[Dx4win] Internet connection
Hello Paul. Using DX4Win 5.03 the url 25 spots OH2AQ,http://oh2aq.kolumbus.com/dxs/dx25.html?|2 runs once but does not refresh - ever. The vertical bar is shift \ above the enter key. The packet1 mode is regular tcpip. Is there some trick to getting this working? A setting somewhere? Larry On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 20:08:37 -0500, Paul van der Eijk wrote: Larry, The value after the vertical bar is the refresh rate in minutes. I added that to the '25 spots', not to the '250 spots'. You will have to edit the dx4win.tcp file if you want to change that. Paul At 05:04 PM 2/11/03 -0600, Larry Alkoff wrote: On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 16:41:02 +0100, Erik Hyllander wrote: I have noticed that if the cluster address finishes with .html no reload takes place. If it ends with .html?|3 it reloads after three minutes even if the cluster at normal web-browser contact reloads every minute. I have long been frustrated by the fact that 250 spots OH2AQ,http://oh2aq.kolumbus.com/dxs/dx250.html? does _not_ repeat automatically. I thought your email was the answer to my prayers but adding |3 to the above also never reloads. Does anyone know of a good web based spotting site that shows up in the dx4win spot list and repeats? It would be wonderful if this ability could be put into dx4win sometime. Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX ___ Dx4win mailing list Dx4win@mailman.qth.net http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dx4win Paul van der Eijk (KK4HD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.dx4win.com Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Internet connection
On Tue, 11 Feb 2003 16:41:02 +0100, Erik Hyllander wrote: I have noticed that if the cluster address finishes with .html no reload takes place. If it ends with .html?|3 it reloads after three minutes even if the cluster at normal web-browser contact reloads every minute. I have long been frustrated by the fact that 250 spots OH2AQ,http://oh2aq.kolumbus.com/dxs/dx250.html? does _not_ repeat automatically. I thought your email was the answer to my prayers but adding |3 to the above also never reloads. Does anyone know of a good web based spotting site that shows up in the dx4win spot list and repeats? It would be wonderful if this ability could be put into dx4win sometime. Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] How do voice announcements check hardware?
In my DX4Win 5.03 manual it talks about how DX4Win checks to see if sound is enabled on the computer and, because the software check sometimes gives erroneous results, there is a way to bypass this check. Specifically under the topic Voice | Audio/Voice it says: Audio / Voice If a sound card is present in your system, the program can announce DX spots using the sound card. If no sound card is present, a DX alert results in a system beep. In some cases the function to test for a sound system fails. In such a case you can test if the system can play a sound file correctly and bypass this test. In my new computer with sound on the motherboard, it seems to me I'm not getting all the voice announcements, although some do come through. Is the function to test for a sound done each time a voice announcement is made or just once when the program starts? How can this check be bypassed? Has anything changed about this in version 6.01 which is on order? Thanks, Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Abnormal termination logic questions.
The use of the file \dx4win\dx4win.dxb which is deleted when a normal termination takes place is quite useful to recover from crashes in cases where the log file has not yet been written to disk. However when a control-s is done and the program subsequently crashes with no changes to the log, the dx4win.dxb file really gets in the way. In DX4Win 5.03 the online help says that the file \dx4win\dx4win.dxb is used as a backup in case of abnormal termination and that dx4win.dxb will be made identical with the log file \dx4win\save\n2la.dxl (in my case) after a save or control-s. After experimentation, this does not happen and the two files are not conformed after control-s. My practice is to do frequent control-s so that in case of a crash the log file is up to date. However, since the two files are not the same I have to go through the cumbersome process of loading both files and trying to see which has more contacts. Is my program acting abnormally? If the dx4win.dxb and my log were the same size it would be easy to check with a simple batch file after a crash. Or is it possible that both the log and dx4win.dxb contain the same information in a slightly different format? Being binary I cannot easily peer into them. Here's a thought: Shouldn't a control-s delete or rename dx4win.dxb until the next entry or change is made since the log is as up to date as possible after a control-s? Has this behavior changed in any way in 6.01? Larry Alkoff N2LA This causes a problem when dx4win terminates abnormally. Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] DX Spotting Window Headings
