Adjust waveform amplitude zoom and time window¶

The Zoom slider in the Waveform applet scales the amplitude axis of the waveform display. Increasing zoom stretches small signals vertically so they are easier to read; decreasing it prevents clipping artifacts from obscuring the trace on loud signals. The Window slider controls the time window shown in the waveform display.

Before you start¶

The Waveform applet must be visible. If it is not, click the WAVE tray button in the right sidebar to show it.
The settings drawer must be open. If only the waveform trace is visible with no controls below it, double-click the waveform display to open the drawer. The drawer state is persisted across sessions.

Steps¶

Double-click the waveform display to open the settings drawer if it is not already open.
Locate the Zoom row or the Window row in the settings drawer.
Adjust the desired slider:
Drag the Zoom slider left to decrease zoom or right to increase zoom. The readout to the right of the slider updates immediately, showing the current value as a multiplier (for example, 1.7x).
Drag the Window slider left to decrease the time window or right to increase it. The readout to the right of the slider updates immediately, showing the current value in milliseconds or seconds (for example, 1 s or 240 ms).
Release the slider. The new value is saved automatically to WaveApplet_ZoomPercent or WaveApplet_TimeWindowMs. The drawer expanded/collapsed state is also saved automatically to WaveApplet_DrawerExpanded.

What each control does¶

Control	Default	Valid range	Persisted key
Zoom	170 (1.7x)	100–600 (displayed as 1.0x–6.0x)	`WaveApplet_ZoomPercent`
Window	1 s	240 ms, 480 ms, 1 s, 2 s, 3 s, 4 s, 5 s, 6 s, 7 s, 8 s, 9 s, 10 s	`WaveApplet_TimeWindowMs`

The Zoom slider value is an integer percentage. The waveform display divides it by 100 to produce the multiplier shown in the readout. A value of 100 means no zoom (1.0x); 600 is maximum zoom (6.0x).

The Window slider selects from discrete time window steps. The first two notches provide sub-second detail (240 ms and 480 ms), followed by one-second increments from 1 second to 10 seconds. Each notch is a deliberate stop, not a continuous range.

The settings drawer state¶

The settings drawer (which contains the View, Zoom, Window, and FPS controls) remembers whether it was open or closed when you last used the applet. When you reopen the Waveform applet, the drawer restores to its previous state. If you always want the drawer open, leave it open before closing the applet or restarting AetherSDR.

Lean mode¶

When lean mode is active, the Waveform applet is hidden from view and all audio scope data is silently discarded without any processing. This reduces CPU usage by avoiding the real-time waveform rendering that normally runs at the configured FPS rate.

To toggle lean mode for the Waveform applet:

Open the appearance or applet management panel (available from the right-click menu or toolbar).
Locate the Waveform applet entry.
Click the visibility toggle to enable or disable lean mode.

When lean mode is off, the applet is visible and processes audio normally. When lean mode is on, the applet is hidden and the setActive(false) method is called, which: - Hides the applet widget from the user interface. - Drops all incoming scope sample data without appending it to the buffer. - Stops the 24 Hz software repaint cycle.

The upstream AudioEngine::{tx,rx}PostChainScopeReady signals still fire on each audio callback, but the scope processing is skipped entirely.

Tips¶

At high zoom levels, signals near full scale will produce clipping highlights (red column emphasis and a CLIP N counter in the header). If you see frequent clipping indicators after raising zoom, reduce the value until the trace fits within the display without hitting the edges.
The zoom and window settings apply equally to RX and TX paths. The direction tint (cool for RX, warm for TX) still distinguishes which path is active regardless of zoom level.
To inspect a transient at higher zoom without missing it in real time, pause the display first by single-clicking the waveform, then adjust zoom while the snapshot is frozen.
Use a shorter window (240 ms or 480 ms) to see fine details in fast waveforms. Use a longer window (5 s to 10 s) to see overall level changes over time.
The click discrimination interval used to distinguish single-click from double-click respects the value you set in Radio Setup → Interaction Settings. Changes to that setting take effect immediately without restarting AetherSDR.
In lean mode, the Waveform applet uses no CPU resources for rendering, making it ideal for operators who rarely need the scope but want it available on demand.

Troubleshooting¶

The settings drawer is not visible — Double-click the waveform display to toggle it open. The drawer is below the waveform trace.
The Zoom slider snaps back after dragging — This can happen if no audio is arriving and the display is showing the no-audio placeholder. The slider value is still saved; it takes effect as soon as audio resumes.
Zoom resets after restarting AetherSDR — Verify the value is being persisted. If the application closed abnormally, the WaveApplet_ZoomPercent setting may not have been written. Set the slider to the desired value after a clean launch.
Window setting changed unexpectedly after update — If upgrading from a previous version that used the WaveApplet_TimeWindowSec setting (1–20 s linear), the value is automatically migrated to the nearest discrete step in WaveApplet_TimeWindowMs. Verify the setting and adjust if needed.
The no-audio placeholder message changed — When no RX audio is arriving, the display now shows "Enable PC Audio" instead of "no RX audio". This indicates you need to enable PC audio in the radio settings or audio configuration. For TX, the message still shows "no TX audio".
The Waveform applet does not appear after enabling it — If lean mode is enabled for the applet, it will remain hidden even when toggled on. Disable lean mode in the applet management panel to make the waveform display visible again.