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The K1EA CQ WW Logging Program TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction The First Steps Make a Copy Print CT.DOC Print CT.HLP Country Lists Boot and Set Time Start the Program Set the Band Start Making Contacts! Namimg Conventions Hard Disk Users Floppy Disk Users Starting the Program Exiting the Program Editing Commands Check Sheet Commands Logging Commands Meaning of Marks in the Band Country Column WAE QTC Packet Users Sending CW Keyboard Mode General Information Time Summary Country Lists CQ WW QSO Points Frozen Keyboard Band Change Errors The Real Time Logging File Logs by Band A Printed Dupe Sheet Save and Quit Send Copy of name.BIN to N2AA, K1EA Color Updates The Future After the Contest Copy to Floppy Run Breakdown Run WriteSum Run WriteMult Run WriteLog Hints and Kinks YCCC Users Revision History SUPER IMPORTANT NOTE! As of February 1991 CT Version 6.26 SHARWARE is available for downloading from BBS's. The following documentation was written at the time of Version 4.15. Since then, two major revisions, and over 25 releases have been written. The documentation you are about to read is hopelessly out of date. The real hard copy manual and current version of the program are available for $37.50 plus $2.50 shipping and handling ($5.00 overseas). The hardcopy manual is nearly 50 pages long with plenty of text and graphics to make learning the program easy. To repeat, send a check or money order made out to "CT" for $40 stateside, $42.50 DX. CT c/o Bill McGowan KC1EO 33 Truell Road Hollis, NH 03049 You will receive the very latest version of the program with complete documentation. In addition, you will receive a number of useful utilities for merging logs, converting logs to and from ASCII, QSLing, and a database of callsigns of active contesters. We are thinking of upgrading the electronic version of this shareware documentation. Check back with DX-BBS (W6GO) at 916/992-0923 now and again. The only part of this documentation that is close to being current is the Revision History at the end. If you like and use the program, please buy it. CT.DOC This program is designed for real-time logging. To enjoy it, a quiet computer, one which does not interfere with reception at HF, must be used in the shack. Be sure that hardware problems are solved first! THE FIRST STEPS Make a Copy. To begin, label a new disk (using the DOS command LABEL) CT, with the version number (example: CT4_15), and copy this disk. That way, you won't have to torture K1EA if you trash your original. Remember, he isn't going to take your telephone call to fix anything during the contest. Put the original disk aside, and insert the new program disk. Now you are ready to begin. CT requires 512K of memory. Practically speaking, 640K is needed for a good size log. Print CT.DOC. Using your DOS command, PRINT CT.DOC, or COPY CT.DOC PRN, print a copy of this introductory document (CT.DOC) so that you'll have a hard copy of the instructions. Print CT.HLP. Using your DOS command, PRINT CT.HLP, or COPY CT.HLP PRN, print a copy of the help window. Now you'll have a hard copy to insert in a page protector, which is particularly handy. Country Lists. The prefix and country information the program needs is in the file CQWW.CTY, WAE.CTY or ARRL.CTY. If countries or zones have errors, fix them and inform K1EA, so the author can correct his copy too. Some countries are not in the "standard" continent for the zone; for example, OX is in North America while the rest of zone 40 is in Europe. A country can be assigned to a continent in the .CTY file by adding the two character abbreviation for the continent as the LAST two characters on a country line (after the semi-colon). For example: Greenland: 40: OX: OX; NA Lebanon: 20: OD: OD; AS Accepted abbreviations are: NA, SA, EU, AS, AF, OC. Boot and Set Time. Now, begin. From a cold boot, bring up your computer DOS. If you have a built in clock on a battery, the program will prompt you. Just remember the zone to which your clock is set. If you must enter the time each time you boot up, you may enter either UTC, or one of the four continental U.S. time zones (EST, CST, MST, or PST). For those four time zones, the program will adjust for daylight time, so don't do anything fancy. For those of you who are really nervous at this point, don't worry. The program will display UTC in the middle of the screen once you get going. You'll be able to check on yourself then. Enter CT <CR>. Enter CQ88CW (or other file name) <CR>. Fill in the Information Sheet, moving from field to field with the TAB key. Hit CTL ENTER when done. If you've made a mistake on the Information Sheet, ESC will permit you to abort the program and start again. Alternatively, enter CT CQ88CW (or other file name) <CR>. Note: for a quick short cut, you may get into the program with a one line entry. Just be sure to put space between CT and NAME. A piece of a