LA8AJA's homepage » Software

Google Earth and Hamradio 2

la8aja — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:42:44 +0000

I've been using Google Earth quite a lot lately. I liked the pathplots I wrote about earlier, which I also have used in several posts. I made a small how-to on that here. I wrote a post back in 2008 about Google Earth and Hamradio which you can see here. If you haven't heard about Google Earth, it's a free program from Google. Read more and download here.

The reason I'm writing "part 2", is that 9A5CW Patrik pasted a link to a screenshot where he had lots of nice stuff drawn up. I asked him how, and he gave me a link. His screenshot is attached here. The link he gave me, was to live muf by G7RAU. This is very useful for you so you can follow how the muf climbs and maybe predict an ES-opening on VHF. I also use it to quickly show the 6m openings in progress right now. I find it more useful to see the spots drawn up than looking at lots of spots. You need to create a login to get access to some parts of the site. To only see VHF spots and the live muf, there are a few links that doesn't require login. Click to check out G7RAU's site.

Another nice thing was to also show the realtime aurora oval based on data from NOAA. To get that in Google Earth, go here and choose the "automatically updating Aurora viewing map".

If you want to see where the 6M beacons are placed, take a look at OE1SMC's site and grab the kml-file to display in Google Earth.

And finally, the last overlay presented here is the TEC (Total Electron Count) map. The map is useful for studying the radio propagation. Grab the overlay here.

Here are some examples of how my Google Earth looks like with different overlays:

[Show as slideshow]

How to make gridsquaremaps with DXAtlas

la8aja — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 06:00:45 +0000

A few people have asked me about the gridsquare maps I have a few places on this site. They are made with DXAtlas.

[Show as slideshow]

They are very easy to make, and several logprograms can generate these for you. If you want to make them yourself, just load up DXAtlas and right-click the square you want to mark. You can choose worked or confirmed. You can also make files in a texteditor. Put one square on each line and save the file as "filename".wkd for worked squares and "filename".cfm for confirmed squares. Now you can load these in DXAtlas.

DXAtlas is shareware and you can try it for free for 30 days. To register, it costs 30$. Get it here.

How to make pathplotmaps in Google Earth

la8aja — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 16:44:58 +0000

Several people have asked about how I make the maps I use on this page. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here are a few examples:

[Show as slideshow]

These maps are made in Google Earth. Download the program for free from here. To help me plot the path, I use Ham Radio Deluxe. That is another free program and you can get it here. If you are using this logging program already, it shouldn't be a problem. I don't, so I have to import the contacts. I do this via an adif-export from my other logging program. The important thing here is to fill out all the gridsquares in the contacts. To get the most accurate plot, use all the six letters. And also remember to set your homelocation. When all that is ok, choose the contacts you want to plot, rightclick -> lookup -> Google Earth. If everything is correctly set up, you should have a nice map with the plots.

Now comes a second question I got. If you look at my maps, you see I have the fields drawn up too. This is made with an overlay from HAM Atlas. Get it for free here.

Thanks to VE2XK. It was at his website I first found these types of maps. Check it out here.

WordPress 3.0 released

la8aja — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:38:06 +0000

Breaking a long range of Hamradio only posts, specially this week, I thought I'd write a short post about the software running this page. Yesterday, WordPress 3.0 was released. It has been worked on for nearly half a year. I upgraded it yesterday as soon as I noticed it was available. The upgrade for me, didn't bump into any problems. My site is running like normal.

I didn't notice much changes at first, but there are several new features. One is the merge of WordPress MU and WordPress. That means you can run several sites on one installation. Another is the new menu stuff. A whole bunch of bugs has been fixed too. Twenty Ten, a new default theme, was also released bundled with the 3.0 package.

Read the release info over here.

DXBase reflector link

la8aja — Tue, 04 May 2010 06:35:09 +0000

I see several people are coming here after searching for the DXBase reflector link. As you get no direct result, here is the link. Hopefully this one will be indexed quickly by the search engines and help people looking for it.

Here you go: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/dxbase/

GcmWin 3.1.0 is out

la8aja — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 20:05:06 +0000

Exciting stuff is happening with this program. I haven't used it in a while, but just a few days ago I checked up on what was going with the program development. For those of you who haven't heard about this program, it's a free Windows program for plotting great circle maps from your location, locator maps, grayline and realtime propagation maps. Read the changelog below:

New version 3.1.0 – 26 December 2009

Bugfixes
Real time for propagation now works
Time got its own tab now. Sets time for both grayline and voacap.

