It's here. After months of building, testing on our own stations and rebuilding again, the first generation of the DxQSO Co-Operator is live. It is the part of DxQSO we have wanted to build since day one: ham radio that knows you, and now keeps an ear on the bands for you.
A logging program is what you use in the shack while you're operating. The Co-Operator is for the rest of the day. It knows what you have confirmed and how you like to operate, it watches the DX cluster around the clock, and when something shows up that is actually worth your time, it tells you. Everything else stays quiet.
And the timing is good: version 2.17 of the DxQSO app, with new Guidance and Alerts tabs, has been released for both iPhone and iPad (App Store) and Android (Google Play).
What the Co-Operator does
We have talked about DxQSO in three parts: Capture · Coach · Collaborate. Capture is your one living record, built from LoTW®, QRZ, your ADIF uploads, DX-TQSL and the Network Listener. Collaborate is DxSocial and your club. The Co-Operator is the Coach, and it works in four steps:
- It learns how you operate. From your own log it works out your bands, your modes and the hours you are usually on the air. A short survey lets you tell it what you chase, and what you tell it always wins over what it works out.
- It knows what you still need. It compares every spot with your confirmations: entities, bands, modes, states, zones, grids and parks.
- It watches the bands. Live cluster spots, heard from your part of the world, are scored for how much they matter to you right now.
- It tells you, in plain language. The things worth your time reach you in the app or by email, written in the language you choose.
The goal is simple: you stop checking the cluster, LoTW and QRZ, and the hobby starts paying attention to you.
What it watches for today
This first generation already covers a lot of ground. You choose which of these reach you, and on which channel:
- On the Air Now: an entity, band, mode or 6 m grid you need is spotted and workable now.
- Now or Never: a rare entity you need is on the air outside your usual hours.
- DXpeditions: a DXpedition you need is active, or about to start.
- Award Assistance: you are one away, or a confirmation completes an award.
- Parks on the Air: a park you need is being activated.
- Your Watch List: callsigns and DXCC entities you name yourself. When one is spotted anywhere, or a callsign is being decoded on PSK Reporter, you hear about it within a minute.
- Today's Best Window, Your Window Just Opened and Season Opening: the band and time that usually carries what you need from your area, and a heads-up when it opens.
- Awards and Milestones: an ARRL award or endorsement you have just qualified for, and how to claim it.
- Your Club and Friends on the Air: club members on the air together, your live event score, and a fellow member who just worked one you need.
- Log Health: a needed QSO that may not confirm, a download that has stopped, QSOs that failed to upload.
- Your Week on the Air: a weekly digest of your week, what the Co-Operator found, and what is coming up.
A top DXer and a newer operator need very different things. For an operator with nearly every entity confirmed, an open band-and-mode slot can be the most important spot of the week. For someone earlier on the ladder, a new entity is what matters. The Co-Operator weighs each spot for you.
Guidance: everything it found
Guidance is the full list of everything the Co-Operator found for you, scored by urgency, whether or not it was sent. Open it on dxqso.net from the Co-Operator menu, or in the app. Under each callsign, entity, band and mode you can tap 👍 or 👎. Every rating teaches it what to send you, and what to leave out.
Alerts: on your terms
An alert that arrives at 3 a.m. for something you don't care about is noise, so you stay in charge:
- Your hours for each channel, starting from the hours your own log says you operate;
- an urgency range for each channel, so email can carry the things that can wait and the app the things that can't;
- a daily limit (10 per channel by default) and the same thing at most once every six hours;
- Break through for the rare ones you want even outside your hours;
- and Pause, one click, whenever you need quiet.
New in the app: Guidance and Alerts tabs
DxQSO 2.17 is available now for iOS and Android, and it puts the Co-Operator in your pocket. The bottom bar now reads My QSOs · Guidance · Alerts · DxSocial:
- Alerts shows what was actually sent to you over the last 30 days, newest first.
- Guidance shows everything it found, with filters for time, urgency, kind, band, mode and country. Tap a card to see why it scored what it did, who spotted it, and on what frequency.
- Tap an alert notification and the app opens Alerts with that item pinned at the top.
Upload and Download haven't gone anywhere. They moved to the menu, next to About and Network Listener.
Get it on the App Store Get it on Google Play
Keep the logging program you love
None of this asks you to change how you log. Keep using N3FJP, Log4OM, N1MM+, HRD, WSJT-X, MacLoggerDX or whatever you run today. The Co-Operator works from the record DxQSO already keeps for you. It is the complement to your logger, the part that keeps working once you leave the shack.
Who can use it
The Co-Operator is part of DxQSO Membership ($29.99 a year). Every signed-in operator sees the Co-Operator menu; Members get Guidance and Alerts. If you are already a Member, it is switched on for you now. Open Co-Operator on dxqso.net, take the short survey, and set your hours on Alert Settings.
This is the first generation
We want to be clear: this is the beginning, not the finished product. We have a long list of things we want it to do, and your ratings and feedback will shape the order. Some of what is coming:
- Text message alerts, for the moments a push or an email isn't enough;
- a deeper understanding of your operating style, so it gets better at picking what to work next;
- looking further ahead, from band conditions and your own history, rather than only reacting to the spot in front of it;
- more for clubs and groups, so a whole club can chase together.
If something it sends you is wrong, or something you wanted never arrives, tell us. That is exactly how the next generation gets built. Get in touch, or rate it right there in Guidance.
Common questions
Who can use the Co-Operator?
Co-Operator is part of DxQSO Membership. Every signed-in operator can see the Co-Operator menu on dxqso.net; Members get Guidance and Alerts.
Do I have to change my logging program?
No. Keep logging in N3FJP, Log4OM, N1MM+, HRD, WSJT-X, MacLoggerDX or whatever you use today. The Co-Operator works from the log DxQSO already keeps for you, through LoTW, QRZ, ADIF uploads, DX-TQSL and the Network Listener.
Will it flood my phone?
No. Each channel has its own hours, urgency range and daily limit (10 a day by default), you can pause everything with one click, and the same thing alerts you at most once every six hours.
Where do I see it in the app?
Update to DxQSO 2.17, released for both iOS and Android. The bottom bar now reads My QSOs, Guidance, Alerts and DxSocial. Upload and Download moved to the menu.
Is this the finished product?
No. This is the first generation. Text alerts, a deeper understanding of your operating style and looking further ahead are all coming.
We are really proud of this one. Give it a try, and let us know what it finds for you.
73, Steve, N1EZ
LoTW® is a registered trademark of the American Radio Relay League. QRZ and QRZ.com are trademarks of QRZ, LLC. DxQSO is not affiliated with or endorsed by the ARRL or QRZ, LLC.
