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DX-COMM ver3.3 Copyright 1992 Terminal Control Program and Shortwave Database for the DRAKE R8 Communications Receiver by: Eric B. Svenson Summit, New Jersey NOTE: Throughout this document reference is made to "Drake" or "Drake R8". This reference is to the Drake R8 Communications Receiver manufactured by the R.L. Drake Company of Miamisburg, Ohio. The author of the program DX-COMM ver3.3 is not an employee, an agent, or affiliated with the R.L. Drake Company and makes no claims as representing the interests of the R.L. Drake Company. DX-COMM ver3.3 is an enhancement of the previously released Shareware version 3.2, 3.01 and the versions called QUICKCOMM 2.32, 2.1 and 1.01. Please refer to the end of this manual for a description of those enhancements. The author also wishes to express special appreciation to Greg Achenbach of Denver, Colorado who beta tested the program. His advice and help has been invaluable. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Introduction .......................................... 1 Installation and Startup .............................. 1 Using DX-COMM Versions 1.01, 2.1, 2.32, 3.01 .......... 6 or 3.2 SWDB.DAT Uploading Database Data to Drake ...................... 6 Displaying Utility Broadcasts with Center ............. 7 Frequency offset Displaying Database Information for Other ............. 8 Time Periods Decrementing/Incrementing the Drake Frequency ......... 9 Accessing the Command Screen .......................... 9 Display by Time and Station or Time and Frequency ..... 10 Listing Shortwave/Utility Stations .................... 12 Maximum Useable and Lowest Useable Frequency Calc...... 12 Propagation Graphs of MUF/LUF ......................... 14 Logging New Stations Into the Database ................ 15 Alternate Method of Entering Frequency in ............. 18 New/Edited Record Add Record Feature of Database Menu Screen ............ 19 Editing and Deleting Records .......................... 19 Find, Edit, and Delete ................................ 21 The TNC Window ........................................ 22 Printing Records ...................................... 25 DOS SHELL ............................................. 26 Exiting DX-COMM ....................................... 26 Programming Considerations ............................ 26 Version Enhancements .................................. 28 Registering as a User of DX-COMM ...................... 30 -1- INTRODUCTION The program DX-COMM is designed for use with the DRAKE R8 Communications Receiver, an IBM compatible PC with CGA, EGA or VGA text capability, and a Terminal Node Controller (TNC) or Universal Terminal Unit (UTU) such as the MFJ-1278 Or AEA PK-232 for decoding digital ham and utility signals. It uses one serial port to upload and download information from and to the receiver for a variety of parameters including frequency, bandwidth, VFO, AGC, RF, antenna, mode, noise blanker, notch filter, and synchronous detector. It uses another serial port to control and display decoded information from the TNC. The program is comprised of the files DX.EXE, MUFGRAPH.EXE, SWDB.DAT, INDX.DAT, FLAG.DAT, COM.DAT and README.TXT files. DX-COMM was written and compiled using Microsoft's Basic Professional Development System ver7.1 and should be able to run on all IBM compatible PC's with 640k of memory and equipped with either floppy or hard drives (although a hard drive will certainly speed up access time when re-sorting the SWDB.DAT database file). DX-COMM contains about 1100 frequency listings for international shortwave stations. It has the capability to store many times that amount (provided one has adequate disk storage capacity). The program provides the capability to the user to continuously add to this database, modify the database, identify stations as: active, inactive, utility, shortwave or special. The program has a comprehensive search, sort and printing routines and provides for the uploading of each record from the database to the Drake directly for frequency, bandwidth, mode and each of the programmable features provided as standard features on the Drake R8 receiver. Future enhancements to the program still under development include: - providing a QSL/SWL logbook; - Providing file merge capabilities for SWDB.DAT with future updates of DX-COMM or other databases available on several BBS Boards. INSTALLATION AND STARTUP All files must reside on the same directory or sub-directory of a hard disk or floppy drive. If loading the program on a hard disk you will need approximately 800K of disk space -2- (approximately 150k of this is used as temporary data storage for sorting and other operations). You can reduce this amount by approximately 90K if you erase the README.TXT file. However, keep in mind that for every additional 1000 records added to the database, you will need approximately 250K of additional disk space to run the program. Start the program by typing DX at the DOS drive prompt The program will then display something like the following: DX-COMM: COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVER xx:xx:xx TERMINAL CONTROL PROGRAM AND SHORTWAVE BROADCAST DATABASE FREQUENCY NB AGC RF NOTCH ANT MODE BAND VFO SYNCHRO SCAN CHANNEL =============================================================================== xx.xxxxx x xxxx xxx xxx x xx x.x x xxx xx xxx =============================================================================== Enter Command: (C)ommands (L)oad (A)dd T(N)C (R)etrieve Shortwave: (SB) (SA) (SI) <--> (T)ime (E)dit (F)lux# (SP)ecial Utility: (UB) (UA) (UI) REC# TIME TYPE STATION FREQUENCY DAYS S MUF - LUF ================================================================================ xxxx xxxx-xxxx x-x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xxxxx xxxxx x xx.x-xx.x xxxx xxxx-xxxx x-x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xxxxx xxxxx x xx.x-xx.x xxxx xxxx-xxxx x-x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xxxxx xxxxx x xx.x-xx.x xxxx xxxx-xxxx x-x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xxxxx xxxxx x xx.x-xx.x xxxx xxxx-xxxx x-x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xxxxx xxxxx x xx.x-xx.x xxxx xxxx-xxxx x-x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xxxxx xxxxx x xx.x-xx.x xxxx xxxx-xxxx x-x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xxxxx xxxxx x xx.x-xx.x xxxx xxxx-xxxx x-x xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx.xxxxx xxxxx x xx.x-xx.x (SE)tup F2 = KHz Incr. F3 = Toggle SWDB ]/[ = dwn/up (Q)uit (G)raph Esc= Dos Shell F9 =Freq. Offset Take a moment and study the display. The upper third of your computer monitor provides the same information provided as on the Drake R8 backlit LED display. The middle half of the monitor's display, as well as the last 2 lines, identify commands that can be entered thru your computer keyboard. The lower third of your monitor displays database records of "active" shortwave stations for the time of day using your computer's internal clock and the DOS "TIME" function. The headings over the list of records have the following meaning: REC# - The SWDB.DAT database record number associated with the station displayed; -3- TIME - The start and end time of the station's transmission in UTC; TYPE - A descriptor to indicate whether the station is a shortwave or utility broadcast and whether the frequency is "active" or "inactive"; STATION - The call name of the broadcaster; FREQUENCY- The frequency of the station; DAYS - The days of the week that the broadcast can be heard; S - The season that the broadcaster uses this frequency (Summer/Winter, or all the time); MUF-LUF - The predicted average Maximum Useable and Lowest Useable Frequency for that broadcast. The number database records displayed will depend upon the UTC (Universal Time) time of day (as shown in the upper right hand corner of the screen) and the corresponding records in the database for that hour. Your first step is to identify to the program the serial ports you will be using to communicate with the DRAKE and the TNC. Press the "S" key followed by the "E" key. The following, "DRAKE R8 COM(n) port, n =", should be displayed where the "Enter Command:" statement (in the middle of the screen) was previously. Enter either 1, or 2 depending on the serial port you are using to connect to the DRAKE R8. Next, in place of the "DRAKE R8 Com(n)..." the following statement will appear: "Change UTC offset to local time:". Enter the offset hours to convert local time to Universal World Time. For example on the East Coast of the United States enter the number "5" to convert from Eastern