ham-radio-dx

What This Skill Does

The Ham Radio DX Monitor (ham-radio-dx) is a specialized OpenClaw agent skill designed to bridge the gap between real-time amateur radio DX cluster networks and your digital workspace. By connecting to global telnet DX clusters, the skill provides amateur radio operators with an automated, eyes-free way to monitor propagation, track rare stations (DXpeditions), and summarize band activity. It acts as an intelligent layer between raw cluster data and actionable insights, allowing users to move beyond manual telnet monitoring. Whether you are chasing WAS (Worked All States) or the DXCC Honor Roll, this tool streamlines the process of discovering who is on the air right now.

Installation

To install this skill, use the ClawHub command-line interface. Run the following command in your terminal: clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/capt-marbles/amateur-radio-dx Ensure you have Python 3 installed on your host system as the underlying monitor relies on Python to handle socket connections and state management. Post-installation, verify your configuration in the skill folder to ensure connectivity to your preferred DX cluster node (e.g., ea7jxh or w6rk).

Use Cases

• DXpedition Tracking: Get real-time alerts when a rare entity (e.g., VP8 or 3Y0) is spotted, ensuring you don't miss a fleeting contact window.
• Daily Propagation Analysis: Automatically generate a daily report at 9:00 AM to identify which bands were most active, allowing for better planning of future operating sessions.
• Contest Support: Use the 'watch' feature during major contests to filter spots and identify multipliers or rare entities currently active on the air.
• Automated Monitoring: Use cron integration to log data without active supervision, building a historical archive of band performance from your specific QTH.

Example Prompts

1. "Check the DX cluster for any new spots for rare prefixes like VK0 or 3Y0."
2. "What has the activity been like on 20 meters today?"
3. "Show me the latest DX digest so I can see what I missed while I was offline."

Tips & Limitations

• State Management: Note that the tool saves state in ~/dx-monitor-state.json. Ensure this file has proper write permissions.
• Cluster Latency: Real-time spots depend on internet connectivity to the chosen DX cluster node. If a node is unresponsive, try switching to a geographically closer node from the provided list.
• Filters: Use the --new-only flag frequently to prevent your console from being flooded with redundant spot data during high-activity periods or contests.