DXtreme Monitor Log 15

What's New?

Let the Good Times Continue!

While chasing and listening to faraway broadcast stations remains popular, interest in monitoring aircraft, ships, utility stations, and Amateur Radio stations continues at an all-time high ... providing many opportunities for nabbing a new country, a new state, or a new Grid Square!

Truly Good Times ... enhanced even further by exciting new gear, less interference, a peaked solar cycle, and a new version of DXtreme Monitor Log with new pricing.

Here's what's new in this release:

Topics

To Order

Artificial Intelligence Features

(Top of Page)

AI - Web Research GPT Tab

The AI - Web Research GPT tab lets you write, modify, and store prompts for dragging and dropping or copying and pasting into a custom or base-level Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT). Unlike prompts you type directly into a GPT, prompts saved to this tab are always available and are likely the ones you'll submit often.

What's more, these Web-Research prompts can contain optional log variables that provide live data from partial or complete log entries displayed on the Monitor Log window (such as the frequency, time, date, and transmission mode in the displayed example). Log Variables have been available in DXtreme Monitor Log since the inception of the product, back when it was known as DXtreme SWRL, DXtreme SWRLgold, and DXtreme Reception Log. There are more than 140 of them in the current version.

In addition, the AI - Web Research GPT tab provides access to multiple script files, each containing several prompts. Multiple script files enable you to group prompts by category, if desired. The tab also provides access to a Script Editor for composing prompts — with or without log variables that can be inserting into prompts via the editor's Log Variables Lookup window — and an editable cascading style sheet for formatting prompt displays.

When clicked, the adjacent AI-WR GPT button invokes the DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT — one of our custom Generative Pretrained Transformers, running in a dedicated ChatGPT® Plus web page — for conducting research about and tasks associated with monitoring and DXing.

Custom Versus Base-Level GPTs

A custom GPT is designed to provide information and perform tasks according to specific instructions. The high-performance DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT is a custom GPT grounded in monitoring and DXing principles and practices.

A base-level GPT is designed to be a Jack of All Trades, providing information and performing tasks without specific instructions and grounding. Examples of base-level GPTs are the free versions of OpenAI® ChatGPT® and Microsoft Windows Copilot®.

Using AI - Web Research GPT Tab Prompts with the DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT

AI - Web Research GPT tab prompts are designed primarily for use with the DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT.

The DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT is connected to the Web and grounded by definitions of the intended user group (radio monitoring enthusiasts), precise specifications of activity scenarios, and explicit guidelines on relevant information sourcing.

This specialized assistant helps you to:

  • Perform real-time research for finding broadcast and utility stations and for gaining insight into rare frequencies and modes. And when you encounter an unknown signal, you can consult the DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT for identification information and decoding assistance for modes such as STANAG 4285, MIL-STD-188-141A (ALE), HFDL, SITOR-B, DSC, and more.
  • Cross-reference frequencies and modes with accessible monitoring databases, DX clusters, and online logs.
  • Resolve difficult IDs, analyze propagation patterns, and identify signal types.
  • Request background information about a station, including its country of origin, ownership, and transmission purpose (for example, broadcast, military, or utility).
  • Generate reception reports — in any language — by submitting prompts containing boilerplate instructions and log variables that supply live data from DXtreme Monitor Log's user interface.

Whether you’re hunting utility stations on 13 MHz or trying to log that elusive HFDL node over the Pacific, DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT will be your best monitoring companion. Just tell it what you want to receive, or ask it what you've just received, and it will dig deeper than any general-purpose AI will.

In this example, after hearing an ALE burst, we started a log entry on the Monitor Log window that included the frequency and transmission mode. On the tab, we located the desired prompt, dragged-and-dropped it onto the Ask anything box on the DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT, and sent it.

Here's part of the information we received. Notice how the GPT protected copyright, and provided a link we could click for additional information.

You must have a paid subscription to ChatGPT® Plus (or greater) to use the DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT. There are many benefits to having a subscription, beyond access to our GPT. Not the least of these are:

  • Enhanced performance whenever you use ChatGPT for any purpose.
  • Access to every custom GPT shared on the Explore GPTs page of ChatGPT.
  • Access to the DXtreme Monitor Log Documentation GPT.

Refer to the OpenAI ChatGPT Product page at https://www.openai.com for more information.

Using AI - Web Research GPT Tab Prompts with a Base-Level, Non-Custom GPT

AI - Web Research GPT tab prompts can be used secondarily with non-custom GPTs, such as base-level ChatGPT or base-level Microsoft Windows Copilot.

The difference is in the results.