Standard Time to UTC. Next the command line will display "Receiver Latitude =". Enter your location's latitude in degrees and minutes. This information is required to accurately calculate Maximum Useable Frequency (MUF) and Lowest Useable Frequency (LUF) for those shortwave broadcasts in the database relative to your receiver's location. If you enter a latitude in degrees greater than 90, minutes greater than 60, or something other than E for east or W for west, you will hear a beep and the cursor will return to the beginning of the latitude data entry. -4- Upon successfully entering your receiver's latitude, you are prompted to enter your receiver's longitude. An entry of degrees greater than 180, or minutes greater than 60, or something other than N for north or S for south will cause a beep and will return the cursor to the start of the data field. The next series of entries will configure the serial port for your TNC. Upon completing the step in the previous paragraph you will be queried to enter the serial COM port number for the TNC. If you do not have a TNC simply enter "0". This will then complete your configuration setup. However, if you are using a TNC enter serial port "1" or "2". If the Drake R8 is COM port "1" then the TNC should be port "2". If you attempt to enter "1" it will beep. Similarly if the Drake is COM port "2" you should enter "1" for the TNC. The program will next prompt you to enter the TNC's Baud rate. Valid Baud rates are 1200, 2400, 4800 and 9600. Next, the program queries you to specify parity for the TNC. Acceptable entries are: "S" for space, "M" for mark, "O" for odd, "E" for even, and "N" for none. (Do not enter the quotation marks, they are shown here only to highlight the letter to enter). Next, the program queries you to enter the number of data bits for the TNC COM port. Valid entries for the number of data bits are 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. Next, the program queries you to enter the number of stop bits for the TNC. Valid values are 1, 1.5, and 2. Finally, the program queries you for the COM port control parameters. If used, these must be entered in the following sequence: ",RS,CSn,DSn,CDn,LF,PE" where n is the number of milliseconds to wait (0-65535) for the signal before a device timeout error occurs. Note the "," as the first entry character - if control codes are to be used this MUST be typed as the first character in the string. If "RS" is the only control signal desired (suppresses RTS - request to send) then simply type: ",RS". If you desire to simply control the device timeout for carrier detection for say 100 milliseconds then simply type: ",CD100". For further reference on the control codes their descriptions may be found in your IBM BASIC or Microsoft GW-BASIC manual. The software has already been configured for the MFJ-1278 TNC. The RTS (request to send) signal is suppressed to allow the autobaud software on the MFJ-1278 to automatically match the baud rate to that which you've programmed in DX-COMM. If you -5- own an AEA PK-232 you will want to remove the ",RS" from the setup. To do this, press the space bar 3 times to write blanks over the ",RS" entry and then press <ENTER>. The next entry requires you to identify whether you want only active broadcast frequencies to be displayed on initial program startup, or "inactive" or "both". A description of the terms "active", "inactive", or "both" is provided on page 12 of this manual under the heading, "LISTING SHORTWAVE/UTILITY STATIONS". Type an "A" for active or "I" for inactive or "B" for both, and then press <ENTER>. Next the program requests that you identify a frequency offset in khz for RTTY broadcasts. The Drake frequency display shows carrier frequency, but if you tune in an RTTY station to exactly the carrier frequency you'll have to detune the Drake by approximately 1.375 khz or more. This feature allows DX-COMM to display the center frequency plus the offset when the F9 key is toggled. Finally, in a similar manner to that of the offset for RTTY, the user is requested to enter a CW frequency offset which again allows DX-COMM to display the center frequency plus the offset when the F9 key is toggled. This then completes DX-COMM's setup configuration. The parameters entered will remain stored in the file COM.DAT for retrieval each time the program is restarted. If for any reason you need to change a configuration parameter press "S" followed by "E" when operating within the "Database Display Screen". You may then quickly go to the parameter you seek to modify by simply pressing "Enter" at those parameters that are to remain unchanged. For example, suppose you want to modify "Receiver Longitude =". First press the "S" followed by "E". Next, when the COM(n) port = 1" is displayed, simply press "enter" to keep the value "1" for COM port number 1. Likewise, do the same for the UTC offset value and receiver latitude value displayed. Finally, when the command line "Receiver Longitude =" is displayed, simply type in the correct longitude desired. For the subsequent data entry parameters of the TNC COM port simply press "Enter". Now power up the Drake R8 (I'll discuss how you can do this via the (C)ommand screen later on). With the Drake power on, press the "R" key - the top portion of the screen of your -6- computer monitor should display the same frequency and other parameters as the Drake. If it doesn't, first check your equipment and serial port connection to make sure you have connected to the appropriate COM port. If this still doesn't work, I would then proceed on the assumption that perhaps the wrong COM port number for the Drake had been entered in previous procedure - repeat the program configuration/setup procedure described in the previous paragraphs. A word of CAUTION! NEVER TURN YOUR COMPUTER OFF WITHOUT FIRST EXITING DX-COMM. Failure to do so may result in lost data or damage to existing data files. Make it a practice to back up your data files upon exiting the program. USING DX-COMM VERSION's 1.01, 2.1, 2.32, 3.01 & 3.2 SWDB.DAT If you previously downloaded ver1.01, ver2.1, or 2.32, 3.01 & 3.2 of this shareware (Note DX-COMM was previously named QUICKCOMM), and have since added to that version's database, you can use that database instead of the one provided with DX-COMM ver3.3 by doing the following: 1) Replace the SWDB.DAT file that came with ver3.3 with your existing SWDB.DAT file. 2) Erase the file INDX.DAT and FLAG.DAT from the drive and directory you have placed DX-COMM ver3.3's DX.EXE and MUFGRAPH.EXE. 3) Start the program by typing DX.EXE at the DOS prompt. The program will immediately display the Database Screen except no frequency listings will be displayed on the bottom half of the screen. Now press the "Q" key. This will take you to the Database Menu. Press the "S" key to initialize and sort the database. This creates the files on your directory or disk called INDX.DAT and FLAG.DAT. Now return to the Database Display Screen by pressing the "L" key. The lower half of the screen should display shortwave frequencies for the UTC hour displayed in the upper right hand corner of your monitor. UPLOADING DATABASE DATA TO DRAKE To upload information from the database directly to the Drake R8 receiver there are two simple methods to do so. The most direct method is to align the "red" highlight bar over the record you desire to load. To move the Highlight Bar use either the "]" or "[" keys to move the bar down or -7- up. When the bar is over the desired record simply press the enter key and the record will be loaded into the Drake R8. The second way is to simply press the "L" key followed by entering the record number of the program desired. After pressing the "L" key you will be queried at the "Enter Command:" (located in the middle of the screen) you will be asked to identify the Record Number. Simply look at the lower left side of the screen for the record number (REC#) representing the station broadcast desired, and type this number, and press enter. The Drake R8 should then proceed to display the frequency of the station. The other parameters on the radio will change in a matter of a second or two. At the end of the Drake upload operation, the program automatically downloads information off of the Drake's RS232 port and displays this information on the top of the monitor's screen. (NOTE: if for any reason the computer display does match the Drake's panel display press the "R" key). The monitor display lists up to 8 lines of station database information. You can scroll to obtain more lines of information (if the database for the UTC time in question contains such) by pressing the up/down arrow keys