* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The QRZ! Ham Radio CD-ROM Volume 3 July 1994 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Well, another 6 months has gone by and much has happened to the QRZ project. There's now a completely revamped DOS Windows interface, new search programs for AIX and OS/2, and several hundred files for the amiga and the Macintosh. We've also got a large new collection of amateur related shareware from the Boston Amateur Radio Club, thanks to Scott, WY1Z. Also, we have been granted special permission from the ARRL to publish their entire INFO SERVER directory, which you'll find in the \arrl directory. Sadly, we still don't have a Macintosh interface to the callsign database, but we're looking for volunteers! If you're a Mac programmer and would like to earn a free subscription to QRZ, then please get in touch with us! We believe that you'll really like the new Windows interface, which was completely rewritten in Visual Basic. You'll notice that you can now load the program onto your hard disk using the SETUP.EXE program which will save you a couple of seconds of startup time each time you run QRZ. There are several new features including recent call lookup memory and much better printing utilities. The online Help is also new with hypergraphics to guide you around the window. We would especially like to welcome our international users from around the world. QRZ is now being sold worldwide and is available in Africa, Europe, Japan, and as far as we know, on all the continents (well, maybe not in Antarctica). To be honest, we have no idea of exactly how many countries QRZ is in, but we would like to hear from our users wherever they may be. This summer, we're starting the QRZ "Best of DX" QSL card collection that will be featured in a future edition of the CDROM. If your card is selected it will be read in on an HP color scanner and made available to the world as a .GIF file. For more information about the QRZ "Best of DX" QSL card contest, please see the file BESTOFDX.TXT. On other international topics, we've updated the Canadian callsign database and have added quite a few UK and IT (Italy) callsigns. The data for these countries was donated to us and is not 100% accurate. For the most part, however, it seems fairly reliable. We hope you find the new information useful. We are always looking for more countries to add and would gladly accept your tape of floppy disk of countries that we don't already have. Many users have written to ask why we don't go with a complete international database and we must admit that it would be a nice thing to do. Unfortunately, QRZ is a very small company and we do not have the staff necessary to gather and compile the massive amounts of data. We hope to do this someday, but for now QRZ will remain primarily a US callsign database. We will, however, continue to accept international data and do our best to make it available to you as people from around the world make it available to us. -fred AA7BQ flloyd@qrz.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GENERAL INFORMATION * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OTHER NOTES In the last edition (Volume 2), we stated that QRZ would be published on a quarterly basis. This has proved to be unworkable and we wish to apologize for those who were disappointed when the Spring 1994 edition did not show up. Our commitment will now stand at two issues per year, one in the summer and one in the winter. Also, in the last issue we mentioned a callsign database update service for those who wanted to customize their listings. Due to a lack of user response, this has been discontinued. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GETTING STARTED If you're running Windows then you'll want to run QRZII.EXE, the latest Windows callsign database program, right away. Don't forget to look in the \WIN3 directory for a number of useful windows help files. As with previous versions of QRZ!, QRZWIN requires no installation, just pop the disc in and run it. You may want to create a program item in one of your favorite groups which points to QRZII.EXE - and the new icon is kind of neat too. Starting with Volume 3, it is now possible to install a copy of the QRZII windows program on your hard disk. This will improve the startup time by a couple of seconds. You'll need about a megabyte of hard disk space to do the install, but you probably will agree that it's worth it. To run the installation, WHICH IS ENTIRELY OPTIONAL, just open your File Manager and go into the \qrz directory and double-click on the SETUP.EXE program. It should only take about a minute to complete and it will create a new icon and program group on your system. If you running DOS and/or would prefer the command line interface, you can just type QRZ at the DOS prompt - no installation or setup is necessary. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * QRZ ELECTRONIC MAIL (e-mail) ADDRESS QRZ is now a fulltime UUCP connected Internet site and will soon be upgrading to a high speed line with direct connection. This will enable us to offer services such as a WWW Mosaic server and ftp uploads and downloads. This should be in place by the end of the summer, as soon as the telephone company gets finished digging a new trench. When QRZ comes online to the Internet, an announcement will be made on the Ham radio newsgroups. Stay tuned! In the meantime, as always, we always happy to hear from you via e-mail. If you have any suggestions, ideas or questions about the QRZ! software, don't hesitate to drop us a line at: cdrom@qrz.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * SOME IMPORTANT FILES AND DIRECTORIES ON THIS DISC (NOTE: The 'x:' is replaced with your drive letter) x:\00readme.txt You're reading it. x:\cdf.exe CD-FIND - locates files on the CD x:\qrz.exe The DOS callbook program. x:\qrzhelp.txt The DOS help file x:\qrzII.exe The Windows callbook program x:\qrzII.hlp The Windows help file for QRZII.EXE x:\arrl The entire collection of ARRL INFO server files x:\buffalo Technical Files from CS.BUFFALO.EDU x:\callbk The callbook database is stored here x:\digests Selected INTERNET NEWS Articles x:\germany Ham Radio files from Germany x:\misc Like the name says - Some good TNC Software too x:\mods 150 radio MOD files x:\utils\pkunpak.exe Used for 'unpacking' .ARC files x:\utils\unzip.exe Used for 'unzipping' .ZIP files x:\simtel A large collection of ham related shareware x:\simtel\starter A collection of ARC\ZIP\TAR utilities x:\ucsd Contributions from UCSD, Brian Kantor, WB6CYT, UCSD x:\digests\... Usenet Ham Radio News articles 1989-1993 x:\ucsd\... Large assortment of ham radio programs x:\ucsd\packet\... Lots (70MB) of packet related files. x:\unix UNIX compatible callsign search software and source x:\wav Sound Blaster .WAV files for TNC testing x:\win3 Misc. Windows help files and articles x:\win\src Example VB 3.0 callbook source code x:\world The Boston Amateur Radio Club shareware collection including lots of Amiga, Mac and other useful files. