Configuring DXKeeper is primarily accomplished via the Configuration window and the QSL Configuration window. Defining bands and defining or eliminating modes, however, are accomplished by editing files.
DXKeeper's Configuration window presents 7 tabs:
the General tab enables you to specify default values for the current operator's callsign, transmit power and a QSL message, set or reset various options, and configure the online help system
the Log tab lets you select a log file, and configure the log display
the Awards tab enables you to specify the bands and modes for which you seek QSLs
the Reports tab lets you configure the reports award status reports that DXKeeper generates
the Callbook tab enables you to specify the location of the Radio Amateur Callbook on your PC so that DXKeeper can query it
the Contest tab enables you specify the settings that govern DXKeeper's support for contest operation
the Databases tab shows the DXCC database pathname and version, and the IOTA database pathname and version
Confirm QSO deletion |
if this box is checked, DXKeeper will request confirmation before deleting a QSO |
Optimize for realtime QSO entry |
When this box is checked, DXKeeper's Main window is optimized for logging QSOs in real time:
When this box is unchecked, DXKeeper's Main window is optimized for manually entering past QSOs:
Note that the Optimize for realtime QSO entry setting has no effect on the Capture window's behavior, which is always optimized for logging QSOs in real time. |
Optimize for roundtable QSOs |
When this box is unchecked and Optimize
for realtime QSO entry is unchecked, a new QSO's begin
item is initialized to the last manually-entered
QSO's end
item incremented by 1 second.
When this box is checked and Optimize for realtime QSO entry is unchecked, a new QSO's begin item is initialized to the last manually-entered QSO's begin item incremented by 1 second. |
Display seconds in date/time fields |
When checked, begin and end items are displayed using the locale's standard date/time format with hours, minutes, and seconds When unchecked, begin and end items are displayed using the locale's standard date/time format with hours, and minutes |
Display Previous QSOs on Lookup checkbox |
When checked, entering a new callsign in the Main window or clicking the QSO Capture window's Lookup button filters the log to only display QSOs with the captured Callsign |
Highlight duplicate QSOs | When checked, QSOs in the Log Page Display that match the QSO Capture window's callsign, band, and mode will be highlighted in red font |
Set QSO start when RST Rcvd | When checked, automatically set the QSO start time when a received signal report is entered in the Capture window |
Initialize RST fields to 59/599 | When checked, automatically sets the Main and Capture window RST sent and RST rcvd fields to 59 (for phone modes) or 599 (for non-phone modes) unless another report has already been entered, and selects the entire contents of these fields whenever they gain focus |
Run-mode checkbox |
If this box is checked, striking the enter key in the call textbox will
If this box is checked, striking the enter key in the QSO Capture window's Call textbox will set the RST sent and RST rcvd items to 59 (if the mode is SSB or FM) or 599 (if the mode is CW, RTTY, or PSK) |
Capture window F-keys via WW |
When checked
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Prompt on Capture overwrite | When checked, if an action -- e.g. activating a Spot Database entry in SpotCollector-- would overwrite unsaved Capture window data from an active QSO, DXKeeper will display a dialog box allowing the user to allow or disallow the overwrite. A QSO is considered active if its start time has been set, either by clicking the Begin button or by capturing a received signal report (if Set QSO start when RST Rcvd is checked) |
New QSO on DX Spot activation | When checked, create a QSO in the Main window when a DX Spot is activated (in SpotCollector, DXView or Commander) with the Capture window closed and Optimize for realtime QSO entry checked |
Flag invalid callsigns | When checked, callsigns not containing at least one number and one letter will be flagged when you attempt to Save in the Main window or Log in the Capture window; QSOs containing such callsigns will be marked Broken by the Recompute function |
Provide audible feedback |
When checked,
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Use Dual Monitors | When checked, windows that resided on the secondary monitor during the previous session will be restored to the secondary monitor |
Log debugging information | When checked, records debugging information to the file ErrorLog.txt in DXKeeper's folder |
Call textbox | place the mouse cursor in the QSO panel's Call textbox after completing an operation on the Main window's Log QSOs tab |
Filter textbox | place the mouse cursor in the Filter panel textbox after completing an operation on the Main window's Log QSOs tab |
Operator callsign |
current operator's callsign (label is highlighted in red if maximum length is exceeded)
|
Transmit power |
transmitter power, in watts (label is highlighted in red if maximum length is exceeded)
|
Propagation mode | specifies the propagation mode used in each QSO |
Satellite name |
specifies the satellite name recorded in each QSO |
Satellite mode |
specifies the satellite mode recorded in each QSO |
QSL msg |
selects message to be printed on each QSL card from among the standard messages defined in the QSL Msgs tab
if a message is selected, you can modify it by editing the displayed text |
Browser pathname textbox |
