WinWarbler Online Help Contents
WinWarbler can log QSOs as ADIF records in a text file, referred to as the Minilog; you can select the file to be used for this purpose. WinWarbler can also log QSOs in real time to DXKeeper, a full-functioned logging program that records and manages QSOs, tracks progress towards DXing objectives, prints QSL cards and QSL labels, and synchronizes with both eQSL.cc and the ARRL's Logbook of the World (LotW).
At the top of its Main window, WinWarbler's QSO
Info panel provides textboxes and selectors in which to collect the
information to be logged. After capturing a callsign with DXKeeper
running, this panel also displays the number of logged QSOs with that callsign,
and the details of the most recent QSO with that callsign. You can expand or
contract the height of the QSO Info panel to display more information by
clicking the
button in the panel's upper right corner. When all information is visible in
the QSO panel, the surface of this button changes to
; clicking the button in this state reduces the height of the QSO Info panel to
its minimum, and changes the button surface back to
.
The transceiver's Receive and Transmit frequencies are displayed in the Xcvr Freq panel's RX textbox and TX selector, respectively; these frequencies are combined with audio offsets to compute the actual receive and transmit frequencies displayed in each mode's Receive and Transmit panels, and logged with QSOs. If Commander is running, these frequencies are updated automatically; if not, you must set them manually.
Some information can be directly captured from decoded data by double-clicking on received words in a PSK receive pane or RTTY receive pane. Double-clicking a received callsign, for example, will place that callsign in the QSO Info panel's Call textbox, and initialize many items:
if clear QSO Info on callsign capture is enabled, all QSO Info panel textboxes except the callsign textbox will be cleared
the TX Pwr textbox is set from the default value specified in the Configuration window's PSK tab, RTTY tab, CW tab, or Phone tab
the QSL Msg textbox is set from its default value specified in the Log panel panel on the Configuration window's Log tab
if Contest Mode is enabled
the Contest text box is set to the contest named in the Configuration window's Contesting panel
the rst S and rst R textboxes are set to 59 or 599 as a function of the current mode
if Contest Mode is disabled
if initialize RST items to 59/599 is enabled, the rst S and rst R textboxes are set to 59 or 599 as a function of the current mode
if DXKeeper is running and Automatic Lookup is enabled, then
DXKeeper will display all previous QSOs with the callsign, perform a callbook lookup (if installed and enabled), and perform a DXCC database lookup
information logged in previous QSOs, found in the selected callbook, or found in the DXCC database is used to set the DXCC selector, to set the Grid, Via, QTH, IOTA, CQ, ITU, State, County, and Province textboxes, and to record the Country Code and Continent
the Call textbox's caption will indicate the number of previous QSOs with this callsign
details of the most recent QSO with this station are displayed in the expanded QSO info panel
if DXKeeper is not running but DXView is running, then DXView will perform a DXCC database lookup to set the DXCC selector, to set the IOTA, CQ, ITU, and State textboxes if they can be unambiguously determined from the callsign, and to record the Country Code and Continent
if DXView is running
if DXView is not running Path will be set to the default Path
if Pathfinder is running, it is directed to perform a QSL route search for the callsign
Manually keying a callsign into the Call textbox and then striking the Enter or Tab keys will also perform the above actions.
Clicking the ? button to the right of the Call textbox's caption will direct DXKeeper (if running) to do the following with the station whose callsign is shown in the Call textbox:
produce a filtered display showing previous QSOs
perform a callbook lookup
record DXCC, Grid, Via, QTH, IOTA, CQ, ITU, State, County, Province, Continent and Country Code information obtained from previous QSOs, found in the selected callbook, or found in the DXCC database
update the Call textbox's caption to indicate the number of previous QSOs -- unless WinWarbler's Contest Mode is enabled and the current QSO duplicates the callsign, band, and mode of a previous QSO, in which case the Call textbox's caption will indicate Dup!
display details of the most recent QSO with this station in the expanded QSO info panel
Double-clicking a textbox's caption will direct DXKeeper (if running) to filter its log page display to show only QSOs that match the textbox's value, and underline that caption for 1 second. For example, double-click the word QTH in the QSO Info panel when the QTH textbox contains Miami will direct DXKeeper to filter its log page display to show only QSOs whose QTH is Miami.
