feat(tci): name the transmit audio source when keying, per the protocol

The specification settles what a night of experiments could only guess at.
TRX takes an optional THIRD argument naming the signal source — tci, mic1,
mic2, micPC, ecoder2 — and TCI 2.0 says it plainly: 'The signal for
transmitting is always taken from the microphone selected in the
ExpertSDR3. If a third-party software connected via TCI wants to transmit
its audio signal, you must specify the third argument - TCI.'

Without it the radio sends no chrono at all, whatever the mode. That is
what the SSB attempts ran into, and what was misread here as 'digital
modes only' — the mode was never the rule, the missing argument was.

So OpsLog says it, following the 'To radio' device: 'tci' when the voice
keyer owns the transmission, nothing at all otherwise, which leaves the
operator's own microphone alone for every other PTT. Nobody has to find
that setting in ExpertSDR3 and set it again for every mode, which is how
it is remembered there.

Two more things from the same document. A chrono with no audio ready is
now answered with silence rather than left unanswered — the vendor calls
that preferable. And the receive stream declares float32 and two channels
instead of trusting the defaults: they are the documented defaults, but a
default is something another program sharing this radio can have changed,
and a stream in an unexpected format is heard as noise rather than as a
mistake.
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# OpsLog
# Transceiver Control Interface
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## Introduction
A modern, fast ham-radio logger for Windows — single-strip entry, real-time CAT
for **OmniRig**, native **FlexRadio/SmartSDR**, native **Icom CI-V** (USB **and**
remote-over-internet, replacing RS-BA1) and **TCI** (SunSDR / Expert Electronics),
DX cluster with spot alerts, awards tracking, maps, contest logging, QSL
management and a QSL-card designer. Built with **Wails v2** (Go backend +
React/TypeScript frontend), **pure Go** (no CGO): SQLite for configuration,
optional **shared MySQL** for the logbook so several operators can run one log.
Fully themeable and bilingual (English / French).
TCI (Transceiver Control Interface) is a network interface for control, data transfer and
synchronization between transceiver/receiver, contest loggers, digital mode software, skimmers
and other software, as well as external power amplifiers, bandpass filter units, antenna switches,
radio controllers and other devices.
Developed by **F4BPO**.
TCI was created as a modern alternative to the outdated COM port and audio cable
interfaces, it uses a full duplex web socket protocol that runs on top of a TCP connection and
serves for server-client communications, providing cross-platform connectivity. Transceiver works
as a server, all other software and devices as clients. The server and clients can be inside the
same computer (program-server, hardware log, etc.-clients) and/or in separate physical devices
connected through the local network (classical transceiver, power amplifier, antenna switch, FFT
unit, etc.).
---
The TCI interface contains basic transceiver control commands (analog of CAT system),
receives CW macros from clients and broadcasts them, outputs transceiver IQ stream to clients,
receives spots from skimmers and Internet clusters, receives/outputs audio signal to work in
digital modes.
## Building / developing
The TCI uses an extensible architecture and can be supplemented with new functions and
commands, while keeping the old ones operational. Thus, the TCI interface can be extended and
supplemented to meet the specific needs of any software manufacturer and/or device
manufacturer (receivers, transceivers, power amplifiers, switches, etc.). The presence of a device
identifier allows the manufacturers of transceivers and receivers to switch to the TCI interface
while maintaining the device model designation. The extensibility of the TCI interface allows you
to create an individual set of commands and functions for each device model, while maintaining
the basic command set inherent to all transceivers.
- **Dev:** `wails dev` (Vite hot-reload; Go methods reachable at http://localhost:34115).
- **Build:** `wails build` (use the project's wails v2.11 — `~/go/bin/wails.exe`).
- **Regenerate Go↔TS bindings** after changing exported `App` methods:
`wails generate module`.
- **Release:** `.vscode/release.ps1` (Ctrl+Shift+P → *Tasks: Run Task*
*Release OpsLog*) — bumps the version, pushes source to Gitea, builds the exe
and publishes it to Gitea + GitHub releases.
Our company advocates universal unification of data exchange between devices and
software by creating the TCI interface for this purpose. Modern transceivers and software must
communicate using one protocol - the TCI protocol.
---
## Interface description
## Logging
Any command represents an ASCII string that contains a command name and a list of
arguments corresponding to this command. There are reserved characters that cannot be
included in the command name and command arguments.