if this setting is blank, DXKeeper displays online help using your PC's default HTML browser; if this setting contains the pathname of an HTML browser, DXKeeper displays online help using that browser. |
Select button |
displays a file selector dialog that allows you to choose a Browser pathname |
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. |
Help button |
displays the information you are now reading |
Pathname textbox |
This textbox specifies the pathname of the current log file. To open a different log file or create a new log file, you can enter or paste the appropriate pathname into this textbox and then click the Select or Create buttons in this panel. Alternatively, you can click the Select button in this panel and use the file selector dialog to choose the log file you wish to open or create. Note: If you start DXKeeper with a command line argument that specifies a valid pathname, DXKeeper will place this argument in the Pathname textbox and attempt to open the designated file as a log. |
Open Button |
closes any open log and opens the log in the file specified by the Pathname textbox; this button is only present when the Pathname textbox specifies an existing file |
Create Button |
closes any open log, and creates a new log in the file specified by the Pathname textbox; this button is only present when the Pathname textbox specifies a non-existent file If DXView has been installed on your PC, the newly-created log's progress table will be initialized using the DXCC database managed by DXView. If DXView has not been installed, the newly-created log's progress table will be initialized from the file DXCC.mdb in the Databases subfolder of your DXKeeper application folder. |
Compact Button | If you delete QSOs in a log, the log file can become fragmented and use disk space inefficiently. Compacting the log file re-arranges the files contents to improve storage efficiency. |
Select Button | displays a file selector dialog with which you can navigate to a desired folder and select a log file to open; if the selected file exists, any currently-open log is closed and the selected log file is opened |
New Button |
displays a
file selector dialog with which you can navigate to a desired folder and
specify a new log file to be created; if the specified file does not
exist, any currently-open log is closed, and the specified log file is
created and then opened
If DXView has been installed on your PC, the newly-created log's progress table will be initialized using the DXCC database managed by DXView. If DXView has not been installed, the newly-created log's progress table will be initialized from the file DXCC.mdb in the Databases subfolder of your DXKeeper application folder. |
This textbox specifies the pathname of folder into which log backups will be stored |
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creates a backup copy of the current Log file in the specified backup folder pathname |
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Recover button | replaces the contents of the current Log file with the contents of a specified backup copy |
When checked, setting a needed QSL's QSL Rcvd field to 'Y' will display a dialog box reminding you to submit the QSL to the DXCC desk |
|
identifies the operator's current QTH
|
Auxiliary fields checkbox |
Checking this box shows the Log's Aux panel, which contains textboxes for each of the following fields: Depressing the CTRL key while checking this box will display the Log's Aux panel and decrease the number of visible Log Page Display entries rather than expand the Main window's height. Unchecking this box will hide the Log's Aux panel and vertically shrink the Main window; depressing the CTRL key while unchecking this box will hide the Log's Aux panel and increase the number of visible Log Page Display entries. |
QSL fields checkbox |
Checking this box shows the Log's QSL panel, which contains textboxes for each of the following fields: Depressing the CTRL key while checking this box will display the Log's QSL panel and decrease the number of visible Log Page Display entries rather than expand the Main window's height. Unchecking this box will hide the Log's QSL panel and vertically shrink the Main window; depressing the CTRL key while unchecking this box will hide the Log's QSL panel and increase the number of visible Log Page Display entries. |
Award fields checkbox |
Checking this box shows the Log's Awards panel, which contains textboxes for each of the following fields: Depressing the CTRL key while checking this box will display the Log's Awards panel and decrease the number of visible Log Page Display entries rather than expand the Main window's height. Unchecking this box will hide the Log's Awards panel and vertically shrink the Main window; depressing the CTRL key while unchecking this box will hide the Log's Awards panel and increase the number of visible Log Page Display entries. |
Contest fields checkbox |
Checking this box shows the Log's Contest panel, which contains textboxes for each of the following fields: Depressing the CTRL key while checking this box will display the Log's Contest panel and decrease the number of visible Log Page Display entries rather than expand the Main window's height. Unchecking this box will hide the Log's Contest panel and vertically shrink the Main window; depressing the CTRL key while unchecking this box will hide the Log's Contest panel and increase the number of visible Log Page Display entries. |
Satellite fields checkbox |
