Patt3chEdit
The file patt3ch.lst contains call sign patterns, which are used in the CW and RTTY skimmer, developed by Alex VE3NEA, for call sign recognition. Patt3chEdit allows you to find and correct errors, edit and add call sign patterns and compare call sign pattern files. The syntax rules are printed on the program page. But you don't have to memorize the rules. You can search for a pattern on the basis of a call sign and, if it is not present, add the new generated call sign pattern, very easily.
When loading the patt3ch.lst file, a copy is immediately displayed in alphabetical order. Individual erroneous entries can be clicked in the error list and corrected in the edit input line and integrated into "Sorted Patterns" with pressing enter. Clicking onto explicit errors opens a new window that creates several new call sign patterns. With the OK button the new missing call sign patterns are created and integrated into the “Sorted Pattern” list. The faulty call sign pattern will be deleted.
There is also the possibility to correct all explicit digit/letter errors at once at the push of a button. These are then displayed on the right side of the program window. Under "Patterns" the corrected call sign patterns are displayed and under "New Patterns" the new call sign patterns are listed, which are not present in the already loaded patt3ch.lst file on the left side. The plus sign is also transferred. The button "Export to Sorted Pattern" integrates the "New Patterns" list into the "Sorted Patterns" list, of course in alphabetical order. The incorrect patterns are deleted immediately. By pressing the "Save Sorted Pattern File" button the new Patt3ch.lst file can be saved.
A special feature is that new missing call sign patterns can also be created from different types of call sign files. For example, the well-known MASTER.SCP can be loaded or a normal TXT-file with call signs or Telnet logs generated by Putty, also in sh/dx format or ADIF and Caprillo logs or the last Reverse Beacon Network raw data logs or the last DX Newsletter from DARC published in Germany or the LOTW Member List or the EQSL Member List or the Clublog Member List. Shortwave listeners and invalid call signs will be sorted out in any case. An absolute must is the integration of all CW Club Members worldwide into the Patt3ch.lst file. Patt3chEdit can load the current member lists of 32 known CW clubs and integrate them into the patt3ch.lst file. You can load the mentioned files individually or via the collections buttons several files at once in a kind of batch job.
To avoid loading faulty call signs from normal log files or RBN raw logs, it can be decided how many times a call sign must occur before it is accepted. For this purpose, the parameter "Minimum Occurence Frequency of a single Call Sign" is used. As a result, incorrect call signs can be filtered out as far as possible. During loading a new pattern list is automatically created. It contains only patterns which are not present in the patt3ch.lst file on the left side. The loaded call signs can be checked with the help of the context menu. A call sign lookup on the Internet is possible. If a unknown call sign appears in the list, it can simply be removed with the context menu item "Delete marked call sign(s)". This removes also the created pattern(s).
With the newly created callsign patterns, it must be decided whether a "+" sign should be placed at the front or not. As a result, call signs detected which correspond with this pattern are output faster to the Telnet server. This is possible by right-clicking in the context menu. But you can also provide all call sign patterns with a "+" sign or give none to all, simply by pressing a button. Or you can decide how many similar call signs should make up a pattern with a plus sign. This is done with "Callsign Matches" and "Set to High Priority". Last but not least, with "Export to Sorted Patterns" all new call sign patterns must be integrated into the "Sorted Pattern" list and then saved. This creates a new Patt3ch.lst file and can now be used for CW and RTTY skimmer.
At the end, a new, much larger and error-free Patt3ch.lst file will be created and can be saved in the directory "C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\Afreet\Reference\". This ensures safer and faster callsign decoding.
This tool also allows creating a new patt3ch.lst file from scratch using an up-to-date RAC callbook and other available callsign lists. In the download area you will find error-free files and files expanded with all available lists.
Installation
After downloading Patt3chEdit.exe copy the file into a directory of your choice, e.g. "C:\Patt3CH". An ini-file is created at the first start to save the program settings. Now you can load the patt3ch.lst file with "Load Pattern File" at the bottom left and start to fix errors, then create and save new patterns. If you install Patt3chEdit on a skimmer server, accessing and updating patt3ch.lst directly is very easy.