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/*****************************************************************************
ft8mapper - maps stations by their grid data from WSJT-X
Copyright (C) 2024,2025 TCJC
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
See the GNU General Public License for more details.
<https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
******************************************************************************/
3.0 - adds filter features, message window features, marking features
1.0.1 - Fixes annoying startup bug where color not set correctly
1.0 - initial release
ft8mapper provides a very lightweight filtering option for the FT8 protocol.
The WSJT-X software is required for ft8mapper to work.
It definitely works on MacOS and should work on Windows and Linux, Let us know!
ALL MAPS IN THIS APP COURTESY OF: "OpenStreetMap contributors" !!!
=============
REQUIREMENTS:
=============
- PYTHON3 -- You MUST have python 3.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MacOS MONTEREY (12.x or LATER): you MUST run python 3.10
or later.
*** Please see note below under INSTALL section for a brief explanation of
Apple's problem cause by shipping incompatible versions of Python with
their OS release.
The script requires Python 3 that supports Tkinter. The Mac version of
Python 3 may require an upgrade as the Mac version has a deprecated Tkinter.
"Brew" may be used to upgrade python, do so at your own risk or run
deprecated version.
To install tkinter if you don't have the module, enter this at a terminal
or cmd prompt:
pip3 install tk
-- or --
pip install tk
======
FILES:
======
ft8mapper.py is the script, the other *.png files are the map images.
A file, mapwcfg.bin, will be created after first use to store window
settings. If your map windows become corrupted, simply delete this
file it will be re-built.
=============
INSTALL & RUN
=============
Download ft8mapper.zip and unzip its contents into one directory. The
actual directory does not matter.
Run the Python script ft8mapper.py. You may need to change the first
line of the script to point to the path of your Python 3.x interpreter.
You can also run from a command line: python ft8mapper.py
On some systems this may be: python3 ft8mapper.py
Run WJT-X, making sure that on the "Reporting" tab that
"Accept UDP Requests" is checked.
Make sure UDP server port is set to 2237.
Read the "HOW TO USE" section below for useful info...
================================
RUNNING TKINTER PYTHON ON A MAC:
================================
There is an odd behavior on Macs with certain newer OS versions
(12.x Monterey and later) and certain versions of Python (3.9.x and earlier).
If you experience blank or flickering in ft8mapper then you have a bad
combination of Python and MacOS.
This is because MacOS ships an old version of Python (3.9 or earlier) that
seems incompatible with changes in MacOS Monterey 12.x.
To resolve this bug be sure to run at least Python3.10 or later. Please
install this in the location "/usr/local/bin/python3". Then edit the
first line of the python script to "#!/usr/local/bin/python3" (no quotes).
There is only 1 script. This ensures that the old version of Python
stored in "/Library..." is NOT used by ft8mapper.
===========
HOW TO USE:
===========
If you band hop you may enjoy the band buttons at the top of the window
that will filter the stations by the band. To see all bands click "ALL".
Hover over a station on the map shows the callsign, grid, band, SNR,
the time the station was last heard and the first 30 characters of its
last message it sent. This info appears in the lower left corner similar
to PSKReporter.
Clicking on the station will open a web browser and look up the station
on QRZ or HamCall depending on the radio button selected at the bottom
right of the screen.
Right-clicking the station allows you to mark it (if you are keeping
track of a station you worked for example). It also allows you to delete
a station from the map. Markings do not carry over from one session to
the next of ft8mapper. You can also unmark a marked station. Cancel closes
the mark window without doing anything.
The app opens with the World Map (WM), but different regions can be
selected: NA = North America, SA = South America, EU = Europe,
AF = Africa, AS = Asia, OC = Oceania
The top window frame title shows the band that WSJT-X is reporting
from. The band buttons act as filters to the stations on the map and the
message window as discussed below.
Band Filter Buttons
-------------------
The band filtering buttons are located at the top of the map. When "ALL"
is selected all stations appear. If a band is chosen (such as "40") then
only stations in that band are shown.
The band filter buttons also filter output in the "Message", "Time", "Call"
and "Grid" windows when they are open. Output in this window is restricted
to the band that has been chosen, or "ALL" is shown if "ALL" is selected.
The "Clear" button is also affected by Band filter buttons. All stations
are deleted if "ALL" is selected. If a band is selected then only the
stations in the band are deleted.
Info buttons - Mesg, Time, Call, Grid
-------------------------------------
Mesg - shows message sent from station, sorted by callsign
Time - shows most recent transmit sent by station
Call - sorts all stations by callsign
Grid - sorts all stations by grid locator
Last: Pulldown
--------------
User can select the timeframe and see the last 24 hours, 12 hours, etc, down
to the last 15 minutes of transmissions sent in the messages window if it is
open. It also shows only the stations on the map that are within the time
chosen.
QRZ/HamCall
-----------
There is a radio button selector in the bottom right corner. If you click
on a station this radio selects which lookup service will be used in your
web browser.
Settings
--------
Allows the user to change the IP address and the port where WSJT-X is
reporting.
The Quit button closes the ft8mapper application.
The app will remember window settings (drag it longer, wider) and it will
remember the scrollbar positions, but you must hit the "Quit" button
for these options to be saved.
When shutting down ft8mapper, it saves the stations heard
that are less than 24 hours old, upon re-opening it will display stations
less than 24 hours old. If the app is left open it will eventually expire
stations that age to 24 hours.
If your window settings or the stations appear corrupted, simply delete
the mapwcfg.bin file and/or the stations.bin file in the software directory
and the app will re-initialize these when opened.
Enjoy
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Please drop us an email, we value your feedback, thanks!
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Download Latest Version
ft8mapper3_0.zip (4.4 MB)