If DXKeeper isn't running, clicking the ? button to the right of the Call textbox's caption will direct DXView (if running) to display the location of the station whose callsign is shown in the Call textbox, and will direct Pathfinder (if running) to perform a QSL route search for that callsign.
To indicate that a QSO has started, click the QSO info panel's Begin button; the start time will appear in the panel caption. If set QSO start when RST received is enabled, entering a received signal report in the rst R textbox will automatically start the QSO, whether this is done manually, by double-clicking on a received signal report, or because Contest Mode or initialize RST items to 59/599 are enabled. Executing a macro containing the <RSTsent> or <TX_serial_number> command will also start a QSO.
To indicate that a QSO has ended, click the QSL info panel's End button; the end time will appear in the panel caption.
Double-clicking or striking the Enter key in the Grid textbox directs DXView to display the specified gridsquare's location. Depressing the CTRL key while double-clicking the Grid textbox directs DXView to display the specified gridsquare's location and rotate the antenna to the short-path heading; depressing the ALT key while double-clicking the Grid textbox directs DXView to display the specified gridsquare's location and rotate the antenna to the long-path heading.
Clicking the Log button also ends the QSO, and checks the information contained in QSO info panel's textboxes and selectors. Errors or omissions are flagged by flashing the offending item's caption in red font; the flag invalid callsigns and require DXCC options are considered when identifying errors and omissions. If no errors or omissions are found, the information to be logged is recorded in the minilog and sent to DXKeeper, if running. If Contest Mode is disabled and the don't log contest, TX#, or RX# if contest mode setting is disabled, values for Contest, TX#, and RX# are not recorded with the QSO. Depressing the CTRL key while clicking the Log button directs DXKeeper to immediately upload the information to eQSL.cc ; alternatively, checking the upload to eQSL.cc when logging box directs DXKeeper to upload each QSO as it is logged. To prepare for the next QSO, WinWarbler then clears all QSO info items except Freq and, if Contest Mode is enabled, TX#. You can clear the QSO info items without logging a QSO by clicking the X button in the QSO info panel's upper right corner.
Callsigns not containing at least one letter and one number are considered invalid unless flag invalid callsigns is disabled.
When operating PSK31 or PSK63, WinWarbler provides three receive panes, each capable of decoding an independent PSK signal. WinWarbler therefore independently records QSO information for each receive pane. The QSO info panel shows the information associated with the currently active receive pane, and the active receive pane is identified by number in the QSO info panel's caption. Making another receive pane active causes the QSO info panel to display information for the QSO being decoded in the newly-activated receive pane. This allows you to accumulate information captured from multiple signals, separately retaining each signal's information until a QSO is completed and logged.
When operating RTTY with both soundcard RTTY and an external modem both enabled, WinWarbler provides two receive panes, each capable of decoding an independent RTTY signal. By tuning both receive panes to the same signal, you can employ diversity decoding to more reliably capture information under difficult conditions. WinWarbler can thus be configured in two ways:
Independently record QSO information from the soundcard RTTY and external modem receive panes. In this case, the QSO info panel shows the information associated with the currently active receive pane and the active receive pane is identified by number in the QSO info panel's caption. Making the other receive pane active causes the QSO info panel to display information for the QSO being decoded in the newly-activated receive pane. This allows you to accumulate information captured from two different RTTY signals, separately retaining each signal's information until a QSO is completed and logged.
The choice between these two configurations is governed by the RTTY Transmit panel's QSO Selector, which only appears when operating RTTY with both soundcard RTTY and an external modem both enabled. When the QSO Selector is set to S or X, QSO information captured from the two receive panes is merged; otherwise, QSO information is maintained independently for each receive pane.
To allow operation without removing one's hands from the keyboard, WinWarbler provides keyboard shortcuts for navigating among QSL info items and the Transmit Pane, and for invoking functions like starting or logging a QSO.
Macros can be invoked from QSO info text boxes and selectors by striking the appropriate Function key. Macro substitution commands are available for many QSO info items.
If DXKeeper is running, changes to items in WinWarbler's QSO info panel are immediately reflected in DXKeeper's Capture window; this allows you to begin logging a QSO in WinWarbler and complete it in DXKeeper's Capture window, should you desire to do so. However, changes to items in DXKeeper's Capture window are not reflected in WinWarbler's QSO info panel. If Contest Mode is enabled, logging a QSO via DXKeeper's Capture window will increment the Capture window's TX# textbox, but will not increment WinWarbler's TX# textbox; thus when switching from "logging from DXKeeper" to "logging from WinWarbler" in the middle of a contest, you must manually update WinWarbler's TX# textbox at the time you switch.