on your numeric keypad or by pressing the "W" or "P" keys depending on which direction you want to scroll. The scrolled list provides a total of 1 hour look ahead from the current "on the hour" UTC time. This time is displayed in the upper right hand corner of your monitor's screen. In the next section I'll describe how the program may be reset at any time to give more than a one hour look ahead. In addition to scrolling one line at a time, you can go to the end of the list by pressing the "END" key or "Z" on the keyboard, or back to the beginning by pressing the "HOME" key or "X" on the keyboard. You can also pagedown and pageup 8 lines at a time by using the "PGUP" or "PGDN" keys or "J" and "K" on the keyboard. DISPLAYING UTILITY BROADCASTS WITH CENTER FREQ. OFFSET A frequently cited shortcomming for the Drake R8 concerns its display of RTTY and CW utility stations. As stated by the 1992 World Radio TV Handbook. "If you tune in a Morse code station to exactly the frequency of the carrier wave you'll hear nothering at all. So you have to dtune the signal around 850 hz lower in order to get a tone.... You need to keep this in mind when -8- referring to frequency lists....The same is true of RTTY signals. Depending on the type of decoder in use, you'll have totune the set some 1375 hz higher than the centre frequency to be able to read the text being sent over the air......If you're a utility enthusiast,you'll have to remember to detune the set by 1375 hz from the frequencies listed in publications by Klingenfuss, Grove, or Gilfer Associates." To make up for this shortcomming, DX-COMM has been equipped to provide center frequency offsets for RTTY and CW stations automatically. The user can activate and deactivate this feature by pressing the F9 key. When activated the F9 descriptor at the bottom of the Database Display Screen turns from a red lettering on a blue background to black lettering on a white background. In this manner when frequencies are loaded from the utility database in DX-COMM they will display the utility's center frequency of the utility broadcast and the Drake will display the center frequency plus the RTTY or CW offset depending on the mode of operation selected. DISPLAYING DATABASE INFORMATION FOR OTHER TIME PERIODS By pressing the "T" key, the database display may be manipulated to provide data from a different UTC period than the one presently shown. Press the "T" key. "Enter New Time as xx00 or (T):" will be displayed. As an example, if data corresponding to 0100 is what you desire, type "0100". You may also configure DX-COMM to display more than one hour of data from the database. For example suppose you are interested in displaying the shortwave broadcasts for 0100 hour to 0300. First press the "T" key as described above and type in 0100 followed by "Enter". Next press the "T" key again and at the display line "Enter New Time as xx00 or (T)" press the "T" key followed by "Enter" - the following will be displayed on the command line, "Enter No. of hours to display (1-24):". In the example described press 3 for a three hour look-ahead (0100 to 0200, 0200 to 0300, 0300 to 0400). The downside of programming a "look-ahead" of more than a few hours is that to read all the data into the program can take up to several minutes depending upon the speed of the PC being used. This time delay can also be compounded by additional calculations of MUF and LUF if a solar flux value has been entered. For example, on a 386 PC running at 33Mhz loading the entire database into the program takes about 45 -9- seconds. On an older PC such as a 4.77Mhz PC/XT this can take several minutes. However, this initial slowness is subsequently mitigated once the data is in RAM memory. DECREMENTING/INCREMENTING THE DRAKE FREQUENCY Within the "Database Display" screen, the current display if you've been sequencing through these instructions, when you press the left or right arrow key on the computer's numeric keypad the Drake frequency will be either decremented or incremented. The amount of decrement/increment is set by pressing the Function F2 key. The "Enter Command:" line in the middle of the monitor screen will be replaced with: "Enter frequency increment in Khz:". If you want to decre- ment/increment the frequency by 5 Khz (usually most inter- national shortwave stations are located on 5 Khz intervals ...i.e xx.xx0 or xx.xx5 Mhz) simply enter the number 5. This is extremely useful in searching the bands by first working your way up or down from a given frequency and then using the (A)dd record feature to download and add the stations of interest into the database. ACCESSING THE COMMAND SCREEN By pressing the "C" key, the lower portion of the display on your computer's monitor will be replaced with a list of direct commands that may be uploaded to the Drake R8. Most of these commands are documented and described in the Drake R8 Owner's Manual that came with the radio. For example, the "PO" command turns the Drake receiver on, and "PF" the receiver off. DX-COMM also provides increased user friendliness by allowing one to change the receiver's mode and bandwidth by directly typing them out: "AM" as opposed to using the Drake code "M6", and "1.8" for 1.8 Khz bandwidth rather than the Drake code "W1". The "Command Screen" provides an almost hands-off operation of the receiver using the computer keyboard (with the exception of the analog controls of passband offset, notch filter adjustment, tone, squelch, or volume adjustment). One can move rapidly from the "Database Display" screen to the "Command Screen" to adjust bandwidth, synchronous detector, mode, antenna, to make alternate settings to that which was uploaded from the "Database Display", or simply to prepare the Drake's display for downloading to create or edit a record. It should be noted that when the F9 frequency offset feature for RTTY and CW is activated that frequencies entered via the Command Screen will display as entered on DX-COMM but the offset will be added and inputted into the Drake as the selected frequency. -10- To return to the "Database Display" press the "L" key, and then press the "Enter" key. If you desire to quit the program simply press "Q" and enter. To proceed to the "Database Menu" screen simply press "S" and enter. However, for now, return to the "Database Display" menu by pressing the "L" key followed by enter. Other special features of the Command Screen are: - While the left/right arrow key feature is not available within the Command Screen one can increment or decrement up/down in frequency by pressing "U" or "D" and "ENTER". (Note: The U/D feature is a programmed feature within the Drake R8 itself). For every "U" or "D" key pressed the frequency will increment up or down .01 khz or .1 khz depending upon the frequency step you've selected (refer to your Drake manual for a description of the Step function). You can enter a string of U's as opposed to just a single U at a time. For example, if I wanted to increment upward by .1 khz using a step function of .01 khz then I would enter "UUUUUUUUUU" and "Enter". - By entering "SC" at the Enter Command line the program will every few seconds retrieve the radio's frequency and other parameter settings (i.e. Bandwidth, etc.). This allows the program's display to automatically update itself as the user manually operates the Drake R8 tuning knob or frequency keypad. To return back to normal DX-COMM computer control operation press "ENTER". All other commands identified within the Command Screen are identified in the Drake R8 Owner's Manual. DISPLAY BY TIME AND STATION OR TIME AND FREQUENCY From within the "Database Display" screen one can change the manner in which station information is listed. When first starting the program, the program reads an index contained in the file INDX.DAT and FLAG.DAT. The INDX.DAT file contains a translation table to access the main file SWDB.DAT. Depending upon the last sort of INDX.DAT the database will either be listed in ascending order by hour, station, and frequency or in ascending order by hour, frequency, station. The purpose of FLAG.DAT is to establish record flags for where a given hour's records begin and end in the SWDB.DAT database. This particular feature was provided for PC's that run at less than 10Mhz in order to speed the display of information to the screen as quickly as possible. -11- If the database has been previously sorted in ascending order by hour, station, frequency (this is the manner the data is displayed when you first load DX-COMM ver3.3) a station that is broadcasting on multiple frequencies for a given hour will have all its frequencies consecutively listed in ascending