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Super-Duper for IOTA The Contest Logging Program by EI5DI. _______________________________________ This document describes the features of Super- Duper for IOTA (SDI) a comprehensive and easy to use logging program for the RSGB IOTA Contest. It was used by the winning station in both the 1993 and 1994 events. Although SDI is distributed as freeware, EI5DI retains the copyright and reserves all rights. No-one else has the right to modify the program in any way. SDI is derived from Super-Duper (SD), which caters for the major RSGB and international HF contests. There is no registration fee, and therefore no support is offered. However, registered users of SD have access to telephone support. Your attention is drawn to the disclaimer of warranty at the end of this document. Main Features Fast, simple logging and editing in "Expert" and "Novice" modes. Supports multi-op, mixed mode entries. Single keystrokes for all logging, editing and keyer playback functions. Instant duping on any PC, whether 3 or 3000 QSOs logged. Generates Check Lists, Multiplier Lists and Summary Sheets. Partial Callsign enquiry by prefix or suffix. Unique feature - checks and rescores complete log after each QSO or Edit. Permits any combination of on-line or off-line logging. Log is 100% ASCII - edit with any text editor. Supported now by SHACKLOG and TurboLog and WJ2O MasterLog- soon QQSL. Updates log file after every QSO. Identifies Country by callsign, and Island by IOTA reference. Full CW keyboard facility, with 10 user programmable memories. Prepares your entry in the RSGB recommended format for entries on diskette. Files SDI.EXE The IOTA logging program. SDICHECK.EXE The IOTA Check List and Summary Sheet program. DXCC.CTY The reference file for identifying country and continent from callsigns. SDI-READ.ME This file. SDI.CMD Summary of SDI commands. SDKEYER.MSG Preset keyer messages. Created only after SDI is used for first time. REGISTER.DOC To register use of SD. HISTORY.DOC History of changes to SD and SDI. QUOTES.DOC Selection of user's comments. IOTA95.RUL The rules of the contest. IOTA.MSG A message from the IOTA Committee to island entrants. IOTA.REF The IOTA reference file - Copyright RSGB/IOTA, used with permission. Super-Duper for IOTA is different! Since it's so easy to get started, new users can be contesting and having fun within two minutes of loading the program. It's also professional - serious contesters will find all the main features needed for a winning entry. I developed Super-Duper (SD) originally for the DX side of the ARRL Contest, because I felt that other logging programs for this contest were either inadequate or were too complex for newcomers to on-line contest logging. Super- Duper for IOTA is derived from SD and is designed specifically for the RSGB Islands On The Air contest. SDI may not have all the bells and whistles you see in some other programs, and it doesn't offer DX Cluster connection - it's just more efficient at logging and editing, and at helping you take decisions about your operating strategy. Please read this document fully before using Super- Duper for real, as otherwise you're likely to miss some of the features that make it so fast and efficient during contests. Since it's so easy to start using the program, users sometimes skip the manual and then, months later, realise what they've missed. Also, you should read the HISTORY.DOC file to review recent additions and changes to the program. I have assumed that you are familiar with MS-DOS concepts and utilities. If not, please take some time to get to know them before using the program. Compared to other contest logging programs, you'll find a few innovations with Super-Duper for IOTA. However, since the others often use non-standard data entry methods, I call them essentials rather than innovations. In particular, you press Enter when you complete a field, and you use the Space Bar to create spaces. What else would you expect? Unfortunately, with some programs you must press Enter only when you're ready to log the QSO. SDI knows when the QSO is complete, and lets you concentrate on keeping your QSO rate up. In addition, I've done away with multiple keystrokes so that all logging and editing functions (and the CW keyer) use single keys. SDI is fast when other stations are calling you, and it's also efficient, i.e. fast, when you're hunting them. CAPACITY. Super-Duper for IOTA uses conventional memory, the lower 640k. If you have MS-DOS Version 5 or 6, there is typically room for more than 2500 QSOs. The exact number depends on the parameters in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. With no extended memory, or with earlier versions of MS-DOS, the typical figure is 1900. If you need extra capacity, you'll get room for an extra 450 QSOs by deleting all records in the DXCC.CTY file other than the one for your own country. This will enable a total of up to 3000 QSOs. The only penalty is that SDI won't automatically insert the IOTA reference continent prefix. You don't need a hard disk for SDI, and can even use a PC with a single 720k 3.5"drive. Duping is instantaneous, even with 3000 QSOs on an 8088 or 8086 machine running at 4.8 MHz, because that's been a priority in the program design. No matter how slow your drive may be, logging will not be delayed - even if you are working them at 200 QSOs per hour. REGISTRATION. Super-Duper for IOTA is free. You do not need to register. Everyone is entitled to use it, but no support is offered except to registered users of SD. You use SDI "as is". EI5DI retains the copyright and reserves all rights. If you enjoy using this program, you might like to try other versions of Super-Duper for all the major HF and VHF