The Minilog is a text file whose simple name is the operator's callsign (with any forward slashes or back slashes replaced by hyphens) and whose suffix is .adi; the Minilog resides in the folder whose pathname is specified in the Minilog panel's pathname textbox.
Every time you log a QSO, an ADIF record is appended to the Minilog's contents, whether or not DXKeeper is running. You can load the information contained in a Minilog into any logging application capable of importing standard ADIF. After importing the Minilog's contents into a logging application, you may wish to clear the contents of the Minilog; you can do so by clicking the Clear button on the Config window's Log tab.
If you will be importing the Minilog into the logging program DXbase, select export for DXbase in the Minilog panel on the Log tab of the Configuration window; this ensures that frequencies are represented in a format acceptable to DXbase.
Capturing Information from Decoded Data
To facilitate logging, WinWarbler provides several mechanisms for copying information from decoded data into textboxes in the QSL info panel.
Right-clicking in a receive display pane in which one or more contiguous characters have been selected produces a window with buttons that let you choose a destination textbox in the QSL Info panel into which those characters are copied.
Selecting one or more contiguous characters in a receive display pane
while not depressing the ALT key, copies those characters to the Windows Clipboard
while depressing the ALT key,
if the selected characters are a valid gridsquare, copies those characters to the Grid textbox
if the selected characters are a URL, directs the selected browser to navigate to that URL
otherwise, copies the selected characters to the QTH textbox
while depressing the ALT and CTRL keys with Contest Mode disabled, copies those characters to the Comment textbox
while depressing the ALT and CTRL keys with Contest Mode enabled, copies those characters to the RX# textbox
Double-clicking on a word in a receive pane with neither ALT nor CTRL depressed copies that word to the appropriate QSL info textbox:
if the word contains both letters and digits, it is assumed to be the station's callsign and placed in the call textbox; the following actions are taken:
the TX Pwr and QSL Msg textboxes are set from their default values in the Configuration window's Log tab's Default Settings panel
if Contest Mode is enabled
the Contest text box is set to the contest ID named in the Configuration window's Contest tab
the rst S and rst R textboxes are set to 59 or 599 as a function of the current mode
if initialize RST items to 59/599 is enabled, the rst S and rst R textboxes are set to 59 or 599 as a function of the current mode
if DXKeeper is running and Automatic Lookup is enabled, then
DXKeeper will display all previous QSOs with the callsign, perform a callbook lookup (if installed and enabled), and perform a DXCC database lookup
information logged in previous QSOs, found in the selected callbook, or found in the DXCC database is used to set the DXCC selector, to set the Grid, Via, QTH, IOTA, CQ, ITU, State, County, and Province textboxes, and to record the Country Code and Continent
the Call textbox's caption will indicate the number of previous QSOs with this callsign
details of the most recent QSO with this station are displayed in the expanded QSO info panel
if DXKeeper is not running but DXView is running, then DXView will perform a DXCC database lookup to set the DXCC selector, to set the IOTA, CQ, ITU, and State textboxes if they can be unambiguously determined from the callsign, and to record the Country Code and Continent
if DXView is running, it will display the location of that callsign
if Pathfinder is running, it is directed to perform a QSL route search for the callsign
if the word contains only letters, it is assumed to be the operator's name and placed in the name textbox
if not in Contest Mode and the word contains two or three digits, it is assumed to be a signal report. If the word is in received text, it is placed in the rst R textbox; ff the word is in transmitted text, it is placed in the rst S textbox
if in Contest Mode and the word contains only digits, it is assumed to be a serial number and is placed in the RX# textbox
Double-clicking a word in a receive pane while depressing the ALT key copies that word to the QTH textbox unless the word is a valid 4-character or 6-character Maidenhead gridsquare identifier, in which case it is placed in the Grid textbox and DXView, if running, is directed to display that grid square's location. If the DXCC selector is set to K, KH6, or KH7 and the word is a valid US State abbreviation, then the State selector will be set accordingly; similarly, if the DXCC selector is set to VE and the word is a valid Canadian Province abbreviation, then the Province selector will be set.
