DXView Operation

Online Help Index

 

DXView's major functions can be invoked by clicking buttons in its Info window, or by striking keyboard shortcuts.

DXView draws information from six databases for which it provides management facilities; it can optionally query a seventh database, SpotCollector's Special Callsign Database

DXView employs four windows:

  1. the Info window, which displays textual information like DXCC entity, latitude and longitude, grid square, IOTA tag, etc. 

  2. the World Map window graphically displays beam headings, the solar terminator, and DX spots; this information can be optionally displayed on the DX Atlas World Map window (requires DX Atlas version 2.1 or later).

  3. the Sunrise/Sunset window displays sunrise and sunset times over a 30-day interval for both your QTH and the currently selected location

  4. the Translations window optionally displays translations of amateur radio phrases for languages used in the currently-selected DXCC entity

Displaying Information About a Callsign

Type or paste a callsign (or callsign fragment or prefix) into the Info window's Callsign textbox; characters will be displayed in red font until you initiate the search by striking the Enter key, or by clicking the Go button. If an Override has been defined for the callsign, the Override's DXCC entity will be used; otherwise, the DXCC Database will be searched to determine the callsign's DXCC entity. If the callsign's DXCC entity is not in the United States or its possessions -- Alaska, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Baker Howland Island, Guam, Johnston Island, Midway Island, Palmyra Island, Kingman Reef, Hawaii, Kure Island, American Samoa, Wake Island, or the Marianas Islands -- then the DXCC database search results are used to determine the callsign's approximate location. If the callsign's DXCC entity is the United States or one of its possessions, and if the USAP Database is installed, then this database will be searched to determine the callsign's location based on the zipcode on file for that callsign with the US Federal Communications Commission; if the USAP Database is not installed or if the callsign is not found in this database, then the callsign's approximate location is determined from the DXCC Database search results -- which can be quite inaccurate for callsigns in these DXCC entities. The name of the database used to determine a callsign's location is displayed at the top-right of the Info window's Location panel. 

If Commander and PropView are running, and if the Generate propagation forecast option is enabled, then after providing a callsign and striking the Enter key or clicking the Go button PropView will be directed to generate a propagation forecast for the transceiver's current band.

If the callsign's location is successfully determined, the current position is set to that location. DXView plots the current position in the World Map window as a solid blue circle, plots the great circle route connecting it and your QTH as a blue line, and updates the following Info window textboxes:

Textbox Contents
prefix the standard prefix associated with the DXCC entity
entity the name of the DXCC entity
code the DXCC entity's country code as assigned by the ARRL's DXCC desk
short the short-path heading from your QTH to the selected position
long the long-path heading from your QTH to the selected position
location the name of the location containing the selected position, possibly including
latitude the selected position's latitude
longitude the selected position's longitude
grid the selected position's Maidenhead grid square
SP DX the short-path distance in miles or kilometers from your QTH to the selected position, depending upon the setting selected in the Distance Units panel; click the ~ button to display the long-path distance in miles or kilometers.
cont the selected position's continent
CQ the selected position's CQ zone
ITU the selected position's ITU zone
time zone the selected position's time offset relative to UTC

If the Display GeoMag panel option is enabled, the GeoMag panel will  be present in the Info window and display the maximum geomagnetic latitude for the path between your QTH and the current position; the larger the geomagnetic latitude, the more absorption will be suffered by signals on the path due to interaction with the auroral zone.

If DXView is configured to use the DX Atlas World Map window,  either short paths or long paths between your QTH and the callsign's location can be displayed. To display the short path, click the word short in the Info window's Heading panel; to display the long path, click the word long in the Info window's Heading panel; your current selection in the Heading panel will be highlighted in bold font.

If Commander and PropView are running and the Generate Propagation Forecast option is enabled,

If Pathfinder is running, clicking the QRZ.com button will query the online callbook at www.QRZ.com and update the Entity, Code, Grid, Latitude, Longitude, CQ, ITU, and Time textboxes with the information found there. Depressing the Shift key while striking the Enter key in the Callsign textbox or while clicking the Go button will also query www.QRZ.com. If Pathfinder isn't running, the QRZ.com button will be disabled.

