Running Several Instances

Wait and Pounce can run as multiple cooperating instances — for example, one per radio in a multi-rig station — so they share one wanted/excluded configuration and reply state. You run one main copy (talks to WSJT-X and keys the radio); the extra copies mirror its wanted lists, stay in sync, and never transmit.

Roles are detected automatically

You don't pick a role in a menu. An instance that receives packets directly from WSJT-X/JTDX acts as the main copy; an instance that receives packets forwarded by the main copy acts as an extra, receive-only copy.

The status bar turns blue-violet on an extra copy so you always know which is which.

Setting it up

The mechanism rides on the secondary UDP forwarding feature:

1. Configure the main copy to listen to WSJT-X on the primary UDP port (2237).
2. In the main copy's Server settings, enable the secondary UDP forwarding and point it at the extra copy's address/port.
3. Start the extra copy listening on that forwarded port.

The main copy now forwards every WSJT-X packet to the extra copy, and the two negotiate settings sync.

What gets synced

The main copy serves its configuration to extra copies on request:

• Band
• Wanted, monitored and excluded callsigns
• Wanted, monitored and excluded CQ zones
• Whether auto-reply is enabled

An extra copy only accepts settings when it is on the same band as the main copy and the incoming configuration is newer (stale updates are ignored). On an extra copy the synced input fields are greyed out — edit them on the main copy.

Staying in sync

An extra copy requests the configuration on startup and re-requests periodically until it is synced, then reports "synched" in the status bar. It also watches the main copy's heartbeat: if no heartbeat arrives within about 30 seconds, it drops its synced state and re-requests, so a restarted main copy re-syncs cleanly.

TX authority

Only the main copy transmits

Every transmit action — replying, halting TX, setting the TX frequency — is suppressed on an extra copy. Extra copies observe, display and stay in sync, but never key a radio. This prevents two instances from both replying to the same station. The watchdog's halt-TX behaviour is therefore handled only by the main copy.

Why use it

• Multi-rig / SO2R-style operating — one shared wanted list across bands/radios.
• A second screen / monitor position — watch the same pounce activity on another machine without risk of double-TX.
• Forwarding to a logger — the same forwarding feature can also feed a separate logging program.