The Radio Diagnostic Tool (RDT) is a network analysis tool for DIS radio traffic. The tool presents the user with a variety of 'views' that provide the ability to list and examine radios that have been detected on the connected network (learn more about the Detected Radios List). A significant feature of the tool is the capability to define up to eight 'expected radio' lists that the tool will use to compare against, and identify those radios that are present, missing and unknown. This capability is unique in the industry and is targeted particularly at voice communication co-ordination staff tasked with managing large-scale networked exercises, where the capability to know who is and isn't 'up' on a network is of great benefit. Other features of the tool apply to anyone who has an interest in either looking at or validating DIS radio traffic and the detail underlying the radio data.

Recent enhancements to the tool include the ability to define user entered plain text 'names' as substitute labels for DIS ID numbers and IP addresses to aid in rapid assimilation of who is and isn't present on a network, and extended capabilities such as the ability to monitor Link-16 data terminals.

RDT also integrates seamlessly with the ASTi PC'ver simulated radio PC product to allow an operator to interact with the radio environment. PC'ver itself is a fully featured DIS radio simulation providing either 2 or 4 (depending on purchased version) independently configurable radios, plus 2 or 4 network intercom channels. Full details of PC'ver can be found on the PC'ver web site. When run in conjunction with RDT, one radio and one intercom of PC'ver become available for control by the RDT tool. This powerful combination not only allows an operator to view the network radios via RDT, but also to very easily tune the PC radio or intercom to match any of the detected network radios and transmit and receive on the selected frequency or channel. PC'ver automatically matches the correct extended radio parameters without operator interaction that greatly simplifies the operator workload when interacting with radios using features such as crypto and frequency hopping.

• Microsoft Windows XP (Home or Pro)
• 1.8GHz MHz Intel compatible PC (P4 recommended, see Note 1 regarding use with Celeron)
• 256 MB of RAM (or more, more is always better)
• Available HDD space of 50 MB
• Standard network interface card (NIC/Ethernet)
• Video resolution of at least 1024 x 768 (see Note 1 below)
• Mouse
• Keyboard
• CD-ROM drive for software installation

Note 1: The Radio Diagnostic Tool uses a dynamically updated display of the current radio environment, and as such places a high loading on the video display system of the computer. Therefore our recommendation is to use a video expansion card (PCI or AGP depending on your machine configuration). This will ensure optimum system performance, particularly when exploiting the linked operation abilities of RDT and PC'ver. This recommendation becomes a system requirement if using a computer equipped with a Celeron processor.

See also:

• Detected Radios List
• Download RDT User Guide [ 564k PDF ]
• Windows Software Pricing