If DXKeeper is running, DXView displays a Progress panel showing award progress for the selected DXCC entity in the currently open log; the DXCC entity's prefix and the name of the currently open log both appear in the Progress panel's caption. A table within the Progress panel shows the status of four modes (SSB, CW, DIGI, and PSK) and 11 bands (160m through 2m), using the following progress codes:

Code Meaning

W

worked, no QSL requested

R

worked, QSL requested

C

QSL received

V

QSL's Entity, Band, and Mode verified by DXCC desk

E

QSL's Entity verified by DXCC desk

B

QSL's Entity and Band verified by DXCC desk

M

QSL's Entity and Mode verified by DXCC desk

If DXKeeper is running, double-clicking one of these Info window labels will filter the Log Page Display:

Label Log Page Display filter when double-clicked
callsign all QSOs with the callsign specified in the callsign textbox
prefix all QSOs with stations in the DXCC entity specified in the code textbox
entity all QSOs with stations inthe DXCC entity specified in the code textbox
code all QSOs with stations in the DXCC entity specified in the code textbox
cont all QSOs with stations in the continent specified in the cont textbox
grid all QSOs with stations in the gridsquare specified by the first 4 characters in the grid textbox
CQ all QSOs with stations in the CQ Zone specified in the CQ textbox
ITU all QSOs with stations in the ITU Zone specified in the ITU textbox
IOTA all QSOs with stations on the island group whose tag is specified in the IOTA textbox

 

 

If the DXCC Award objectives specified in DXKeeper indicate that a mode is sought, but there are no confirmed QSOs with the selected DXCC entity in that mode, then the background of that mode's cells will be white rather than the window's background color. Similarly, if the DXCC Award objectives specified in DXKeeper indicate that a band is sought, but there are no confirmed QSOs with the selected DXCC entity on that band, then the background of that band's cells will be white rather than the window's background color.

If DXKeeper is installed but not running and the Open Most Recent Log option is enabled, DXView will display the Progress panel and populate with information from the most recently-opened log.

If Commander is running, the primary transceiver's band will be highlighted in green in the Progress panel. If WinWarbler is running, WinWarbler's current Operating Mode will be highlighted in green in the Progress panel.

SpotCollector can be configured to automatically direct DXView to display information about each incoming spot by checking its Automatic DXView Update box.. To ensure that these automatic updates will not displace information you directly requested from DXView, such automatic updates are ignored for 5 seconds after any direct request. To preserve the currently-displayed information for a longer time, click the SC Lock button; when the current information is no longer needed, click the SC Unlock button.  

If DXKeeper is running, you can populate the Capture window's call box with the contents of DXView's Prefix textbox, presumably a callsign, by

or

Highlighting Callsigns Known to QSL via Logbook of the World

If the LotW Database is installed,  then DXView will indicate that a callsign is known to QSL via Logbook of the World by coloring the backgrounds of  textboxes in the Search and DXCC panels when you strike the Enter key in the Callsign textbox or when you click the Go button. The colors used differentiate callsigns based on known LotW participation can be specified in the Search & DXCC Background Colors panel. The DXCC panel will also display the date at which the callsign last uploaded QSOs to LotW.

You can obtain LotW.mdb by clicking the LotW Database's Upgrade button on the Database Versions panel.

Highlighting Callsigns that are Authenticity Guaranteed members of eQSL.cc

If the eQSL AG Database is installed,  then DXView will indicate that a callsign is an Authenticity Guaranteed member of eQSL.cc by coloring the backgrounds of  textboxes in the Search and DXCC panels when you strike the Enter key in the Callsign textbox or when you click the Go button. The colors used differentiate callsigns based on an eQSL.cc Authenticity Guarantee can be specified in the Search & DXCC Background Colors panel. The DXCC panel will also display the date at which the callsign last uploaded QSOs to eQSL.

You can obtain eQSLAG.mdb by by clicking the eQSL AG Database's Upgrade button on the Database Versions panel.

Querying SpotCollector's Special Callsign Database

SpotCollector's Special Callsign Database lets you associate Tags with callsigns you consider special -- friends, members of your local club, or members of a larger organization like the European PSK Club, Ten-Ten, or FOC. You can create your own Special Callsign Database entries, or you can load SpotCollector's Special Callsign Database with membership lists available online. SpotCollector uses its Special Callsign Database to highlight and announce spots of these callsigns. If SpotCollector is installed, you can configure DXView to query SpotCollector's Special Callsign Database, display the resulting Tags on a panel in the Info window, and make these Tags accessible to other applications.