- **Single-strip entry:** callsign, RST tx/rx, name/QTH/grid, band/mode,
TX/RX frequency (split), start/end time, comment/note. The contacted entity's
**flag** is shown large next to the RST fields.
- **Callsign lookup** (QRZ.com / HamQTH) with photo, auto-fill of name/QTH/grid
and the QRZ.com tab.
- **Offline DXCC** resolution from `cty.dat` (country, CQ/ITU zones, continent),
with `/MM` `/AM` `/B` (beacon) and call-area (`/8`, `/W6`) handling, plus
ClubLog DXpedition date overrides.
- **Recent QSOs**, **Worked-before** matrix (per band/mode slot), bulk re-resolve
from cty/QRZ/ClubLog, bulk send to QSL services. A live **selection count**, a
**Select all / Unselect all** toggle, and a row limit that keeps the full log
fast **but is lifted while a filter is active** (every match is shown, not just
the first page).
- **Advanced QSO filter builder** (field / operator / value, AND / OR, saved
presets) with filtered- and selected-row **ADIF export**.
- **Find duplicates** (Tools) — groups QSOs by same call + band + mode (optionally
same day / minute) and lets you pick which to delete.
- **ADIF 3.1.7 compliant** import/export: a full field dictionary, 30 promoted
columns, a generic "extra fields" editor and standard/all export modes.
- **Profiles:** every setting is per-profile; each profile can point its logbook
at the local SQLite file or a **shared MySQL** database (multi-operator).
List of reserved characters: «:», «,», «;».
## Maps & antenna
Command structure:
1. Name of the command;
2. Separating character between command name and arguments «:»;
3. Separating character between arguments «,»;
4. End of the command character «;».
- **Main view = two configurable panes** (per profile, Settings → General →
*Main view*): great-circle map, locator (street) map, the cluster grid, the
worked-before grid, recent QSOs, the **FlexRadio controls**, the **Icom
console** or the **Net control** panel.
- **Great-circle map** with short/long-path distance & azimuth, selectable
basemaps (Light / Voyager / Street / Satellite, all key-free and labelled) and
the **antenna beam lobe(s)** drawn from the rotor azimuth.
- **Rotor compass** (azimuthal-equidistant, click-to-turn) driven by
**PstRotator** (UDP), a **4O3A Rotator Genius** (native TCP) or a **microHAM
ARCO** controlled natively — no PstRotator needed — over the **LAN** or **USB**
using its Yaesu GS-232A protocol.
- **Ultrabeam** support (Normal / 180° reverse / Bidirectional): the radiating
direction is shown in green and the **mechanical boom** in grey, on both the
compass and the map, so you never lose track of where the antenna points.
If a command has no arguments, an end of command symbol is placed after the command
name. If the command is invalid, it is ignored. The case of letters does not matter.
## DX Cluster
The ExpertSDR3 program acts as a server, which can have several client connections at
the same time, they will be synchronized with each other by the server. When connecting to the
ExpertSDR3, the client receives the current status of the ExpertSDR3, first sending initialization
commands, then parameters to set the status, such as frequency, modulation, etc.
- Multiple cluster servers with auto-reconnect, a master for commands.
- **Filter sidebar** (callsign search, hide-worked, group duplicates, band /
mode / status / source) shared by the Cluster tab and the Main-view cluster
pane, with a show/hide toggle.
- Per-spot **status** (new / new-band / new-slot / worked), click-to-tune the
rig, and a multi-band **Band Map** (panadapter-style strips). Optionally, all
**digital modes count as one** (DXCC-style) for the new/new-slot colouring and
the worked-before matrix badges (Settings → General).
- **POTA** spots are tagged with their park reference (via `api.pota.app`).
- **Spot alerts:** rules on call / country / band / mode /
spotter, with sound, visual and e-mail notification (Tools → *Alert
management*).
When a parameter change occurs in the ExpertSDR3 (server) program, the server notifies
all connected clients, i.e., clients do not need to poll the server constantly, any change of state
will be sent in time to all clients. If the client sends a new state, the server will set it to itself, as
well as send it to all clients, that is, the server acts as a synchronizer. All clients connected to the
server will be automatically synchronized. This way of work allows to minimize network load,
reducing traffic.
## CAT control
The TCI protocol implements the transmission of receiver IQ stream to clients, which is
necessary for the work of special skimmer software, they automatically find the station and
decode it throughout the band, and it also allows you to record radio signals in the file.
