// Package autocall answers FT8/FT4 decodes without the operator clicking them. // // THIS KEYS THE TRANSMITTER ON ITS OWN, which is why the decision lives here, // in one place, as a function of state that can be read, argued with and // tested — rather than spread through a panel that only runs while its tab is // open. Everything below is written as a series of refusals: a call goes out // only when nothing says it should not. // // ── What it is for ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── // On a busy band the operator cannot read twenty decodes, judge each against // the log and click the right one inside a fifteen-second slot. This does that // part: it ranks what is on the air by what the log still needs, calls the best // one, and — the harder half — knows when to STOP calling it. // // ── The ladder ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── // A watched callsign outranks the same need from anybody else, at every level: // // WL new DXCC > new DXCC > WL new band > new band > WL new mode > new mode // > WL new slot > new slot > watched with nothing needed // // Watching a callsign is the operator saying "this one matters more than the // rule", so it lifts a station by one rung rather than jumping the whole // ladder: a watched new-slot must not outrank a new entity that will not come // back. // // ── Why it stops ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── // The failure that matters is not calling the wrong station, it is calling one // station for ever. Four independent brakes, any of which releases the target: // // - attempts: 7 calls, or 15 for a watched callsign // - misses: 3 periods IN WHICH IT TRANSMITS with no decode of it // - the clock: a target held longer than MaxHold is dropped whatever the // counters say, because a counter that never advances never trips // - rounds: a callsign released this way is rested, and after MaxRounds // series it is parked for the session // // A released station is not banned. It can be picked again once rested, but // only while nothing of HIGHER rank is callable — which is what keeps "seven // calls, then straight back to the same station" from being fifty calls. // // ── Who is callable ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────── // A station in the middle of an exchange with somebody else is never targeted. // It cannot answer, and WSJT-X and JTDX ignore a reply to it anyway; only the // station calling CQ, calling US, or sending its last frame is worth a slot. package autocall import ( "fmt" "regexp" "strings" "time" "unicode" ) // Need is what the log still wants from a station, worst to best. type Need int const ( NeedNone Need = iota NeedSlot // entity worked on this band and in this mode, never together NeedMode // entity never worked in this mode NeedBand // entity never worked on this band NeedDXCC // entity never worked at all ) func (n Need) String() string { switch n { case NeedDXCC: return "DXCC" case NeedBand: return "band" case NeedMode: return "mode" case NeedSlot: return "slot" } return "-" } // Decode is one line from the decoder, carrying both what the decision needs // and what a reply has to send back untouched. type Decode struct { Call string Band string Mode string Msg string SNR int At time.Time TRPeriod int // slot length in seconds; 0 means "work it out from the mode" Instance string CQ bool // Replay of the decoder's own line. WSJT-X matches a Reply against its // decode list field for field, so these are passed through unread. Ms uint32 DT float64 AudioHz int64 ModeRaw string MsgRaw string LowConf bool // IsNew is false for a decode the sender replayed from its history. Shown // in the panel, never answered: the station may have gone hours ago. IsNew bool } // Candidate is a decode with the log's verdict on it attached. type Candidate struct { Decode Need Need Watched bool // Worked is "already in the log on this band AND mode". Nothing is gained // by calling it again — and while chasing confirmations it is the trap that // makes the same station be called all evening, because an unconfirmed QSO // leaves the entity flagged as still wanted. Worked bool } // TXState is what the decoding application says it is doing. type TXState struct { Transmitting bool Enabled bool // its own Enable Tx: nothing we send transmits while false DXCall string Msg string Instance string } // Settings are the operator's. type Settings struct { Enabled bool // Only is the "chase these callsigns" field: one or more, separated by // spaces or commas. Filled, nothing else is ever called — the ladder still // orders the ones listed, so "VP6D 3Y0J" calls whichever of the two is on // the air and takes the better catch when both are. Wildcards are the watch // list's job; this is a hunt list for right now. // // The brakes are unchanged, and hitting one stops the feature rather than // moving on to somebody else — an explicit request deserves an explicit // restart. Only string // Attempts before a target is