Viewing a Country Map

If DXView's Map subfolder contains a map for the DXCC entity specified in the DXCC panel, the Info window's Country Map button will be enabled. Clicking this button displays the country map in a separate window.



Using the World Map Window

You can configure DXView to use its own built-in World Map window , or to use the DX Atlas World Map window. Clicking the World button in the Info window's Map panel will display the World Map window you've chosen.

If you have selected the built-in word map, use the World Map window's Map panel to specify which set of boundaries to display:

Both the built-in World Map window and the DX Atlas World Map window display

The built-in World Map window also displays the borders of the auroral zones, in magenta.

If you've chosen the built-in World Map window and Solar Position panel's Current button is selected, the solar position and terminator are updated every two minutes; the built-in World Map window's title bar displays the time of the most recent update. To view the solar position and terminator at a specific date and time, click the At this UTC date/time button and specify a UTC date and time using the format dd-mmm-yyyy hh:mm; if this date and time are valid, the solar position and terminator will be displayed, and the built-in World Map window's title bar will display this date and time until you specify another, or until you select the  Solar Position panel's Current button. The DX Atlas World Map window continuously updates its display of the solar position and terminator, and provides controls for displaying the positions of solar position and terminator at any time in the past or future. 

To set your QTH, click the Config button and specify your latitude and longitude in the General tab's QTH panel. Alternatively, select your QTH position as described in the next section, click the Config button, and then click the Position button in the General tab's QTH panel.

Displaying Auroral Zones

If you check the Aurora box in the built-in World Map window's Plot panel, the predicted boundaries of the northern and southern aurora zones will be displayed on the built-in World Map, enabling you to visually determine the extent to which a signal path may be influenced by auroral transit. As described in http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/forecast/currentshelp.html , the auroral boundaries expand as the earth's magnetosphere increases in strength due to solar activity. This field strength is measured and widely reported using a parameter referred to as the K index, which takes on values from 0 (low field strength) to 9 (extremely high field strength). DXView can be configured to display a GeoMag panel on its Info window with a textbox in which you specify the current value of the geomagnetic K index, which is available from WWV broadcasts and propagation web sites. SpotCollector automatically captures the most recent K index from WWV spots; if SpotCollector is running, the GeoMag panel's K textbox will be automatically updated as SpotCollector receives WWV data. The accuracy of DXView's prediction of auroral zone boundaries depends in part on knowing the geographic location of the Magnetic Poles; as the magnetic poles drift significantly from year to year, these settings should be updated annually.

Plotting the Selected Location

To capture information associated with the selected location and plot this location on the currently-selected World Map window,  click the Info window's Plot button; if no location is selected, the Plot button will be disabled. Subject to Band Filtering, Mode Filtering, Continent Filtering, and Origin Filtering, this location will be marked on the World Map by a solid red circle that persists until its lifetime expires, or until you terminate DXView. Allowing the mouse cursor to rest on a plotted red circle will produce a popup that displays the captured information, which can include callsign, DXCC prefix, DXCC entity (if enabled), Maidenhead gridsquare, frequency, mode, UTC time, and shortpath heading.

For plots created by the Plot button to be visible on the World Map window, the Origin Filter must include the region specified by the Location setting in the General tab's QTH panel .

If Commander is running, the active transceiver's frequency and mode are captured when the Plot button is clicked. If Commander is not running, you must set the Band Filter and Mode Filter to display plots of unknown band and mode respective for such plots to be visible on the World Map window. 

If you depress the CTRL key while clicking the Info window's Plot button, a small DXView Plot window will appear that lets you specify a frequency (in Kilohertz), and select a mode. Clicking the DXView Plot window's Plot button lets you create a plot with frequency and mode information without Commander running. If you depress CTRL key while clicking the DXView Plot window's Plot button, the plot will be generated, and the DXView Plot window will remain on-screen rather than close; this is convenient if you'll be frequently creating plots whose frequencies and modes you manually specify.

 

Displaying Active DX Stations and QSOs, Logged QSOs, and DXCC Entity Award Progress

Using the built-in or DX Atlas World Map windows and Google Earth, DXView can display the locations of DX stations and DX QSOs captured by SpotCollector, QSOs logged in DXKeeper, and your progress against DXing awards tracked by DXKeeper.

Displaying DX Stations and DX QSOs on the built-in World Map window, and optionally on Google Earth

To display active DX stations captured by SpotCollector on DXView's built-in World Map window, select Spots in the DX sub-panel in the built-in World Map window's Plot panel. Subject to Band Filtering, Mode Filtering, Continent Filtering, and Origin Filtering, the plotted DX station will be marked by a solid red circle that persists until its lifetime expires, or until you terminate DXView. 

