The first step in setting up the Control Center software is to establish communications with the ShackLAN-4 network. It is recommended that you unplug the USB cable from the unit are using to access the ShackLAN-4 network. Open the Communication setup window by selecting Setup on the menu bar followed by Communications on the drop down menu and then click on the Com Port button. Plug in the USB cable and the COM port for that unit will be added to the list. This makes it simple to identify the COM port your computer assigned to the USB interface. If a COM port is not added to the list of available ports after plugging in the USB cable you will need to install the USB virtual COM port drivers. Driver installation information is available here. Click on that port in the list and wait for the Network Status indicator to turn green.  The Remote Control option should be set to Disabled except for advanced users controlling the system from a remote location. You may now click on OK to save your settings and close the communications window.

The Control Center software gives you flexibility on what you want displayed on the screen. The various options are shown here. Changes to the display configuration will take affect the next time you run the program. Some of the options require others to be enabled, such as the rotator display requires the Main TX antennas to be enabled. When using the Control Center in Touchscreen mode you should also select the resolution of the display. This affects the size of the on-screen buttons. If you only have a single antenna per band and are not using the rotator display you should leave all options unchecked and there is no need for the following steps. Restart the program after you have made your selections and continue to the next step, if required.

Setting up your rotators

   Skip this step if you are not going to control any antenna rotators. The ShackLAN-4 Control Center supports control of up to 8 separate antenna rotators. Each antenna can be mapped to a particular rotator so when you select an antenna the proper rotator is also selected. Open the Rotor Configuration window by selecting Setup on the menu bar followed by Rotators on the drop down menu. Setting up your rotators is a fairly simple process using the following steps:

1. Select the rotator you wish to configure..
2. Select the type of rotator from the drop-down list.
3. Enter a name for the rotator in the Rotator Name field.
4. Set the communications parameters (see rotator manual for proper settings).
5. If an antenna is offset to reduce interaction set the band of the antenna and the amount of offset.
6. Click the Save button.
7. If your rotator is connected to your computer you should now see the current heading.
8. Repeat the above steps for each rotator you wish to configure.
9. Click the Close button when finished with all rotators.

Configuring your antenna selections

   The ShackLAN-4 Control Center allows up to 8 antenna selections per band. These may be individual antennas or part of a stack. Each antenna must be given a name for the button to appear in the main window. Open the Antenna Assignments window by selecting Setup on the menu bar and then Antenna Assignments from the drop down menu. Do the steps below for each band:

1. Select the desired band.
2. Enter a name for each antenna selection. Leave blank for no antenna.
3. Select a rotator for the antenna (if applicable)
4. For fixed antennas select Fixed for the rotator and enter the antenna heading
5. Repeat 2 thru 4 for each antenna.
6. Repeat 1 thru 5 for each band.
7. Click Save to save your entries and close the window.
8. When selecting a band in the main window your antenna selections should appear.

   The ShackLAN-4 Control Center has the ability to generate a mouse click on a programmable location on your desktop. This location is normally set to the title bar of your logging program. With this mouse automation, the focus will be returned to your logging window after every antenna selection in the Control Center main window thus saving you the trouble of reselecting the logging window.

   Start the calibration process by selection Setup on the menu bar and then Mouse Calibration on the drop down menu. Carefully follow these step:

1. Click on the Start button in the calibration window (not the start button on the task bar).
2. Move the mouse cursor to the desired click location (logger title bar is good place).
3. Press the spacebar.
4. Click on the Test button to check if you picked the right location.
5. Check the box for Enable Auto-Click to enable the automatic mouse click.