contests. Super-Duper (SD) supports the following contests. ARRL DX Contest - For both DX and W/VE Sides. CQ WW Contest. CQ WPX Contest. CQ 160m Contest. Helvetia Contest. IARU HF Championship. King of Spain Contest. PACC Contest. Scandinavian Activity Contest RSGB HF Contests with County Codes for both UK and DX Sides. RSGB CW Field Day. RSGB SSB Field Day. RSGB RoPoCo and AFS Contests (General Purpose option). SD allows user-defined multipliers for many other contests. SDC is a version of Super-Duper for the RSGB Commonwealth Contest. It is normally supplied with SD to new users in the UK and is not available separately. SDU is a version of Super-Duper for the UBA contest, for both Belgian and DX entrants. I intend to extend SDU to the REF contest. It is not available separately. SDV is Super-Duper for VHF. It is similar in operation to the HF program but records more information for each QSO including Serial, Locator, UK County and Comments. If you are already registered for SD, the price for SDV is £15.. You may register for SD or SDV by sending £25 (Sterling or Irish pounds), or both SD and SDV for £39. Please add £3.00 or 5 IRCs for airmail postage outside the UK and Ireland. Paul O'Kane EI5DI 36 Coolkill Sandyford Dublin 18 Ireland You can contact me by e-mail at okanep@iol.ie STARTING SUPER-DUPER for IOTA. If your computer has a hard disk, you should create a new directory (suggest SDI) and copy all the files to that directory from the SDI directory on the disk supplied. The following commands assume your distribution disk is loaded in Drive A and your hard disk is Drive C. I have also assumed that you have included the command PROMPT $P$G in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. You should enter the text printed in bold. C:>MD SDI (Make a directory SDI) C:>CD SDI (Change to SDI directory) C:\SDI>COPY A:*.* (Copy all files from Drive A) The program and reference files may be in a single file called SDI608.EXE. If so, type SDI608 followed by Enter to create the individual files. You start the program by typing SDI, then press Enter. If you follow this command with the name of a specific file, it will open the file if it exists, and will create it otherwise. The characters used in the name may be any combination of alphabetic or numeric, up to a total of eight. Other characters will be ignored. For example: SDI IOTA95 will open, or will create, a contest file called IOTA95, which will have an extension .ALL. If you're using a monochrome monitor or a portable computer, the display may be more legible if you type SDI - (that's SDI followed by space followed by minus). You may include the contest file name immediately after the minus sign. SDI -IOTA95 opens contest file IOTA95 for a monochrome monitor. The first screen records cover sheet information such as Callsign, Name and Address. You also indicate which section you're entering and whether single or multi-op. EXPERT and NOVICE MODES. In the second screen you enter the Band, in metres. The program loads any previous QSOs for this contest and then requests the Operator callsign if you have selected multi-op earlier. The next choice you make is to the question "RST always 59(9)", and which defaults to Y if you press Enter. This determines whether you will be logging and editing in "expert" mode or in "novice" mode. These descriptions are really misnomers. A better choice might be "urgent" and "casual", since they are intended to reflect your approach to the contest, rather than your contesting experience. The main difference between them lies in whether or not you are happy to always send 59(9). If you prefer to vary your reports you can do so by answering N to this question. Should you change your mind, you can change modes instantly from the callsign field while logging. In urgent mode, once you have entered the callsign you are taken directly to the Serial field. In this case you don't have to think about the RS(T) received unless it's anything other than 59. In casual mode you are taken in sequence between Callsign, RS(T) sent, RS(T) received, Serial and IOTA Reference. The RS(T)s are preset at 59(9) and the cursor is positioned on the second digit ready to amend the signal strength if needed. If no change is required, then press Enter to access the next field in the QSO. The final question on the second screen refers to on-line (real time) logging. Answer Y to take the QSO times from the computer clock - don't forget to set the time to GMT, and the date to correspond. If you answer N to this question, it is assumed you will be entering QSOs off-line that were worked earlier. LOGGING QSOs. The main thing I've tried to do with Super-Duper for IOTA is to make logging as simple and quick as possible, but without taking any shortcuts that might be questionable. The urgent and casual modes provide separate no- compromise approaches to each operating style. Whichever mode you're using, press Enter after every field unless you need to delay logging the QSO for some reason. This feature alone makes Super-Duper for IOTA faster and easier to use than many other contest logging programs. You keep using Enter unless there's some reason not to. A received report of 59(9) is assumed, but can be easily changed if necessary. By pressing TAB you can move between fields without logging the QSO. You should not use TAB just because that's what other programs require. If you do, you'll miss instant warnings of dupes and indications of multipliers needed. Use TAB only when another field must be amended or completed before logging. SDI takes you directly to the Serial field after entering the callsign. If you need to edit the RST received, simply press Enter in the Serial field before typing the serial. When you've edited the RST, Enter