order. The next station will then be in alphabetically ascending order to that of the prior station, and so on. An example of this would be: TIME STATION FREQUENCY 0000 - 0100 BBC LONDON 5.97500 0000 - 0100 BBC LONDON 6.17500 0000 - 0100 BBC LONDON 9.91500 0000 - 0100 CFCX MONTREAL 6.00500 0000 - 0030 RADIO PRAGUE 7.34500 0000 - 0100 SPANISH FOREIGN RADIO 9.53000 By pressing the Function F3 key you can toggle this display (after you re-sort it) to list the same information in ascending frequency order as shown below. (NOTE: that when the F3 lettering in the lower middle of the Database Display Screen contains black lettering on a white background the database when sorted will be in ascending station name order. When the F3 lettering is red on a blue background the database when sorted will be in ascending frequency order.) This feature is extremely useful when using the left/right arrow key to search a given band for stations not previously logged. TIME STATION FREQUENCY 0000 - 0100 BBC LONDON 5.97500 0000 - 0100 CFCX MONTREAL 6.00500 0000 - 0100 BBC LONDON 6.17500 0000 - 0030 RADIO PRAGUE 7.34500 0000 - 0100 SPANISH FOREIGN RADIO 9.53000 0000 - 0100 BBC LONDON 9.91500 To re-sort the database in the manner described, leave the "Display Database" screen by pressing the "Q" key. This will access the "Database Menu" screen. Once this menu is displayed press the "S" key to initialize and sort the data- base. If your program resides on a hard disk and you are using a relatively fast PC such as an PC/AT or 386 machine, this should take less than a minute for a database of 1000 records. As your database grows to a couple of thousand of records this could take 2-3 minutes. If you are using a PC/XT or floppy disks the sorting will take considerably longer. Once the sorting is complete the "Enter Command:" will re- appear in the middle of the monitor's screen. Press "L" to return to the "Database Display" screen and the data should now be listed by ascending frequency. You may toggle back to -12- alphabetically ascending station order by pressing the Function F3 key and repeating the sort procedure described above. LISTING SHORTWAVE/UTILITY STATIONS The database is designed to identify stations by what are termed "shortwave", "utility", or "special". "Utility" and "special" stations may for all practical purposes be one and the same, except I've made a distinction here to the allow the user to log frequencies that are not necessarily tied to a given time of day. Some examples of "special" loggings are WWV and CHU which broadcast 24 hours a day. Another example would be WLO's maritime Sitor and CW broadcasts, or ham packet frequencies. Concerning "shortwave" and "utility" broadcasts these are subdivided these into the categories of "active" and "inactive". Active, in the context of the "as is" database that came with DX-COMM, means those stations recently heard or likely to be heard as logged recently by others. Inactive means those stations not yet heard or possibly were at one time logged but may have since shifted frequency. Concerning Utility stations, there are many RTTY press services, and FAX services which only transmit at a give time of day. A great reference for such frequencies is Tom Harrington's "World Press Services Frequencies" - Fifth Edition available from Universal Electronics, Inc. (614) 866-4605. Another valuable reference to have on hand is Ferrell's "Confidential Frequency List" published by Gilfer Shortwave, 1-800-445- 3371. When DX-COMM is first started, the "Database Display" screen lists both shortwave active and inactive stations. To list the utility active stations press "U" followed by "A" in either upper or lower case. To display shortwave active stations press "S" followed by "A". Likewise, to display inactive stations press "S" followed by "I" for shortwave stations and "U" followed by "I" for utility. One can also display both active and inactive stations by pressing "S" or "U" followed by "B". Similarly, to display all the frequencies logged as "special" press "S" followed by "P" in either upper or lowercase. MAXIMUM USEABLE AND LOWEST USEABLE FREQUENCY CALCULATION DX-COMM provides the capability of calculating the -13- maximum useable frequency (MUF) and lowest useable frequency (LUF) for each of the stations displayed. The MUF algorithms written into the program were derived from the following: - "MINIMUF: A Simplified MUF-Prediction Program for Microcomputers", written by Robert B. Rose, QST December 1982 (pp. 36-38). - "MINIMUF for the Ham and the IBM Personal Computer", written by John E. Anderson, QEX November 1983 (pp. 7- 14). An excellent information source to gain a better understanding of propagation and its affects on shortwave transmissions may be found in "Shortwave Radio Listening with the Experts" edited by Gerry L. Dexter. Other excellent sources are the "The Shortwave Propagation Handbook" by George Jacobs and Theodore J. Cohen as well as the "ARRL Handbook" and the "ARRL Antenna Handbook". MUF and LUF are calculated using UTC time, Solar Flux level as obtained at 17 minutes after the hour on WWV, and the short wave transmitter's longitude and latitude as well your Drake receiver's longitude and latitude. If you've been following the sequence of these instructions, the latter is what you entered upon pressing the "S" and "E" keys. About 10% of the database records provided with DX-COMM ver3.3 contain longitude and latitude information. The remaining records can easily be edited to add the information as desired. (Note, that many international broadcasters are using relay transmitters in many parts of the world to reach desired audiences. If a "relay" is being used it is that relay's longitude and latitude that should be entered). When you first start the program DX-COMM the MUF and LUF is not displayed. If you want to display this information press the "F" key to enter the Solar Flux value. The program will not accept values greater than 250 or less than 60 with the exception that "0" can be entered. Upon entering a value between 60 and 250 the program will display the MUF and LUF values for half past the hour for those records containing longitude and latitude information. Because of the calcula- tions involved, to initially display records with projected MUF-LUF values takes slightly longer than if no MUF-LUF values were to be calculated. Subsequent redisplay of the particular hour's records, however, does not result in this delay since the calculation results are stored in the computer's RAM. -14- MUF-LUF calculations can be turned OFF by simply entering "0" for the Solar Flux value. PROPAGATION GRAPHS OF MUF/LUF By pressing the "G" key while within the "Database Display" screen, DX-COMM transfers control over to the program MUFGRAPH.EXE. A "PROPAGATION MENU" with 16 regions of the world are displayed. If a Solar Flux value was not previously entered, or if you would like to experiment to determine the affect of different solar flux levels, simply press "F". In the middle of the screen, directly below the DRAKE readout, "Solar Flux# =" will be displayed. If a solar flux level was previously entered it also will be displayed. If not, or if you would like to temporarily change the value, simply type the appro- priate solar flux level remembering that the value must be between 60 to 250. The MUFGRAPH program uses the PC's internal clock as a default for determining the day of month and year in the calculations. The date may be temporarily changed by pressing the "D" key and simply entering a new date as MM-DD. To select a region of the world move the red highlight bar by pressing the "]" or "[" keys. Upon moving the highlight bar to the desired region, simply press <ENTER>. The screen will clear and a 320x200 graphics display of MUF and LUF over the short path over 24 hours for the selected month and day of the year will be calculated. The heavy line in the plot represents the MUF value, and the lighter line plotted represents the LUF value. In addition, the number of F-layer hops taken by the radio signal between the transmitter location and the receiver will be displayed, along with the calculated number of miles between the transmitter and receiver, the beam heading from your receiver and the Shortwave Broadcaster. To return to the "Propagation Menu" simply press the "Esc" key. Now if you would like to determine the propagation conditions for the long path to the same station press the "L" key. This toggles the program to calculate the longpath and remains in that mode until retoggled by pressing the "L" key once again. Upon selecting the longpath, press the enter key and a 320x200 graphics display