released, and the larger allowance for a // watched callsign. Attempts int WatchedAttempts int // Misses is how many of the station's OWN transmit periods may pass with no // decode of it before it is given up on. Misses int // Rest is how long a released callsign waits before it can be picked again, // and MaxRounds how many such series it gets before being parked for the // session. Rest time.Duration MaxRounds int // MaxHold is the wall-clock backstop on one target. MaxHold time.Duration } // Defaults are what the operator gets before touching anything. func Defaults() Settings { return Settings{ Attempts: 7, WatchedAttempts: 15, Misses: 3, Rest: 2 * time.Minute, MaxRounds: 3, MaxHold: 4 * time.Minute, } } func (s Settings) withDefaults() Settings { d := Defaults() if s.Attempts <= 0 { s.Attempts = d.Attempts } if s.WatchedAttempts <= 0 { s.WatchedAttempts = d.WatchedAttempts } if s.Misses <= 0 { s.Misses = d.Misses } if s.Rest <= 0 { s.Rest = d.Rest } if s.MaxRounds <= 0 { s.MaxRounds = d.MaxRounds } if s.MaxHold <= 0 { s.MaxHold = d.MaxHold } return s } // ActionKind is what the caller must do about the decision. type ActionKind int const ( DoNothing ActionKind = iota DoReply // answer this decode DoHalt // stop the decoder transmitting ) // Action is the decision, with the reason in plain words. The reason is not // decoration: it is the only way an operator can tell an auto-call that is // working from one that is stuck, and it goes to the log line by line. type Action struct { Kind ActionKind Decode Decode Reason string } // Engine holds the state between periods. Not safe for concurrent use; the // caller owns the serialisation, which in OpsLog is the UDP event loop. type Engine struct { set Settings // target is the station being called, held as the decode last seen of it so // a reply always carries a fresh timestamp. target *Candidate // targetInst is the receiver the target was picked on, so the brakes are // counted against ITS periods and its transmissions. targetInst string // heldSince is when this station BECAME the target, and is never refreshed // while it stays one. It was, and that quietly disabled the clock backstop: // a station decoded every period for ever kept pushing its own deadline // forward, which is exactly the case the backstop exists for. heldSince time.Time attempts int misses int lastMiss string // period already counted, so one period counts once txSlot int // which of the two slots the target transmits in; -1 unknown stopped bool // an explicit "Only" target gave up: needs a restart stoppedOn string // rested says when a released callsign may be considered again, and rounds // how many series it has already had this session. rested map[string]time.Time rounds map[string]int // done is every station the exchange was completed with this session. // // The log is the authority on what is worked, and it is SLOW: the QSO is // logged when the operator (or the watcher) gets to it, several periods // later. In between, the station we have just worked is still flagged as a // new entity and is still on the air sending its 73 — which read as a // perfectly good station to call, and the engine called it straight back. done map[string]bool } func New(s Settings) *Engine { return &Engine{set: s.withDefaults(), txSlot: -1, rested: map[string]time.Time{}, rounds: map[string]int{}, done: map[string]bool{}} } // SetSettings swaps the settings in place. A target already being called is // kept: the operator adjusting a limit is not asking to abandon the QSO in // flight, and switching the feature off is a separate call. func (e *Engine) SetSettings(s Settings) { e.set = s.withDefaults() } // Target is the callsign being called, for the panel. Empty when idle. func (e *Engine) Target() string { if e.target == nil { return "" } return e.target.Call } // Status is what the panel shows: who, how far into the brakes, and whether // the engine has given up and is waiting for the operator. type Status struct { Target string `json:"target"` Attempts int `json:"attempts"` Max int `json:"max"` Misses int `json:"misses"` MaxMiss int `json:"max_miss"` Stopped bool `json:"stopped"` StoppedOn string `json:"stopped_on"` } func (e *Engine) Status() Status { st := Status{Misses: e.misses, MaxMiss: e.set.Misses, Stopped: e.stopped, StoppedOn: e.stoppedOn} if e.target != nil { st.Target = e.target.Call st.Attempts = e.attempts st.Max = e.maxAttempts(*e.target) } return st } // Reset clears everything except the settings — the operator's Halt, a profile // change, or switching the feature off and on again. func (e *Engine) Reset() { e.target, e.attempts, e.misses, e.txSlot = nil, 0, 0, -1 e.targetInst = "" e.lastMiss, e.stopped, e.stoppedOn = "", false, "" e.rested, e.rounds = map[string]time.Time{}, map[string]int{} e.done = map[string]bool{} } // Take hands the operator's own click to the engine: the station they picked // becomes the target, with the counters restarted. Everything after it — the // brakes, the hand-off at