Reprinted from April 1992 QST Lab Notes Copyright 1992 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All rights reserved. Thank you for requesting the following information from the ARRL Information mail server. ARRL HQ is glad to provide this information free of charge as a service to League members and affiliated clubs. For your convenience, you may reproduce this information, electronically or on paper, and distribute it to anyone who needs it, provided that you reproduce it in its entirety and do so free of charge. Please note that you must reproduce the information as it appears in the original, including the League's copyright notice. If you have any questions concerning the reproduction or distribution of this material, please contact Mark Wilson, American Radio Relay League, 225 Main St., Newington, CT 06111 (mwilson@arrl.org). Lab Notes Conducted By Steve Ford, WB81MY, Assistant Technical Editor and the ARRL Laboratory staff. Subject: How to Locate Amateur Radio Software Wouldn't you like to put your computer to work in your ham shack? So would many amateurs! Finding the right Amateur Radio software to run on your machine can be difficult. Jon Bloom, KE3Z, ARRL Laboratory Supervisor, is an old hand at software hunting. As Jon says, the software you want is probably out there...somewhere! WB81MY Q: I just bought a new computer and I 'd like to use It in my ham shack. Where can I get some ham radio software? A: That depends. What kinds of applications did you have in mind? Q: Applications? I'm really not sure. A. Well, you can be sure your problem is not an uncommon one. When you put ham radio, with all its diversity, together with the power of a computer, the possible uses are almost innumerable! Don't feel bad if you hardly know where to start. Let me see if I can help by categorizing the Amateur Radio applications of a computer. The programs you might want to run fall into these basic categories: o Communication -- Computer-oriented communication -- RTTY, AMTOR, packet, and the video modes -- is the most popular application. Depending on the computer you own, you may need some external hardware to fully enjoy some or all of these modes. o Control -- Computers are often used to control various pieces of amateur equipment, such as a rotator for satellite tracking, to helping the contest operator run the rig, to...whatever! o Calculation -- To the experimenter or builder, the computer has replaced slide rules, nomographs and look-up tables in calculating answers to mathematical problems. Moreover, computers now offer applications never before available to amateurs, such as antenna-modeling programs. o Record keeping -- One of the most common programs -- everyone with even a smattering of programming ability seems to write one sooner or later -- is a logging program. But other kinds of records can be accessed, too: on-line callbooks using CD ROM, lists of US counties and so on. Q: I 'd like to do all of those things! Where do I get the software? A: Hold on! You still have a decision to make! Do you want to pay for the software? Uh. . .let me rephrase that! Would you rather pay for software and get support, or get free software and be on your own when it comes to figuring out how to use it? That's the major difference between store-bought software and the free variety. Authors of free software often aren't interested in helping the neophyte. They feel their time is better spent on developing even better software. A company that sells you software has to be a little more helpful. The software buying public expects it, and companies that don't provide adequate support don't stay in business very long! So, what will it be? Q: I guess I will start with the free stuff and see what I can do with it. I can always buy a program if I can't find a free one that does the job. So, enough beating about the bush! Where's the free software? A: It's all around you. You can either download software from a telephone bulletin board system (BBS) via modem, or you can contact one of the many shareware vendors to get software on disks. (We'll discuss telephone BBSs in a moment.) First, lets talk shareware, freeware and public domain. These terms are not synonymous. Public-domain software is software that is owned by no one. That is, anyone can use it, sell it, give it away, modify it or do whatever they want with it. Freeware, on the other hand, carries copyright protection. Usually, the author will provide some kind of usability criteria in the documentation. Most often, use of the software for noncommercial