Checking this box shows the Log's Satellite panel, which contains textboxes for each of the following fields: Depressing the CTRL key while checking this box will display the Log's Satellite panel and decrease the number of visible Log Page Display entries rather than expand the Main window's height. Unchecking this box will hide the Log's Satellite panel and vertically shrink the Main window; depressing the CTRL key while unchecking this box will hide the Log's Satellite panel and increase the number of visible Log Page Display entries. |
Font Button |
Enables you to specify the font and font metrics (size, bold, italic) used in the Main window's Auxiliary, QSL, Online QSL, Awards, Contest and Satellite panels, and the Capture window. If a bold font is selected, then information in the Award Progress and Progress Details grids will also be rendered in bold font. |
Log page fields control |
This control enables you to specify
To add a field to the log page display,
To see the newly added field, you may need to horizontally scroll the log page display or widen your DXKeeper window. The order in which fields appear in the log page display, and the width of each column in the log page display are controlled by direct manipulation. To remove a field from the log page display,
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Font Button |
Enables you to specify the font and font metrics (size, bold, italic) used in the log page display |
Log Page Display layout file |
the pathname of a file whose contents specify a Log
Page Display layout:
|
Select | displays a file selector that lets you choose a Log Page Display layout file and then format the Log Page Display as specified by the selected file's contents |
Save | displays a file selector that lets you choose a file into which will be saved the Log Page Display's current layout |
The Automatically Recompute Awards Progress checkbox determines whether DXKeeper will automatically recompute awards progress when you delete a QSO or indicate a regression in the QSO's progress, e.g. demoting its status from confirmed to worked, or from worked to unworked.
The Deduce CQ and ITU zones from US callsigns checkbox determines whether callsigns of US stations will be used to deduce CQ and ITU zones if more precise information (previous QSOs, state, ARRL section, Callbook) is unavailable and the call area fits entirely in the zone.
The Include LotW confirmations in VUCC, WAS, WAC, & Maidenhead awards progress box will, when checked, include QSOs confirmed by the ARRL's Logbook of the World (LotW) in the VUCC Progress, VUCC Submission, WAS Progress, WAC Progress, Maidenhead Field, and Maidenhead Gridsquare reports.
The Include eQSL.cc confirmations in DXCC, WAS, WAC, & Maidenhead awards progress box will, when checked, will include QSOs confirmed by eQSL.cc in the the DXCC, Challenge, TOPLIST, WAS, and WAC, Maidenhead Field, and Maidenhead Gridsquare awards progress and reports. The ARRL, TOPLIST, and CQ Magazine do not accept eQSL.cc confirmations for their awards, but if your personal DXing program considers eQSL.cc confirmations to be valid, then checking this box will generate correct status. If you change this setting, immediately running the By QSL Mode, WAS, and WAC reports will produce correct results. However, the Progress Grid, Progress Details Grid, and all other reports will not reflect the change until you invoke the Recompute function.
Checkboxes in the DXCC/TOP Bands & Modes Panel specify the bands and modes you are pursuing for the ARRL DX Century Club award (DXCC), the ARRL DX Century Club Challenge award , and/or the Top List award. When you click the QSL tab's Add Needed button, these settings are used to identify QSOs for which QSLs would advance your progress. When you prepare a DXCC Submission, confirmed QSL cards and/or LotW credits will only be submitted for bands and modes selected in this panel. If SpotCollector is running, the settings of these checkboxes are used to determine whether a QSO with a spotted station would advance your progress. If no awards tab boxes are checked, DXKeeper and SpotCollector assume that you are pursuing DXCC without focus on specific bands or modes. This panel's Expiration age textbox lets you specify a time interval in weeks that the Card Aging function can use to automatically flag QSOs as expired, meaning that a confirmation is no longer expected.
The DXCC Submission panel lets you specify
whether QSL cards should be submitted as proof of confirmed QSOs
whether LotW credits should be submitted as proof of confirmed QSOs
if an unverified QSO is confirmed by both QSL card and LotW credit, which should be submitted
the number of lines to be printed on each page of the generated Card Record Sheet and LotW Record Sheet reports
Checkboxes in the WAZ Bands & Modes Panel specify the bands and modes you are pursuing for the CQ Worked All Zones award. The contents of a WAZ Progress Report are controlled by these settings.
In the Other Panel,
the IOTA checkbox determines whether generating an IOTA progress report will also create IOTA_Worked and IOTA_Confirmed update files for IOTAMem4WIN in DXKeeper's Reports sub-folder
The Date Format panel lets you specify the format of dates used in reports, and in the headers of exported ADIF files.
dd-mmm-yyyy (local month abbreviations) uses the standard month abbreviations for your PC's locale
dd-mmm-yyyy (English month abbreviations) uses the English month abbreviations independent of your PC's locale
yyyy-mm-dd (ISO 8601) uses the ISO 8601 standard date format independent of your PC's locale
The DXCC Summary panel's Optional HTML textbox lets you insert HTML at the beginning of the DXCC Summary's body, prior to the data table.
