Fine tune the c1 l c2 relays with the mousewheel
Fine-tune the C1/L/C2 relays with the mousewheel¶
After an autotune, you can nudge the C1, L, and C2 relay bank positions one step at a time using the mousewheel. This lets you manually walk the tuner through adjacent relay positions to chase a lower SWR without triggering a full retune.
Before you start¶
- A Tuner Genius XL (TGXL) must be detected by AetherSDR. The Tuner applet is hidden until that happens.
- A direct TGXL connection must be active. Mousewheel scrolling on the relay bars is disabled when AetherSDR is communicating with the TGXL only through the radio (non-direct mode).
- Open the Tuner applet by clicking the TUN tray button on the right sidebar.
Steps¶
- Confirm the Tuner applet is visible. If not, click the TUN tray button.
- Verify a direct TGXL connection is active. If the relay bars do not respond to scrolling, the direct connection is not established — see Tuner overview.
- Position your mouse cursor over the C1 bar.
- Scroll the mousewheel up to increase the C1 relay position by one step, or down to decrease it by one step.
- Repeat on the L bar to adjust the inductance relay bank.
- Repeat on the C2 bar to adjust the second capacitor relay bank.
- Watch the SWR gauge after each step to assess the effect.
What each control does¶
| Control | What it shows | Valid range | Default | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C1 | C1 relay bank position | 0–255 | 0 | — |
| L | L relay bank position | 0–255 | 0 | — |
| C2 | C2 relay bank position | 0–255 | 0 | — |
| SWR | TGXL-reported SWR | 1.0–3.0 (red above 2.5) | — | — |
| Fwd Pwr | TGXL-reported forward power | 0–200 W barefoot, 0–600 W Aurora, 0–2000 W with PGXL | — | — |
| TUNE | Starts an autotune on the TGXL | — | — | — |
| OPERATE | Cycles the TGXL through OPERATE, BYPASS, and STANDBY states | — | — | — |
| ANT 1, ANT 2, ANT 3 | Selects antenna port 1, 2, or 3 on the TGXL 3x1 switch | — | — | — |
What each button does¶
TUNE¶
Click TUNE to start an autotune on the TGXL. During the tune the button turns red and reads TUNING...; when the tune completes it flashes the captured post-tune SWR as SWR x.xx for 2.5 seconds, then returns to TUNE.
When a direct TGXL connection (port 9010) is configured, AetherSDR sends the autotune command directly to the TGXL. This bypasses the radio's firmware path that could fail on some setups with firmware 4.2. When no direct connection is available, AetherSDR falls back to routing the command through the radio. Configure the direct connection in Radio Setup > Tuner.
OPERATE¶
Click OPERATE to cycle the TGXL through its three states:
- OPERATE (green) — the tuner passes RF through the tuning network.
- BYPASS (orange) — the tuner is bypassed.
- STANDBY — the tuner is in standby.
One click advances to the next state, wrapping around after STANDBY.
ANT 1 / ANT 2 / ANT 3¶
Click ANT 1, ANT 2, or ANT 3 to select the corresponding antenna port on the TGXL 3x1 switch. This row is visible only when a direct TGXL connection is active and the antenna switch is present.
Notes about power and SWR display¶
- The forward power gauge auto-scales based on your radio and amplifier configuration:
- Barefoot (no amp): 0–200 W, yellow above 80 W, red above 125 W
- Aurora (500 W amp): 0–600 W, yellow above 400 W, red above 500 W
- PGXL: 0–2000 W, yellow above 1000 W, red above 1500 W
- Scale labels and threshold colors update automatically when you change amplifier settings in Radio Setup. AetherSDR skips redundant gauge updates when the scale-relevant settings have not changed, avoiding unnecessary repaints from repeated status messages.
- The power gauge uses slow release ballistics: the bar rises quickly on RF bursts but decays over approximately 800 ms, preventing flicker from inter-packet noise.
- A peak hold indicator (white tick) marks the highest forward power seen. The peak clears after 2.5 seconds with no new peak.
- When power drops below the detection threshold, the PWR and SWR labels remain visible for 800 ms before returning to their default text, preventing blinking during brief pauses in transmission.
- The SWR gauge automatically snaps to 1.0 when forward power is below 5 W. This prevents the gauge from pegging at a high value due to idle noise when no signal is present. The reading updates normally when forward power is 5 W or higher.
Tips¶
- Scrolling adjusts the relay position one step per wheel detent. There is no coarse/fine mode; each scroll event sends one increment or decrement to the TGXL.
- If you want to return to a known-good position, run a fresh autotune using the TUNE button rather than stepping back manually.
Troubleshooting¶
- Scrolling the mousewheel over a relay bar does nothing — The direct TGXL connection is not active. Mousewheel scroll is enabled only when the direct connection is present. Check the connection state in the Tuner overview.
- Relay bar values change but SWR does not update — The SWR gauge reflects TGXL-reported values via the direct connection. If the meter is frozen, the direct connection may have dropped.
- Power gauge stays stuck at a value — The slow release ballistics keep the bar visible for 800 ms. If it remains stuck longer, the direct connection may have dropped.
- SWR gauge shows 1.0 even with a mismatch — Check your forward power. The SWR gauge holds at 1.0 when forward power is below 5 W. Key the transmitter or increase drive until the power reading exceeds 5 W.
- TUNE button does not start a tune — Check that the direct TGXL connection is working. If the direct connection is not available, AetherSDR routes the tune command through the radio, which may fail on some firmware 4.2 setups.