To configure your Investor/RT to receive Signal feed:
- Click Setup>Preferences
- Choose "Signal Setup" This brings up the Signal feed preferences window.
- Enter Signal passwords in the space provided. Signal passwords may be left blank if the Signal unit is already authorized. There are two passwords for Signal, a primary password which authorizes the market data content you will receive, and a reports password that authorizes the optional text reports you will receive. Users can obtain their Signal passwords over the telephone by using the audio response system by calling 1-800-S MARKET, or the software can retrieve your passwords electronically for you by having your passwords broadcast through your Signal receiver to the program. Prior to doing this you should depress the Load ROS button to load the Data Broadcasting (DBC) receiver operating software into the Signal receiver. At this point your Investor/RT application is ready to receive broadcast passwords.
- Enter the channel number for your locale in the space provided. Channel number 999 is used to specify that the Signal receiver is connected to a satellite dish. Otherwise, the channel number is the local cable or FM channel over which the Signal data is broadcast. For TV cable receivers this will be the cable channel over which the Signal data is broadcast. In some cable installations the broadcast channel should be set to three (3) regardless of the actual cable channel number. Consult with your DBC representative for further information about channel setting in your locale. For FM receivers this will be a three digit number provided by your DBC representative.
- Use the Connection Port menu to select the serial port to which your Signal receiver is connected.
- Select appropriate connection speed, 38400 is the recommended speed.
At the bottom of the Signal feed preferences dialog are three options initialized by checking the box next to them: Request Quotes At Startup When the Request Quotes At Startup box is checked Investor/RT will request current quotations for all issues that the customer is tracking from the receiver box at startup. This option only works for the Signal Plus Receiver and is recommended for those users who are following 500 symbols or less. This means that every time you start your feed the system will take a minute so to request current quotes on all issues that you are tracking instead of waiting for the first trade to occur in each one of those symbols. Activate Feed At Startup This box determines whether or not Investor/RT will activate the datafeed at startup. If the box is unchecked, Investor/RT will ask you at the start of a session if you want to activate the feed. If the box is checked, Investor/RT will activate the feed immediately at startup. It may be desirable to leave this box unchecked if you are configuring your signal receiver for the first time or you anticipate using the program off line. Investor/RT is shipped with this box unchecked so that feed preferences can be entered before startup is attempted. Autoscan for Signal data (only applies for Signal subscribers outside the United States) This check box is used to tune in the Signal box in international locations. If the Autoscan box is checked the channel number and the country code are ignored and the box will tune automatically to the channel. This tuning process takes 5 minutes or so. This command works only with the Signal Plus receivers model type 4100 which are distributed to international customers. One Investor/RT has tuned to the channel, the tuned frequency is remembered as the channel number so that the tuning step may be skipped. To force a retuning, set the channel to a different value and start the feed. Database Mode is a mode of operation whereby Signal Plus receivers send to the computer quotations only on a limited number of symbols. Database Mode is recommended for customers who are tracking fewer than 500 symbols. This means that each time Investor/RT activates the datafeed it will send the list of ticker symbols to be tracked to the Signal Plus receiver. The Plus receiver will then filter all of the quotations coming in and only send to the host computer the trades for that limited universe of symbols. This mode of operation offloads a great deal of processing from the host computer; however, memory limitations of the Signal Plus receiver are such that this mode of operation is only recommended for customers tracking fewer than 500 symbols. The Diagnostic Mode is useful for diagnosing problems communicating between the Investor/RT program and the Signal receiver. When diagnostic mode is checked, certain communications between Investor/RT and the Signal receiver are logged to a file on the hard drive for use by Linn Software technical support personnel in diagnosing datafeed problems. While the Signal feed is active in diagnostic mode, the main toolbar message area periodically displays a signal quality value from 0 to 100%.