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QMX - Beacon Call Sign Error

 

I¡¯m having trouble entering my call sign into the QMX Beacon menu. As my call sign is 5 characters (VK6NI) I have to enter a space as the first character. I actually did it incorrectly the first time entering the call sign without a space. Got the ¡°Beacon Error: Callsign¡± message at start up at which point I read the manual and corrected the call but am still getting the error. Entering a six character call sign such as VK6NIH works, no error message. I used the space character between numbers and the punctuation in the scrolling list.

If I¡¯m reading the manual correctly the description of what is allowed would suggest that the third character can only be a number which for call signs like mine won¡¯t work, although searching the group I see others with call signs of the same structure? appear to have got WSPR working.

Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong? Using 009 firmware. Nigel VK6NI ?

 

Does a trailing space (after the callsign) work?


On Tue, 19 Sept 2023, 07:01 Nigel D, <nigeldley@...> wrote:

I¡¯m having trouble entering my call sign into the QMX Beacon menu. As my call sign is 5 characters (VK6NI) I have to enter a space as the first character. I actually did it incorrectly the first time entering the call sign without a space. Got the ¡°Beacon Error: Callsign¡± message at start up at which point I read the manual and corrected the call but am still getting the error. Entering a six character call sign such as VK6NIH works, no error message. I used the space character between numbers and the punctuation in the scrolling list.

If I¡¯m reading the manual correctly the description of what is allowed would suggest that the third character can only be a number which for call signs like mine won¡¯t work, although searching the group I see others with call signs of the same structure? appear to have got WSPR working.

Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong? Using 009 firmware. Nigel VK6NI ?

 

Hello Nigel

The 3rd character must be a numeric digit 0 to 9. This means you need to enter your callsign as "VK6NI " - you need a space at the END of the callsign, not the beginning.?

73 Hans G0UPL



On Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 9:01?AM Nigel D <nigeldley@...> wrote:

I¡¯m having trouble entering my call sign into the QMX Beacon menu. As my call sign is 5 characters (VK6NI) I have to enter a space as the first character. I actually did it incorrectly the first time entering the call sign without a space. Got the ¡°Beacon Error: Callsign¡± message at start up at which point I read the manual and corrected the call but am still getting the error. Entering a six character call sign such as VK6NIH works, no error message. I used the space character between numbers and the punctuation in the scrolling list.

If I¡¯m reading the manual correctly the description of what is allowed would suggest that the third character can only be a number which for call signs like mine won¡¯t work, although searching the group I see others with call signs of the same structure? appear to have got WSPR working.

Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong? Using 009 firmware. Nigel VK6NI ?

 

Thanks Hans and Dafydd,
Works now, happily beaconing away on 20m 3watts (12v build running on 9V) . Perhaps a note in the next version of the manual to account for people like me who follow the exact written word :)
Nigel, VK6NI
 

Hans,
the wording in the operation manual can be misleading.
On pages 33-34: "For callsigns such as mine, consisting of 5 characters, I must enter a space character as the first
character in order to satisfy these callsign rules. "

As far as I understand:
Since 6 characters can be entered, the 6th character should be "space" for 5-character callsigns.

--
Gyula HA3HZ
 

Hi Gyula, Nigel

I think the rules stated on page 33 for the callsign format are quite definitive and correct:

The callsign can only be 4 to 6 characters long. The callsign must consist of the following:
? ? 1) One character which can be A-Z or 0-9 or a SPACE
? ? 2) One character which can be A-Z or 0-9
? ? 3) One character which must be a number 0-9
? ? 4) Three characters which can be A-Z or a SPACE

A 4 or 5 character callsign needs spaces at the beginning or the end, the important thing is to satisfy these rules and normally that is achieved?by lining up the NUMBER of you call in the 3'rd place. A 5-character call like mine with a single letter before the number, requires a space in front. A call like yours with HA then the number, needs the character at the end.?

This functionality was inherited from QCX and the description was copied from the QCX operating manual. I can add a sentence or two to make clear?that " G0UPL" is one example but other 5-char calls having two character prefixes like HA or VK would need a space at the end e.g. "HA3HZ ".?

In the end I am planning to re-write this area of the QMX. The only reason why QCX insisted on the callsign fitting the rules was because I was so tight on program space that I didn't have enough space to add the logic to automatically align the callsign and add the space in the correct place automatically. But on QMX there is plenty of program space so I can add the necessary logic, so everyone can just enter their callsign and the system will itself figure out how to add spaces.?

73 Hans G0UPL



On Wed, Sep 20, 2023 at 9:42?AM HA3HZ <gyula@...> wrote:
Hans,
the wording in the operation manual can be misleading.
On pages 33-34: "For callsigns such as mine, consisting of 5 characters, I must enter a space character as the first
character in order to satisfy these callsign rules. "

As far as I understand:
Since 6 characters can be entered, the 6th character should be "space" for 5-character callsigns.

--
Gyula HA3HZ

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