If you check the QSOs box in the DX sub-panel in the built-in World Map window's Plot panel, DXView will plot the location of both an active DX station and the station that spotted it -- if SpotCollector was able to obtain a grid square for both locations. The location of the spotting station is depicted as a black circle, the path between the spotted and spotting station is depicted as a black line.

If you check the My box in the DX sub-panel in the built-in World Map window's Plot panel, the display of spots and QSOs on the world map will be limited to those whose most recent "spotting station" is

Note: the My box is unchecked at startup.

Active DX stations, logged QSOs, and DXCC Entities can in parallel be displayed on Google Earth:

You can control the size of the circles and lines used to depict DX stations, spotting stations, and paths on the built-in World Map window:

Allowing the mouse cursor to linger on the built-in World Map window within 500 miles (800 kilometers) of a plotted spot will pop up a text banner containing the associated callsign, frequency, mode, grid square (if available), time, and beam heading for the closest plotted DX station; if the Include country in popup box is checked, the text banner will also include the associated country name.

Clicking the Scan DX button on the Main or World Map window will

While a Scan DX operation is in progress,

Selecting Active DX Stations on the Built-in World Map

With Spots selected in the build-in World Map window's Plot panel, double-clicking in the World Map will

If you depress the Ctrl key while double-clicking a plotted DX station, DXView will rotate your antenna to the short path heading; if you depress the Alt key, DXView will rotate your antenna to the long path heading. 

If you depress the Shift key while double-clicking a plotted DX station and PropView is running, DXView will direct PropView to generate a propagation forecast for the spot's location.

Displaying Logged QSOs on the Built-in World Map Window

When you invoke the Plot function on the Log QSOs tab of DXKeeper's Main window, all QSOs in the Log Page Display will be conveyed to DXView, the QSOs button in the Log sub-panel in the Plot panel of DXView's built-in World Map window will be both enabled and selected, and the each conveyed QSO will be plotted as a red circle on the world map. These plotted QSOs are subject to confirmation status filtering, as specified by checkboxes in the Log sub-panel:

Logged QSOs can in parallel be displayed on Google Earth; the location of each conveyed QSO will be marked with a yellow thumbtack labeled with the station's callsign.

If DXKeeper's Log Page Display was filtered when the Plot function was invoked, the caption of the QSOs button in the Plot panel of DXView's built-in World Map window will change to Filtered QSOs; allowing the mouse cursor to hover over the Filtered QSOs button will display a popup window showing the expression used to filter the Log Page Display.

You can control the diameter of the circles used to depict logged QSOs via the Logged QSO diameter setting.

With QSOs or Filtered QSOs selected in the Log sub-panel of the built-in World Map window's Plot panel, allowing the mouse cursor to linger on the built-in World Map window within 500 miles (800 kilometers) of a plotted QSO will display a text banner showing the QSO's callsign, DXCC entity name, band, mode, and grid square (if available). If multiple QSOs specify the same location, the text banner will designate one with the most advance confirmation status for that location.

Displaying DXCC Entity Award Progress on the built-in World Map window

When DXKeeper is running or with the Open most recent log option enabled, the caption of the Log sub-panel in the built-in World Map window's Plot panel indicates the name of the currently open log file; you can visually plot DXing award progress for this log file by selecting DXCC Entities in the Plot panel's Log sub-panel. These plots are subject to Band Filtering, Mode Filtering, and progress filtering, as specified by checkboxes in the Log sub-panel:

You can control the diameter of the circles used to depict DXCC entities via the DX entity diameter setting.

DXCC Entities can in parallel be displayed on Google Earth; the location of each Entity will be marked with a yellow thumbtack labeled with the Entity's DXCC Prefix.

With DXCC Entities selected in the built-in World Map window's Plot panel, allowing the mouse cursor to linger on the built-in World Map window within 500 miles (800 kilometers) of a plotted DXCC entity will display a text banner showing the prefix for the closest plotted country and the associated DXCC entity name.