returns you to the Serial field. If no serial is given, enter 0 (zero) and it will appear as blank, or spaces, in your log. In this contest, island stations give their IOTA reference. Stations not on an island have no reference. The program analyses the callsign, using the DXCC.CTY file, to determine the relevant continent and initials - for example EU for Europe, and inserts these as the first two characters of the IOTA reference. If you press Enter at this stage, the program assumes no reference, otherwise you add the numeric portion of the reference - leading zeros are optional. For 1995, the highest IOTA reference accepted is 210, irrespective of continent. This is to reserve as much memory as possible for logging QSOs. Whether or not you use TAB to move between fields, the QSO will be logged only after an Enter, and only if all fields are valid (blank is valid for an IOTA reference). To summarise, press Enter after each field, or use TAB to amend or complete an earlier field. The QSO will be logged only following an Enter. If you miss one or more characters in the Callsign, you may replace them with asterisks or question marks. These are known as wildcard characters and should be edited out before submitting your entry. HELP. You'll get a summary of most commands or edit functions by typing HELP, followed by Enter, in the Callsign field. You should refer to the command summary at the end of this document. It's worthwhile trying them all. EDITING FIELDS - Call, RST, Serial, IOTA Ref. I've provided versatile editing functions for data entry as summarised below - you should take time to get used to them before the contest, so that you'll know, without having to stop and think, the appropriate commands or keystrokes when it matters. I've tried to keep things simple by eliminating the need for multiple keystrokes that are all very well for computer enthusiasts but are not so convenient when you're new to keyboards. Esc Deletes or clears a field - a second Esc will restore it. Minus Abandons QSO Entry or Edit - returns to QSO Entry mode. (Think of this as "take away" - it's useful if you get into trouble during an edit or if making corrections to a new QSO would take too long - it lets you start again from the beginning.) Remember: Esc and Minus update the Quick Memo Table. Home or [ Moves to the start of a field. End or ] Moves to the end of a field. Delete Deletes the character under the cursor. Backspace Deletes the character to the left. Use the arrow keys to move right and left. CALLSIGN ENTRY MODES. There are two modes of entry for Callsign fields - Overwrite and Insert. The default is Overwrite, as shown by OVR under the Callsign field. You can switch to Insert mode, shown as INS, by pressing the Insert key. (Note: OVR is the only mode for fields other than the Callsign). In Overwrite mode, anything you type replaces what's under the cursor. In Insert mode, whatever you type is inserted (added) before existing characters, if any, in the callsign. Insert mode is useful when you have missed the prefix in a callsign and need to complete it after recording the remaining QSO information. In this mode, when you return to the Callsign field, the cursor will be positioned at the first character, ready to insert the prefix. In Overwrite mode, the cursor is placed to the right of any existing callsign. When you check for Partial Calls by prefix, the Callsign entry mode is automatically switched to OVR. A check by suffix switches the mode to INS. If you prefer the program to not switch the modes when checking Partial Calls, type LOCK in the callsign field. In this case, the callsign entry mode will be changed only when you press the Insert key. As you might expect, the UNLOCK command restores automatic switching. However, you can stay in Overwrite mode at all times (Note: this is the only mode for fields other than Callsign). In Overwrite mode, you press the space bar to create spaces which you then replace with the missing letters of the callsign. Please experiment so that it will be automatic when you need it. DEALING WITH DUPES. Without a computer, you'll probably have to update a manual check list after each QSO. Otherwise, all you can do is call CQ for fear of being a dupe with stations you call. In the later stages of the IOTA contest, dupe rates may be as high as 10%, but with SDI they're no problem. When you type a callsign, followed by Enter, you'll hear a warning beep - "II" in Morse - if it's a potential dupe. If it's not a dupe, you'll hear "R". In this way you'll know whether you can go ahead without having to look at the screen. If you don't want to log a dupe, press Enter once again and the QSO logging line will be cleared, ready for the next callsign. To log the QSO as a dupe, type the serial and press Enter. The summary score will be updated accordingly. Since this is a dupe, it wouldn't make sense to record an IOTA reference other than the one logged in the original QSO, and the program will check this. If you've worked the station already, but on another band, you'll hear "V", and you'll see the earlier QSOs replacing the multiplier window. There's no particular logic in the choice of this letter other than it's a distinctive sound. It indicates that the same IOTA reference, as already logged, will be entered and you just press Enter to log the QSO. You can suppress all sounds, apart from dupe warnings, by typing NOSOUND in the Callsign field, and SOUND to restore them. If a station calling you turns out to be a dupe, it's nearly always quicker to work him and log the contact rather than tell him he's a dupe. There's no point in arguing or getting annoyed with stations that are dupes - after all, not everyone has the luxury of a computer for logging. Dupes will be flagged