New version 3.0.9 – 5 December 2009

Vocap now works in the western and southern hemisphere.
Icearea and Voaarea implemented
You can set transmitter power and gain in the receive and transmit antennas
You can plot color or b/w for the propagation layer
In the toolbar you can change band for the propagation layer.
The picture you see – is the picture that is saved. (changed from previous version)
The "real" time display for the propagation is not redrawing itself. You have to manually click on create map or change band!
Since the propagation is made on an hourly basis – 9:30 plotted as 09:00 hours and 09:31 plotted as 10:00…
The propagation forecast can only be made every hour (limitation of voacap)
If you have used version 3.0.8, please change directory for voacap to "c:\itshfbc" NOT "c:\itshfbc\areadata"

Changes from 3.0.7 to 3.0.8 – 15 November 2009

Some bugfixes from 3.0.7
Interacts with Voacap (get Voacap here: http://www.voacap.com/ ) This part is buggy and not fully functional, but you are welcome to try it out!
More precise sun position (formulas from here: http://stjarnhimlen.se/comp/ppcomp.html#5 )

Changes from 3.0.6 to 3.0.7…

A greyline function is implemented. Choose between realtime map that updates every minute and a one shot map.
Prefix format has changed. Look at the PrefixNew.dat (Thanks to SM5FQQ, Jan who supplied the updated file!)
The line thickness for the compass can be changed!

Changes from 3.0.5 to 3.0.6…

Now you can plot two different locator files with different colour, hatching and transparency (one for worked and one for confirmed squares..)
Plotting now accepts 4 character locators (JP83 or JP83PE are plotted the same way)

Other features..

Borders, coastlines, rivers, lakes can be added
Text and lines can be partly transparent and in the colour of your choice.
Freeware

Download the program here.

GJTracker 2.02 released

la8aja — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:49:48 +0000

Lance W7GJ released a new version of his moontracking software a few days ago. He has included a map which shows the moon terminator. This can be quite useful to determine who has moon and who hasn’t. Lance saw the need for this on his E51SIX expedition, where he had no internet access most of the time. This is the same functionality as the ON4KST chat room has. Get the new version here.

For those of you who doesn’t know what GJTracker is, it’s a handy program for those running eme. The moon can be tracked in real-time, or you can check for common moon with the stations you are trying to work.

DXBase logging program has a new owner

la8aja — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:00:04 +0000

I’m happy to report that the DXBase hamradio logging program has got a new owner. Neal K3NC aquired the software a few days ago. Read the announcement from the new owner here. I’m happy to see that DXBase will be continued in it’s development. In a blog post here, Neal says that we shouldn’t except a DXBase 2009 version, but a 2010 version is quite probable. A forum has also been set up here, where you can join in and discuss the software. Another great thing mentioned, is that the new DXBase releases will not be locked in a pattern. They will be released as soon as the new version is stable enough for release. Neal was also so kind to visit my other post where he told me he had aquired DXBase. I sure wish you all the luck with the future development of DXBase Neal!

As a side note, a small updated version of DXBase 2007 was released to fix the qrz.com url change. Grab the new release here.

DXbase logging program is shut down

la8aja — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:49:41 +0000

Effective from July 31st 2009, DXbase has been shut down. Jack, the lead developer, sent out the announcement on the reflector. The farewell message can be read here. I’ve had a feeling for a long time this would happen, the question was only when. No new versions has been released since 2006, and several questions about a new version hasn’t been answered. I’ve been using DXbase 2007 for a while, and it suits my current needs very well, but new versions are always welcome. Especially when new Windows versions are coming out, and people have a problem with the program. The program would have been dead a long time ago if it hadn’t been for Joe WA6AXE. He runs a webpage which contains several add-ons, reports and labels for DXbase. If you haven’t been there, take a look here. Jack also mentions that someone might take over the development for DXbase. They are open for offers and only time will tell if DXbase will rise again.

I surely will be on the lookout for a new logging program, maybe you have a favourite logging program you can tell me about?

Edit August 26th 2009: DXBase has got a new owner and the development will continue. Read more about it here.

WordPress 2.8.3 released – security fix

la8aja — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:43:16 +0000

Another security fix version was released by the WordPress team. I suggest you grab it as soon as you can. I updated just a few minutes ago. Get the new release here, and read the release notes from Boren below.

Unfortunately, I missed some places when fixing the privilege escalation issues for 2.8.1. Luckily, the entire WordPress community has our backs. Several folks in the community dug deeper and discovered areas that were overlooked. With their help, the remaining issues are fixed in 2.8.3. Since this is a security release, upgrading is highly recommended. Download 2.8.3, or upgrade automatically from your admin.