Mercury Lux Pc - Help

Overview

Mercury Lux Pc is a cross-platform desktop application for monitoring and controlling the KM3KM Mercury LUX HF amplifier. Designed for Windows and Linux (including Raspberry Pi 5), the application provides advanced telemetry visualization, remote access, TLS encryption, and user customization features.

Getting Started

• Ensure the amplifier is powered on and connected via USB serial.
• Launch the Mercury Lux Pc application.
• Use the Setup dialog to configure serial port, network settings, units, and appearance. Save changes.

Key Features

• Real-time monitoring of amplifier parameters.
• TCP/IP remote access with optional TLS encryption.
• Client and Server network modes with full functionality.
• PowerBar widgets with configurable thresholds and overlays.
• Meter modes: Live, Peak, Hold, None (peak hold and decay profiles persisted).
• EMA smoothing option for more readable meter values.
• Toggle visibility of meter ticks and tick labels.
• Improved, high-visibility On-Air indicator.
• Automatic serial port reconnect when the amplifier powers back on.
• CW-friendly polling (idle poll interval & post-TX quiet time) to prevent PTT delay.
• User-friendly alarm messages mapped from amplifier codes.
• User-selectable scalable main window (50% to 125%) for optimal display on various screen sizes.
• Watchdog timer detects and handles serial port or client/server communication dropouts.
• User-selectable display units (Watts/dBm, °C/°F, SWR/Return Loss).
• User-selectable font family and size for improved readability across platforms.
• Dark and Light theme support.
• Hot-reload of saved settings without restart.
• Persistent settings between sessions.
• Supports multiple amplifiers on the same system — each instance stores its own unique settings per amplifier.
• Logging of connection and status messages.
• Dialog for viewing application log in real-time and clearing of log contents.
• Dialog for generating a self-signed TLS certificate and private key using OpenSSL.
• Responsive design for various screen sizes.
• Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS and Linux).
• Custom antenna labels: rename Ant1/Ant2/Ant3 to user-defined names (e.g., “Vertical”, “Hexbeam”) that persist and appear throughout the UI (Setup → Appearance).
• Hotkeys: user-configurable shortcuts to switch antennas and trigger actions; supports in-app shortcuts and optional global (system-wide) hotkeys on Windows, macOS, and X11 (Setup → HotKeys).

PowerBar Widget

The PowerBar widget provides an intuitive graphical representation of amplifier telemetry:

• Displays Forward and Reflected Power, Temperature, Voltage, and Current.
• Uses color-coded thresholds (green, yellow, red) for visual feedback.
• Overlay values (e.g., SWR or Efficiency) appear directly above the bars.
• Configurable label, range, and unit selection per widget.

Meter Modes

Choose how the PowerBar meters behave from the Meters menu:

• Live – Real-time values with fast decay on the bar tip.
• Peak – Holds peaks briefly with slower decay, ideal for SSB.
• Hold – Peak values are held until manually cleared.
• None – Peak marker disabled; bar acts as a simple live meter.

Profiles (hold time and decay rates) are saved between sessions. Advanced users can edit values directly in the settings file or via the Windows Registry.

Tick Marks & Smoothing

• Toggle visibility of tick marks and tick labels for a cleaner display.
• Tick label colors automatically follow thresholds (green/yellow/red).
• EMA (Exponential Moving Average) smoothing makes fast-changing values more readable.

User-Selectable Units

Mercury Lux Pc allows you to select your preferred measurement units via the Setup dialog:

• Power: Watts or dBm.
• Reflected Power: Watts, SWR, or Return Loss.
• Temperature: °C (Celsius) or °F (Fahrenheit).
• Efficiency: Displayed as a percentage (%).

Controls and Indicators

• Forward Power – Displays forward power in the selected units.
• Reflected Power – Displays reflected power in the selected units.
• Current – Shows device current draw in amps.
• Voltage – Shows device supply voltage in volts.
• Efficiency – Indicates amplifier efficiency as a percentage.
• Temperature – Displays device temperature in the selected units.
• Standby / Operate – Sets or shows whether the amplifier is enabled for transmitting.
• Band Selection – Shows current band or auto-detected band.
• Antenna Selection – Sets or shows the current antenna selection.
• Fan – Sets or shows the fan speed mode.
• On-Air Indicator – High-visibility indicator when PTT is active.
• Alarm State – Displays friendly fault messages mapped from amplifier codes.
• Reset Button – Clears the current alarm state and re-arms the amplifier.

Automatic Serial Port Reconnect

When the amplifier is powered off, its USB serial port disappears from the system. Mercury Lux Pc automatically checks for the last used port and reconnects once the amplifier is turned back on — no user interaction required.

PTT Delay Prevention

To avoid PTT (Push-To-Talk) delay during CW or rapid switching, the app uses CW-friendly polling:

• Idle Poll Interval – How often status is polled when idle.
• Post-TX Quiet Time – A short pause after leaving TX before polling resumes.

