First, lately I have commented on or replied to several emails on
the DXBase reflector regarding problems I have also encountered
with DXBase. Despite these issues, and despite the several
features I wish for in a future version, the DXBase logging program
remains my favorite ham radio application. In my opinion, DXBase
is by far the best general logging program available. THE BEST.
I have tried all the well-known loggers and many of the obscure
programs too and DXBase beats them all handily. Since first
purchasing DXBase in 2001, I have bought the upgrade every year
and I have never regretted it. It has always been a good deal.
Now back to the bashing :)
I too wish for three of Bill's wishlist items.
> * LOCKABLE WINDOWS; a 'lock it in place' type option.
> * NEW VERSION UPADATES; Window size and placement, font size and color
> keyboard shortcuts * These should be remembered....
> * PREVIOUS QSO WINDOW The PREVIOUS QSO window should be TOTALLY resizable,
> qso's should be sortable based on the field selected.
In addition, I wish for:
1) the ability to delete a record from the Previous QSO window
2) the ability to backup the database on-the-fly (with DXBase running)
3) the ability to switch databases on-the-fly (from within DXBase)
4) the program to automatically reconnect to ports each time DXBase
is run regardless of whether the connection was used the last time
it was run. (i.e. the K1EL keyer)
5) the program to automatically determine which QSLs I want most,
print the label, stick it on the card, stamp and sign it, stuff
it in an envelope (which it addressed and printed), insert the
appropriate green stamp/IRC, lick and apply the appropriate postage
to the envelope and haul it all to the post office all with the
push of a single button. Oh, and also write letters to the DX
stations who insist on QSLing the same 10M QSO over and over
instead of the 12, 15, 17, 20, 30, 40 and 80M QSOs we've had and
for which I sent QSLs since confirming the 10M QSO four years ago.
--
73 Greg K4KO
http://webpages.charter.net/k4ko
From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wed Dec 7 12:22:48 2005
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Peter Dougherty (W2IRT))
Date: Wed Dec 7 12:25:22 2005
Subject: [Dxbase] 2007 wish list
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Bug-Fixes or functionality flaws in 2006
1) BUG FIX When you highlight a spot in the log that you want to post
to the cluster, but your VFO is on a different frequency, the VFO
frequency gets sent to the cluster, not the frequency you worked the
DX on. Example: you work G3ABC on 14.195, and immediately afterwards,
a spot for ZS6XYZ comes in on 21.295. You QSY up to work the ZS, and
while waiting to work him, you highlight the G3 spot on 20m. If you
don't correct it, you'll spot G3ABC on 21.295 *instead of* 14.195.
2) Bug-fix: Go to highlight something in the summary window (to see,
for example, which stations I've worked from JA on 40 CW by clicking
that field). It usually works ok, but with one nasty exception - when
a spot comes into the un-highlighted INTERNET CLUSTER window.
Let's say a GM station gets spotted on the cluster while I'm doing
this JA check. Now, when I click on a field within the
worked/confirmed matrix (again, I want to look at my 40m JA contacts
by inputting JA manually in the SUMMARY WINDOW and clicking in the
field where CW and 40 come together) under the PREVIOUS QSOs window,
the Value to Find becomes 40 + CW + GM instead of 40 + CW + JA.
Functionality upgrades
1) Upon installing, PLEASE, next year, can I keep all my settings
from DXB2006 when I install 2007? I have a million custom shortcuts,
colours and other settings that take me hours to re-customize every
time I upgrade. I've never seen any other piece of software *ever*
that doesn't take all or most existing customizations into account.
2) Better COM integration with the PSK31 applet - the ability to
log/copy stuff right from the PSK31 program
3) COM Integration with MMTTY. That's the best app, by FAR, for RTTY
and it's definitely the default app used by serious RTTY operators. I
would love to see a linked applet similar to WinPSK in use for MMTTY,
or at least, direct importation of data from MMTTY.
4) CW Keying through serial interfaces such as the very popular
RigBlaster boxes.
5) Integration into Google Earth's API to actually be able to zoom
into the location on file for the address of the station you're
working! Google Earth can accept either lat/long or a street address,
so the addition should be relatively easy.
6) COM Integration with IonoProbe and HamCAP (and/or W6EL Prop) to
plot best propagation between your default location and the spot.
Current solar conditions should be automatically downloaded and
displayed, as well as warnings.
7) Put the AUX manager box and the transfer button on the QSL INFO
window. Take them off the tab bar in the DX INFO window.
