JAGUAR KIT is the tiniest independent recording scheduler on the market for the PERSEUS SDR, with many built-in features, including:
In addition, JAGUAR PRO users will get
JAGUAR KIT is the successor to the popular MESTOR software. The software is designed for medium-wave DXing only, and it supports two sampling rates (1.6 MHz and 2 MHz) only. JAGUAR KIT is ideal for those who appreciate a light-weight and stable solution for their overnight PERSEUS recordings, or have an unattended remote station running 24/7.
JAGUAR KIT requires that the PERSEUS SDR drivers have been installed but it does not need or use the PERSEUS software or JAGUAR software. The KIT itself is portable, e.g. no Windows registry used.
JAGUAR KIT is freeware.
73 / IPA, Ilpo Parviainen, JAGUAR Project
The software is provided "as is". The JAGUAR team takes no responsibility for any damage, which may occur as a result of using JAGUAR KIT. More comprehensive user support is available for JAGUAR PRO users only.
Antivirus software may block the KIT binaries so you may need to exclude GET_KIT.exe, KIT.exe and KITSAVER.exe from antivirus checks before installing the software.
Download http://jaguars.kapsi.fi/KIT.zip, unzip the package to C:\KIT and open the application.
JAGUAR KIT is not digitally signed so antivirus software may block downloading/running JAGUAR KIT. Many antivirus software use a heuristic approach to block unknown potential threats. This may happen, for example, if an application starts other programs (for example JAGUAR KIT uses KITSAVER.exe to recover from PC/program issues and ensure unattended 24x7 operation). The only task of KITSAVER.exe is to keep KIT.exe alive, i.e. start KIT if it is not active. This is why many antivirus software regard them as "trojans" or similar. Feel free to submit the samples of these executables to your antivirus software provider if you are suspicious. Unfortunately, whenever KIT.exe/KITSAVER.exe is re-compiled, for example after fixing a bug, whitelisting and reporting is required once more.
Click the SETTINGS icon on the KIT bar, and make the required settings, and just run KIT.
The minimum requirements are:
Experiment with the RECORDING SETTINGS buttons on the setup panel, and you will see the recording schedule that matches your settings on the right side of the setup panel.
When making sunrise/sunset based recordings, you must also fill in your LOCATION: name, longitude, and latitude.
It may be that many DXers (especially those who are familiar with JAGUAR LITE or PRO) can use the basic functions of KIT without further instructions. We hope that the user interface is intuitive enough, and we encourage you to play with KIT without reading the instructions first :-)
But just in case you need more information/help and/or want to use the advanced KIT features: below you will find the details of all JAGUAR KIT features.
The main display of JAGUAR KIT is a small bar, placed on the top of the monitor screen. The location can be changed by dragging the bar to the left/right with the mouse. After starting KIT, the connection to the PERSEUS SDR is not made automatically: you must click the REC or PLAY (or "CONNECT" at the center) button if immediate connection is needed, or just leave the bar, waiting for the next scheduled recording to take place (the connection will then be made automatically).
By default, the KIT bar shows six buttons and a status area at the center of the bar. The buttons toggle the following services on and off:
REC: Start (and stop) manual recording. If manual recording is activated, it overrides all the scheduled recordings until recording is stopped manually. If you start recording manually, KIT adjusts the recorded files (8 minutes or 10 minutes depending on the selected sampling rate) so that there will never be a file break exactly at the top of the hour. After a recording starts, KIT will make an automatic file break at the next exact odd minute.
SHOW: Show the current MW status (a full-screen image based on the selected frequency stepping: MW9 or MW10). You can close the full-screen image by clicking on it. The image is available if you have "MW LOOKUP" enabled in SETTINGS, more details below.
PLAY: Start/stop playback, more details below.
SETTINGS: Open/close the setup panel, more details below.
INFO: Open/close additional info: the active plan, currently-used antenna, JIX value ("DX value on MW") and the last recorded file.
EXIT: Shut JAGUAR KIT down
By default, the status area at the center shows the disk status (space used % on the recording disk), real time in UTC and the CPU used %. The color behind the real time shows the status of the PERSEUS SDR:
If you click on the PLAY button, KIT invokes the playback service: the status bar area shows DATE (( FREQUENCY )) TIME for the playback. You can enter any MW frequency by typing it in and pressing ENTER. You can also scroll the frequencies with the mouse wheel or the left/right arrow keys. The frequency stepping used is either MW9 or MW10, you can change it by clicking the status area. SSB can be changed with the mouse right-click or down-arrow key (LSB <> USB). The filter used is a fixed 3-kHz filter with no tuning options. The playback option is just meant for checking that "everything is OK" in the setup. Note that if you enter a freqeuncy which is outside the MW9 or MW10 channels (for example, 917), KIT will use a frequency stepping of 1 kHz for scrolling the frequencies.
