WiNRADiO Receivers under DOS

WiNRADiO for DOS is a command-line program which can be used to control a WiNRADiO 1000/1500/3000 series receiver without Windows. This can be convenient for some special applications.

The DOS version allows you to have a full control over the WiNRADiO receiver via a DOS executable file, in which you can set frequency, mode, volume, BFO offset, power, mute and DX/local switches.

The executable file is called DOSRADIO.EXE and you can use it either directly, or incorporate it into batch files or other programs.

To use DOSRADIO directly, just type DOSRADIO followed by the command parameter/s and their values. Each parameter must be separated by a space, and there must be no spaces between a parameter and its value.

The DOS exit code returned by the program is the signal strength ranging from 0 to 100. If an error occurs within the program (such as an invalid command parameter or value), the exit code will equal -1. For example, to set WiNRADiO to an FM broadcast station operating on 101.5 MHz, with medium volume, and sensitivity set to 'Local', type the following sequence of commands at the system prompt:

C:\WINRADIO>DOSRADIO ON
C:\WINRADIO>DOSRADIO L
C:\WINRADIO>DOSRADIO F101500
C:\WINRADIO>DOSRADIO MFMW
C:\WINRADIO>DOSRADIO V15

You can also enter multiple parameters all from the one command:

C:\WINRADIO>DOSRADIO ON L F101500 MFMW V15

You can create quite complex WiNRADiO applications, operating entirely under DOS, by including the DOSRADIO executable file into batch files. For example, the following batch file (STEP.BAT) will implement step-tuning:

@echo off
echo A simple stepper batch file for "WiNRADiO for DOS".
echo.
echo "Usage: step i(step size) [other WiNRADiO parameters]"
dosradio on %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
rem * setup WiNRADiO for stepping by pre-initialising (optional)
:loop
dosradio %1 s
rem * increment frequency (first parameter - i[freq])
echo.
choice /c:se Step or Exit
if not errorlevel 2 goto loopm
echo.
echo Finished stepping!

When you first start the batch program, you are required to specify the increment size (i[freq]). You can also specify additional parameters to the batch file to initialise WiNRADiO before stepping. You can then step through the frequencies using the S key. To terminate the program, press E when prompted.

The following batch file provides a simple scanning facility:

@echo off
echo A simple scanner batch file for "WiNRADiO for DOS".
echo.
echo "Usage: scan i(step size) (sensitivity) [other WiNRADiO parameters]"
dosradio on %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9
rem * setup WiNRADiO for scanning by pre-initialising (optional)
:loop
dosradio %1
rem * increment frequency (first parameter - i[freq])
if not errorlevel %2 goto loop
rem * check to see if signal level was greater than the second
rem * parameter - if not, goto loop
dosradio
rem * show final WiNRADiO status.
echo. choice /c:yn /n Continue scanning?
if not errorlevel 2 goto loop
echo.
echo Finished scanning!

DOSRADIO Parameters

All the hardware features of WiNRADiO are set from the command line. These command line parameters are as follows:

F[freq]	    Set the receiver frequency in kHz from 500 to 1300000.
M[mode]	    Set receiver mode: 'AM', 'SSB', 'FMN' or 'FMW'.
V[vol]	    Set the audio output volume from 0 to 31.
I[freq]	    Increment the current frequency by an amount between -10,000 and +10,000 kHz.
B[offset]   Set the BFO offset to a frequency between -3000 and +3000 Hz.
ON          Switch the receiver power on.
OFF         Switch the receiver power off.
M[+,-]	    Switch mute on/off.
D           Select DX.
L           Select local.
S           Show WiNRADiO status (frequency, mode, etc).