K1EA log is on the distribution disk as EXAMPLE. Type CT EXAMPLE to run it. Set the Band. What band are you on? Using ALT F1 or ALT F2, set the band. Start making contacts! NAMING CONVENTIONS NAME (call it what you like--CQ88CW, AR87PH, etc.) is the base name from which all output files are derived. For example, starting the program with the base name CQCW88 results in CQCW88.BIN, CQCW88.NOT, CQCW88.ALL. WAE logs create a .QTC file. HARD DISK USERS A hard disk is definitely preffered for reasons of space and speed. This program can be run from a directory other than the current one, just make sure the PATH environment variable can find CT. If you wish to clean off your hard disk after the contest (or return the computer to work!), you'll need only copy the .BIN file to a floppy for storage. All other files can be recreated from the .BIN file. FLOPPY DISK USERS You can run this program from a floppy, but large logs may run out of room. The .BIN file takes about 40 bytes per QSO. Look at the program size, your disk size and your potential log size and decide for yourself. You are most likely to run out of room when making a log per band (WRITELOG) as this causes lots of output. You might want to replace the program disk with a fresh floppy just before typing WRITELOG. Remember to put the program disk back in before making any more contacts. STARTING THE PROGRAM The program is run by typing: CT NAME (example: CT AR87CW), where NAME is a base file name of your choosing (most likely the name of this particular contest). An "Information" screen will come up. Fill in the fields. ENTER or TAB to change fields. Shift TAB will move you backwards through the fields. The UP and DWN keys move you around the pop up menus. CTRL-ENTER (when NOT in a pop-up menu) exits the first screen and starts the program. One last ENTER, after the startup messages appear, gets the real program going. For the CQ WW Contest, type in callsigns and hit return, as 599 and the zone are automatically filled in. If it is an ARRL DX Test (contest type set to ARRL on the Information Sheet), use the TAB key to get to the power field (TAB twice), fill in power as sent by the DX station and hit return. A 599 will be automatically inserted in the RST field. In an ARRL DX Test, tabbing to the power field will cause the power to be filled in automatically, if the station has been worked on another band, or is a dupe. Alternatively, to save a keystroke, the SPACE BAR will toggle you from the callsign field over to the power or zone field, skipping the RST field. EXITING THE PROGRAM You may exit the program by entering ALT-Q (hold down the ALT key while typing Q), or typing QUIT. This causes all log info to be saved to disk before the program quits. You can restart from this point simply by starting the program again (CT <CR>). EDITING COMMANDS These are line editing commands that can be used instead of the cursor keys. If you have used the EMACS editor, they are familiar. Up and down cursor (arrow) keys work as you might expect. PgUp and PgDn work as you might expect. You can page back as far as you want. CTL A Go to beginning of line CTL E Go to End of line CTL D Delete character under cursor CTL W Wipe (delete) everything inside field CTL K Kill (delete) to end of line CTL F Forward one character CTL B Backward one character Tab Change to next field Return Log a call CTL G Go to log entry. If a number is in the call field, go to that QSO number, otherwise go to the end of log. For example, you wish to change the DX station's power in the ARRL DX Test. Type G3FXB then F9 to find his QSO number. Now type CTL-W to remove G3FXB from the current call field. Type QSO number (example: 1209 from the CHECK CALL window) and CTL-G. You may now edit the QSO. CHECK SHEET COMMANDS The following functions are used in lieu of a check sheet during the test. Type a call or partial call then hit: F8 Check Partial Call (against all calls worked) Calls worked on current band will appear in bold. For color monitors, bold = white. F9 Check Call (for dupes) F10 Check Country (for new country) ALT M Hit it once, and it enables the Multiplier Check Sheet. Hit it a second time, and it scrolls through the continents. LOGGING COMMANDS You may wish to fabricate a template to go over your function keys. ALT F1 Band up ALT F2 Band down ALT F3 Announce DX into PacketCluster (TM)(if a TNC is connected) ALT F4 Grab latest DX spot from PacketCluster (TM). Note to TS-940 users: A TS-940 will QSY if connected. Hit ALT F4 a second time, and you are toggled back to your running frequency. ALT F5 Note to TS-940 users: After an ALT F4 use, ALT F5 will leave you on the new band (for a new running frequency). MEANING OF MARKS IN THE BAND COUNTRIES COLUMN * New Country (But Not a New Zone) # New Country and New Zone + First QSO with that Country on Any Band ^ Not a New Country, But a New Zone WAE QTC ALT S Starts the QTC form. Follow directions. Enter call of station receiving