the end of the QSO — then applies as usual. func (e *Engine) Take(c Candidate) { e.target, e.targetInst = &c, c.Instance e.heldSince = c.At e.attempts, e.misses, e.txSlot, e.lastMiss = 0, 0, -1, "" e.stopped, e.stoppedOn = false, "" } // maxAttempts is the allowance for one target: larger for a watched callsign, // because that is the operator saying this one is worth the extra slots. func (e *Engine) maxAttempts(c Candidate) int { if c.Watched { return e.set.WatchedAttempts } return e.set.Attempts } // rank is the ladder, as one number. Watched lifts a station by one rung, and // a watched station with nothing needed sits at the bottom rather than being // ineligible: the operator asked for that callsign. // // 9 WL DXCC 8 DXCC 7 WL band 6 band // 5 WL mode 4 mode 3 WL slot 2 slot 1 watched, nothing needed // 0 nothing to call for func rank(c Candidate) int { if c.Need == NeedNone { if c.Watched { return 1 } return 0 } r := int(c.Need) * 2 // slot 2, mode 4, band 6, DXCC 8 if c.Watched { r++ } return r } // onlyList splits the chase field. Space or comma, either way: an operator // typing a list types it the way they think of it, and a field that silently // ignores half of what was entered is worse than one that refuses it. func onlyList(field string) []string { out := []string{} for _, tok := range strings.FieldsFunc(strings.ToUpper(field), func(r rune) bool { return r == ',' || r == ';' || unicode.IsSpace(r) }) { if tok = strings.TrimSpace(tok); tok != "" { out = append(out, tok) } } return out } func inList(list []string, call string) bool { for _, c := range list { if c == call { return true } } return false } var gridRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^[A-R]{2}[0-9]{2}([A-X]{2})?$`) // isGrid is the grid test with the exchange tokens taken out first. // // "RR73" IS a valid Maidenhead square by the pattern — two letters in A-R, two // digits — and it is also the second most common thing to find in that position // of a message. Counting it as a fresh call spent an attempt on every QSO the // engine actually completed, which is precisely backwards: a station that // answers should cost nothing. func isGrid(tok string) bool { switch tok { case "RR73", "RRR", "73", "RR", "R": return false } return gridRe.MatchString(tok) } // callable reports whether a station can be answered RIGHT NOW. // // A station in mid-exchange is committed to somebody else: it will not answer, // and WSJT-X and JTDX refuse to act on a reply to it at all — so calling it is // at best a wasted slot and at worst the operator watching an auto-call that // appears to do nothing. CQ, a message addressed to us, and the final frame of // somebody else's QSO (the station is free from the next period) are the three // states worth a call. func callable(c Candidate, myCall string) bool { if c.CQ { return true } toks := strings.Fields(strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(c.Msg))) if len(toks) == 0 { return false // nothing to read: assume it is busy rather than call blind } if myCall != "" && toks[0] == strings.ToUpper(myCall) { return true // it is calling us } switch toks[len(toks)-1] { case "RR73", "RRR", "73": return true } return false } // callingUs is the stronger half of callable: the station has our callsign in // its message, so it has heard us and is waiting for an answer. func callingUs(c Candidate, myCall string) bool { if myCall == "" || c.CQ { return false } toks := strings.Fields(strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(c.Msg))) return len(toks) > 0 && toks[0] == strings.ToUpper(myCall) } // finished reports that the exchange with this station is over: it sent us the // last frame. Read from ITS message rather than from our own transmit state, // which says only what we did. func finished(decodes []Candidate, call, myCall string) bool { if myCall == "" { return false } me := strings.ToUpper(myCall) call = strings.ToUpper(call) for _, c := range decodes { if strings.ToUpper(c.Call) != call { continue } toks := strings.Fields(strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(c.Msg))) if len(toks) < 2 || toks[0] != me { continue } switch toks[len(toks)-1] { case "RR73", "RRR", "73": return true } } return false } // slotOf is which of the two alternating slots a moment falls in. FT8 stations // transmit in one and listen in the other, so a station is legitimately absent // half the time — counting that as a miss dropped a perfectly workable station // after two unlucky periods. func slotOf(at time.Time, trSec int) int { if trSec <= 0 { trSec = 15 } return int((at.UTC().Unix() / int64(trSec)) % 2) } // Period is one slot's worth of decodes, with the state of the world around it. type Period struct { // Instance is the receiver this period came from. With two decoders running // — the split view, two bands — their slots are separate: a station absent // from the OTHER receiver's period says nothing about the one being called // on this one, and counting it as a miss dropped a target that