Vertex Standard FT-2800M Dokumentacja Pobierz pdf (Strona 7)

50 September 2010

When someone gushes about a piece

of Amateur Radio software and ends the

excited tale by saying, “And it’s free, too!”

I am instantly skeptical. Throughout my life

to date, the ancient axiom “You get what you

pay for” has usually proven to be accurate.

If something is said to be free, I lower my

expectations quite a bit.

But axioms aren’t blessed with universal

veracity, otherwise they’d become scientific

truths like Maxwell’s equations. In the case

of VE7CC’s CC User software, the axiom is

entirely wrong!

What is a DX Cluster Client?

A DX Cluster is a network devoted to

monitoring on-the-air activity throughout

the world. Hundreds of hams are connected

at any given time, posting spots with infor-

mation about signals they’ve discovered on

bands from 160 meters through microwave.

DX Clusters are an outgrowth of the original

DX PacketClusters that performed the same

tasks using radio data networks on 2 meters

and 70 cm. Some of these PacketClusters still

exist, but most Cluster networking has since

shifted to the Internet.

DX Clusters are popular among contest

enthusiasts, DX hunters or anyone else who

is interested in keeping their fingers on the

pulse of Amateur Radio activity. But many

of us, myself included, are often too busy to

sit before the computer and sample the ac-

tion. That’s where the Cluster client comes

into play.

Cluster clients are software applications

that do much of the monitoring for you. They

connect to the Cluster of your choice, get the

most recent spots, periodically download

propagation information and so on. Best of

all (at least for me), these clients can filter the

torrent of information. For example, if you

don’t have the ability to get on 160 meters,

you may not be interested in seeing spots

for 160 meter activity. Not a problem. The

Cluster client can be configured to ignore

160 meter spots. Or, if you are looking for a

particular station (such as a DXpedition op-

eration) or a station from a particular DXCC

entity, the Cluster client can “watch” for these

and alert you if they are spotted.

VE7CC’s CC User

A number of Amateur Radio logging and

The CC User main page.

contest applications have Cluster clients built

in, but CC User by Lee Sawkins, VE7CC, is

a stand-alone program for Windows. It is rich

with features, yet surprisingly easy to use.

CC User can “talk” to a packet TNC if you

prefer to connect via radio, or it can make

Internet Telnet connections to your favorite

online DX Cluster.

For this review I used a Telnet connec-

tion, which was simple to set up. CC User

includes a list of Telnet Clusters, or you can

enter another of your choice. There is a User

Info screen that allows you to enter your call

sign, Cluster password (if needed), your

location, etc.

CC User’s filtering features are impres-

sive. Since I tend to operate CW and digital,

I set my filter to ignore spots in the phone

portions of the bands. I also configured it

to only show spots from hams who were in

my area of the country (seeing spots from

stations on the other side of the continent

wasn’t as useful since I may not be able to

hear what they are hearing).

If a particular spot catches my eye, I can

click my mouse cursor on the call sign and

look up the station on QRZ. Holding the

CONTROL key while clicking my mouse

opens a window showing the sunrise and

sunset times for that station.

CC User keeps an eye on space weather,

too. One day I glanced at the screen to find

a glowing red box announcing Minor Radio

Blackouts. No wonder I wasn’t hearing much

on HF that afternoon!

If you are interested in working stations

who participate in ARRL’s Logbook of

The World, CC User will request this infor-

mation and flag these stations in the list. It

reminds you to refresh the LoTW database

with the appearance of a red highlighted

button.

The alarm function is excellent. I turn up

my computer speakers for a welcome blast

of audio whenever a desired station appears.

I can even tell CC User to shoot an e-mail

message to my cell phone. Use this function

with care, though. You don’t want to find

yourself interrupting a business meeting to

declare that you have to rush home because

6 meters is open.

Great Software; Great Price

Lee has done an outstanding job with

CC User. The layout is clean and direct.

He has even built in an auto updater that

“phones home” via the Internet and alerts

you to download the latest version (Lee is

constantly making improvements). The fact

that all this functionality comes free of charge

is just icing on the cake. You can download

the latest version of CC User at www.ve7cc.

net. Scroll about

⁄4 of the way down the page

to find the download link.

Steve Ford, WB8IMY



QST Editor



sf[email protected]

CC User DX Cluster Client

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