xdx - tcp/ip DX-cluster client for Amateur Radio
================================================
 
Xdx is a DX-cluster client which shows a list with DX announcements and a
separate text widget with WWV, WCY, "To ALL" and other server messages.

What is a DX Cluster?
=====================
A DX Cluster is a means for Amateur (Ham) Radio operators to tell each other,
in realtime, about DX stations (other interesting or rare Amateur Radio 
stations all over the world).

Users who are connected to a DX Cluster are capable of announcing DX spots 
and related announcements, send personal talk messages, send and receive mail 
messages, search and retrieve archived data, and access data from information 
databases.

For a list of DX Clusters see http://ve9wh.weblink.nbtel.net/dxclusters.html.

Commands
========
Here are some basic cluster commands to get started:

announce/full 'msg': Send a line of text to all connected stations.
bye: Exit the DX Cluster.
dx 'frequency' 'callsign' 'comment': Send DX spot information.
show/dx: View previously logged DX spots.

Command examples
================
1) dx 28002.2 xz7a worked with 80m dipole!!
2) sh/dx on hf/cw 50

Most clusters will provide help by sending a '?' or 'help <command>'.

Autologin
=========
The first thing you may want to do after starting xdx is selecting
Settings->Preferences from the menu and enable autologin. You should login
with your Callsign. After connecting, a number of commands can be send to
the cluster. You may enter them in the 'Commands' entry, separated by a
comma, e.g. set/page 0,unset beep' will disable paging and stop beeps.

Saving DX info
==============
Individual messages can be saved to a file when activated from the preferences
dialog.

$HOME/.xdx/dxspots  DX spots as displayed in the top list.
$HOME/.xdx/wwv      WCY/WWV anouncements with propagation info.
$HOME/.xdx/toall    Chat messages as displayed in the bottom text widget.
$HOME/.xdx/wx       Weather information.

Hamlib support
==============
When double clicking on a dxspot this will set your rig's frequency. You need 
the rigctl binary from the hamlib distribution for this. Please modify the ID 
for your rig in the rigctl command line in preferences dialog, e.g. 
'rigctl -m 210 set_freq %d' will use ID 210 (Kenwood TS-870), see 
"rigctl ---list" for a list of models.

Web browsers and mail programs
==============================
A URL in the chat window will appear blue and underlined when your mouse is 
over it. Clicking on it will open the link in your preferred browser or mail 
program (see the preferences dialog):

Start the gnome web-browser when clicking a URL: 'epiphany %s'.
Start mozilla-mail on clicking a mail URL: 'mozilla -compose "to=%s"'.

Smileys
=======
There is support for a limited number of smileys in the chat window:
:)  :-)  :))  :-))  ;)  ;-)  :(  :-(  :((  :-((

License and support
===================
Xdx is free and published under the GNU GPL license. It is written by
Joop Stakenborg <pg4i@amsat.org> (former callsigns: pa4tu and pa3aba).

Please send a report if you find bugs or if you want enhancements.