was being // decoded perfectly well. Instance string // Key identifies the period, so a handler that runs twice for one slot // cannot count the same miss twice. Key string At time.Time TRPeriod int Decodes []Candidate TX TXState MyCall string } // OnPeriod is the decision, taken once per receive period. func (e *Engine) OnPeriod(p Period) Action { if !e.set.Enabled { return Action{} } // ONE station at a time, on the receiver it is being called on. // // This is the guarantee with two decoders running: while a target is held, // a period from any OTHER receiver is not even looked at. It cannot start a // second QSO over the top of the one in progress, however much better the // station it hears is, and its periods count no missed periods against a // target that was never on its band. if e.target != nil && e.targetInst != "" && p.Instance != "" && p.Instance != e.targetInst { return Action{} } // ── An existing target ──────────────────────────────────────────────── if e.target != nil { t := *e.target tc := strings.ToUpper(t.Call) // The exchange is over — either the station sent us its last frame, or // the log now holds it. Hand straight on to the next station in the same // period rather than waiting for the next one: the slot is the resource. if finished(p.Decodes, tc, p.MyCall) || workedNow(p.Decodes, tc) { e.release(tc, false) // Straight on to the next station, list or no list: pick() is what // knows the chase list, and with one on it the answer is simply the // next callsign there — a list of two DXpeditions must not stop // after the first. return e.pick(p, fmt.Sprintf("QSO with %s finished", tc)) } // The clock backstop. Every counter below depends on decodes arriving in // a particular shape; this one does not depend on anything. if !e.heldSince.IsZero() && p.At.Sub(e.heldSince) > e.set.MaxHold { e.giveUp(tc, t) return Action{Kind: DoHalt, Reason: fmt.Sprintf("%s held for %s with nothing to show for it", tc, e.set.MaxHold)} } if seen := bestOf(p.Decodes, tc); seen != nil { // The decode is refreshed so a reply carries a current timestamp; the // hold clock is NOT — see heldSince. e.target = seen e.misses, e.lastMiss = 0, "" e.txSlot = slotOf(p.At, periodSecs(p, *seen)) // In QSO: the decoder is sequencing the exchange on its own and the // attempt counter has done its job. Interrupting it with another // reply is how two transmissions land in one slot. if callingUs(*seen, p.MyCall) { e.attempts = 0 } return Action{} } // Absent. Only its OWN transmit periods count against it. if e.txSlot >= 0 && slotOf(p.At, periodSecs(p, t)) != e.txSlot { return Action{} } if e.lastMiss == p.Key { return Action{} } e.lastMiss = p.Key e.misses++ if e.misses >= e.set.Misses { e.giveUp(tc, t) return Action{Kind: DoHalt, Reason: fmt.Sprintf("%s not decoded for %d of its own periods", tc, e.set.Misses)} } return Action{} } // ── No target ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── if e.stopped { return Action{} // an explicit target gave up; the operator restarts it } // Never start a call over a transmission in progress: the reply would land // in a slot the decoder is already using. if p.TX.Transmitting { return Action{} } return e.pick(p, "") } // pick chooses the best station on the air and answers it. func (e *Engine) pick(p Period, why string) Action { only := onlyList(e.set.Only) var best *Candidate var bestRank int // bestRank of everything eligible, rested or not: a station that is resting // may only be re-picked while nothing better is on the air, and that is the // comparison. topRank := 0 for i := range p.Decodes { c := p.Decodes[i] if !e.eligible(c, p, only) { continue } if r := rank(c); r > topRank { topRank = r } } for i := range p.Decodes { c := p.Decodes[i] if !e.eligible(c, p, only) { continue } r := rank(c) if resting, ok := e.rested[strings.ToUpper(c.Call)]; ok && p.At.Before(resting) { // Rested: allowed back only when it is the best thing there is. // Anything of higher rank takes the slot instead. if r < topRank { continue } } if best == nil || better(c, r, *best, bestRank, p.MyCall) { cc := c best, bestRank = &cc, r } } if best == nil { if why != "" { return Action{Kind: DoNothing, Reason: why + " — nothing else worth calling"} } return Action{} } e.target, e.heldSince, e.targetInst = best, p.At, best.Instance e.attempts, e.misses, e.txSlot, e.lastMiss = 0, 0, -1, "" reason := fmt.Sprintf("calling %s (%s%s)", best.Call, watchedTag(*best), best.Need) if why != "" { reason = why + " — " + reason } return Action{Kind: DoReply, Decode: best.Decode, Reason: reason} } func watchedTag(c Candidate) string { if c.Watched { return "watched " } return "" } // eligible is every refusal that applies before a station is even ranked. func (e *Engine) eligible(c Candidate, p Period, only []string) bool { call := strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(c.Call)) if call == "" || call == strings.ToUpper(p.MyCall) { return false } if !c.IsNew { return false // replayed history: the station may be