Tutorial - Prediction Batch

As stated in the “Quick Start” section, the prediction batch is similar to the beacon type prediction, but provides much more flexibility. A Prediction Batch is created with user-selected targets for up to 18 "circuits". Each circuit in a prediction batch can use different antennas, power levels and system parameters. Some circuits can be standard forward, some reversed while some can be long path. Before working through this tutorial it will surely be helpful to have at least browsed the “Prediction-Batch Manager” section of the help file or manual.

Have a look at the Prediction-Batch Manager. On the Master-Control Palette, click the menu button and then the "Prediction-Batch Manager" item.

WinCAP Wizard installs several pre-configured prediction batch "tables". Two of these batches are identical, but the first is the “default” prediction batch. The second batch is named "DXpeditions". The default batch is a copy of the "DXpeditions" batch so you have a prediction batch with which to experiment right away.

The default prediction batch is "full" - it already holds 18 circuits - and no additional circuits can be added - it can however be modified. Lets verify we are viewing the default batch and then clear the default batch so we can practice the whole process.

With the Prediction-Batch Manager in view, click the “Switch” button on the tool bar near the top. See the screen capture below and item #2 for help locating the "Switch" button.

The “Prediction-Batch-Table Selector” appears. For more information, see the Prediction-Batch-Table Selector topic. Right now we are only interested in the button labeled “Cancel/Default”.

Move the mouse cursor over the “Cancel/Default” button and read the hint information on the status line. Click the “Cancel/Default” button to load the default group. Note in the screen capture above that item #1, the window title bar, provides the "name" of the selected proediction-batch table; in this case the selected table is named "default" as you might expect. You can now be sure the default prediction batch is loaded. You can edit and remove circuits in any prediction batch be we are just experimenting with the basic capabilities. Click the Prediction-Batch Manager "Clear All" button to delete the circuits from the default batch - so you can add circuits for this tutorial and even your own chosen circuits.

Building A Prediction Batch

There are at least a couple of ways to add circuits to a prediction batch. You can certainly enter each location into the Prediction-Batch Manager manually by typing it in; to do so you would click the button, on the navigator near the bottom, labeled with a + sign. Instead of manually entering and configuring targets and circuits we will use the express method - the DX Gazetteer - to copy locations into the Prediction-Batch Manager and automatically assign default “input parameter groups”.

On the Master-Control Palette, click the menu button followed by the "DX Gazetteer" item. We are currently only interested in the “To Batch” button, as it copies the selected location to the Prediction-Batch Manager and automatically assigns default “input parameter groups”.

There are surely many ways to choose which locations to include in your prediction batch. You can have many prediction batch tables, each for a particular purpose, and each with up to 18 circuits. Two common types of prediction batches are “DX target” and regular “schedule”.

Perhaps you already have a list of locations you want to use; needed DX locations, general DX locations or even a list of friends with whom you keep a regular schedule. In these cases you can simple find each desired location in the DX Gazetteer, click it to select and then click the “To Batch” button. Alternatively, if you have installed the US and Canadian calls data and your desired target location can be identified by an amateur radio station call sign then you can use the Calls Manager. The Calls Manager should be reasonably easy for anyone to use but see that topic for details.

Finding desired target locations is reasonably easy using the DX Gazetteer. The quickest way is to type the call prefix of the target in the search box. If you do not know the prefix, but know the location name, then simple click in a specific column, and start typing information that matches the column type you clicked. For example - make sure and use the menu Expand All - click any “entry” in the “city” column (not the column header label that reads city) and begin typing “ama”; no need to capitalize - “Amarillo” should be selected right after you have typed “ama”. For more information see the DX Gazetteer topic.

Lets set up a DX type prediction batch. If just picking locations that are scattered around the world, it seems easier to have a map in view to help choose locations distributed around to cover the world reasonably well; the SmartMap-Geographic View suits this purpose nicely. Keep in mind that a single “prediction batch” has a limit of 18 circuits. However we will only add a few circuits during this tutorial.

Lets add the Philippines to our new prediction batch. In the DX Gazetteer, click the button on the tool bar labeled “C” and the "Prefix Search" box is cleared and made current. Begin typing the country prefix "du”. The DX Gazetteer offers you a city, usually the capitol, in the Philippines. Once the desired location is selected in the DX Gazetteer click the button labeled “To Batch”. Alternatively we could have used the DX Gazetteer “incremental search” function on any of the visible columns of information. For example if we wanted a specific city, we could do an incremental search by city; again first make sure and use the Expand All function on the menu.

