WPLOT2000ex FAQ 17.07.10

Q: How can I quickly select a new target on then MAP form?

A: On the control panel RIGHT-CLICK on the selector for the active target contour. You can now select any target contour from the \TARGET directory of you current workingdirectory .

Q: How can I quickly edit the target on then MAP form?

A: On the control panel SHIFT-CLICK on the selector for the active target contour. To finish editing you can click on the “C” in the statusbar

Q: How can I quickly call up the ”LAST QUERY” on the DATA form?

A: Just click on the red label showing the number of records selected (under the “SELECT” button)

Q: How can I edit a record in the data base window?

A: There are several ways to do that:

1. Enable the edit function with the EDIT/LOCKED button on the DATA form. Then you will be able to directly change the data in the grid.

2. While you have clicked on any field in the record you want to edit hit “E”. You will get a form where you can edit all fields of the record.

The most elegant way might be:

3. While you have clicked on any field in the record you want to edit hit “M”. The record will be displayed on the map and you can change the parameters on the MAP-form.

Having finalised the editing, go to menu item “ENABLE”

Select “TRANSFER TX1 SETTINGS back to the current table”

This will transfer all changes done to TX1 back to the DATA table

Q: How can I get an overview of all targets with reference to the CIRAFs included an the covered area?

A: On the MAP-form go to menu item “UTILITY” then select “GENERATE TESTPOINTS AND INDEX FROM ALL *.TRG”. This will generate all test point files and create an index of all target areas PROGRAM_CIRAF.CSV in the subdirectory \DATA.

Q: How can I calculate the real coverage of a service taking into account the high noise in cities ?

A: There is a possibility to add a margin to the e-min value based on the population density. On the MAP-form just right_click on the statusbar showing the SNR. It will toggle between “34dB” and “34+X”. X varies between 0 and 6 dB. The range can be set on the PARAMETER form. If you have updated only the last executable file from WPLOT2000ex you will not have this file on you PC. You can download the file SNPOPULATION.DAT from the download section of WWW.NORBERTSCHALL.DE and copy it to the WPLOT2000EX programs directory.

Q: How can I reduce the data selection to show only the distinct values?

Example: What different types of antennas are used by DWL?

A: On the DATA form

1. Make a selection of records from FMO (CODE) = DWL.

2. Click into the column “ANO” of the data grid.

3. Hit “?”.

The grid will now show all the different ANO used. At the same time this data is filed into the directory \DATA under the current working directory. If you have enabled the feature “DISPLAY THE RESULTS INEXCEL” (MAP form – program settings, parameter 2) the result will be shown in EXCEL

Q: How can I use the SQL-window on the DATA form?

A: This window displays the automatically generated SQL-strings. However you can also add or modify the string to suit your needs.

Some examples for the SQL- features:

[FREQ] > 0 AND [CODE] LIKE 'D*

Selects entries of FMOs starting with “D”

[FREQ] > 0 AND [CODE] = 'DWL'

Selects entries of FMO with the exact name “DWL”

[FREQ] > 0 AND [POWER] between 100 and 500

Selects entries with power between 100 and 500 kW

[FREQ] > 0 AND [loc] IN ('wer' ,'nau', 'jul')

Selects entries with either of the 3 stations

[FREQ] > 0 AND [TDATE] LIKE '2?0310'

Selects entries in the date range (TDATE) from 200310 to 290310

[FREQ] > 0 AND [LOC] LIKE 'W?R'

Selects entries where LOC starts with “W” and ends with “R”

[FREQ] > 0 AND [TDATE] LIKE '*0310'

Selects entries in the date range (TDATE) from 010310 to 310310

[FREQ] > 0 AND [DAYS] <> '1234567'

Selects entries that are NOT operating daily

[FREQ] > 0 AND [DAYS] <> '1234567' order by [LOC]

Selects entries that are NOT operating daily and sorts the results by (LOC)

[FREQ] > 0 AND [DAYS] <> '1234567' order by [LOC] DESC

Selects entries that are NOT operating daily and sorts the results by (LOC) decending

Q: Lot of options are missing in the menu on different forms

A: On the MAIN form go to menu item UTILITY

Check the items :”ENABLE EXPERT” and “ENABLE ALL OPTIONS”

Q: How can I update the different files from ITU and the SSN prediction?

A: On the MAIN form go to the menu item “IMPORT”.

Select item “IMPORT ALL REFERENCE TABLES…..” .

This will import the relevant tables from the internet.

Q: How can I set the sunspot numbers for each month in a season ?

A: from the MAIN form or any other major form call the PARAMETER form.

On the PARAMETER form make sure you checked

“USE SSN FROM REFERENCE TABLE”

To set the SSN for each month in the season use the button “SSN A” or “SSN B”

In the box that will be displayed enter the last 2 digits of the year.

Q: How can I access the sunspot settings ?

A: On the MAIN form either

go to the menu item “UTILITY”. “SHOW/SELECT SUNSPOTS”

or

Click on the label “SSN” to the left of the SSN-scrollbar

Q: I cannot access all options on the different forms

A: On the MAIN form go to the menu item “UTILITY”.

Make sure that the items

“enable expert” and

“enable all optionS” are checked

Q: What is the implication of the variable SN-map ?

A: Since Version 3.8.0 a variable SN-map is available. The Data is stored in a file called SNPOPULATION.DAT which can be downloaded from

http://www.norbertschall.de/downloads/snpopulation.dat and stored in WPLOT2000EX programs directory.

