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| Version 3.0 (10-08-2010) |  |
As some of you probably already know, RS232 is a standard for serial data communication. The well-known serial interfaces which can be used with PDW don't use the RS232 standard. This is the main reason why additional drivers are needed (comprt.vxd or slicer.sys) and why Serial<>USB converters are useless. These converters don't only convert the hardware, they also convert the RS232 data to USB-level.
Along with a friend of mine, who builds 2 and 4-level interfaces, as well as discriminator taps, an RS232 interface has been developed, especially for PDW, which does use the RS232 standard. No more drivers are needed, which can solve problems with serial PCMCIA cards, and the interface also allows conversion to USB.
Below are the modes/bitrates which are currently being supported:
Using two DIP switches on the interface, 4 data speeds can be selected:
This means that ERMES and ACARS are not supported and when Flex and Pocsag are combined on one network, only one mode can be decoded at once. Only a combined Pocsag 1200/2400 network can be decoded without having to change settings.
More on this RS232 interface can be found on : http://www.discriminator.nl/rs232/index-en.html
In the Interface Setup window the data's polarity could be inverted, or set to Auto. This automatic detection will now allways be used, you can't select a manual setting anymore.
One of the things which could be found in the Debug window (F12) was the RX-Quality (decoding quality). This value is now being shown below the signal indicator and is an indicator for decoding errors. These errors can be either visible (garbled messages or coloured characters), or invisible (corrected by the error correction). If the signal is strong enough (without noise), an RX-Quality of 100% should be possible.
| Version 2.60 (24-03-2010) | |
The filters.ini layout has been changed. The numbering has been removed and the FilterCount is not more than an indication.
Loading of the filters should be a bit faster, maybe only noticable on slower systems.
7-digit capcodes can now also be saved without two preceding zeros.
When searching for "duplicate filters", PDW will keep on running on the background.
After searching a filter, F3 could be used to find the next filter. SHIFT-F3 can now be used to search backwards.
The default SMTP port number is 25. You can no also define a custom port number.
The word wrap option has been removed. Internally it is now allways enabled, except when monitoring Mobitex.
The two icones to open/close the logfile are merged into one icon. This will open the Logfile Dialog in which the logfile can be enabled or disabled. ALT-L can be use as shortcut to this dialog.
| Version 2.53 (11-01-2009) | |
Before, at the second click the text below the mouse cursor would be selected, unregarding the position of the first click. Both clicks should be at the exact same position, otherwise you can rapidly click on two different words, causing the second to be selected. Should be fixed now.
The double click speed in PDW was fixed, although you can set the double click speed in Windows' Control Panel. This timer is a bit different than the timers in PDW, but I've tried to use about the same time for double clicks in PDW.
I've made several changes in the Find Filter window. When this window will be closed after searching, you can use F3 to search again, using the same search string.
Because of above change, but also on request, PDW will remember the the 'Case Sensitive' selection for as long as it runs. Before, the selection would disappear when the Find Filter window was closed.
The option 'Search while Typing' has been removed. PDW will now allways search while typing. Also, the number of hits will appear, the number of times the search string appears in the filters. This number will be updated after each key stroke.
Some extra keys can be used in the Filter window. As in other software, the space bar will scroll down, just like the 'PageDown' key. If you wanted to delete a non-consequetive number of filters, this was possible with the 'Delete' button, but not with the 'Delete' key, which should be fixed now. The 'Enter' key would close the Filter window, but now the selected filter will be opened for editing. I don't think you will have to use the mouse often anymore.
| Version 2.52 (12-10-2008) | |
Besides the date formats DD-MM-YY and MM-DD-YY you can now also select YY-MM-DD. (Options -> General)
Once again, a little change regarding this option. It seemed desirable to block duplicate messages in the filter window also. Before, PDW only checked for duplicate messages in the monitor window, which could cause situations like this :
Nothing would be blocked in the monitor window, the first and last message are no duplicate because of the middle one. If you wanted to filter Message-1 (code 1234567), but not Message-2 (code 7654321), Message-1 would appear twice in the filter window. This is solved now, a separate comparison will be made for filtered messages. The only oddity could be that the second instance of Message-1 would appear in het monitor window, but not in the filter window, causing the message to be blocked "partially". However, this change will lead to less duplicated messages in the filter window.
| Version 2.51 (16-08-2008) | |
Mobitex Base-IDs
In the previous version I've made lots of changes regarding Mobitex. Unfortunately, I've made a little mistake in decoding the BaseIDs, causing them to be displayed wrongly. So if you have already started collecting IDs of base stations in your area, I'm afraid that you will have to start all over again :-(
With a double (left) mouse click you can now select a word or address, which you can add to the clipboard using CTRL-C (or a right click and 'Copy Selection'), so you can easily paste it somewhere else.