Four native backends (Settings → CAT), each with auto-reconnect and a fast,
non-blocking connect so a powered-off radio never freezes the app:
TCI is also used to transmit audio signals of the receiver to clients and to receive audio
signals from clients, i.e., the client can transmit audio signals to ExpertSDR3 for radio
transmission. The audio stream exchange is designed to work with digital modes, where encoding
and decoding is performed by third-party software, as well as in voice modes, where audio macros
can be broadcasted, which is very much in demand in contest loggers.
- **OmniRig** (Rig 1/2, hot-swap) — works with any OmniRig-supported rig.
- **FlexRadio (SmartSDR)** over the radio's TCP API — real-time slice freq /
mode / split, UDP discovery, and **panadapter spots** (cluster spots pushed to
the Flex display; a click fills the call and **tunes the rig to the right
frequency AND mode**).
- **Icom CI-V** — native, over the radio's **USB** port *or* over the internet
via the radio's **built-in LAN server** (see *Remote Icom* below). No RS-BA1 or
Remote Utility needed.
- **TCI** (WebSocket) — SunSDR / ExpertSDR2 and any TCI-compatible server:
freq / mode / PTT / split, plus optional panorama spots.
Mode is taken from the radio; the digital sub-mode (FT4 vs FT8) is inferred from
the frequency. **Per-band Flex RX/TX antennas** can be configured and are applied
automatically on band change.
### FlexRadio control tab (SmartSDR-style)
Shown only when the CAT backend is a FlexRadio:
- **Transmit:** RF power, tune power, TUNE, MOX, speech processor (NOR/DX/DX+),
VOX (+ level + delay), monitor (+ level), mic gain.
- **Receive (active slice):** RX/TX **antenna** selectors and a **DAX** toggle
(TX audio through DAX, for WSJT-X & co), AGC mode/threshold, audio level,
NB / WNB / NR / ANF, and — on **SmartSDR v4** radios (8000 / Aurora series) —
the extra DSP tools **NRL, NRS, NRF** (with level) plus **RNN** (AI noise
reduction) and **ANFT** (FFT auto-notch), shown automatically when the radio
supports them. **RIT / XIT** with wheel / ± tuning.
- **Antenna tuner (ATU):** tune / bypass / memories.
- **Amplifier:** the amp card follows whichever amplifier is configured, with a
dropdown to pick it when **several amplifiers** are set up (e.g. two SPEs run
in parallel). See *Amplifiers & switches* below.
- **Live meters** over the UDP VITA-49 stream: S-meter (S-units), forward power
(W), SWR, ALC, PA temperature, voltage, plus the amplifier's meters.
### Icom control tab
Shown when the CAT backend is Icom (USB or network). A full RS-BA1-style console:
- **Twin VFO readout** (MAIN / SUB) with the big tabular frequency, mode badge,
band and RIT/ΔTX offset, and a **mode-button row** (SSB / CW / RTTY / PSK /
AM / FM).
- **Spectrum scope + waterfall** (panadapter): ON/OFF, CTR/FIX, double-click to
tune, and **◀ ⊙ ▶** buttons to centre the scope on the current frequency
(±50 kHz) and pan left/right.
- **Live meters** always visible: S-meter (click → fill RST), power in watts, SWR.
- **Receive DSP:** AF / RF gain, squelch, AGC, preamp, attenuator, filter
(FIL1/2/3), NB, NR, ANF and — **on CW only** — the **APF** (audio peak filter).
- **Passband / notch:** Twin PBT (inner / outer), manual notch + position.
- **Transmit:** RF power, MOX, TUNE, **split with an automatic offset**
(+5 kHz on SSB, +1 kHz on CW), and monitor. On **voice modes only**: mic gain,
speech compressor, VOX (+ gain + anti-VOX). Controls that don't apply to the
current mode are hidden automatically.
- **Bands & antenna:** one-touch band buttons and ANT1/ANT2 selection.
- **Clarifiers:** RIT and ΔTX with wheel / ± tuning (Ctrl+←/→ nudges RIT).
- **Power ON / OFF** buttons (manual by design — the app never wakes the rig on
connect).
- **CW keying** can run through the radio's own keyer (see *Keyers* below).
### Remote Icom (over the internet, no RS-BA1)
OpsLog speaks the IC-7610's built-in network protocol directly — it **replaces
both the Icom Remote Utility and RS-BA1**. Enter the radio's IP, the Network
User1 name/password and the CI-V address, and the whole Icom console works over
the LAN/internet: login + token (auto-renewed), CI-V tunnel, receive-side
retransmit for a rock-solid link even with the panadapter streaming, and manual
power ON/OFF. (Audio is out of scope — use the radio in USB + a voice link such
as Mumble.)
