Getting Started with QSL Route Discovery
Pathfinder lets you enter a callsign and then search multiple web sites for QSL information by clicking a search button for each site. You can search two kinds of web sites:
- fixed web sites like Buckmaster or QRZ
- country-specific online callbooks
12 search buttons are provided for searching fixed web sites, each labeled with an appropriate abbreviation; allowing the mouse cursor to hover over a button will produce a popup display that more fully describes the web site associated with that button. On installation, these 12 search buttons are assigned to well-known QSL information sites. To search for a callsign's QSL information, type that callsign into the Target Callsign textbox, and then click the search button associated with the web site you wish to search; the results of you search will appear in Pathfinder's Main window beneath the two rows of search buttons. If the first search yields unsatisfactory results, you can immediately click another search button. Pathfinder lets you quickly verify a callsign's QSL information from multiple web sites, minimizing QSL response time and wasted postage.
After you type a callsign into the Target Callsign textbox, Pathfinder inspects that callsign, determines its DXCC entity, and if possible presents a button beneath the Target Callsign textbox labeled with the DXCC Prefix for the callsign's DXCC country. Clicking this button will search the online callbook for that DXCC country. Pathfinder knows of online callbooks for many but not all DXCC countries, so a country-specific search button may not appear after you type a new callsign.
New fixed sites and country-specific callbooks are occasionally discovered, and the URLs for known sites sometimes change. On startup, Pathfinder checks for updates to its search information. If such updates are available, a description of each will appear in the Main window; click the Update button in the Main window's upper-left corner, and Pathfinder will be automatically updated with the new information.
Pathfinder uses the Internet Explorer web browser installed on your system, whether you use Internet Explorer for web browsing or not. Thus Pathfinder's web browsing experience and security are controlled by Internet Explorer's settings.
Adjusting the size of information displayed in Pathfinder's Main window
Specifying the search to be used when another application initiates a lookup
Updating Pathfinder's Search Library
Preventing the "Are you sure you want to leave this page?" Popup
Configuring DXKeeper to use QRZ.com via Pathfinder as a callbook