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World of Ham Radio 1997
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1997-02-01
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╔══════════════════════════════════╗
║ The K B 2 B K DX Locator ║
║ ───── ║
║ Copyright (c) 1990 ║
╚══════════════════════════════════╝
What the Heck is it?
────────────────────
In brief, the DX locator is an easy-to-use program which
allows you to quickly determine beam headings and distances
to countries all over the world.
The program is flexible. You can enter the callsign prefix
from a station you hear on the air, and before you lift your
finger from the Enter key, the country's name, heading and
distance appear on the screen. You can also enter the
country's name and retrieve the prefix, heading and distance.
If you are in the mood to browse, you can take a page your
way through the entire database just to see what's there!
How do I run it?
────────────────
You can run the program from a single floppy disk drive or
you can install it on your hard drive. The entire database
is read into your computer's memory when you run the program;
so other than convenience and shorter load time, there is no
particular advantage in fixed disk operation. Run the
program from any drive you wish.
To start the program, type DX <Enter>. (Make sure all the
files are resident on the same drive you start DX.EXE from).
A title screen appears and the program waits for you to press
a key. After your keystroke, it will take a few seconds to
load the database into memory.
When the program's operating screen appears you will notice a
small (6 character) field near the lower-left corner. All
communication with the program is done through this box. You
can exit from the DX Locator by typing "STOP", "QUIT" or
"END" in the box.
Searching in the Prefix Mode
────────────────────────────
You can be as specific as you like when you initiate a
search. But remember, if you are too specific the program
may not be able to match a prefix with your input. If you
are not specific enough, you may get extra output that you
will have to "wade" through to find what you really want.
Let's look at an example. Suppose you hear a station with a
UK5 prefix and decide you would like to answer his CQ. Any
self respecting "DX hound" would know he was most likely
listening to a Club Station in the Ukraine. But you would
like to be precise when you rotate that 5-element pigeon-
perch, wouldn't you? QSL!
Here are some possible entries you might make from the Prefix
mode, and the results:
You type DX Locator's output
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
<Enter> The entire database (paged)
U <Enter> All prefixes beginning with "U"
UK <Enter> All prefixes beginning with "UK"
UK5 <Enter> UK5 - The Ukraine
UK5XX <Enter> (No match found)
Note that the UK5 you seek is present in each of the first 4
entries.
Searching in the Country Mode
─────────────────────────────
Press F2 to put DX Locator into the "Country Mode". Ok, you
are ready to go. But wait! How can long country names be
entered in a field only 6 characters wide? Frankly, 6
characters is enough information to zero-in on most
individual countries. But, in the Country Mode ALL of the
prefixes associated with the country will also be included in
the output.
Let's search for the Ukraine as we did above, except we will
initiate the search from the Country Mode.
You type DX Locator's output
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
<Enter> The entire database (paged)
U <Enter> 25 countries beginning with "U"
UK <Enter> The Ukraine
UKR <Enter> The Ukraine
UKRA <Enter> The Ukraine
In this case, you only needed to enter a couple of letters to
find the target country.
NOTE: If you accidentally press <Enter> in either mode and
dump the entire database, you do not have to page your way
through all of the data. Press <Esc> to terminate paging.
Date and Time Display
─────────────────────
A few words about date and time in the lower-right corner of
the screen. When you start the program, the date and time
are retrieved from your system. (If you do not keep correct
time on your system then the display is useless). The time
element is converted to GMT or Zulu time offset from Eastern
Standard Time. During the summer months the offset changes
by 1 hour since the local clocks are pushed ahead.
You can show the correct GMT while EDT (E. Daylight Time) is
in effect by pressing F3. Pressing F3 reduces the GMT offset
by 1 hour.
Please note that the date displayed is ALWAYS the local
system date, NOT the date associated with GMT. Between the
hours of 00:00Z and Midnight (local time) the date displayed
is actually 1 day BEHIND with respect to GMT.
The Browse Mode
───────────────
As you have probably realized by now, the DX Locator has a
value beyond that of simply supplying beam headings. It is a
source of general information. Indeed, a DX'er running an
omni-directional antenna system or even an SWL will find the
program useful in rapidly identifying countries and making a
determination where the countries are located. Using the
program may not exactly plot the location of Fletcher
Christian's doorstep, but it will lead you to the correct
ocean!
Press F4 to enter the Browse mode. Now you can use the data
as a look-up table. When you start browse you will be
positioned at the first 10 records. You can use the cursor
keys to scroll through the data one record at a time. Using
the "Page Up" and "Page Down" keys will move you through the
data 10 records at a time. Pressing the "Home" key will
return you to the first 10 records while pressing "End"
advances you to the end of the data. Don't get too dizzy!
The Data File BEARING.DAT
─────────────────────────
The data found in BEARING.DAT assumes a station position near
the center of New York State. Considering the angle of
optimum radiation of the typical directional HF antenna, the
headings given should produce acceptable results if your
station location is in the northeastern U.S. If not, my
apologies. Calculation of these headings is beyond the scope
of my intentions for this program.
The beam headings given are to the geographical centers of
the target countries. In the case of a large country which
is also close, such as Canada, you will need to keep this in
mind and compensate as needed.
The distances given are calculated in statute miles. Any
distance represents the shortest distance (great circle) from
MY location to the geographical center of the target country.
The file itself is a sequential, ASCII file. It can be
edited with any text editor or word processor with the
capability of ASCII output. You may edit the data file for
the purpose of adding new countries, deleting old countries
or optimizing the direction and distance data. The only
caution I offer is to maintain the column format exactly as
it is. To change the format will cause the data to be
misaligned with the program's template.
The organization of the file follows, more or less, the order
laid out in the ARRL DXCC Countries listing. If you choose
to add a new country, for convenience sake I suggest
insertion of the new country into a prefix block
alphabetically. I suggest this because you can print-out the
data file and use it as a handy desk reference or a DXCC
checklist, perhaps. If the data is organized alphabetically
by prefix, you will find countries easily. In terms of
program function, however, the order of the data makes no
difference. Each time a search is initiated, the entire
database is scanned regardless of the number of matching
records that are found.
Function Key Description
────────────────────────
F1 - Displays a Help panel.
F2 - Toggles between Prefix [Default] and Country mode.
F3 - Toggles Daylight Savings Time Off [Default] or On.
F4 - Enter Browse mode. <Esc> to exit Browse.
Why'd ya do it?
───────────────
I wrote this program for a number of reasons. I sensed a
need. I like Hams. I like DX and appreciate the ART of
being a successful DX chaser. (DXCC/CW #1011). I always
wanted to get my hands on something that would give me this
kind of information, this fast. I like to "play" with
computers. It seemed like a worthy application. I felt an
urge to give something back to the hobby that has given me so
much enjoyment. So, why not?
The License (Oh yeah!)
──────────────────────
You are granted a license to use this program, as long as you
wish, without monetary obligation. You may make as many
copies as you need. You may distribute copies to other Hams.
You may post this program and associated files on Bulletin
Board Systems.
I only ask that you include all files, including this DOC,
with any copies you make. In addition, please do not alter
or attempt to reverse-engineer the program or any of the
support files. (You may edit the BEARING.DAT as outlined
above). I do retain Copyright.
A Parting Shot
──────────────
For those of you whom might be interested, the program was
written in Turbo Pascal 5.0. It was fun to write and debug.
I was not able to test it on all conceivable system
configurations but I believe you will find it a well-behaved
little program. I hope the DX Locator will be useful to you
and find a comfortable home on your system. Enjoy!
Comments are welcomed. I'm good in the CallBook!
73,
KB2BK
Bob Joy