Getting Started with Fldigi Including Flmsg and Flwrap
Jeffrey Kopcak – K8JTK
Getting Started with Fldigi Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Program versions ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Resources .................................................................................................................................................. 3 Calibration ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Download and installation ............................................................................................................................ 5 Fldigi .......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Flmsg ......................................................................................................................................................... 9 Flwrap ..................................................................................................................................................... 11 Configuration .............................................................................................................................................. 13 Fldigi ........................................................................................................................................................ 13 Flmsg ....................................................................................................................................................... 26 Receiving ..................................................................................................................................................... 29 Fldigi ........................................................................................................................................................ 29 Flmsg ....................................................................................................................................................... 32 Flwrap ..................................................................................................................................................... 35 Transmitting ................................................................................................................................................ 40 Fldigi ........................................................................................................................................................ 40 Flmsg ....................................................................................................................................................... 43 Flwrap ..................................................................................................................................................... 47
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Getting Started with Fldigi Introduction This document will show installation, setup, and basic use of Fldigi, Flmsg, and Flwrap. Fldigi stands for Fast Light Digital modem application created by W1HKJ (David Freese, Jr.) and associates. Flmsg is a forms manager with standardized forms like MARS, plaintext messages, Radiograms, Red Cross, and Weather report forms. Flwrap is a file encapsulation and compression tool allowing for reception of a file exactly like the original. The Fldigi suite has many applications and can operate many, many different modes. For the list of modes, click the “Op Mode” menu in Fldigi. A quick description of the Fldigi suite from W1HKJ: Fldigi – Digital modem program. Flarq – AutomaticReQuest file transfer program (works with Fldigi). Flamp – Amateur Multicast Protocol file transfer program. Flwrap – File encapsulation for error free transfers over amateur radio. Flmsg – Formatted message manager – 25 forms including Radiogram. Flrig – Transceiver control program. Flwkey – Winkeyer control program. Fllog – Logbook program – works with Fldigi, Flwkey etal. Flnet – Net management and database program. The Digital Net typically operates Fldigi using NBEMS standard methods for VHF and UHF communication. NBEMS stands for Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System (or Software) (http://www.arrl.org/nbems). NBEMS VHF/UHF operating mode is MT63-2KL and Olivia 8/500 or 16/500 for HF operation. HF digital operation is considerably different than VHF/UHF FM digital. HF station operating tips are not covered however application usage is similar. This is written with the beginner in mind and many concepts outlined step-by-step. It will provide direction for further experimentation on your own or on the net and direction for troubleshooting. Prepared for The Lake Erie Amateur Radio Association’s Digital Net (http://www.leara.org/).
Program versions Program versions used in this document. Windows 7 – 64 bit Fldigi 3.22.05 Flmsg 2.0.8 Flwrap 1.3.4
Resources http://www.w1hkj.com/beginners.html – Beginners guide to Fldigi. Created by Jeffrey Kopcak – K8JTK Updated 1/2/2017 Page 3 of 51
Getting Started with Fldigi http://www.w1hkj.com/FldigiHelp-3.22/index.html – Fldigi help. http://www.w1hkj.com/flmsg-help/index.html – Flmsg help. http://www.w1hkj.com/Flwrap/index.html – Flwrap help.
Calibration Sound card calibration for some modes Fldigi supports is important; it is recommended regardless of mode. See the "Sound card clock calibration" section in the "Radio Interface Setup – For getting started with Ham Radio Sound Card digital modes" document. Fldigi method: http://www.k8jtk.org/2015/10/19/nbemsfldigi-sound-card-calibration/.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Download and installation Download Fldigi, Flmsg, and Flwrap here (free, all platforms): http://www.w1hkj.com/download.html Notes:
New software versions can be installed alongside older versions. Each version (including maintenance releases) is installed in a separate directory. This means a lot of versions can accumulate on a system. Uninstall old versions when a new version has been fully tested. Installation structure: Fldigi version 3.22.03 will be installed in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Fldigi-3.22.03 Fldigi version 3.22.05 will be installed in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Fldigi-3.22.05 Flmsg version 2.0.7 will be installed in: C:\Program Files (x86)\flmsg-2.0.7 Flmsg version 2.0.8 will be installed in: C:\Program Files (x86)\flmsg-2.0.8 Flwrap version 1.3.4 will be installed in: C:\Program Files (x86)\flwrap-1.3.4 Standard user accounts: if you logon to Windows using a standard user account, you will need the administrator password to install these applications. Unfortunately, the installers place the shortcuts under the Start Menu and Desktop for the administrator logon. These can be moved to the appropriate locations for all users however, the shortcuts will not be automatically removed when uninstalled.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Fldigi
Click Continue.
Click Next.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click Install.
Installation will begin.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click Close.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Flmsg
Click Continue.
