[Introduction]
[Settings]
[Operation]
[Maps]
[FAQ]
DX Monitor
Maps
Press the
button on the toolbar,
press the F8 key, or select Azimuthal Projection from the Maps menu
to display a Great Circle Map centered on your location as entered in the
Local page of the Settings.
The stations plotted will also be filtered by frequency according to the last
plot you performed manually, as shown in the Plot | Spots... menu. The color of
the map tack can also be set in that dialog.
The first time you display an Azimuthal Projection map, either via the menu or by
pressing the Automatic Map hot button, a new map will be generated. This will take
a few moments. The new map will be saved as a BMP file in your DX Monitor directory.
The map is generated from the Mercator file, WORLD.BMP. You can
modify the colors or change boundaries on that map using any graphics software.
My thanks to Gledrius, LY2CG, for breaking up the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia on
the current map.
Click on a spot on the map to display the callsign of the station.
Move the mouse over the call and click to locate the latest grid line locating the
DX announcement.
Click on a callsign (DX or spotter) on the grid to highlight the spot on the
map with the callsign displayed.
File Menu
Generate New Map
Maps may be generated using the colors of the Mercator projection map WORLD.BMP.
Or you can generate a map with the single land color of your choice, as shown above.
It is easier to see the plotted spots if you plot the land in a single contrasting color.
Show Octant Lines?
Octant lines indicating the 8 principal beam headings may be added to the map.
Generated maps may be saved or loaded using the Open... and Save As... menu
items.
Save as Desktop Wallpaper will save the current map to your desktop. See the
Options menu for automatic options.
Plot Menu
Show Terminator (ctl-T). If this option is selected,
the current terminator (Gray Line) will be plotted, showing the location
of sunrise and sunset around the world.
Pressing the arrow keys will show the terminator for one hour
later or earlier for each press of the arrow key.
This is handy for seeking a good time for propagation to a desired area.
Show Spots allows you to plot DX spots on the map as they arrive. You can select to plot
recent spots by checking the box in the first line. The 30 minute value is the
value entered in the Options page of the Settings obtained by
pressing F10.
Spots may be filtered on the basis of frequency.
You can also restrict the display to DX stations spotted by local hams. The distance
is changed in the F10 settings.
The color of the spots may be selected by clicking on the Color button or the
colored disk. It is also possible to plot the spots in different colors for each
band by checking the designated box. This feature is in draft stages at this time and
will be improved shortly.
Show Spotters. This option allows you to show the locations of the stations
reporting the DX activity. A different color map tack should be selected to distinguish
the DX from the spotters.
Show Paths. This option will draw a line between the DX location and the station
announcing the DX. The line is not an indication of the actual path of the signal, only
a representation of the fact that a path exists between the two points. It can be interesting
to look at the various paths that have been reported on a given band over a period of several hours
or even a whole day.
Show Beacons. Selecting this menu item will show a submenu of the
NCDXF/IARU beacon frequencies.
Select the band you are interested in. Each beacon will appear on the map at the time that
it is transmitting. The beam heading and distance to the beacon are shown at the lower left.
The next beacon will be listed at the bottom of the map.
Although it is possible to plot the beacons and DX spots and spotter simultaneously,
this only works well on fast computers.
Plot Log File allows you to plot lists of callsigns from any text based
log file with fixed columns. The first few lines of the file will be displayed
under a column indicator so that you can indicate the correct column to use. The
color of the map tack may be selected.
Plots of files may be saved to disk in bmp format.
Clear Settings will clear the checked settings from the Plot Menu so you
can create a new combination of settings easily. As this does not clear the map, it has the
effect of freezing the current display so that new spots are not added to the map.
Clicking on any given setting in the menu will toggle it between checked and unchecked.
Clear Map (ctl-C) will erase all spots and restore the original clean map.
Options Menu
Selecting Refresh Automatically will update the Terminator every 5 minutes
and plot new spots as they arrive. Spots are filtered according to the
selections made in the Plot menu.
This item is automatically checked when the
button on the toolbar
is pressed.
Selecting Automatic Wallpaper causes each update of the map to be saved to the
desktop as background wallpaper. When you exit DX Monitor, your original Wallpaper will
return. You can change the wallpaper settings for your system by right clicking on the desktop,
selecting Properties and choosing the Display options.
You should select center, not tiled, not stretched to full screen for best viewing.
If you want to set DX Monitor's output as permanent wallpaper, select DX Monitor Wallpaper
from the Wallpaper list.
Popup on Auto. Selecting this option causes the map to be automatically displayed
when in Automatic Mode.
Dock to Grid. Selecting this option places the map to the right of the grid with
the tops of the windows aligned.
Mercator Projection

DX Monitor has been downloaded by hams in 102 countries
Press F9 or select Mercator Projection from the Maps menu
to display a Mercator Projection Map. The File and Plot menus
are generally the same as those described above for the Azimuthal Projection map.
Most of the newer features have not been implemented for the Mercator projection
at this time. Personally, I never look at the Mercator map. I always use the
azimuthal map. I need to hear from users who prefer the Mercator projection to
encourage further development on that map.
[Introduction]
[Settings]
[Operation]
[Maps]
[FAQ]