To start with, download the web transceiver client software and install it on your computer. It has been tested on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 32 and 64 bit. It does not run on any other operating system.

Next, you need to download and install the latest web transceiver client update.

Then run the web transceiver application and under the Setup menu, go to select Sound Type and select either IP Sound or SKYPE. 

Here is how you should choose:

• If you are using the newest version of SKYPE, simply select SKYPE as your audio choice.
• If you are not using the latest version of SKYPE, you may need to choose IP Sound. Ignore the IP Sound dialog box that warns you need to forward a port.  You will not actually be using IP Sound, you will still really be using SKYPE. For more information, see Known Issues.

Then go to the Setup menu again and select Enter Logon Info. It will show the default entries for W4MQ and VK3UR. Click on the blank label under VK3UR and enter the information as shown in the attached screen. 

If you cannot see the graphic, here is the information to enter in the form fields:

• YOUR LABEL: W0ZSW
• IRB STATION: W0ZSW
• IP/URL: w0zsw.no-ip.org
• USERCALL: Your own callsign
• PASSWD: The password you were assigned
• When the required information has been entered, click SAVE and then CLOSE
• After that, in the Select Remote pull-down, choose W0ZSW. 
• Choose or click "LOGIN" or use Control L to log on.

• Skype may connect by itself if you have allowed it to do so in the Skype settings.  If not, it can be connected manually. Choose "W0ZSW Remote Base" from your Skype contact list and connect.  Occasionally the station will drop the connection right after first connecting, and you may have to login again. If this happens, login again right away and there will likely be no further problem. 
• Important: If you have made a manual Skype connection, it may not disconnect automatically when you log off as a control operator in the Web Transceiver software. You must go back to Skype and disconnect manually. Otherwise you will remain connected indefinitely. Nobody else will be able to use the station because Skype is “busy” and there will be no audio path.

When the login process goes normally, you should hear the call being answered when you hear the TS-480's audio from your computer speakers. At this point, you may want to change the frequency of the radio by entering digits.  If you try to do that, you will probably just hear tones, because the computer is no longer focused on the W4MQ software interface.  When it connected to the remote base via SKYPE, the computer then focused on SKYPE, which thinks you want to send DTMF tones with your keyboard. So first, before you start typing in a frequency, you need to make sure the computer has regained focus on the W4MQ interface. You might want to use the ALT-TAB procedure to just go through Windows until you locate the right one. Or, if you can see the screen, click your mouse cursor on the W4MQ application to regain focus. Now, when you enter a number, such as 3925 and press the ENTER key, the radio will respond by changing the frequency to 3.925 MHz LSB and it will speak the frequency so that blind users will know what happened.

I haven't found an easy way to perform the above setup and login operations via keyboard commands. Getting to the Enter Logon info under the Setup menu is easy -- after that it gets problematic. One way that might work, using the JAWS cursor, is to find and overwrite the W4MQ "label" with W0EQO. This label is on the top of a list on the left hand side of the screen, directly above VK3UR. Then move the cursor to the right into the area where the other information is entered. Find a box called IRB Station, and again replace W4MQ with W0EQO. From there, move again to the right (I think shift tab will work here) to the IP address box and enter 206.144.43.253, then shift tab or move down and to the left to the Username box and enter your username. Shift tab again should bring you to the password entry box. Both username and password are case insensitive. Below the logon information area are four buttons labeled Delete Entry, Save, Update IP/URLs and Close. The buttons are arranged horizontally and can be reached by using the tab key multiple times, but they do not come up in any logical order. After activating Save, find and activate the Close button. Now if you tab around you will find a dropdown list called Select Remote. W0EQO should be one of the choices if the logon info entry process was successful. After selecting W0EQO, tab once and you should see your username in the callsign box. Just above and slightly to the left of the callsign box is a Login button. Activate this button and it should connect you to the remote. If you are blind, Ctrl-L logs you on; Ctrl-D logs you off, so it isn't necessary for blind users to go searching for the Login button.

A list of keyboard shortcuts in tabular form is available by selecting Keyboard Commands under the Info menu in the Web Transceiver software.

Examples of shortcuts are spacebar to toggle between transmit and receive (not listed in the command table), direct frequency entry simply by using the number keys and hitting Enter, mode change by typing in L, U, C, or A, control F to reduce filter bandwidth and shift F to increase the bandwidth.

There is no specific keyboard command to activate the radio's voice readout, but any frequency change (by means of direct entry or by using the up/down arrows) results in a voice announcement.

When no control operator is logged onto the W4MQ software, you should be able to connect to W0EQO-L on EchoLink and control the receiver. If it's working correctly, a text message will come up in the EchoLink chat window telling you that the control functions are available. All you have to do is type in the desired frequency in the chat window. Mode changes can be made by typing in the letters L, U, C or A.

A couple of quirks that I have discovered in the W4MQ software: When the TS-480 is being controlled via the Internet, there are periodic beeps in the received audio. I believe the beeps are also present on transmit. To get rid of the beeps, the beep function on the TS-480 (menu item 12) had to be disabled, which means that there will be no CW confirmation of mode changes.

Differences between the W0ZSW and W0EQO remote base stations:

At the time of this writing, W0EQO is using a Kenwood TS-480SAT and W0ZSW has a Kenwood TS-480HX. However, the W4MQ Web Transceiver software provides a “universal” interface, and all controls and keyboard shortcuts work in essentially the same way. The TS-480HX is able to run 200W once beta testing is completed.

Both stations use external automatic antenna tuners that require a short burst of RF in order to activate. When you change bands, it is a good idea to send a brief (one second or so) burst of carrier on an unused frequency. On the voice bands, use AM mode, which puts out a constant carrier level at reduced power for tuning, Then switch to single sideband and identify yourself. The internal antenna tuners in the radios are not enabled, and the “ANT Tuner” button on the Web Transceiver control panel has no effect. W0EQO has a 75 meter G5RV antenna that is limited to the bands between 75 and 10 meters. W0ZSW has a 300 foot “W0OXB Special” dipole which allows 160 meter operation, and may work on 6 meters if there is a good band opening. Transmit is inhibited on the W0EQO station on 160, 60 and 6 meters. On W0ZSW, transmitting is allowed (within your license class privileges) on 160 through 6 meters with the exclusion of 60 meters.

Either station may be used for listening on any frequency that is covered by the radio. EchoLink users may connect to W0EQO-L for listening only, and can control the receiver frequency and mode (when no control operator has logged on with the W4MQ software) via the EchoLink chat window. At the present time,  EchoLink access is not enabled on the W0ZSW remote base station.  

Sometimes the W4MQ software will crash with a "runtime error 6: overflow".

Thanks and 73

Lyle, K0LR

Version 081310