Regarding this option, I received a request to only check the message text. Before, PDW compared -if this option was enabled- the current address and message with those of the previous. If there was a match, the second would not be displayed. However, it seemed desirable if only the message text could be compared, so consecutive messages with the same text, but different addresses, could also be blocked.
Next to the option 'Block Duplicate Messages' you will now find 'Only check message text' which will make PDW only check the message text.
Regardless of this change, the option 'Block Duplicate Messages' blocked a bit too much in Mobitex. Messages with the same MAN, but different TYPEs would also be blocked. This would only occur with so-called status messages when the Mobitex option 'Verbose' was enabled.
If the Mobitex option 'Verbose' was enabled, status messages and sweep frames (containing base station information) would appear. Sweep Frames can now be showed apart from status messages. In the Options window you will now find 'Show Sweep Frames (BaseInfo)' next to 'Verbose'.
| Version 2.5 (19-07-2008) | |
In the previous versions I already made the first changes regarding Mobitex. This version contains only Mobitex changes. Not everyone likes to monitor Mobitex, since most data is unreadable. But I discovered that lots of issues were decoded wrongly.
MANs
Already in the previous version, I was wondering how the 'messages' were addressed. Every message (package of data) has to have a destination, the receiver has to know what data is his, and what isn't.
Mobitex seems to use MANs (Mobitex Access Numbers), 7-digit numbers which can represent the destination and also the sender. In all previous versions this data was already visible, but was displayed as the first part of the data. This first part is in fact a header, which contains the MANs, datatype, amount of data and can also contain controlling and network information.
Both MANs will now be displayed, along with the data type. This means that I had to get rid of 3 other items, allowing the new items to be displayed. Frame and Bit Sync have been moved to the title bar and you will not find CRC information anymore. On the one hand, the CRC OK/BAD was based on wrong information, sometimes it would show OK when the message contained errors, or BAD when the messages seemed OK. On the other hand, the RX-Quality (F12) should offer enough information about bit- and CRC errors. Also, the RX-Quality for Mobitex has been improved a bit, so it should be more reliable.
Data Types
Mobitex supports 4 different data types :
By default, they will all be shown. You can enable/disable these items in the Options window (CTRL-O). TEXT should mostly contain readable text, I've never actually seen the type STATUS myself, and DATA and HPDATA mostly contain unreadable data, with sometimes a little bit of readable text. HPDATA stands for Higher Protocol DATA, which allows the user to use their own data protocol. The decimal identification of this protocol (HPID) can be displayed by enabling "Show HPID" in the Options Window.
Mobitex Packets (MPAK)
Like GSM and other cell switched networks, a radio device doesn't only communicate with another device, but also with the network. After all, when switching on a device, it sends a notification, so the network knows that this device is available and via which base station the data has to be sent. These "Mobitex Packets" (MPAK) can be enabled via the Options window.
Controlling / network information
Since Mobitex is two-way traffic, things as acknowlegdements also need to be transmitted. These are very short messages, which also were displayed in a wrong way. I don't want to go into this too deeply, but you can enable this type of information by enabling "Verbose" in the Options Window.
People who already monitor will certainly know the periodic, long and unreadable messages which always seem to contain about the same data. Again, a wrong interpretation, in fact these are so-called "Sweep Frames" which can contain network parameters, or neighbour channel information.
Unfortunately, I don't know the exact meaning of all parameters, but what gets to be shown in the new version comes a lot closer to reality. What also should be displayed correctly are the neighbour channels. Again, like in other digital networks, each base station transmits his neighbour channels once in a while. This offers the mobile stations to periodically check these neighbours to see if one of these signals becomes stronger than the current base station. This prevents the mobile from checking all available channels, which of course takes a lot more time.
Base-IDs
Once again, like in other digital networks, each base station transmits its own unique identification. Mobitex uses so-called Base and Area-IDs. These two will be shown in the title bar as one hexadecimal ID. When knowing the exact location of different base stations, this ID can let you know on which base station you are currently tuned. It would be even better if it would be possible to link a name to these IDs, well that is possible! The file base-ids.txt offers the possiblity to enter BaseIDs and a label, such as the location.
Junk at the end of messages
More or less a bugfix, but again a bad (or missing) interpretation. The earlier mentioned headers also contain the length of a message. Since Mobitex data is transmitted in blocks, the last characters of the last block would be filled with junk characters. Now, knowing the exact amount of data, this issue should be solved.
| Version 2.4 (16-03-2008) | |
In previous versions the mode/type/bitrate column could be hidden. This option is now replaced by Display -> Screen Options which allows you to enable/disable any column in any order you like. Ofcourse, one column can only be selected once and at least the message column has to be visable.
