MM9SQL's Station Diary

During the last two weeks I have been working on bringing DX Chrono out of the web browser and into a desktop style application, but it needed to be multi-platform and allow me to generate a custom interface (think game more than Microsoft Office)

Technology

DX Chrono Desktop is a Python application built for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Raspberry Pi. The UI and rendering use Pygame (SDL2), with high-DPI support so the map and widgets stay sharp on Retina and high-DPI displays.

The world map is drawn with Pillow (PIL); you can use NASA Blue Marble imagery (downloaded via a small script) or a built-in procedural map. Configuration is YAML-based (config.yaml), and a tabbed in-app settings dialogue (Station, Display, Widgets, Cloudlog, DX Cluster, PSK Reporter, Satellites, Data) avoids editing the file for most options. Solar terminator (grey line) and sun/moon positions come from ephem; satellite orbits and footprints use Skyfield and SGP4 with TLEs from Oscarwatch.

Data is fetched over HTTP (requests) from NOAA for solar indices and band conditions; paho-mqtt is used for the live PSK Reporter feed.

Features

The app centres on a global map with your QTH, grey line, and optional overlays: aurora (NOAA Ovation), MUF (Maximum Usable Frequency), ITU zones, and Maidenhead grid. DX Cluster connects via telnet to DXSpider or AR Clusters; spots appear as markers on the map with optional lines to show the path from the spotter to the DX station, along with a live spots widget, and you can open a command window (e.g. D) to send filters.

You can connect to PSK Reporter using the MQTT feed so you can see “who’s hearing me” and “who I’m receiving” as spots and lines on the map. Cloudlog integration shows QSO statistics (today, month, year, total), recent contacts in a QSO list (date/time, call, band, mode, country, grid), and a “Show QSO Map” view that plots those contacts on the map.

Satellite tracking shows amateur sats (e.g. ISS) and their visibility footprints from TLE data. Draggable widgets include a large UTC clock, solar data (SFI, sunspots, A/K-index, X-ray), HF band conditions (day/night per band), optional station info, Cloudlog panel, DX Cluster list, and MUF-at-QTH. Cities on the map can show local time. Fullscreen and windowed modes are supported, and the whole thing is suitable for a dedicated shack or kiosk display.

Wrapping up

Fair to say it's pretty feature complete, I have plans for N1MM+ UDP integration for showing QSOs as markers and also a special event station function, but more to come on that later.

The release date will be in the coming weeks. If you want to stay in the loop, you can join the DX Chrono newsletter https://hive.int.magicbug.co.uk/lists/join/dxchrono and be one of the first to download it.

Weeks off to a good start. I added a few new features to the station diary in Cloudlog after getting up:-

• Perm Links for each post
• Social Media sharing buttons
• Fixed a caching bug
• When using image shortcodes, it uses the first image as ID 1 even if it's numbered differently
• Added Facebook-style reactions for feedback on posts
• Plotted QSOs on a map

I monitored AO-7 this morning but heard no one, and although FO-29 should start being in full-time sunlight, it shows no sign of staying on. RS-44 this afternoon was quite busy; I picked up IK5BNG, whom I hadn't worked before.

21:24z FO-29 has finally turned on and stayed on for now, very quiet pass but managed to work David EA4SG, then CQ'd to myself for the rest of the pass. That being said, the satellite is loud and stable.

It's a very quiet Sunday. I should be participating in the ARRL International DX Contest SSB. Still, after ending up in A&E on Friday night with a fractured collarbone after choking on dinner, I decided to sit it out. Today, however, I'm feeling a bit more human, so I've been coding, specifically working on the shack diary feature for Cloudlog originally suggested by Tim GW4VXE.

I did manage to have a QSO on RS-44 with HB9RG, who was operating in support of their current award. If you’re interested, more information can be found at https://www.amsat-hb.org/hb9rg_trophy. There has been plenty of interest from everyone regarding this event.

Just before bed, I picked up another handful of QSOs on SO-50, which is always nice.