purposes is free, while commercial users are required to pay a licensing fee. Shareware is yet another category. Shareware is not free software! It is copyrighted and its use is restricted by the author. Usually the restriction takes the form of allowing a brief trial use, after which you are expected to register your copy of the software by paying a fee. Fees range from a few dollars to hundreds, depending on the complexity of the software -- and on what the author thinks the market will bear. You can get public domain, freeware and shareware software from a number of companies that sell it. That might sound somewhat contradictory, but I'll explain. Usually, these companies package several related files -- like Amateur Radio programs -- on a disk and sell the disk for a few dollars. (Even though you buy the disk, you are still obliged to register any shareware you use from it unless the documentation says otherwise.) Many companies provide shareware, and most of the bigger hamfests sport at least one shareware vendor. You can buy shareware by mail, too. Here are a few shareware vendors for IBM PC systems: Public Brand Software PO Box 51315 Indianapolis, IN 46251 tel 800-426-3475 Renaissance Software & Development Killen Plaza Box 640 Killen, AL 35645 tel 800-525-7235 Save On Software PO Box 2837 Wilkes Barre, PA 18703-2837 tel 800-962-6107 There are others, of course, but these will give you a place to start. I should also mention one noncommercial source of PC software. Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR), the group that produced the TNC-I and TNC-2, is very much alive and well. As a service to their members, they provide recent versions of shareware and public domain packet radio software for the IBM PC for a nominal per-disk fee. A list of available software is included in each issue of Packet Status Register, the TAPR newsletter. Q: That's all fine, but I have a Macintosh! A: Up until now I assumed we were talking about an IBM PC-type computer. After all, over half of the computers owned by QST readers are PCs or compatibles. This is reflected in the fact that you'll find less software available for computers other than PCs, particularly public domain and shareware software. But there is some out there! One resource to tap is the large number of telephone bulletin board systems. You can download software from these systems for the price of the phone call, although some "boards" charge a small monthly or annual access fee. (Some packet systems have software available, too. The congestion prevalent on most packet channels, however, limits the ability to conduct large file transfers.) Here are two telephone BBS systems that offer Amateur Radio software, including software for the Macintosh, Amiga, Atari and other computers. There are many, many more! Check the telephone BBSs in your local area; some of them have ham radio sections. N8EMR BBS -- tel 614-895-2553 WB3FFV BBS -- tel 301-625-0817, 301-625-9482 and 301-625-9663 Atari users can also get ham radio software from: Atari Microcomputer Network John Adams, KCSW 17106 Happy Hollow San Antonio, TX 78232 (send an SASE for a list of available software) Packet radio software is available for most computers from a variety of sources. These can be found in Your Gateway to Packet Radio and in The ARRL Operating Manual, fourth edition.2 Q: Suppose I don't find what I 'm looking for in the shareware world? What commercial software do you recommend? A: We don't actually recommend software -- or other products -- because that would interfere with our objectivity in doing product reviews. Also, to be fair, we don't know enough about every software product on the market to be able to say with certainty which is the best. Most importantly, we don't know enough about your software requirements to say which software would work best for you. But we do know this much: We make sure that software publishers who advertise in QST respond to customer complaints. Buying software advertised in QST is probably your safest bet when it comes to commercial software. By the way, one source of satellite software for most types of personal computer is AMSAT. They sell low-cost software for satellite tracking, telemetry decoding and accessing the digital satellites. Most of it is discounted to members, so it pays to join AMSAT if you're interested in amateur satellites! You can contact them at: AMSAT PO Box 27 Washington, DC 20044 tel 301-589-6062 Q: I never see much software for my computer listed in QST. Why? A: It all boils down to supply and demand. As I said