Configuring SpotCollector's General Settings

Show control explanations	when checked, enables the display of explanatory information when the mouse cursor lingers over a textbox, button, checkbox, display pane, or setting.
Confirm spot deletion	when checked, attempting to delete a spot database entry displays a dialog box that asks you to confirm the deletion
Show 0 as Ø	when checked, displays received numeric zeros with a slash in Packet Cluster, IRC, and DX Cluster windows
Seek everything	if DXKeeper is not installed checking this box indicates that your award objectives are to work every country on every band and mode; thus every spot database entry will be considered needed not checking this box indicates spot database entries will be considered confirmed
Set Xcvr split	when checked, double-clicking on a spot database entry specifying a split frequency will place the transceiver in split mode (if support) and set the split frequency into the transceiver's alternate VFO
Save Spot Notes	when checked, the Outgoing Spots panel's Notes textbox is not cleared after the panel's Cluster or Local button is clicked, and the parenthetical phrase (notes saved) is appended to the panel's caption
Spot Xcvr split	when checked with Commander running (version 5.9.2 or later), the outgoing spot notes will track the transceiver's split frequency in kHz, e.g. "up 2.5" or "dn 1"
Main F-keys via WW	when checked, striking the function keys F5 through F12 will direct WinWarbler to invoke the associated macro; striking the ESC key will direct WinWarbler to abort the current transmission
Determine mode from notes	when checked, the operating mode determined by a DX station's sub-band is overridden by a mode specifier found in its spot notes
Capture location info from notes	when checked, SpotCollector attempts to recover location information for an entry's DX station (grid square, IOTA tag) and spotting station (grid square) from its spot notes; if successful, this information is used in preference to location information provided by the cluster software
Lookup missing location info	when checked, SpotCollector attempts to obtain location information for an entry's DX station (grid square, IOTA tag, CQ zone, ITU zone, continent, primary administrative subdivision, region) and spotting station (grid square) via DXCC or USAP database lookup if this information has not been extracted from spot notes or provided by the cluster software.
Automatic DXView Update	when checked, creation of a new Spot Database Entry will automatically direct DXView to perform a lookup operation, displaying the station's location on its world map (if DXView is running and its SC Lock button has not been clicked)
Request Prop Forecast	when checked, double-clicking a Spot Database Entry will direct PropView (if running) to compute a propagation forecast based on the current solar flux and parameters pre-establish in PropView (this box will be disabled unless both PropView and DXView are running)
Display info in title bars	when checked, UTC time and log information is displayed in the Main window's title bar, and UTC time is displayed in the spot source windows' title bars (uncheck if running Vista)
Use multiple monitors	when checked, windows that resided on a secondary monitor during the previous session will be restored to the same secondary monitor on startup; when not checked, all windows will be restored to the primary monitor on startup
Log debugging information	when set, diagnostic information is recorded in the file errorlog.txt within SpotCollector's folder
Operator callsign	Spots you originate are attributed to this callsign
Operator location	Spots you originate are associated with this geographic origin: North American East coast North American Midwest North American West coast South America, Europe Africa Asia Oceania) Operator Latitude and Longitude are used to compute the distance to the station originating a DX spot for Band filtering
Log Filter	When you select a DX station (e.g. by double-clicking on a Spot Database entry), determines whether DXKeeper displays all previous QSOs with that station's base callsign, or all previous QSOs with that station's DXCC entity
DX Unit	Specifies whether Origin Distances and Band Filter Maximum Origin Distances are stored and displayed in miles or kilometers.

Transceiver mode with no Digital Mode Application connected

If the specified Digital Mode Application isn't connected but Commander is running, then the settings in this panel's sub-panels determine to what mode the transceiver will be set when a Spot Database Entry is activated by double clicking or by right-clicking and selecting the QSY menu item.

CW spot sub-panel

RTTY spot sub- panel

non-RTTY Digital spot sub-panel

When a Spot Database Entry is activated with Commander running and the entry's mode is other than USB, LSB, AM, FM, CW, or RTTY, then set the transceiver to the specified mode:

Actions with Digital Mode Application connected Panel

The Service, Auto-restore, and Auto-minimize columns of checkboxes in this panel determine SpotCollector's actions if the specified Digital Mode Application is connected and a Spot Database Entry is activated by double clicking or by right-clicking and selecting the QSY menu item.

The Auto-minimize checkboxes determine on a mode-by-mode basis whether whether after activating a Spot Database Entry whose mode's Service checkbox is disabled, SpotCollector minimizes the Digital Mode Application's Main window if it is on-screen. The Digital Auto-minimize box cannot be checked because the Digital Service box cannot be unchecked, as explained above.

Digital Mode Application panel

Controls on this panel let you specify the Digital Mode Application to which SpotCollector will send frequency and mode information when you select a Spot Database Entry, subject to settings on the panels described below. By default, the Digital Mode Application textbox is set to WinWarbler; if the Digital Mode Application textbox is empty, SpotCollector sets it to WinWarbler . If you specify a Digital Mode Application like MultiPSK and click the Connect button, then when you select a Spot Database Entry, SpotCollector will send the frequency and mode information to that Digital Mode Application from then on.

User-defined Sequence after QSY panel

If Commander is running, the user-defined command sequence named in this panel's textbox is executed after any QSY directive sent from SpotCollector to Commander -- such as when you double-click on a Spot Database Entry; this capability could be used to enable an automatic antenna tuner, select a specific antenna, or set a clarifier offset. If you double-click a Spot Database Entry whose frequency and mode information will be sent to a specified Digital Mode Application (as described above), then SpotCollector will neither direct Commander to QSY nor direct Commander to execute the specified user-defined command sequence; you can configure WinWarbler to specify a user-defined command sequence to be conveyed to Commander in this scenario.

Sub-band Definition panel

File pathname textbox

pathname to a Sub-band definition file used by SpotCollector to identify a spot's band and default mode from its frequency or QSX frequency
each line of the file defines a sub-band, sequentially specifying a lower-frequency limit, an upper-frequency limit, the default mode name, and the band name, e.g. the following four entries used to define 15m sub-bands:

21000,21070,CW,15M
21070,21110,RTTY,15M
21110,21200,CW,15M
21200,21450,USB,15M

sub-band frequency ranges must be non-overlapping
sub-band entries must be sorted in order of increasing frequency
valid mode names are any mode defined in ADIF
valid band names are 160M, 80M, 40M, 30M, 20M, 17M, 15M, 12M, 10M, 6M, 4M, 2M, 1.25M, 70CM, 33CM, 23CM, and 12CM

Select button

displays a file selector dialog that allows you to select and activate a Sub-band definition file

CW	"normal" CW
CW-R	"reversed" CW

RTTY	"normal" RTTY
RTTY-R	"reversed" RTTY
USB	upper sideband
LSB	lower sideband
PKT	"normal" packet
PKT-R	"reversed" packet

RTTY	"normal" RTTY
RTTY-R	"reversed" RTTY
USB	upper sideband
LSB	lower sideband
PKT	"normal" packet
PKT-R	"reversed" packet

Browser pathname textbox	if this setting is blank, SpotCollector displays online help using your PC's default HTML browser -- typically Internet Explorer or Netscape; if you'd prefer to display online help with a specific HTML browser, place its full pathname here.
Select button	displays a file selector dialog that allows you to choose a Browser pathname
Help button	displays the information you are now reading