Charlie your last two messages to the list came through with a date of 1/1/2000 which causes the messages to appear at the bottom of the usual mail list sorted by date. Please correct this. Larry N2LA On Sat, 1 Jan 2000 00:04:36 -, W0YG Charlie Summers wrote: Thanks to Paul and Don Currier, I am squared away on priorities and how they are assigned. Paul sent a message to the reflector describing the process and where in the documentation it can be found. 73, Charlie, W0YG.. Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Updating spots
The issue of losing telnet spot connections has been discussed in a recent thread. To have a reliable spot connection I use the oh2aq supplied in the stock dx4win.tcp: http://oh2aq.kolumbus.com/dxs/dx25.html? When I use this exact same url in my web browser it updates every minute but DX4Win ignores the new data. The only way to update is manually by pressing a key. Is there any way DX4Win can take advantage of the automatic update facility of this site? If not I request this ability in the next DX4Win update 73, Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Staying Connected to TELNET
On Mon, 4 Nov 2002 21:05:25 -0800, STU wrote: Is there anyone out there that has a hard time staying connected to TELNET. I have a high speed cable connection that works great for the Internet. No problems! When connecting to a DX cluster via TELNET (with DX4WIN) and the activity is somewhat slow, I seem to get disconnected. During peak times such as contests I stay connected just fine. I understand there is a so called keep alive option either in DX4WIN or some other outside source. The idea is to keep the traffic moving. If windows isn't seeing any traffic from you, (some ISP's as well.) disconnect you so others can use the IP you were on. Is there a setting in DX4WIN using the TCP/IP setting with this so called keep alive feature? Please advise. TNX, 73 STU Please respond to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I have noticed that normally I lose my connection in about an hour. My experiments indicate that the reason is that somehow Telnet attracts a swarm of attempted connections from various unknown urls that overload the ability of Telnet to keep itself alive. Various methods of sending keep alive signals have made no difference. I maintain two machines - one is Linux. If I establish a Telnet connection under DX4Win and set the Linux machine to monitor connections using tcpdump which is included in most Linux distributions, I can clearly see the attempted connections building up - to as many as hundreds per second! This is a classic DOS (Denial of Service) attack. Most people would be unaware of the attack unless they are running an analysis tool like tcpdump. I've tried nearly a dozen different Telnet sites - the result has always been the same. That is why I'm looking for a good http site that does automatic refreshes. My connection is a 24 hour cablemodem (Time-Warner of Austin TX RoadRunner) and I think that kind of connection is attractive to the kind of people doing this. They can easily tell it's Time-Warner from the first few digits of the IP address. Many have complained about the difficulty of keeping their Telnet connection up. Hope this information helps others. Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Staying Connected to TELNET
Ted I've been wondering why I have had problems and you don't. I'm also behind a router and the windows computer also has the ZoneAlarm firewall but that has not seemed to stop the DOS attacks. It's not a D-Link (Ugate 3000) but I've looked at the D-link and others and they are all pretty much the same. I'm experimenting with a new system that may eliminate the unwanted connections from various unknown urls. It's a Linux system with a very cool program called Win4Lin which allows you to actually _install_ Windows 98 so that it and windows programs are actually running under Linux - but they don't really know it. The best thing is that Windows then uses the networking facilities of Linux including a special stateful firewall that only allows connections to come in from the Internet if related to something I have initiated. This may stop all the DOS type interference because they are all initiated from the outside and should not be permitted through the firewall. It's running now and I should know in a day or so. My goal is to end up with a Telnet connection for spots that runs for weeks at a time! 73, Larry N2LA On Tue, 05 Nov 2002 