Rolling the mouse over, or clicking on a Perseus receiver on the map will bring up a bubble which shows if the receiver is busy or free to access. The server IP address is also displayed. The above is used as an example of how a remote server appears on the map. Clicking on the Perseus icon on the map inserts the IP address of the desired server into the box on the bottom left of the screen. Click OK, and as though by magic, you are now listening to a remote receiver, and tuning it as though it were your own. If any Firewall messages pop up, click UNBLOCK, to allow the connection. If you still have no audio from the remote receiver, the ports may have to be opened on the router. (See notes below)

NB: Only a server appears on the map. Never a client.

NB: THE MICROTELECOM map of active servers is available as a web page as well, so you can easily see which servers are active.

http://microtelecom.it/map/PerseusServers.html

But that is not the full story.

Version 4.0a has a bug that makes access to some servers impossible, and the above message is displayed. To overcome this on my own PC, it was suggested by Stuart in London to use the "workaround" to access "bad IP" machines. To access mine, my current IP address needs to be copied from the bubble on the map, and a space left and text entered. An example of the line to add to the bottom of the "hosts" file was the following:

88.240.150.21 ken

The above numbers are usually only valid for a certain day.

(You can also click on my Perseus icon on the map and copy my IP address from the bottom left of the map)

ACCESS TO MY RECEIVER WHEN BAD IP ADDRESS MESSAGE SHOWN:

If anyone wants to access my Perseus here in Scotland, and the IP message comes up, you need to do the following:

1. Copy the IP address for the day from the bubble on the map.

2. Browse your PC to find the file called simply "hosts". It is found at

C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

3. Right click "hosts", and click on "open". A selection of installed software programmes are shown. Click on NOTEPAD to edit the file. (Or in notepad, click "file" - "open" and browse for the file, remembering to select "all files" in file types box.)

4: Paste the IP address / number followed by a space and the word "ken", so you have a line like the example below. Always include the "ken" part at the end.

88.240.150.21 ken

5. Save the file, (File - Save) and try and go into the receiver again. Hopefully you should hear signals as received in Scotland. (Do not save as. This will make a text file and thus the hosts file wont do the job)

Remember the latest IP address will come from the Perseus Servers map.

NB: This inconvenience will disappear after release 4.0a, and is already fixed at the time of writing.

To operate in SERVER mode to allow other dxers to access your receiver, and show your receiver on the PERSEUS SERVER map, you have to first set up your server. To do this, you have to open the server software, which is found in the Perseus folder.

Close the Perseus receiver software before setting up the server.

If PERSEUS is already in use, you may see the above message. If not, the server screen below should open with the following message about the server domain not being resolved.

The server screen above should open with the message about the server domain not being resolved, or a blank screen.

To enter the SERVER settings, click on the blue PERSEUS icon at the top left of the SERVER window.

Click "Server Settings" to enter your local details.

The above is the default screen you will see initially and is divided into four categories.

1. Server Mode:

This controls the speed of the stream. GPRS setting supplies around 70kb/s of a stream, and is easiest on the web connection if there are other processes working on the same connection, eg large downloads. Many of the dxers have sufficient bandwidth, and run flat out!! My own is run in GPRS mode.

2. Server Configuration:

There are limitations of the volume of text that can be entered in this area.

The Server Configuration area consists of:

a. Nickname - Requires to be only from 4 - 15 characters in length. (16 is bad)

b. TCP/ IP Server Port - set to 8014 by default, though one dxer we were trying to get on line had to change to 8015.

c. Bind to specific IP addr - Blank by default. This is computer systems that may be running more than one network, and will remain unticked by most users.

d. Welcome message - This is what is seen on the Perseus software at the CLIENT'S screen, which is shown in NETWORK MESSAGES, below the signal meter. This must be a maximum of 63 letters / characters.

e. Password - Required. Field cannot be left blank, even if you don't use the password facility. This must be 6 - 15 characters in length. (How many will use the word perseus I wonder)

f. Allow unauthenticated sessions - This is ticked by default, and is ticked when public access is desired. If unticked, the client would require the password, and therefore the session would become authenticated, and the time limits below do not apply.

g. Disconnect unauthenticated sessions after xxx. - Entirely up to individual, but if you are allowing access to your receiver, the client dxer would be disappointed to be disconnected just as he was listening to a top of the hour ID. Limitations are 0m to 120m.

h. After a session expires, accept it again after xxx time. Variables are 2m to 120m.

i. List this server on Perseus directory - Lists your server on the world map for other users to access.