in the log and will not score. For duping purposes, Super-Duper tests for calls of the type W6AA and W6AA/9, and for the following suffixes. /P /M /A /MM /AM /QRP For example, if GI3OTV/M has already been logged, GI3OTV will be flagged as a dupe on the same band. This feature applies both to new QSOs and to edits of earlier QSOs. HUNTING AND POUNCING. You'll probably spend a large proportion of each contest searching for stations needed on the current band. Super- Duper for IOTA provides options to make this as fast and as simple as possible. When hunting other stations, type the callsign and press Enter. You'll hear "R" if it's OK to call, otherwise you hear "II" and see details of the earlier QSO. In this case, press Enter and the logging line will clear, ready for the next callsign. If it takes too long to type the full callsign, just type the first 2 or 3 characters followed by comma to get a list, in alphabetic sequence, of all stations already worked with that prefix on any band. Callsigns shown in bold, and in upper-case, are needed on this band. If the station you're interested in has already been worked, type Esc to clear the Callsign field ready for the next callsign or prefix. If the callsign isn't shown, then it hasn't been logged on any band and you can go ahead and call. In the same way, full-stop (period) lists all stations worked with any given suffix. As noted above, the callsign entry mode will be OVR after a prefix check, and INS after a suffix check. If you prefer to have manual control over the entry mode, use the LOCK command to restrict mode changes to the Insert key. UNLOCK will restore SD's normal operation. The command PREFIX gives a continuous automatic prefix check whenever you have two or more characters in the callsign field. It may be abbreviated to PRE. Repeat the command to suppress automatic prefix checking. SKEDS and REMINDERS. Super-Duper for IOTA allows you to record scheduled events of which you would like to be reminded, and you can also record comments or memos for reference after the contest. Skeds, Reminders and Memos are initiated simply by pressing F7, or by typing SKED or MEMO, followed by Enter, in the callsign field. This will write a timed record to a disk file called NAME.MMO, where NAME is the name of your contest file. The difference between a Sked (or Reminder) and a Memo is that you include a time with the former. For a Memo you leave the time blank. SD keeps track of all your Skeds and Reminders and displays a warning one minute before the due time, and also during the relevant 60 second period unless another Sked is due. To see the next 7 events you have scheduled, press F8. They are displayed in a table that replaces the Score window. To return to the Score window, press Minus. You can abandon data entry for a Sked from either the Time or the Comments field by pressing Minus. You could also use the Sked facility to give timed reminders of when to do backups (with DUMP or FASTDUMP) or as a reminder to check for band openings. You might use the Memo facility to log QSOs with stations that don't qualify for points in the contest concerned, and which would otherwise be scored. There's no need to include the time with such comments, because the current time is written to the .MMO file together with your comments. If you do enter a time, SDI assumes you're recording a Sked or Reminder. QUICK MEMO. Whenever you use Esc to delete a callsign, or Minus to delete data on the logging line, whatever was in the Callsign field is recorded in a table in memory. The eight most recent entries are held, and can be recalled by F10 to display them in a new window. You might use this as a reminder for callsigns or frequencies or IOTA references. It's worth trying this out for yourself - you probably won't realise how useful it is just by reading about it. Any of the entries can be retrieved and placed in the Callsign field by using the Up or Down Arrow keys followed by Enter. Any other key will return to normal logging. You could think of this as an 'undo' facility to quickly retrieve any one of the last 8 callsigns you may have wiped with the Esc or Minus keys. NAVIGATE THE LOG. To see earlier log entries, use the following keys in the Callsign field (which should be empty). Page Up Back 6 QSOs. Page Down Forward 6 QSOs. Home Back 50 QSOs. End Forward 50 QSOs. To see all QSOs for a particular callsign - enter the callsign and press F9. Use this to find the QSO number or the serial corresponding to a specific QSO, in the event that you want to edit the log entry. If you press F9 when the Callsign field is empty, you'll get the information for the most recent QSO (or Edit). EDITING PREVIOUSLY LOGGED QSOs. There are two simple methods for getting to the QSO you want to edit. The first is to use the Up Arrow or Down Arrow keys until you reach the QSO you want. You'll find that these keys work so long as you don't change any field in a QSO. Once you do, you must log the edited QSO (with Enter), or abandon the edit (with F10 or minus) before editing another QSO. As an alternative, you can go directly to any QSO by typing the QSO number in the Callsign field followed by Enter. To find QSO numbers for any callsign, type the callsign followed by F9. Use Esc to clear the callsign. If you enter a number in the Callsign field and then press TAB, Super- Duper for IOTA assumes you've entered a partial callsign, and will take you to the next field. When editing, use TAB to go from one field to another to make changes. Press Enter to log the changes, if any, and you'll be returned to the QSO entry line. If you get into trouble during an edit and need to abandon it, whether or not you've made any changes, then Minus is the way to do so. Edits take effect only when