For FLEX networks which use dynamic groupcalls the options Use "FLEX Group Mode" and "Log groupcodes, but don't show them" can be selected. But as far as I know, dynamic groupcalls are only used in Holland.
Using the commandfile external software can be called. The number of characters which could be sent through the command line had a certain limitation, but should now be encreased.
Also the commandfile can now be used with monitor-only messages. Before, this was only possible with filtered messages.
Through the years I received lots of questions if it would be possible to run 2 sessions of PDW via two serial ports. The problem is that a VXD-driver can only be loaded once, on one serial port. It has to be possible to install Slicer.sys more than once, but somehow this also doesn't seem to work. However, someone tipped me that the driver Slicer.vxd (originally used with other software) could possibly be used for the second comport. After some testing this seemed to work, and after renaming it to Comprt2.vxd, PDW would automatically use this second driver if the first (Comprt.vxd) was already loaded on an other serial port. In this way it is now possible to run two PDW sessions using two comports with W98 or ME.
All those years Mobitex didn't change a bit. Recently I noticed that not all characters were being displayed. PDW would skip non-printable ASCII (ASCII-31 and below). In fact, these characters are "non-printable" and shouldn't be displayed, but it seems that these characters are being used differently in Mobitex, causing some messages to be displayed shorter than they should be. In this version these non-printable ASCII is being replaced by other characters so all messages will keep their original length.
Also, the RX-Quality should now be more correct in Mobitex.
Since FLEX messages are being sent in 'frames' (numbered data blocks), there is a maximum number of characters that can be sent in one single frame. If the network needs to send lots of messages at once, it can happen that one message can not be completed in one single frame, causing the messages to be split in two (or more) parts which will be sent in a next frame. If this happens, the message is 'fragmented'.
When receiving such a message on a pager, you normally wouldn't notice this, because in most cases the second part will be received before you are able to read the message. When monitoring with PDW, it would seem that one capcode is receiving more than one message, because the fragmentation-bit is not being displayed.
In this version, some additional information will be displayed when receiving the second (or third/fourth) part of a message, so it is more clear that you are receiving a fragmented message :
| Version 2.3 (19-12-2007) | |
By request I added a - and + button in the Filter Edit Window which allows you to make a quicIn thisk jump to the next or previous filter. You need to push "Apply" first, if you want t o keep the changes.
Some users could already use the mousewheel to scroll through the received messages. This depended on the mouse driver. For those who couldn't use the mousewheel before, it should be possible now. Also there is a new option within "Scrollback", which allows you to determine the scrolling speed.
Using the commandfile, users can execute external programs via the commandline. The maximum number of characters which could be used as commandline command seemed a bit too short for longer messages. This limit has been increased to such an extent that I don't expect any more problems.
The commandfile can now also be used for monitor-only messages too. Before, the commandfile was only enabled for filtered messages.
Now and then I receive reports that PDW sometimes stops decoding after a while, when using the serial port. In some cases, the needle keeps on moving, but no more messages would appear. In other cases, the needle stops and in those cases it would be possible to reactivate decoding by selecting the soundcard, then reselecting the serial port. I tried to detect this "stop" and give PDW an interal reset if detected. If this ever happens, the counter "# of VXD resets" in the Debug Window should keep track of it.
If you ever see any other number than 0, please let me know...
In version 2.15, I introduced "mutiple separate filter files", which allowed you to enter up to 3 separate filter files for each filter. When pusing "more", an extra edit control would appear and the pushbuttons below would move automatically a bit lower. As this didn't always seem to work correctly, all three controls are now visible, but read only. To enter a file, you'll need to select one via the browse button, which also allows you to enter a new filename.
Since the introduction of SMTP, I received lots of requests for separate SMTP so one can select per filter whether it should be emailed. Finally, this is possible! In the Mail Window (CTRL-M) you'll need to select "Selected Filters Only". Then the "Send Email" checkbox will be enabled in the Edit Filter Window.
Sometimes I get reports that some POCSAG messages aren't displayed correctly. The problem is that POCSAG messages don't contain the actual message type. Only the network and the pager(s) both know for sure the correct message type.
According to the POCSAG specifications the function bits should be used as :
Unfortunately, some networks don't stick to these specifications and use the function bits differently, which makes it a bit more difficult to determine the correct message type.
Tone-Only messages will always be displayed correctly, as they are just an "empty message". Also, longer messages will also be displayed correctly, as there is a limit to the maximum number of numeric characters, making all longer messages alphanumeric.
The most difficult messages are those which are shorter than the maximum number of numeric characters, they can be numeric or alphanumeric. PDW uses some tricks to "guess" whether a message is numeric or alphanumeric. In most cases PDW makes the right decision, but unfortunately sometimes a alphanumeric message gets to be displayed as numeric, or numeric messages as alphanumeric.
