VIRTUALNET
SUNRAY GUIDE
USER DOCUMENTATION
STUDENT GUIDE SUNRAY GUIDE

VirtualNet - Sunray (Instructor) User Guide

Welcome to the Sunray Portal Guide. As a Net Control Station (NCS) / Sunray, you oversee tactical radio net exercises, manage student callsign assignments and enforce net discipline.

Note: VirtualNet.uk does not require any PII, nor does it save/store any voice messages.

Daily Net Access PIN Sheet

NOTICE:
Authorised access to VirtualNet.uk is safeguarded by use of a Daily Instructor 6-Digit PIN.
A list of valid pin numbers for each day is available on request from the application owner.

Contact joth.moss@googlemail.com.

1. Hosting a Net Session

  1. On the VirtualNet landing page, click SUNRAY Portal.
  2. Enter the Net Session Name (e.g., Exercise Grey Fox).
  3. Update the SUNRAY callsign (defaults to 0), if required.
  4. Enter the Daily Instructor 6-Digit PIN.
  5. Click CREATE NET SESSION.
  6. Once created, your Sunray Control Console will display, giving you full control over the net roster and active session.
  7. The 4-character Exercise Pin is displayed at the top left of the screen - you need to issue this to students wishing to join your net. You are also provided with a QR code & URL shortcut you can copy and send to students directly.

2. Callsign Assignment & Student Queue

When students connect using your Exercise PIN, they enter a waiting queue in AWAITING CALLSIGN ASSIGNMENT status.

Assigning Callsigns:

  • Look at the Sunray Control Panel on your dashboard.
  • Locate student nicknames listed under Waiting Stations.
  • Enter the designated callsign for each student (e.g., R11, R12, H10).
  • Click ASSIGN.
  • The student's dashboard will instantly unlock, allowing them to transmit audio.

3. Net Roster & Live Status Monitoring

The Net Roster panel provides real-time visibility across all connected stations:

  • IDLE (Green): Station is listening on the net channel.
  • TRANSMITTING (Red): Station is currently keying PTT and streaming microphone audio to the net.
  • RECEIVING (Amber): Station is receiving an active transmission from another operator.
  • OFFLINE (Gray): Station has disconnected or timed out.
  • Signal Indicator: Displays simulated signal strength and audio quality metrics.

4. Sunray Priority Break-In (Override)

As Sunray / Net Control, your station has highest net priority:

  • If a student is transmitting and you need to intervene, correct procedure, or broadcast an urgent message, press and hold PTT.
  • VirtualNet's Break-In System immediately overrides the current transmission, cuts off the student stream, and broadcasts your audio to all connected net members.
  • The student UIs will immediately display RECEIVING: CONTROL (or your Sunray callsign).

5. Comms Health Matrix

The Comms Health Matrix (located in the COMMS MATRIX sub-tab of the Sunray Control Console) allows instructors to simulate real-world radio propagation challenges such as terrain masking, dead ground, distance degradation, and electronic counter-measures.

Asymmetric Grid:

  • Rows (▼ FROM / TX): The transmitting stations.
  • Columns (TO / RX ▶): The receiving stations.
  • Independent Directionality: You can uncheck Station A → Station B so Station B cannot receive Station A, while leaving Station B → Station A checked so Station A can still hear Station B.

Simulated Carrier Wave Tone & Transceiver State:

  • When a station transmits to an unchecked recipient, the receiving station does not hear clear audio. Instead, their transceiver displays RECEIVING: CARRIER / UNREADABLE with an amber CARRIER DETECTED badge and synthesizes an unmodulated RF carrier wave tone (~460 Hz + thermal filter hiss).
  • Upon PTT release, the carrier tone cleanly terminates.

Presets:

  • [ALL IN COMMS]: Instantly restores full-net connectivity between all connected stations (default state).
  • [THROUGH SUNRAY ONLY]: Severs direct student-to-student links while preserving bidirectional links with Net Control (0). This forces students to execute formal voice relay procedures ("Through Me/Through You").
  • [RESET MATRIX]: Re-synchronizes the matrix grid with active session callsigns.

6. Transmission Activity Log & Receipt Verification

The Transmission Activity Log automatically tracks all voice transmissions across the net session in real-time:
- DTG: Military Date-Time Group timestamp (e.g. 301145Z AUG 26).
- Call Sign: Transmitting station callsign (0, R11, etc.).
- Duration: Length of transmission in seconds (e.g. 4.2s).
- Status: Live state (TRANSMITTING, PTT RELEASED, COMPLETED, OVERRIDDEN, DF ALERT).
- RX Summary:
- ALL CALLSIGNS R/X (Green): All stations in the net received and acknowledged the audio playback.
- NOT R/X: <callsigns> (Amber): Identifies exactly which stations did not receive or were blocked by the Comms Health Matrix (e.g. NOT R/X: R12, R14).
- STREAMING (Blue): Live transmission in progress.

Click CLEAR LOG to wipe the activity history for a clean slate during exercises.

7. Ending a Net Session

When training completes:
- Click END NET SESSION on your Sunray Control Console.
- Confirm session termination.
- All connected student sockets will be disconnected cleanly, resetting client dashboards back to the join landing page.

Summary for Sunray / Net Control

Action Sunray Control Method
Get Daily PINs Email application owner at joth.moss@googlemail.com
Unlock Student Radio Enter callsign (e.g.,R11) and click Assign Callsign
Configure RF Topologies Open COMMS MATRIX tab, check/uncheck directional links or click presets
Simulate Radio Relay Click [THROUGH SUNRAY ONLY] to force students to pass traffic through Control
Interrupt Student Speech Press PTT to execute Sunray Break-In Override
Review Receipts & Logs View Transmission Activity Log (ALL CALLSIGNS R/X vs NOT R/X: ...)
Close Training Net Click End Net Session