09:46:03 -0500, Ted Sarah - W8TTS wrote: I use DX-Telnet through a cable modem (Road Runner) and don't have any problem staying connected. I did earlier, do to the way it was connected to my laptop, but that's another issue. I have the clusters that I use, set up to be pinged every 10 minutes as a keep alive. And, it works like a charm. To stop the unwanted attempted connections from various unknown urls, I use a D-Link Cable/DSL Internet Gateway between the cable modem and the PC. 73 - Ted - W8TTS Larry Alkoff wrote: On Mon, 4 Nov 2002 21:05:25 -0800, STU wrote: Is there anyone out there that has a hard time staying connected to TELNET. I have a high speed cable connection that works great for the Internet. No problems! When connecting to a DX cluster via TELNET (with DX4WIN) and the activity is somewhat slow, I seem to get disconnected. During peak times such as contests I stay connected just fine. I understand there is a so called keep alive option either in DX4WIN or some other outside source. The idea is to keep the traffic moving. If windows isn't seeing any traffic from you, (some ISP's as well.) disconnect you so others can use the IP you were on. Is there a setting in DX4WIN using the TCP/IP setting with this so called keep alive feature? Please advise. TNX, 73 STU Please respond to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I have noticed that normally I lose my connection in about an hour. My experiments indicate that the reason is that somehow Telnet attracts a swarm of attempted connections from various unknown urls that overload the ability of Telnet to keep itself alive. Various methods of sending keep alive signals have made no difference. I maintain two machines - one is Linux. If I establish a Telnet connection under DX4Win and set the Linux machine to monitor connections using tcpdump which is included in most Linux distributions, I can clearly see the attempted connections building up - to as many as hundreds per second! This is a classic DOS (Denial of Service) attack. Most people would be unaware of the attack unless they are running an analysis tool like tcpdump. I've tried nearly a dozen different Telnet sites - the result has always been the same. That is why I'm looking for a good http site that does automatic refreshes. My connection is a 24 hour cablemodem (Time-Warner of Austin TX RoadRunner) and I think that kind of connection is attractive to the kind of people doing this. They can easily tell it's Time-Warner from the first few digits of the IP address. Many have complained about the difficulty of keeping their Telnet connection up. Hope this information helps others. Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX ___ Dx4win mailing list Dx4win@mailman.qth.net http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dx4win ___ Dx4win mailing list Dx4win@mailman.qth.net http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dx4win Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Staying Connected to TELNET
On Tue, 05 Nov 2002 11:34:05 -0500, Ted Sarah - W8TTS wrote: Hi Larry, I think the main reason that I don't loose my cluster connections is because I use the ping (Stay Alive) option of DX-Telnet. Even on slow spot days, it pings once ever 10 minutes and keeps the connection active. I can stay connected for a VERY long time this way. 73 - Ted I just got bounced off my Telnet connnection. In experiment #2 I have my mail program running and set to request new mail every 5 minutes. This should be the equivalent of your ping. Lets see how long it stays connected. Larry Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Staying Connected to TELNET
On Tue, 5 Nov 2002 11:24:29 -0800 (PST), Jim Reisert wrote: Are you guys on nodes with very little traffic? I can connect to W1GQ, KE9KD and K8SMC (also N2TX before it moved) for days at a time, and I'm not actively pinging the connection. In fact, I have two computers connected to two different nodes while I'm at work all day (one wired, one wireless). The only time I lose a connection is if the remote node goes down, or something happens to my router or cable modem. Using ATT Broadband Internet. I'm connected to an AB5K ARCluster node. We get a lot of traffic, basically all US and Canada. Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Re:automatic refresh cluster
On Mon, 4 Nov 2002 13:58:53 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I use a spanish internet cluster ED7ZAB-5 with automatic refresh. I have regular problems with telnet type sites that go down after a short time. But the ED7ZAB-5 web site is the wrong continent unless it has some good filters. Does anyone know any _automatic_ refresh web based clusters near the Texas area? Larry N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Do these prefixes need changing?