before, if you don't own an IBM or compatible computer, the pickings get kind of slim. (There are some goodies in the display ads and Ham Ads, though.) Here's a brief list of sources for Macintosh and other non-IBM computers: EPO Corporation (Apple 11, Commodore) 7805 NE 147th Ave Vancouver, WA 98682 Kinetic Designs (Amiga, Apple 11) PO Box 1646 Orange Park, FL 32067 MacTrak Software PO Box 1590 Port Orchard, WA 98366 tel 206-871-1700 ZCO Corporation (Macintosh) PO Box 3720 Nashua, NH 03061 tel 603-888-7200 Dynamic Electronics (Color Computer) Box 896 Hartselle, AL 35640 tel 205-773-2758 Q: I'm really getting into this computer stuff! How can I find out more about what's going on in ham radio computerization? A: There's no single answer to that to that question! One good place to start is the subscription on-line services. There are several such services, including CompuServe, GEnie, Prodigy and others. Using a telephone modem, you can call the service and download thousands of files, including many ham radio programs. You can also communicate with amateurs and other subscribers in a bulletin-board format, making it easy to get answers to your "where do I get . . . " and "how do I do. . . " questions. Of course, these are subscription services, so you have to pay for your usage. There is a huge amount of software available for ham radio applications, particularly for the IBM PC. If you haven't found what you want, keep looking. By the way, if you run across a good source of Amateur Radio software, let us know! We're always happy to find new software sources and share the information with others. Notes The Packet Status Newsletter is available from: Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) 8987-309 East Tanque Verde Rd No. 337 Tucson, AZ 85749. $15/year The ARRL Operating Manual and Your Gateway to Packet Radio are available from your local dealer or direct from ARRL HQ. We welcome your suggestions for topics to be discussed in Lab Notes, but we are not able to answer individual questions. Please send your comments or suggestions to: Lab Notes, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Fig 1 -- AMSAT's InstantTrack is an example of a software package that can track satellites and control your antenna system. InstantTrack is available at a cost of $50 for AMSAT members, $70 for nonmembers. Figures not available electronically -- see April 1992 QST. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Additional Software Sources: Antenna Modelling Software 1. Antenna Model (Wire-frame analysis - straight elements only) Teri Software P.O. Box 277 Lincoln, TX 78948 2. Elnec Roy Lewallen, W7EL P.O. Box 6658 Beaverton, OR 97007 3. Mininec National Technical Information Service US Department of Commerce 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 Tel: 703-487-4650 (Order number: ADA 181681) 4. NEC/Wires 1.0, (wire based modelling) NEC/Yagis 2.0, ( " " " ) AO 6.0, - Antenna Optimizer (Wire based) YO 5.0 - Yagi Optimizer Brian Beezley, K6STI 507 1/2 Taylor Vista, CA 92084 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Callsign Lookup Software 1. Hamcall (CD-ROM) Buckmaster Publishing Rt. 4, Box 1630 Mineral, VA 23117 Tel: 1-800-282-5628 and: 1-703-894-5777 Note: requires approx. 650k hard disk space (modem call lookup also available - call for details) 2. SAM Callsign Database RT Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 8 Laceys Spring, AL 35754 Tel: 1-800-723-6922 Note: requires 17meg hard disk space and high-density floppy) 3. CALLSIGN (on World of Ham Radio CD-ROM) AMSoft P.O. Box 666 New Cumberland, PA 17070-0666 Tel: 1-717-938-8249 4. QRZ! Ham Radio Disc (CD-ROM) Walnut Creek CDROM 1547 Palos Verdes Mall, Suite 260 Walnut Creek, CA 94596 Tel: 1-800-786-9907 and: 1-510-674-0783 Fax: 1-510-674-0821 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Amateur Radio QSO Logging Programs ---------------------------------- 1. Logwrite Aerospace Consulting P.O. Box 156 Gwynedd, PA 19436 2. Logger, Logger and Contest Alamo DX Amigos 106 Tomahawk Trail San Antonio, TX 78232 3. WriteLog (Contest logger for Windows) Austin Code Works 11100 Leafwood Lane Austin, TX 78750-3489 Tel: 1-512-258-9785 Fax: 1-512-259-1342 4. N6RJ 2nd OP GRF Computer Services 6170 Downey Ave. Long Beach, CA 90805 Tel: 1-310-531-4852 5. CT (Contest logger) K1EA Software P.O. Box 803 Hudson, MA 01749 Tel: 1-508-779-5054 (orders) and: 1-603-465-2392 (support) Fax: 1-508-779-6082 6. NA (Contest logger) LTA P.O. Box 77 New Bedford, PA 16140 Tel: 1-216-565-9950 7. NN8Z LOG (Also CQ5, QSL) Namlulu Communications 