the QTC. Press ENTER. ALT S picks up the current call, or the last one worked (if the current line is empty) to use in the QTC form. PACKET USERS CT can talk to a TNC via your computer's COM1 port. Configure your TNC to: 4800 baud, 1 stop, no parity, 8 bits The TNC should be set to ECHO characters. Set the TNC field in the Information Sheet to Y, to tell the program that a TNC is available. ALT P Brings up a monitor window to watch packet activity. ALT T Brings up the monitor window and puts the cursor in the window so you can "type to the TNC." A second ALT T gets you back out, as this is a toggle function. Make sure that the TNC is left in CONVERSE MODE so that your outgoing announcements get sent to the PacketCluster (TM) (software by Pavillion Software-- AK1A). ALT F3 Causes a DX spot to be sent to PacketCluster (TM). The call announced (sent) is the call under the cursor or the last call worked. If a TS940 is both connected to COM2 and entered in the "RADIO" field of the Information Sheet, the spot frequency is taken from the radio. If not, the user is prompted to type in a frequency to be sent with the spot. When announcing a split receive frequency (for example, G3FXB transmiting 7091.3 and listening 7213.0) separate the TX and RX frequencies with a slant bar (/), i.e. 7091.3/7213.0. [Note that when a DX spot comes in, the program checks the log to see if that band country is needed. If so, it rings the computer's bell and puts a message on line 25 of the screen.] ALT F4 Pulls the call of the latest DX spot into the call field so you don't have to type it in. If a TS-940 is configured, you can send the radio to that frequency by hitting ALT F4. Hitting ALT F4 again puts the radio back where it started, as this is a toggle function. ALT F5 Note to TS-940 users: After an ALT F4 use, ALT F5 will leave you on the new band (for a new running frequency). ALT A Brings up an abbreviated list of DX spots recently heard. SENDING CW Morse code is sent by keying the DTR line of COM1, COM2, or the STATUS line of LPT1 or LPT2. The circuit needed to key positive keyed radios from COM1 or COM2 is a 1K resistor from DTR (pin 20 on a DB25, pin X on a DB9) to the base of an NPN small signal transistor (for example, a 2N4400, a 2N3904, etc.). The emitter of the transistor and the ground lead of the transmitter keying cable are connected to SIGNAL GROUND (pin 7 on a DB25, pin X on a DB9). The collector of the transistor is connected to the transmitter keying cable (hot, not ground side). The circuit needed to key positive keyed radios from LPT1 or LPT2 is a 1K resistor from SLCT (pin 17 on a DB25) to the base of an NPN small signal transistor (for example, a 2N4400, a 2N3904, etc.). The emitter of the transistor is connected to STROBE (pin 1 on a DB25). The ground lead of the transmitter keying cable is connected to SIGNAL GROUND (pin 18 on a DB25). The collector of the transistor is connected to the transmitter keying cable (hot, not ground side). For technical reasons, the minimum keying speed is 22 WPM. This will be fixed in a later release. The maximum keying speed is 50 WPM, because I said so. The computer's speaker is enabled by typing SOUND in the call field and hitting return. (This is like trying to log the call SOUND). The speaker is disabled by typing NOSOUND in the call field and hitting return. The following keys act much like a memory keyer: INS (The Insert key) Send his call followed by exchange. F1 Send: CQ F2 Send: exchange F3 Send: QSL de CALL (Your CALL taken from information sheet.) F4 Send: CALL (Your CALL taken from information sheet.) F5 Send: his call F6 Send: QSO B4 de CALL F7 Send: QRL QSY de CALL ALT F7 Send: QRL? de CALL ALT F9 CW sending speed down by 2 WPM. ALT F10 CW sending speed up by 2 WPM. SHIFT F1 Change CQ message. (You will be prompted.) SHIFT F2 Change exchange message. SHIFT F3 Change QSL message. SHIFT F4 Change your call message. (Does not change the Information Sheet.) ALT K Toggle into and out of Keyboard mode. ALT V Change CW speed by taking the number typed in the callsign field. CTL C Cut off sending currently in progress. Keyboard Mode. If there is no contest going on, or if you merely wish to engage in idle chatter during a contest ("Hr 900 QSO's. Hw u doin?"), ALT K will toggle you into keyboard mode. This is particularly handy for those of you who never could handle a paddle. To leave keyboard mode, type ALT K again. GENERAL INFORMATION You may wish to print the file CT.HLP for quick reference. ALT H Think of it as ALT HELP. It brings up an abbreviated command set window. Hit any key to get back to the main program. You may wish to do a Print Screen (SHIFT PrtSc) of this window. ALT M Think of it as ALT MULT. Hit it once, and it enables the Multiplier Check Sheet. Hit it a second time, and it scrolls through the continents. ALT N Think of it as ALT NOTE. It prompts you for a brief note which is sent to a file called NAME.NOT, along with the time