Some examples of incorrecty displyed messages :
| 0007210 | 23:16:45 29-10-07 | NUMERIC | 1U 5]27830 |
| 0600000 | 22:50:59 29-10-07 | NUMERIC | 0UU- *64U91 000 |
| 0611289 | 22:52:26 29-10-07 | NUMERIC | 1U85 00000 |
| 0164986 | 13:14:17 08-12-07 | NUMERIC | ]3[95[99 161U91 42397 300 |
| 0116896 | 02:01:14 05-11-07 | ALPHA | ?n |
| 0115875 | 02:01:14 05-11-07 | ALPHA | E? |
| 0122088 | 02:01:16 05-11-07 | ALPHA | ?” |
| 0115875 | 02:01:24 05-11-07 | ALPHA | !2 |
Above messages should have been displayed as :
| 0007210 | 23:16:45 29-10-07 | ALPHA | 19998 |
| 0600000 | 22:50:59 29-10-07 | ALPHA | 0735430 |
| 0611289 | 22:52:26 29-10-07 | ALPHA | 111 |
| 0164986 | 13:14:17 08-12-07 | ALPHA | >>VOICEMAIL<< |
| 0116896 | 02:01:14 05-11-07 | NUMERIC | 41730 |
| 0115875 | 02:01:14 05-11-07 | NUMERIC | 54900 |
| 0122088 | 02:01:16 05-11-07 | NUMERIC | 01110 |
| 0115875 | 02:01:24 05-11-07 | NUMERIC | 12910 |
One of my (American) users explained to me a bit more about the pocsag protocol and gave me some tips which allow PDW to correctly display 95% of the messages, which means that only 5% needs to be "guessed". Lots of tests showed that accuracy is now about 99%, which is a huge improvement from the previous version's 90-95% accuracy!
Despite the improved accuracy I added a new option which allows PDW to decode the 4 function numbers as prescribed in the pocsag protocol specifications. In the Pocsag part of the Options (CTRL-O) you will find the new option "Decode function numbers allways as default (1=Numeric 2=Tone 3=Tone 4=Alphanumeric)". Please be sure to know that your network uses the function numbers as 'NTTA', otherwise some messages would be displayed incorrectly after all...
For those networks which don't use the function numbers as prescribed, there is also a new option in Pocsag Options : "If PDW can't make an accurate guess, display message both as numeric and alphanumeric". This will cause messages being both numeric and alphanumeric 100% valid to be displayed as numeric and alphanumeric. Logically, those messages would also be counted twice in the statistics although actually one message was received. Anyhow, in those cases you can be sure that as least one of the two messages is correct :-). When displaying a message twice, they will be 'grouped', using an empty line before and after these two messages, also if the "separate messages" option is disabled.
| Version 2.2 (23-08-2007) | |
I'm very sorry to announce that from now on PDW doesn't support HTML and FTP anymore. Those options were originally meant to give the PDW users better access to their log files, since plain text files don't support colors and HTML files do. Also, you could access the HTML logging on a local network or on the internet, protected with a password. Nowadays, there are lots of public online PDW monitors which was never my intention. Although PDW users are responsible for republishing paging messages, I decided to end HTML and FTP support.
By ending HTML and FTP support the (public) online PDW monitors will not disappear automatically. I just want to bring to ones attention that public publishing is not really what I had in mind when I started HTML and FTP.
However, who really wants to continue the HTML logging, you could use the external command file. I have ZERO experience with HTML logging outside of PDW, so I can't (and will not) give any support on this particular subject, but it is possible!
The external program PDW-Filter.exe was written to edit and reorder the list of filters (and some extra options), but when most of these options were integrated in PDW, we stopped PDW-Filter.exe. I received some requests that some were missing the option of checking for duplicate filters, which PDW-Filter offered them. PDW-Filter only compared capcodes, and since you can use more than one filter with the same capcode (but with different text filters), my first thought was that it might be difficult to make a good comparison. Later, I thought of comparing both capcode and text filter. If both are equal, we have a duplicate, and one of the filters can be removed.
In the filters dialog (CTRL-F) you can access this new option with the right mouse button (or with CTRL-O). Only two duplicates at once can be displayed, if there are more than 2 equal filters you'll just have to check again. If PDW finds a duplicate, both filters and their labels will be displayed. Those filters are clickable so PDW can display them in the filter window and you can decide which one has to be removed.
Especially when the filters are 'grouped' per user and the label colors per user are the same, I thought it would be nice to display the label colors in the filter window. The background would get the same color as the main PDW background (default=black) and the filter items the color of the filter labels. At first it might look a bit too colorful, but I got used to it myself after using it for a few days. When scrolling, you can see in just a glimpse which user(s) the filters belong to and also if a filter label might have the wrong color.
