Brian, Not sure if you're aware of it or not, but depressing the 'SHIFT' key while tuning with the mouse wheel drops it's tuning step by a factor of 10. So if you don't mind two-fisted operation, you'll find that you can really get around the band and still fine-tune cw and ssb stations very quickly using that method.
Also, not all mouse wheels are created equal. I've switched to using several Logitech wireless mice that allow the mouse wheel to either 'free-wheel' (my favorite mode) or operate with the usual detents. I use their model "VX Revolution" with the laptop, and the "MX Revolution" with the desktop. I also have the Shuttle Pro2, which works well, but I've found that nothing is faster than 'click tuning', and since my hand is already on the mouse, using the free-wheeling mouse wheel in combination with the 'shift' key is a mighty efficient tuning method. However, the many programmable buttons on the ShuttlePro2 do come in handy for other non-tuning operations. 73, Dale WA8SRA Brian Lloyd wrote: > I know, "Real radios don't need knobs," but until you really change > the architecture of the system, they sure are nice to have. In fact, > the knobs are still there but you have to use a mouse to move them. My > Griffin Powermate VFO knob is still back ordered along with my second > RX so in the mean time I have been using the mouse to do all the > twiddling on the radio. > > Personally I find the sliders annoying. I have finally set the AF gain > to a reasonable level and resorted to using the knob on the front of > the speakers. It is *much* more convenient than trying to grab the > volume slider on the screen with the mouse pointer. I can find and > turn that knob Right Now when my wife says something to me. > > And tuning is a bit awkward as well. I find I use the mouse scroll- > wheel the most. I have it set to 100Hz/step so I can move pretty > rapidly across the band but even that is awkward as it is too corse > for final tuning of voice or CW (or anything) and too fine for moving > really rapidly. I am looking forward to that Griffin knob. > > I have tried the point-n-click tuning but find I keep making the same > mistake (call it brain flatulence). I right click to enable then left > click on the signal in the pan display. But when I do that I never get > it quite right and my tendency is to want to grab the pan display > background with the left mouse pointer to drag-tune. Oops -- forgot to > right-click the tune pointer off. Of course, now I am nowhere near > where I was before and I wasn't paying attention to the exact > frequency so getting back is usually by guess and by god. (Oh, and I > keep thinking that I need to click where I want the BFO injection to > be, not in the center of the signal. Too clever for my own good, eh?) > > OK, enough with the complaints. Let's be productive. > > I want some knobs. I want real knobs too. There is something > ergonomically right about a knob in that you can find it in the dark > and feel where you are in its adjustment range when you are moving it > especially if it has some kind of detent or pointer. Yes, I suspect > that once we get to Bob's and Frank's "cognitive radio" we might not > need the knobs but for now, I want something I can grab-n-tweak > instead of drag-n-drop. Has anyone made PowerSDR work with any of the > MIDI control surfaces that are readily available? (I have a control > surface I use for recording.) I am also open to other ideas as well. > > (Yes, I looked on the KB and FAQ but didn't find it. If it is there I > apologize for wasting people's time here. Thanks!) > > BTW, one of the things I do for fun is design aircraft cockpits for > experimental aircraft. The goal there is to make hand placement as > natural as possible while still flying the airplane. I do a fair bit > of formation flying where I am all of 5' away from another airplane > while going 200 mph. Looking into the cockpit to find a switch or knob > or switching hands on the stick in order to find a switch on the other > side of the cockpit is NOT an option. So being able to find and work > all the controls without having to look or remove my right hand from > the stick is rather important to me. :-) I guess this spills over into > working the radios too. > > -- > > 73 de Brian, WB6RQN > Brian Lloyd - brian HYPHEN wb6rqn AT lloyd DOT com > > > > > _______________________________________________ > FlexRadio Systems Mailing List > FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz > http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz > Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ > Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: > http://www.flex-radio.com/ > > > _______________________________________________ FlexRadio Systems Mailing List FlexRadio@flex-radio.biz http://mail.flex-radio.biz/mailman/listinfo/flexradio_flex-radio.biz Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/flexradio%40flex-radio.biz/ Knowledge Base: http://kb.flex-radio.com/ Homepage: http://www.flex-radio.com/
