by pa7rhm@amsat.org (UI-View32 is written by Roger Barker G4IDE SK)
DF-Plot is an UI-View32 add-on to plot Radio Direction Finding
bearings on UI-View map.
If there is a solution ( 1 or more valid intersection point(s) )
an APRS object is created at the solutions position.
The object is the only automatic way of communicating the
solution with the APRS community; it is up to the UI-View
operator to create extra additional bulletins announcing the
solution.
Using DF-Plot |
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In the textboxes under Call-signs enter at least 2 callsigns that are sending rdf bearings.
The Bearing +/- Accuracy textboxes will display the received bearings.
| Bearing +/- Accuracy | Meaning |
| 19 deg +/-5 | This is a normal value |
| “no data” | The was no %bbb%aaa string detected. See also RDF Bearing format |
| “invalid data” | The received data looks like %bbb%aaa, but is not understood by UIDFPlot. See also RDF Bearing format |
The Intersection points textboxes will hold:
| Intersection points string | Meaning |
| 53.07.87N, 004.54.49E (example) | There is an intersection |
| No intersection | there is no intersection point |
| bearing CALLSIGN out of range | the bearing is smaller then 0 or greater then 360 degrees |
| same bearings | both CALLSIGNS have the same bearing |
| Distance > xxx km | The distance between the calculated intersection point and one or both of the CALLSIGNs is greater then the given value. You can set the maximum distance of the intersection point with ‘Option, Ignore solution if distance more then…’ |
By following the lines from the Bearing +/- Accuracy textboxes to the Intersection points textboxes it is clear what 2 bearings made up the solution.
The Solution textbox will hold:
| Solution string | Meaning |
| 53.07.87N, 004.54.49E (example) | There is an solution. This is the result of weighting the intersection points. |
| No solution | there is no solution. See 'Bearing & Accuracy' and 'Intersection points' textboxes for the cause. |
The OBJECT's name
Since more then 1 UI-View user may be running this program the object must have a unique name.
The prefix of the object's name is RDFFIX . DF-Plot will try a suffix from 0 to 99 until a unique, non existing objectname is found.
Menu options |
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| Menu | Option | Sub-Option | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| File | Save settins | This will save all current settings without leaving the program. | |
| Exit | Exit the program. All settings are saved, all windows are closed. However the OBJECT that was created by the program at the solution position is NOT deleted. | ||
| Options | Replot after redraw | If this option is checked all information provided by DF-Plot is plotted on the UI-View map after UI-View completed a redraw of it's map. In other words : if you leave this option unchecked the bearing lines will disappear after the first redraw by UI-View | |
| Ignore intersection if distance more then | 1 km | The more distant a bearing the less accurate the
intersection point. You have the option to ignore an intersection point if the distance between the calulated intersection point and the station where the bearing originates is more then a given distance |
|
| 5 km | |||
| 10 km | |||
| 50 km | |||
| 100 km | |||
| 200 km | |||
| Line thickness | 1 | The thickness of the lines plotted on the UI-View map | |
| 2 | |||
| 3 | |||
| 4 | |||
| Plot | Force DF-Plot to calculate, plot the results on the UI-View map and update the OBJECT. | ||
| About | This will print some program information in one of the text-boxes of DF-Plot | ||
| Help | This will show the online help information. Pressing
this option again will close the Help window. The size and location of the help window can be adjusted. These values are stored in the .INI file so that any future use of Help will open up the window at your favourate size and position. |
RDF Bearing format |
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Add the bearing to the beacon comment in the format
%bbb%aaa
where;
bbb is the angle of the bearing relative to the true north
aaa is the accuracy of the bearing in degrees
The format of bbb and aaa uses leading zero’s (7 degrees is
written as 007 degrees) .
Examples:
Bearing 18 degrees with +/- 5 degrees accuracy: %018%005
Bearing 275 degrees with +/- 1 degree accuracy: %275%001
12:07:49T PD0RHM>APU24A,WIDE,WIDE,TRACE6-6 <UI C Len=47>:
;PEILERT *030959z5218.89N/00413.37E\ %130%002
The object PEILERT has a bearing of 130 degrees with a accuracy of +/- 2 degrees
This is not according to the APRS specification for DF Reports, but it is used as an ad interim solution, the APRS standard will be supported later.
Installing DF-Plot |
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You install DF-Plot by extracting the files from the ZIP archive to the UI-View32 folder (the folder that holds uiview32.exe)
File list:
Uidfplot.exe the program file
Uidfplot.html the HTML help file
Uidfplot.xtr File to add UIDFPlot to the UI-View32 File menu. (See documentation UI-View32)
Settings (.INI file) |
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Most of the values and options you enter in the DF-Plot screen are saved in the UIDFPlot.ini file.