you use the Enter key. After any change in callsign, the program examines all QSOs logged for dupes to be marked or unset, and updates and rescores the log as necessary. In addition, Super-Duper for IOTA ensures that the IOTA reference on the edited QSO will be reflected in all other QSOs with the callsign concerned, since that's the only way your dupes, multipliers and points can be accurate. Therefore, edits take priority over previous log entries. This works to your advantage, in that you can change the IOTA reference for all QSOs with a particular station merely by editing any one such QSO. Basically, the program won't allow you to do anything inconsistent, but remember that it may not stop you from doing something wrong! You can edit any combination of fields and everything will be kept consistent, with the dupes, multipliers, and points correctly recorded. QSOs with IOTA stations score 15 points. QSOs with non-IOTA stations score 5 points unless they're in your own DXCC country in which case they score 2 points. When you edit an IOTA reference to change the status of a QSO, the points are adjusted as necessary. Needless to say, the report received can be edited - either alone or in combination with the Callsign, serial and IOTA reference. In urgent mode it's assumed you always give a report of 59(9). EDITING THE BAND LOGGED. You may happen to change band on-air but forget to do so on the computer. To correct any QSO concerned, move to it, as for an Edit, and then use F1 or F2 to go up and down the bands as required. This takes effect only if you have not already changed any field in the QSO. As always, Super-Duper for IOTA checks the complete log for consistency and displays the correct multipliers and score, on both the old band and the new band. I've gone to a lot of trouble in my efforts to handle all edits correctly. If you find a combination that doesn't work, please let me know. If you do spot an error, you can correct the log file (.ALL) with a text editor. The correct score will then be shown when you reload it (see the warning later about using external editors on the log). You should be aware that you cannot edit the mode, SSB or CW, on previously logged QSOs from within SDI. You can do so, after the contest, with a text editor on the .ALL file. In these circumstances, you are responsible for any necessary consistency checks with regard to dupes and/or multipliers created and/or deleted. CHANGING BANDS, OPERATOR OR MODE. To change bands, or to go from on-line to off-line logging and vice-versa, simply type B or BAND in the Callsign field and hit Enter. You'll be returned to the second screen. Enter the new band, or the same one if it's unchanged, and answer Y or N to "On-Line Logging ?" as appropriate. In multi-op contests, you'll be asked for the op's callsign. There's a quicker way to change bands from the Callsign field in the logging line. Simply type B20, followed by Enter, to go to 20 metres without changing mode, B80 for 80 metres, etc. The scores for the current band will be highlighted in the Summary Score window. To change both band and mode, enter commands of the form 20S, for 20m SSB, or 15C for 15m CW. You can also go off-line or on-line by typing OFF or ON in the Callsign field followed by Enter. To change operator from the Callsign field, type OPR followed (no space) by the new callsign. To switch between urgent and casual modes from the Callsign field, type RST followed by Enter. QSO RATES. The table on the lower RHS of the screen gives the QSO rate per hour for your last 10 QSOs, last 100 QSOs, and overall rate - since the start of the contest. The values are updated every 10 seconds, so you can't relax for long without seeing your rates going down. If you haven't logged 10 or 100 QSOs, then the figures relate to the actual number of QSOs completed. The figures are accurate only when on-line logging is selected for all QSOs, and they have no significance after the contest. You can suppress this table with RATEOFF, and restore it with RATEON. The default is ON. The other two other items shown on the bottom RHS of the screen show the approximate number of QSOs remaining (within memory), and the name of your contest file. MEMORY KEYER. A simple circuit will interface your computer with your keyer or radio (positive keyed only). Please note, however, that there is no matching sidetone generated by the computer. This is due mainly to limitations in the programming language I'm using. However, the command CWTEST will switch on a sidetone so that you can experiment with the keyer and set up its memories, but you cannot key your rig at the same time. The program assumes you'll be using one of the standard serial ports on your computer. You'll need a general purpose small signal NPN transistor, such as a BC182A or BC317, and a 1k resistor that will both fit inside the cover of your DB9 or DB25 connector to the computer. Data Terminal Ready (DTR) is pin 20 on a DB25 connector, or pin 4 on a DB9. Signal Ground is pin 7 on a DB25, or pin 5 on a DB9. As you might expect, signal ground connects to the ground on the transmitter key input. The 1k resistor goes between the base of the transistor and DTR. The emitter goes to signal ground, and the collector goes to the positive line of the transmitter key input. You should connect the TX end of this lead in parallel with the output of your present key(er) rather than connecting it to any of your keyer inputs. If you boot your computer with the cable connected, DTR may be set to ON which will key your rig. Once you use the keyer from within the program, DTR will be set to OFF. You switch to keyboard mode with backslash "\", or single apostrophe "'" or hash "#", and you use Enter to return to logging mode. The initial speed