PocketBeacon 1.03
for Palm Pilot

Copyright (c) 1997-1999, Chris Terwilliger
all rights reserved

PocketBeacon is FREEWARE.  You may copy or distribute it freely.  You may not
charge money for it.

The NCDXF/IARU Beacons:

The NCDXF/IARU International Beacon Network is a system of 18 CW beacons
located around the world which transmit in sequence with varying power levels
24 hours a day.  They use identical radios, antennas, and GPS receivers to
synchronize their transmissions.  The beacons share specific frequencies on
five amateur bands: 20, 17, 15, 12, and 10 meters.  Each beacon transmits in a
predefined, ten-second window, repeating every three minutes.

For further and more current info, visit the NCDXF/IARU web page at:

http://www.ncdxf.org/beacon.htm


PocketBeacon:

After aquiring a PalmPilot, I started looking for applications to explore the
capabilities of the PalmPilot and this seemed like a perfect match.  Similar
applications that run on DOS/Windows can be found at the above website.
I intend to port this application to the WindowsCE platform as well.

NOTICE:  Because of math library limitations, PocketBeacon only runs on version
2.0 ROMS.  In addition, you must have MathLib installed on your PalmPilot.
Mathlib is included in this distribution if you do not already have it.
For further info on MathLib go to:  http://www.probe.net/~rhuebner/mathlib.html

PocketBeacon displays a real-time list of the last, current and next beacon
scheduled to transmit on the selected band and updates this list every ten
seconds as the transmitting station changes. Information displayed for each
station includes the callsign, short path distance in Kilometers, and short
path beam heading.

Installation:

Included in the distribution is:

1.  PocketBeacon.txt (this file)
2.  MathLib.prc
3.  PocketBeacon.prc

Use the standard PalmPilot installation procedure to install MathLib (if you
need it) and PocketBeacon.  The first time you start PocketBeacon, go to the
settings page and set your local latitude, longitude, and UTC offset.

Since the beacon system depends on precise sequencing of the beacon schedule,
PocketBeacon will only be as accurate as your PalmPilot's clock.  Set it
carefully from WWV or other time standard.

PocketBeacon Controls:

Frequency	Select the frequency by tapping a frequency button or using the
		pilot's up and down buttons.

Settings	This button opens the Settings dialog.

		Enter your latitude as degrees and decimal fractions of a degree
		(DD.ddd) and select either the North or South latitude button.

		Enter your longitude as degrees and decimal fractions of a degree
		(DDD.ddd) and select either the West or East longitude button.
	
		degrees(decimal) = degrees + (minutes/60) + (seconds/3600)

		Enter the UTC offset time as the time difference between your
		computer's system clock and UTC time in hours (HH) and select
		either the + (west of UTC) or - (east of UTC) button.


Updates:

Updates will be made available as beacons change or are added.  New feature
suggestions are welcome as well as bug reports.  Send all comments to:  

Chris Terwilliger, AA7WD
520 SW 63rd Terrace
Plantation, FL  33317

aa7wd@bellsouth.net
http://personal.mia.bellsouth.net/~aa7wd


Revision History

1.03	12-Feb-1999  Fixed floating point errors that caused lat/lon settings
		     to be corrupted.
		     Added Russia & China beacons and updated other beacons

1.02    18-Jan-1998  Fixed UTC offset >= 10 bug
		     Added hardware up/down buttons to frequency selector

1.01	15-Oct-1997  Fixed noPreferenceFound bug that pops up first time user
		     goes to settings form

1.00	13-Oct-1997  Initial release