hours gone } if len(only) > 0 { // The named stations, and each only until the QSO with it is made: an // explicit request is not a standing order to work the same station all // evening. The others on the list stay callable. return inList(only, call) && !e.done[call] && !c.Worked } if c.Worked || e.done[call] { return false } if rank(c) == 0 { return false } if e.rounds[call] >= e.set.MaxRounds { return false // parked for the session } // Mid-exchange with somebody else: it cannot answer us — see callable. return callable(c, p.MyCall) } // better orders two eligible stations: the need first, then the one already // calling us, then a CQ over a station about to be free, then the strongest. func better(a Candidate, ra int, b Candidate, rb int, myCall string) bool { if ra != rb { return ra > rb } if x, y := callingUs(a, myCall), callingUs(b, myCall); x != y { return x } if a.CQ != b.CQ { return a.CQ } return a.SNR > b.SNR } // release clears the target. gaveUp marks it as a series that ended in a brake // rather than in a QSO. func (e *Engine) release(call string, gaveUp bool) { e.target, e.attempts, e.misses, e.txSlot, e.lastMiss = nil, 0, 0, -1, "" e.targetInst = "" if !gaveUp { // A finished QSO is not a failed series — the callsign keeps its rounds — // but it IS finished: nothing more is wanted from this station today, // whatever the log still says while it catches up. delete(e.rounds, call) e.done[call] = true } } func (e *Engine) giveUp(call string, t Candidate) { e.release(call, true) e.rounds[call]++ e.rested[call] = time.Now().Add(e.set.Rest) // An explicit "call this station" that runs out of attempts stops the // feature instead of moving on. There is nothing else it was asked to do. if strings.TrimSpace(e.set.Only) != "" { e.stopped, e.stoppedOn = true, call } } // NoteTX counts what actually goes on the air, and is the ONLY place attempts // are counted or capped. // // Counted here rather than where the reply is sent, because those are different // things: a reply may be refused by the decoder, and the decoder transmits // several times per QSO on its own. Capped here too — the period handler used // to cap as well, and a target could sit at twenty-four calls while none of its // conditions were met. One place that counts and stops cannot overshoot. // // A FRESH call only: the third token of an FT8 call is a grid, where the rest // of the exchange carries a report, R-report or 73. Without that, the answer to // "how many times have we called this station" counted the whole QSO. func (e *Engine) NoteTX(tx TXState) Action { if !e.set.Enabled || e.target == nil || !tx.Transmitting { return Action{} } // The OTHER decoder transmitting is not us calling this station: in a split // view both are on the air, and counting both spent the seven calls in half // the time — on a target the other receiver had never heard of. if e.targetInst != "" && tx.Instance != "" && tx.Instance != e.targetInst { return Action{} } t := *e.target tc := strings.ToUpper(t.Call) msg := strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(tx.Msg)) switch { case msg != "": toks := strings.Fields(msg) if len(toks) < 3 || toks[0] != tc || !isGrid(toks[2]) { return Action{} } default: // JTDX reports no transmit message. The DX call is all there is, so // every transmit period aimed at the target counts — more generous, and // far better than a counter frozen at zero for ever. if strings.ToUpper(strings.TrimSpace(tx.DXCall)) != tc { return Action{} } } e.attempts++ if e.attempts < e.maxAttempts(t) { return Action{} } max := e.maxAttempts(t) e.giveUp(tc, t) return Action{Kind: DoHalt, Reason: fmt.Sprintf("%s called %d times without an answer", tc, max)} } // bestOf returns the most callable decode of one station in a period. // // A station running several streams at once — a DXpedition answering four // callers — appears several times in one period: a report to one, RR73 to // another, a CQ to the band. Judging it on whichever line came first reads a // station that is free right now as busy. func bestOf(decodes []Candidate, call string) *Candidate { var best *Candidate for i := range decodes { c := decodes[i] if strings.ToUpper(c.Call) != call { continue } if best == nil || (c.CQ && !best.CQ) || (c.CQ == best.CQ && c.SNR > best.SNR) { cc := c best = &cc } } return best } // workedNow reports that the log has caught up with a station mid-series — the // QSO was logged, by this or by another hand. func workedNow(decodes []Candidate, call string) bool { for _, c := range decodes { if strings.ToUpper(c.Call) == call && c.Worked { return true } } return false } func periodSecs(p Period, c Candidate) int { if c.TRPeriod > 0 { return c.TRPeriod } if p.TRPeriod > 0 { return p.TRPeriod } return 15 } // TargetInstance names the receiver the current target is being called on, and // the callsign. Both empty when idle. func (e *Engine) TargetInstance() (instance, call string) { if e.target == nil { return "", "" } return e.targetInst, e.target.Call }