The SETUP panel can be opened by clicking on the SETTINGS button. The panel contains MENU BAR and four sections: GENERAL SETTINGS, OPTIONAL SETTINGS and RECORDING SETTINGS on the left and READY FOR/RECORDED list on the right.
PLANS: KIT supports multiple recording plans. Each plan can have separate general/optional settings which will be activated automatically by the "VALID AT" time. This multi-plan architecture is useful if you use several antennas or have varying recording needs. Normally, you need only one plan which is set to VALID AT 2000-2000. If you need several recording plans, a new plan can be created by clicking PLANS > ADD NEW. The characteristics of the current plan will be copied as a template for the new plan. You can then modify the names and settings as desired. All the plans defined can be found in the PLANS menu; the plan definitions are saved into the PLANS1 subfolder.
OPTIONS
There are two options available: HIDEAWAY and GIFSERVER.
HIDEAWAY: If ticked, the KIT bar will be hidden when the mouse is outside the bar area and shown again when the mouse is moved to the top of the display where the KIT bar is normally located. This feature is handy if you need the full screen for something else, for example, for JAGUAR LITE/PRO to study the recordings make with KIT. You can keep KIT active for recording nevertheless.
GIFSERVER (for JAGUAR PRO users only): If ticked, KIT uploads MW status images to the JAGUAR server at 10-minute intervals, making it easy to check the MW status of your remote setup from any browser. The URL is of the format http://jaguars.kapsi.fi/gif.php?key=xxxxxxxx (replace xxxxxxxx by the 8-digit JAGUAR license key number of your JAGUAR PRO PC). This feature requires that you have enabled MW LOOKUP in OPTIONAL SETTINGS.
ABOUT: Information about the current version of JAGUAR KIT.
PLAN NAME: You can change the name of your recording plan as needed, and create new plans via MENU > ADD NEW.
VALID AT: Normally, 2000-2000 (UTC) can be left as is if you have one antenna and use the same recording settings (bandwidth, save disk, etc) all the time. Note that 2000 UTC is an important daily breakpoint in KIT: a new day-folder is created for recordings starting after 2000 UTC within the path defined in SAVE DISK. If you use several recording plans, define the VALID AT times so that they are not overlapping with each other. For example, if you record NA (North America) overnight and ASIA in the afternoon, you can define two plans: OVERNIGHT (VALID AT 2100-1200) and AFTERNOON (VALID AT 1200-2100). The selection of the active recording plan is made automatically based on these times.
BANDWIDTH: Only 1.6 MHz and 2 MHz are available. If you use 1.6 MHz, you get the whole MW band recorded and save 20% of the disk space (compared to 2 MHz) but you cannot play the files with Perseus.exe. However, you can play these files with HDSDR or SDR Console. Those who want to play the files with Perseus.exe and/or include the LW band, must select 2 MHz.
CENTERED: Define the center frequency (the suggested defaults are normally good: 925 kHz for 2 MHz and 1105 kHz for 1.6 MHz). It is not recommended that you use a "real" MW frequency (e.g. 927 kHz or 1107 kHz) because the center frequency usually generates a "false carrier" on the spectrum at the center frequency. Note that if you are interested in monitoring 1840 kHz, you must select 2 MHz and give a higher center frequency, for example 1055 kHz.
SAVE DISK: Define which hard disk you want to use to save your recordings. You can give a disk letter or an existing path (e.g. D:\RECS).
OVERFLOW: Define which hard disk to use if your primary hard disk (SAVE DISK) becomes full. If you use a folder name in the path name, that folder must be created manually beforehand on the OVERFLOW disk.
All the optional settings can be enabled/disabled by ticking/unticking the corresponding checkbox. When enabled, you can click SHOW for more information about the feature.
LOCATION: Define your receive location (QTH), latitude and longitude. The QTH name is used in the MW status image (see MW LOOKUP). This information is also saved in the header of the recorded WAV file (for JAGUAR PRO users) and the latitude and longitude values (in degrees) are required if you use sunrise/sunset based recordings (see RECORDING SETTINGS for more information). Note that DXers in the western hemisphere must give the longitude as a negative value. If SHOW is clicked, you will see today’s sunrise and sunset times in your location.
