SCAN505 software is freeware. Download and try it if you like. It is a simple scanner program for the Kachina DSP505. The software does NOT control the radio thru the interface port - it works in conjuction with the Kachina control software using the file interface. The Kachina control software (supplied by Kachina) must be installed and running for the program to function properly. The program will run under Win9x operating system. The program will NOT run under Windows 3.1.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You must have the INTERFACE TO LOGGING PROGRAMS in the Kachina control software turned ON in order for SCAN505 to work. In the Kachina software - click SPECIAL, then STATION SETTINGS, then INTERFACE TO OTHER LOGBOOKS, and make sure it is set to ON.

Installation - To install the program, download the file SCAN505.ZIP and unzip it in a temporary directory. The program itself is very small but the installation requires MicroSoft Visual Basic 6.0 components that are included in the ZIP file. After you have have unzipped the file, use the ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS option from the Windows Control Panel to run SETUP.EXE and install the program. Use the same option to remove the program should you so desire. After the program is installed, the ZIP file and resulting files in the temporary directory may be deleted.

Setup - when you run the program the first time, click and then enter the port number for your Kachina radio and the full path name to the Kachina software on your hard disc when prompted.

Program screen/features - Scan505 is simple to operate and all available functions and features are displayed on the main screen.

The MAIN DISPLAY displays the current freq/mode of the radio.

Click a MODE (USB, LSB, etc.) to change the radio's mode.

Click SCAN to start scanning. Click 5, 10, or 15 to set scan delay.

Click TUNE to start tuning. Click UP or DN to select tuning direction. Remember that the program uses a file interface for controlling the radio thru the Kachina control software, so the TUNE feature does not operate at the speed of light, but may be useful for tuning on a quiet band while you are reading email......

Click 10, 5, 1, or .1 to select tuning increment.

Click any of the buttons in the AMATEUR BAND panel to QSY the radio to the desired band. Set the mode before you click the band button - selecting CW will send the radio to the beginning of the CW segment for that band, and selecting either LSB or USB will send the radio to the beginning of the SSB segment of the band.

The program displays 6 rows of 7 buttons per row. There are 15 available memory 'banks' for a total of 630 memories. Gray buttons are memories that will be skipped during the SCAN function. Green buttons will be scanned during the SCAN function. To QSY the radio to a programed frequency, left click the desired memory button. Functions are available for each memory button by right clicking the memory buttion, which will pop up a menu -

To save the radio's current frequency/mode in the selected memory, click SAVE. To clear the selected memory, click CLEAR. To add a NAME to the current memory button, first type the name into the INPUT WINDOW at the top of the screen, and then click NAME. Click SCAN SKIP to select or deselect the memory for scanning.

The INPUT WINDOW is used for entering names for memory buttons and can also be used to QSY the radio to a desired frequency not saved in a memory. Type the frequency, i.e., 28540.0 and press the ENTER button on the keyboard to QSY the radio.

Use the FREQ and NAME buttons to switch the memory button display from frequency to the names you have added for memory buttons.

Use the BANK buttons (1 thru 15) to select the desired memory bank. Memory data is stored in text files BANK1.DAT thru BANK15.DAT, so if you want to backup the data you have stored, just backup the DAT files.

The STOP button is used to stop (go figure) the scanning or tuning feature. If you are tuning or scanning, clicking any memory button will also stop the tuning or scanning, as will clicking SCAN or TUNE on the display window.

The Kachina button will bring the Kachina control software to the front of the windows enviornment, if the Kachina control software is running and not mimized to the task bar. If the Kachina control software is not running, the program will attempt to start it.

The DX button will bring ClusterBuster2000 to the front of the windows enviornment, if the program is running and not mimized to the task bar. If the program is not running, the SCAN505 will attempt to start it. ClusterBuster2000 must be installed in the C:\CB2000 folder and the EXE file name must be CB2000.EXE.

The RECORDER button will start the Windows sound recorder program (SNDREC32.EXE) so you can record the audio being received on the radio (if you have the output from the radio interfaced to your computer's sound card). Click HERE to see an interface schematic. SNDREC32.EXE should be located in the Windows folder so that SCAN505 can find it. If have another favorite sound recording program, just put it in the Windows folder and name it SNDREC32.EXE.

Scan505 was written for my own use, but I thought it might be useful to other Kachina owners, hence it is available for downloading. It works fine on my computer, but I can't guarantee that it will work on yours. If you experience a problem, please let me know and I'll try and help you sort it out.

If you would like to try the program, click HERE to download SCAN505 version 2.0 (1.5 MB). The program is FREEWARE.

Please send any bug reports or suggestions for additional features to me via EMAIL.

73, Jim KH2D

P.S.I also found another useful little program on the internet (thanks to W4FIN) called Scanner Recorder that you can download for free.

It allows you to monitor a frequency and by adjusting the threshold level on the recorder, you can record what is heard only when the frequency is busy. This program works great with the Kachina 505 DSP - just set the squelch on the Kachina to SYLLABIC and the VOX level on the program to five percent, and you will record virtually nothing but what you want to hear. Have fun....