I recently went over the official ARRL DXCC countries list and compared it to the list you get with F1 in the countries field of DX4WIn. Here are some changes I would like to make. 1. Antarctica is listed as CE9 in the DXCC list, KC4 in DX4Win. The only reason to change that is to maintain the same alphabetical order as ARRL. 2. Franz Josef Land is listed as R1FJ in the DXCC list, 4K2 in DX4Win. I only have 2 qso's - R1FJV and UA3PAC/P Since 4K2 doesn't appear to be used shouldn't it be changed? 3. Malyj Vysotskij Is is listed as R1MV in the DXCC list, 4J1 in DX4Win. Again I have 9 qso's with R1MVI recently and would like to change this on the basis that it's in actual use. 4. Ukraine is listed as UR in the DXCC list, EM in DX4Win. This one is very confusing - I don't know where EM came from. My Ukraine qso's mostly start with UR. It's easier to associate UR with Ukraine than EM. EM is frequently used as a prefix for Antarctic stations! All the rest are close enough and keep to the same alphabetical order as the official ARRL countries list. I would change these in my personal countries database. Does this make good sense or am I tweaking needlessly? Your comments please. 73, Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Telnet via Cable Modem Timeout
On Sat, 06 Jul 2002 12:22:03 +, Dave wrote: From time to time I experience the same thing here... The suspicion I have is that it may be RF related. From time to I get some RF related activity (monitor flicker) with the beam pointed back at the shack, it also seems to be worse on some frequencies than others. As a result I'm never aware exactly when the disconnect occurs so it is hard to tie the transmission event back to the loss of the Internet connection. Dave NR1DX [EMAIL PROTECTED] FWIW I have the same timeout problem as the others and it is definitly _not_ rf related because it only happens at a computer in my house which is 200 yards from the shack. The shack is not operational at that time, therefore no rf. The shack uses a two meter line which is rock solid. This would dismiss rf as the culprit for most timeout problems. Larry Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Telnet via Cable Modem Timeout
I also have had the same problem for quite a while and it's quite annoying. My setup has a cablemodem and router. I believe that the telnet source asks for periodic acks and times out when the ack doesn't come. I would like to see dx4win changed to re-connect automatically when such a time-out occurs. Larry Alkoff N2LA On Fri, 5 Jul 2002 11:03:57 -0500, Alan Clark wrote: I have recently converted from a dial-up to an ISP to get my DX Spots to a Cable Modem. Since converting to the cable modem I notice that it times out and goes off line without any notification. All I notice is that I am not getting spots any more. Works fine when I dial up the ISP, but with the cable modem it times out. Any insight to a solution? Alan, N5PA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Does dx4win.cty automatically update?
I have worked K1B from my shack computer and changed the country to KH1. All of my contacts there are being properly reported as Baker-Howland. I routinely export from the shack computer as ADIF and import that file into my house computer which is 200 yards away. The house computer is where I log in QSL's, print lables and make reports. My preferences under imports is set to accept imported values. The contacts import properly as KH1 Baker-Howland. My question is - has the house dx4win.cty been properly updated for the K1B exception with this procedure? In a related case about 1000 QSO's from way back were imported into DX4Win. Originally there were errors reported and I went through the log and changed each country and zone to it's proper value. I assume that updated the dx4win.cty file but later I refreshed DX4Win and by mistake installed the current 5.03 dx4win.cty file. However the imported QSO's did not change - however about 75 contacts were marked error in the notes field. My related question is - did the virgin dx4win.cty file somehow automagically get modified to reflect the changes in the related case? Based on the above behavior it seems to me that dx4win.cty always changes to reflect the country and zone information in an existing or imported file. Why then is there a merge facility and when is it necessary to do this? I have never done the merge thing and my log _seems_ to be accurate. 73, Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
Re[2]: [Dx4win] QSL mgr update#6
On Wed, 27 Mar 2002 11:02:57 -0500, David K2DBK wrote: I would think that if the updates continued to accumulate, the files would get really huge, with the associated risk of an error creeping in and causing a problem getting greater. (Not to mention that eventually, the import time might get pretty excessive for folks with slower systems, and the mail message itself could get immense) Good point. I didn't think they would be so huge _yet_ but it's possible. The problem I was trying to address with my low key suggestion is how to know which updates have been made. And of course what do you do when a new DX4Win comes out? I wonder if it's possible for me to simply keep adding updates to my own file with comments embedded as to which updates are being added. Questions that arise are: Do later updates overwrite the old data? Is there any warning when this happens? I don't want to overwrite old correct data with possible incorrect new data. I wish it was possible to keep a log of this data. How reliable is Vlad's data? That is, which DX bulletins does he get data from and how reliable are they. I have noticed a lot of DX bulletins will have conflicting or just plain wrong QSL manager data. AFAIK there is no way to extract the DX station call and QSL manager call to a file - that makes it very hard to check what's going on. As a fairly new born-again DX'er after a 30 year absence I'm starting to appreciate how much time and energy goes into QSL'ing. It's a real waste of time when I send a QSL to the wrong person. Unless he's nice enough to email or return the card with an explanation a long time goes by before I realize something's wrong and start to take corrective action. Somehow I feel that a much improved QSL manager database is needed. 