Beacon Database changes

[ADMIN]

Hi all

Prompted by the recent upgrade of beacons to include GPS locking and digital modes, I have started upgrading the VK Logger Beacon Database functionality.

New fields have been added and cosmetic changes implemented to accommodate these extra fields.

• GPS and Rubidium locking is represented by an icon

• You can select "Locked only" as a search criteria

• Some superfluous columns have been removed from the main search screen, to increase tablet friendliness

• Multiple modes are now supported, ie: CW + Digital

• With accurate frequency locking, frequency to 6 decimal places now!

click for full-size

This example is the VK4RBB 70cm entry:

click for full-size

• Callsign and last report appear in large bold text in header row (this data was originally in smaller text beneath this)

• Time since last report (in hours or days) appears in the header row

• Next to nominal frequency is where No lock/Rubidium/GPS is selected

• Digital mode flag is generic, and the actual mode is entered in it's own box.
This saves having to update hard-coded scripting, every time a new mode is utilised

• There is a 140 character text box specifically dedicated to describe the keying

Each field has a mouse-over tool-tip that becomes visible.
(Only one visible at a time, but two examples shown in this image):

click for full-size

I am thinking of adding the Google terrain profiling (as per the Logger's main mapping page) for the sake of it.
Whilst the Google profiling is simplistic in nature, and does not account for the Earth's curvature, for beacons close to you, this failing tends to become academic?


I have ruled out supporting 8/10 character grid squares.
These become pointless when you can specify Lat/Lng anyway.


Edit: As of 30/4/2015 this new functionality became available.


I'm in two mind about how the updating process happens.

1) It remains the same, where you are viewing a live updatable record < my preference.

2) Where you view it as read-only, requiring a mouse click to "Edit this record" before you can update details.

It appears some people don't understand the Submit and Cancel buttons.


I figure the less mouse clicks involved, the greater the likelihood of somebody actually going to the effort of manually updating a record.

Thoughts?


Will implement what the majority of respondents want, whether that may be 100, 20, 5 or only 1 sole who took the time to share his/her thoughts!

[VK4JAM]

Hi Adam,
The changes look great. Just a suggestion, with the addition of JT4 perhaps an additional column for Digital Signal reports that are specified as signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) in dB.
RST is good for CW, but we give a more quantitative measure with the digital modes.
73
Andrew
VK4JAM

[VK5PJ]

Hi Admin,
it may seem trivial but I would like to see the SUBMIT button on the top left of the screen. I often run VKLOGGER as a smaller screen as have many other windows for WSPR and other modes open and with the submit button in the top right, I often have to jiggle things around to do a quick beacon check for a freq of status.

Yes I know it sounds so minor but for me its a ease of use improvement (in my eyes anyway) that would be appreciated.

The updates to the screen functions and information sound great, could provision be made for longer maidenhead locators that might prove useful in future years?

As always, many thanks for your continued interest in the logger.

Regards,

[VK6OX]

Looks good Adam.

Perhaps some minor adjustments may be warranted once the changes are promulgated. Or in other terms, stick it out there, and let's see what happens!

[VK4ABW]

Looks very promising. I vote for door 1

de Gary
VK8AW/VK4ABW

[VK3KGR]

Adam,

One additional thing to consider is the dial frequency you need to get zero DF on the JT4 screen. The way the VK4RBB beacon has been implemented there is a small frequency offset that you might not expect. If this offset is published it might be useful to folks particularly DX stations who are trying to receive the beacon when it is very weak. The offset is caused by the need to get the spacing of the four JT4 tones exactly the right spacing. For the 432 beacon if you put your dial on 432.439 you will get a DF of -230 Hz. So you need to put your dial on 432.43877 to get zero DF. For the 1296 beacon a dial frequency of 1296.439 will give a DF of -210. I have not measured the other bands yet. These offsets only apply to VK4RBB, other implementations may be different.

So I propose that there is a field that is the dial frequency for zero DF. What do others think?

Regards Geoff VK4KJJ

[ADMIN]

Thank you to those who have made suggestions so far.

...Just a suggestion, with the addition of JT4 perhaps an additional column for Digital Signal reports that are specified as signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) in dB.
RST is good for CW, but we give a more quantitative measure with the digital modes.

