Configuring SpotCollector's Email Alarm Settings

Controls on the Email Alarm tab govern SpotCollector's Email Alarm and Station Propagation Monitor functions, and provide the ability to generate an outgoing test message.

Enable	when checked, SpotCollector will send an email message from the specified From email address to the specified To email address when the conditions specified in the Email Alarm Trigger panel are satisfied
From email address	the email address from which notification email messages will be sent
To email address	the email address to which notification email messages will be sent
Include spot notes in message	when checked with the Record individual spot information option disabled, notes from the spot that triggered the alarm are included in the message body when checked with the Record individual spot information option enabled, spots (with notes) of the station that triggered the alarm are included in the message body
Include Pri & Sec Subs in message	when checked, the primary and second subdivisions of the spot that triggered the alarm (if known) will be included in the message body Note: for spots of stations in the continental US, Hawaii, and Alaska, a primary subdivision needed for the Worked All States award will be included in the message body whether this option is enabled or not
Include SQL expression in message	when checked with the Email Alarm Trigger panel's SQL expression option selected, includes the SQL expression in the generated email message enabling this option will disable the SMS-optimized message option
SMS-optimized message	when checked, a concise email message is generated; if the Include spot notes in message option is enabled, notes from the spot that triggered the alarm are included whether or not Record individual spot information is enabled enabling this option will disable the Include SQL expression in message option
Test button	If Email notification is disabled, clicking this button will generate an outgoing test notification message that you can use to verify that email settings are correct

Controls on the Outgoing Mail Server panel specify the parameters used to send an email message via your email server. Settings for popular email servers are shown below.

Outgoing Mail Server Address	the outgoing email server's address
Outgoing Mail Server Address Server requires authentication	check if the outgoing email server requires authentication with a user name and password
Outgoing Mail Server Address User name	the user name to be used when authenticating with the outgoing email server
Outgoing Mail Server Address Password	the password to be used when authenticating with the outgoing email server
Outgoing Mail Server Address Port number	the outgoing email server's port number
Outgoing Mail Server Address SSL encryption required	check if the outgoing email server requires the use of SSL encryption

Controls on the Station Propagation Monitor panel enable you to specify a callsign for which actual propagation on the 160m, 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, and 6m bands is recorded on the hour and on the half-hour to a text file, and optionally sent to a specified email address. The name of the text file is the callsign being monitored combined with the date and time at which monitoring was initiated; the file is saved in the Spotcollector folder.

Enable	when checked, SpotCollector will on the hour and on the half-hour record actual propagation reports for the specified callsign to a file in your SpotCollector folder; if From email and To email addresses are specified, and if the Outgoing Mail Server panel is correctly configured, actual propagation reports will be sent to the specified address from the specified address
Callsign	the callsign for which actual propagation reports are generated; the contents of this textbox can only be modified when Station propagation monitoring is disabled
From email	the email address from which hourly actual propagation report email messages will be sent; the contents of this textbox can only be modified when Station propagation monitoring is disabled
To email	the email address to which hourly actual propagation report email messages will be sent; the contents of this textbox can only be modified when Station propagation monitoring is disabled
Stats	clicking this button will display the file to which actual propagation reports are being recorded

The text file is created in your SpotCollector folder with a name composed of the specified callsign and the date and time at which monitoring was initiated; unique spots by band and spotting station location are reported:

2018-05-22 18:00 NA-E NA-M NA-W SA    EU    AF    AS    OC
160m             0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
80m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
40m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
30m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
20m              2     0     1     0     3     0     0     0
17m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
15m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
12m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
10m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
6m               0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0

2018-05-22 19:00 NA-E NA-M NA-W SA    EU    AF    AS    OC
160m             0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
80m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
40m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
30m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
20m              0     0     0     1     4     0     0     0
17m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
15m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
12m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
10m              0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0
6m               0     0     0     0     0     0     0     0

To enable the delivery of email messages via SMS systems limited to 160 characters, email messages employ a compressed 144-character format where a period indicates 1 or 2 spots, and an asterisk indicates 3 or more spots:

1 NNNSEAAO

9 EMWAUFSC

20 .*

Controls on the Email Alarm Trigger panel determine under what conditions an Email message will be sent.

Needed	when checked, SpotCollector will send an email message when a Spot Database entry is created or updated and a QSO with the entry's station would advance award progress the entry has not previously triggered an email message
Needed & Filtered	when checked, SpotCollector will send an email message when a Spot Database entry is created or updated and a QSO with the entry's station would advance award progress the entry has not previously triggered an email message the entry "passes" the Band, Mode, Origin, Continent, LotW, and eQSL filters
Needed includes Unconfirmed as well as Unworked	determines whether the Needed and Needed & Filtered settings apply to Spot Database entries that are Unworked, or Spot Database entries that are Unworked or Worked but Unconfirmed
Email special callsigns	when checked with the Needed or Needed & Filtered setting selected, the creation or update of a Spot Database entry for a special callsign will generate an email message indicating whether or not a QSO with the callsign is needed to advance award progress
SQL expression	when checked, SpotCollector will send an Email message when a Spot Database entry is created or updated and matches the specified SQL expression, which may include wildcards and substitutions.
Test	clicking this button filters the Spot Database Display with the SQL expression to quickly verify that it is correct SQL and functions as expected

If an error occurs when SpotCollector attempts to send an email notification message in response to the creation of a "needed" Spot Database entry,

email notification will be disabled
the words "email notification disabled" will appear in the title bar of SpotCollector's Main window

Gmail

Outgoing Mail Server Address	smtp.gmail.com
Outgoing Mail Server Server requires authentication	enable
Outgoing Mail Server User name	your Gmail username
Outgoing Mail Server Password	your SpotCollector App Password (see note 1 below)
Outgoing Mail Server Port number	465
Outgoing Mail Server SSL encryption required	enable (see note 2 below)

Notes:

as of August 2019, if you are using Gmail to convey SpotCollector's outgoing email messages, you must obtain an App Password from Google; this gives a non-Google application like SpotCollector permission to use Gmail's outgoing mail server. An App Password can only be established in Google accounts that have 2-step verification enabled, as described here. After enabling 2-step verification (if not already enabled),
- navigate to https://myaccount.google.com/
- select Security
- under Signing in to Google select App Passwords (if this option is not present, 2-step verification has not been enabled in your Google account)
- set the Select app selector to other (custom name)
- to the right of the Select the app and device you want go generate the app password for prompt, type SpotCollector and then click the Generate button
- copy the 16-character generated password and paste it into SpotCollector's Outgoing Mail Server panel's Password box (even though the password appears to contain spaces, it does not)
as of June 2021, you must configure Google to consider SSL encryption to be sufficient

Comcast

Outgoing Mail Server Address	smtp.comcast.net
Outgoing Mail Server Server requires authentication	enable
Outgoing Mail Server User name	your Comcast username
Outgoing Mail Server Password	your Comcast password
Outgoing Mail Server Port number	465
Outgoing Mail ServerSSL encryption required	enable