Keyboard and Batch Commands


Following is a list of commands recognized in keyboard and batch modes. Note that the radio command must be given before any command, other than gain, port, quit, trace or verbose. Other than this, there are no restrictions on the order of these commands. The commands recognized in batch mode are any that are recognized in keyboard mode, except the keypad command, which puts the program in keypad mode. Note that several commands shown in the ? help billboard, but not documented here, have not been tested.

There are many differences in behavior among the various radio models, most of which are transparent to these commands. For instance, some radios have a VFO and some don't, some have channel 0 and some don't and some have different dial tuning step selections, for example. The following commands have been tested on the 271, 761 and 775 transceivers and the R71, R7000 and R8500 receivers. Where known, those commands specific to some subset of these radios are identified. For instance, those commands specific to the 775 will probably work on the 781 and those specific to the R8500 will probably work on the R9000.

agc [ fast | slow ] (R8500)
Set the automatic gain control (AGC) fast or slow time constant. If no argument is given, report the current state.
am [ offset ]
Select AM mode and set the BFO compensation to the argument given. If no argument is given, report the current offset, but only if it is nonzero. This is the same function as the m keypad command.
ant [ antenna ] (775)
Select one of the antennas listed in the help menu. If no argument is given, report the current selection. This is the same funtion as the a keypad command.
apf [ on | off ] (R8500)
Set the audio peak filter on or off. If no argument is given, report the current state.
atten [ value ] (R8500)
Set the attenuator to one of the values listed in the help menu. If no argument is given, report the current value.
band [ lowfreq ] [ highfreq ]
Set the low and high band edges for step-scanning. If stepped above the high band edge, the frequency is set to the low band edge. If stepped below the low band edge, the frequency is set to the high band edge.
bank bank [ name ] (R8500)
Select the bank number and load the name, where the name is an ASCII string of not more than 6 characters.
cap
Display the capability list for the current radio.
change
Swap main and sub VFO frequencies on dual-VFO radios. This is the same function as the = keypad command and the CHANGE button on the radio.
chan [ channel ]
Select the memory channel and set the VFO frequency, mode and offset to its contents. If no argument is given, refresh the last channel selected. This is the same function as the c keypad command and the channel selection buttons or knobs on the radio.
clear [ channel ]
Clear the memory channel. If no argument is given, clear the last channel selected. This is the same function as the x keypad command and the CLEAR button on the radio.
comp [ frequency ]
Set the VFO compensation, in parts per million (PPM). If no argument is given, report the previous value.
cw [ offset ]
Select CW mode and set the BFO compensation to the argument given. If no argument is given, report the current offset, but only if it is nonzero.
dial [ step ] (775, R8500)
Set the main dial tuning step among the choices in the help menu. If no argument is given, report the current step. Note that different radios may support only certain values.
down
Shift the current frequency down one step and report the new value and current mode. This is the same function as the keypad DOWN arrow key.
duplex [ offset ]
Set the transmit duplex offset for ICOM VHF/UHF transceivers. It is not clear how to set the +-DUPLEX switch.
fm [ offset ]
Select FM mode and set the BFO compensation to the argument given. If no argument is given, report the current offset, but only if it is nonzero.
freq [ frequency ] [ mode ]
Set the VFO frequency and select the mode/filter combination. The mode argument must be a member of the list displayed by the mode ? command. If no argument is given, report the current values. Note: In some ICOM radios it is not possible to set the frequency of the last channel less than that of the next-to-last channel. Presumably, this is to avoid abusing the internal scan feature of the radio.
key [ text ] (775)
Transmit the ASCII text in CW.
load chan [ frequency ] [ name ] (R8500)
Load channel, frequency and name. Then name is an ASCII string of not more than 8 characters.
lsb [ offset ]
Select LSB mode and set the BFO compensation to the argument given. If no argument is given, report the current offset, but only if it is nonzero. This is the same function as the l keypad command.
meter (R8500)
Display the S meter and squelch state. The S meter indications are in standard S units and decibels above S9. The squelch state can be open or closed.
mode [ mode ]
Select one of the mode/filter combinations listed by the help menu. If no argument is given, report the current selection.
nb [ on | off ] (R8500)
Set noise blanker on or off. If no argument is given, report the current state.
offset [ offset ]
Set the VFO offset to the argument given. If no argument is given, report the current VFO value.
pad
Switch to keypad mode.
peak [ +... | -... | level ] (R8500)
