The configuration of the DX cluster is discussed in the Logbook Configuration section. This section will discuss the use of DX cluster features.
DX Cluster Status Bar
- DX Cluster connection status bar shows four things (using the information in the above image as an example to describe it):
- The operator's station (WA9PIE-10),
- is connected to a DX cluster node (WA9PIE-2),
- which is a DXSpider type node, and
- there is one active DX alarm.
- Connect or Close a DX cluster connection with the button on the far left.
- The Showmenu is very important and it does five things:
- Spots - Displays the DX spots received from the connected DX cluster node; or submit an DX spot on the DX cluster system or node
- Announcements - Displays announcements that have sent to stations connected to the DX cluster system or node; or submit an announcement on the DX cluster system or node
- WCY - Displays solar weather from DK0WCY solar weather bulletins
- WWV - Displays solar weather from WWV solar weather bulletins from NIST
- Console - Displays the raw data sent and received between Logbook and the connected DX cluster node. This is very important for troubleshooting.
- NOTE: Many users are unaware of this feature. It can be very useful. Remember to change back to Spots after looking at these selections. The dropdown menu will always simply display "Show".
- Cluster Filters are changed using this dropdown.
- WSI Filters are changed by using this dropdown. Generally, this is a very important feature. It will hide spots based on what you have not yet Worked or Confirmed by Band, Mode, or both (Band+Mode).
- Copy the contents of the DX cluster to the Windows clipboard.
- View the contents of the DX cluster in a Notepad text file.
- Cluster Alarms Manager is a shortcut to enable, create, or manage DX cluster alarms within Logbook.
- DX Cluster Options is a shortcut to access configuration options for DX cluster.
- Silence Alarms quiets active audio alarms.
- QRZ.com opens the QRZ.com information page for a selected DX spot.
- Spot is a shortcut for submitting a DX spot .
- The number of spots displayed or updating with the current filter settings are shown at the right of the Spot button. This is useful when changing filters, as the operator is able to see the status of spots being updated in the display.
The information in the DX cluster is displayed in the following tabular format:
- This is rather self-explanatory. The operator can add, remove, or rearrange the columns displayed here using the "Layouts" tab in DX Cluster Options. The meaning of the columns are best found in description section of that Layout tab.
- The operator can right-click on a spot in the display and the following shortcut options are displayed:
- New ALE Window opens a new logbook entry form for the selected spotted call
- QRZ.com opens the QRZ.com information page for a selected DX spot.
- Copy Line copies the contents of the DX cluster to the Windows clipboard.
- Copy Raw Spot opens the contents of the DX cluster in a Notepad text file.