Official Starrsoft WIN500 Software Thread

[scan-pa]

Official Starrsoft WIN500 Software Thread.

This thread is to report & Discuss anything related to The WIN500 software.


Starrsoft WIN500 Software: http://starrsoft.com/ Version 1.07 is now Available **** updated on 11/27/2007

System Requirements
In order to run Win500, you'll need the following:

* A copy of the Win500 program
* A PSR-500 Scanner
* The blue GRE USB Scanner Programming cable that came with your PSR-500.
* A Windows (2000, XP, Vista) PC. Sorry - 95, 98, and Me are not supported.

 

[DonS]

Okay... I must have my stupid hat on here...

I can not find anywhere within the Vista Control Panel ot the Master Volume Control Panel a place where I could mute the microphone.

If the microphone were muted, it wouod still play through the client ?

Yes, it would.

The "inputs" (like Microphone and Line-in) have both Playback and Recording mute controls. The "recording" control lets programs like Win500, Windows Sound Recorder, etc. get the audio. The "playback" control determines whether you'll hear that input's audio directly through the PC speakers. If the "playback" control is disabled/muted, you won't hear that input unless it's going through some other program (e.g. Win500 grabbing it, sending it to the Win500 client, Win500 client sending it to the speakers).

On my wife's Vista machine, I was able to look at the Microphone's "playback" setting by:
1. Start menu
2. Control panel
3. (classic view)
4. Sound
5. Double-click the audio device on the "Playback" tab (here, it shows "Speakers/Headphones" with "SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC")
6. Levels tab in the "properties" dialog that appears
7. Next to "Microphone", make sure the speaker icon doesn't indicate "muted", and the input level slider is at an appropriate level

I didn't actually hook up my PSR-500 to the input to see if I get audio directly, though.

 

[AC2C]

Audio Monitoring

Don --

I've done the same thing in Vista Control Panel and just repeated the steps in Classic View.

Both Microphone and Speaker levels look good and neither are muted.

Still, the audio does not playback through the speakers except through the remote client.

73,
Ron, AC2C

 

[KevinGC]

Is your computer by chance a Dell? Some soundcards, such as the one Dell typically uses do not allow audio passthrough. Really makes it a challenge when you are trying to do something like copy old vinyl albums to CD and want to monitor and mark track by track. I got around this by using Y cables to pipe the input right through to the external speakers.

 

[AC2C]

Audio Monitoring

The laptop is an HP -- But it sure looks like that is the same thing I am seeing.

Ron, AC2C

 

[DonS]

Is your computer by chance a Dell? Some soundcards, such as the one Dell typically uses do not allow audio passthrough. Really makes it a challenge when you are trying to do something like copy old vinyl albums to CD and want to monitor and mark track by track. I got around this by using Y cables to pipe the input right through to the external speakers.

My 20-month-old Dell XPS, doesn't seem to have that problem. Audio passes through from the Mic and Line inputs straight to the speakers. I typicall mute the inputs in the playback controls, though, and listen to the scanner via the remote client on the same machine.

 

[SCPD]

Is This Function Available

I know that you can boost the audio of individual items as you like ...but I have one frequency that is already VERY LOUD and it would be great to have a 6db audio attenuation..so it matches the other levels ... it that something that can be added in future versions ?

 

[smason]

I'm a bit confused about the activity log window.
Sometimes it shows activity, sometimes not, and I'm not sure what I'm doing that stops/starts it.

Also, I no longer get Radio IDs in the log window, they were there a day or 2 ago, but gone now.
I must be changing a setting somewhere..

 

[smason]

Also, I no longer get Radio IDs in the log window, they were there a day or 2 ago, but gone now.
I must be changing a setting somewhere..

Oops, found that one. I must have clicked the reset all setting button in the extended settings tab. I re-checked "show radio IDs" and it's back.

 

[Lew]

Win500 -- Four questions

In Win500 General Settings -- if you check the following, what does it do and how does it affect the scanner?

1)"TUNE mode RSSI LED"

2) "Quck post-priority unmute"

In Winn500 Monitor/contol -- if you check the following, what does it do and how does it affect the scanner?

3) "Auto-create new TGRPS from wildcard hits"

4) "Auto-create new TGRPS from RadioIDs"

Thanks in advance,

Lew in SC

 

[IndyEmsGuy]

Would it be possible to make the Sytem Freqs. grid so that you can highlight a frequency and drag it up or down in the list or someway to move them around so they can be ordered differently?

