[RTTY] fldig Tip-of-the-Day for Deaf Waterfall (Rev)

[Dick Kriss]

This is a revised copy of my posting to the fldigi reflector as there maybe some fldigi users in other discussion groups.

I turned on fldigi-3.21.83 to start working the two new W1AW/P stations and noticed the waterfall display was black and fldigi was deaf to signals I could hear from the Kenwood TS-590’s speaker.  I have seen this before but could not remember how I fixed it.

I restarted OS X 10.9.4 and fldigi-3.21.83 using my backup fldigi_def.xml file and waterfall was still black and no signals were being decoded. I then quit fldigi and replaced the fldigi.prefs file with a backup file and restarted fldigi. Bingo, the waterfall came alive and was working normal. 

Thanks to help from Dave, W1HKJ, in comparing the statements in the two files it turned out to be an operator error.  I don’t usually mess with "Waterfall drop speed" options (that rotates between FAST, SLOW, NORMAL AND PAUSE) on the bottom center of the fldigi menu bar. I must have moused on it in error and selected PAUSE. When I quit fldigi, it wrote the PAUSE setting to the fldigi.prefs file. On the next start the waterfall was paused, black and fldigi was deaf to incoming signals that could be heard from the TS-590S. Mouse clicking to anything but PAUSE fixed the problem.

The tip-of-the-day is if you need to use the Waterfall drop speed “PAUSE” option be sure to return it to one of the other settings before exiting fldigi.

There are no new rules but some of us forget and tend to revisit old rules from time to time. I hope this tip-of-the-day reminder helps others, like me, with less than perfect memory.

73 Dick AA5VU