is 28 words per minute, and you can adjust it up or down between 60 wpm and 12 wpm (all indicated speeds are approximate) with Up- Arrow and Down-Arrow or ( and ). If you're not happy with the weight, increase it with Right-Arrow, or reduce it with Left-Arrow, and restore it to 50% with the Home key. You can adjust the weight only when you're in keyboard mode. I've included this mainly because there are slight timing differences with different computers, but you might want to experiment anyway. SDI has 10 CW memories and three methods of using them. Originally the only multiple keystrokes in SD were used for the keyer. However, this turned out to be unpopular with CT fans and so I've had to introduce an equivalent. With Caps Lock on, F1 to F10 will replay the memories. The only disadvantage is that you must have Caps Lock off to get the standard F1 to F10 functions. You can tell the status of Caps Lock without looking at your keyboard. You'll know it's on when you see the symbol ^ to the left of the callsign field on the logging line. With Caps Lock off, use Ctrl Z,X,C,A,S,D,Q,W,E,R or Alt- F1 to Alt-F10. Please try the Ctrl sequences. They're simpler that they might seem, particularly if you're a touch typist. INITIAL MEMORY CONTENTS. 1 TEST Call Call TEST (Where Call is from the opening screen) 2 His call 3 Exchange: RST + current serial 4 Exchange: RST + previous serial 5 TU 6 Call 7 QRL? 8 ? 9 Current serial 10 Previous serial You can change or combine these in any way you choose. In addition, you may select any combination of the following parameters when defining memory contents. When you leave SDI your definitions are held in the file SDKEYER.DOC. #R Own callsign. #C Most recent callsign logged. #S Current serial (or other contest data) #P Previous serial #N Name (after callsign match with LOAD) #E Simulates the Enter key. For example, #C 5NN #S#E would send callsign + full exchange followed by Enter - all with a single keystroke. When you get a callsign match after LOADing a .LST file such as RNARS or GQRP, the #N parameter will send the other Op's name. If there is no match, nothing is sent. When editing keyer memories with Shift-F1 etc, do not insert a space in front of #N - the space is assumed when a callsign matches. In contests with serials, leading zeros are sent as "T" and other zeros are sent in full. The command CWZERO allows you to choose abbreviations for non-leading zeros. If you use the Ctrl combinations, make sure that you do not have the command "BREAK=ON" in your CONFIG.SYS file, as otherwise there will be a Ctrl-C conflict that will stop the program. To change the keyer messages, use Shift-F1 etc., which will display the current message and invite you to enter a new one. If you don't enter anything, the original message will be unchanged. If you get into trouble, either in keyboard mode or when sending a preset message, Esc will stop the message and empty the keyboard buffer. When you use this keyer, make sure it's connected in parallel with whatever alternative keying method you use. If you make a mistake in entering a callsign, it's often quicker to send it on your normal key and then correct the computer entry later. REFERENCE LISTS. The LOAD command allows you to load reference files with the extension .LST. These files are typically membership lists showing callsign, name and membership number, and the information will be displayed whenever you enter a corresponding callsign. Use a text processor to create your own reference file. Each record may have up to 12 characters in the callsign and up to 20 characters of other data. There must be at least one space between the end of the callsign and the data. The record length may vary. I use a reference list of registered users of SD to remind me of your name during contests. LEAVING THE PROGRAM. To end the program, type END or QUIT in the Callsign field. If you're using Super-Duper for IOTA off-line, you can enter END and QUIT can be entered in the Time field. What happens if the power to the computer fails? Super- Duper for IOTA updates the log file on disk after every QSO or edit. So, when power is restored, simply type SDI followed by your contest file name, go to the QSO entry screen and you will see the last QSO logged immediately above the data entry line. A COPY OF YOUR LOG. The AUDIT command logs all QSOs and Edits to a printer connected to the parallel port. With AUDIT, you'll have a printed record from which you may recreate your contest log including all edits. Printing takes place AFTER each QSO or Edit is written to disk. If the printer goes off-line, or is switched off, you'll see an error message and the printed data for that QSO or Edit will be lost. A printer error will not delay logging or editing. The NOAUDIT command terminates printing. To take a disk copy of the current contest file, without leaving SDI, type DUMP, followed by Enter, in the Callsign field. This writes your file, with an extension .DMP, to a write-enabled diskette in Drive A. This way, you'll have a backup copy of the log to be printed or analysed on any other computer, or available in case anything should happen your computer or hard disk. If there's already a .DMP file on your diskette it's renamed to .OLD before the copy to .DMP takes place, giving two "generations" of copy files. You should be aware that, depending on the number of QSOs logged and the speed of your drive, DUMP may take some time during which you cannot log further QSOs. In tests I've done, it has taken about 35 seconds to dump 1000 QSOs. Why not do this whenever you change band or operator? You can leave the same disk in Drive A for the duration of the contest. If you'd like something a lot faster, but a little less secure, FASTDUMP puts the copy files