AFS780 - Spreadsheet Programming for the 780/245

by Mike Agner, KA3JJZ

Not everyone wants or even needs a package to do computer control; some folks simply need a package that will do the programming. Such folks usually do a lot of traveling, and need an easy way of loading and saving data gathered from various geographic areas. Some time ago, we looked at Control Freq Jr, which is a commendable package that is mostly devoted to programming, and has some limited keyboard control. This time, we take a look at a package that started out devoted to the popular BC780XLT, but evolved a little to include the BC245XLT.

AFS780 came to my attention while I was doing a sweep of the software page at Strong Signals. I had read that a version could now program the BC245. I do travel from time to time, so a good programming package would be an advantage to have. So I downloaded it from this web site and installed it.

Installation Notes
As I unpacked the executable, several DLLs were loaded, as well as a version of the Borland Engine. I already have a copy of the engine on my machine (a Celeron 500 MHz, with 64MB RAM), so the installation program asked if I wanted to change it. My version was newer, so I said no. Installation continued without further interruptions.

Setup
When you execute the program, you must first endure a short splash screen. You are then taken to a screen that strongly resembles an Excel spreadsheet [Figure 1]. To the lower right, there's a hand that points to a series of dots; this is a control that attempts to auto-detect the COM port of your PC.

If the auto-detect fails, you should set the speed and COM port manually. Select the radio (780 or 245), then use the 'test connection' box.

You must also select the radio to be used (780 or 245) via a button. There's also a slider bar that attempts to compensate for varying timings between the computer and scanner.

Functions
Before we talk about actually using the program, a couple of definitions are in order. Data from this program can be saved in 2 ways - a 'project' file contains all banks, talkgroups and frequencies; a 'bank' file, as the name suggests, contains only 1 bank worth of information. As we'll see later, this convention has some unique capabilities.

Another item to be very careful of is the use of the Tab key. In Excel, you can tab from column to column; here, the Tab key doesn't quite work the same way. For example, if you place the focus of the program on the frequency column by mouse-clicking on it, hitting Tab brings you to the Bank Name box, then the Trunk Type box, then the Read From Scanner box. If you're used to working in Excel using the Tab button, you're going to have to relearn some old and familiar habits.

The up and down arrow keys also have meaning. From the column labeled 'Trunk' to the 'atten' column, these keys are used to either select an option 'on' or 'off'. Use these keys with some care while in these columns.

It seems that the author has given some thought to using keystrokes for the various functions. They're listed on each box and pull down, and that's handy for someone who's used to using them, rather than the usual point and click method most people seem to prefer.

If you already have some programming in your radio, the first thing to do is to 'read from scanner' (the button on the upper right). Hit this, and you have a selection to make [Figure 2]. You can either download frequencies, talkgroups or something called 'auto select' which tries to download both. However, caution is needed here - once you hit 'auto select', there appears to be no way to get back to select the other 2 options in future sessions, short of reinstalling the program. The talkgroups will be placed in the 'ID Scan' form [Figure 3].

You can also load just 1 bank of data; select this from the 'File' menu pull down, or right click on the form, and select 'load bank from scanner'.

If you're starting with nothing, simply click on the first entry in the frequency column and start typing. Be sure to mouse-click your away across the screen; resist the temptation of using the tab key, as it will get you into trouble as noted earlier. Be sure to turn the 'trunk' function on using the up/down arrow keys for those kinds of frequencies. If you're programming a 245, you can safely ignore the 'Step' and 'D(PL)' columns.

If you're programming a 780, then a couple of additional steps are in order. Notice that the tuning steps are not standard; you will need to manually change them to their correct values.

Once you need to program the D(PL) functions, mouse click to that column. You can get to a pull down that lists the various values by right-clicking while the mouse is inside the column [Figure 4].

If you are programming a trunk system, be sure to indicate which kind of system by selecting it from the 'trunk type' box at the bottom center of the screen. Expanding that box [Figure 5] shows the various types of trunking systems that are supported. Interestingly, it shows EDACS Wide, EDACS Narrow and LT (which I assume means LTR). LTR systems are not supported by the 245, and I'm not sure which kind of EDACS system the 245 supports; there aren't any such systems in my neck of the woods, so I was unable to test this.

Some folks like to save each bank individually, others would wait until all banks have been programmed. If you want to save a bank, you have a couple of options. From the File menu, simply select the 'Save Bank' option. Notice in [Figure 6] that banks are saved with a .xml extension, and the default name consists of the bank number and date stamp. Thankfully, you can change the name to something a bit more meaningful, but keep the extension.

There's a unique 'TEMP' page in the backround of the form; if you want to move banks around, you can cut/paste to the clipboard, but that presents the problem of maintaining all the columns and spacing. Instead, you can cut or copy the data on the TEMP page, then paste it back later.

You need to be aware of where you are in the form, as the menu that is presented when you right click changes very slightly. For example, examine the menu in [Figure 7] (where the cursor happened to be on the 'trunk' column, and compare it to the menu presented in [Figure 8], where the cursor was on one of the D(PL) entries. You'll notice that the 'Fill Selection' item disappears.