Displaying Active DX Stations and DX QSOs on the DX Atlas World Map window

To display DX stations on the DX Atlas world map rather than on DXView's built-in World Map window, 

  1. click the enable button in the DX Atlas panel on the Configuration window's World Map tab

  2. check the Spots box in the DX sub-panel in the Selection panel on the Config window's Plot Settings tab 

Subject to Band Filtering, Mode Filtering, Continent Filtering, and Origin Filtering, the plotted DX station will be marked by a solid red circle that persists until its lifetime expires, or until you terminate DXView. 

Active DX stations and QSOs can in parallel be displayed on Google Earth; plotted DX stations are marked with a yellow thumbtack, the location of the spotting station is depicted as a red circle, and the path between the DX and spotting station is depicted with a red line.

In the DX Atlas panel on the Configuration window's World Map tab,

Note that a spot's text description will be suppressed if it would obscure another spot or its description; increasing the zoom will provide additional room for descriptions to appear. 

Selecting Active DX Stations on the DX Atlas World Map

With Spots selected in the DX sub-panel on the Config window's Selection panel, depressing the Shift key while clicking on the DX Atlas World Map window with panning mode disabled will 

If you depress the Ctrl key while clicking a plotted spot, DXView will also rotate your antenna to the short path heading; if you depress the Alt key, DXView will rotate your antenna to the long path heading. 

Displaying Logged QSOs on DX Atlas on the DX Atlas World Map window

To display logged QSOs on the DX Atlas World Map window rather than on DXView's built-in World Map window,  click the enable button in the DX Atlas panel on Configuration window's World Map tab. When you invoke the Plot function on the Log QSOs tab of DXKeeper's Main window, 

In the DX Atlas panel on the Configuration window's World Map tab,

Note that a DX station's text description will be suppressed if it would obscure another spot or its description; increasing the zoom will provide additional room for descriptions to appear. 

Logged QSOs can in parallel be displayed on Google Earth; the location of each conveyed QSO will be marked with a yellow thumbtack labeled with the station's callsign.

Plotted QSOs are subject to confirmation status filtering, as specified by checkboxes in the in the Log sub-panel on the Selection panel on  the Configuration window's Plot Settings panel:

If DXKeeper's Log Page Display was filtered when the Plot function was invoked, the caption of the QSOs button in the Log sub-panel on the Selection panel on  the Configuration window's Plot Settings panel will change to Filtered QSOs; allowing the mouse cursor to hover over the Filtered QSOs button will display a popup window showing the expression used to filter the Log Page Display.

To update the DX Atlas World Map window to show worked and confirmed Fields and Grids (if DX Atlas is configured to display field and grid status), check the Update Grid Status box before invoking DXKeeper's Plot function.

Displaying DXCC Entity Award Progress on DX Atlas on the DX Atlas World Map window

To display DXCC entities on the DX Atlas World Map window rather than on DXView's built-in World Map window, click the enable button in the DX Atlas panel on the Configuration window's World Map tab. When DXKeeper is running or with the Open most recent log option enabled, the caption of the Log sub-panel on the Selection panel on  the Configuration window's Plot Settings panel indicates the name of the currently open log file; you can visually plot DXing award progress for this log file by selecting DXCC Entities in the Selection panel's Log sub-panel: 

Note that a DXCC entity's text description will be suppressed if it would obscure another spot or its description; increasing the zoom will provide additional room for descriptions to appear. 

DXCC Entities can in parallel be displayed on Google Earth; the location of each Entity will be marked with a yellow thumbtack labeled with the Entity's DXCC Prefix.

Plotted DXCC entities are subject to Band Filtering, Mode Filtering, and progress filtering, as specified by checkboxes in the Log sub-panel on the Selection panel on  the Configuration window's Plot Settings panel:


Selecting a Location

There are four ways to select a location:

  1. click on its location in the built-in World Map window or in the DX Atlas World Map window, if enabled

  2. enter its latitude and longitude in the Info window's Latitude and Longitude textboxes, and strike the Enter key in either textbox

  3. enter its grid square in the Info window's Grid textbox, and strike the Enter key

  4. enter its IOTA tag in the Info window's IOTA textbox and strike the Enter key, or select an IOTA tag in the Info window's IOTA selector (if present)

Selecting a position plots its position in the World Map window as a solid blue circle, plots the great circle route connecting it and your QTH as a blue line, and updates the following Info window textboxes:

short the short-path heading from your QTH to the selected location
long the long-path heading from your QTH to the selected location
latitude the selected location's latitude
longitude the selected location's longitude
grid the selected location's Maidenhead grid square
SP DX the short-path distance in miles or kilometers from your QTH to the selected location, depending upon the setting selected in the Distance Units panel ;click the ~ button to display the long-path distance in miles or kilometers.
max the maximum magnetic latitude encountered by a signal traversing the short or long path from your QTH to the selected location

If the GridDXCC database is installed, the first three ways of selecting a location will determine what DXCC entity or entities are contained within the selected location's 4-character grid square. If this grid square contains a single DXCC entity,

If the selected location's 4-character grid square contains more than one DXCC entity, the names or DXCC prefixes of these entities will be identified in the Main window's Location textbox.