Double-clicking a word in a receive pane while depressing the CTRL key copies that word to the Via textbox.
Double-clicking a word in a receive pane while simultaneously depressing the ALT and CTRL keys
with Contest Mode is disabled, appends that word to the Comment textbox
with Contest Mode is enabled, copies that word to the RX# textbox
Summary of QSL info destinations when double-clicking a decoded word in a receive pane
| contains letters | contains numbers | valid grid |
valid URL | ALT depressed | CTRL depressed | contest mode | text | destination QSL info textbox |
| no | yes | no | no | disabled | received | rst R | ||
| no | yes | no | no | disabled | transmitted | rst S | ||
| no | yes | no | no | enabled | RX# | |||
| yes | no | no | no | name | ||||
| yes | yes | no | no | call | ||||
| no | no | yes | no | QTH, State, Province | ||||
| no | yes | yes | no | (navigates browser to URL) | ||||
| yes | yes | no | Grid | |||||
| no | yes | Via | ||||||
| yes | yes | disabled | Comment | |||||
| yes | yes | enabled | RX# |
If, when you click the Log button, one or more QSO info textboxes contain invalid information, their labels will blink in red font until you correct their contents and again click the Log button; callsigns not containing at least one letter and one number are considered invalid unless the flag invalid callsigns box is unchecked. Log entries are appended to a file that WinWarbler creates in its application folder; this file's simple name is your callsign, and its file extension is .ADI -- e.g. AA6YQ.ADI. You can import the log entries in this file into your ADIF-compatible logging program; this can be done while WinWarbler is running. After successfully importing these entries, click WinWarbler's ClrLog button to delete all log entries from WinWarbler's log file.
The following table lists all information logged with a QSO, macro substitution commands and ADIF tags for each. The QSL info panel column indicates whether the item is always visible in the QSL info panel, only visible when the QSL info panel is expanded, or never visible:
| Item | Contents | Notes | QSL info panel | Macro Substitution Command | ADIF tag |
| geomagnetic A-index from SpotCollector, if running | no | A_INDEX | |||
| ARRL | ARRL Section | yes | ARRL_SECT | ||
| Az | antenna azimuth (Short-path, Long-path, Grey-line, or Other) | if expanded | ANT_AZ | ||
| Path | antenna path | if expanded | ANT_PATH | ||
| Band | band associated with QSO frequency | no | Band | ||
| Buro | check to indicate that a QSL should be sent via the QSL Bureau | yes | QSL_SENT_VIA | ||
| Call | callsign | 1,2 | yes | <callsign> | CALL |
| CQ | CQ zone | yes | CQZ | ||
| Contest | contest name | if expanded | <contest_id> | CONTEST_ID | |
| Continent | continent designator | yes | CONT | ||
| Country code | numeric DXCC entity identifier | 9 | no | DXCCID | |
| County | US county | 3 | yes | CNTY | |
| DOK | the station's DARC DOK (only visible for stations in Germany) | yes | APP_DXKEEPER_DOK | ||
| DXCC | DXCC entity prefix | 4 | yes | DXCCPREFIX | |
| End time | QSO end time | no | TIME_OFF | ||
| eQSL | check to indicate that the call is known to participate in eQSL.cc | if expanded | APP_DXKeeper_EQSL_MEMBER | ||
| Grid | Maidenhead grid square | 10 | yes | <grid> | GRIDSQUARE |
| IOTA | IOTA tag | if expanded | IOTA | ||
| ITU | ITU zone | yes | ITUZ | ||
| geomagnetic K-index from SpotCollector, if running | no | K_INDEX | |||
| LotW | check to indicate that the call is known to participate in the ARRL's Logbook of the World | if expanded | APP_DXKeeper_LotW_MEMBER | ||
| Mode | PSK31, PSK63, RTTY, CW, SSB, AM, or FM | 8 | no | MODE | |
| Name | operator name | yes | <name> | NAME | |
| Comment | miscellaneous comments | 6 | if expanded 6 | COMMENT | |
| Operator | operator callsign | no | <mycall> | OPERATOR | |
| Pri Sub | primary administrative subdivision | yes | STATE | ||
| Province | Canadian province (abbreviation) | 7 | yes | VE_PROV | |
| Pwr | transmitter power | if expanded | <transmit_power> | TX_POWER | |
| QSL | check to indicate that a QSL card or label should be sent | yes | QSL_SENT | ||