ANTENNAS: Normally not available. However, KIT provides support for DEVANTECH or VELLEMAN relay boards for antenna switching. If you have a third-party board that does the same thing, you can use this antenna plugin. See PLUGINS below for more information. If SHOW is clicked, you will see information on the current antenna.
MW LOOKUP: When enabled, you can choose four output modes for the MW status image. The mode can be selected by clicking the text box. The available modes are "MW10 - HIGH RESOLUTION" (frequencies with 10-kHz stepping, the output image contains a shapshot of the MW band using a one-minute interval), "MW10 - LOW RESOLUTION" (10-kHz stepping, a two-minute interval), "MW9 - HIGH RESOLUTION" (9-kHz stepping, a one-minute interval) and "MW9 - LOW RESOLUTION" (9-kHz stepping, a two-minute interval). The image is saved in the KIT folder with the name of “x.gif”, and it can be displayed with SHOW.
LIVESCAN (for JAGUAR PRO users only): When enabled, KIT performs a standard JAGUAR PRO LIVESCAN for the selected frequency set: select either MW10 frequencies or MW9 frequencies by clicking the text box. The default scanning interval is 30 seconds; you can change the interval by clicking SHOW and clicking the bar that appears to select a smaller or higher interval. LIVESCAN creates a "frequency map" for all the offsets found in the frequency spectrum of the MW9/MW10 frequencies. The SCAN files are vital in hunting new stations in modern MW DXing. LIVESAN is fully documented in the JAGUAR PRO documentation. Note that if you want to create very high resolution frequency maps for a smaller number of frequencies, you can use VFO PLUGIN (see below).
AUTO REC: When enabled, KIT starts recording automatically when good DX conditions appear on the MW band, based either on MW9 or MW10 frequencies. When the connection to the PERSEUS SDR is active, KIT analyzes the target frequencies (MW9 or MW10, can be selected by clicking the text box) and calculates a special JIX (JAGUAR INDEX) value, based on the signal strength of the peaks on the spectrum. JIX does not use shared MW9/MW10 frequencies (= 540, 630, 720, ...) so the target frequency set contains only "true" trans-Atlantic/trans-Pacific frequencies. JIX is commonly used in JAGUAR. Others may have to monitor their JIX values by clicking on the INFO button on the KIT bar before starting to use this feature. The default trigger value is 30, but it can be finetuned by clicking SHOW and selecting another value by clicking the bar shown. Automatic recording will be triggered when the selected JIX threshold is reached, and KIT keeps recording as long as the overall JIX value remains above the given threshold.
POWERSAVE: If you operate a battery-powered setup, you can enable the POWERSAVE mode to maximize the battery life by selecting POWERSAVE "WHILE NOT RECORDING". KIT will enter the sleep state when recordings are not active. The POWERSAVE mode requires that you disable all power saving options via the advanced settings on the Windows Control Panel. The Windows operating system must not interfere in any way because KIT should have the control exlusively. In addition, you must enable the wake up timers in the Power Options. POWERSAVE is fully described in the JAGUAR PRO documentation. Note that there is an unfortunate "bug" in Windows 10 which sometimes may or may not interfere and ruin user-defined power control. Search for "System Unattended Sleep Timeout" with Google about how to get rid of the bug (or use, for example, the instructions given at https://winaero.com/add-system-unattended-sleep-timeout-to-power-options-in-windows-10/). You will need to change the default value of 2 minutes in "System Unattended Sleep Timeout" to 9999999 minutes, for instance. The other POWERSAVE option ("WHEN THE PLAN ENDS") in KIT can be selected by clicking the text box: in that case you can define the plan’s end time (in VALID AT) as desired and put the PC at sleep at that time. By clicking on SHOW, you can check the next planned wakeup/sleep time.
You have only four lines available for defining your schedule for recordings. Nevertheless, you can generate up to 96 independent recording events. The checkbox on the right can be used to quickly enable and disable each line. You can use any combination of the following recording types:
CONTINUOUS RECORDING (default): edit the FROM and TO values and click the desired ATT (attenuation) value (default = ATT0). Note that the ATT values rotate from ATT0 to ATT3 (as defined for the PERSEUS SDR), and there is also an additional AMP setting which can be used if you have an antenna preamplifier (see PLUGINS > ANTENNAS). If AMP is selected, ATT0 is set automatically in the background. Note that KIT does not change the value of the internal preamplifier nor dither settings of the PERSEUS SDR.
TOPS and BOTS: Clicking on the round button, you will see "MINS xx - xx", instead of "CONTINUOUSLY TO". KIT automatically suggests that you record the minutes between 57-07 for each TOP (top-of-the-hour) between the selected FROM-TO period. You can change these values just as you please. You can also make another scheduler for BOTs (bottom-of-the-hour): click the round button there and set, for example, the time period of 27-33 minutes for BOT (bottom of the hour) recordings.
