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Here are some common questions and answers about LOGic's
spotting facility.
How come I see so many duplicate records spots in the spot log?
What you are seeing is probably not duplicates. In fact, LOGic
includes a timer so that if someone posts the exact same spot more than once
within a five-minute period, the duplicate spots will be discarded. (This is
done primarily to prevent duplicate spots from being processed when monitoring
packet clusters in unconnected mode.)
LOGic's spot
log, as set up from the factory, shows not only needed DXCC, but also CQ Zones,
ITU Zones, and Continents. It can also be configured to show needed IOTAs
and grid squares. If a spot is needed for more than one award, more than one
spot record will be created.
Even more spots records can be created by the SubAwardtm
feature. Suppose that you have LOGic set up to track QRP DXCC, and someone posts
a spot for a country that you have never confirmed, QRP or otherwise.
LOGic will create the normal DXCC record, as well as a QRP DXCC record.
Make sure that the Award Subaward, and Value columns are
visible. This way you can see why LOGic generated "duplicate" spot
records.
If LOGic is spotting awards that you do not care about, you can
disable spotting of these awards. Consult the documentation.
How come all of the spots I receive from (whereever) are not
showing in the spot log?
LOGic's spotting facility includes a sophisticated and flexible
filtering mechanism that you can customize to show only spots of interest to
you. Chances are, you do not want all spots to be shown!
There are two types of filtering that LOGic uses: Filtering
and Prefiltering. Filtering permits you to display only
certain spot records of the many that may be in your spot log database, and may
be changed at will, with instant results. The Show All control
on the main page of the spot log controls whether spots that are not needed for
an award are shown. Additionally, the filter button on the same page can
be used to show only spots that meet any criteria you specify -- a certain band,
mode, spots for IOTAs, etc. It works very much like the Filtering feature
on the log form. It is typically turned off during normal operation, and
used to search for spots of interest.
To omit spots that you are simply not interested in, LOGic uses
Prefiltering. Prefiltering prevents spots from ever reaching the spot
log. Unwanted spots are simply discarded.
Prefiltering starts with the Band Table. (You can access the
Band Table screen from tools/setup, or from a button in the Options page of the
spot log). Here, you can disable bands of your choosing altogether. Checkmark
Disable This Band for bands that you never work. Disabled bands
will not show in any of the awards progress displays. You will not even be able
to log QSOs for these bands. Disabling a band is almost the same as deleting it
from the band table. The only difference is that it is easier to put back
if you later change your mind.
Of particular interest for this topic is the checkmark that says
Process spots for this band. If you work 2 meters, but don't
care about receiving 2-meter spots, turn off Process spots for this band
for 2 meters.
The band table also permits you to choose which awards are
spotted -- the heading for this feature reads Specify which spots to
mark as needed for each award. On a per-band basis, you can turn off,
for example, ITU zone spotting, and specify that you don't care about unworked
bands or modes for DXCC -- you just care about unconfirmed countries, period.
This feature does not do any filtering of spots -- it does not prevent them from
being sent to the spot log. It controls only whether or not they are ever
marked as Needed in the spot log. Consult LOGic's Help for more
information.
If a spot makes it past band filtering, it is then processed
by the Prefilter option of the spot log. This works a lot like Filtering
as discussed previously, except that spots that do not make it past the filter
are discarded, not merely hidden. By default, the prefilter is set to show only
spots posted by stations located in your continent. After all, if you are in the
USA, something heard by a station in Asia is probably not of much interest to
you. This simple default prefilter is a carryover from previous versions
of LOGic, which had an option entitled "Process only spots originating from your
continent". However, it would make more sense to prefilter spots based on
distance, say 1000 miles from you. Simply click the Filter button and fill out
the form! Advanced users can even prefilter spots based on distance and
band and time of day.
You can test your spotting setup with the test spot feature on
the options page. Simply fill in the test spot field using the format in
which a packet cluster sends the spot. A sample is provided. Note that LOGic
incorporates a 5-minute timer to reject duplicate spots that may be received
when monitoring a packet cluster network in discinnected mode. So be sure to
change something when repeatedly using the Test Spot feature.
If for some reason you want all received
spots to be displayed in the spot log, first go to the band table, enable all
bands and enable spotting. Next, set the Prefilter to None. Finally, make
sure that Show All is checkmarked, and that there is no filter set on the main
page.
© 2007 Personal Database Applications, Inc. All
rights reserved.
LOGic ham radio software support - awards tracking FAQ.
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