Configuring SpotCollector

SpotCollector Online Help Contents

SpotCollector's Configuration screen provides nine tabs: 

• the General tab  

  • specifies your callsign and location

  • specifies the transceiver mode to be used for RTTY spots

  • specifies the transceiver mode to be used for CW spots

  • specifies the file containing sub-band definitions

  • contains settings that govern the presentation of online help
    

• the Spot Sources tab specifies the telnet-accessible DXClusters, PacketCluster, and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) channel from which spots are received for inclusion in the Spot Database
  

• the Spot Source Display tab contains settings that control the color-coding and font selection of information shown in DXCluster windows, the IRC window, the PacketCluster window, and the Spot Database window
  

• the Spot Database Display tab contains settings that govern what information is displayed in Spot Database Display, and settings that control the color-coding and fonts used to display that information
  

• the Spot Database tab contains settings that control

  • the validity of incoming spots

  • the combination of incoming spots to create Spot Database entries

  • the width of the Spot Database frequency filter

  • the display of Spot Database entries on web browsers accessible via a local area network (LAN)

  • the pruning of Spot Database entries that are no longer needed
    

• the Overrides tab allows you to specify the callsigns of up to 16 stations and the details of their operating location in a set of 7 components:

  DXCC Entity	the DXCC entity from which the station is operating; if DXView is running;  left-clicking a DXCC entity or striking the Enter key performs a DXCC database lookup that initializes the other components of the override -- Location, CQ, ITU, Cont, Grid, IOTA, and Time -- if they are unspecified
  Location	the name of the location from which the station is operating use the <Pri:> tag to specify an ADIF Primary Administrative Subdivision code, e.g. <Pri:SC>   use the <Reg:> tag to specify a DXKeeper Award Region code, e.g. <Reg:IT9>
  CQ	the CQ zone from which the station is operating
  ITU	the ITU zone from which the station is operating
  Cont	the Continent from which the station is operating
  Grid	the Maidenhead Grid Square from which the station is operating
  IOTA	the IOTA tag for the island from which the station is operating

  You can use this mechanism to handle DX callsigns that do not conform to standard prefix allocations, or to provide specific location information for a station operating in a needed CQ zone, continent, grid square, or IOTA tag. DXView and SpotCollector both use these Overrides when determining a station's location. You can also be specify or modify  Entity Overrides via the Overrides tab on DXView's Configuration window; any such changes will be reflected in SpotCollector's Overrides tab.

• the TNC Serial Port tab lets you configure the serial port by which your TNC is connected
  

• the Audio tab lets you control the audio announcement function
  

• the Special Callsigns tab allows you to

  • specify callsigns to be ignored when spotted

  • tag callsigns that associated with groups or activities