73, Larry All the postings to this group are archived at www.qth.net, why not just dig out the ones that you're missing and load them up that way? As an alternative, perhaps one of the folks who main support sites for DX4WIN could keep the updates available as single files for those who need them? From: Larry Alkoff [EMAIL PROTECTED] Vlad I copied and pasted your QSL mgr update #5 and #6 into separate files and compared them. Most of the entries in the two files are quite different which indicates that the updates are _not_ cumulative. It looks like I have to download and install all of them one by one. I respectfully request that you send me updates 1 through 4 as I have 5 and 6. I'd also like to suggest that future updates each include all the previous updates so it would only be necessary to load the latest without worrying about missing an update. Items that have changed should simply overwrite the old manager with the new. 73 Larry Alkoff N2LA 73, David, K2DBK P.S. Please make sure to reply to [EMAIL PROTECTED], not [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Country ZZZZ New but incomplete
Just delete it. Three of you say delete it - so ... it's oudda here! Thanks fellas. Larry N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Country ZZZZ New but incomplete
I notice that there seems to be an extra country in my country database. It was first encountered when entering Ducie Island - my first added country. It has the prefix and country name is New but incomplete. Is this some template thing that DX4WIN uses when entering a new country or should I delete it? 73, Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] QSL mgr update#6
Vlad are your QSL manager updates cumulative? That is, do I have to install all of them in order or does the last one incorporate the previous updates? Thanks for the great service you are performing. 73, Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] How to identify QSL's that have no bureau
I routinely mark all QSL's Method = Bureau and print all QSL's using Method All. This separates the various Methods but QSL's that are marked Bureau but have no bureau end up in the Bureau batch. Did I say that right? I try to keep the ARRL list of countries without bureaus handy but it's cumbersome and I'l like to automate the process of separating those cards out. Is there any way? A possible enhancement? It takes over 6 months to find out I made a mistake and sent ARRL cards that cannot go to a bureau. Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] How to identify QSL's that have no bureau
Paul It looks like before printing, when I see the count of the numbers that will go to a counrty that has a non-active bureau, I can change the method for _those_ qsls to direct or something else. That seems to solve my problem nicely. I also looked at Labels: Change QSL routing. Very interesting - I didn't even know that existed! Thank you very much, Larry On Mon, 11 Feb 2002 20:19:38 -0500, Paul van der Eijk wrote: Larry, Before printing, you will see the count of the numbers that will go to a country was a buro that is not active. Also, check out the command 'Labels: Change QSL routing and note that you can double-click in that window to find the matching QSOs. Paul At 12:43 PM 2/11/02 -0600, Larry Alkoff wrote: I routinely mark all QSL's Method = Bureau and print all QSL's using Method All. This separates the various Methods but QSL's that are marked Bureau but have no bureau end up in the Bureau batch. Did I say that right? I try to keep the ARRL list of countries without bureaus handy but it's cumbersome and I'l like to automate the process of separating those cards out. Is there any way? A possible enhancement? It takes over 6 months to find out I made a mistake and sent ARRL cards that cannot go to a bureau. Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX ___ Dx4win mailing list Dx4win@mailman.qth.net http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dx4win Paul van der Eijk (KK4HD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.dx4win.com ___ Dx4win mailing list Dx4win@mailman.qth.net http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dx4win Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
[Dx4win] Wish - Wildcards for Callsign Alert box
I wish the callsign alert box would take wild cards similiar to the way the F8 search filter does. So if I wanted to select all the new VP8 activity it could be VP8* or *VP8* This has the nice side benefit of allowing one to follow the activities of a targeted station. Even if he has been worked on a band it will still show up in the spot window even if grey spots do not. Ahh, it's probably already in the next version ;-) Larry Alkoff N2LA Larry Alkoff N2LA - Austin TX
