‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM SEPTEMBER 2013 QST PAGE 50‰ DISTINGUISH FROM THE BLACK BUTTONS SUPPLIED WITH THE STANDARD KIT. YES, I DID SAY KIT. MORE ABOUT THAT LATER. RED, GREEN AND YELLOW LEDS ON THE SWITCHES HELP IDENTIFY WHICH BUTTONS ARE ACTIVE IN THE VARIOUS MENU MODES, AND THEY ALSO INDICATE WHEN CERTAIN METER FUNCTIONS ARE ACTIVE DURING NORMAL OPERATION. THE LEDS ALSO BLINK TO INDICATE WHETHER YOU HAVE HELD THE BUTTON FOR A SHORT, MEDIUM OR LONG DURATION WHILE SELECTING VARIOUS MENU FUNCTIONS. WHILE THERE ARE LABELS FIFI WITH RELATIVE EASE FIGURE 4. THE ONLY CUMBERSOME PART OF THE EXERCISE INVOLVED ALL THE CABLES AND ADAPTERS DANGLING OFF THE IPAD, NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT I STILL HAD TO PLUG THE FIFI USB CABLE INTO MY COMPUTER TO POWER THE RADIO. THE FIFI EXPERIENCE WHEN YOU ATTACH A USB CABLE BETWEEN FIFI AND YOUR COMPUTER, THE FRONT PANEL LED BEGINS TO BLINK THERE IS NO ON/OFF SWITCH. THIS MEANS THAT FIFIS MICROCONTROLLER HAS STARTED UP. NEXT, YOU FIRE UP YOUR CHOSEN SOFTWARE AND START LISTENING. IN A CRUDE A/B COMPARISON WITH MY KENWOOD TS 2000 TRANSCEIVER, FIFI COULD HEAR ANYTHING THE TS 2000 COULD, AND AT ABOUT THE SAME STRENGTH. OF COURSE, THE TRUE PERFORMANCE IS DETAILED IN THE ARRL LAB RESULTS YOULL SEE IN TABLE 1. ONE THING I NOTICED WAS THAT EVEN WITH THE HELP OF THE PRESELECTOR, FIFI TENDED TO BE OVERWHELMED BY STRONG SIGNALS. THIS WASNT A PROBLEM MOST OF THE TIME IT ONLY BECAME APPARENT WHEN TUNING THROUGH THE AMATEUR BANDS DURING CONTESTS WITH SEVERAL STRONG SIGNALS IN PROXIMITY. OTHERWISE, I CONSISTENTLY FOUND FIFI TO BE A PLEASURE TO OPERATE. AND LIKE MOST SOFTWARE DEFINED RECEIVERS, FIFI IS UPGRADABLE. WHEN YOU HOLD DOWN THE THE AUDIO MUST THEN BE PASSED TO THE DRM SOFTWARE THROUGH THE USE OF A VIRTUAL AUDIO CABLE PROGRAM. IN CONTRAST, RADIOJET DOES ALL THE DRM DECODING ITSELF. YOU JUST TUNE THE DRM SIGNAL UNTIL IT IS CENTERED WITHIN THE 12 KHZ BANDWIDTH WINDOW AND THEN CLICK YOUR MOUSE CURSOR TO SWITCH TO THE DRM MODE. I WAS ABLE TO ENJOY SEVERAL DRM BROADCASTS IN THIS FASHION, AND YOULL FIND A COMPLETE SCHEDULE AT WWW. WWDXC. DE/DRM. HTM. ANOTHER PROGRAM I USED WITH GOOD SUCCESS WAS SDR RADIO BY SIMON BROWN, HB9DRV THE FATHER OF HAM RADIO DELUXE. THIS FREE WINDOWS SOFTWARE HAS AN ALMOST BEWILDERING ARRAY OF FEATURES, INCLUDING FILTER BANDWIDTHS ADJUSTABLE DOWN TO 50 HZ. IT DOESNT DECODE DRM, BUT UNLIKE RADIOJET IT DOES OFFER SYNCHRONOUS AM A REAL TREAT FOR THE EARS SEE FIGURE 3. YOULL FIND SDR RADIO ONLINE AT HTTP//SDR RADIO. COM. BOTH OF THESE PROGRAMS RAN ON MY 64 BIT WINDOWS 7 COMPUTER AND COMMUNICATED WITH FIFI OVER THE USB CABLE WITHOUT A HICCUP. YOU JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU SELECT FIFI SDR AS THE SOUND DEVICE WHEN RUNNING RADIOJET, OR SOFTROCK WHEN USING SDR RADIO. IN ADDITION, THANKS TO AN APPLE CAMERA CONNECTION KIT ADAPTER AND A GRIFFIN IMIC WITH A STEREO AUDIO INPUT, I FED I/Q SIGNALS FROM FIFIS 1/8 INCH JACK TO MY IPAD USING A STANDARD STEREO AUDIO CABLE. WITH THE FREE ISDR APPLICATION FROM THE ITUNES STORE, I WAS ABLE TO LISTEN TO SIGNALS FROM ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