By default this option is enabled, but if you'd rather not use it, it can be disabled via the Filters window (CTRL-F) -> Options -> uncheck the "Show label colors also in filter window" box.
Just like in the filters window the filter label colors will also be displayed in the filter edit window, in the "Color" box. Again, the background has the same color as the main PDW background (default=black) and the color names will be colored just as their name so you can see in one glimpse what that particular color would look like on the PDW background.
I've made up a nice name for this new option which arised out of the changed lay-out of some messages on one of my local paging networks. If you want to filter messages which contain the words "call" and "asap", but these words are not connected like "Call 012-3456789 asap" or "Call the office asap", it wouldn't be possible to filter those messages rather on the word "Call" or "asap".
To make filtering possible on words which don't connect, you can now filter on strings like "call&asap". The &-character indicates that the first and second string can appear separately, but can also be connected. You can use the &-character up to 9 times in one filter, so you can filter on 10 strings at once.
| Version 2.16 (01-02-2007) | |
PDW now offers the possibility to minimize to the systemtray, so it won't be visible anymore in the taskbar. PDW can stay in the tray untill you doubleclick the tray icon, or it can restore automatically when a certain message is received.
Via the menuitem 'Display' you'll find the Systemtray settings :
If you don't want PDW to restore automatically, only select the first option. Else, you can also select the second option and choose one of the 3 options below.
| Version 2.15 (11-01-2007) | |
In this version, the option is now selectable for the filterwindow and the separate filterfiles : Options (CTRL-O) -> General.
Before, only the message text was compared to determine if an empty line was needed. Now you can select if you want to check message&time or only the message. Again : Options (CTRL-O) -> General.
This "empty lines option" has also been improved a bit. When using "date log files" a new log file will be created automatically when the first message of a new day is received. In the previous version that new log file would start with an empty line. Also, PDW won't show an empty line on the screen after the screen has been cleared (CTRL-D).
In the previous option I already mentioned 'clear screen'. In this version you can choose whether you want to clear only the monitor window, the filter window of both windows. By default, both windows are selected.
As in almost every update, the CAPCODE.WAV has been changed a bit.
Now PDW uses priorities which allow to 'override' an already playing wavfile :
If the priorities are the same, the length of the new file will be used to decide whether the playing file will be stopped. A larger file will have a higher priority and will stop a smaller file.
Normally, all messages would be displayed in the monitor window, and the filtered messages also in the filtered pane. Now you can select whether you want to see a filtered message in both panes, or only in the filter window, which causes the 'normal' messages and filtered messages to be fully separated. Filters (CTRL-F) -> Options.
Via Display -> Scrollback the size of the monitor and filterpane can be defined.
When pressing F11 these sizes will be switched.
When using SMTP, you can now select other character sets. Before, a default 7-bits ASCII charset was used, which didn't recognize special characters like "üôöâ". The default charset is now ISO-8859-1 (West-European).
You can select these character sets :
Sometimes it can be usefull to filter based on text, but only if that text is the first part of the message :
| 1420076 | 08:59:55 24-08-06 | kunnen jullie een a1 doen? |
Sorry for the Dutch example, but on my local network, lots of messages start with "A1". In this example you will find "A1" in the middle of the message, and when filtering on "A1", this message will also be filtered. I added the possibility to add the ^ character before the filtered text, which forces PDW only to filter that text if it is the first part of the message. In the above example, you would have to filter on ^A1 in the filter "text" field.
The ^ character can also be used in capcode.wav file names. In the example above you can use this file name when filtering the capcode '1420076' and text '^A1' : 1420076-^A1.wav
I received lots of requests for the possibility to define more than one separate filterfile. From this version you can define up to 3 separate filterfiles per filter. When adding/editting a filter, you will see the button 'more' next to the separate filterfile. When clicking this button, you can enter an extra file.
When using lots of wavfiles, it can sometimes be usefull only to hear files played by filtered messages. Via the option "Filterbeep" you can also enable the sounds for filtered messages only. Just like the multiple edit, this box has now 3 options :
| Version 2.14 (22-02-2006) | |
Normally, the PDW version and current mode would appear in the titlebar. When monitoring FLEX / ERMES it was already possible to see some extra information : the cycles/frames.
From this version, you can select 2 extra options (via Options, CTRL-O), to get some extra information in the titlebar :
Again, the CAPCODE.WAV has changed a bit. Before, a code had to be filtered if you wanted the capcode.wav to be played. Now this also works for monitor-only filters.
On some networks, more than one ric/capcode gets to receive the same message. PDW now has the option to add an empty line when the current messages differs from the previous message. In this way, all messages with the same text are being 'grouped' and offers better readability. The option "Add linefeed after ALPHA/GROUP messages" can be found in Options (CTRL-O) and can be separately activated for the monitor and the log file. This only works for alphanumeric and group messages.
