9.9 KiB
User Interface
🇬🇧 You are reading the English version | 🇩🇪 Deutsche Version
Connecting to the Chat
- Select a chat category in the settings window (e.g. 144 MHz VHF, 432 MHz UHF, …).
- Click the Connect button.
- Wait for the connection to be established.
Disconnecting and reconnecting is only possible via the settings window. It is therefore recommended to keep the settings window open.
Main Window Overview
The main window consists of several areas:
PM Window (top left)
Shows all received private messages as well as intercepted public messages containing your own callsign. New messages appear in red and fade every 30 seconds from yellow to white.
User List (Chat Members)
The central table of all currently active chat users. Columns (depending on configuration):
| Column | Content |
|---|---|
| Callsign | Station callsign |
| Name | Name and additional information from the chat name field |
| QRA | Maidenhead locator |
| QRB | Distance in km |
| QTF | Direction in degrees |
| QRG | Most recent frequency detected in a chat message |
| Tropo | Result of the band-specific tropo or path assessment |
| Score | Current, numerically sortable priority score of the normalised base callsign |
| Act | Minutes since the most recent activity |
| AP | AirScout aircraft data, when enabled |
| worked | Per-band Worked, band-opportunity and grid-square status, plus wkdany |
| NOT QRV @ | Bands on which the station has manually been marked not QRV |
| Category | Chat category of this entry |
Worked, band and grid-square status
The subcolumns under worked use compact codes because several enabled bands leave little room for full descriptions. X marks a callsign worked on that band. a and B+ identify an offered band which has not yet been worked. An appended o means that the four-character grid square has already been worked on this band.
The wkdany subcolumn is band-independent: x means that the callsign has been worked, o means that the grid square has been worked on any band, and xo means both.
Each status cell has a tooltip containing the legend and the state derived for that station. For the complete calculation, including NOT-QRV precedence, see Worked Callsigns, New Bands and New Grid Squares.
Sorting: Click column headers. QRB sorting is numerical (corrected in v1.22).
Send Field
Text input for outgoing messages. After clicking a callsign in the user list, the send field automatically receives focus – start typing immediately without double-clicking (from v1.22).
MYQRG Field
To the right of the send button. Shows the current own QRG, can also be entered manually.
MYQTF Field (for v1.3)
Input field for the current antenna direction. Used for the planned MYQTF variable.
Filters
The filter bar is located above the chat-member table and groups related controls:
- Show only QTF limits the list to a selected antenna direction.
- Show only QRB [km] <= sets a maximum distance.
- Find searches for a callsign.
- wkd hides callsigns which have already been worked on at least one band.
- The individual band buttons hide a station if it has already been worked on that band or has been marked NOT QRV there. Only bands enabled for the local station are shown.
- Only new grids shows only stations in four-character grid squares which have not been worked on any band.
- Grid color is not a filter. It marks the QRA cell of an already worked grid square without hiding stations.
- New bands shows stations with at least one detected, locally enabled and unworked band opportunity. NOT-QRV marks take precedence.
- Reachability, Tropo >=0dB and AS next 5m limit the list according to the selected path or AirScout criteria.
The filter bar has no fixed width. QTF, Worked and Reachability controls initially use the available space in their respective rows. When the horizontal divider is moved to the right and the chat-member area becomes narrower, controls wrap only when their actual required width no longer fits.
In plain terms: the filters determine the table contents, but no longer enforce the minimum width of the entire right-hand side. The bar remains compact in the normal layout and uses additional height only when the view becomes genuinely narrow. Moving the divider back to the left immediately returns the controls to the available rows.
Station Info Panel (Further Info)
The lower-right panel combines the messages associated with the selected station. This includes public messages, private messages to the local station and, where visible in the chat, private messages addressed to other stations.
The selected filter controls which of these messages are displayed. Under Settings → GUI, the default filter can be set to:
- all messages,
- private messages to the local station,
- private messages to other stations, or
- public messages.
This setting changes the Further Info display only. Messages are neither discarded nor removed from the other message tables, and the filter can be changed at any time for the currently selected station.
The lower part of the panel contains per-band Not QRV marks for the selected station. Individual controls are shown for the bands enabled in the local station settings. tag not qrv all sets or removes the mark for every supported band, including bands which are not currently visible.
The change immediately affects the NOT QRV @ column, band opportunities and the corresponding filters. It is stored in the internal database and restored after a restart.
The current Priority score of the selected station is displayed in the same section.
Sked fail marks an unsuccessful attempt and strongly reduces the score of the normalised base callsign. Reset fail removes the mark. It applies to all active suffix and category variants of the station and remains active for the current program session.
The controls underneath are used to create a sked:
| Control | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sked in | Time remaining until the sked |
| Band | Agreed band selected from the locally enabled bands |
| Mode | SSB or CW for a possible Win-Test handover |
| Create sked | Create the internal sked |
| Remind-PM in | Enable automatic reminder PMs |
| 2+1, 5+2+1, 10+5+2+1 | Times at which reminder PMs are sent before the sked |
The proposed band is derived from recent QRG and name information for the station. It can be changed explicitly before creating the sked. The mode selection only affects the Win-Test handover; the internal sked and reminder PMs work independently.
Create sked always creates the appointment inside KST4Contest first. If the Win-Test network listener is active, KST4Contest then attempts an additional handover to Win-Test. If no QRG matching the selected band can be found or Win-Test cannot be reached, the internal sked, its priority contribution and any scheduled reminders remain intact.
The complete derivation and limitations are described under Skeds and Sked Reminders.
Priority List
The compact priority bar is located on the right-hand side between the user list and the Further Info section. It displays the two currently highest-ranked candidates directly in the main window:
Priority: 1 CALLSIGN SCORE 2 CALLSIGN SCORE more
Clicking either candidate selects the corresponding active chat member. The complete callsign, including its suffix and chat category, is used.
The more button opens a separate window containing up to 15 candidates. The list is sorted by descending score. Double-clicking an entry selects the candidate and closes the window.
Stations with a score of 0 are not included in the priority list. They remain visible in the user list so that the reason for their exclusion can be examined and, for example, an incorrect NOT-QRV mark can be changed.
The score is calculated for the normalised base callsign. Several active variants such as 9A0BB-2 and 9A0BB-70 may therefore display the same value in the user list. They nevertheless remain separate message targets.
New messages, AirScout data, skeds and status changes request a new calculation. A periodic refresh also runs in the background. A briefly outdated order is therefore not an error.
Calculation and limitations: Priority Score and Priority List.
Cluster & QSO of Others
Separate window (can be minimised). Shows the communication flow between other stations – interesting during quieter contest periods.
Menu
Window
- Use Dark Mode (from v1.26): Toggle dark colour scheme on/off.
Window Sizes and Dividers
From v1.21, clicking "Save Settings" also saves window sizes and divider positions of all panels in the configuration file, which are restored on the next start.
If you encounter display problems: delete the configuration file → KST4Contest creates new default values.
Operating Tips
- Keep the settings window open: Quick access to enable/disable the beacon.
- Right-click in the user list: Opens the snippet menu and other context actions.
- Mark a station NOT QRV: Select the station and use the per-band controls in the Further Info panel.
- Enter from anywhere: When text is in the send field, Enter sends directly – even if the focus is elsewhere.
- Stop the beacon: Switch off the beacon while scanning frequencies to avoid flooding the chat with messages.