in the same directory and device as your contest file, again with .DMP and .OLD extensions as appropriate. You should use either DUMP or FASTDUMP at intervals during the contest. Losing a few seconds is preferable to risking the loss of some or all of your contest log. SCREEN COLOURS If you would like a change from SDI's standard colours, the COLOUR (or COLOR) command allows you to choose the Window background colour, the Log (previous QSOs) colour, the QSO entry colour and the Title text colour. Colours will be unchanged if you press Enter without first typing a number from the range indicated. SENDING YOUR ENTRY TO RSGB. Finally, you'll probably want to send in your contest entry. This is an RSGB Contest and SDI entries on disk are welcomed. Simply type WRITE, followed by Enter, in the Callsign field and your log will be written in the RSGB recommended format to a file called NAME.LOG, where NAME is the contest name you gave when starting SDI. You should rename this file with the callsign used for the contest, e.g. EJ1D.LOG. Do not edit the .LOG file in any way, for example to include headings or to split it by band. The .LOG file generated by Super-Duper for IOTA is formatted to the specific and precise recommendations of RSGB. When sending your entry on disk, the only other thing you need to do is to enclose a signed Summary Sheet. If you need a printout for your own records the PRINT command will generate a print file called CALL.bnd , where CALL is your callsign. You can print this file using the commands COPY or PRINT from DOS. If you run into formatting problems when printing your log file(s), try loading them into any word processor. Choose a font with fixed (not proportional) spacing and, if necessary, reduce the font size or the left and right page margins to eliminate line wrapping. Full rules for the contest are held in IOTA95.RUL. Mail your entry to RSGB IOTA Contest c/o S. Knowles G3UFY 77 Bensham Manor Road Thornton Heath Surrey CR7 7AF England. A separate program SDICHECK is supplied which generates Check Lists and Multiplier Lists for each band, together with a Summary Sheet for the contest. These are the files CHECK.LST and SUMMARY.DOC, and they can be printed with MS-DOS commands. The Check List is a sorted list of callsigns together with the time of the QSO. Dupes are indicated by an asterisk before the callsign. Remember that, if you're sending in your entry on disk, there's no need to include a check list, but you must enclose a Summary Sheet. If you use a general purpose logging progam you will be able to import contest logs from Super-Duper for IOTA. SHACKLOG, TurboLog and WJ2O MasterLog support Super-Duper for IOTA logs, and will generate QSL labels. The DXCC.CTY file is your reference for identifying callsigns. The IOTA.REF file is your reference for IOTA identifiers. You are free to edit them with a text editor. It's probably tidier, but not essential, to keep their records in sequence. Please let me know of any errors or omissions so that I can update my copies. EDITING THE .ALL FILE. Super-Duper for IOTA creates two files. The first is NAME.ALL where NAME is whatever name you gave the contest when you started the program. This holds all the internal reference information for keeping multipliers and points consistent, especially during and after edits done from within SDI. When the contest is finished, you use the WRITE command to create NAME.LOG. The contents of the .LOG file are essentially a reformatted version of the .ALL file, but without the internal reference information. Contest File Record Layout (.ALL) Each record is 56 characters long, made up of 54 data characters terminated with the ASCII characters "13" and "10" (Carriage Return + Line Feed). The first 12 records are control records and should not be edited. Your first QSO is in Record 13. Field Characters Length Mode 1 - 1 1 0=CW, 1=SSB Band 2 - 2 1 1=10, 2=15, 3=20 4=40, 5=80, 6=160 Callsign Worked 3 - 14 12 Date - DDMMYY 15 - 20 6 Time - HHMMSS 21 - 26 6 RST Sent 27 - 29 3 RST Received 30 - 32 3 Serial Received 33 - 36 3 IOTA Reference Received 37 - 41 4 Dupe Indicator (D) 44 - 44 1 IOTA Multiplier Ind. 45 - 45 1 Serial Sent 47 - 50 4 QSO Points 53 - 54 2 1. Take a copy of your contest file. For example COPY IOTA94.ALL TEST.ALL, and then work on TEST.ALL 2. Use a text editor such as EDIT which is distributed with Versions 5 and 6 of DOS. Don't use a word processor. Where I've used the words "edit" or "editing" from here on, I'm referring to the use of the EDIT program (or any other text editor you use). Remember that you must not change the length, in characters, of any line in the .ALL file. Spaces count as characters. 3. Do not edit the .ALL file until after the contest. If you edit it during the contest, and then go back to logging, the results will be unpredictable. 4. If you get into trouble during or after an edit, go back to Step 1. QUESTIONS and ANSWERS. Q. I've got some QSOs in the .ALL file that I want to delete. What do I do?. A. Go ahead and delete each record. Make sure you delete the whole record, and nothing else. That's why you're working on the copy file, aren't you? You cannot delete a QSO from within SDI. When you log a station that doesn't count - don't worry about it, and edit it out of the .ALL file after the contest. Q. Some QSOs are multipliers, and the program hasn't picked them up. How can I correct my score? A. Mark them with M in the appropriate position. When you reload the .ALL file (SDI TEST), the points, multipliers and summary will be correct. Similarly, you can edit the points for any QSO by changing the last 2 characters in the QSO record. Q. Is there any snag about making a QSO a multiplier with EDIT? A. Yes, but only a little one. The multiplier list