The file holds additional attenuation factors based on the world population data, e.g. areas with a high population will show higher values.

The usage is activated by enabling parameter 32 under MAP’s program settings. Alternatively you could right click on the SNR status bar indicator of the MAP form.

When calculating in E-EMIN mode the value taken from the SN-map at the receiving point is added to the necessary SN-ratio for the service. This will have the effect, that you will need a higher SNR in highly populated areas as compared to quiet rural areas. This can be a very useful tool for your service analysis. The additional SNR ‘penalty’ is in the range of 0 to 6 dB

On the PARAMETER form you can scale this effect to get a larger or smaller span.

Q: What is meant by “reference week”?

A: For a statistical analysis it is necessary to set a range within the season where records are active. As entries can be different on week-days, a reference week is defined.

For the A-season the date span from 01.06.YY to 07.06.YY is used

For the B-season the date span from 01.12.YY to 07.12.YY is used

The entries active during the reference weeks are marked while importing the HFCC or ILG data base (for active entries the contents of the field [ALTFREQ3] is set to “1”, else it will be “0”)

Q: How can call up the result of the last free channel calculation?

A: On the keyboard hit “O” (shift +o)

Q: How can I change band limits used during the free channel calculations?

A: Go to the SCAN form, open under FILES the item "EDIT BAND SETTINGS".

Q: How can I change the default FMO or BRC used in various calculations?

A: In the MAIN form go to Utility > Enter FMO (or Enter BRC) and change it to the required FMO/BRC. The new assignment will be available after the next restart.

Q: When I print out coverage maps in black and white mode it is very difficult to distinguish between the various 10dB contour steps.

Labelling of contours with the value is possible if you check parameter No.31 on MAP form “program settings”.

Q: How do I create a new entry in the DATA form based on an existing entry?

A: Highlight the existing entry and click "New" in the small control panel or hit "N" on your key board (also see "HELP" > Keyboard commands)

You will then be prompted whether to base the new record on the existing one or not.

If the control panel is not visible, make sure it is selected in Data Form > Utility. If it is selected and still not visible you'll have to reset under Data Form > Help > Reset Form to make it reappear

Q: Where do I have to put the “USER DEFINED QUERIES”.

A: “USER DEFINED QUERIES” are created from the current active Query that has been loaded or typed in on the DATA form. You will be asked for a short descriptive name which then will appear in the appropriate menu on the DATA form.

Q: When we run the optimizer a screen pops up whose headline is “Optimize Station, Band, Antenna”. Could it be possible for user to transfer these data that we see on the window into Excel file.

A: if you look into the directory \OPT under your current working directory you will find a file *SUMMARY.CSV. Double-click it and it should open in excel

Q: I enabled the control panel on MAP and/or DATA form but it does not show up

A: This can happen after having changed the screen resolution.

Just go to menu “HELP” – “RESET FORM” , this will bring all control panels and frames back to the top left-hand corner of the form.

Q: I installed WPLOT on another computer and the maps are not looking too good

A: After a change of the screen resolution it is advisable the update the internal bitmaps to get the best quality. To do this, go to MAP form ,

select menu “UTILITY” – “MAP GENERATION” – “GENERATE ALL MAP NEW”

Q: If I calculate a transmission at 16:00 UTC will the result be valid between 15:30-16:30 UTC or is it valid between 16:00-17:00 UTC ?

A: All calculations are done in full hour blocks starting at h+00. In this case the result will be valid between 16:00 and 17:00 UTC. If the transmission runs from 16:30 to 17:30 UTC the results will cover a full two hour period from 16:00 to 18:00 UTC whenever the settings (MAP form) of “CALCULATION” are Range or TX. The actual settingof “CALCULATION” is always displayed in the lower status bar on the right hand side and can also be changed by left-clicking on it (toggle through).

Q: I have a lot contours of target areas for all our transmissions defined with WPLOT. Is there an automatic feature available in WPLOT which gives me the 40 character code of the Maidenhead locators to be used in the new format of the HFCC file?

A: Assuming the target contours are listed in the WPLOT Data Form under “PROG” and all target contours are in the working directory in the subfolder “\TARGET” you’ll do the following:

In DATA Form under “UTILITY” you click on

“Selection [PROG] à [TARGET] (coded) and[CIRAF]”.

This will generate the 40 character modified Maidenhead locator in the “TARGET” column and the CIRAF definition in the “CIRAF” column.

Note that existing entries in the “TARGET” and “CIRAF” columns will not be overwritten!

Q: If my transmission time is 0330 to 0430 how can I quickly calculate the performance?
A: If you hit “c” on the MAP the calculation result will be for the first hour only, e.g. 0300 UTC.

Enter “C” (shift +c) you will get a 24 hour performance table.

Q: When setting azimuth in WPLOT, does it take into consideration the physical direction that the antenna is pointing and then use the slew to producing a resultant?

A: WPLOT and HFCC always treat the azimuth as being the direction of the main radiation of the antenna AFTER applying a possible slew.

example:

Antenna HRS 4/4/.5/S+30

Azimuth of radiation: 300 deg

e.g. the boresight of the antenna is 270 degrees.

You can also try it on WPLOT if you define the antenna as +30 slews and then point it on the MAP with a right-click, the slewed (resulting ) beam will point to the direction you selected.