of MUF and LUF for that station will be provided. Note that the upper right hand -15- corner of the display will indicate "LP" denoting Longpath. In addition to the regions provided, the user may directly type in a transmitter location. To do this press the "T" key and enter the latitude and longitude of the transmitter. Now press the "S" key to enter a description of the transmitter station. This description can not exceed more than 25 characters in length. Now press the "P" key for (P)lot. The middle of the computer screen will display the name of the station as you entered it, and the transmitter longitude and latitude, as well as a default longitude and latitude from the original Setup configuration file of DX- COMM. If the station header is correct, and the transmitter and receiver locations are as you desire, press "Y" for yes to calculate MUF-LUF for these world coordinates. If the information as to header and location is not correct press "N" or simply press <ENTER>, followed by "T", "R" or "S" for whatever information you desire to change. To return to DX-COMM's "Database Display" menu, simply press the "Q" key. LOGGING NEW STATIONS INTO THE DATABASE Let's say you have tuned in a frequency of 9.44500 Mhz for the Voice of Turkey at 0400 UTC. Let's assume that it isn't in your database. You may add this station to your database from within the "Database Display" screen by pressing the "A" key. Immediately, the program listings on lower portion of the display will be erased. The monitor will now display the Drake's frequency. The "Enter Command:" line will also be replaced with the statement "Use Drake Frequency (Y/n):". Assuming that you've proceeded through these instructions as I've described, and the Drake was set up for the desired antenna selection, mode, bandwidth, notch filter, noise blanker, RF gain setting, you can now press "Y". Not pertinent to the example being described, but pertinent for future operations, it should be noted if upon initial entry into the new record screen, or anytime the statement "Use Drake Frequency (Y/n)" is displayed and you decide you do not want to proceed to enter a new record, you can press the Esc key to return back to the "Database Display" screen. You can also Esc once within any of the fields provided the cursor is located in the field's 1st character position. Proceeding with the example, immediately to the right of the -16- frequency field you will be prompted to enter information in the Radio Station or "R. Station =" field. You are allowed up to 25 characters. However, if you were typing VOICE OF TURKEY, which contains only 15 characters (including spaces between the words) you may after the last character press the "ENTER" key or "CR" key on keyboard. This will immediately bring you to the next field "Start UTC =". In the "Start UTC =" field type the UTC time that the broadcast starts. You should be careful to assure that all four character positions of this field are filled (i.e. 0400) with the only exception being if this is to be a "special" logging. If it is a "special" logging just skip over this field by pressing the "ENTER" key. It should be noted that proper time entry is extremely important if the database is to later sort and display properly. Upon completing the "Start UTC =" field the "End UTC =" field will appear. Enter the UTC time that the broadcast ends. Note that some broadcasters have programs several hours in length. It is acceptable to enter an End UTC time beyond the hour that the program starts. DX-COMM will automatically, upon completion of other data fields break the file record into several records for each UTC hour that the station is broadcasting. (This is a new feature to DX-COMM). If the broadcast being logged is a "special" logging simply skip over this field by pressing "ENTER". The next field is the "Days Operating (MTWHFAS) =" field. Many international shortwave stations do not broadcast every day of the week. If the station broadcasts Monday thru Sunday, enter MTWHFAS where H represents Thursday and A represents Saturday. Data entry in this field, however, is not critical to proper sorting or displaying of records. The next field is "Longitude =". Enter the degrees and minutes of the broadcaster's transmitter. For example, using a World Atlas and the World Radio TV Handbook the Voice of Turkey broadcasts from Ankara. The transmitter longitude is 32 deg. 52 min. East. If you had attempted to type a value greater than 180 deg., or something greater than 60 min., or other than E for east or W for west, the computer will beep and return the cursor to the start position of this field. The next field is "Latitude =". Enter the degrees and minutes of the broadcaster's transmitter. Again for the Voice of Turkey example, this would be 39 degrees 55 minutes North. If you had attempted to enter something greater than 90 degrees, or something greater than 60 minutes, or something -17- other than N for North or S for South, the computer would have beeped and returned the cursor to the start position of this field. The next field is "Drake Download String =". This field will automatically display the string that represents the freq., mode, bandwidth, antenna selection, etc. that you've down- loaded off the Drake in the initial step to this section. (Refer to the Drake R8 Owner's Manual for a description of the "Report All" response which is the principal component of this download string). Simply press the enter key if you are satisfied with the mode, bandwidth, and other parameters of operation that you've downloaded. If you are not, refer to the Drake R8 Owner's Manual to obtain the appropriate codes for typing in the first 9 characters of this string (I rarely use this feature since one can "Edit" the record after all other fields have been sequenced through and then use the F1 key to allow DX-COMM to download the appropriate information directly into the file record - a feature that is described later in this manual). Once the above field is either modified or the enter key has been pressed, you are prompted to enter the following information "(W)inter, (S)ummer, (A)ll =". Many international broadcasters change the frequency used during winter versus summer to take advantage of changes in propagation conditions. Enter "W" or "S" for winter or summer, or "A" if the broadcaster uses this frequency and time throughout the year. It should be noted, however, that data entry here is not critical to sorting or displaying of records. The next field is "(S)hortwave/(U)tility/(S)pecial =". You must enter either "s" or "u". If any other letter is entered you will hear a warning beep. The program also automatically converts uppercase to lowercase. Without an "s" or a "u" this record will not be properly displayed or printed. The next field is "(A)ctive/(I)nactive/S(p)ecial =". You must enter "a", "i", or "p". A mis-typed entry will result in a warning beep. The program converts all uppercase entries to lowercase. Correct data entry is essential to assure proper display and printing of the record. If you type "p" for this field, upon leaving the field, the Start UTC and End UTC fields will automatically display "SPEC" and "IAL " respectively. The final record field is "Remarks =". In this field you are allowed 25 characters of information. I typically use this field to iden -18- tify the transmitter location, or other inform- ation about the station. This field is not critical to proper sorting or display of the record. At the completion of data entry in the "Remarks =" field the user will be prompted by "Edit (Y/n)?". If you find that you have mistyped information in any of the fields, you have an opportunity to go back and edit the field(s) containing the error(s). I will describe the edit mode in the next section, but for now assume that data entry was correct. Press "N" followed by pressing the enter key, or simply the ENTER key. The command line in the middle of the monitor's screen will then ask if you want to enter another record. Once completed with the new record, simply type "N" when prompted whether there are additional records to enter, or simply press "Enter". The program will then redisplay the list of frequencies for the hour that was being reviewed by the user prior to performing data entry. To properly place the data in the appropriate sequence to that of other data in the database, you must resort the database. To do this go to the "Database Menu" screen and then press "S". Concerning published frequency listings, "Monitoring Times" and "Passport to the World Band Radio" and "World Radio TV Handbook" are extremely helpful. "Monitoring Times" is a Grove Enterprises