Click Next.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click Install.
Installation will begin. Click Close.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Flwrap
Click Continue.
Click Next.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click Install.
Installation will begin. Click Close.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Configuration Configuration and setup of Fldigi and Flmsg. Flwrap does not have any configuration options.
Fldigi
Start Fldigi. First time Fldigi is started, the configuration wizard will appear. Click Next. Notes:
To change any of these settings in the future, they can be found in the Fldigi application under the “Configure” menu.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Enter your station’s Callsign, Name, QTH (location), Locator (gridsquare), and Antenna(s) used. Click Next.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Check PortAudio. Click Capture. Click the receive audio interface device. Click Playback. Click the transmit audio interface device. Notes:
SignaLink USB is labeled USB Audio CODEC in PortAudio. Select the device followed by the following sub-options, then device: WDM-KS is the lowest latency, followed by DirectSound, and MME most compatible.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click the Settings tab. Under Correction, enter the RX ppm and TX ppm for your interface device. Click Next. The remaining settings are the default settings. Notes:
Corrections are not as important for MT63-2KL on FM. Sound card calibration is recommended regardless of mode. See the “Calibration” section at the beginning of this document for methods to calibrate Fldigi.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
If the transceiver requires keying control, select it using one of the control methods and configure those options. This depends on your setup. Click Next. Notes:
SignaLink USB users do not need to set these options.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click Finish.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click Allow access. If you are a standard user, you will need the administrator password. Notes:
Fldigi sets up a local server to communicate with other programs. Blocking this firewall exception will not allow programs in the suite to communicate and result in undesired operation.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click Op Mode. Select MT63. Click MT63-2000L. Notes:
MT63-2000L (or MT63-2KL) is most often used by the net.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Fldigi will now show “MT63-2KL” in the lower left status line. Click 1500 on the waterfall.
The frequency can be fine-tuned with the “adjust cursor frequency” adjustment
.
Click RxID in the upper right. Click TxID in the upper right. Notes:
RxID and TxID encode and decode the Reed-Solomon Identification (RSID) for identifying digital modes. On reception of an RSID, the mode is changed. It is possible to decode the RSID and not decode data due to a weak signal. The RSID can take up more bandwidth than the digital mode and is not used on many common modes. PSK31 is a very popular mode so no RSIDs are used. A PSK31 (31Hz) RSID (172Hz) takes up 5.5 times the bandwidth! Other nearby PSK31 users will not be very happy with you transmitting a PSK31 RSID. To control which modes transmit an RSID click Configure, IDs, click the RsID tab, and click Transmit modes. More information: http://www.w1hkj.com/RSID_description.html
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click Configure. Click Misc. Click the NBEMS tab in the lower row of tabs. Under Reception of flmsg files, click Locate flmsg. The remaining settings are the default settings. It is important to have: Enabled checked under NBEMS data file interface. Open with flmsg and Open in browser checked under Reception of flmsg files. Notes:
Upgrading Flmsg will require changing the path to use the newer version.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Navigate to C:\Program Files (x86)\flmsg-x.x.x where x.x.x is the flmsg version to use. Click flmsg. Click Open. Notes:
The path maybe different depending on system type and Flmsg version. To determine which system you are running: Click the Start button. Right-click Computer. Click Properties. This will display System information. Under the System heading will be System Type. Type will be 64-bit or 32-bit Operating System. Locations based on system type: Windows – 64 bit: C:\Program Files (x86) Windows – 32 bit: C:\Program Files
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Click Save. Click Close. Notes:
A new configuration can be tested in Fldigi without overwriting the previously saved configuration. With Fldigi open, change any settings under the “Configure” menu. When done making changes, click Close. Do not click Save. Fldigi will run with the new configuration settings for this session. When done, close Fldigi.
Anytime Fldigi is closed, it will prompt to confirm you really want to quit. This can be turned off in the Configuration, User Interface, General tab. Click Yes. Created by Jeffrey Kopcak – K8JTK Updated 1/2/2017 Page 24 of 51
Getting Started with Fldigi
If you are satisfied with the new configuration, click Yes. To revert to the previous configuration, click No.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Flmsg
Start Flmsg. Click Allow access. If you are a standard user, you will need the administrator password. Notes:
Fldigi sets up a local server to communicate with other programs. Blocking this firewall exception will not allow programs in the suite to communicate and result in undesired operation. Starting Flmsg version 4.0.1 or later for the first time will prompt to select a “Default User Interface.” Click Communicator / Expert. This can be changed later in the "Config" menu and click "User Interface."
