Managing Spot Sources

On installation, SpotCollector comes preconfigured with connection information for several spot sources, but you must specify a username and password before a spot source can be enabled to supply spots. Start by connecting to the cluster known as DX Spots:

  1. click the Config button to open SpotCollector's Configuration window and select the Spot Sources tab.

  2. in the Telnet DXClusters panel, you'll find connection information for the DX Spots cluster in the top-most sub-panel.

    1. check the Auto box; this will configure SpotCollector to automatically connect to the DX Spots cluster on startup

    2. leave the Hide box unchecked

    3. type your callsign into the Username textbox

    4. if you have previously used the DX Spots cluster and have established a password, type this password into the Password textbox; otherwise, leave the Password textbox empty

    5. click the Spot button; this directs SpotCollector to route outgoing spots via the DX Spots cluster

    6. check the Enable box; a new window entitled DX Spots will appear on screen, and this window's large Received Data pane should show SpotCollector connecting to the DX Spots cluster on your behalf

      1. to verify the connection, type SH/DX into the text box immediately below the Received Data pane, and then strike the Enter key

      2. the Received Data pane should then display the ten most recent DX spots

    7. close the DX Spots window by clicking the X button in its upper right corner

  3. via the Power Options section of the Windows Control Panel, configure Windows to never put your computer in hibernation, sleep, or standby mode

  4. via the Network section of the Windows Control Panel, configure Windows to never power down the wired or wireless adapter by which your computer is connected to the internet

Whenever you start SpotCollector, it will automatically connect to the spot sources specified on the Configuration window's Spot Sources tab.

Some DXClusters are parts of a sub-network that permits only a single connection. For example, if DXClusters A and B are part of the same sub-network and you are connected to A, connecting to B will cause the connection with A to silently drop. If SpotCollector is configured to automatically reconnect dropped connections, then when SpotCollector reconnects with A, the connection with B will silently drop. When SpotCollector reconnects with B, the connection with A will silently drop - ad infinitum. Thus after configuring SpotCollector to connect to a new DXCluster, monitor the messages in its Spot Source window for a few minutes; if you see a spontaneous reconnection, the new DXCluster may be part of a sub-network to which you are already connected, in which case you should choose a different DXCluster.

Spot Source Status

SpotCollector's Main window provides a Spot source status panel containing six circular indicators to show the status of your spot sources, where

Clicking one of these indicators displays its associated spot source's window; double-clicking the Spot source status panel's caption displays the Configuration window's Spot Sources tab, from which you can specify and select spot sources.

If a spot source's status indicator remains yellow, it means that SpotCollector has not received a message from the source of the form

YourCallsign de ClusterCallsign

where YourCallsign is the Username specified for the cluster on the Configuration window's Spot Sources tab. Some clusters permit you to specify a non-standard prompt. To correct this, send the cluster this command via SpotCollector's Spot Source window for that cluster:

unset/prompt

DXClusters that utilize DX Spider can be configured to disable the "prompt sequence" that enables SpotCollector to confirm that you've logged in, preventing the cluster's status indicator from advancing from yellow to green. To correct this, send the cluster this command via SpotCollector's Spot Source window for that cluster:

set/prompt

If at least one spot source's status indicator is green but no entries are being added to the Spot Database Display, see items 2 through 6 in this article.

Spot Sources

Additional Information

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Getting Started with Spot Collection, Active DX Identification, and Analytics

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ManagingSpotSources (last edited 2023-06-13 13:18:35 by AA6YQ)