Troubleshooting audio
Flat waterfall, a rig that keys but sends silence, or a soundcard wedged by RF — the audio checklist, in the order that usually finds it.
Audio is where soundcard digital modes live or die. Work down this list.
Nothing received (flat waterfall, RX LEVEL dead)
- Right device? Settings → capture device must be the radio’s USB codec, not your microphone.
- Level — the RX LEVEL tile should move with band noise. If it’s stuck at 0%, check the radio’s USB output level and that Windows hasn’t muted the device (Sound settings → recording).
- The status chips — the two dots at the bottom of the rail are capture and playback health. Red = that direction failed to open (usually the device is in use or was unplugged). The startup status log says exactly why.
Radio keys but sends no audio (“TX but silence”)
The classic. In order of likelihood:
- Rig menu routing — the rig must take TX audio from USB, not the mic. FT-991A: menu 071 DATA MOD SOURCE = USB, and operate in DATA-FM (or DATA-USB on HF). Other rigs have an equivalent “data input” setting.
- Windows muted the app — Open Signal restores its own mixer level at startup and warns in the status log if it found itself muted.
- Playback device — is it actually the radio codec, not your speakers?
It worked, then died mid-session (RF wedge)
Strong RF can lock up USB soundcards. Press Audio (top right of Receive) — it closes and reopens both streams without restarting the app. If it recurs at higher power, add ferrites to the USB lead.
Mid-stream hiccups
The app retries a glitching stream a few times before declaring the direction dead (the status log narrates this). A “receive disabled”/“transmit disabled” line means it gave up — fix the underlying device issue, then Audio to bring it back.
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