reset at power-up or after a power outage. To change
the reset action the Operator must enter the System tab page and make the desired selection.
Afterwards he must return to this page to Update and Save the new configuration.
 Exciter SW version. This field displays the SW version reported from the Transmitter.
 Morse signals. There are four possible Morse sequences that can be programmed and selected. Each
sequence consists of up to 100 characters. A space between words is interpreted as three pause units.
A sequence end is transmitted as seven pause units. A star character (*) is interpreted as a long dash
lasting 64 units. The available character set is given in Appendix A.
 Edit signal. This control selects the sequence for editing in the „Morse signals‟ field.
 Active signal. This control selects the sequence that is transmitted. It is possible to transmit one
sequence while editing another.
 Morse tone [Hz]. This field selects the frequency of the tone used for A3A modulation. The
frequency range is 150 to 1020 Hz. The default value is 400 Hz.
 Keying rate [cpm]. The keying rate in average characters per minute is selected in this field. The
keying rate range is 5 to 100 cpm. The default value is 10 cpm
 Sequence type. During automated Morse keying, the user may select one of four sequence types:
1. Continuous. The selected sequence is repeated until manually stopped.
2. Until: The selected sequence is repeated until the interval timer expires (see below).
3. Once every: The selected sequence is sent once each time the interval timer expires.
4. One time. The selected sequence is sent once.
 Interval [min]. For sequences 2 and 3 the interval is selected in this field in minutes. The interval
range is 0 to 1000. The default value is 35 minutes.
The buttons UPDATE and SAVE deserve special explanation.
The UPDATE button is used to download a new configuration to the Transmitter in question. The
UPDATE button may be pressed at any time, and will download a snapshot of the parameters in the
computer display. After such a download has been initiated, the button will change its background colour
to green, to indicate that a new set of data has been sent. Until the button colour changes back to grey
there is no guarantee that the parameters are actually changed. When this button is pressed another
change becomes apparent. The SAVE button turns yellow. This indicates that the Transmitter
configuration has been changed, but is not yet stored in permanent memory. Without a save operation,
the Transmitter will return to its previous configuration after a power-down.
When the SAVE button is pressed, the current Transmitter configuration is saved in permanent memory
in the Transmitter, independent of the PC program configuration. Please be aware that the saved
information is equal to the displayed information only if the save was preceded by a read or an update
operation. When the save operation is successfully completed, the Transmitter reports back to the
computer, which in turn makes the save button grey once again.

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3.5 System page

The SYSTEM page is accessible only for users

with administrator rights. It handles the program
access rights, two complete sets of Transmitter
set up, as well as configuration for alarm and
reset actions.
The two set-up options are the following:
 One option is the Factory Default setting.
This cannot be altered by the user and is only
used to reset the Transmitter to initial conditions.
 There is also a possibility for the user to
save on disk a user defined set of parameters.
This function is useful to copy configurations
between Transmitters and to save an important
set of parameters.

The alarm configuration allows a user to meet

local requirements for system shut-down in the case of an alarm.
The reset configuration allows the administrator to configure each transmitter for its response to a power-up
event. The transmitter can be made to auto-start or to idle from reset.
For either configuration the operator must upload the set-up to the appropriate Exciter unit from its tab page
and saved in permanent memory by pressing the SAVE-button.
There is also a control to select the power level of the attached Transmitters. The levels available are
100WPEP, 200WPEP, 400WPEP and 1000WPEP. When the power level is changed, the new value is used
when displaying the Transmitter power. For a permanent configuration to complete, it is necessary to
perform a save to disk, by pressing the button “SAVE SETUP TO FILE” in the System window.
The Access Rights field is a user editable field, where user ID‟s, corresponding passwords and access rights
may be specified. There is no limit or required length for the ID and Password selections, but the Rights field
must be either a “1” (for limited rights) or a “2” (for full rights). Whenever the Access Rights field has been
changed, the SAVE button at the lower part of this field must be pressed, for the change to be permanent.

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3.6 Log page

The Log page gives the system history. All
important system events are recorded with date
and time stamping. If unchecked, this file can
grow quite large. It is good practice to make a
copy at regular intervals, e.g. once every month.
The user can then copy the file
Transmitterlog.txt to (e.g.) LogMay2009.txt.
The Transmitter events are now recorded. The
log file may then be erased by pressing the
EraseLOG button. If a print out is required, open
the Transmitterlog file in Notepad, and print it
from there.

3.7 Calendar
A calendar page is included simply as a help to schedule events, and requires no further description or
explanation.

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4. USER OPERATION AND MONITORING FROM PC

When logged on to the PC as “General user” you may perform normal operations and monitoring
as described below.

4.1 “General User” Operation from PC

 Switching the equipment ON or OFF
 RESET of Transmitter if failed (Alarm)

4.2 “General User” Monitoring from PC

 Monitoring which Transmitter in operation (Main or Standby)
 Monitoring RF Output power
 Monitoring DC Current to the equipment
 Monitoring the temperature at the High Power Amplifier (HPA)
 Monitoring Tuning Condition (VSWR)
 Monitoring ambient temperature (temperature inside transmitter cabinet)
 Monitoring events and alarms

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5. OPERATION AND MONITORING FROM REMOTE CONTROL UNIT

5.1 Operation from Remote Control Units

 Switching the equipment ON (Activate) , OFF (Deactivate) and Remote.
 Remote Control Units may be daisy chained.

5.2 Monitoring from Remote Control Units

 LED “Carrier is lit when the transmitter in operation, has sufficient RF power output
 LED “Modulation” is lit during periods, when transmitting Morse signal
 LED “Main” indicates that the Main Transmitter in operation
 LED “Reserve” indicates that the Reserve Transmitter in operation
 LED “Alarm” will only lit if the Transmitter B has registered failure

Additional monitoring from Remote Control Type JTM-30R

 LED “DC ON” is lit when the Transmitter cabinet is powered with DC supply
 Loud speaker for audio monitoring of the Morse signal

6. APPENDIX A

Morse character set.

The following characters of the ASCII character set are supported:

& „ ( ) + , - .
/ 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 : ; < = >
? @ A B C D E F
G H I J K L M N
O P Q R S T U V
W X Y Z # space

Lower case letters are also accepted. Such characters are automatically converted to upper case.
In addition, the character „*‟ is interpreted as a 64 element long tone.

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7. APPENDIX B

How to receive and install configuration files from JACOTRON.

A configuration file received from JACOTRON will be a file called config.txt and will be delivered through
email or on CD. This file must be copied to the directory C:\NDB. The copy process will probably prompt
the Operator with a question if the present file shall be replaced. Answer “yes”.

Now, start the NDB Control Program and select the SYSTEM page. Press the button “Restore Setup from
file”. The new configuration is now loaded in the PC.

On each of the two transmitter pages press the UPDATE button to download the configuration to the Exciter
boards. Then press the SAVE button to have the new configuration stored in permanent memory.
This completes the configuration update process.

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