| QSL msg | message to be printed on an outgoing QSL card or label | 6 | if expanded 6 | QSLMSG | |
| QTH | location | yes | <QTH> | QTH | |
| Receive Freq | receive frequency | 5 | 12 | FREQ_RX | |
| Region | the station's Region as defined by CQ for its Marathon award and DARC for its WAE award (only visible in the Awards panel for stations in Austria, Italy, Scotland, Svalbard, and Turkey) | yes | APP_DXKEEPER_REGION | ||
| rst S | outgoing signal report | yes | <RSTsent> | RST_SENT | |
| rst R | received signal report | yes | <RSTreceived> | RST_RCVD | |
| RX# | received contest exchange | if expanded | <rx_serial_number> | SRX | |
| solar flux from SpotCollector, if running | no | SFI | |||
| Sec Sub | secondary administrative subdivision | yes | CNTY | ||
| Start date | QSO start date | no | QSO_DATE | ||
| Start time | QSO start time | no | TIME_ON | ||
| State | US state | 3 | yes | STATE | |
| Transmit Freq | transmit frequency | 11 | 13 | FREQ | |
| TX# | transmitted contest exchange | if expanded | <tx_serial_number> | STX | |
| Via | QSL Manager's callsign | yes | <via> | QSL_VIA |
the US State and Country items will only appear if the DXCC selector is set to K, KH6, or KL7
the Canadian Province item will only appear if the DXCC selector is set to VE
the Mode is primarily determined by the Main window's Mode panel; if Phone is selected, the Mode is determined by the Phone Xcvr Mode setting
the proper Country Code is automatically set whenever a DXCC entity prefix is selected
striking the Enter or Tab keys after keying in a grid square directs DXView, if running, to display the location of that grid square
if split frequency operation is enabled, WinWarbler logs the actual transmit frequency -- the transceiver transmit frequency modified by specified offsets in CW Phone and FSK RTTY mode, and modified by the audio offsets in PSK and AFSK RTTY modes; if split frequency operation is not enabled, then the transceiver's current VFO frequency is used in place of the transceiver transmit frequency
If SpotCollector is running and configured to generate outgoing cluster spots, clicking the QSO info panel's Spot button will generate an outgoing spot for the station designated by the call textbox on the current receive frequency. You can specify default spot notes; if no default spot notes are specified, the outgoing spot note will indicate the QSO's mode. If the QSO Info panel's grid box contains a valid grid square, it will be included in the spot notes; if the Transmit and Receive panel's frequencies are different, the difference will be included in the spot notes as a split.
Depressing the CTRL key while clicking the Spot button will prompt you to specify the spot notes. If you want SpotCollector to generate a local spot rather than one sent to all clusters, depress the ALT key or the SHIFT key while clicking the Spot button.
If the Spot button is disabled ("grayed out"), then either SpotCollector is not running, or its running but not configured to generate outgoing cluster spots
To allow operation without removing one's hands from the keyboard, WinWarbler provides keyboard shortcuts for navigating among the QSO Info items Xcvr Freq items, and the Transmit Pane, and for initiating actions. Keyboard shortcuts can be used whenever the mouse cursor resides in a QSO Info item or the Transmit pane.
| Destination | CTRL shortcut | ALT shortcut |
| Call textbox | C | C |
| CQ textbox | X | |
| Contest textbox | T | |
| County textbox | O | |
| DXCC selector | D | |
| Xcvr Freq TX selector | X | F |
| Xcvr Freq RX textbox | M | |
| Grid textbox | G | G |
| IOTA textbox | I | |
| ITU textbox | Y | |
| Name textbox | N | N |
| Comment textbox | D | E |
| QSL Msg textbox | F | H |
| QTH textbox | Q | Q |
| rst S textbox | S | S |
| rst R textbox | R | R |
| RX# textbox | Z | Z |
| State selector | A | |
| Transmit Pane | T | / |
| TX# textbox | W | |
| TX Pwr textbox | K | |
| Via textbox | V |
| Action | CTRL shortcut | ALT shortcut |
| Clear QSO Info panel | W | |
| Log QSO | L | J, L |
| Start QSO | B | |
| Toggle QSL checkbox | U |