• DxInfo

Getting Started with DX Information and Mapping

When you first run DXView, a small window will appear that lets you specify the location of your station (QTH); you can type in either a Maidenhead Gridsquare, or a latitude (e.g. 37 22' N) and longitude (e.g. 121 48' W) .

With your station location defined, you can now obtain DX Information from several sources:

• by specifying a Callsign

• by specifying an IOTA tag

• by specifying a Maidenhead Grid Square

• by specifying a Latitude and Longitude

• by designating a Map Location

Each of the above actions selects a location whose information is displayed on both DXView's Info and World Map windows; in the latter, the signal path from your QTH to the selected location is also displayed. You can obtain additional information about that location by

• clicking the Country Map button (if enabled) to see a more detailed map of the location's DXCC entity

• clicking the Google button to see a satellite photo of the location

• clicking the MapQuest button to see a map and obtain driving directions to the location

• clicking the Sun button to see sunrise and sunset times for the location and your QTH for the next 30 days

Databases

DXView displays information extracted from eight databases:

1. DXCC: maps callsigns to DXCC entities and regions within DXCC entities, and provides time zone, CQ zone, ITU zone, IOTA tag, continent, and location information
2. IOTA: provides the name and location of each IOTA tag

3. LotW: indicates whether or not a callsign is known to participate in LoTW

4. eQSL AG: indicates whether or not a callsign is known to be an authenticity-guaranteed participant in eQSL.cc

5. RDA: provides provides the Oblast and District from which a Russian callsign is likely operating; currently occupied Ukrainian Oblasts and Districts are not provided
6. USAP: provides the location and primary administrative subdivision of each station located in the United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Marianas Islands, or American Samoa based on the zipcode of the address of the station location submitted to the United States Federal Communications Commission.
7. GridDXCC: identifies the DXCC entities present in each grid square that contains part of a DXCC entity. It also identifies Australian States, Canadian Provinces, Japanese Prefectures, US States, and New Zealand call areas contained in a grid square that contains their parent DXCC entity.
8. Translation Database: contains 50 frequently-used amateur radio phrases in 70 spoken languages, enabling DXView to display appropriate translations given the callsign shown in the Main window

These databases are frequently updated. To determine whether a new update is available, open the Databases tab of DXView's Config window, and click the New? button.

• Updating your DXCC database

• Updating your IOTA database

• Updating your LotW database

• Updating your eQSL AG database

• Updating your RDA database

• Updating your USAP database

• Updating your GridDXCC database

Obsolete versions of the eQSL, LoTW, and USAP databases are retained in DXView's Databases folder with names of the form BBBB YYYY-MM-DD.mdb , e.g. LoTW 2022-08-29.mdb. You can periodically delete these obsolete versions.

Plotting Logged QSOs

• Plotting Logged QSOs on DXView's World Map

• Plotting Logged QSOs on the DX Atlas World Map

• Plotting Worked and Confirmed Grid Squares on the DX Atlas World Map

• Plotting Logged QSOs, Active DX stations, and Spotting Stations on Google Earth

Plotting Active DX Stations and the Stations that Spot Them

• Plotting Active DX stations and Spotting stations on DXView's World Map

• Plotting Active DX stations and Spotting stations on the DX Atlas World Map

• Plotting Logged QSOs, Active DX stations, and Spotting Stations on Google Earth

Scanning Specified Bands for Active DX Stations and the Stations that Spot Them

• Scan DX

Installing Country Maps

DXView's optional library of 266 country maps enables it to display a map of the country that contains the location currently selected on its Main window. When you direct the Launcher to install DXView, you are asked if you want the country map library installed. If you decline, you can later obtains the country map library by downloading this self-extracting zip archive and then running it, directing it to extract its contents into DXView's Maps folder. If DXView is installed in its default location of c:\DXlab\DXView then no change to the self-extractor's default Unzip to folder setting of c:\DXlab\DXView\Maps will be necessary.

Additional Topics

• Determining a Station's Location

• Actions that Cause DXView to Display Information about a Callsign

• Using Overrides to Deal with Ambiguous or Non-compliant Callsigns

• Using Overrides to Specify Additional Information for a Callsign

• Identifying and Logging QSOs with Club Members

• Identifying Gray-Line Propagation Openings

• Determining whether you need 120 DPI or 192 DPI world maps

• Adding a new DXCC entity

• Understanding Maximum Geomagnetic Latitude and Auroral Ovals

• Using DX Atlas with DXView on Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10

Post a question or suggestion on the DXLab Discussion Group

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