When you close down the program or when you select menu ‘File, Save settings’ these values are saved.
When you start DF-Plot , these values are restored from the UIDFPlot.ini file.
The followings items are stored in the UIDFPlot.ini file:
| Item | Meaning/purpose | Default value |
Section [SETUP] |
||
| LEFT | Left position of the top left corner of the UIDFPlot window | If value of LEFT is outside screen area LEFT will be calculated so that the window is centered on the screen. |
| TOP | Top position of the top left corner of the UIDFPlot window | If value of TOP is outside screen area TOP will be calculated so that the window is centered on the screen. |
| MINIMIZED | True if the UIDFPlot window is minimized | FALSE |
| PlotLineThickness | The thickness of the lines that show the bearings | 1 (this is an indirect value, it is the value of menu index) |
| ReplotAfterMapIsRedrawn | Replot the bearing lines and solution after UI-View32 redraws the map | FALSE |
| IgnoreDistance | If a intersection is more then this distance from one of the stations involved it is ignored. You may want to ignore distant intersection points since they are no longer accurate | 1 (this is an indirect value, it is the value of menu index) |
| CallSign1 | The name of the first callsign | NOCALL1 |
| CallSign2 | The name of the second callsign | NOCALL2 |
| CallSign3 | The name of the third callsign | NOCALL3 |
Section [HELP] |
||
| HELP_LEFT | Left position of the top left corner of the UIDFPlot-HELP window | If value of HELP_LEFT is outside screen area HELP_LEFT will be calculated so that the window is centered on the screen. |
| HELP_TOP | Top position of the top left corner of the UIDFPlot-HELP window | If value of HELP_TOP is outside screen area HELP_TOP will be calculated so that the window is centered on the screen. |
| HELP_WIDTH | The width of the UIDFPlot-HELP window | |
| HELP_HEIGHT | The height of the UIDFPlot-HELP window | |
| HELP_MINIMIZED | True if the UIDFPlot-HELP window is minimized | FALSE |
!!! If you are not sure what you are doing, DO NOT edit the UIDFPlot.ini file !!!
Error messages |
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| Error message | Meaning |
| Another instance of this program is already running | You tried to start DF-Plot while it is already running |
| Your current version of uiview32 (Unable to locate EXE file) is invalid for this add-on, version 1.5.0.7 is required | DF-Plot is not installed in the UI-View32 folder |
| Your current version of uiview32 (1.5.0.2) is invalid for this add-on, minimum version 1.55, maximum version 1.69 is required | DF-Plot is not able to work with a version of UI-View32 other than specified. You should consider an upgrade of either UI-View32 or DF-Plot. |
| Your current version of uiview32 (Unable to locate EXE file) is invalid for this add-on, version 1.5.0.7 is required | DF-Plot is not installed in the UI-View32 folder |
| Your current version of uiview32 (1.5.0.2) is invalid for this add-on, minimum version 1.55, maximum version 1.69 is required | DF-Plot is not able to work with a version of UI-View32 other than within the specified range. You should consider an upgrade of either UI-View32 or DF-Plot. |
| Runtime
error ‘429’ ActiveX component can’t create object |
UI-View32 is not installed properly, look at other messages you received from UI-View or DF-Plot |
Release Notes |
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Prior to the first release the software was tested by Jacques, Bart, Bertus and Piet
The first released version was version 1.2.30 release date 12-mar-2001
Version 1.3.4 release date 19-apr-2001
Bugs reported
New features
Version 1.3.5 release date 8-may-2001
Bugs reported
New features
Version 1.3.6 release date 31-may-2001
Bugs reported : none
Known bugs
New features
Version 1.3.7 release date 4-jul-2001
Bugs reported : none
Known bugs
New features
Version 1.3.9 release date 27-jul-2002
Bugs reported :
The 1.3.7 and 1.3.8 version do not run on the 1.74
vesrion of UI-View32 that was released yesterday
This is fixed with this 1.3.9 release
Known bugs
New features
Version 1.4.0 release date 10-apr-2004
Bugs reported :
None
Known bugs
New features
Version 1.4.2 release date ??-???-????
Serge VE2HLS and his friends of Montreal (Montreal Doppler
team) asked for the program to be altered so 5 callsigns in stead of 3 can be
entered.
Version 1.4.1 has been a test version for Serge
Bugs reported :
None
Known bugs
New features