monthly publication. It contains a wealth of information concerning current English language broadcasts, their frequencies, time of broadcast, and provides anticipated Maximum Useable Frequency (MUF) and Lowest Useable Frequency (LUF) propagation data for that month. (Grove Enterprises telephone number is (704) 837- 9200). "Passport To World Band Radio" is an International Broadcasting Services, LTD. publication. (also available thru Grove Enterprises). The "Passport to World Band Radio" is also an excellent reference that identifies frequencies of all shortwave stations used, not just English language broadcasts, and provides very useful information about station transmitter location, the listening area the broadcast is intended, and transmitter power used. Likewise the WRTH handbook contains exhaustive detail about transmitter power, location, time of broadcasts, etc. for each interna tional and domestic shortwave and mediumwave broadcaster in the World. The WRTH is also available from Grove Enterprises. ALTERNATIVE METHOD OF ENTERING FREQUENCY IN NEW/EDITED RECORD If instead of using the Drake frequency at the very beginning of the new record display, you had desired to enter something -19- else, you could have pressed "N". This would put the cursor within the "Frequency =" field. At this point you could type in the frequency you wanted to use - however, in doing so you must enter 8 characters of information in the form xx.xxxxx (i.e 9.59000 could be "09.59000" or " 9.59000" - in the latter case the space bar was pressed on the computer keyboard for the first character - also note you must enter the "." at the third character position). (Note: I have not tested this program with the R8 VHF converter, I assume it function properly with the exception that when manually entering the frequency into the data field you may have to shift the decimal point). Then enter data as previously described for the subsequent fields. When you come to the "Drake Download String =" field the field will automatically display a default string setting of " 00 612<8" which is equivalent to Channel 00, Noise Blanker = Narrow, AGC = Fast, RF= off, Notch filter = off, Antenna = 1, Mode = AM, Band- width = 6.0, VFO= A, Synchro Det. = off, and Scanning = No. There is also an automated feature in DX-COMM to enter the desired frequency into the frequency field. At the prompt to use the "Drake frequency (Y/n)" press "N". When the cursor is located in the 1st character position of the "Frequency =" field, retune the Drake manually to the frequency and setting you desire, and then press the Function F1 key followed by "Enter". This retrieves the new Drake settings, displays the frequency, and will later display within the "Drake Download String =" field the mode, bandwidth and all other relevant parameters for the station you've currently tuned. ADD RECORD FEATURE OF DATABASE MENU SCREEN An alternate way of entering new records is using the "Data- base Menu" display described previously by pressing the "Q" key from the "Database Display" screen. Once the "Database Menu" is displayed, one can simply press "A", which provides the same new record entry screen as described before. One significant disadvantage of performing data entry from this screen is that the automated features of leftkey/rightkey to decrement/increment the Drake's frequency are not provided. EDITING AND DELETING RECORDS One can edit records from the "Database Display" screen by pressing "E" followed by the record number to edit. Record numbers are those displayed under the "REC#" field. The "Edit Screen" displays information by field in the same format that was displayed during initial data entry. The -20- user is prompted with the statement "Edit (Y/n) or (D)elete". If you decide not to change anything then simply press "N" followed by "Enter" or simply the "Enter" key. If on the other hand you decide to change the information being dis- played for the record then type "Y" followed by "Enter". If you decide to change frequency information you have two alternatives. One is that you may type it in directly, remembering that you must enter 8 characters of data (xx.xxxxx). Again it should be noted, the first character may be a space if the frequency is less than 10 Mhz. (i.e. frequency to enter is 9.59000 one would enter " 9.59000). An alternative way of entering the frequency desired is to retune the Drake manually to the frequency desired and the download settings desired and then within the first character position of the "Frequency =" field press Function F1 followed by "Enter". The new Drake frequency will then be displayed, as will the corresponding "Drake Download String" when that field is accessed. If you need to change a field somewhere in the middle or end of the record, and desire to keep the other fields unchanged, simply press the "Enter" key for each field of data you wish to retain. This skips from the first character position of one field to the first character position of the next field. Once, you start typing though, you must continue retyping all the information you want in the field. It should be noted that the field will display the characters of the prior entry until written over. For example, let's say in the "R. Station =" field I had mistyped when entering the original data "BBC LLONDON". The mistake here obviously was too many L's. In the Editing mode I would retype "BBC LONDON" followed by pressing "Enter". Pressing "Enter" marks the end of the string that you have entered to be stored in the SWDB.DAT file. When you have completed the editing of the particular record, you will again be prompted "Edit (Y/n) or (D)elete". If you mistyped something you can again go back through the record and make your changes, otherwise simply press "N" and/or "Enter". If you modified the "Start UTC" or "R. Station" or "Frequency =" fields or designated a shortwave or utility station as now a "special" log or vice versa, you might have to resort the data- base at the end of the edit to have the record properly display. In addition to editing records you may also delete them. You do this by first selecting the "Edit Display" screen and then pressing "D" when prompted by "Edit (Y/n) or (D)elete?". The -21- way program works is that upon pressing "D" the data in the Start UTC field is automatically replaced by "DDDD". To actually delete the record, the user must re-sort the data- base. In the re-sorting process a dummy database file called SWAP.DAT is created storing all records with the exception of the records identified for deletion. The SWAP.DAT file is then re-read back into the SWDB.DAT file and then erased. FIND, EDIT, AND DELETE From within the "Database Menu" screen the user may search the database for a record or set of records. Press "F". The middle of the monitor's display will prompt the user with the following: "Enter Field(s) to Search on (e.g. UTC or UTCRST):?". A few lines below this the screen will display field identifiers of UTC, FRQ, RST, #####. If one enters a number (up to five digits long), the database record corresponding to the number entered will be displayed. If a "0" or a number exceeding the maximum number of records in the current database is entered, the program will beep. Upon a correct record number entry, the record is displayed the user may edit or delete the record as previously described in the "EDIT" section above. If one wants to find all the records associated with a given UTC time one must first enter "UTC". Directly beneath this command line, the user will be prompted by "Enter string to search (<xxx> sounds like):?". Now enter either the start UTC time you are are seeking (i.e. 0100) or the first two digits of the hour as such "<01>". The former will provide you the first record that the search comes across with the start UTC time for the hour being searched. One can either edit that record or simply press "Enter" to skip to the next record that is found. If the latter choice was used,"<01>", the program searches to match the first two digits of the start UTC time. It should be recognized that for example 0115, 0130, and 0145 equally satisfy this search criteria. A search may also be performed by searching the R. Station field. The program will search the entire R. Station field for a comparison to a search string. Enter RST at the first prompt and then either all the characters making up the string to be searched or <xxxx> (note:xxxx represents the character string to be searched for in each R. Station field). Using the latter case, suppose I'm searching for RADIO THAILAND, I could enter <THAI> and I would get all the records for where there is a match -22- of that string. Note, however, if I had used simply <RADIO> I would get matches to stations including RADIO NETHERLANDS, RADIO MOSCOW, etc. as well. One can likewise search by Frequency by entering FRQ at the first prompt followed by the eight digits of frequency (i.e xx.xxxxx) or simply <xx.xxx>. If latter <xx.xxx> is used make sure you enter at least the first 3 digits of information up to and including the "." One can also search using the following combinations: UTCRST or UTCRSTFRQ. When seeking to search by time and station, use UTCRST at the prompt. You will be subsequently prompted to provide search string. You could for instance search for "0000BBC LONDON" or you could have made the search string "<00><BBC>" or "0000<BBC>" or "<00><LONDON>". When seeking to search by time, station and frequency use UTCRSTFRQ. Several combinations of search strings could be used to find the same record. For example if one were searching for BBC at 0000 hour on 6.175 Mhz: "0000BBC LONDON 6.17500" or "0000<BBC>< 6.175> or "<00><BBC> 6.17500" OR 0000BBC LONDON< 6.