3. External Down Converter:

Settings to display the correct frequency on the Perseus software of a receiver with a down converter connected. Leave at default settings if not using this extra option. A couple of screenshots are shown below that you may encounter if using this function.

4. Identification on Perseus Servers Directory:

The location will determine if your receiver is displayed on the world map. Your PC clock (time and date) must also be set. If you are at the wrong time and time zone, your Server won't show up on the Server map.

The variables in this area of the settings are as follows:

a. Server name or IP address - The IP address is not a necessity here. This space is being used by many dxers as extra text space for e mail and web addresses, or antenna details. The server retrieves the IP address for the map automatically, and is seen below the host entry.

b. City / Country - This must be less than 32 characters long. (I use this box for antenna details)

c. Longitude - Note rather than enter the traditional Latitude first, we enter Longitude first. This is in the digital format, -180 to 180, eg -4.288093

d. Latitude - This must me in the format -90 to 90, eg 55.509852

NB: On the imap site mentioned in "getting started" you can zoom in to street level and obtain very accurate coordinates.

http://itouchmap.com/latlong.html

My own completed SERVER SETTINGS page is seen above. The coordinates above are not exactly bang on. Zooming in shows that I seem to live under a nearby bridge like the dwarf in the Billy Goats Gruff, but a serious zoom in on the imap can give you coordinates that are bang on.

This is what is seen in the Perseus Server window when it is being accessed. These sessions above have been terminated, but when they are live, the stream bitrate can be seen at the bottom right of the screen.

OTHER NOTES WORTHY OF MENTION:

1: The SERVER software is a separate .exe file from the Perseus receiver software. "Perseus.exe" for receiver / Client, and "Perseussvr.exe" for Server.

2. NB: When the server is up and running, and other dxers are coming and going, the server owner has no idea what frequency or mode is being used. The server is a "dead box" in that respect. All the server owner will see is the client details entered by the person that is tuning the receiver. If the bitrate is running, you know that they are connected. (This is seen in the bottom right of the screen where it says "Upload Network Bandwidth")

3. You may use the Perseus software in "wav / www" mode while the server is running.

4. You may not use the Perseus as a live receiver while the server is running, unless you access your own receiver through the "Perseus Server Map"

5. You may use the Perseus Receiver in "wav / www" mode to access any other working servers on the Perseus Server map, including your own, or listen to previously recorded wideband files.

6. You can not record wideband files via the connection to the servers. If you wish to record audio from the single channel you may be listening to, you have to use an audio recorder, such as Adobe Audition or countless other recorders.

7. Unfortunately some dxers seem to wish to work in a very secret and anonymous manner, and enter neither locations nor names in their client details. It is only listening to the radio, and not the secret service, so surely it is only manners to enter your name and true location, if someone else is decent enough to let you use their receiver and antenna!! Where's the problem?? Perhaps some dxers may cut off anonymous clients.

8. If you are a server owner and you want to cut off the client, either close the server, or click on the blue Perseus icon top right of the server screen, click Server Settings, and click OK. This resets the server.

9. Remember that it is a privilege, not a right to listen in on someone else's receiver. The Perseus owner may want to use the receiver whenever he wishes, so expect to be cut off from time to time. But this is such a great way to share receivers etc during down time. But the owner may wish to reclaim the rx at the top of the hour. And unless you know the name on the server window, there is no way to get in toch with the client to say "Hey, sorry about this, but I have to take this back". DX tuners have live chat possible between the dxers.