For example, we typed this prompt directly into our custom DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT:

Please find STANAG 4285 stations known to transmit IDs in the clear. Be sure to include a few frequencies for each, not just "Various."

We received this response from our Custom GPT:

Excellent response and formatting!

And then we typed the same prompt directly into base-level Copilot.

We received this response:

Pretty darn good, we'd say! Congratulations, Copilot! Other prompts may — or may not — yield similar results.

Another Example: DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT Versus Microsoft Copilot

Let's try a reception report!

After typing program details on the Content tab of Monitor Log 15, we created a prompt containing the appropriate reception report boilerplate text and log variables. The AI - Web Research GPT Tab did the rest by populating the log variables with live data from the Monitor Log window, making the prompt ready for use. We pasted the prompt into DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT, and after clicking the Send button, we received this reception report, suitable for copy-and-pasting into a text editor or e-mail client for sending via snail- or e-mail:

Pasting the same prompt into Copilot generated this reception report:

Both are good, but which is better?

Notes

  • Using the Script Editor window, you can create and edit as many AI - Web Research GPT scripts as you want. Default scripts come with DXtreme Monitor Log 15.
  • To use a base-level GPT, its AI application or web site must be capable of accepting Clipboard Paste operations by means of a context menu or the Shift+Insert keyboard shortcut.

  • DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT is designed for use on Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 11 only.

AI - Documentation GPT Tab

The AI - Documentation GPT tab lets you create, edit, and submit prompts to the DXtreme Monitor Log Documentation GPT, one of our custom Generative Pretrained Transformers running in a dedicated ChatGPT® Plus web page, for acquiring information about and instructions for using DXtreme Monitor Log 15.

DXtreme Monitor Log Documentation GPT is grounded in our internal and external documentation and is disconnected from the Web. It is therefore designed solely for use with AI - Documentation GPT prompts. By comparison, our custom DXtreme Monitor Log Web Research GPT is connected to the Web and instructed to consume radio-related AI – Web Research GPT prompts and return enhanced monitoring information. Both GPTs require a single ChatGPT Plus (or higher) subscription, which provides the following benefits:

  • Enhanced performance whenever you use ChatGPT for any purpose.
  • Access to every custom GPT shared on the Explore GPTs page of ChatGPT.
  • Access to the DXtreme-SL15SE-GPT if you are also using DXtreme Station Log 15SE.

Refer to the OpenAI ChatGPT Product page at https://www.openai.com for more information.

While you can type or speak your prompts directly into DXtreme Monitor Log Documentation GPT, we suggest using the AI - Documentation GPT tab because it lets you:

  • Save the prompts you'll use often.
  • Write, modify, and store prompts for dragging and dropping or copying and pasting into the DXtreme Monitor Log Documentation GPT, along with the optional attachment of Additional Static Prompt/Instruction Text to all prompts copied using the Copy+ button.

Notes

  • Using the Script Editor window, you can create and edit AI - Documentation GPT scripts. Default scripts come with DXtreme Monitor Log 15. You can create as many scripts as you want.
  • AI - Web Research GPT is designed for use on Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 11 only.

AI Tab Controls

Context Menu

The Context menu lets you copy a selected prompt for pasting into the Ask anything box of a GPT without the Additional Static GPT Prompt/Instruction Text applied from Preferences.

Note: If dragging and dropping, the Context menu is not involved. Simply select the prompt, drag it to the GPT, and drop it. As above, without the Additional Static GPT Prompt/Instruction Text applied from Preferences.

File Label

The File label displays the file name of the selected prompt file.

Copy+ Button

The Copy+ button lets you copy a selected prompt for pasting into the Ask anything box of a GPT with the editable Additional Static GPT Prompt/Instruction Text applied from Preferences.

There are advantages to including additional static prompts and instructions, such as greater accuracy and multiple output formats. You can define them on the Browser Links and AI - ML GPT Settings tab of Preferences, including whether the text will be applied before or after the main prompt.

Browse Button

The Browse (...) button lets you select a different prompt file.

Editor Button

The Editor button lets you invoke the Script Editor, which lets you create or modify a prompt file.

CSS Button

The CSS button lets you open the Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) file in Notepad, where you can modify the appearance of the prompt files that appear in the tab. Knowledge of CSS files is required, but easy to attain by consulting the Web.

? Button

The ? button displays general AI help text.

More About Prompts

Remember, your first prompt to any AI application represents the start of a conversation. If the first response does not satisfy you, type or speak subsequent prompts directly into DXtreme Monitor Log Documentation GPT until the conversation is satisfactory. In other words, don't hesitate to ask for more details or clarification.