Andrew, any signal reporting MUST fit in with the existing RST fields, otherwise a complete and complex overhaul of the Logger would be required.
Sorry, not ideal, but it's a one size that has to fit all.

If you look at the screen shot above, the spot from Andru was reporting a digital mode and the report was -14.
I see that it was spotted as JT65, because JT4 isn't a selected mode at present (I'll fix that).
Having never played digital, (had the gear, but lost interest not knowing where to start), can you/anyone suggest what the signal reporting range is for JT4?
Does it differ to JT65?

it may seem trivial but I would like to see the SUBMIT button on the top left of the screen.

It looks a bit odd, and any complaints regarding confusion should be directed to Peter.

click for full-size

Sorry, can't rid of it from the right - the natural work flow is to work L>R

So I propose that there is a field that is the dial frequency for zero DF. What do others think?

Interesting!
Geoff, I would have thought the "reported frequency" would imply any offset, but I have added a zero DF field, as per this latest screen shot:

click for full-size

In theory, if you read the page from top > down then Nominal frequency - offset should = the reported frequency, so perhaps this isn't so confusing after all?


You'll also note the Google elevation chart (Google's terrain profiling)!
In this example, we can see how the lack of not supporting Earth curvature tends to become irrelevant.
It also highlights how some beacons could do with better locations!

Something that kept me up till 3am this morning, was getting the marker to slide along the map path in between the markers.
This occurs when you slide your mouse across the elevation chart.
Can be handy for locating where those troublesome peaks are on the actual map.

[ADMIN]

To eliminate confusion when viewing records, the zero DF offset box is greyed out unless the beacon is flagged as being rubidium or GPS locked.

click for full-size

When editing a record, you will need to select Rubidium or GPS locking, before you can enter a value into the zero DF box.
Is this behavior appropriate?

To maintain a lop-left > bottom-right workflow, the reference selection has been moved up above the DF offset row now.


Also, as many beacon sites operate on multiple bands, I have added the band (represented as MHz) in the header row so it's crystal clear which band the entry relates to.

click for full-size

[ADMIN]

Ok, hopefully getting towards the end of this project, because my spare days for this are running out.

I noticed two entries had notes mentioning TCXO.
So, there are now four options;

beacon-tcxo.png (6.48 KiB) Viewed 10802 times

zero DF offset is only enabled when the GPS or Rubidium option is selected.

[VK3KGR]

Adam,

Your proposed implementation of a JT mode offset looks good.

The zero DF offset needs a bit of a defination. I propose this----> It is the amount below the actual frequency you have to put your dial to get a report of zero Hertz for the DF value on the JT screen. So for VK4RBB that is on 432.440000 the value on the logger would be -1230 Hz. So you put your dial on 432.438770 MHz (432.440000 - 1230 Hz = 432.438770).

Regards Geoff VK4KJJ

[ADMIN]

.. For the 432 beacon if you put your dial on 432.439 you will get a DF of -230 Hz...

...So for VK4RBB that is on 432.440000 the value on the logger would be -1230 Hz.

Geoff, you have me confused now!

I'm sure one is a typo.
Do I allow for 4 characters or 5 in the field?

-230
-1230

The minus sign counts as a character.

[ADMIN]

Updated beacon page is live now.

Please report any issues here.

[VK4JAM]

Hi Adam,
The updated page is fantastic!!! I like the path profile addition.
The feature to report S/N ratio for JT(x) was there all along, I just had not noticed it - thanks for pointing it out.

See http://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/wsjt.html for info on the WJST modes :
JTMS, FSK441 for meteor scatter
ISCAT, JT6M for ionospheric scatter
JT65 for EME at VHF/UHF, and for QRP operation at MF/HF
JT4: for EME on the microwave bands

73
Andrew
VK4JAM

[ADMIN]

Hi all

Please note - a reminder to spot beacons as BEACONS!

This has always been the case, but even more so now beacons can be transmitting in a variety of modes.

Whilst a beacon spot is always recorded in the Logger's database, if Beacon mode is not selected, the Beacon database will not be updated.

A small "B" icon at the end of spot indicates when the Beacon database was updated:

click for full-size

In this example, the spot is certainly recorded (bottom right in the spotters list), but the last Beacon update was actually from another spot, the day before:

click for full-size

Whilst you would certainly select specific modes when working others, just think of a beacon as a beacon, irrespective of it's modulation.
KISS!