## Keyers & audio
- **CW keyer** with macros and F-key macros. The keyer engine is selectable:
**WinKeyer** (K1EL WK1/2/3 over a COM port), **FlexRadio CWX** (the radio's
built-in keyer over the SmartSDR API — type-ahead and backspace, no WinKeyer or
SmartCAT needed), **Icom** (the radio's own keyer over CI-V — no extra hardware,
works over the remote link too) or **TCI**.
- **Digital Voice Keyer** (DVK): record F1F6 voice messages and transmit them.
- **QSO audio recording:** continuous rolling capture; on *Log QSO* the contact
is saved to a per-QSO WAV (`CALL_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.wav`); mixes RX + mic.
## Amplifiers & switches
- **Amplifiers** — configure **one or several** amps (Settings → Amplifier is a
list; e.g. two SPEs run in parallel for more power). Each amp's control card
appears on the FlexRadio tab and in **Station Control**, with a dropdown to
choose which one it shows; the bottom status bar carries **one clickable chip
per amp** (green = OPERATE, orange = STANDBY, red = offline). Supported:
- **PowerGenius XL** (4O3A) over direct TCP — operate/standby, fan-mode
selector and fault display.
- **SPE Expert** (1.3K-FA / 1.5K-FA / 2K-FA) over **USB** (virtual COM) or the
**network** (RS232-to-Ethernet bridge) — operate/standby, ON/OFF,
Low / Mid / High output level, an output-power bar and live status (band,
SWR, PA current, temperature, warnings/alarms).
- **ACOM** (500S / 600S / 700S / 1200S / 2020S) over **USB** or the **network**
(RS232-to-Ethernet bridge) — operate/standby/off and live telemetry (forward
& reflected power, SWR, PA temperature, band, fan, faults). Power-ON works
over a serial cable that wires the DTR/RTS lines.
- **Antenna Genius** (4O3A) antenna switch over TCP/GSCP — a docked A/B
antenna-switch widget.
- **Station Control** panel (dockable, drag-to-reorder widgets): the **rotator**,
**Ultrabeam** element control and **relay boards** — WebSwitch 1216H, KMTronic,
**Denkovi** USB (FT245 D2XX bit-bang, 4 or 8 relays) and generic USB-serial
(CH340 / LCUS, A0 protocol) — for station power, antennas and accessories.
- **Relay auto-control** (Settings): switch Station-Control relays automatically
from the rig frequency / band (like PstRotator) — per relay, a frequency window
or a set of bands.
## QSL & awards
- **Awards engine:** built-in + custom award definitions (shared **globally**
across profiles) — DXCC, WAS / WAZ / WAC, WPX, IOTA / POTA / SOTA / WWFF,
**DDFM**, worked/confirmed/validated by band & mode, OR rules and manual
reference assignment, live reference detection on call entry, **reference-list
import** for totals/names, and a **Rescan** that re-pulls the logbook (picks up
fresh LoTW/QRZ confirmations).
- **QSL services:** ClubLog (batched ADIF upload), LoTW, QRZ.com, eQSL — upload
and **confirmation download** (which auto-refreshes the award stats).
- **QSL Card Designer** (see below).
- **E-mail eQSL:** right-click a QSO → *Send eQSL by e-mail* via the configured
SMTP account. (Outlook/Hotmail disable basic-auth SMTP — use Gmail with an app
password, or a Microsoft app password.)
## Contest logging
- **Contest tab:** pick a contest (built-in ADIF `CONTEST_ID` list) and an
exchange (running serial or a fixed exchange). OpsLog auto-fills `CONTEST_ID`
and the sent/received serials (`STX` / `SRX`), enforces a window start/end,
flags dupes and keeps a live scoreboard.
## Statistics
- **Logbook statistics dashboard:** headline tiles (QSOs, unique callsigns, DXCC
entities, continents, % confirmed) plus charts — QSOs **by mode**, a per-band
**CW / phone / data** split, **activity over time** (rolling day / 7-day /
30-day / 12-month views), by operator and by continent. Date-range, per-operator
and per-contest filters, and a **Table** view that mirrors every chart.