 

[DonS]

Would it be possible to make the Sytem Freqs. grid so that you can highlight a frequency and drag it up or down in the list or someway to move them around so they can be ordered differently?

Whenever I need to re-order frequencies in a TSYS list (i.e. EDACS systems only), I just cut and paste.

 

[pappy1]

Control + up, down arrow will move them.

 

[DonS]

Control + up, down arrow will move them.

Not within a TSYS object in Win500.

 

[smason]

Hey Don, I'm loving this software, keep up the good work!!

Now that I've been using Win500 for a while I have a couple of feature suggestions:

1) Add a configuration setting to tell it if you have a 600, and use the 600 keyboard layout in the monitor/control tab, and on the remote client. I use the remote client a lot, and when I go to the actual radio, I can't find the keys


2) Have the computer keyboard active so you can enter frequencies without clicking on the buttons. I have a blind friend who uses radios with remote software so his speech software tells him what the radio is doing. It's difficult (possible, but a pain) for him to navigate clickable buttons. He's thinking about a 600 after using mine remotely. Yes, you'd have to assign some keys for search/scan/pause etc.

3) Have the remote client "know" when the connection controllable, and remove the virtual keypad
from the screen, making it easier to navigate (again my blind friend would find that helpful)

Thanks,

Steve

 

[pappy1]

Hey Don, I'm loving this software, keep up the good work!!

Now that I've been using Win500 for a while I have a couple of feature suggestions:

1) Add a configuration setting to tell it if you have a 600, and use the 600 keyboard layout in the monitor/control tab, and on the remote client. I use the remote client a lot, and when I go to the actual radio, I can't find the keys


2) Have the computer keyboard active so you can enter frequencies without clicking on the buttons. I have a blind friend who uses radios with remote software so his speech software tells him what the radio is doing. It's difficult (possible, but a pain) for him to navigate clickable buttons. He's thinking about a 600 after using mine remotely. Yes, you'd have to assign some keys for search/scan/pause etc.

3) Have the remote client "know" when the connection controllable, and remove the virtual keypad
from the screen, making it easier to navigate (again my blind friend would find that helpful)

Thanks,

Steve

What software is your blind friend useing, I have a blind friend that owns a PRO 96 and can not program with WIN96 because will not tell him what the headings are, all it says is graffics. Thanks Pappy

 

[pappy1]

Not within a TSYS object in Win500.

O.K. I did not try it anywhere but the system frequies box and it worked there. I should have done more research before posting.

 

[smason]

What software is your blind friend useing, I have a blind friend that owns a PRO 96 and can not program with WIN96 because will not tell him what the headings are, all it says is graffics. Thanks Pappy

He doesn't use pro96, he uses a couple of programs to control his HF rigs.
His speech software is called JAWS. His only scanner is a pro2005, so he's thinking about getting a GRE600

 

[WayneH]

I've asked for keyboard keys to be mapped to buttons and Don said it would be extremely difficult to do.

 

[smason]

I've asked for keyboard keys to be mapped to buttons and Don said it would be extremely difficult to do.

Ahh ok. I have read this entire thread, but with 800+ messages I likely forgot a couple.

 

[DonS]

Hey Don, I'm loving this software, keep up the good work!!

Now that I've been using Win500 for a while I have a couple of feature suggestions:

1) Add a configuration setting to tell it if you have a 600, and use the 600 keyboard layout in the monitor/control tab, and on the remote client. I use the remote client a lot, and when I go to the actual radio, I can't find the keys

Having the client rearrange itself based on radio type can get pretty hairy, introducing other problems - especially when resizing, using "large fonts", etc.. mikey60 can likely attest to that.

2) Have the computer keyboard active so you can enter frequencies without clicking on the buttons. I have a blind friend who uses radios with remote software so his speech software tells him what the radio is doing. It's difficult (possible, but a pain) for him to navigate clickable buttons. He's thinking about a 600 after using mine remotely. Yes, you'd have to assign some keys for search/scan/pause etc.

I could possibly do this in the remote client, but not in the Win500 Monitor/Control tab.

3) Have the remote client "know" when the connection controllable, and remove the virtual keypad from the screen, making it easier to navigate (again my blind friend would find that helpful)

There's no really "bulletproof" way for the client to know whether the server is controllable. For example, my server is controllable within my house, but not via the connection that's advertised to the public - even though the client might "think" it is based on the text that appears in the log window.