and callsign then under the cursor. For example, you are astounded when you work P40GD and write this NOTE: "Sending 48 WPM ... and I can copy him!" or: "Power failed at 1415z. I'll never catch W1RM now." QUIT Save to disk and exit to DOS. WRITELOG Generates the logs that contest organizers require. BREAKDOWN Generates a rate sheet. showing QSO's and multipliers by hour (NAME.BRK). DUPESHEET Generates Dupe Sheets by band, in compressed mode (NAME.DUP). SOUND Enables computer's speaker when sending CW. NOSOUND Disables computer's speaker when sending CW. WRITESUM Generates a summary sheet (NAME.SUM). WRITECLIST Generates a log by country (just because it is interesting) (NAME.CTY). Time. As currently written, this program does not permit you to enter times after the contest. However, you could still use this program to get dupe, count multipliers and QSO points, and multiply out your score. Summary. The numbers under the Q's, Z's and Multipliers display are: QSO points, total multipliers and score. The scoring system is based on the contest type found in the CONTEST field of the Information Sheet. Country Lists. For the ARRL contests, this program uses the file ARRL.CTY. For CQ WW Contests, this program uses the file CQWW.CTY. For DARC WAE, this program uses the file WAE.CTY. CQ WW QSO Points. When using CT for CQ WW, the information sheet CALL field is used to compute your country and continent. All points are computed based on this information. For example, NP4A is counted as 2 points if your call is K1EA, but is 3 points for G3FXB. Similarly, ON4UN is 1 point for G3FXB, but 3 points for K1EA. Frozen Keyboard. If you manage to freeze the keyboard, do not panic. Hit CTL-ALT-DEL (or push your "RESET" button). Go through DOS (setting the time to EST again, if necessary) and start again with CT NAME <CR>. You're back in business. Band Change Errors. Should you forget to change bands (in the logging program), after changing bands with your radios, there is no harm done. Simply go up with your cursor and change bands with either ALT F1 or ALT F2. The Real Time Logging File. This logging program creates, and restarts from, a file called NAME.BIN. This is a binary file and cannot be edited with a text editor. All changes to the log should be done from within CT. Logs by Band. Dumping the full log to disk (WRITELOG), makes six files: NAME.10, NAME.15, NAME.20, NAME.40, NAME.80, and NAME.160. These are the separate logs CQ Magazine requires. Do not type WRITELOG until after the contest. The ARRL DX test requires a single log for all bands. WRITELOG provides this in the form of NAME.ALL. A Printed Dupe Sheet. If a sorted list of calls on each band is needed, use DUPESHEET after the contest. It may take a few minutes with 5000 or more calls. However, few of us will have to wait that long. Except in Multi Single operation, for the multiplier station, do not hit ALT F5 until after the contest. The CT program will produce a dupe sheet (which is a file called NAME.DUP) for the individual bands 10 through 160. The NAME.DUP file has control characters (special instructions) embedded in it to cause dot matrix printers to go into "compressed mode". If your printer doesn't support this, you will get lines that wrap around and are hard to read. Save and Quit. The program is exited by typing QUIT. This saves the log to disk and returns you to DOS. Send Copy of .BIN to K1EA. He is creating a database of "known good calls." A future version of this program will access using Check Partial (F8). N2AA and N6AA are also creating large databases in an attempt to understand the logging error rates we contesters make. N2AA and N6AA would also like copies of NAME.BIN. Color. Plain vanilla mono screens and color screens should work just fine with no operator intervention. The strange and murky world of LCD displays, black and white emulating color, ATT and other combinations can cause unexpected results. There are two DOS commands which set up the display hardware: MODE BW80, and MODE CO80. Try one of those commands before running the program if the screen doesn't look reasonable with the default. You can ask the program to try to force the use of the mono display or, failing that, color display in black and white by using the switch -m in the command line which starts CT. For example: CT -m EXAMPLE <CR> starts CT in mono mode. If you start a color setup with the -m switch on, you will have to run MODE CO80 after ending the program to get your color back. The Future. Major features planned for Release 5 and 6 are: * Support for extended memory, and thus 14,000 QSO's per extra megabyte. * Support for multi-single and multi-multi operations. This will require multiple computers and com hardware. * Support for the DRSI packet controller, which is an IBM compatible plug-in board. This frees a com port for use in slaving computers, together in the multi categories. * Support for ICOM radios. * Off-line, after the contest, time