## Multi-operator live status (special events)
For a multi-op special-event call on a shared MySQL logbook (e.g. **TM74TFR**),
publishing is **automatic** — no setting to turn on. Each OpsLog instance
heartbeats its current activity (operator call, band, frequency, mode) into a
`live_status` table every ~15 s, and drops back to *off air* automatically 5 min
after the last logged QSO. A small PHP renderer
([`docs/livestatus/tm74-status.php`](docs/livestatus/tm74-status.php)) on your
own web server reads that table and produces a live page/image you can embed on
the station's **QRZ.com** bio (`<img src="…/tm74-status.php?img=1">`). OpsLog
only writes to the DB — it is not a web server.
## Net control
- **Directed-net logging** (Tools → Net): a global roster (`nets.json`) plus an
in-memory active session — check stations in, then log them individually or the
whole net at once (**Log everyone**) using the CAT frequency. **Drag & drop**
between the two lists (roster → on-air starts a QSO, on-air → roster logs it),
and after each log the next on-air station is selected automatically so you can
chain contacts.
## Appearance & language
- **Themes:** four complete themes (Warm light, Warm dark, Graphite dark, High
contrast) plus **Auto** (follows the OS light/dark preference), selectable in
Settings → General. Every panel and every AG-Grid table follows the theme.
- **Bilingual:** full **English / French** UI, with a first-run flag chooser and
a switcher in Settings → General.
## Security
- **Secret vault:** opt-in passphrase encryption of the stored passwords
(AES-GCM + PBKDF2). Encrypted values are portable; a single unlock prompt at
launch decrypts them for the session.
## Integrations (outbound)
- **UDP emitters:** push the current frequency to **PstRotator**, radio info in
**N1MM `RadioInfo`** format, or an **ADIF record on each logged QSO** — so
external tools (rotator control, digital apps, other loggers) stay in sync.
## Other
- **Autostart:** launch external programs (WSJT-X, JTAlert, rotator control…) at
OpsLog startup, skipping any already running.
- **Backup:** optional database + ADIF backup at shutdown.
- **Update check** at startup and every 5 minutes (and on opening Help → About),
with a toast (toggleable), plus a **What's new** dialog that shows the changelog
(English / French) on the first launch after an update — reopenable any time
from the Help menu.
- **Anonymous usage telemetry** (a once-a-day heartbeat: random install ID +
version + OS — no callsign or QSO data; opt-out in Preferences).
---
## QSL Card Designer
Tools → *QSL Card Designer…* turns a few photos into a polished eQSL card:
1. Pick 16 photos (jpeg/png). OpsLog analyzes them offline (detail/luminance
grid) and proposes **3 designs** — callsign in the calmest zone of the best
photo, operator name, CQ/ITU zones + locator line, country flag, the other
photos as bordered inserts, and a per-QSO confirmation box.
2. Pick a proposal and fine-tune it: click an element to select, drag to move,
change font / style preset (gel gold, gel silver, classic white outline,
script, flat) and per-preset knobs in the right panel.
3. Save the template (photos are copied into `data/qsl/templates/<id>/`, so the
originals can move). One template can be the default per profile.
Sending: right-click a QSO → *Send eQSL by e-mail*. The card is rendered with
that QSO's data, rasterized to a ≤ 800 KB JPEG, archived in `data/qsl/outbox/`
and sent through the configured SMTP account to the address found by the
QRZ/HamQTH lookup. On success the QSO is stamped `EQSL_SENT=Y` (ADIF). The
e-mail subject/body templates live in the designer
(`{CALL} {DATE} {BAND} {MODE} {MYCALL}` variables).
Fonts: Archivo Black, Lilita One, Baloo 2, Oswald, Great Vibes, Allura (all
OFL, embedded — licenses in `internal/qslcard/assets/fonts/`); Cooper Black is
offered when MS Office installed it. Flags: flag-icons (MIT), embedded for the
commonly-worked DXCC entities.
---
## Data & storage
- **Config** (settings, profiles, rigs/antennas, cluster nodes, lookup cache,
award lists, QSL templates) always lives in the local SQLite file under
`data/` — instant even when the logbook is on a far-away MySQL.
- **Logbook** (QSOs) lives where the active profile points it: the local SQLite
file or a per-profile shared **MySQL** database.
---
*A French version of this document is available in [README.fr.md](README.fr.md).*
When working in contests, it is important to record all on the air operation, for this purpose
the audio stream from the line-output is sent to all clients. The resulting audio stream can be
recorded to a file or played back with a PC sound card.