When the GridDXCC database provides information about the selected location's 4-character grid square, that grid square is noted in the Location panel's upper-right corner.

If the IOTA database is installed, entering an IOTA tag in the Info window's IOTA textbox and striking the Enter key will display its parent DXCC entity in the Main window's DXCC panel.

If DXView is configured to use the DX Atlas World Map window,  either short paths or long paths between your QTH and the selected location can be displayed. To display the short path, click the word short in the Info window's Heading panel; to display the long path, click the word long in the Info window's Heading panel; your current selection in the Heading panel will be highlighted in bold font.

If you depress the Ctrl key while selecting a location by clicking on a map location, DXView will rotate your antenna to the location's short path heading; if you depress the Alt key, DXView will rotate your antenna to the location's long path heading.

If you depress the Shift key while selecting a location by clicking on a map location, DXView will direct PropView to compute and display a propagation forecast to the designated location.

Latitudes should be specified in the format D M' S" Z, where

Examples of latitudes you can enter include 123 9' 55" S, 38 15' N and 42S . If you enter an illegal latitude, the value 0 0' S will be used.

Longitudes should entered in the format D M' S" Z, where

Examples of latitudes you can enter include 73 56' 2" E, 122 10' W and 10E . If you enter an illegal longitude, the value 0 0' E will be used.

The accuracy of DXView's computation of the maximum magnetic latitude encountered by a signal depends in part on knowing the geographic location of the Magnetic Poles; as the magnetic poles drift significantly from year to year, these settings should be updated annually.

Displaying the Selected Location in MapQuest

To invoke MapQuest with the coordinates of the DXView's currently selected location, click the Info window's MapQuest button. MapQuest will be displayed in the web browser whose pathname is specified in the Guidance panel on the Config window's General tab; if no browser pathname is specified, your default web browser will be used. You can specify the initial zoom level via the slider in the MapQuest Zoom panel. If the Main window's DXCC panel does not specify a DXCC entity, the MapQuest button will be disabled.

Displaying the Selected Location in Google Maps

To display a Google Map with the coordinates of the DXView's currently selected location, click the Info window's Google button. Google Maps will be displayed in the web browser whose pathname is specified in the Guidance panel on the Config window's General tab; if no browser pathname is specified, your default web browser will be used. You can specify the initial zoom level via the slider in the Google Map panel.  If the Main window's DXCC panel does not specify a DXCC entity, the Google button will be disabled.

Initiating a Google Search for the selected entity

To initiate a Google search for the currently-selected entity, depress the CTRL key while clicking the Info window's Google button. Search results will be displayed in the web browser whose pathname is specified in the Guidance panel on the Config window's General tab; if no browser pathname is specified, your default web browser will be used.

 

Selecting a DXCC Entity

You can select a DXCC entity by

DXView responds as it does when you identify a callsign's DXCC entity.

Locating an Island from its IOTA tag

If the IOTA Database is installed, then when you enter an IOTA tag in the Info window's IOTA textbox or and strike the Enter key or when you select an IOTA tag in the Info window's IOTA selector (if present), DXView will 

If the entire Island group falls within a single DXCC entity, the Info window's Prefix, and Country textboxes will be updated; the Cont, CQ, ITU, and Time textboxes may also be updated if they can be unambiguously determined.


Displaying Sunrise and Sunset Times

To display sunrise and sunset times for the currently-selected position, click the Info window's Sun button to display DXView's Sunrise/Sunset window. The scrollable grid in this window displays sunrise and sunset times for your QTH, and for the currently-selected position -- referred to in this window as DX. The grid displays sunrise and sunset times for the next 30 days, starting with the date specified in the UTC Date textbox; by modifying this date and clicking the Calculate button, you can display sunrise and sunset times for any 30-day interval. Double-clicking the UTC Date sets its contents to the current UTC date.