PDW now displays all available soundcards in the Setup (CTRL-S) and the user can select which soundcard to use for data input.
I've received several emails in which people tell me that they are not able to change the font. Actually, this IS possible, but if PDW detects that the characters will become too large to fit in their columns, the change of font is ignored. I can see that users could think that this is some kind of bug, but it is, in fact, protection to ensure maximum readability.
From now on, the selectable font sizes are limited, and when selecting a font size which would cause the characters to become too large, the user will receive a messagebox with a warning.
I allways thought that the filters in the filter window were a bit messy. The characters used a non-proportional font, which caused one character being larger than the other. This caused not all filters to line up as they should. PDW tried to display all filter options in columns, but that didn't really work out.
Now, the filter window uses a proportional font, so all characters have the same size and all filters line up correctly with all filter options being displayed in 'columns'.
Some screen resolutions caused a horizontal scrollbar to appear in the filter window. Other resolutions caused the filter line to be cut off before the end of the line. Now, in all resolutions, the full line length will be used and "..." will be displayed at the end of the line if the line is too long to display completely.
Also, the current selected filter is being displayed in the titlebar (capcode/label/text).
In the filter window, you can now perform a multiple edit. All filter options will be checked, and for example, if all filters are monitor-only, this box will be checked. If some filters are monitor-only, and others aren't, this box will be grayed meaning that it will be ignored when changing the selected filters. You can still check this box so selected filters will become monitor-only.
In this way, all checkboxes (as well as the colors, sounds and separate filterfile) can ben changed for all selected filters at once. The capcode/labe/text cannot be changed via multiple edit.
| Version 2.13 (27-08-2005) | |
After some requests it is now possible to hide the column containing mode, type and bitrate information, creating more space for the messages. This option Hide "Mode / Type / Bitrate" column can be found in Options (CTRL-O)
The size of the filterwindow (CTRL-F) was only fullscreen when using 800x600 resolution. In lower resolutions the window would become to big, in higher resolutions it would be a bit too small. From this version on, the size of the filterwindow (and the buttons) will be resolution dependant.
The filterwindow (CTRL-F) now contains an find-option. You can enter a search string (capcode or label) and PDW will search in the list of filters for possible matches. When found, you can jump to the next by simply hitting "enter". This Find-option can be found via the button "Find", the right mouse button or CTRL-F in the filterwindow (yes, twice CTRL-F :) When using the find option in the browser FireFox, I noticed that it already starts searching when typing, and this inspired me to make the same option in PDW. When selecting "Search while typing", PDW will do the same and this option will be saved in PDW.INI for future use.
| Version 2.12 (07-03-2005) | |
I got a request for an option which makes it possible to filter pages only when the filter text exactly matches the received message. Before, you could use the text filter "fire" and filter messages like "fire, please call..". With this new option the message only has to be "fire" before it will be filtered.
Now, multiple emailaddresses can be used. There is no limit dor the numer of addresses, but there is a limit of 500 for the number of characters. Since most addresses are about 20 characters long, you can now enter about 25 emailaddresses. The addresses can be seperated with either , or ;
It is now possible to choose if the message will be put in the subject, the body or both.
| Version 2.11 (20-01-2005) | |
I got a request from someone who would like to use wavfiles for filters which contain a capcode and text. When filtering the code 1234567 and the text "fire", you can use the file "1234567.wav", but from this version on, you can make it more specific by using "1234567-fire.wav". In this way, you can use "1234567-accident" for the same capcode and "1234567.wav" for all messages which don't contain those 2 words.
| Version 2.1 (30-12-2004) | |
The filter window (CTRL-F) is now only being used for the list of filters. All other options have been moved to a seperate window which can be accessed via the "Options" button.
Via the Filter "Options" button you can define the default filter type (POCSAG, FLEX, etc). When adding a new filter, the default filtertype will automatically be selected.
Logging labels in the monitor-section was already possible, this can now also be enabled/disabled for separate filter files.
Also you can define if the label has to be placed on the same line as the message, or on a new line.
I received some requests for this option. On some networks, the same message seems to be transmitted several times, and if you get to see the message once, that'll be enough. Blocking duplicate messages is only possible if the last message (and capcode) is the same as the current message (and capcode), example :
In this example, the messages 1, 2 and 4 are the same. 1 and 2 are adjacent, so 2 will be blocked. Message 4 is the same again, but is being preceded by a different message, so none of these 2 will be blocked. Also 5 and 6 are the same, so message 6 will be blocked. So, in this example the messages 2 and 6 will not be displayed. "Block duplicate messages" can be found in the Options window (CTRL-O).
