PCNXU/MacNXU – A Computer Software Implementation of the NXU-2

Copyright © 2008, JPS Communications, Inc.

Version 3.0
August 11, 2008

Introduction

The JPS Communications NXU-2 product allows radio communication links to be

extended across an IP network connection. Traditionally an NXU-2 resides at each end of
the link. Audio and control signals on each end are duplicated on the other end. There are
situations where it is desirable to control and communicate with an NXU-2 from a PC
without having to use a 2nd NXU-2. For this reason PCNXU was developed. PCNXU is a
PC implementation of the NXU-2 and allows a computer equipped with a sound card and
Ethernet connection to communicate with an NXU-2. PCNXU will operate as an NXU-2
client allowing audio to be sent and received and the PTT line on the remote device to be
controlled. PCNXU cannot connect to other PCNXUs or to NXU-2s in Client mode. See
the NXU-2 manual for more information about the different modes that the NXU-2
supports and how to configure them.

Figure 1 shows the PCNXU running under Windows. The PCNXU has been tested on
Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, but should work on any platform that supports Java
1.5.0 or higher and has a working sound card with speakers and microphone.

Figure 1 - PCNXU

Using PCNXU

Before using PCNXU, you must create one or more connection profiles. A connection
profile describes all the settings needed to connect to a particular NXU-2. To create a
profile, click on the Profiles menu and select Manage Profiles to open the PCNXU
Profile Manager. Figure 2 shows the Profile Manager dialog.
 Figure 2 - PCNXU Profile Manager

To create a new profile, click the New button. You will be prompted to enter the name
that you wish to refer to this profile as. Once you have entered the name, press the OK
button. You will then be presented with the Profile Properties dialog. Figure 3 shows the
Profile Properties dialog for a profile called NXU-2.

Figure 3 - Profile Properties

Enter the settings into the Profiles Properties dialog for the NXU-2 you wish to connect
to. A description of the fields follows:

Connection Mode – The connection mode setting should be set to match the
NXU-2 you wish to connect to.

Remote Settings – Enter the IP address and audio port for the remote NXU-2
server. If using multicast as the connection mode, enter the multicast group and
port here.

Local Settings – Enter the local port that PCNXU should receive audio on. The
default value of 1221 is typically okay. For the vocoder setting, choose the
vocoder which is best suited for your situation. GSM gives the lowest quality
audio, but uses the least amount of network bandwidth while ULAW gives the
 best quality, but uses the most bandwidth. GSM is sufficient for most radio
communications. Set the duplex setting to match the remote NXU-2. For most
radios, this should be half-duplex.

Once the proper configuration has been done, click OK to save the profile. Using the
Profile Manager, you may also edit, rename, delete, and create copies of profiles.

Once you have created a profile, select the profile to use by clicking on the Profiles menu
and selecting the profile from the menu. This works similar to the bookmarks or
favorites menus in web browsers. Once you have done this, click the Online button to
connect to the remote NXU-2. The Link Active indicator should turn green, indicating a
successful link with the NXU-2. At this point any audio sent from the NXU-2 will be
heard on your PC speakers. You may temporarily mute the audio by clicking the Mute
button. To transmit audio to the remote end click and hold the PTT button and begin
talking into the microphone attached to your sound card. The Audio TX will turn red to
indicate that the remote PTT line has been activated and that audio is being sent to the
remote end. If you want to transmit for an extended period of time you can click on the
PTT Lock button and the unit on the remote end will stay keyed until you click PTT Lock
again. You can also use the Alt-P key combination on your keyboard as a PTT key.

To break the current connection and connect to a different NXU-2 click the Online button
again. The Link Active field will change from green back to grey, indicating that the link
has been disconnected. Now select the new profile to use from the Profiles menu and
click the Online button again.