Read SWR Immediately After a Tune¶
After an autotune completes, the TUNE button briefly displays the final settled SWR so you can confirm the match without looking at the SWR gauge.
Before you start¶
- A 4O3A Tuner Genius XL must be connected and detected. The TUN tray button appears on the right sidebar only when a TGXL is present.
- The Tuner applet must be open. Click the TUN tray button to open it.
- The tuner should be in OPERATE state (OPERATE button shows green).
Steps¶
- Click TUNE.
- Wait. The button turns red and reads "TUNING..." while the autotune sweep runs.
- When tuning finishes, the button restores to its normal style and briefly reads "TUNING..." for up to 400 ms while AetherSDR captures the final settled SWR value from the TGXL.
- The button then displays the result as "SWR x.xx" — for example, "SWR 1.34". Read this value directly from the button.
- After 2.5 seconds, the button label returns to "TUNE".
If you miss the flash, the SWR gauge continues to display the live TGXL-reported SWR value after tuning.
What each control does¶
| Control | Kind | Behavior | Valid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fwd Pwr | Meter | Displays TGXL-reported forward power. Scale is 0–200 W barefoot, 0–600 W with Aurora amplifier, 0–2000 W with PGXL amplifier. The bar rises quickly on RF bursts and decays over approximately 800 ms to prevent flickering from inter-packet noise. A white tick mark shows the peak forward power, which clears after 2.5 seconds of no new peaks. Has an accessible name of "Forward power" for screen readers. | See scale |
| SWR | Meter | Displays live TGXL-reported SWR continuously. Turns red above 2.5. The bar rises quickly and decays over approximately 800 ms. A white tick mark shows the peak SWR, which clears after 2.5 seconds of no new peaks. When forward power is below 5 W (noise floor), the gauge snaps to 1.0 (empty) to prevent idle noise from lighting up the bar. Has an accessible name of "SWR" for screen readers. | 1.0–3.0 |
| C1 | Meter | Shows the C1 relay bank position. Mousewheel scroll adjusts the relay position when a direct TGXL connection is active. Has an accessible name of "Tuner capacitor C1" for screen readers. | 0–255 |
| L | Meter | Shows the L relay bank position. Mousewheel scroll adjusts the relay position. Has an accessible name of "Tuner inductor L" for screen readers. | 0–255 |
| C2 | Meter | Shows the C2 relay bank position. Mousewheel scroll adjusts the relay position. Has an accessible name of "Tuner capacitor C2" for screen readers. | 0–255 |
| TUNE | Button | Starts autotune. Turns red and reads "TUNING..." during the sweep. Flashes "SWR x.xx" for 2.5 s after completion. Returns to "TUNE" afterward. When a direct TGXL connection (port 9010) is configured in Radio Setup → Tuner, the autotune command is sent directly to the TGXL, bypassing the radio's firmware path. Falls back to the radio path when no direct connection is available. | — |
| OPERATE | Button | Cycles through three states: OPERATE (green), BYPASS (orange), and STANDBY (default). Each click advances to the next state. | — |
| ANT 1, ANT 2, ANT 3 | Button | Selects the corresponding antenna port on the TGXL 3x1 switch. These buttons appear only when a direct TGXL connection is active and the antenna switch is present. | — |
Tips¶
- The 400 ms capture window after tuning=0 exists because the TGXL's final settled SWR value often arrives over TCP slightly after the tune-complete signal. The value shown on the button reflects this settled reading, not a mid-sweep sample.
- If the capture window expires before a valid SWR reading arrives, AetherSDR falls back to the last live SWR value from the gauge.
- The peak hold tick on the gauges helps you see the highest power or SWR reached during a transmission, which clears automatically after 2.5 seconds.
- The slow decay on the gauge bars (800 ms) prevents annoying flickering that could occur from brief gaps between UDP packets.
- The SWR gauge automatically resets to 1.0 when forward power drops below 5 W, preventing idle noise from causing false SWR readings.
Troubleshooting¶
- The TUNE button returns to "TUNE" without showing an SWR value — The tuning state transition was not preceded by an active tune (for example, the model state changed externally). Click TUNE again to run a fresh autotune.
- The SWR gauge reads above 2.5 (red) after the tune — The tuner was unable to find a satisfactory match on the current band and antenna. Check the antenna connection and try again, or check the C1, L, and C2 relay positions.