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * HAM SHAREWARE AUTHORS We welcome quality contributions from amateur radio shareware authors. We also are interested in any data or information files which would be of interest to the general amateur radio community. To submit your data and/or software for inclusion in a future version of QRZ! just send e-mail to cdrom@qrz.com or write to: QRZ! c/o Fred Lloyd 8215 E. Wood Drive Scottsdale, AZ 85260 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Walnut Creek CDROM is an approved vendor and associate member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * * * Watch for the next edition in 6 months! * * * Thanks and 73, Thank you for buying the QRZ! Ham Radio CD-ROM! * * * IMPORTANT LICENSING INFORMATION - PLEASE READ * * * This license applies to you, even if you don't read it. LICENSE TO USE This CD is licensed "Like a book", which means that if you have the CD-ROM disc then you have the license. The license lasts as long as the CD does. You can copy this CD to a hard disk, but we wouldn't recommend it. At todays prices, you could buy 30 copies of this CD for what it would cost you in hard disk space - think about it. (Come to think of it, you could also buy a dozen copies of the CD and a CD-ROM drive for what you would pay in hard disk space.) If money is no object to you and you really want to copy this disc to your hard disk than go ahead. Just remember that in order for the license to be valid, you must still have the CD. What all this means is that you may not copy this CD to your hard disk and then sell, give away or loan out the CD. If you do decide to dispose of the CD, then you must erase any copies of it that you may have made. If you operate your system as a BBS, networking or packet radio system, then it is okay to let other people log onto your machine and use this disc. Your users may download anything they like, except the callsign database. Be sure your users understand that the callsign database is NOT shareware and can not be downloaded. If you are thinking about making a CD-ROM of your own, note that you MAY NOT copy any portion of this disc in doing so. If you have a good idea for a new title, call Walnut Creek CDROM (+1 510 674 0783). They are happy to talk to you. * * * SHAREWARE * * * There are a lot of shareware programs on this disc. Shareware authors make their living by depending on the fact that honest people will pay them if they find the shareware useful. Nearly all shareware packages will contain a message that asks you to send money to the author(s) if you like their software. Although you paid for this CD-ROM, your purchase did not include any payments to the shareware authors. You must contact them directly at the address they indicate. There is also a fair amount of "Public Domain" software on this disc. Public domain software is different from shareware in that no payment to the author is generally expected. The author(s), out of the kindness of (his/her/their) heart(s) have decided to donate their work to the public at large. If you are able to find out who they are, It would be a nice gesture to drop them a line expressing your appreciation of their work. The callbook data, the callbook search and retrieval software, and the on-line help files are neither shareware nor in the "public domain". These products are included as a part of this CD-ROM and may not be sold or traded separately. As the owner of the CD, you may copy any portion of this disc to another media as long as you still own the CD. You may not sell or trade any of the copies that you make. You can, however, sell or trade the CD itself. Once the CD is sold or traded, the license to use the CD transfers to the new owner. * * * DISCLAIMERS * * * There are a lot of good programs on this disc. Some of the programs are great and some of them are not-so-great. Many of them are widely known to be good, useful packages but we here at QRZ! cannot take responsibility or offer support for any of them. If you need help and can find a name or an address within a particular shareware package then you might try contacting them yourself. If not then you'll just have to figure it out for yourself. Above all, remember the following: ALL OF THE SOFTWARE AND DATA ON THIS DISC IS OFFERED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. You also need to be aware that we cannot accept any responsibility, or liability in the event that using the software on this disk causes you grief, malfunction, data loss or thinning of the hair. As with any new software, make sure that you back up your system regularly so that you can recover from unforeseen crashes. This CDROM comes with a full money back guarantee. If you are dissatisfied for any reason, you can return it for a full refund. Walnut Creek CDROM guarantees the physical media of this CDROM disc only. If the CDROM is unreadable, you may exchange it for a working version. Walnut Creek CDROM makes no warranty about any file on this CDROM, including any written by Walnut Creek. You, not Walnut Creek CDROM, assume all risk of using any of the files on this CDROM. We reserve the right to limit any effort on our part to rectify problems with any file on this CDROM. Although we have made every attempt to examine every program on this disc, some non-shareware or public domain programs may have slipped by. If you find such a program on this disc, please notify us immediately so we can rectify the situation. Thanks. * * * RADIO MODIFICATIONS * * * There are a lot of data files which describe how to modify various radios in various ways. Some of these modifications make it possible to transmit and receive on frequencies which are unauthorized or illegal. It is our expectation that users who modify their radios have legitimate reasons to do so and will not operate their gear in an illegal or irresponsible manner. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * DATABASE ACCURACY The US callsign data has been obtained from the federal government. As one might expect, information from the federal government is less than 100 percent accurate. We don't maintain this database and therefore if you want something changed or corrected then you'll have to deal with the FCC yourself. Actually, it's pretty easy. Just get a 610 from the FCC, fill it out with the correct information and mail it in. There is no charge for this and the information will probably reach us in time for the next edition of the CD. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Our thanks to everyone else we forgot to mention. Bowen, KA2NRC, buffalo.edu