TX Controls

The TX Controls applet provides transmit controls: forward power and SWR meters, RF/Tune power sliders, TX profile selector, TUNE/MOX/ATU/MEM buttons, and APD (Adaptive Pre-Distortion) toggle with status indicators.

Switch TX Profiles (e.g. SSB, Digital)

Use the TX Profile selector to load a named transmit profile from the radio. Profiles store microphone settings, equalizer values, and other transmit parameters, letting you switch quickly between modes such as SSB and Digital.

Before you start

• AetherSDR must be connected to the radio. The TX Controls applet requires an active radio connection.
• At least one transmit profile must already exist on the radio. Create or manage profiles via Profiles > Profile Manager....

Steps

1. Click the TX tray button in the right sidebar to open the TX Controls applet.
2. Locate the TX Profile drop-down near the middle of the applet.
3. Click the drop-down and select the profile name you want to load (for example, "SSB" or "Digital").

The radio loads the selected profile immediately. No confirmation step is required.

What each control does

Control	Kind	Behavior
TX Profile	Drop-down	Selects and loads a transmit profile from the radio. The list is populated by the radio.

Tips

• You can also load a profile from the menu bar without opening the TX Controls applet. Go to Profiles and click the profile name in the checkable list below the separator.
• To create, edit, or delete profiles, go to Profiles > Profile Manager....

Troubleshooting

• TX Profile drop-down is empty — No transmit profiles exist on the radio. Open Profiles > Profile Manager... to create one.
• TX Profile drop-down is not responding — AetherSDR is not connected to the radio. Connect first via Settings > Connect to Radio....

RF Power and Tune Power Sliders

The RF Power and Tune Pwr sliders control transmit power levels. When dragging either slider, a tooltip displays the current value as a percentage (e.g., "50%").

Control	Range	Default	Behavior
RF Power	0–100	100	Sets transmit RF power level as a percentage of the radio's maximum. Calls TransmitModel::setRfPower.
Tune Pwr	0–100	10	Sets tune-carrier power level as a percentage of the radio's maximum. Calls TransmitModel::setTunePower.

Note: In v26.6.1, the slider tooltips now display percentages instead of watt values. The actual power output depends on the radio model and its maximum power rating.

Power Meters

Meter	Range	Behavior
RF Pwr	0–120 W (barefoot), 0–600 W (Aurora 500W); red > 100 W / > 500 W	Displays forward power at the exciter output. Scale changes based on radio model.
SWR	1.0–3.0 (red > 2.5)	Displays standing wave ratio at the exciter.

RF Power meter peak-hold (v26.5.2.1)

The RF Pwr meter includes a peak-hold feature that captures and holds the peak envelope power (PEP) reading:

• The peak value holds steady for 2 seconds after the most recent peak.
• After the hold period, the peak value decays back toward the current reading at a rate that takes approximately 2.5 seconds from peak to zero.
• When you stop transmitting, the peak-hold value resets to zero immediately — a held PEP reading does not linger across overs.

The decay rate scales automatically depending on the radio model: 48 W/s for a barefoot radio (120 W scale) and 240 W/s when an Aurora 500 W exciter is connected (600 W scale).

ATU button behavior (v0.9.5.1)

Starting with v0.9.5.1, the ATU button works as a per-frequency toggle that mirrors the behavior of SmartSDR:

Situation	What the ATU button does
No previous successful tune, or frequency has changed since the last tune	Starts a new ATU tuning cycle.
ATU status is Success (or OK) and the transmit frequency has not changed since the last tune	Switches the tuner to bypass.
ATU is in bypass	The next click starts a fresh tuning cycle.

In practice this means:

1. Click ATU on a new frequency — the tuner runs a full tune cycle.
2. When the Success indicator lights green, click ATU again on the same frequency — the tuner switches to bypass.
3. Change frequency and click ATU — the tuner always starts a fresh cycle, even if the previous status was successful.

The Byp indicator lights orange whenever the tuner is in bypass. The Success indicator lights green when the tune was successful and the tuner is holding that match.

Note: The ATU and MEM buttons are disabled when the TGXL amplifier is in OPERATE mode.

ATU indicator lights

Indicator	Color	Meaning
Success	Green	ATU status is Successful or OK.
Byp	Orange	ATU is in Bypass or ManualBypass.
Mem	Green	ATU is using a memory.

All indicators are dim when the associated condition is not active.

Right-click ATU menu (v26.5.2.1)

Right-click the ATU button to open a context menu with two advanced options.

Menu Item	Action
Pre-tune bands…	Opens the Pre-Tune dialog to sweep antenna tuner settings across a range of frequencies. Enabled only when MEM is active.
Clear ATU memories…	Prompts for confirmation and then clears all stored ATU tune memories on the radio.

Note: Pre-tune bands… is disabled when the MEM button is off. Enable MEM first to use this feature.

TUNE button

Click TUNE to start or stop a tune carrier. While active, the button text changes to "TUNING..." with a red background.

Right-click TUNE menu (v26.5.2.1)

Right-click the TUNE button to choose the carrier shape for the next tune cycle. This is a one-shot selection — the choice is not saved in AetherSDR settings.

Menu Item	Action
Mono Tone	Produces a single-tone carrier. This is the default behavior.
Two Tone	Produces a two-tone carrier used for testing intermodulation distortion.

The radio's tune mode also resets to single-tone after a power cycle.

MOX button

Click MOX to toggle manual transmit. The button turns red while TX is keyed.

MOX button and Quindar tones (v0.9.7)

Starting with v0.9.7, clicking MOX routes the PTT request through the Quindar-tone coordinator rather than keying the transmitter directly. The practical effect is:

• When Quindar is enabled in the Audio Channel Strip and the active TX slice is on a phone mode (SSB, AM, FM, and so on), the K tone plays when MOX is clicked on and the BK tone plays when MOX is clicked off.
• When Quindar is disabled, or the active TX slice is not on a phone mode, behavior is identical to previous versions — the transmitter keys and unkeys immediately.

The MOX button appearance is unchanged: it turns red while TX is keyed and returns to its default color on release.

Note: Quindar tones are a feature of the Audio Channel Strip. Enable the QUIN control there before expecting tones to play on PTT.

MEM button

Click MEM to toggle ATU memory recall on or off. Disabled when TGXL is in OPERATE mode.

APD button and status indicators

Click APD to toggle adaptive pre-distortion on the radio. The status indicators show the current APD state:

Indicator	Meaning
Active (green)	APD is on and the equalizer is actively applied.
Cal (green)	APD is on and still calibrating.
Avail (green)	APD is on and a calibration is available but not yet applied.
All dim	APD is off.

The APD progression follows: Cal (calibrating) → Avail (ready) → Active (applied).

Related

• TX Controls overview
• Set RF output power
• Run a Two-Tone Tune