The function of this command depends on the argument format. If +..., increment the APF frequency by 8 for each +; if -..., decrement it by 8 for each -. If level, adjust the APF frequency to the value in the range -128 to 127. If no argument is given, report the current value. This is the same function as the p keypad command.
power [ on | off ] (R8500)
Set the radio power on or off. If set off, the radio continues to monitor for power commands. If no argument is given, report the current state.
quit
Exit the program and return control to the shell.
radio [ name ]
Select one of the radios listed in the help menu and display the upper and lower band limits, minimum tuning step and related data. This must be the first command in keyboard or batch modes. If no argument is given, report the values for the currently selected radio.
rate [ rate ]
Set the tuning rate to a value between 0 and 12 corresponding to rates from the minimum tuning step to that value times 10,000. If no argument is given, report the current value.
restore file [ first ] [ last ]
Restore the block of memory channels numbered from first to last, inclusive, from the named file, or until the end of file. If last is missing, restore only the channel number first. If both first and last are missing, restore all memory channels from channel 1 to the highest channel number, or until the end of file.
rtty [ offset ]
Select CW mode and set the BFO compensation to the argument given. If no argument is given, report the current offset.
save file [ first ] [ last ]
Save the block of memory channels numbered from first to last, inclusive, to the named file. If last is missing, save only the channel number first. If both first and last are missing, save all memory channels from channel 1 to the highest channel number. Note that cleared memory channels are not saved.
say [ code ] (R8500)
Select one of the announce options listed in the help menu. If no argument is given, report the previous selection.
scan [ code ]
Select the scan mode, where the argument corresponds to a member in the list displayed by the help menu. If no argument is given, report the previous selection.
shift [ +... | -... | level ] (R8500)
The function of this command depends on the argument format. If +..., increment the IF shift by 8 for each +; if -..., decrement it by 8 for each -. If level, adjust the IF shift to the value in the range -128 to 127. If no argument is given, report the current value. This is the same function as the i keypad command.
simplex
Receive on the transmit frequency with FM radios. This is the same function as the / keypad command and the CHECK button on the radio.
split [ offset ] (775)
Set the dual-VFO radio in split mode and set the sub VFO to the main VFO frequency with optional offset in kHz. This is the same function as the ] keypad command and the SPLIT button on the radio, but with optional offset.
squelch [ +... | -... | auto | level ] (R8500)
The function of this command depends on the argument format. If +..., increment the squelch level by 8 for each +; if -..., decrement it by 8 for each -. If auto, the squelch level is set just above the level where it opens with the current radio settings and conditions. If level, set the squelch level to the value in the range 0 to 255. If no argument is given, report the current value. This is the same function as the s keypad command, except that the auto format is not supported in that mode.
step [ step ]
Set the frequency tuning step used in keypad mode by the UP and DOWN keyboard arrow keys. The value temporarily replaces the previous value set by the keyboard mode rate command or keypad mode LEFT and RIGHT keyboard keys. If no argument is given, report the current step value. This is the same function as the t keypad command and the TS button on the radio.
trace [ code ]
Select the CI-V bus trace function from the list displayed by the help menu. If no argument is given, report the previous selection.
up
Shift the current frequency up one step and report the new value and current mode. This is the same function as the keypad UP arrow key.
usb [ offset ]
Select USB mode and set the BFO compensation to the argument given. If no argument is given, report the current offset, but only if it is nonzero. This is the same function as the u keypad command.
verbose [ on | off ]
Set the verbose mode on or off. The default for batch mode is off; for keyboard and keypad modes, the default is on.
vfo (775)
Select one of the VFO options listed in the help menu.
vol [ +... | -... | level ] (R8500)
The function of this command depends on the argument format. If +..., increment the volume level by 8 for each +; if -..., decrement it by 8 for each -. If level, adjust the volume level to the value in the range 0 to 255. If no argument is given, report the current value. This is the same function as the v keypad command.
write [ channel ]
Write the memory channel with the contents of the VFO, mode and transmit duplex offset, if present. If no argument is given, write the last channel selected. This is the same function as the w keypad command and the WRITE button on the radio.

The following commands are available on Sun workstations.

gain
Set the audio record gain in 16 levels from 0 to 15. This is the same function as the g keypad command.
mute
Toggle the audio output between on and mute. This is the same function as the o keypad command.
port
Select the audio port 1 for microphone, 2 for line-in. This is the same function as the p keypad command.

David L. Mills <mills@udel.edu>