1120 Meadowview Road Willard, IH 44890 8. TurboLog Pavillion Software P.O. Box 803 Hudson, MA 01749 9. DXLog PAYL Software P.O. Box 926 Levittown, PA 19058 Tel: 1-215-945-4404 9. Log View (for Windows) PDK Co, (Paul Keezer, NX1P) 46 Oak Street Dunstable, MA 01827 10. LOGic III, LOGic Jr. (PC, Amiga, Atari ST) Personal Database Applications, Dept. Q 2616 Meadow Ridge Road Duluth, GA 30136 Tel: 1-404-242-0887 Fax: 1-404-449-6687 11. EZlog Plus RAI Enterprises 4508 N. 48th Drive Phoenix, AZ 85031 Tel: 1-602-848-9755 12. WB2OPA Logmaster Plus Sensible Solutions P.O. Box 474 Middletown, NJ 07748 Tel: 1-800-538-001 13. LogPak+ Technical Software Corp. P.O. Box 722 Plainville, CT 06062 Tel: 1-203-589-4045 14. The Log Program Viking Business Systems 10310 Main Street, Suite 106 Fairfax, VA 22030 15. WJ2O Master QSO Logging program P.O. Box 16N McConnellsville, NY 13401 Tel: 1-800-944-9526 16. LOGPROG (BASIC) QST Reprint - September 1984, Page 24 Article copies are available for $3.00 each from: Technical Department Secretary American Radio Relay League 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Tel: 1-203-666-1541 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Morse Code practice and proficiency 1. SuperMorse (Version 4.10 - SM410.EXE on the ARRL BBS) Lee Murrah 10 Cottage Grove Woods SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52403 2. Morse Academy (MA.ZIP on the ARRL BBS) Joseph Speroni, AH0A 259 Copper Beech Drive Bllue Bell, PA 19422 3. International Morse Code Trainer (IMCT.EXE on the ARRL BBS) Edwards Oros 2629 Sapling Drive Allison Park, PA 15101 4. Hambone (Theory and Code practice - HAMBONE.ZIP on the ARRL BBS) TekMate (Joe Lincoln, KB5DIX) 15307 Parkville Houston, TX 77068 5. GGTE Morse Tutor (Basic and Advanced editions available) ARRL 225 Main Street Newington, CT 06111 Tel: 203-666-1541 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Propagation Prediction Software 1. Miniprop Plus Sheldon Shallon, W6EL 11058 Queensland Street Los Angeles, CA 90034-3029 2. IONCAP Nation Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 3. MiniMUF Printout - December 1982 QST, page 38 4. IONSOUND SkyWave Technologies 17 Pine Knoll Road Lexington, MA 02173 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Station Remote Control The following is a list of known sources for software and hardware needed to remotely control an amateur station: 1. Engineering Consulting 583 Candlewood Street Brea, CA 92621 Tel: (714) 671-2009 FAX: (714) 255-9984 2. DATACOM, Int. 7678 Venetian Street Miramar, FL 33023 Tel: 1-800-780-9505 (Orders) or (305) 987-9505 (Info) NOTES: Owner is Bill Roig. Products may be ordered direct from Universal Radio @ 1-800-431-3939 or Gilfer Shortwave @ 1-800-GILFER-1. 3. Public Brand Software P.O. Box 51315 Indianapolis, IN 46251 Tel: 1-800-426-3475 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Weather Software The Weather Satellite Handbook Programs Disk contains the following files: 1. A new version of WSH1700.EXE and its companion documentation file, WSH1700.DOC. This program is designed to be used with the METSAT scan converter described in the book. WSH1700.EXE is identical to the earlier version EXCEPT that it packs images into 32-kbyte files instead of the 64-kbyte files required by the earlier version of the program. This results in a considerable increase in disk-file capacity. 2. Four sample images--satellite pictures--(each with a .WSH extension) illustrating all the major image formats. 3. BANDPASS.EXE, a program that permits interactive design of audio bandpass filter stages. 4. PREDICT.BAS and WSH1700.BAS, the BASIC programs that are listed in Appendix III of the fourth edition of the Weather Satellite Handbook. PREDICT.BAS is used to predict polar-orbiting weather-satellite passes during which you can easily access the satellites. WSH1700.BAS is a fundamental version of WSH1700.EXE designed to be used with the METSAT scan converter described in the book. 5. PREDICT.EXE and its accompanying documentation file. PREDICT.EXE is a faster, more refined version of PREDICT.BAS. Including a README file, these are the programs that should be on the disk: BANDPASS EXE 46294 7-24-90 9:38p GOESNE WSH 32519 5-22-90 2:52a MTR2-18 WSH 32519 5-22-90 2:48a NOAA10 WSH 32519 5-22-90 2:39a NOAA11 WSH 32519 5-22-90 2:44a PREDICT BAS 7424 6-15-90 9:13a PREDICT DAT 581 4-21-90 10:21a PREDICT DOC 16000 4-25-90 8:37a PREDICT EXE 69120 5-16-90 8:38a README 1065 7-25-90 12:48p WSH1700 BAS 9984 3-15-90 4:47p WSH1700 DOC 1920 3-26-90 11:17a WSH1700 EXE 52836 5-22-90 5:48a