editing (for those of you who didn't bring a computer to Aruba). * On-Line "uniques" and "uniques plus one" checking (with extra memory). This feature is similar to "Check Partial", but it will check a partial call against a data base of calls that have been worked in this or prior DX tests. If you are registered, and send K1EA a copy of your .BIN file, it will be used to help create the master data base. You will then be entitled to the data base for use during the next test, and recognition as a certified good guy. AFTER THE CONTEST Exit the Program. Type QUIT <CR> in the call field. Copy to Floppy. Immediately, before you are tempted to screw up, copy name.BIN to a:name.BIN (a floppy disk which you should immediately label and store safely). Run BreakDown. Enter the program by typing CT name <CR>. Go through the Information Sheet, using CTL ENTER. Make a breakdown sheet by typing BREAKDOWN <CR> in the call field. This writes out a DOS file called name.BRK which contains breakdowns by QSO count and by rate in each hour and on each band. Run WriteSum. Make a summary sheet by typing WRITESUM <CR> in the call field. This writes out a DOS file called name.SUM which contains a summary for the contest committee. Run WriteMult. Make a multiplier check sheet by typing WRITEMULT <CR> in the call field. This writes out a DOS file called name.MUL which should be printed using the DOS command PRINT name.MUL. This conatins a multiplier checkoff sheet in compressed form yielding over 300 countries and 40 zones on one page. Run WriteLog. Make logs for the contest committee by typing WRITELOG <CR> in the call field. This writes out a DOS file per band called name.160, name.80, etc. HINTS AND KINKS Check Partial (F8) is the only way to go "search and pounce". When you hear a call, automatically type 2 or more characters and hit F7. Unless you typed a commom prefix like G3 or DJ, you will rarely get more than a few calls to choose from. Calls which have been worked on the current band are highlighted. You will soon find that you are automatically hitting 2 characters plus F8 as you tune the band, just as you automatically used to glance at the checksheet. I see no time difference between this and the paper method. When you only hear the suffix, Check Partial has a big advantage over paper dupe sheets. You won't have to mentally associate a prefix with the suffix, then find it on the paper. Try to get the habit of looking at the Check Country display that comes up after each QSO. This forces you to know what you need on what band. For example, after working a dozen GW's on 20 and 15, you "just know" you need a GW on 40, because it's been displayed at you so often. For those idiots who answer your CQ with only the last two letters of their call, enter those two letters and CTL-A to place the cursor at the begining of the callfiled. PACKETCLUSTER (TM) USERS This program should make DX spotting easier for single ops who wish to contribute multipliers without taking any. Tell your PacketCluster (TM) SysOp to exclude you from getting DX spots. Naturally, multi single and single op plus packet types can use the incoming spots too. USING RADIOS and TNCs with CT There is a new text command called SETUP, for setting up COM ports. The presence of radios and tnc's are made known to CT in the INFORMATION SHEET which appears at startup. The *connection* to the radio and tnc is established using the text command SETUP from within CT. Type the word SETUP in the callsign field of the log to start it. You can now select, for each COM port, a device and baud rate, using the arrow keys. Hit the Esc Key or Ctrl Enter to leave the screen. Please be SURE you have the cables (null modem and otherwise) on the correct ports BEFORE you call KC1EO or K1EA. COM ports are configured: N 8 1, which means no parity, 8 bits, 1 stop bit. CT acts like a dumb terminal to the TNC. Characters entered in the PACKET Send window go to the TNC after the <CR> is hit. Characters received from the TNC are displayed in the PACKET Receive window. Kenwood radios use 4800 baud. ICOM radios use 1200 baud. QSL MODE QSLMODE is a text command that enables a simple qsl lable maker and turns on a QSL MODE status indicator. Entering a callsign in QSL MODE causes CT to search for that call in the log and write QSL label information to a file NAME.QSL. QSO's for more than one band are put on a label if possible. Labels can then be printed to single column 3/4 X 3 inch label stock using the DOS PRINT command. QSLmode is disabled with the text command NOQSLMODE. A standalone program, QSL.EXE is now provided with CT. This program processes a log in batch mode to generate a label for every station on every band worked. This program generates an output file NAME.QSL containing the label information and a master file called MASTER.QSL. MASTER.QSL is an ASCII file containing a sorted list of all calls worked with a mark per band indicating bands worked. When