When you click the DX Gazetteer “To Batch” button, a location prefix, name and geographic coordinates are copied to the current prediction batch. Additionally, defaults are added for necessary "System", "X Ant" and "R Sys" groups. The default group for each of these is the one "currently selected" in the Circuit-Configuration Manager, or associated Manager or Browser. Also see the section Time Zone Picker.

Lets create a prediction to the same location for both long and short-great-circle paths. We can easily do this by adding the same location twice; but we will configure the two circuits differently. Back in the DX Gazetteer, and with the same location selected, again click the button labeled “To Batch”.

Finding a target location using the SmartMap-Geographic View

We can view the map and quickly find a location we wish to add. On the Master-Control Palette, click the Map button and display the SmartMap-Geographic View. With the map in view, move the mouse cursor around an area of interest. While moving the mouse cursor around over the map, note the map “status line”. The map status line provides a lot of information. The grid square under the mouse cursor is always shown on the map status line. The location name under the mouse cursor is only displayed when one is available – when the mouse cursor is over a “land area” the cursor changes to a hand with the word “Target” underneath.

When you have the mouse cursor over a map location of interest – and the cursor changes to a hand with the word “Target” underneath - press and hold your keyboard Ctrl key and click the map - the map target area will be selected in the DX Gazetteer.

If you wish add other locations to your prediction batch.

Configuring Circuits in the Prediction-Batch Manager

With the Prediction-Batch Manager in view you see there are three columns with default information. These columns are “System”, “X Ant” and “R Sys” - more on these shortly.

Click the first row to select the first circuit. Note a “Time Zone” column. This time zone information is used on the “charts” when the circuit is “reversed”; in other words when “you” are the receiving location. Additionally, see the section Time Zone Picker.

Time zone information is a good thing to have set correctly just in case it is ever used. When a row, or circuit, is selected you will notice there is a button, with three dots, in the right edge of the time zone column. Click the button, with three dots, in the time zone column to access the Time Zone Picker. In the Time Zone Picker you can use the keyboard up and down arrow keys to step through the available time zones and view extended information on each. This should be helpful in selecting the correct time zone. You can get an idea which time zone is correct by looking at the map, noting the difference from UTC and comparing to the Time Zone Selector “Active Bias”.

The three columns “System”, “X Ant” (Transmit Antenna) and “R Sys” (Receive System) hold references to “groups” of information that you enter using the Circuit-Configuration Manager. The “System” and “Receive System” both have a manager specific to them that can also be used for entering relevant input parameters - or selecting the desired group. (These two managers are accessed from the Master-Control Palette “menu” button.) The X Ant information is managed using the Circuit-Configuration Manager “Xmtr Antennas” page, or the Master-Control Palette “menu” button Transmit-Antenna Browser.

Configure All Circuits

In the Prediction-Batch Manager, you can select a "group" for “System”, “X Ant” (Transmit Antenna) and “R Sys” (Receive System) and assign it to all the circuits at once. Note the buttons on the tool bar with these same names.

Manually Configuring Circuits

In the Prediction-Batch Manager, when a row is selected you will notice there is a button, with a down-point arrow, in the right edge of these columns. Clicking this arrow provides a list of all previously created input parameter groups and allows you to select the desired group.

For example, click the down pointing arrow in the “System” column to display available system input parameter groups. By default there are several system parameter groups. The one named “CW - Short Path” has both “Long-GS” and “Reverse” unchecked. Double click the “CW - Short Path” system group to select it for use in the selected circuit. Do the same to select input parameter groups for X Ant and R Sys.

Back in the Prediction-Batch Manager click the second row, (“circuit”), to select it, then click the down arrow in the System column. This time for system, double click the group named “CW - Long Path”. As before, configure the X Ant and R Sys groups making sure you select the same groups you did in the first circuit.

To more easily distinguish between our two nearly identical circuits, we can slightly modify the “Prefix” of one or both of our circuits. Click the prefix of the second circuit, which should be our long-great-circle path circuit, use the keyboard right cursor key to leave a blank space and then type “LP”. To save changes to this circuit click the “check” button near the bottom of the Prediction-Batch Manager.

At this point you should have two circuits in this prediction batch. Both circuits should appear the same - except for the two different “System” groups and possibly the prefix.

Analyzing with a Prediction Batch

We are now ready to “Analyze”, or create a prediction set with the two circuits we created. In the upper left of the Prediction-Batch Manager, just under the title bar, is a button labeled Analyze. Click the Prediction-Batch Manager – Analyze button.

By default two “result” types are displayed, the “Best Usable Frequency chart” and the “Signal Levels and Take-Off Angles report”. Lets look briefly at each.

