The PGXL Mac Utility is a native Mac Application designed to interact with and control the Power Genius XL Amplifier.

As of the current version, (V1.02), this utility cannot adjust and save low-level settings or perform firmware updates. The Windows based PGXL utility is required for those tasks.

In addition, not all PGXL warnings and errors are implemented. If you think your PGXL may be in an error or warning state either the LCD display or the Windows utility will be your best tools.

Here are just a few of the features for V1.00 of the WS7M PGXL Mac Utility:

  • Allows online/standby control of the amp using a large button
  • Displays real time power, peak power, SWR, current and temperature readings
  • Displays a TX timer that counts down from 5 minutes so you remember to unkey
  • Has the ability to auto-connect to your PGXL when the utility starts
  • Can put your PGXL in standby when the utility exits
  • Has a settable timer to put your PGXL in standby after a period of no use

Follow these steps to download and install the WS7M PGXL utility:

  • Download the PGXL Utility Zip File: PGXL V1.0.2
  • The download is a zip archive. When downloaded, unzip the archive.
  • Copy PGXL.app to your Applications directory.
  • The first time you try to run PGXL you will need to open it using finder to approve running the file.
  • Open a finder window to your Applications folder.
  • Right click on PGXL.app and select "Open"

Revision History

  • V1.0.2 - Add support for dark mode
  • V1.0.0 - Initial release

Overview and Usage

The first time the PGXL utility is run the initial window should look as follows:

At the bottom of the window, if your PGXL is found on your network it should be displayed.

If your PGXL is found and displayed, you can simply press "Connect" and the utility should connect to and display values from your PGXL amp. The window should appear like this when connected:

The top "online/standby" button may be green if in standby or yellow if online

If you wish to disconnect from your amp, simply press the yellow "Disconnect" button at the bottom.

To toggle online/standby you can click the button that either says "STANDBY" or "ONLINE".

This online/standby button also serves as a status indicator showing the current PGXL status.

Below the online/standby button are a series of informational fields:

  • TXTimer - This field counts down from 5 minutes to keep you aware of the need to unkey your amp during a long transmit cycle. The 5 minute max keydown is built into the PGXL firmware.
  • Power - This reads instantaneous forward power and provides a bar graph
  • Peak - This reads the peak power and features a short peak hold time as well as a bar graph
  • Temp - This reads the final temp and provides a bar graph
  • HLTemp - This reads the temp of the harmonic load and provides a bar graph
  • Id - This is drain current and provides a bar graph
  • Vdd - This is final voltage and provides a bar graph
  • VAC - This shows the input A/C voltage and provides a bar graph
  • Standby - If you have enabled the standby timer in settings this will countdown and indicate time remaining in seconds before the amp goes to standby

Above the standby/online button there is a field on the left side for input A and a field on the right side for input B. These fields show the input source and amplifier bias mode.

Connection Tab

The connection tab allows you to set how you wish to connect to the PGXL amp:

There are two connection "modes":

  • Connect at specified address
  • Discover and connect

Connect to PGXL at this address should be used if you know the IP address of your amp on your LAN. Using this mode avoids any problems with your LAN blocking UDP broadcasts from the amp.

Discover and connect will wait for discovery packets to arrive and allows you to connect to either the first found amp or a specific amp by serial number.

Discovered amps are listed in the list box. If you double click on an amp in that list box it will grab the IP and serial number for you and put it into the appropriate fields.

There is also a checkbox at the top to "auto connect". Checking this box allows the PGXL utlity to automatically connect to the desired amp eliminating the need to press the connect button.

The suggested settings to use are:

  • Auto-connect - Checked
  • Connect to PGXL at this address - Selected
  • IP address filled in to match your amp

Settings and Low-level Tabs

The settings tab currently offers to optional settings:

  • Amp to standby on exit
  • Amp to standby if no TX for ## minutes

Amp to standby on exit will try to tell your PGXL to go to standby mode as the PGXL utility exits. Warning! This is not a guaranteed feature as the message can be missed. It is always best to manually put your amp in standby then exit the utility. This setting should serve as an extra pre-caution.

Amp to standby if no TX for ## minutes enables the timer shown at the bottom of the main tab. Each time you transmit this timer will reset to the number of minutes you have specified in seconds and will begin to count down. When the time elapses without another transmit your amp will be put in standby mode.

This amp to standby feature was implemented because I often get distracted and can forget to put the amp in standby.

The low-level tab shows a list of values that have been retrieved from your PGXL amp. There is a button to write these values to a log file. If there is some issue I may ask you to press this button and send me the log file.

Display Tab

The purpose of the display tab is to provide a large numeric view of your amp operation and it is good if you either have poor vision or simply want to see the numbers in a nice big font.

The values shown on the display tab are:

  • XT - This is a count down in seconds of your 5 minute transmit keydown timer
  • IP - Numeric display of instantaneous power
  • PP - Numeric display of peak power
  • SWR - Numeric display of the amp sensed SWR