Turn on the CW decoder to read Morse off-air¶
The CW decode panel appears beneath the panadapter and displays incoming Morse code as readable text in real time. Use it to copy off-air CW without a separate decoding program.
Before you start¶
- AetherSDR must be connected to a FLEX-8600 radio.
- PC audio must be routed to AetherSDR. The panel itself shows the reminder "(requires PC Audio)" — decoding will not work without it.
- Tune to a CW signal and set the mode to CW on the active slice.
Steps¶
- In the panadapter title bar, confirm the correct slice is shown in the "Slice" title label (for example, "Slice A").
- Open the CW decode panel. The panel appears below the spectrum/waterfall area and is hidden by default — look for a CW control or mode button that exposes it for the active slice. Once visible, the panel shows the label CW in blue alongside the hint (requires PC Audio).
- Watch the CW decode text area at the bottom of the panel. As the decoder tracks the signal, decoded characters roll in and are coloured by confidence: green (high), yellow, orange, or red (low).
- Check the CW stats label above the text area. It shows the detected pitch and speed in the format
<Hz> <WPM>, for example600 Hz 20 WPM. Confirm these match the signal you are listening to before relying on the decode.
What each control does¶
| Control | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Sens slider | Filters low-confidence characters. Higher values reject more uncertain decodes. | 30 |
| 🔒P (Lock Pitch) toggle | Locks the decoder to the current detected pitch so it stops searching. | Off |
| 🔒S (Lock Speed) toggle | Locks the decoder to the current detected speed (WPM). | Off |
| Lo slider | Minimum pitch the decoder searches. Clamped to be ≤ Hi. | 500 Hz |
| Hi slider | Maximum pitch the decoder searches. Clamped to be ≥ Lo. | 700 Hz |
| CPY ALL | Copies the entire decoded text buffer to the clipboard. | — |
| CPY VIS | Copies only the text currently visible in the scroll area to the clipboard. | — |
| CLR | Clears the CW decode buffer. | — |
| × (close CW) | Hides the CW decode panel. | — |
| CW stats label | Indicator showing detected pitch and speed. Read-only. | — |
| CW decode text | Rolling read-only display of decoded characters, coloured by confidence. Right-click opens a context menu with a Clear option in addition to the standard text actions. | — |
| ## Tips |
- If the text area fills with low-confidence (orange or red) characters, increase Sens to filter them out. Start around 50 and raise until noise characters disappear.
- Narrow the pitch search range with Lo and Hi to match the sidetone of the station you are copying. This reduces false triggers from nearby signals.
- Once the CW stats label settles on a stable pitch and speed, enable 🔒P (Lock Pitch) and 🔒S (Lock Speed) to prevent the decoder from drifting to another signal.
- Use CLR before a new QSO to keep the text area readable. You can also right-click the CW decode text area and choose Clear from the context menu.
Troubleshooting¶
- No text appears in the decode area — Verify PC audio is routed to AetherSDR. The panel shows "(requires PC Audio)" as a reminder. Without it the decoder receives no audio and produces no output.
- Decode text is mostly red or orange — The signal confidence is low. Increase Sens, or narrow the Lo/Hi pitch range to match the actual sidetone frequency shown in the CW stats label.
- Wrong pitch or speed shown in CW stats label — Do not engage 🔒P (Lock Pitch) or 🔒S (Lock Speed) until the stats label has stabilised on the target signal.