> or <00><LONDON>< 6.> to name only a few. THE TNC WINDOW To access the "TNC WINDOW" screen simply press the "N" key when operating within the "Database Display" screen. Upon doing so the program jumps into an asynchronous terminal emulation mode between itself and the TNC. If you are operating an MFJ-1278 follow these steps to syn- chronize the TNC with DX-COMM. Immediately upon pressing the "N" key, press the "Enter" key several times quickly. This will lock in the autobaud feature of the MFJ-1278. Repeat the procedure if the TNC fails to synchronize with DX-COMM. Once the communication is established with the TNC the lower half of the display on your computer monitor will look similar to that shown (as illustration the screen is shown connected to the MFJ-1278): -23- DX-COMM: COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVER TERMINAL CONTROL PROGRAM AND SHORTWAVE BROADCAST DATABASE FREQUENCY NB AGC RF NOTCH ANT MODE BAND VFO SYNCHRO SCAN CHANNEL ================================================================================ xx.xxxxx xx xxx xxx xxxx x xx x.x x xxx xx xx ================================================================================ Enter Command: L#### = Load Rec# TAB = Prn on (R)eturn STEP### F4 = Drake Commands BKSP= Prn off F6 = Dwn 10 J = Dwn ### ^\ = Database Display F7 = Up 10 K = Up ### TNC WINDOW =============================================================================== bbRAM: LOADED WITH DEFAULTS |A MFJ ENTERPRISES, INC. MODEL MFJ-1278 AX.25 Level 2 Version 2.0 Release XXXXX (date) - 32K RAM Checksum XXX cmd: F5=Buffer Display Sp.Bar=Step ^A=Clr ^D/^E=Open/Close File Esc=Exit From within the "TNC WINDOW" simply enter commands as described in your TNC owners manual. For example, for the MFJ-1278, to access CW you would simply type MODE CW. Received and typed text will be scrolled across the TNC WINDOWs screen. You may simultaneously print this information on your printer by pressing the "Tab" key. You may turn the print feature off by pressing the "Backspace" key. DX-COMM has a 3000 byte buffer for capturing what is display- ed within the 9 line scrolling window. To redisplay inform- ation received or typed simply press "F5". This automati- cally sends an XOFF$ signal (^S) to the TNC (called software flow control) which temporarily stops data transmission. The buffer then displays one line of stored screen data at a time. You may step the buffer one line at a time by pressing the keyboard space bar. You may also resume normal TNC operation by pressing the "Esc" key or you may step thru the buffer to the end of the buffer at which time the program sends an XON$ signal (^Q). The buffer may be cleared of old information by pressing "Ctl A" (^A). This feature is provided as a convenience, but -24- is not critical to proper buffer operation. If this is not done, the buffer when filled will simply rewrite over the old information. When displaying the buffer's stored data you can press the "Tab" key which will print each line held in the buffer immediately upon displaying it on the screen. You can turn off the buffer print feature by pressing the "Backspace" key. In addition to using the buffer to capture typed as well as received data, the user may save this information to a DOS ASCII file on the computers default directory (the same DOS directory that DX.EXE and the *.DAT files reside). This is done by pressing "Ctl D". Upon doing so, within the TNC window display you will be prompted to enter 4 letters for a file description. The program will now display "Buffer File = XXXX1.BUF" where XXXX are the 4 letters previously entered. At any time while operating within the TNC Window you may close the file by entering "Ctl E". Upon doing so the program will display "File XXXX1.BUF Closed". If you decide to open another buffer file at a later time by pressing "CTL D" you will no longer be prompted to enter a 4 letter descriptor since the program will use the prior 4 letters entered and will simply increment by 1 the file descriptor (e.g. XXXX2.BUF). The TNC WINDOW screen also provides the user with direct keyboard control of the Drake R8. This is accomplished by pressing F4. Upon doing so the cursor will jump to the line directly below the Drake Frequency display. You may now enter all the commands as identified in the Drake R8 Owner's Manual under the section entitled "RS232c Interface". For example, to increment the frequency up or down .01 khz or .1 khz depending on how you have the LED Drake Frequency set up, press the "U" or "D" key followed by pressing "Enter". Like- wise, to enter a frequency into the Drake type Fxx.xxxxx and "Enter". Likewise, if you made a manual adjustment to the Drake R8 directly (i.e. turned the tuning wheel or selected a different bandwidth) and you want the DX-COMM to accurately display this information, simply type "RA" and press "Enter". In addition to the commands as identified in the Drake Owner's manual, DX-COMM provides others as well. To change bandwidths simply type "0.5" or "1.8" or "2.3" or "4.0" or "6.0" followed by pressing the "Enter" key. Likewise to change modes simply type "AM","FM","CW", "RTTY", "LSB" or "USB". Other special features are also provided. -25- o LOADING DATABASE RECORD: If you know the database record number that you wish to load you should simply type "L####" where #### is the record number. o STEPPING FREQUENCY DISPLAY USER SPECIFIED INCREMENT: You may step the frequency display a specified increment up or down by first typing "STEP###" where ### represents the step increment. For example, if you want to step the frequency up or down 2.7 kHz you would type 270 (provided you have the actual LED Drake Frequency displayed to the nearest .01 khz. If you have the frequency display set to the nearest 1 khz or .1 khz an increment of 270 would equal 27.0 khz. Once set by pressing the "J" or "K" key the frequency will increment down or up by the "Step" amount. This step amount is stored until either overwritten by a new value or you exit DX-COMM. o STEPPING FREQUENCY DISPLAY DOWN OR UP BY INCREMENT OF 10: You may also step the frequency up or down by an incre- ment of 10 (.10 khz if LED Drake Frequency is set to display to nearest .01 khz or 1.0 khz if the LED Drake Frequency is set to display to nearest 1 khz or .1khz). This is done simply by pressing the F6 key for down or F7 key for up. To return back to the TNC WINDOW type "R" and press the "Enter" key. To return back to the "Database Display" screen press "Ctl \" (^\). PRINTING RECORDS You can print your entire "shortwave", "utility", and "special" database records to any printer which accepts EPSON type commands. First align your paper to start at the top of a page. In the "Database Menu" press "P", and the following prompt will appear "Enter (SB), (SA), (SI), (SP), (UB), (UA), or (UI) or (P)rinter Setup:". If you do not want to print data you may simply press <ENTER> returning you back to the command line "Enter Command:". If you do want to print out data, first check to determine whether the printer setup string is as desired. The string provided with DX-COMM is "27/64/27/15/27/71". This is equivalent to "Esc @; Esc SI; and Esc "G" which commands an EPSON compatible printer to perform a master reset, selects condensed style printing, and turns the double strike mode on. Use a "," to separate commands. If the setup string -26- is proper simply press <ENTER>. If not, retype in the correct values for your printer. You can enter a maximum of six control codes. Next the command line on the screen will display "Number of Lines". These are the number of lines per page