And if you deem your subsequent prompts to be of value, consider adding them to appropriate prompts within your scripts.

Search and Report Enhancements

(Top of Page)

Criteria Window Added

Search by Criteria (Advanced)

You can now specify a wide range of criteria when performing searches.

Click the Search menu and then Search By Criteria (Advanced). Both the Advanced Search: Stations by Criteria window and the Set Criteria for Advanced Search: Stations by Criteria window appear.

First, specify basic criteria, such as Heard, Verified By, or Not By. Then make selections in the Sort By/Display lists and the Sort Ascending and DX Atlas Map check boxes (if you own a copy of DX Atlas).

Then, in the Set Criteria for Advanced Search window, specify additional criteria.

Click Run. The search results appear. Click to display the desired log entry on the Monitor Log window.

Stations Reports By Criteria

You can also specify a wide range of criteria when running Stations reports.

Click the Reports menu, point to Stations By, and click Criteria. The Stations by Criteria window appears, upon which you can specify basic criteria, including the Fields you want in the report and your Publish options.

When finished, click the Criteria button.

The Set Criteria for Stations by Criteria Report window appears, upon which you specify additional criteria.

When ready, click Run. The Suggested Stations Report Title input box appears, upon which the software displays a partial report title, which identifies the selected class. Following the colon, type a brief description of the additional criteria you specified and click OK. The title appears at the top of the updated Web Report Viewer, as shown in "New Styles for Web Report Viewer Stations Reports" next in this document.

New Styles for Web Report Viewer Stations Reports

The Web Report Viewer has been redesigned in this release. It now lets you click report headings to sort the report in ascending and descending order. You can select from the following formats:

  • Dark Background, White Foreground Text, Green to Red Hyperlinks
  • White Background, Black Foreground Text, Green to Red Hyperlinks

    • Use of older report formats is not supported. You can, however, create your own formats as explained in the documentation.

Performance Reports By Criteria

You can also specify a wide range of criteria when running Performance reports.

Click the Reports menu, point to Performance By, and click Criteria. The Performance by Criteria window appears, upon which you specify basic criteria.

When finished, click the Criteria button.

The Set Criteria for Performance by Criteria Report window appears, upon which you specify the desired report criteria.

When ready, click Run. The Suggested Performance Report Title input box appears, upon which the software displays a partial report title, which identifies the selected class. Following the colon, type a brief description of the additional criteria you specified and click OK. The title appears at the top of the updated Web Report Viewer or report window. As shown in "New Web Report Viewer Styles" next in this document.

Performance Report Window

Here's one of several Performance Report windows.

New Styles for Web Report Viewer Performance Reports

The Web Report Viewer has been redesigned in this release. It now lets you click report headings to sort the report in ascending and descending order. You can select from the following formats:

  • Dark Background, White Foreground Text, Green to Red Hyperlinks
  • White Background, Black Foreground Text, Green to Red Hyperlinks

    • Use of older report formats is not supported. You can, however, create your own formats as explained in the documentation.

Schedule Checker Enhancement

(Top of Page)

Import and Use FCC AM Schedules or FCC FM Schedules

In addition to Aoki, Aoki Userlist, EiBi, and FCC AM schedules, you can now import an FCC FM schedule in place of an FCC AM schedule, and vice versa. In other words, you can import and use only one FCC schedule [AM or FM] at a time.

If you maintain recent copies of the AM and FM FCC schedules on your disk drive, it is easily to switch between them by performing these steps:

  1. On the File menu of the Schedule Checker, point to Import New FCC Schedule (Either AM or FM) and click Import New FCC AM Schedule or Import New FCC FM Schedule as desired.

    2. An Import New Schedule dialog box appears indicating, for the current database, the date of the last import operation and the name of the file imported.

  2. In the Action area of the Import New FCC Schedule dialog box, double-click I Have the Schedule File On My Drive.
  3. Click Update. On the Open Desired Schedule File window, navigate to C:\DXtremeMonitorLog15\Database\ and double click the file of the schedule you want to switch to. Either: amq_formatted.txt or fmq_formatted.txt.

    4. The import operation runs. When finished, you can display the new schedule.

Imaging Enhancement

(Top of Page)

We have moved the controls on the imaging tabs to the left and right on the image display to provide more height at the expense of some width. Keep in mind you can display QSL and Improv images in the Imaging Application whenever you want.

QSL Imaging Window Redesign

Improv Imaging Window Redesign

To Order

(Top of Page)

Click here to order your copy of DXtreme Monitor Log 15.

Click Here to Return Home