8) When you want to work a station that pops up on the cluster, I'd
love to see an option for true one-click operation: QSY, turn rotor
to short path, bring up the DX Atlas info, AUX manager and populate
log fields (and show me the OM's house in Google earth <grin>)...in
other words, everything but make the Q.
9) Save menu and tab positions when windows close (i.e. if I'm in
SETUP/RADIO 1 when I close the setup menu, the next time I go to
setup, I'd like to go back to where I left off. Ditto for QSL labels
- go back to QSL labels if that's where I was, instead of address labels).
10) Default power levels for each band instead of just a gloabl
setting. You should be able to set your country's legal limit if
it's lower on certain bands than on others -- i.e. 200W for 30m and
50W for 60m in the USA.
11) When a spot containing a QSX comes in, there should be a more
intelligent determination of what VFO B should set itself to. A
few values right off the bat that should be automatic, and based on
the mode determination already set in Tools/Options/Bandplan Mapping:
a) A CW-portion of the band spot marked UP or QSX UP should set VFO B
at 1kHz up by default (and changeable in the menu)
b) A Phone-portion of the band spot marked UP or QSX UP should set
VFO B 5 kHz up by default (and changeable in the menu)
c) A RTTY-portion of the band spot marked UP or QSX UP should set VFO
B 3 kHz up by default (and changeable in the menu)
d) For 40m and 80m split especially, often you'll see a cluster spot
say QSX 209.5, meaning 7209.5. or 795 meaning 3795 - the logic should
determine when this type of spot has been made and QSY the second VFO
accordingly. Right now a spot containing QSX 209.5 will set VFO B to 209.5 kHz!
12) Is there a way to automatically go to QRZ.COM and strip the
address info off that site instead of using the built-in CD-R
feature? QRZ's CD-ROMs are horribly inaccurate since they're not
updated, and Buckmaster is no longer all that good any more. I find
QRZ's site is by far and away the best place for address info.
13) Better handling of QSL routes for portable operations.
Specifically, if a spot for 3A/W2IRT is received, now it would show a
route of the Monaco QSL bureau, rather than what should be the
default route of the operator's home-call. It DOES seem to function
the other way (i.e. W2IRT/3A), however the CEPT permit stipulates
prefix/homecall as the authorized format, thus it would seem logical
for DX Base to interpret calls the same way.
14) Where a country is an IOTA entity (i.e. Australia, OC001), that
IOTA value should be populated along with all the other fields. If a
portion of that country is it's own IOTA, then DX cluster spotting or
callbook listings should be allowed to supersede that value, of course.
15) Automatic re-connection to a Telnet cluster if connection is
lost, or at least flash a warning so-indicating. Ideally, the best
possible solution would be to incorporate AR-Config into the release
of DX Base and have it set up automatically during installation, or
possibly setup as an install option.
16) COM integration with CW decoder software such as CW-GET and/or others.
17) Ability to add more than 9 appications to the PROGRAMS menu.
18) Better vertical scrolling through the log using a scroll wheel.
At present, the use of a scroll wheel isn't possible when a row is highlighted.
19) Is it possible to integrate TQSL into DX Base to sign an ADIF
file in one step? Long-shot, but would be good to do.
20) I'd like to be able to download and import a LoTW report without
having to close DX Base first. I'd say the same about importing a
contest ADIF log. Switching logs on the fly should be a no-brainer,
but for some reason, one still has to go through an arcane process to do so.
21) In addition to the QRZ and Pathfinder buttons, would it be
possible to add a button to look up a call in DX Summit directly
rather than go through the glacially-slow Pathfinder site all the time?
22) Ability to highlight, copy and paste from an announcement comment
or spot (i.e. if someone includes a URL in an announcement it would
be nice to click it and launch the browser, or at least copy the URL
to paste into a browser manually).
23) Is there a way to better format DX addresses for outgoing labels?
For example, often, everything will be there except the country name
or else the city will be there twice, etc. I know this can be
difficult, of course, but at least to ensure the country name is included.
24) When calculating what to include in a hybrid LoTW/paper QSL
submission, an LoTW confirmation of any date should supersede a
hard-card, even if the hard QSL was received years before the LoTW
result, since the ARRL will use LoTW before paper when they process
the application.
25) Change the licensing model to allow more than 10 calls or an easy
way for QSL managers to be able to handle a huge number of logs
without having to load a different license -- and for club stations
to allow individual members to log under their own calls (this is a
big issue with our club! Every Field Day when we use N1MM logger, we
log operator call and I have to go in and strip it all out before
importing into DX Base)
26) My usual annual request for a subscription-based update service
to DX Base with feature updates out more frequently than once a year.
- Peter
W2IRT