DXKeeper can obtain name, address, and location information from the Flying Horse Radio Amateur's Callbook , HamCall, or the QRZ Callsign Database. You may install one, two, or all three of these. If Pathfinder (version 4.2.6 or later) is running, DXKeeper can direct it to obtain name, address, and location information from the QRZ.com web site. Use this tab's radio buttons to specify which source of information is used for Callbook Lookup operations.
Callbook |
select the radio button for the Callbook or web site to be used |
Folder containing callbook database |
pathname to the folder containing the Callbook's data* |
Browse button |
displays a folder selector that allows you to choose the folder containing the Callbook's data |
Automatically use callbook data... checkbox |
if checked
|
Warn when Callsign Lookups fail | When checked, a Callsign lookup that fails to locate Callbook information for the Call will display a warning message requiring confirmation |
* QRZ volume 22 and onward allows you to install the database onto your hard drive for improved performance, but requires that you copy the file QRZ32.DLL from the QRZ CDROM to your DXKeeper folder (replacing the existing file), and has a different requirement for Folder containing callbook database. If you install the QRZ database into the folder
C:\Program Files\QRZ
then set Folder containing callbook database to
C:\Program Files\QRZ\CALLBK
From the Capture window, you can add name, QTH information, and address information from the selected Callbook to the current QSO by clicking the Lookup button, as described above.
Using the CBA
button on the Main window's Log QSOs tab, you can update or replace name, QTH
information, and address information in the current QSO or in all QSOs visible
in the Log Page Display.
These settings govern DXKeeper's support for contest operation.
Contest-mode |
when checked
Enabling Contest mode automatically enables Run-mode; disabling Contest-mode automatically disables Run-mode |
Increment TX serial# | when checked, increments the TX serial# after each QSO (if the Contest-mode box is checked, and if the TX serial# contains a numeric value) |
TX serial# |
the transmit serial number or exchange to be recorded with the next QSO |
TX Exchange | fixed portion of transmit exchange (as specified by contest rules, for use in Cabrillo QSO record) |
Place focus in RX# on DX spot activation |
when checked, activating a DX spot in SpotCollector,
DXView
or Commander
will place the mouse cursor in the Capture window's RX#
item if the Capture window has not been closed
if the Capture window is closed, Optimize for realtime QSO entry is checked, and New QSO on DX Spot activation is checked, then activating a DX spot will create a new QSO and display it in the Main window; if the Contest panel on the Main window's Log QSOs tab is visible, then the mouse cursor will be placed in its RX# item |
Don't log Capture window Contest, TX#, RX# if contest mode disabled | when checked with contest mode disabled, don't log the Capture window's Contest, TX#, and RX# items |
Contest style |
configures DXKeeper to support a specific style of
contest by
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Cabrillo Category | The Operator, Band, Power, and Mode selectors in this panel are used to assemble a Category for incorporation in a Cabrillo header; in each selector, you can choose a preset value, or key in a new value, and the Category will be appropriately updated. Alternatively, you can directly key in the Category. |
Contest ID |
a unique identifier for the current contest to be recorded with each QSO (e.g. ARRL-DX-SSB-2003) |
Claimed score | your claimed score in the contest (obtained from your contesting application, or manually computed) |
QTH State | state from which the station is operating (abbreviation per contest rules, for use in contest exchanges) |
QTH Grid | Maidenhead Grid Square from the station is operating (for use in contest exchanges) |
QTH IOTA | Islands on the Air designator for the station's QTH (for use in contest exchanges) |
QTH CQ | CQ Zone for the station's QTH (for use in contest exchanges) |
Operator's first name | your first name (for use in contest exchanges) |
Contest name | contest name selector (for use in a Cabrillo header; an arbitrary name can be entered, e.g. for state QSO parties) |
Submitter's full name | your full name (for use in a Cabrillo header) |
ARRL Sect | the ARRL section from which you are operating (for use in a Cabrillo header) |
Submitter's full addr | your multiple-line postal address (not including your name, for use in a Cabrillo header) |
Category assisted | contest assistance category (for use in a Cabrillo header) |
Club | name of your contest or radio club (for use in a Cabrillo header) |
Operators | callsigns of participating operators, separated by commas (for use in a Cabrillo header) |
DXKeeper is driven by a set of band definitions contained in a file. Any attempt to log a QSO on a frequency not falling within a defined band will be flagged.
