In this section:
If you haven't already, start MacR–1000 by double-clicking its icon in the Finder. A window soon appears, representing the “front panel” of the IC–PCR1000 communications receiver.
If you don't have a serial port on your Macintosh, MacR–1000 won’t run. Install your adapter and try again.
Most of the MacR–1000 controls should be familiar to anyone who has used a radio. The big slider at the right edge of the window is for volume; there’s a Mute button next to it at the bottom. At the top is the big on/off switch. The PCR1000 has a software-controlled power switch in addition to the physical switch on the radio. It will not respond to controls until it is turned on.
Press the power switch to turn the PCR1000 on. MacR–1000 loads some initial settings into the radio, and you should hear at least a hum from the radio’s speaker.
MacR–1000 can be tuned to a frequency in three ways:
- You can change the displayed frequency by 10 Hz using the buttons with thin up and down arrows on them, to the right of the frequency display. Holding these buttons down changes frequency continuously. If you also hold down the option key, the frequency will change by 100 Hz; holding down the command (⌘) key will step the frequency by 1 Hz.
- You can change the displayed frequency by larger steps (hundreds to hundreds of thousands of Hertz) using the buttons immediately to the right of the frequency display, with thick up and down arrows on them. How large a step is taken with each press depends on the step size selected in the pop-up menu next to the label Step: below the frequency display. Again, holding these buttons down changes frequency continuously, and holding the option key down broadens the steps by a factor of 10.
- You can type the desired frequency directly into the frequency display. The frequency display is a regular text field. The frequency is shown in Hertz, with spaces separating kilohertz, megahertz, and gigahertz for readability and ease in selection.
When you key-in a frequency, spaces are optional. Decimal fractions are permitted. Numbers followed by G, M, or K (upper or lower case) are multiplied by a billion, million, or thousand respectively. Hence all of these are valid ways to enter 153.77 MHz:
- 153 770 000
- 153770000
- 153770 kHz
- 153.77m
- 153.77
The last alternative works because MacR–1000 assumes any frequency containing a decimal point, with no suffix, is in megahertz. You can change this assumption in the Preferences panel.
The radio tunes to the new frequency as soon as you press return, enter, or tab. If the frequency has previously been saved with a label in the frequency library, the label will appear under the frequency display.
A stream of radio energy can be modulated in many different ways to carry the intended information. The PCR1000 has modes to interpret the signals according to the most common modulation schemes. These are Amplitude Modulation (AM), Frequency Modulation (FM, both wide and narrow signal), Single Side Band (upper or lower, or USB and LSB), and Continuous Wave (CW, or Morse code).
Signals transmitted in a particular modulation are intelligible only when the receiver is set to use that mode. You can select any mode on any frequency by clicking the mouse on the modulation name next to the Mode: label, just below the frequency display. A menu will pop up offering all the available modes; when you make your selection, the PCR1000 changes to that mode immediately.
Selecting the wrong mode for a signal will sound unpleasant, but will do no harm.
Radio signals are spoken of as being “on” a particular frequency (the carrier frequency), but in fact modulating information onto a carrier spreads the energy of the signal across a band of frequencies above and below (in the case of USB and LSB only above or only below) the carrier frequency. Much of the challenge in the radio-listening hobby comes from making sure all of the signal you want gets into the radio’s amplifiers (and eventually out of the speakers), while signals you don’t want stay out.
The PCR1000’s filters determine how much of the spectrum around (or in the case of U/LSB, to one side of) the carrier frequency will be listened to. Narrower filters shut out more of adjacent signals (possibly at the expense of some of the signal you want); wider filters draw more of the desired signal, for better fidelity, but may also capture interference from adjacent signals. Use the popup menu labeled Filter: to select from the available filters.
The filters available vary by mode, with the widest filters available only for wide-band modes, and the narrowest only for the narrow-band modes.
| 2.8 kHz | 6.0 kHz | 15 kHz | 50 kHz | 230 kHz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CW | • | • | |||
| LSB | • | • | |||
| USB | • | • | |||
| AM | • | • | • | • | |
| Narrow FM | • | • | • | ||
| Wide FM | • | • |
The “right” filter selection is the one that results in audio you can understand most comfortably. If you change to a mode for which the currently-selected filter width is not available, the nearest available width will automatically be substituted.