It was already possible to define a separate wavfile for each capcode (CAPCODE.WAV), but now you can also define a wavfile for a filter which contains a wildcard. In stead of a questionmark, an 'x' has to be used. Example: The capcode 1234567 is being filtered via the filter '001234???'. The file 1234xxx.wav can be used together with this filter. As you can see, the preceding zero's are not needed.
Preceding zero's are also not needed anymore for the CAPCODE.WAV. When receiving and filtering the code 1234567, the file 1234567.wav can be used. When 1234567 is being filtered via the filter '001234???, PDW will first seek for the code specific file 1234567.wav, if not found, it will seek for 1234xxx.wav, if also not found, the selected soundx.wav will be played.
After several requests, it is now also possible to reject text strings, or capcode+text. Also, the hitcounter will keep track of the number of hits (and time/date of the last hit) for rejected filters.
Some FLEX paging networks broadcast the 'FlexTIME', which contains the current date and time, which can be used by the pagers, so time and date don't have to be set manually. It took some time to discover the FlexTIME format, but we did it. From this version on, the FlexTIME can be used to correct the PC systemtime.
This option can be found in the Options window (CTRL-O). First, PDW has to detect the FlexTIME. If not detected, the option will be disabled. If the option stays disabled, the FlexTIME is apparently not being used on that particular network. If used, the option can be selected and the system time will be checked/adjusted every hour.
One of the new options in the previous version was "monitor_only.wav". One sound for alle messages which are being filtered as monitor-only. This sound can now be enabled/disabled for each filter. Default, the monitor_only.wav is disabled. If you were using this sound, you'll have to enable this 'new' option for all desired filters.
| Version 2.0 (10-11-2004) | |
At last, we can offer a driver for Win2K / XP.
Use "install.exe" to install the "slicer.sys" driver. Reboot, and the comport can be used! Unfortunately this driver doesn't work for the NT operating system.
The program PDW-Filter.exe was written to edit and reorder the list of filters, but from this version on, all extra options are added to PDW. Using the mouse, filters can be dragged/dropped. CTRL-A can be used to select all filters to sort them by capcode or description (right mouse button). CTRL-C & CTRL-V can be used to copy a filter, these options are also available via the right mouse button. When copying a filter, the hitcounter can be reset to start counting over again.
The number of label colors has been extended to 16.
Some pagingnetworks are used by public safety. In some cases, the last digits of a capcode are similar to the number of the ambulance/firetruck which is being paged. On the Dutch P2000 network the last 2 (or 3) digits mostly match the ambulance number. In this case, it could be usefull if a single filter with wildcard can be used, and the last digits being placed in the label. To do this, make a filter like :
Capcode : 10230?? (wildcard) , Label : "Ambulance %67"
When receiving a page for capcode 1023024, you will get this label :
"Ambulance 24"
The digits following the '%' represent the positions within the capcode which have to be placed in the label. The 6 and 7 in this example represent the last 2 digits : 24.
Before, there were only 3 selectable pane sizes, 35%, 50% and 65%. Now you can enter all values between 20 and 80%.
Again, we fixed some minor ACARS bugs, the layout has been improved, updated df-files are available, and PDW can also provide some extra information on the flight-route, using 'routes.df'.
It is also possible to filter on registry numbers.
I received some requests regarding the name of the log files. If they are completely numeric, the order will allways be 'correct' when sorting by name. In Options (CTRL-O), you can select "use monthnumber for log file names".
Default, the log files will be placed in the directory "log files". This directory can now manually be changed via Options (CTRL-O).
I thought that it could be usefull to hear a sound when a Monitor-Only page is being received. Not a selectable sound, but one sound for all Monitor-Only filters. When a message matches a Monitor-Only filter, PDW will play "monitor_only.wav", which has to be placed in tjhe directory "Wavfiles". If not found, no sound will be played.
| Version 1.24 (18-08-2004) | |
When I added the "TYPE"-column for Flex/Pocsag, the number of columns and their size differed per mode. Now, I've combined the columns "mode/type/bitrate" to 1 column. The option "Hide TYPE-column" is now removed. If you already used the type-column, you will now gain a few characters per line. If not, you will lose a few... By making this change, all modes have now the same amount of columns, and their sizes are the same in all modes.
In Mobitex you could select the option to see CRC-information. After the changed columns there was a little extra space and now this information is always displayed in the column "Bit Sync / Bitrate / CRC, and therefore this option has been removed.
The maximum length of the filter-label and filter-tekst has increased a bit :
| Version 1.23 (15-08-2004) | |
This option can be activated via (CTRL-O). When receiving long messages, the words which doesn't fit on the line will be moved to the next line, so you won't see anymore half words.
Before :
Wordwrap enabled :
On some networks, som users use the » character, which seems to represent a linefeed. I have no idea how this looks like on a pager, but with de Linefeed-option enabled (via CTRL-O) these characters will be converted to linefeeds.
