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OpsLog/wiki/Maps-and-Antennas.md
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rouggy 99599458ff docs(wiki): cover the recent work, with worked examples
Asked for the wiki to catch up, and to be explicit — examples rather than
descriptions. New page and six rewritten sections.

Recent QSOs and Filters, the page named in the request: the right-click menu is
now a table of what every entry does, and the filter builder has five worked
multi-criteria filters written out field by field, each ending in what you then
do with the result. Including the distinction that prompted it — "export
selected" takes the highlighted rows, "export filtered view" takes every QSO the
filter matched, and after building a filter it is the second one you want. Plus
the traps: ADIF date format, and "is empty" not being "equals N".

Connections (new): the page for a settings section that had none. What OpsLog
listens to and sends, which outbound row another logger actually wants — a
logger asking for "WSJT-X UDP" discards a bare ADIF record — the custom-message
triggers with their placeholder lists, three worked examples, and the port-clash
warning that produced this week's CAT-drop report.

Amplifiers and Switches: the generic HTTP relay in full — per-relay URLs, the
pattern form, {relay}, {relay-1} and {value} with what each one sends — relay
automatic control with a four-relay antenna-switch example, and the bench power
supply including why OpsLog writes only its output.

Rotators: the two new native types (SPID with the Rot1Prog/Rot2Prog choice,
DCU-1), two-rotor setups, and that Test only reads the heading on the types
where it does.

Awards: the US county database, and the difference between the automatic fill
(blanks only) and the right-click re-derive (replaces) — with the Connecticut
planning regions, which is the case that needs it.

QSL Management: QSL_VIA against QSL_SENT_VIA/QSL_RCVD_VIA, why an import shows E
on every Log4OM record, and that V counts as confirmed.

Troubleshooting: the three field reports of the last few days, by symptom.

Every [[link]] checked to resolve.
2026-08-16 14:07:38 +02:00

3.5 KiB
Raw Blame History

Maps and Antennas

Main view

The Main view is two configurable panes (per profile, Settings → General → Main view), with a draggable divider between them (double-click it to even them out). Choose from: great-circle map, locator (street) map, the cluster grid, the worked-before grid, recent QSOs, the FlexRadio controls, the Icom or Yaesu console, or the Net control panel.

Great-circle map

  • Short/long-path distance & azimuth to the worked station.
  • Selectable, key-free basemaps: Light / Voyager / Street / Satellite.
  • The antenna beam lobe(s) are drawn from the rotor azimuth.
  • Day/night terminator and twilight band (button at the top right).

Locator (street) map

An OSM street map centred on the contacted grid square — handy for local / portable contacts. No API key.

Rotators

An azimuthal-equidistant click-to-turn compass; the current heading and target are shown. The needle follows a turning antenna smoothly — OpsLog polls faster while the position is changing and backs off once it is parked.

Two rotors can be configured (two towers, or a Rotator Genius driving two). A Rotor 1 / 2 selector appears on the compass; OpsLog turns and displays the one you pick.

Types (Settings → Rotator)

Type Connection Notes
PstRotator UDP Enable PstRotator's UDP listener (Setup → Communication → UDP).
Rotator Genius (4O3A) TCP, port 9006 Native. Rotator # picks which of the two the box drives; Two rotors adds the second as its own rotor.
microHAM ARCO / GS-232A LAN or USB Set the controller's CONTROL PROTOCOL to Yaesu GS-232A. An ERC must be in GS-232 emulation, not Hy-Gain DCU-1.
Hy-Gain DCU-1 COM port or serial-over-IP RotorCard DXA, Idiom Press Rotor-EZ, Green Heron. Azimuth only. A DCU-1 is 4800 baud; others may differ — match the controller.
SPID / AlfaSpid COM port Native, so PstRotator is not needed in between. See below.

SPID / AlfaSpid

Pick the dialect to match the controller — they are not interchangeable:

  • Rot2Prog — RAS, BIG-RAS/HR, MD-01, MD-02. Azimuth and elevation. 600 baud.
  • Rot1Prog — the older azimuth-only controllers (RAK, RAU). 1200 baud.

The two use different frame lengths, so a wrong choice shows up at once: the Test button reports a reply of the wrong length rather than leaving you to find out when the antenna turns oddly.

Two towers means two controllers, each on its own COM port and each a separate rotor in OpsLog.

The Test button on a SPID, an ARCO or a DCU-1 only READS the heading — it confirms the port, the speed and the dialect without moving anything, and says so. (PstRotator and a Rotator Genius are instead sent a move to 0°.)

Motorized antennas (Ultrabeam / SteppIR)

Both follow the rig frequency (band change → retune) and retune immediately when you click a spot, with three modes — Normal, 180° reverse, Bidirectional:

  • The radiating direction is shown in green and the mechanical boom in grey, on both the compass and the map.
  • On a FlexRadio, transmit is inhibited while the elements move, and released as soon as the antenna is tuned.
  • SteppIR — Tunable range (Settings → Hardware → Antenna, default 1354 MHz): outside it OpsLog leaves the antenna and the TX interlock completely alone, so tuning to 30 m on a 20 m6 m SteppIR does nothing.

Related hardware: Amplifiers and Switches (Antenna Genius switch, Tuner Genius, relays).