Tools Menu

From Ham Radio Deluxe Wiki

Contents 1 Digital Master 780 2 Ham Radio Deluxe 3 HRD Rotator 4 Satellite Tracking 5 ODBC Administrator 6 Configure 6.1 Appearance 6.2 Callsign Lookup 6.3 DX Cluster 6.4 EQSL.cc 6.5 My Station 6.6 Radio Pane 6.7 RST Options 6.8 Tuning Dial 6.9 HRDLog.net 6.10 Logbook 6.10.1 Databases 6.10.2 Layouts 6.10.3 Selections

Digital Master 780

Start Digital Master 780 if it is not already started.

Ham Radio Deluxe

Start Ham Radio Deluxe if it is not already started.

HRD Rotator

Start HRD Rotator if it is not already started.

Satellite Tracking

Start the HRD satellite tracking program if it is not already started.

ODBC Administrator

This is used when initially setting up databases.

You can find more on setting up the databases here

Configure

Although configuration options are available in their respective places, it is useful to have them all in one place.

Appearance

Alter the appearance of the logbook, Frequency and Rotator displays.

Callsign Lookup

Enable lookup options.

The callsign lookup sequence is:

1. CD - HamCall,
2. CD - QRZ.com,
3. Internet using QRZ.com's subscription interface,
4. Internet using the QRZ.com detail page in a browser window.

As soon as any data is found the search stops.

CD Lookups

The CD's from http://www.qrz.com/ and http://hamcall.net/ are supported. The HamCall CD provides more data than the QRZ.com CD. For the best performance copy the files from the CD to the hard disk.

Internet: QRZ.com Subscriptions

Access to the QRZ data online requires a valid subscriber login consisting of a username and password, and a current, active subscription with QRZ. You can use your QRZ.com username and password for seven days from the date of first lookup. For more information please visit http://online.qrz.com/.

Internet: QRZ.com Browser

Lookups are performed by reading the callsign page from QRZ.com and parsing the values from the returned HTML. This is not very efficient, the QRZ subscriptions method is far better.

QRZ.com Donations

Just like Ham Radio Deluxe, QRZ.com has considerable costs associated with providing the online callsign database.

Support QRZ.com

Please consider donating to QRZ.com by visiting http://www.qrz.com/i/donations.html . Another option is to subscribe to QRZ.com - this information is found by visiting the site.

DX Cluster

This will open the main DX-Cluster options dialogue at the Your Information tab. By clicking on the tabs at the top of the options dialogues you can navigate to other settings should you wish.

This options tab allows you to set your connection details for the cluster including your QRA locator. By using these details, the greyline map will be able to plot your location. It will also ensure that both HRD and the DXCluster you log into have those details, so that they know where you are in order to give you correct information should you request it. An example of this would be beam headings. You can set your homenode here as well as a password if you have one. If you do not have a password, simply leave the field blank.

In the Connections tab, you can choose from a list of popular DX-Clusters or add your own. There are also options to modify entries should details change. You can choose to have a cluster connect at startup and also to automatically reconnect should the connection be lost. Currently only clusters running the [DXSpider] software are supported.

You can also send a series of requests to the cluster on login. The default is to request the last 100 spots to populate the DX-Cluster window and the bandmaps. You may also choose to request Announcements, WWV and WCY information. These are presented in tabs in the DX-Cluster pane.

This tab controls how the Spots, Announces etc are displayed. You can choose to have a slashed zero or not, whether to display distances in kilometres or miles as well as the font and its size and format. You can also have faint grid lines around the data and have alternate lines coloured in a colour of your choosing. You may also decide how many lines before the colour is alternated.

This tab controls the column layout of the DX-Cluster pane. You can choose which fields you wish to display and in which order you would like to see them by highlighting an entry and then using the 4 buttons in the middle to move them around. The column on the left shows the remaining available options and the column on the right shows the options you have chosen.

This tab lets you choose whether you select spots by single clicking or double clicking on them.

You can use these filters to choose what you wish to receive from the DX-Cluster. It may be you are only interested in CW on HF for example. Let's look at that line in more detail.

The name of the filter is HF CW. Its minimum frequency is 1800kHz and its maximum frequency is 30000kHz, in other words, the HF bands.

The Show field is the amount of spots that the DX Cluster window will store at any one time.

You can add to the default list of spot filters by clicking the Add button. Spot filters are discussed in more detail here.

When you are connected to a DX Cluster, you may wish to be alerted if, for example, a spot is received about a particular DX station or DX-pedition. You can do this by setting up DX Cluster Alarms that will alert you by email, SMS text or by your computer speaking.

You can create multiple alarms and switch them on and off at will. Alarms are based on an existing Spot Filter and a callsign or a regular expression that matches sets of callsigns.

Alarms are discussed in more detail here.

EQSL.cc

New QSO entries are optionally uploaded to eQSL.cc.