QSL.EXE is run against subsequent .BIN files, MASTER.DAT is loaded first and QSL label info is generated for calls and bands that do not appear in MASTER.QSL. MASTER.QSL is then updated to include the log just processed. This way, G3FXB receives a QSL for each band the first time you work him, then never receives another for that band. QSL.EXE is limited to 16,000 different calls, but will be upgraded in the future to 65,000 calls. POST CONTEST MODE POSTCONTEST is a text command that puts CT in a mode for post contest logging and turns on a POSTCONTEST MODE status indicator. CT logs QSO's normally, but does not enter a time after each QSO. Use the ALT-F (enter time) key occasionally to enter the exact time of a QSO. This is the same system used by high rate operators who log the time every tenth QSO or ten minutes or every page. FILLTIMES is a text command that causes CT to fill in *estimated* times for each QSO without a time. Estimated times are marked with a period (.) prior to the callsign. FIXDATE is a text command that sets the contest date in post contest mode. FIXDATE prompts you for a date in the day/month/year or day-month-year format. Be sure to set the contest date prior to entering the log in post contest mode. Be sure to set the contest date again for QSO's on the second day of the contest. REVISION HISTORY Rev 3.14 * F7 (Check Partial) now sorts partial list and highlights calls worked on the current band. - Thanks K5ZD. * Two bugs which crash the program: F8 with no TNC, and WA8ABC/QRP entered as a call. Both fixed. * Program now properly senses mono and color video adapters. If both are installed, mono is used. If color only is installed, color monitor is used, but written black and white. A future rev will allow user to specify b/w or real color. Rev 3.15 * ALT M, for Multiplier Check Sheet added. * Lingering DUPE information now wipes with CTL W in call field. Rev 3.16 * Check Country now displays the name of the country in text at the bottom of the window. This way the operator knows exactly what country the program has interpreted the prefix to be. - Thanks K5ZD. Rev 3.17 * Check Partial accepts a wildcard (*) character. G3FXB can be found by checking G*F or G3F*B. - Thanks K1KA. * Specify B/W or COLOR in NAME file. Rev 4.07 - This a major revision. * The "hesitation" problem is fixed. Greenleaf confessed and has a new windows package. * .RES is no longer used, all restart data is kept in .BIN, a binary file. Calls, RST, BAND and INFO can all be changed at any point in the log. It is no longer necessary to edit a text file. * The startup text file is no longer used, instead a menu driven form is filled in by the user. This information is kept at the start of the .BIN file. * WAE is supported, in all it's complexity. Works for non-EU stations, mostly works for EU stations. A separate .QTC file is kept. * WPX is supported, still a little buggy I'm afraid. * The program now sends morse code. External hardware (a transistor) required. * CQWW zones are correct except for W4's. UA9, UA0 find the correct zone based on suffix. - Thanks YU3EA. * Two extra tools are provided: R2B and B2R. R2B converts an existing .RES file to a .BIN format, and B2R converts a .BIN to a .RES. If you simply can't control yourself and have to use an editor on your files (like to rubber clock the time column), run R2B, edit to your hearts content, then B2R it back. Rev 4.08 - Minor bug fixes. * F6 now assigned to sending "QRU" in WAE, ANNOUNCE DX reassigned to ALT F6. * Serial number now takes 4 digits. * When editing non-Eu calls in WAE, a trap was hit and program stopped (ASSERT statement). Now fixed. * IN QTC screen '-' didn't work right, and F10, 0 (for 10) didn't work, Now fixed. * In CW mode, the Information Sheet allows a choice of COM1 or COM2 for sending. Rev 4.09 - Many bug fixes. * Times put back in time field! * Program crash after: modify call, F5, enter. This is fixed. * Times in the output logs (from WRITELOG) now read properly. * The TS940 support had been inadvertantly removed. Now working. * Flow control for the packet port had been disabled causing some machines to lose characters. Rev 4.10 - More bug fixes. * When editing old calls, time on/off got screwed up. Fixed. * ALT S now picks up the most recent call for QTC form. Rev 4.14 - Substantive changes. * The use of color has changed: in Check Partial, white means needed, black means worked on this band. * The startup screen accepts UTC, the 4 continental USA timezones or any arbitrary offset from UTC. When in USA timezones and daylight savings in effect, offset to UTC is corrected automatically. * Real time clock added for convenience. * In CQWW, spots from packet which are not new band countries, but are new zone countries (VK6, UA0Y, VO2 etc), are sent to the screen. * Flow control with packet is now fixed, no more dropped characters. * F2 and F3 are now swapped: F2 sends report, F3 sends QSL QRZ de CALL. * At K5ZD's