The RF Propagation Analytics web site dxdisplay has a new functionality: it can show you the trend in QSO distances over time by band. This was suggested by the attendees of the DX forum at the Huntsville Hamfest, and it is now available. To use it, browse to the home page at http://dxdisplay.caps.ua.edu and click on Activity -> Distance Trend. (See below.) This will show you, for the time period and band(s) you select, the average distances of QSOs reported (based on best information about the latitude and longitude of the stations reporting). The default is to show the spots reported in the DXCluster network over the last 2 hours; you can also include a sample of WSPR spots as well (note that since WSPR uses a JT mode, it often shows relatively little activity on VHF during conditions with fast fading/QSB). Normally, only QSOs with a non-zero distance are included in the average distance for each time period (meaning, spots with source = destination or no lat-long information are not included). If you see an average QSO distance of zero, it means there were no spots on that band during that time period. You can use this to see if your attempt to reach a station at a certain distance is likely to be successful; also, by displaying a variety of bands, you can estimate the Maximum Usable Frequency (this is the band with the highest average distances). OTHER RELATED NEWS: - The dxdisplay web site was improved so that all times are shown in 24-hour UTC. - Upgrades are planned to the Dwatcher software, under the Software button (which lets you watch for selected stations to appear in D-STAR or on the DXCluster), to add monitoring for stations in System Fusion and DMR. Watch this space!