How to load a specific quicktabs tab through a URL?

At the top of my page I have various links that a user can click, and underneath I have a quicktabs instance. When the user clicks on a particular link at the top of the page, I want the quicktabs instance to automatically switch to display another tab (as if the user had clicked on the new tab itself). Can this be done through a URL link, which I suppose would reload the entire page but also switch to the new tab? (Or can this be done without reloading the entire page, since I have not selected the AJAX option, so the content for all tabs is already loaded when the page is first viewed?)

I believe there is a way to do this by using something like:
http://
?quicktabs_....=1
http://
?quicktabs_....=2
etc.
but I am not sure of the exact syntax. Presumably you have to include the machine name of the quicktabs instance? Any help would be very much appreciated.