suggestion, several commands are now "text commands"; i.e., type in a command in the call field and hit return. Examples are: QUIT, WRITELOG, BREAKDOWN, SOUND, NOSOUND, WRITECLIST. * F4 Send His Call. * F5 Send My CALL. * F6 Send QSO B4 * F7 Send QRL QSY de CALL, in WAE send QRU (no QTC). * F8 Check Partial * ALT F3 Announce DX (when TNC connected) * ALT F4 Get Packet Spot and QSY TS-940 if connected. Second time: will QSY TS-940 back. * ALT F5 Make current frequency the running frequency. * ALT F7 Send: QRL? * ALT F9 and F10 now change CW speed * CW sending keys work while in the multiplier or help windows. * Scan through the multiplier window with repetitive ALT-M. Other keys switch back to the main window. * QTC field now takes 4 digits in EU serial number - Thanks K1VR Rev 4.17 * Check Partial fixed (again). * CTL-BS does what CTL-W does, wipe out an entry. * Fixed the "changed bands, but it didn't take" bug. Rev 4.18 * New features: WRITEMULT produces a multiplier checksheet file called name.MUL PRINTMULT sends a multiplier checksheet to the printer. Thanks W6GO. Rev 4.27 Incoming packet data is speeded up. No longer looks like 300 baud. Rev 4.28 * Fixed scoring in WPX - low bands were scored wrong. * DRSI support is "official". Set TNC to yes in startup screen. Inside the program, use the typed commands "DRSI" and "NODRSI" to switch between the DRSI TNC and an external TNC on COM1. Rev 4.29 * Off time for WPX and WAE set to 1 hour. * United States will no longer be counted as a country in ARRL DX TEST. Rev 5.00 This is a major release. Internal data structures are entirely changed. * Expanded memory is now supported yielding 16,000 QSO's per megabyte Install the expansion board per the manufacturers instructions. Then install the manufacturers EMM.SYS in CONFIG.SYS. CT detects and uses expanded memory provided EMM.SYS is installed. * DRSI Packet Adapter (internal TNC for IBM PC's) is supported Be sure to run TNCTSR-S before starting CT. The TNC driver is required. * Limited Multi Single support: Two computers are used. The run station uses a log named run.bin, the multiplier station uses a log named mult.bin. Periodically, do a SAVELOG, which dumps your log directly to a drive A. Move the floppy to the other computer. Shutdown and restart CT on the second computer. The log named RUN.BIN will try to find A:MULT.BIN to merge with when is starts up. Conversely, MULT.BIN will try to find A:RUN.BIN to merge with. Please note that the partner logs are located on the FLOPPY DRIVE A. Therfore, YOU MUST HAVE A FLOPPY IN DRIVE A to start!! MULTI II Instructions: 1. Use two computers selecting M/S. 2. Name one log RUN and select RUN in station field of startup. 3. Name the other log MULT and select MULT in station field of startup. 4. Put formatted floppies in both DRIVE A's of computers. 5. During the test, periodically do a SAVELOG to both computers 6. Exchange the floppies: the RUN computer gets the MULT computer floppy and vice versa 7. Shutdown both programs (ALT-Q or QUIT), then restart them both. 8. Each computer finds the data to merge with on DRIVE A. 9. If you run out of memory do a WRITEMULT and print the multiplier chaecksheet, or do a PRINTMULT with printer connected. 10. Start a new log with another name. K1EA can combine your logs later. Rev 5.01 * Several bugs that crash the program fixed. * Time is sampled 18 times per second instead of every pass through the main loop. This makes comm input faster (4800 used to look like 300 baud). * Note: DUPESHEET doesn't work in this revision. * New feature: NAME.CON file generated by WRITELOG. Gives you breakdown by continent. Rev 5.02 * WRITELOG does a better job of ARRL output. Rev 5.03 * Lost cursor problem fixed * WPX finally gets is right (I hope) when editing prior QSO's * WPX scoring on low bands fixed * I seem to have broken control for DRSI TNC ... COM1 is now always enabled for external TNC. * DUPESHEET fixed. Also, WRITEDUPE does same thing so documentation matches program behaviour * WRITEMULT and PRINTMULT write a list of prefixes worked in WPX * Time off threshold for WPX is now 1 hr (I hope, coded but untested) tnx KM9P * The maximum length prefix for WPX has been raised to 7 characters * ARRL VHF QSO Party has been added. Why ?? Because K1EA enjoys that contest. So will you, if you try it. * The NAME.ALL, NAME.80 and NAME.40 files showed wrong point values for WPX, although the summary box and summary sheet are correct. Fixed now thanks to KM3T. * R2B used to ASSUME Eastern Standard Time. and screwed up times for all Daylight Savings Time. R2B now generic, and fixed. Rev 5.04 * The program does not yet contain time editing. Please do not call, we are working on it. * If CT doesn't find a .CTY file in the current directory it now checks for an environment variable called CTYPATH. In AUTOEXEC.BAT, you can set CTYPATH by adding a line like: set CTYPATH=c:\logs\cty. This would point CT to a directory c:\logs\cty to find a .CTY