NDB WebLog > Help

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General [+-] [^]
This system shows information on reception of Non Directional Beacons (NDBs) used by ships and aircraft for navigation purposes. All stations listed on the page have been received at least once by the owner of this logbook.

All times shown are UTC. To comply with the formal definition used by NDB List Members, daytime is defined as spanning two hours either side of Noon, Local Standard Time:

Help Information is provided in the browser Status Bar, along with a UTC Real Time Clock display. For IE PC users, Tooltips are also provided. Sections in this help guide may be displayed or hidden by clicking on the section titles.

Main Screen [+-] [^]
The logbook maintainer may select from Lifetime or Monthly log book formats. Monthly shows more details and breaks receptions into monthly divisions, while Lifetime only provides for one reception of each station.

1. Click on the call letters of any station to see all available details on that station and the times when it was logged.
2. Click on the location of any station to see a map showing the transmitter location.
3. Click column headings to sort by that column - heading is then shown in  Green .
4. Click column heading again to reverse the sort order - heading shown in  Red .
5. Click Summary month headings to show details for month - selected month is shown in  Gold  - further clicks sort column.
6. Move mouse over country or state abbreviations to see the name of the country or state.
7. Some more distant stations may have MP3 recordings available - see Notes column (unless you hid that column).

Statistics [+-] [^]
Click on the Statistics button to open the stats viewer. The screen shown will vary depending on the format the logbook maintainer has selected.

1. All Beacons Report shows the number of beacons received by day, by both day AND night, and by night, for each month. Totals are also given for each category and month for each beacon received. These totals include unidentified beacons, whose location is unknown - all other reports omit such beacons.
2. New Beacons Report shows the number of previously unheard beacons received in each month.
3. Daytime Distances Report shows the number of beacons received in each range of distances during daytime hours. Ranges are shown in steps of 100 Miles, 100 Nautical Miles or 200 Kilometers, depending on the units specified in User Preferences. A summary for the year is also shown, with the number of unique stations received for the year.
4. Night Time Distances Report is very similar to the Daytime Distances Report, except that it shows beacons received outside standard daytime.
5. DX per Watt Report shows for each month the furthest distance for each watt of transmitter power that any beacon has been received at.
6. Countries Report shows the number of beacons received from each radio country. NDB List approved country and state codes are used, and moving the mouse over each in turn causes the full name of the state (if applicable) and country to be displayed in the status bar and as a tool-tip (for IE users with PC). The station located the furthest distance away is also shown in the last column, together with its distance.
7. Regions Report groups the radio countries received into NBD List defined regions, by month with an annual total of unique countries per region.
8. North of 60 Report shows the number of beacons received each month whose locations are North of 60 degrees latitude.

Preferences [+-] [^]
Click on the Preferences button to open the User Preferences dialog. Here each user of an NDB WebLog may set the system to work to their requirements. Measurement units, date formats and other parameters may be changed, and certain columns may be hidden in the main display. Most of these settings should be self explanatory, but here's a summary:

1. Distances - choose from Miles, KM or Nautical Miles
2. Mod Values - Many beacons transmit a Morse signal by turning a tone on and off. This form of 'Modulation' generates two 'sidebands' in the radio spectrum in addition to the 'Carrier' frequency, the Lower Sideband (LSB) and the Upper Sideband (USB). Many beacons exhibit both sidebands, but those in Canada tend to have the LSB surpressed. There are two listening techniques commonly employed by NDB listeners:
   • Relative: Tuning to the carrier frequency then filtering out all but the required tone of the beacon required - here the 'Relative' Mod Values setting should be used
   • Absolute: Using a very narrow IF (Intermediate Frequency) filter and tuning not to the carrier but to the carrier frequency plus the USB Offset, or to the carrier frequency minus LSB Offset. Here the listener should choose the 'Absolute' Mod Values setting as this calculation is then performed by the system automatically.
3. Dates - Different regions of the world use different date formats. The system accommodates users in different locations by allowing them to set their preferred date representations:
   • DD/MM/YYYY (Canada and most of Europe)
   • DD.MM.YYYY (Germany and Austria)
   • MM/DD/YYYY (USA)
   • YYYYMMDD (ISO and International date format - my preferred setting and perhaps the most logical)
4. Map Zoom - Clicking on a location as described earlier causes a map to open (assuming the user is connected to the Internet). The Map Zoom setting determines the initial level of detail shown in the map when it is first opened.

Search [+-] [^]
Click on the Search button to open the Beacon Search dialog and search for beacons matching your criteria. M

Text List Output [+-] [^]
Click on the Text List button to open the Text List Options dialog. This function is used to generate a text listing suitable for emailing. A number of options are available to filter output according to various factors, to sort results in certain orders, and to add or remove certain data columns from the listing.

Text List > Output Options

1. Date format - the following options are available:
   • DD (For CLE) Shows only the day of the month - best setting for CLE reporting or where the span of the log is one month or less. This saves space in the output listing.
   • DD/MM/YYYY (Canada and most of Europe)
   • DD.MM.YYYY (Germany and Austria)
   • MM/DD/YYYY (USA)
   • YYYYMMDD (International format, suited to displays spanning several years)
   • (No Time or Date) For output spanning a single day, or for generation of seek lists, where the date doesn't matter.
2. For Each Beacon
   • Show First Logging shows just the first instance of a reception within any defined filtered range
   • Show All Loggings shows all instances of a reception within any defined filtered range
3. Sort By - the following sort options are available:
   • Call - sorted by Callsign or DGPS ID #.
   • Country - sorted by Country.
   • Date - sorted by year, month and date.
   • Distance - sorted by distance.
   • DX Per Watt - sorted by distance per watt.
   • Modulation (LSB) - sorted by LSB Mod (either relative or absolute).
   • Modulation (USB) - sorted by USB Mod (either relative or absolute).
   • TX Power - sorted by Transmitter Power (where known).
   • Location - sorted by transmitter location (town, city or waypoint).
   • State / Province - sorted by State or Province.
   • Time - sorted by time of reception.

1. Day / Night - choose "All Times", "Daytime Only" or "Night Only" to limit loggings by the time of day on which they were made.
2. NDB / DGPS - choose "NDB + DGPS", "NDB Only" or "DGPS Only" to limit loggings to NDB stations or DGPS stations (identified by the # at the start of their Broadcast Station number.
3. Dates (YYYYMMDD) (Start and End) - enter date ranges here, or leave either or both fields set to 'ALL' to ignore either start or end limits.
4. KHz (Start and End) - enter frequency ranges here, or leave either or both fields set to 'ALL' to ignore either start or end limits.
5. DX (Start and End) - enter distance ranges here (in the distance units specified in Preferences), or leave either or both fields set to 'ALL' to ignore either start or end limits.

1. "New" loggings - if 'Show' is selected, any loggings representing stations not previously heard are indicated with a "Y" in the "+" column that appears, with a total count displayed at the end of the text listing.
2. Mod Offsets - either relative or absolute as determined in user preferences for both LSB and USB where known.
3. DX Per Watt - some people find this statistic interesting, some don't. This option lets you choose for yourself.

Home Page [+-] [^]
If the log owner has entered a web site in their system configuration file, this will be shown when a user clicks on the Home Page button.

Help Page [+-] [^]
Clicking on the Help button shows this page, but then again, you probably already knew that...

NDB WebLog software was created by Martin Francis and is available for free from his web site.