[ADMIN]

A quick fix!

In Beacon mode, you can select 'S' reports down to -30, the same as if you were spotting JT65, WSPR etc.

With 'S' reports lower than 1 (ie a digital report), 'R' and 'T' reports are automatically nulled out.

click for full-size

Just ignore the 'R' & 'T' boxes whilst spotting.

And don't forget, the Logger's comment row can always be used for additional comments.
Adding comments might be good way to help spread the word in the early stages of a new beacons capability?

(If you were signed into the Logger this morning prior to 23:00 UTC, you will need to sign off, and then back in again for the changes to take effect)

[VK4OE]

Adam, and all others.

I was just looking at the database as it presently exists following your recent improvements and, unless I missed it, there is no way to differentiate between CW 'Morse' identification by FSK or as 'on-off keying' (OOK).

It seemed to me that this would be a useful point to have recorded there. (VK4RBB's Morse identification is by OOK.)

Cheers and thanks,

--Doug Friend, VK4OE.

[ADMIN]

I was just looking at the database as it presently exists following your recent improvements and, unless I missed it, there is no way to differentiate between CW 'Morse' identification by FSK or as 'on-off keying' (OOK).

It seemed to me that this would be a useful point to have recorded there. (VK4RBB's Morse identification is by OOK.)

Doug, perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point, but if it sounds like on-off keying, then treat it as CW?
How the on-off keying is actually achieved might academic to the listener?
(But noting the ZL2BKC controller board.)

I guess, where to draw the line with detail?

If it sounds like CW, then select CW.
If it sounds like frequency shift keying, then FSK.

The keying notes box accommodates 140 characters for any information that might be interesting to others.

[VK4OE]

Yes, Adam, but it could also be argued that the JT4 is a form of frequency shift modulation.....

But across the worldwide spectrum of amateur radio beacons, FSK'ing the Morse ident. is probably the dominant mode - it's only around these parts that we prefer OOK. I'm not sure what Morse keying method other beacons around the country are using.

So regarding the Logger's beacon database, my point simply relates to the manner of modulation of the Morse code part of the transmission.

It's not a big point but possibly one worthy of having some specific description.

--Doug, '4OE.

[ZL2BKC]

Adam,

Thanks for making the updates. This really is an indication that times are changing!

I have just updated the beacon database to reflect the Hawkins Hill ZL2UHF and Waipuna Ridge ZL2WHO/B beacons

2 small comments for your consideration:
- I have selected TCXO despite it actually being OCXO. Maybe you could add OCXO as an option, or rename TCXO to become TCXO/OCXO
- The FSK mode is a little ambiguous, which I suspect has triggered Doug's comments earlier.

There are 2 CW modes in common use - FSK CW and OOK CW (OOK = On Off Keying). There are reasons and arguments for each, but FSK is a little confusing as JT4 is 4-FSK and JT65 is 65-FSK.
Calling it FSK CW is possibly a better choice to avoid confusion.

I like the colour coding and balloon annotations you have added - it really adds a professional touch to the site

Digital mode dial frequency is a little confusing to the newcomer, but so is the dial frequency when tuning CW in SSB mode. An explanation is in order but a good introduction to the issue is presented in the following document from Andy Talbot http://www.g4jnt.com/JT4G_Tone_freqs.pdf

73
Wayne ZL2BKC

[ADMIN]

OK, with regard to "locking", TCXO and OCXO are now available as separate options.
The group has been renamed to "Stabilisation" (more appropriate, given that some options aren't actually 'locked' per se?) :
• No Stabilisation (default)
• TCXO
• OCXO
• Rubidium Locked
• GPS Locked

This has meant a change of the representative byte value, and all current applicable records have had this byte modified accordingly with batch SQL queries.
Done!

At the moment, when a search is performed with the "Locked Only" checked, it will only return those entries that have been flagged as being Rubidium or GPS Locked.
(ie ignores Not Stabilised, TCXO, and OCXO entries)

Given that the ZL2UHF beacons, OCXO, are obviously stable enough for JT4x, the question is:
Should OCXO stabilised entries also be included in "Locked only" searches?
There are probably 'good' OCXO references out there, as well as bad ones.
-or-

Should "Locked only" be genuinely restricted to Rubidium and GPS locked entries only?