SUN BASED RECORDINGS: If you click the round button for the third time, KIT make a suggestion for "SS-30" instead of FROM, and "SR+90" instead of TO, keeping the set MINS (minutes) untouched. You have magically defined KIT to record all TOPs (or BOTs) during the dark period in your local QTH (LOCATION with the correct QTH, LAT, LON values must be set in order to get correct results). You can change the SS (sunset) / SR (sunrise) based start/stop values as you want by adding/subtracting minutes from the actual SS or SR. Or you can type these SS/SR values directly to the FROM-TO boxes if you want to run CONTINUOUS recording which is based on the sunset and sunrise times. For example, FROM SR-90 CONTINUOUSLY TO SR+90 will record 3 hours daily, "centered" on your local sunrise.
READY FOR / RECORDED: When you change the settings of the recording scheduler, you can verify the outcome via the "READY FOR" list on the right.
Note that the scheduler definitions can overlap with each other with no problems. Also, if you start KIT in the middle of a scheduled recording (missing the real start time), KIT will notice it and jump in to the correct recording schedule at the next full minute. Note that if you stop recording (using the REC button) while a scheduled recording is running, KIT will set recording ON at the next full minute. If you really want to stop that recording, you will have to untick the checkbox for that particular recording definition.
If you click "READY FOR", you can get a list of the recently-recorded files. Return to "READY FOR" by clicking on the title again.
KIT is designed for a care-free 24x7 operation of the PERSEUS SDR. In the unlikely event of a malfunction (i.e., a crash or hang), you will be notified and the malfunction can be recovered from with the help of an extra utility, KITSAVER.exe. KITSAVER monitors that KIT.exe is running smoothly, and makes KIT to restart if it is not running for any reason, e.g. after Windows operating system updates.
To activate KITSAVER, create a shortcut for KITSAVER.exe, and place the shortcut in the Windows start-up folder.
TWINKIT, or running two PERSEUS SDRs on one PC is easier than you can imagine: rename your KIT folder to TWINKIT; that's all - well, sure you will have to have two PERSEUS SDRs connected. When you start the KIT, you will see two KIT bars on the top of the screen. Their locations are fixed, and you can operate both independently.
Currently, JAGUAR KIT supports two external plugins: VFO and ANTENNAS. Both provide additional services for KIT, and their configuration uses a plain text-format INI files: VFO.INI and ANTENNAS.INI.
If you always run LIVESCAN for full MW9 or M10, you can forget this. But if you want to customize the target frequency list for LIVESCAN, you can create a file named VFO.INI to the KIT folder and enumerate the frequencies in that file. For example if (instead of MW10) you want to scan the graveyard channels with a very high resolution, you can create VFO.INI and type
1230,1240,1340,1400,1450,1490
into it and define even 2 seconds (minimum) as the LIVESCAN interval (you'll get long overnight views... but extremely detailed) - if your PC is powerful enough. When the KIT finds a VFO.INI file at the start, it allows MW9 > MW10 > VFO options instead of the standard MW9 > MW10.
If you have a Devantech or Velleman relay board (or use a third-party antenna switcher module), you can define your antennas in ANTENNAS.INI with the JAGUAR PRO definitions: copy the [ANTENNAS] section tino ANTENNAS.INI without the [ANTENNAS] header. A typical ANTENNAS.INI file looks like this:
1 = 120, MEAST 120, 70, VEL
2 = 215, AFRICA 215, 70, VEL
3 = 300, USA 300, 70, VEL
8 = 0, PREAMP_ON, 0, VEL
9 = 0, PREAMP_OFF, 0, VEL
10 = 0, RESET, 0, VEL
More details can be found in the JAGUAR GUIDE. When using two (or more) antennas in a 24/7/365 operation, you will need two (or more) recording plans.
JAGUAR KIT is the latest novelty in the JAGUAR software portfolio for the PERSEUS SDR. JAGUAR KIT takes care of all the background services needed for successful MW DXing. You can analyze the recorded files with your favorite SDR software but you can get the most out from the files with JAGUAR LITE (freeware) or JAGUAR PRO (feeware). You can download the latest JAGUAR LITE/PRO software package from our download site. By default, the JAGUAR software runs in the LITE mode but if you want to become a PRO user, and have fun with the HOTTEST MW SOFTWARE EVER, please send an email to jaguar4perseus at gmail.com for more information.