Creating a new wiki user manual page for Channels.

Aliases.md

@@ -180,10 +180,11 @@ MPT-1327 decoders.
 Talkgroup or radio identifier.  This identifer is used by the P25, LTR 
 Standard, and Tait 1200 decoders.
 
-##### Audio Broadcast Channel
+##### Audio Broadcast Channel (Streaming)
 This audio setting designates an audio broadcast (streaming) channel.  Any
 audio calls associated with the alias will be streamed across the specified
-streaming channel.
+streaming channel. See the [Streaming](Streaming.md) page for details on 
+configuring audio streaming channels.
 
 ##### Audio Non-Recordable
 This audio setting designates the alias as non-recordable.  If you wish to

Channels.md

@@ -0,0 +1,213 @@
+**Version:** 0.3.0 and newer
+
+Channels
+---
+Channels are configurations that you create for each radio frequency channel that
+you want to monitor.  The channel configuration contains the basic information 
+needed to tune to a radio channel frequency, attach one ore more protocol-specific
+decoders, specify an alias list, and setup logging and recording options.
+
+You can create channel configurations for all radio channels that you might want to 
+monitor.  Click the **Enable** button in the channel configuration editor to start
+a channel decoding.  If you shut down the application and restart it later, all of
+the channels that were enabled will automatically start again.
+
+![Figure 1: Channels Table - Name/Alias Editor](images/ChannelsNameEditor.png)
+**Figure 1:** Channels Table - Name/Alias Editor
+
+All channel configuration editing and management is accessible in the **Channels**
+tab of the application. 
+
+Viewing, Sorting, and Filtering Channels
+---
+
+#### Sorting
+Click the column name to apply alphabetical sorting.  An arrow appears to the right
+of the column name to indicate if the list is sorted ascending or descending.  By
+clicking the column name you can toggle the ascending or descending order.
+
+#### Filtering
+Each of the columns in the channels table contain a column heading with a drop-down
+cell.  In the drop-down menu, you can select from a list of column values to filter 
+the list of visible channel configurations.  The top row of the filter drop-down also
+supports text and wildcard values for filtering.
+
+You can apply filtering to multiple columns.
+
+Click the top empty row in the drop-down list to remove any filtering that you 
+have applied.
+
+**TIP:** Use the **Enabled** column filter to quickly view channels are currently 
+decoding. 
+
+#### Viewing
+Click on an individual channel configuration row to show the channel configuration
+settings in the editor below the table.
+
+Creating, Deleting and Copying Channels
+---
+Use the three buttons at the bottom of the channels table to create new channels,
+copy one or more existing channels, or delete one or more channels.
+
+#### New Button
+Click the new button to create a new channel.  The new channel configuration appears
+at the bottom of the channel table.  Select the new channel and use the editor
+window at the bottom of the screen to configure the channel settings.
+
+#### Copy Button
+Select one or more channels that you have already created and click the Copy button
+to create duplicate copies of the selected channels.  You can then edit each of the
+channel copies individually.  This is a convenient feature when you are creating
+many channels that are mostly the same and you only have to change a few settings.
+
+#### Delete Button
+Select one or more channels and click the Delete button to remove the selected 
+channels from the list.
+
+Channels Table - Editing a Channel Configuration
+---
+Select one of the channel configurations in the channels table to edit the 
+configuration settings.  The following sections explain each of the section tabs
+of the channel configuration editor.
+
+#### Enable Button
+Once you have created a channel configuration, click the **Enable** button to
+start the channel decoding.  The button color will change to green to indicate
+that the channel is currently enabled.  Click the button again to disable decoding
+for that channel.
+
+
+#### Save Button
+
+#### Reset Button
+
+Channels Table - Name/Alias Editor
+---
+
+The following are settings that can be modified in the **Name/Alias** section tab 
+of the channel editor.  The **Name/Alias** editor is shown in Figure 1.
+
+#### Name
+The channel name is the textual value that you specify.  This value does not 
+affect decoding.
+
+#### Alias List
+Choose an alias list name from the drop-down list, or type a new alias list name.
+The values in the list are pulled from the set of [Aliases](Aliases.md) that you
+already created.  
+
+If you type a new alias list name for your channel configuration, be sure to use
+that alias list name for any aliases that you create in the [Aliases](Aliases.md)