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Getting Started with Fldigi
First time Flmsg is started, config will appear. Enter your station’s Call, Telephone, Name, Address, City/St/Zip, and Email address. Click close (red X). Note:
While not required, other options can be set in other tabs. To change any of these settings in the future, they can be found in the Flmsg application under the “Config” menu.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
In the center of the Flmsg status line, click the down arrow. Select MT63-2KL.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Receiving All receiving is performed using the Fldigi application. Post processing (if required) will be done by Flmsg or Flwrap.
Fldigi
Fldigi receiving a text message. While receiving:
If an RSID is received, it will display in the receive pane. Fldigi will change to the mode sent in the RSID. The mode will display in the lower left status line.
In the lower left of the Fldigi window is the status line. This contains mode received (or mode Fldigi is set to receive), signal to noise ratio (s/n), and frequency offset (f/o). Mode can be manually changed in the “Op Mode” menu. Signal-to-noise is the measure of the signal to the noise floor. The higher the dB, the better. Frequency offset is a measure of the difference between the current center frequency setting and the transmitting station’s frequency. This number should be as close to 0.0 as possible, which means no difference. Higher numbers result in decoding errors. Use the “cursor frequency” adjustment shown in the “Configuration – Fldigi” section to change the center frequency.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
The waterfall is a graphical representation of the signals across a frequency range versus time. It is color coded to indicate signal strength: black is low, yellow is normal, and red is over modulated.
An audio signal level indicator is the diamond icon in the controls pane. Color coding: black is low, green is normal, yellow is high, and red is over modulated.
The SQL button is the squelch on/off setting in the controls pane. Color coding: gray indicates squelch is off (open squelch) and the receiver will decode anything even if no signal is present. Yellow indicates squelch is activated. Green indicates Fldigi has locked onto a signal above the minimum threshold and will be decoded. The SQL level is adjusted by the gray slider (see below).
The green bar is the signal indicator. The gray slider to the right is the squelch level or minimum signal threshold needed for decoding. Raise this slider if a lot of “garbage” is seen in the receive pane and SQL is active (see above). Lower the slider if no message is decoded when receiving a signal.
Received text will appear in the tan receive pane. There may be some “garbage” preceding the text of the message because Fldigi opens squelch (see SQL button above) until the protocol header is decoded. Created by Jeffrey Kopcak – K8JTK Updated 1/2/2017 Page 30 of 51
Getting Started with Fldigi Colors of many on screen items can be changed in the Configure, Colors & Fonts menu. Notes:
If nothing is decoded in Fldigi, the first thing to check is the squelch level. Then check audio level, center frequency, and mode.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Flmsg After receiving an Flmsg transmission, Flmsg and the default browser will open displaying the form in different formats.
Fldigi receiving a WRAP/FLMSG transmission. While receiving: All information in the “Receiving – Fldigi” section applies.
In the status pane, next to f/o, will be the notification that Fldigi has detected the transmission to be in the WRAP/FLMSG format. Notes:
Flmsg generates a text file and uses the Flwrap application to ensure message integrity on the receiving end. Those tags are visible in the screenshot above.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Once transmission is complete, Flmsg will open with the received file loaded. The default browser will also open displaying the complete form.
Flmsg opened after receiving the form.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Default browser opens after the form is converted to web format (HTML). Notes:
If Flmsg or the browser did not open, make sure Flmsg and Flwrap are installed. Check the “NBEMS” settings in Fldigi.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Flwrap
Fldigi receiving a WRAP file. While receiving: All information in the “Receiving – Fldigi” section applies.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
When transmission is complete, click File in Flmsg. Select Folders. Click NBEMS files.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
In the resulting Windows Explorer window, double-click the WRAP directory. Double-click the recv directory. The last file received will be at the bottom (when sorted by name). Ways to extract the file:
Start Flwrap. Drag and drop the WRAP file into the box labeled “Drop file here.” Drag and drop the WRAP file to the Flwrap icon on the desktop.
Notes:
File name format is “extract-yyyymmdd-hhmmss.wrap” in UTC.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Flwrap will verify the checksum. If the checksum is good, it will display “Success” and extract the file listed on the “output” line.
The extracted file can be opened. Notes:
The output file will always be extracted to the same directory as the WRAP (source) file.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
If the checksum fails, you will see “Checksum failed” and no file will be extracted.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Transmitting Forms and files are prepared using the Flmsg and Flwrap applications first. Fldigi transmits all content. For an FM repeater net, transmissions need to be at least 30 seconds less than the Time-Out-Timer on the repeater. This allows for delays, protocol overhead, and RSID tones which add about 10 seconds to the duration. Flmsg will show a transmission length in the status line. The other applications do not show transmit length.
Fldigi
The transmit pane and buffer is the turquoise box. Methods for loading text:
Text can be pasted directly from the clipboard by right-clicking in the transmit pane and clicking Paste. Right-click and select Insert File. Select a plain text file. Click Open. Drag and drop a plain text file into the transmit pane.