If the Auto update box is checked, the UTC Date and sunrise/sunset times will automatically be updated at the beginning of each UTC day.

If you select a new location via the Info or World Map windows and the Sunrise/Sunset window is on-screen, sunrise and sunset times for the new location will be automatically recomputed. If you modify the DX panel's latitude or longitude,  the location of your QTH, or the contents of the UTC Date textbox, the invalid portion of the grid will be cleared, and the Calculate button will become active. When you click the Calculate button, the missing sunrise and sunset times will be recomputed, and the Calculate button will be deactivated.

If a location is in 24-hour sunlight or 24-hour darkness, the corresponding grid cell will indicate day or night respectively.

Clicking a grid cell that contains a time will configure the World Map window to display the solar terminator at that time on the date associated with the clicked cell's row, and place this date and time in the Selected Time box. To return the World Map window's solar terminator display to the current date and time, click the X button to the right of the Selected Time box, or click the Current button in the Solar position panel on the Configuration window's World Map tab, or close the Sunrise/Sunset window.


Displaying Gray-Line Times

Sunrise Gray-Line openings begin approximately 30 minutes before sunrise and end approximately 30 after sunrise; sunset Gray-Line openings begin approximately 30 minutes before sunset and end approximately 30 minutes after sunset. To display next 100 days with Gray-Line openings between your QTH and the currently-selected position, click the Info window's Sun button to display DXView's Sunrise/Sunset window, and click the Gray-Line button. The scrollable grid in this window displays one row for each day on which a sunrise or sunset Gray-Line opening is present between your QTH and the selected currently-selected location -- referred to in this window as DX. The grid displays starting and ending times for each opening, starting with the date specified in the UTC Date textbox; by modifying this date and clicking the Calculate button, you can display Gray-Line times beginning at any specified date. Double-clicking the UTC Date sets its contents to the current UTC date.

If the Auto update box is checked, the UTC Date and Gray-Line times will automatically be updated at the beginning of each UTC day.

If you select a new location via the Info or World Map windows and the Sunrise/Sunset window is on-screen, Gray-Line times for the new location will be automatically recomputed. If you modify the DX panel's latitude or longitude,  the location of your QTH, or the contents of the UTC Date textbox, the grid will be cleared, and the Calculate button will become active. When you click the Calculate button, Gray-Line times will be computed and displayed, and the Calculate button will be deactivated.

Clicking a grid cell that contains a time will configure the World Map window to display the solar terminator at that time on the date associated with the clicked cell's row, and place this date and time in the Selected Time box. To return the World Map window's solar terminator display to the current date and time, click the X button to the right of the Selected Time box, or click the Current button in the Solar position panel on the Configuration window's World Map tab, or close the Sunrise/Sunset window.


Displaying Translations of Amateur Radio Phrases

If DXView's Translations database is installed and Translation is enabled, then whenever a DXCC entity is selected as the result of a callsign, prefix, entity, or country code lookup,  DXView's Translations window will display a table whose columns are amateur radio phrases and whose rows are the languages used in that DXCC entity. Double-clicking a phrase places that phrase in the Windows Clipboard, allowing you to quickly "paste" it into another application.

Column headings are displayed in your choice of native language. A column's position can be changed by clicking on the heading of a column you wish to relocate and then click-dragging the column until the two red positioning triangles indicate the desired new location; this allows the most frequently used phrases to be positioned on the left of the window, with less frequently used phrases accessible by horizontally scrolling the table to the right. The table's column widths can be automatically set so that all translated phrases will be fully visible.

 

Positioning an Antenna Rotator

The Info window's Heading panel provides controls that rotate your antenna(s).  If the selected rotator model  is a Green Heron, Hygain, M2 RCP2800P-A, M2-RCP2800PX, MDS, Rotor-EZ, or Yaesu, you can enable the Request rotator heading once per second option, which will display the position of your antenna(s) in the Info window's Heading panel. If  Request rotator heading once per second is not enabled, then the Heading panel will display the most recent heading to which DXView rotated your antenna(s). 

To activate a properly configured antenna rotator connected to your PC, click the Heading panel 's SP button to choose the current short path heading, or click its LP button to choose the current long path heading. Depressing the CTRL key while clicking the SP or LP buttons will stop any in-progress rotation if the selected rotator model supports a programmable stop command.

Above the SP and LP buttons, DXView displays the most recent heading and path reported by or conveyed to the rotator. Clicking the most recent heading will set the short path heading to the most recent heading, but will not initiate antenna rotation.