+table.  When you start your channel decoding, any aliases with the matching alias
+list name will be assembled into an alias list for use with the channel.  If you
+add new aliases while your channel is currently decoding, they will be automatically
+added to the alias list used by your decoding channel if the alias list name
+matches the alias list name specified for the channel.
+
+#### System
+System is an optional textual value that you can use to manage your set of channel
+configurations. By using the System column filter in the channels table, you can quickly filter
+down to a related set of channel configurations in the channels table.
+
+**Note:** a planned future enhancement will use the System label to deduplicate
+call audio for systems that simulcast a radio call across multiple sites.
+
+#### Site
+Site is an optional textual value that you can use to manage your set of channel
+configurations. By using the Site column filter in the channels table, you can 
+quickly filter down to a related set of channel configurations in the channels 
+table.
+
+
+![Figure 2: Channels Table - Source Editor](images/ChannelsSourceEditor.png)
+**Figure 2:** Channels Table - Source Editor
+
+Channels Table - Source Editor
+---
+
+The source editor is where you specify the tuner frequency or sound card to 
+use as an input to the decoder.  The **Source Editor** is shown in Figure 2.
+
+#### Tuner
+Specify a frequency for your channel.  When your channel is enabled, the 
+application will automatically select one of the tuners present on your
+computer and automatically tune to the channel frequency specified.
+
+#### Sound Card
+This optional channel source enables you to feed demodulated audio from an 
+external scanner or radio to feed a small subset of decoders.  Decoders that
+work with sound card audio: **MPT-1327**, **Fleetsync**, **MDC-1200**, 
+**Tait 1200** and **LoJack**.
+
+![Figure 3: Channels Table - Decoder Editor](images/ChannelsDecoderEditor.png)
+**Figure 3:** Channels Table - Decoder Editor
+
+Channels Table - Decoder Editor
+---
+The decoder editor is where you select the _primary_ decoder to use for your
+channel configuration.  The **Decoder Editor** is shown in Figure 3.  The application
+allows you to specify exactly one primary decoder and one or more auxiliary 
+decoders.  See below for details on auxiliary decoders.
+
+Refer to the [Decoders](Decoders.md) page for details and configuration for each
+primary decoder type.
+
+![Figure 4: Channels Table - Aux Decoders Editor](images/ChannelsAuxDecoderEditor.png)
+**Figure 4:** Channels Table - Aux Decoders Editor
+
+Channels Table - Aux Decoders Editor
+---
+The **Aux Decoders Editor** is show in Figure 4.  Use this editor to select one or 
+more auxiliary decoders to run in addition to the primary decoder that you have 
+selected.  Auxiliary decoders work against demodulated audio to decode in-band 
+signalling that may be included in certain radio systems.  These in-band 
+signalling types are normally used for radio identification or data/GPS 
+transmissions in older analog radio systems.
+
+Refer to the [Decoders](Decoders.md) page for details and configuration for each
+auxiliary decoder type.
+
+![Figure 5: Channels Table - Logging Editor](images/ChannelsLoggingEditor.png)
+**Figure 5:** Channels Table - Logging Editor
+
+Channels Table - Logging Editor
+---
+
+The **Logging Editor**, shown in Figure 5, is where you select logging options for
+your decoding channel.
+
+#### Binary Messages
+This option creates a log file containing a binary (text 0 or 1) representation
+of each decoded message.
+ 
+#### Decoded Messages
+This option creates a log file containing decoded messages in readable text format.
+
+#### Call Events
+This option creates a log file containing the call events and times.
+
+![Figure 6: Channels Table - Recording Editor](images/ChannelsRecordingEditor.png)
+**Figure 6:** Channels Table - Recording Editor
+
+Channels Table - Recording Editor
+---
+
+The **Recording Editor**, shown in Figure 6, is where you select recording options for
+your decoding channel.
+
+#### Audio
+Records all audio and audio calls.
+
+**Note:** you can assign a **Non-Recordable** audio setting to individual aliases
+to control which audio is recorded for a channel.  Use wildcards with the 
+Talkgroup Alias Identifier to set groups of talkgroups as recordable or non-recordable
+
+#### Baseband I/Q
+Records the baseband channel samples.  This recording is not demodulated and
+will sound like noise if you attempt to playback this recording.  This format
+is used to record the channel for decoding or analysis.
+
+#### Traffic Channel Baseband I/Q
+Similar to the Baseband I/Q setting above, this will generate a recording for
+each traffic channel that is allocated when you are decoding a control channel
+on a system like MPT-1327 or P25.