Before :
Linefeeds enabled :
Because every linefeed will need a new line, the screen will be filled very rapidly when receiving several messages which contain the linefeed character. Because of that, this option will only used by the monitor-pane.
The ERMES layout has changed a bit, and just like in Pocsag and Flex, you will find the Type-column, which will indicate the type of the received messages.
The ACARS layout has also changed, all message fields will appear in 'little columns', which will provide better readability.
I've made some changes to the filtering routine. Before, each message would first be checked for capcode message, and after that for text-match. Now both checks will be done at once, so the priority of filters would have to be better. The higher a filter is in the list (the lower the filter-number in filters.ini), the higher the priority. This already had to work in the previous version, but I received some complaints that this priority didn't always work right. I'm quite sure that this has to work correctly now.
Also, PDW would stop searching for filters after the first match. Normally that would be correct, but when using several filters with the same capcode, combined with different textfilters, not all filters would be found:
Both filters will look for the code 1234567, but both want to find a different text in the message. The old version would only find the first filter, but when "fire" wasn't in the message, it would stop searching. From this version, PDW will keep on searching until a 100% match will be found :
When the message contains "traffic accident", filter-2 will be a 100% match and filter-3 will never be found. I'm afraid I can't do anything about that, PDW already made a big progression ;-)
Normally, PDW would log the messages exactly like the appear on the screen, including all extra spaces. From this version on, you can select which columns you want be logged. Via ALT-O for the monitored log file and CTRL-F for the filterfile. The columns for the filterfile will also be used by the separate filterfiles :
Before, messages would be logged like this :
When logging only the columns 1,2,3,7 it will look like this :
Like this, more characters will fit on one line and the log files will be better readable.
| Version 1.22 (02-07-2004) | |
Besides the normal filters, you can also define "monitor-only" filters. A monitor-only filter will not actually appear in the filter and play a wavfile, it will only place the description in the monitor window. On the screen, and also in the log files, filtered and monitored descriptions can be distinguished via the strokes:
The Filter hit-counter will also keep track of monitor-only filters.
Someone asked me if it would be possible to define a separate description color per filter. I thought that might be a good idea, and now you can define 8 different colors. The default color can still be used, and changed via the Colors-Window (Display -> Colors).
Just like PocFlex, PDW can now display the FLEX cycle/frame information (in the titlebar).
This can be defined via the Options-window (CTRL-O).
Messages were logged as displayed on the screen, from this version messages will be on one line, only the filter descriptions will be on a separate line.
The layout of the Options-window (CTRL-O) has changed due to some extra options.
The Dutch 'P2000' FLEX network uses mostly groupcalls. To see which capcodes are being paged within a groupcall (capcodes 2029568-2029583) the short instruction vector has been implemented in an earlier version of PDW:
The only 'problem' was that you only got to see the text along with the groupcode, so you couldn't filter the actual capcodes separately from the groupcode. From this version, it is possible to convert the short instructions to a textmessage, so that the groupcalls will be displayed as :
All capcodes contain the same text as the groupcode and "INSTR" has been replaced by "GROUP". This option allows all capcodes to be logged separately, and can be set via the Options-window (CTRL-O). The groupcode doesn't necessarily have to be filtered anymore, it can even be rejected.
| Version 1.21 (01-12-2003) | |
From this version, PDW will keep track of the number of times a filter has been received. Also, the time and date of the last hit will be logged.
When using this version for the first time, all counters will be set to 0. Because of this option, FILTERS.INI will be updated after every filtered message. Please keep this in mind when editing this file externally.
| Version 1.2 (14-11-2003) | |
Originally, PDW had a limit for the maximum number of filters which was about 700.
When the number of filters was too high, the PDW.INI could get damaged and filters could be lost.
When starting PDW v1.2 for the first time, the filters will be separated from PDW.INI and
written to FILTERS.INI. Because of this separation the number of filters is now unlimited
(max 32.000 filters can be shown).
After this, the FILTERS.INI will be backed up as FILTERS.BAK every time PDW is exited.
When PDW can't find the FILTERS.INI file, it will look for FILTERS.BAK.
PDW has "only" 10 selectable wavfiles, but the number of wavfiles is now unlimited, beacause when filtering a message, PDW will first look for a wavfile which has the same name as the received capcode. Example, when the code 1234567 is received, PDW will look for "1234567.wav". If not found, the defined "sound*.wav" will be played, if not found, the default Windows bell will be played.
Because of this option, the number of wavfiles can get very large, so I decided to place all wavfiles in a separate directory : Wavfiles.
Like the wavfiles, also the log files will be placed in a separate directory: Logfiles.
PDW version 3.0 (10-08-2010) :
PDW is freeware. Although I don't want to earn anything, some people keep on pushing me to offer a donation option.
Or consult the manual for other options.