^r is the notation in the transmit pane telling Fldigi to switch back receive mode. For example: transmitting a message begins. When it incurs the ^r in the transmit buffer, Fldigi will stop transmission and switch to receive. If no ^r is incurred in the buffer, Fldigi will remain in transmit mode until the T/R button is pressed (see below).
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Getting Started with Fldigi The T/R button switches Fldigi’s transmit/receive state
.
The three groups of four color-coded buttons are macros. To rotate through the sets of macros, click the “Primary macro set” button above the squelch level. These buttons and macros can be edited by right-clicking on the button.
T/R
is the same as the T/R button in the controls pane (see above).
Tx >> puts Fldigi into transmit mode. If already in transmit mode, this macro does nothing. When the transmit buffer is sent, Fldigi will remain in transmit mode until the T/R button is pressed.
Rx|| pane.
will insert the receive notation (^r) at the current cursor position in the transmit
TX>| will append “de UrCall k ^r” at the current cursor position in the transmit pane. Then transmit the message and switch back to receive.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Putting Fldigi into transmit mode will transmit anything in the transmit pane/buffer. Load text. Click Rx||
.
Click T/R (
or
).
While transmitting, the T/R button in the controls pane will turn red. As the message is being transmitted, it will appear in the receive pane. The text will turn from back to red in the transmit pane as it is sent. Similar to receiving, the waterfall will display the tones as they are transmitted. The receive notation (^r) will terminate the transmission and switch Fldigi to receive mode. Notes:
To cancel any transmission in progress, click the T/R ( press the [ESC] key. This will also clear the transmit buffer.
or
) button or
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Getting Started with Fldigi Flmsg
Select an appropriate form. This can be anything for practice. Notes:
It is a good idea to note somewhere in the form if this is a test or practice message. Someone may mistake it for a real message. In the case of an actual event or net, this advice should obviously be disregarded.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Fill out the form populating as many fields as desired. At times, the byte count and transmit time in the status line won’t properly update. Click the * to refresh. When ready to transmit, open Fldigi if it is not already.
Click AutoSend
.
Transmission will NOT begin until the file is saved. Notes:
If the transmit time is too long, checking Compression in the status line will save some time.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
You will be prompted to save the report data file. Transmission will NOT begin until the file is saved. Enter a File name. Click Save. Once the file is saved, transmission will begin automatically.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Flmsg will use Flwrap to generate the data file. The file will be passed to Fldigi and transmitted automatically. You will not see any changes or indication of transmission in Flmsg. However, do not close Flmsg until the transmission is complete otherwise the transmission will be terminated. All information in the “Transmitting – Fldigi” section applies. Transmission will autostop when completed. No need for the receive notation (^r). Notes:
To retransmit an Flmsg form, in Flmsg click File, Open. The default save location is C:\Users\Username\NBEMS.files\ICS\messages. Next to file name, click the drop down and select All Files. Click the report data file to resend. Click Open. In Flmsg (with Fldigi open), click AutoSend.
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Getting Started with Fldigi Flwrap
Start Flwrap. Click the Compress button (see notes below). Notes:
The Compress button switches Flwrap from plaintext mode to base64 encoding (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base64). Base64 is a textual representation of data. Any file type can be converted to base64. The word Compress is somewhat misleading. ASCII text files converted to base64 generate smaller WRAP files. In contrast, binary files (images, Word documents) generate larger WRAP files compared to the original file size. As noted, any file can be converted to base64. However, it is imperative to click the Compress button if file is NOT an ASCII plain text file. Failure to do so will result in a failed checksum after the WRAP file is transmitted.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Drag and drop the source file into the Flwrap box labeled “Drop file here.”
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Getting Started with Fldigi
When Flwrap shows “success,” the file has been converted to the WRAP format. Notes:
The resulting WRAP file will always be placed in the same directory as the source file.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
Open Fldigi if it is not already. Use any of the methods noted in the “Transmitting – Fldigi” section to load the WRAP file into the transmit pane. Easiest is to drag and drop the WRAP file into the transmit pane.
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Getting Started with Fldigi
In the transmit pane you will see a bunch of random letters, numbers, and symbols. This is the base64 encoding of the WRAP file.
Click Rx||
.
Click T/R (
or
).
The WRAP file will be transmitted and Fldigi will switch back to receive mode. All information in the “Transmitting – Fldigi” section applies. Notes:
Using the net standard MT63-2KL, a 2.3KB WRAP file takes just over 2 minutes to transmit. Testing indicates about 1 minute transmit time is needed for every 1KB of file size. For the FM repeater net, the WRAP file size needs to be less than 2.5KB. File size can be determined in the Windows File Properties dialog box. Flwap will also display the WRAP file size in the line “out= x bytes.” Example shown: “out = 2325 bytes” -> 2.3KB.
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