Typing a callsign (or callsign fragment or prefix) into the Info window's callsign box and then depressing the CTRL key while striking the Enter key will display the callsign's position and rotate the antenna to the displayed short path heading.

If you are rotating two antennas whose rotator offsets are not the same,  the Heading panel caption will indicate which antenna is currently active. To switch antennas, double-click the Heading panel caption; the most recent heading will be updated to display the newly-activated antenna's heading.

If the height and width of DXView's Main window are sufficient, the Antenna presets panel will display 30 antenna preset buttons in two columns of 15, each associated with a heading; clicking one of these buttons will rotate the current antenna to the heading associated with that button.

To specify or modify the captions and headings associated with buttons in the Antenna presets panel, depress the CTRL key while clicking one of these buttons; this will display DXView's Antenna Presets window, whose settings specify all 30 Antenna preset buttons' captions and headings. Presets in the left-most column are numbered 1 through 15; presets in the right-most column are numbered 16 through 30. To make the Antenna presets panel visible on DXView's Info window, click the Show button on the Configuration window's Rotator Control tab; to hide the Antenna presets panel, click the Hide button on the Configuration window's Rotator Control tab.

If you have Installed and configured the freeware N1MM Rotor application, you can configure DXView to control up to 16 rotators by interoperating with this application. If Commander is running, DXView's N1MM Rotator Selection by Band panel lets you specify which rotator to use as a function of the current transceiver band. N1MM Rotor provides a realtime display of the current rotator's position. Step-by-step configuration instructions are available.

The Directive Acceptance by Band panel determines whether, with Commander running, rotation directives received from other applications are obeyed or ignored as a function of the transceiver's current frequency. If the most recent rotation directive was ignored, the Heading panel's antenna position and path are displayed in red font, indicating that an antenna position and path are not being provided to other applications; otherwise, the Heading panel's antenna position and path are displayed in blue font.

 

Databases

DXView employs eight databases

The DXCC Database cross references callsigns to DXCC entities and where possible to regions within DXCC entities; it also provides information about these entities and regions, such as local time offsets, CQ zones, ITU zones, and IOTA tags. The DXCC database is  maintained in DXView's Databases folder in a file named DXCC.mdb and must be present for DXView to run. While the DXCC database is centrally maintained and distributed, DXView includes facilities for managing it yourself; to display or modify entries in the DXCC Database, click the Info window's DXCC button.

The IOTA Database cross references IOTA tags to descriptions, locations, and parent DXCC entities. The IOTA database is maintained in DXView's Databases folder in a file named IOTA.mdb.If the IOTA database is not present, DXView will be unable to 

The USAP Database contains callsigns and locations for stations in the United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Marianas Islands, or American Samoa; a station's location is determined from the zipcode on file for that callsign with the US Federal Communications Commission. The USAP database is maintained in DXView's Databases folder in a file named USAP.mdb. If the USAP database is not installed, the  approximate location of callsigns from the above DXCC entities will be determined from DXCC database search results alone -- which can be inaccurate for callsigns in these DXCC entities.

The RDA Database specifies callsigns and the Russian Districts from which they have operated. The RDA database is maintained in DXView's Databases folder in a file named RDA.mdb.

The GridDXCC Database 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.

The LotW Database contains callsigns known to participate in the ARRL's Logbook of the World (LotW). The LotW database is maintained in DXView's Databases folder in a file named LotW.mdb.If the LotW database is not present, DXView will be unable to highlight the callsigns of stations known to participate in LotW.

The eQSL AG Database contains callsigns that are Authenticity Guaranteed members of eQSL.cc. The eQSL AG database is maintained in DXView's Databases folder in a file named eQSLAG.mdb.If the eQSL AG  database is not present, DXView will be unable highlight the callsigns of Authenticity Guaranteed members of eQSL.cc.

The Translations Database provides translations of more than 50 phrases used in amateur radio in more than 50 languages. 

These databases are updated a varying frequencies. To determine the installed version of the above databases, to determine the currently available version of the above databases, or to direct DXView to install or upgrade one of the above databases, use functions available on the Configuration window's Databases tab. DXView can be configured to automatically check for the availability of database upgrades on startup. When one or more database upgrades are available, it displays the message new DB! on its Main window; clicking this message displays the Configuration window's Databases tab, from which database upgrades can be initiated.

 

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