DX Monitor
Frequently Asked Questions
Please read this list of questions before submitting a bug report or comment.
It is 1998 and I can't see any new spots!
The new spots are probably going to the bottom of the list.
If you are using the current version of DX Monitor, the list will be sorted into the correct
order. If not, the program assumes that 12-31 is later than 01-01. No year is
provided with incoming spots. The "fixing" of December
dates is only performed until January 15. After that, if you still have December spots
in your list, they will be assumed to be later than the January ones. This is to save the
extra time required to fix the dates before and after each sort.
Some garbage data got into one of the spots. How can I get rid of it?
If you need to delete bad data, individual spots can
be deleted using Shift-DEL. Or you can delete the file DXSPOTS.TXT and
the program will create a new clean file from the next retrieval. You can also edit
individual entries by pressing ctl-e and editing right on the spreadsheet.
I see the program access OH2BUA, but no new spots show up.
Check your filter settings. You may be asking for spots which only occur rarely. If you
suspect a problem with DX Monitor, use your web browser to compare with OH2BUA output
before reporting it. When OH2BUA goes off for a few hours, I usually get a half dozen
emails reporting a bug in the program!
Pressing the AUTO button when not connected to the net hangs the
program for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes, control is returned.
This was a bug in Microsoft's
WINSOCK.DLL. Microsoft has fixed it. Download the new dialer and winsock from
Microsoft.
It will also improve your connection performance in other ways.
Will DX Monitor work from behind a firewall or with a proxy server?
Version 0.7 added proxy support for those of you trapped behind firewalls.
Will DX Monitor work with Windows NT?
Usually. It is difficult to tell when I accidentally add an incompatibility. I have to rely
on feedback from NT users whenever a new version appears. Version 0.86 works. If a later
version works (or breaks) for you, please let me know.
I sent a DX Spot but it didn't show up.
DX spots are sent via the form on the OH2BUA web site.
Before the DX Summit site was created, they were actually sent via packet to a
DX Cluster and worked their way back to the internet. Sometimes one of the links was
down. The new DX Summit site has eliminated this step and spotting should be much
more reliable.
When will you do a version for Windows 3.11? Macintosh?
It is not likely to happen.
Why do I get alarms for C31LJ when I haven't set them up?
This is the price you pay for the program. I want you to call me when I am on. C31LJ is
my home call. I like to operate contests and CW almost as much as I enjoy programming.
Your server is too slow when I try to download.
Try downloading at times when the net is less congested. US night time.
You can also try the VE3GEJ Canadian mirror site to see if it is
faster. If anyone else can provide other mirrors of the software, let me know and I will
list your site for alternative access.
File not found when I try to download.
Some users get a message such as "URL /~benlo/files/dxmon06.zip79f87761 was not found on
this server". I don't know what adds that 79f87761 to the URL. But it has happened to
a number of users. The URL should end at the .zip. Paste the corrected URL
into your browser and try again.
Vote for new features you want to see!
What gets done next might depend on your feedback. Let me know what you would like to
see added...
- Connection to individual clusters via Telnet.
- Connection via TNC or Baycom modem to a DX Packet Cluster.
- More precise location information for countries with prefixes which designate
a geographical area.
- Dial modem to connect to ISP and disconnect after retrieval.
- Frequency filtering for DX watch alarms.
- Prefix to country conversion on DX alarms.
- Spot output to the comm port for announcement to a local packet cluster.
- Speech output of announcements. PTT control for a dx repeater.
- Place DX Monitor in the Tool Tray. You can do this now with utilities like
TRAY.EXE.
- Rig control to automatically set the frequency on a FT1000/TS950/IC775/...
- Interface to CT, TRLog, LogPlus, DXBase ...
- Create alarm list from logging program "need" list.
- A DX Ticker to display recent spots in a tiny window.
- An INSTALL or SETUP program to install the software.
- Custom colors, fonts, and column order.
- Automatic update of CTY.DAT and DXMON.EXE files when they change.
- Manual prefix/location and date entry to get beam heading, sunrise/sunset info.
- A chat window to allow real time chatting among all connected DX Monitor users.
- Auroral zone plots based on WWV information
- Grey line time length for a given location
- Recommended grey line sked times between two places
- MUF and LUF plots on the Azimuthal map
- Heuristic propagation projections based on DX and spotter locations in past few hours
- Stop wasting your time programming! Get on the air. I still need C3 on 160 RTTY and 10 FM.
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