Beacon SmartChart

The Beacon SmartChart is a new and innovative view of the associated prediction data. Please refer to the screen capture below for the following discussion.

#1 The "beacon timer" is much like the time displays elsewhere is WinCAP Wizard. When the SmartChart is "Active" - meaning tracking the current beacon - the highlighted beacon will change at each second number "8". This is typically after the beacon has completed its transmission and before the next begins and we feel second eight is a good moment to change so you can be prepared for the next beacon when it begins.

#2 The "navigator" control is like those elsewhere is WinCAP Wizard but this one only provides two buttons. The navigator next and previous prediction set buttons are the only way to move to another previously created prediction set. The additional buttons other navigators have were removed from this one to conserve space as we wanted to keep the window as compact as possible.

#3 In the "prediction information panel" - below the beacon timer controls - you find information to help recognize the prediction set - like "station". These parameters help "define" the current prediction set as they were used to create the prediction set. Additionally the "prediction information panel" is the "Prediction Set Information" button and clicking this button displays a window with more prediction information used to create the prediction set. See the screen capture below.

This is all very useful to verify that you actually created the prediction using the input parameters you intended. For example, if the wrong set of transmit antennas was used and the predictions were created for a 1 KW transmit station; the predictions would then be rather optimistic

#4 The button labeled "A" - toward the lower left of the window - is the "Activate" button. When - or if - the selected prediction is for the current month the activate button will be enabled. Otherwise, if the selected prediction is for some other month the activate button is disabled. Why? We don't want you accidentally using out of date predictions and wondering why they are so incorrect.

#5 These are two controls for browsing the SmartChart by hour. The first control is a drop-down list where a specific hour can be selected. The second control changes the displayed hour once for each mouse click. When the SmartChart is active - the "Active" button (#4) is down - if these controls are used the SmartChart is changed to not active because it's no longer in sync with the hour or currently transmitting beacon station.

#6 When the SmartChart is "active" the frequency selector buttons are available. The frequency selector buttons sync the highlight bar with the "current" beacon for a specific 10-second period.

Please note the "quality" levels are derived from predicted SNR - signal-to-noise ratio - and it is possible propagation on the HF bands may be better or worse due to solar activity or uncommon propagation modes.

To change the colors used for the "quality ranges" see the Signal Quality Selectors topic.