generated by SDICHECK will probably show one multiplier twice, and not show the new multiplier at all. You can edit CHECK.LST to correct this. You can also edit the Operator files for multi-operator contests. They have an OPR extension, with each record holding the Callsign (6 characters) followed by the starting QSO number for that operator. Q. What should I do if the program stops with some strange error message? A. There's quite a lot you can do to help yourself. The first thing to do is to make sure you haven't run out of space on your disk. The program does not check specifically for this. Assuming there is room on your disk, try reloading your contest file. If the program still doesn't run, then start another contest file. If you have time to examine the .ALL file, check with a text editor that it appears to be formatted correctly. If the last record appears to be corrupt, delete it and reload the contest file. If you delete any record other than the last record, and then reload the file, you may not be able to do much more than continue to log - editing will give problems. Error 7 Out of memory. Error 14 Out of string space. Error 57 Device I/O error. Error 61 Disk full. Error 68 Device unavailable. Error 70 Disk is write protected. Error 71 Disk drive not ready. Error 72 Disk media error. THIS IS THE SMALL PRINT. Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of EI5DI. Users of Super-Duper for IOTA must accept the following disclaimer of warranty. "Super-Duper for IOTA is supplied as is. EI5DI disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. EI5DI assumes no liability for damages, direct indirect or consequential, which may result from the use of Super-Duper for IOTA." Remember that software is never finished! You are strongly recommended to use the AUDIT, DUMP or FASTDUMP facilities during the contest. Please refer to the latest SDI-READ.ME file for information on known bugs and to the HISTORY.DOC file for information on bugs which have been corrected. Why not use the SKED command, before the contest, to schedule your backups? You can edit the log file with any text editor so long as you are careful to replace characters, and do not delete or add any. Word Processors are not recommended. You should take a copy of your contest file with DUMP or FASTDUMP or with the MS-DOS COPY command before using any external editor or word processor. This program has been examined by the IOTA Committee, and I have been informed that it is scoring in accordance with the published rules of the 1995 contest. Super-Duper for IOTA V6.08 : Command Summary. ______________________________________________ SDI NAME - Colour display SDI -NAME - Monochrome display. ______________________________________________ LOGGING Enter Accept a completed field. TAB Accept a partial or completed field, delays logging. Esc Delete or clear a field. a second Esc will restore it. Minus Abandon QSO entry. Esc or Minus update the Quick Memo. Home or [ Move to the start of a field. End or ] Move to the end of a field. Delete Delete character. Backspace Delete character to the left. Arrow keys Move left and right.. Page Up Back 6 QSOs. Page Down Forward 6 QSOs. Home Back 50 QSOs. End Forward 50 QSOs. ______________________________________________ CALLSIGN ENTRY or EDIT * and ? allowed as wildcard characters. ______________________________________________ WHEN WARNED OF A DUPE To work it Enter Serial. else Press Enter. ______________________________________________ CONTESTS WITH SERIALS No serial given - Enter 0 (zero). ______________________________________________ COMMANDS VALID IN CALLSIGN FIELD END BXX- Change to XX Metres QUIT BAND RATEON RST OPR RATEOFF HELP TUNE MODE ONLINE SOUND CW OFFLINE NOSOUND SSB WRITE DUMP PRE(FIX) PRINT FASTDUMP CWZERO SKED LOCK CWTEST MEMO UNLOCK Change Mode/Band AUDIT LOAD 20C - 20m CW NOAUDIT COLOUR 80S - 80m SSB ______________________________________________ CALLSIGN ENTRY MODE Insert Toggle INS/OVR. ______________________________________________ SKEDS, REMINDERS, MEMOS (Caps Lock off) F7 Record them. F8 Display Skeds and Reminders. ______________________________________________ HUNTING & POUNCING Comma Partial call search by prefix. Full stop Partial call search by suffix. F9 List QSOs by callsign. (Caps Lock off) ______________________________________________ EDITING LOGGED QSOs. Use Up/Down keys or enter QSO number. Callsign + F9 gives QSO numbers. (Caps Lock off) Use TAB between fields. Enter when complete. F1 Edit Band HF. (Caps Lock off) F2 Edit Band LF. (Caps Lock off) Minus Abandon Edit ______________________________________________ KEYER. #'\&< Toggle keyboard/logging mode. Down-Arrow or ( Reduce speed. Up-Arrow or ) Increase speed. Left-Arrow Reduce weight. Right-Arrow Increase weight. Home Restore 50% weight. Memory Playback. (Esc to abandon) With Caps Lock on ^ F1 to F10 With Caps Lock off Alt-F1 to Alt-F10 or Ctrl-Z,X,C,A,S,D,Q etc. F1 TEST Call Call TEST F2 his callsign. F3 RST + current serial F4 RST + previous serial F5 TU F6 Call F7 QRL? F8 ? F9 Serial F10 Previous serial. Shift-F1 to Shift-F10 Redefine above. #R Registered callsign. #C Most recent callsign logged. #S Current serial #P Previous serial #N Name (with LOAD command) #E Simulates the Enter key. ______________________________________________ QUICK MEMO (undo) (Caps Lock off) F10 Recall table. Enter Retrieve data. Any other key Return to logging. ______________________________________________ MULTIPLIER ENQUIRIES (Caps Lock off) F3 Summary, CW, SSB, Total. F4 Islands worked by continent. F5 Islands worked by band. F6 Single Island by band and mode. Minus Multipliers - all continents. ______________________________________________ Super-Duper for IOTA uses no multiple keystrokes for logging or editing.