At startup, DXKeeper checks its Databases folder for the file Bands.txt ; if found, the contents of this file are interpreted as user-defined band specifications in the format shown below. If Bands.txt is not found, then DXKeeper checks its Databases folder for the file DefaultBands.txt, which every DXKeeper release installs. DefaultBands.txt, is a file containing one line per band::
2190M, 0.136,0.137
160M, 1.800, 2.000
80M, 3.500,4.000
60M, 5.3305,5.405
40M, 7.000,7.350
30M, 10.100, 10.150
20M, 14.000, 14.350
17M, 18.068, 18.168
15M, 21.000, 21.450
12M, 24.890, 24.990
10M, 28.000, 29.900
6M, 50.000, 54.000
4M, 70.0, 71.0
2M, 144.000, 148.000
1.25M,222.0,225.0
70CM, 420.0, 450.0
33CM, 902.0, 928.0
23CM, 1240, 1300
13CM,2400,2450
9CM, 3300, 3500
6CM, 5650, 5925
3CM, 10000, 10500
1.25cm,24000,24250
6MM, 47000, 47200
4MM, 75500, 81000
2.5MM, 119980,120020
2MM, 142000, 149000
1MM, 241000,250000
SUBMM, 300000,1000000
Each line contains three parameters, separated by commas: the band name, the band's lower edge in megahertz, and the band's upper edge in megahertz.
To add or subtract bands, make a copy of DefaultBands.txt in DXKeeper's Databases folder and name it Bands.txt. Delete or add lines as required, ensuring that
each band's lower band edge is less than its upper band edge
the upper band edge defined on one line is less than the lower band edge defined on the next line
DXKeeper provides built-in support for six modes: SSB, CW, RTTY, AM, FM, and PSK31. At startup, DXKeeper checks its Databases folder for the file Modes.txt ; if found, the contents of this file are interpreted as user-defined mode specifications, as described below. If Modes.txt is not found, then DXKeeper checks its Databases folder for the file DefaultModes.txt and if found interprets its contents as user-defined mode specifications. Every DXKeeper release installs a DefaultModes.txt file that contains the following mode specifications:
Mode Name | DXCC SSB credit | DXCC CW credit | DXCC RTTY credit | WAZ RTTY credit | WAZ Digital credit | WPX SSB credit | WPX CW credit | PSK credit |
ASCI | a | a | ||||||
ATV | ||||||||
CLO | ||||||||
FAX | ||||||||
GTOR | ||||||||
Hell | a | a | ||||||
HFSK | ||||||||
JT44 | ||||||||
MFSK8 | a | a | ||||||
MFSK16 | a | a | ||||||
MT63 | a | a | ||||||
Pac | a | a | ||||||
Pac2 | a | a | ||||||
Pac3 | a | a | ||||||
Pkt | a | a | ||||||
PSK63 | a | a | a | |||||
PSK125 | a | a | a | |||||
Q15 | ||||||||
SSTV | ||||||||
Thrb | a | a | ||||||
TOR | a | a |
Users wishing to define additional modes or remove modes that aren't built-in can do so by creating the file Modes.txt in SpotCollector's Databases folder. The specification format used in DefaultModes.txt and Modes.txt is identical: each line of the file specifies a mode's name, followed optionally by a list of awards for which QSOs in the mode produce credit; the mode name and optional awards are separated by commas. Valid award designators are shown in the following table:
Award Designator | Meaning |
DXCC_Phone | QSOs in this mode "count" for DXCC Phone credit |
DXCC_CW | QSOs in this mode "count" for DXCC CW credit |
DXCC_RTTY | QSOs in this mode "count" for DXCC RTTY credit |
WAZ_RTTY | QSOs in this mode "count" for WAZ RTTY credit |
WAZ_DIGITAL | QSOs in this mode "count" for WAZ Digital credit |
WPX_Phone | QSOs in this mode "count" for WPX Phone credit |
WPX_CW | QSOs in this mode "count" for WPX CW credit |
PSK | QSOs in this mode "count" for PSK credit |
Thus, the first line of the file DefaultModes.txt, which is
ASCI, DXCC_RTTY, WAZ_RTTY
defines the new mode ASCI, and specifies that QSOs in ASCI should be credited as DXCC RTTY and WAZ RTTY QSOs.
The easiest way to create a custom Modes.txt file is by starting with a copy of DefaultModes.txt and editing as required. Be sure to make your changes in Modes.txt as DefaultModes.txt will be overwritten by the next DXKeeper release.