Make sure Upload every time... is checked.

Enter the Username, Nickname and Password used to access eQSL.cc. The Nickname is used if you have multiple profiles, if in doubt leave this field empty. Optionally enter a QSL message to be added to each entry.

The option to use the eQSL.cc test account lets you see how the entry is uploaded without affecting your eQSL.cc account.

All results are shown in the Logfile window, selected from the View menu.

My Station

Complete your station details. You can create up to 10 different profiles are retrieve them at will. These values are used in the Add and Modify logbook windows.

Radio Pane

HRD Connection

This program connects to Ham Radio Deluxe using TCP/IP. You may define up to three sets of connection information where each definition contains:

• Address - either a web address or in dotted format. Use localhost (or 127.0.0.1) to connect to HRD running on the same computer as this program.
• Username - if a username and password is required by HRD then this is the username used to connect to HRD. If HRD does not require a username and password leave this field clear.
• Password - the password associated with the username above.

Note: Username and Password are currently not supported by HRD

The default port number is 7809. This is the same default as the other programs in the HRD suite so you probably do not need to touch this.

To connect to HRD:

• HRD must be running
• The IP Server must be started - select IP Server from the Tools menu in HRD.

To test the connection press Test.

Default Layout

Set the default layout for your station.

The MODE button must be displayed in the radio pane to support mode tracking in the Add Log Entry window. The buttons and sliders you select here must be displayed in Ham Radio Deluxe, otherwise the button state is not updated by HRD.

Radio Pane Layout

To configure the radio interface:

1. Make sure Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD) is started and connected to a radio.
2. In HRD select IP Server from the Tools menu, make sure the IP Server is started.

If a connection can be established:

• All buttons are enabled,
• The dropdown buttons are automatically loaded with the dropdown buttons shown in HRD's display,

To change a selection just click on a button and select an entry from the popup window. You can see this popup window in the image above. To clear the current selection select the first entry '- - -'.

When you have finished defining your layout press Save. The definitions are saved in your local storage folder (from the Help menu select the Support option and then Browse Storage).

In the Radio pane press the Connect button '>' to connect to HRD.

RST Options

Define the RS(T) values shown in the Received and Sent fields of the Add Logbook Entry (ALE) window on a per-mode basis.

Each definition contains:

Modes:

• Mode name(s) - One or more mode names (It can also be a default entry; see below).
• Rcvd and Sent values - These values are applied to the default buttons next to the Received and Sent fields.
• List - The values which appear in the Received and Sent dropdown fields.

Default Entry

If there is no entry for the current mode then the *Default* entry is used. If there is no *Default* entry then an internal default list is used.

Default Values

If this box is ticked then the Received and Sent values are loaded in the Received and Sent fields whenever the ALE window is reset (for example after logging a contact). If not checked the Received and Sent fields are empty. You would then have to enter them manually or press the RST button in the ALE to add it.

You can get more information on this option by looking here

Tuning Dial

If you have the tuning bars shown from the View Menu, you can configure them here. There are actually 2 tuning bars, one coarse and one fine. The configuration is the same for both of them.

You can alter the background, frequency and graduation colours as well as the font used. You may also choose between three different sizes for the displays.

Along the toolbar at the top of the tuning bars are a set of bands. This enables you to switch band quickly. This tab allows you to select the bands you wish to see and also to set the band edges should they differ from the ones set. For example in Europe, the 80m band stops at 3.8MHz but in the U.S.A. it goes up to 4MHz. You might also wish to set up band segments like CW or DX for example.

HRDLog.net

To use this feature you first need an account at http://www.hrdlog.net. Once you have an account it is probably a good idea to upload your log first. Logs can be XML or ADIF format and up to 1Mb in size currently.

When you register for an account, you will be sent a secret code by email. Fill in the fields in the options window to reflect this. You can also choose to automatically update HRDLog each time you add an entry in your log as well as your 'On Air' status, frequency of operation, mode and radio.

HRDLog is an online logbook developed by Claudio IW1QLH http://www.iw1qlh.net/.

It is also possible to generate a script that you can use on your own website to display your log. The script is javascript so you may need to check if your host will allow javascript in your site.

The option to use the HRDLog.net test account lets you see how the entry is uploaded without affecting your own account.

All results are shown in the Logfile window, selected from the View menu or in the Help Menu under Support.

Logbook

Databases

Opens the window below:

Which allows you to modify existing logbook databases or create a new one.

Layouts

Different layouts can be required for different things. For example, Logbook of the World requires a specific layout. Selecting this option shows the window below;

Layouts can be created or modified in this window. There are several popular layouts already provided for you.

Selections

The selections dialogue allows you to modify or create filters for your logbook.

You might want to check how many CW contacts you have made for example or how many contacts you have had this year. You can either use any of the supplied selection criteria or create your own here.