These values are persisted and can be tuned by advanced users via the settings file or Windows Registry.

Hotkeys

Configure keyboard shortcuts to switch antennas and trigger actions quickly. Hotkeys work when the app has focus, and—if enabled—can also be captured globally (system-wide) on Windows, macOS, and X11.

Set Up

• Open Setup → HotKeys.
• Use the table to select a row (e.g., Antenna 1, Antenna 2, Antenna 3, Standby, Fan Max).
• Click Edit… to open the Shortcut Picker, click Record… then press your combo (e.g., Ctrl+Shift+A, Alt+1, F9). You can add multiple alternatives; the first that registers will be used.
• Click Add then OK to commit.

Edit & Clear

• To change a hotkey, select the row and click Edit… again.
• To remove a hotkey, use Clear in the Shortcut Picker or clear the cell and Apply.

Global (System-Wide) Hotkeys

• Enable Global by checking Enable Globally on the HotKeys tab. The app will attempt to register each combo with the OS.
• macOS: You may be prompted to allow Accessibility access. Approve in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility.
• Linux/X11: Requires an X11 session. Some desktop environments reserve certain combos.

Status & Testing

• The Status column shows registration results; the Test column displays an icon when a shortcut is pressed.
• If a combo is already taken by another app or the OS, its status shows a warning; pick a different combo.

Using Hotkeys

• With focus: all assigned hotkeys work inside the app.
• Globally: when enabled and registered, hotkeys work even when MercuryLuxPc is not the active app.

Tips & Limitations

• Avoid OS-reserved combos (e.g., Cmd+Space on macOS, Alt+Tab on Windows).
• On macOS, some apps enable Secure Input (e.g., password fields), temporarily blocking global keystrokes.
• If globals stop working, toggle Enable Globally off/on or re-open the app to re-register.
• Click Save before closing the Setup dialog window to save all.

Network Mode: Server and Client

Mercury Lux Pc supports a networked architecture where one instance acts as the Server and others operate as Clients. All clients have full telemetry and control functionality, identical to the host.

Disabled Mode

• All network features are turned off.
• Only local serial communication with the amplifier is active.
• Recommended for standalone use on a directly connected system.

Server Mode

• Connects directly to the amplifier via serial.
• Broadcasts telemetry and accepts control commands via TCP/IP.
• Optionally supports TLS (wss://) for secure communication.

Client Mode

• Connects to the server instance over a LAN or VPN.
• Displays all amplifier telemetry and allows full control access.
• Settings, reset, and antenna selections are supported just as on the host.

Configuration

• Navigate to Setup → Network Settings.
• Select Mode: Disabled / Server / Client.
• Configure TCP/IP port and server address (for clients).
• Enable TLS if required and supply certificate files.

TLS (Transport Layer Security)

TLS is optional but recommended when connecting over public or unsecured networks:

• Supports .crt and .key PEM files.
• No recompilation needed — certificates are loaded at runtime.
• Client must trust the certificate used by the server.
• Enable TLS in Setup → Network Settings.

You can generate a self-signed TLS certificate directly from the application using:
Tools → Generate TLS Certificate...

This tool uses OpenSSL to create a server.crt and server.key file stored in your application's data directory: %AppDataLocation%/

Troubleshooting

• No connection: Ensure the amplifier is ON. Check serial cable and selected COM port in Setup → Main.
• Client won’t connect: Confirm server is running and firewall allows the port.
• TLS error: Ensure cert/key files are readable and properly formatted.
• Font/scaling issues: Adjust font and scale in Setup → Appearance.

Logging

Internal logging tracks amplifier connection and status messages. You can view or clear logs from the Log dialog.

License

Mercury Lux Pc is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License v3.0 (LGPLv3).
A full copy of the license is included with this application in the license folder.
You can also read the full license online at:
https://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-3.0.html

This application also includes the OpenSSL command-line tool (openssl.exe) for certificate generation. OpenSSL is licensed under the OpenSSL and original SSLeay licenses.
A full copy of the OpenSSL license is provided in the license/openssl.txt file.
You can also read the OpenSSL license online at:
https://www.openssl.org/source/license.txt

The LGPLv3 allows you to use and redistribute this application freely, including in commercial software, as long as the LGPL-licensed components remain open and accessible under the same license.

About

Mercury Lux Pc is a desktop application developed to complement the KM3KM Mercury LUX amplifier. It is an approved third-party application by KM3KM Electronics. Use of this application does not void or affect the amplifier’s warranty.

The application is developed using Qt C++ and supports Windows, macOS and Linux (including Raspberry Pi 5).

We welcome your bug reports and feature requests on GitHub. Your feedback helps improve the application.

For direct contact: Ray Faucher (KB1SO), RF StateSide, LLC.