in your printer. For example and 8.5x11 inch piece of paper normally can contain 66 lines of information if printed in the "portrait" mode. The default value displayed is 66, if this is correct simply press <ENTER>. If it isn't simply type in the correct value. Upon verifying the printer setup string is properly set, enter the letters corresponding to the data you want printed (ie. UA stands for all Utility Active loggings, SB stands for both Shortwave active and inactive records, SP for "special" loggings, etc.). DOS SHELL The Database Display screen provides the user the ability to temporarily suspend operations and to invoke DOS SHELL feature. This is accomplished by pressing the "Esc" key. Upon doing so, the screen will clear and the DOS prompt will appear. To return to the DX-COMM type "EXIT" at the DOS prompt. Be careful, however, to ensure that before returning to DX-COMM that you are within the same directory/sub-directory as the DX-COMM data files. If this is not done, DX-COMM will not display any database records. EXITING DX-COMM There are 2 ways to exit the program. The first is the following: If in the Database Display screen press "Q". This in turn takes you to the "Database Menu" screen. Press "Q" again. This takes you to the Command Screen. Press "Q" and enter. The second way is simply to press "C" in the "Database Display". This in turn takes you to the "Command Screen". Then press "Q" and enter. IT IS IMPORTANT TO EXIT THE PROGRAM IN THE MANNER DESCRIBED TO ASSURE THAT ALL DATABASE FILES ARE PROPERLY CLOSED. FAILURE TO DO SO MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT DATA FILES. IT IS A GOOD PRACTICE TO FREQUENTLY MAKE BACKUP COPIES OF YOUR DATA FILES AFTER EXITING THE PROGRAM (i.e. COPY *.DAT filespec:) -27- PROGRAMMING CONSIDERATIONS For those individuals knowledgeable in programming and who desire to merge other available databases into DX-COMM the following information is provided: SWDB.DAT is a random file of the following fields and length: Frequency as a string 8 characters R. Station as a string 25 characters Start UTC as a string 4 characters End UTC as a string 4 characters Days station broadcasts as string 7 characters Longitude as string 10 characters Latitude as string 10 characters Drake datastring as string 25 characters W/S broadcast designation as string 3 characters Remarks as string 25 characters Longitude data is stored in its field as "xxx__xx'_x" where the first "xxx" contain degrees, "__" represents the ascii character for degree and a blank, the second "xx" represents minutes, followed by '_ which represents the symbol for minutes and a blank, and the last "x" represents E for East or W for West. Latitude data is stored in its field as "_xx__xx'_x" where the first character in the 10 character field is blank, the "xx" represents degrees, "__" represents the ascii character for degree and a blank, the second "xx" represents minutes, followed by '_ which represents the symbol for minutes and a blank, and the last "x" represents N for North or S for South. The Drake datastring appears as such in the 25 character field (where "_" represents a blank): "_xx_xxxxxABxx.xxxxx_MHz__". The "AB" located in the middle of the string indicates where the identifiers for shortwave/utility/special broadcast is stored (i.e. sa, si, ua, ui, or sp). -28- VERSION 3.3, 3.2 and 3.01 ENHANCEMENTs DX-COMM ver3.3 was converted from QuickBasic to Microsoft's Basic Professional Development System 7.1. In addition to program speed improvements it now provides longpath calculation for MUF and LUF and a RTTY and CW frequency offset feature to rectify a display peculiarity of the Drake R8. DX-COMM ver3.2 includes a TNC WINDOW to allow direct access and simultaneous access and decoding from a Terminal Node Controller such as the MFJ-1278 and PK-232. DX-COMM ver3.2 also provides a movable cursor bar in the Database Display screen allowing the user to mover the cursor over the record desired and press "Enter" to load that record into the Drake. Ver3.2 of The program also includes MUFGRAPH to graphically display MUF-LUF information for selected transmitter-receiver locations. DX-COMM in prior versions was called QUICKCOMM. This has been changed to avoid potential conflicts with commercial software of a similar name. VERSION 2.32 and 2.1 ENHANCEMENTS Ver2.32 corrected a problem with the terminal emulation routine found by some users in prior versions of the program. It also contains several major enhancement to that of ver2.1. - The program now provides a file (FLAG.DAT) to flag where groups of records for a given hour UTC reside with SWDB.DAT. The program will now, even on older PC's running at less than 10 Mhz, rapidly list station, frequency, and other associated record information within the "Database Display" screen. - The program now calculates Maximum Useable Frequency for each record in the display when appropriate Solar Flux and transmitter/receiver longitude and latitude information is provided by the user. - The capability of displaying 1 to 24 hours of look-ahead of database records is now provided within "Database Display" screen. In prior versions this was fixed at a "look-ahead" of three hours. -29- Ver2.1 contains a number of enhancements over that of the prior release ver1.01. These include: - PGUP/PGDN and HOME and END key functions to quickly move thru the database display listings; - An INDX.DAT file to immediately load the sorted database into the program upon program start-up; - The program now sorts only when requested by the user to do so - prior version sorted automatically after adding new data records; - Program returns to the same location within the database display listing after performing EDIT and ADD record functions as the user was reviewing prior to performing these functions; - The program now contains the "special" logging function for logging stations that either broadcast 24 hours per day (i.e. WWV) or are HAM related frequencies. - Program now includes the capability to delete records from the database. - Ver2.1 corrects some of the minor bugs in ver1.01 which included problems in the uploading of the Syncro Function to the receiver, ESC function in the New Record display. - Ver2.1's manual documents the "(SC)an" function in the Command Screen as well as the capability of entering a string of "U's" and "D's" to increment frequency up or down within the Command Screen. - Ver2.1 corrects a significant programming oversight which precluded dimensioned arrays of greater than 64k. This would have limited the size of the user's database to approximately 700 to 800 records. Ver2.1 should allow the user to create a database of several thousand records. - Ver2.1 includes about 300 additional frequency records in the database compared to ver1.01. -30- REGISTERING AS A USER OF DX-COMM This program is intended for distribution as shareware. DX-COMM ver3.3 is the culmination of many months of work. The initial reason for its development was to provide a user friendly computer database. As the project was under- way it became readily apparent that the Drake R8 provided an exceptional opportunity to fully integrate a database, propa- gation tools, and digital decoding equipment together into one combined package for the shortwave listener. I've attempted to make the program as flexible as possible - however, I recognize that there are many ways to potentially improve the program. However, continuing efforts on its improvement are somewhat dependent upon the extent of user interest shown. Therefore, if you find the program of value please become a registered user. Your registration along with others will help justify the significant expenditure of time and effort that has gone into making this program possible. Your ideas to improve the program are always welcome. To register please send $10 to: Eric B. Svenson, Jr. 37 Stockton Road Summit, New Jersey 07901 By registering as a user you will be notified of future updates to the program. If you have questions or problems in the programs use or have suggestions for improving the program I may be reached by Telephone at (908) 522-1962 on evenings and weekends or via PRODIGY by using my mail ID: CBTG18A You may make as many copies of this program as you wish, and you are encouraged to share or distribute this software with others. However, modifications by anyone other than myself to the DX-COMM program files DX.EXE and MUFGRAPH.EXE are prohibited. I also claim no responsibility for potential misuse of the program or for potential incompatibility of the program to user hardware. Your use of this program represents your acceptance of the above terms. Thank you.