This item is a little switch-driven function that will change the value of the box when it is anywhere between the 'trunk' column to the 'atten' column either on or off. In my mind, this is a little sloppy, as using the up/down arrow is much quicker.

Common to both menus are 2 selections; 'Clear Line' does exactly what it says; it clears that line (row in Excel terms) and resets the mode to NFM. 'Move the tabs' is an interesting selection; it moves the tabs around the border of the data page. Each time its clicked, the tabs right, below left and top (assuming it starts at the top).

The 'Sort by Freq' selection in the edit pull down [Figure 9] has some interesting effects. Place the cursor on any frequency, select this, and the frequencies are then sorted in descending order-almost. It has the unfortunate side effect of putting all the zeroed cells first.

Once you have a few banks coded, it's time to decide how to save your data. To start, you can save a bank as a HTML or .csv file. You can do that by right-clicking on any field and selecting the option from the menu [Figure 7]. An example of each is shown in [Figure 10] and [Figure 11] respectively. Notice that the .csv designation is something of a misnomer; it more resembles a tab or column delimited file, rather than a comma delimited one.

Saving the whole project (that is, all banks) can be done by either selecting the 'save project' option from the file menu, or the 'save to file' option in the upper right corner of the screen [Figure 1]. As you can see in [Figure 12], the default name consists of a date stamp with a .780 extension. Again, the name can be changed to something meaningful, but be sure to resist the temptation to change the extension.

Sending the data to the scanner can be done in a couple of ways; if you are just reloading 1 bank of data, right click inside the form, and you'll see a selection that says 'Write bank to scanner' [Figure 7]. If you want to reload the entire scanner, select 'Send to Scanner' [Figure 1] which is found in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Terminex Time
While AFS780 seems to have its act together, when using the program with the 245, there are numerous flaws. For example, under the 'tools' pull down, you see something called 'format scanner' [Figure 13]. This function is supposed to issue the usual 2,9,MAN keystroke to clear the scanner, and commendably, it asks you several times if you really want to do this. Sadly, the program crashes when it finally tries to do it.

There also doesn't seem to be any consideration for the nuances of programming Type 1 or UHF systems. There's no selection for setting the correct fleet map (type 1) or for setting up the base/offset (for UHF systems). So you end up having to do this manually. Setting up those systems that are hybrid (type 1 and 2), such as some of the NJ system, also suffer from this shortcoming. However, type 2 and conventional systems are set up correctly.

Perhaps the most serious flaw is in its handling of scan lists. I've had reports that it does work when downloading data from a 780, but does not work with the 245. Just watching the scanner suggests that the program is not setting the radio in trunk mode, which is required by the Uniden protocol before accessing scan lists.

Having a slider bar to control timing rates always gives me the willies; you never really know whether you have set it correctly until, sometime when you have put in lots of data, the program totally locks up, and you lose what you've done. The old saying of 'backup', 'backup', 'backup' really applies well to AFS780.

Inexperienced 245 owners would get really confused by having the 'D(PL)' and 'step' columns available; the 245 doesn't support these functions. AFS780 should either grey out the columns or use a form that doesn't list them.

There seems to be some editing faults, too; the bank names on the tabs don't always correspond to the bank name box at the bottom of the screen once a project is saved. However, if you save each bank individually, this works correctly.

It's not that hard to set the correct tuning rates per frequency as a default when working with the 780; it's difficult to understand why the supplied default rates are so strange.

If you attempt to clear the project (wanting to start a new one from one you already had), the bank names on the tabs are not cleared. You must select them one by one and clear them out yourself.

It's a little disconcerting to only have 16 characters to type in IDs; this of course corresponds to what the 780 will show; but then why is the column set wider than this?

It'd be useful to have a good help file; those unusual key actions could use some explaining, and a newcomer would be very confused unless s/he sits down and fools around with the program.

The export/import functions have their share of oddities, too. Evidently there's a problem in how a zero cell gets initialized; sometimes the step or mode columns are filled with a 'A '. Too, the import function suggests its looking for a 'comma delimited file' when in fact it's a column delimited file, as was mentioned earlier. However, if a column delimited file is used, the import does work correctly.

On the plus side, once you get used to the odd key strokes and what they do, getting data assembled is very fast. The export/import functions seem to work OK, although I think the author of the program didn't know - or perhaps, had a bad translation - what a .csv file really was. The HTML export function is unique to this application, and if someone were heavily involved in web publishing, it would be handy.

In short, this program has the look and feel of something that is unfinished. It seems that the unusual newsgroup that's listed on the home page and in the tools pull down does not exist, and it appears that the author(s) are no longer interested in refining it. That's a shame, because a complete programming package for the 245 (even without PC control) might be a welcome addition, particularly for newcomers. In the case of AFS780, at least when using it with the BC245, this simply isn't it.

Mike Agner, KA3JJZ
ka3jjz@erols.com