The Best Usable Frequency chart shows a graph line at the expected best frequency and a second graph line showing the second best frequency. By design, the second best frequency shown on the chart will never be the 30-meter-amateur band. Other predicted parameters for the circuit are also available. The chart shows one circuit at a time and so may not be the best choice for this specific example. Lets look at a second chart for our example, the “Signal Comparison Chart”. On the Master-Control Palette, click the “Chart” button, move down to the Prediction Batch item and then click the Comparison Chart item. As you might expect, the “Signal Comparison Chart” shows predictions for all of the circuits in our prediction batch simultaneously.

Looking at the “Signal Comparison Chart” between the WinCAP Wizard default station – Amarillo - and the Philippine target in this example, it’s interesting to note the MUF is usually higher for the long great circle path. You can click any point on the chart and see related prediction data in a panel above the chart. There is a third chart type for batch predictions that provides more detail and a grid of the values. You should explore the Prediction Batch Chart on your own.

Exporting Charts

The WinCAP Wizard charts all have some similar characteristics and function basically the same. So once you learn to use one you will find the others much easier. The charts have many options. Click the “Customize” button on the tool bar above any chart. The Customize Chart dialog window provides many of the available options. Click the “Export” tab in the Customize Chart dialog window. We are only interested in the “Picture” tab of the “Export” page. A chart can be exported in three type pictures, metafile, bitmap and jpeg. You have three options for export, copy to windows clipboard, save to file, and send via email.

Lets look at the second default result type, the “Signal Levels and Take-Off Angles report”. This report seems rather straightforward. The report shows predictions for each selected frequency over 24 hours. Each hour section shows predictions for each circuit in the prediction batch.

Exporting Reports

The reports can of course be printed, but WinCAP Wizard provides some nifty export formats: RTF, HTML and Adobe Acrobat(tm) or PDF.

To use the report export function, while viewing the desired report, click the “Print” button. The print button is near the upper left, just above the report area. In the “Print” dialog window, note the area in the bottom third – near the “Print to File” check box. Click the “Print to File” check box so it’s checked. Note checking the “Print to File” check box enables the next two controls labeled “Type” and “Where”. The “Type” control is a drop-down list enabling you to select your desired output format. Lets try the Acrobat Document function. Click the Type drop-down list so it opens, the click Adobe Acrobat Document. Next we need to specify “Where” we want the document created and saved. Click the small button to the right of the “Where” area to display a standard windows “Save as” dialog window. You should then specify a location and name for the new file. Once the file location and name are specified all that’s left is to click the “OK” button in the “Print” dialog window. Within a few seconds the Acrobat document will be created. If you have the Acrobat viewer installed on your machine you can navigate to where you created the new file and view by double clicking.

Plotting with the SmartMap-Geographic View

Once you have created a prediction batch, the predictions can be located on the SmartMap-Geographic View by means of coordinates; this is known as plotting. However, lets create a prediction batch that is a bit more interesting than the one above that has just two circuits.

Look at the Prediction-Batch Manager. If the Prediction-Batch Manager is not open - on the Master-Control Palette, click the menu button and then the "Prediction-Batch Manager" item.

We will switch to the prediction batch table named "DXpeditions". With the Prediction-Batch Manager in view, click the “Switch” button on the tool bar near the top. The “Prediction-Batch-Table Selector” appears. Looking at the prediction batch list - in the left portion of the selector, double click the group named “ubDXpeditions”. Back in the Prediction-Batch Manager you should see the list of eighteen worldwide targets - click the Analyze button.

If the map is not already visible, from the Master-Control Palette, click the Map button and display the SmartMap-Geographic View. The map provides a button tool bar near the top, just under the date-time display. Click the button labeled “Batch”. You may notice the map window changes significantly and even looks complicated. Taken one portion at a time it is reasonably simple. We will go over a few of the less obvious map features. It is helpful to adjust the map window as large as practical on your screen. The map should be displaying the “last” group of predictions we created. By design, it will not change if it was already in view when we created the prediction set and in this case you will need to use the “navigator” control and change to the last prediction set.

When a prediction set is for the current month you can click the “Activate” button to cause the solar gray line and current hour to adjust for correct positions and sync the predictions to the hour.

There are several ways to view predictions for a circuit in the current batch prediction set. The map window provides a list of all targets in the current prediction set. By clicking on a target in the circuits list you can view the great-circle path and also extended prediction information; the prediction information is displayed in a panel near the bottom, just above the status line. Alternatively you can move the mouse cursor over any blue-red dot on the map - that represents a target location - and the cursor changes to a hand with "prop" underneath.

The great-circle path shown may be either long or short, depending on the setting in the map menu. Please note - changing between long and short great-circle path while in the map menu has no affect on the predictions. The actual predictions are each created for the either long or short great-circle path depending on how you set them up in the "system-parameters group".