file. Store your .CTY files there, so you don't have to keep a copy of .CTY with each log. This is an enhancement only, and is not required to use CT. * When using the TAB key to enter the RST field, the cursor always goes to the S part of RST. RST editing is done in overstrike mode, instead of insert mode. * ALT-X terminates the program, just as do ALT-Q and QUIT. * Typing a number into the callsign field with no letters causes the radio to be sent to that frequency, if it is in a contest ham band. Numbers are padded on the right to form a good frequency. Rev 5.05 * Page QSO points totals for WPX added up wrong. Fixed now. Summary and display was OK. * WAE log format fixed up. Multiple, but minor WAE bugs fixed. * Longer lines in .CTY file now accepted, allowing more prefixes to a country. Maximum line length is 512 characters. Rev 5.07 * Keying from COM2 was broken, unless you had a radio connected on COM2 also. * When editing a prior QSO in the CQWW test, the zone is now automatically updated, if the country changes. * Fixed an old bug. When a computer controlled radio is connected and you work someone on a new band, the QSO was recorded correctly, but the summary display indicated the old band. * WRITECLIST was broken in ALL earlier versions of 5.XX. It just kept writing until the disk became full. The format of this output is still crummy. I'll improve it later. Rev 5.08 * The .CTY file can now contain TABS as well as spaces. * IC781 support broke in 5.06. Fixed. * /MM and /QRP now yield QSO points, instead of "Country Not Found". * Flow control to external TNC turned off. I got too many calls from guys who couldn't get RTS and CTS hooked up and working with their TNC. It is now possible I'll start getting "I dropped characters" calls again. * DRSI board is now put on channel 1 by CT at boot time. The default for TNCTSR was channel 0, which is an unproto channel and can't be used to connect. * The printed dupe sheet in compress mode had two characters too many per line. Fixed. * Fixed daylight savings time problem in CQWW SSB every year. RELEASE 6 } CT.DOC for Release 6 Release 6 supports true Multi-Single and Multi-Multi, using standard PC hardware. Each computer keeps a complete copy of the log and is updated via communications lines when other computers log or update QSO's. The advantages of multiple, independent copies of the log are safety, speed and the simplicity of the software. The disadvantages are cost (each computer probably requires expanded memory to hold the entire log) and consistency (one or more computers may be off line when a QSO is made, so it's log is not as complete as the others). All computers are tied together via their built in communications ports using simple null modem cables. A null modem cable must have pins 2 and 3 "crossed over". That is, pin 2 ties to pin 3 at the other end and vice versa. Null modem cables are available at computer stores (including Radio Shack), or can be built using a standard RS-232 cable and a null modem adapter (also available at Radio Shack). Each computer is daisy-chained to the next one. The ends of the daisy-chain can be used to connect to a TNC, or a computer-controlled radio. If you'd like to hook up the center computer to a radio, or a star configuration is desired, more COM ports are used. This is done by using a four port COM board (MS-400A by DFI). I bought mine from MicroMuse, 547 Boston Post Road, Marlboro, MA 01752, 508/460-0960, for $125 from Bob Gross. Set up the board as follows: Port I/O address Interrupt Request COM1 3F8 IRQ4 COM2 2F8 IRQ3 COM3 3E8 IRQ2 COM4 3E0 IRQ5 In my case, I used the built in COM 1 on my Zenith computer, so I set up the DFI board to be COM 2, 3, 4 and disabled the extra port on the COM board. Read the DFI manual. INITIAL SETUP In the Information Sheet at the start of the program, you choose SO, SU, MS or MM. If you've chosen MS or MM, you must fill in a "Station Number", This is so that the program can record which computer made each QSO. Be sure to assign each computer a different station number. If a TNC is connected directly to the computer, select LOCAL. If a TNC is available on one of the other computers, select REMOTE. Traffic to and from the TNC will be passed up and down the line as necessary, as long as the computers are configured correctly for LOCAL and REMOTE. Single ops can connect to the tnc and put out spots, but are not allowed to see the spots and don't get notified of new mults. RUN AND MULTIPLIER STATIONS Multi-singles need to identify the Run and Multiplier stations. Set the RUN computer with the text command RUN. Set the MULT computer(s) by setting them with the text command MULT. What you are shows up in the summary display. The reason I let you change on the fly, instead of setting RUN and MULT at startup time, is that you might want to swap RUN and MULT during the contest without shutting down. Each QSO is marked internally as to RUN or MULT, so the two sets of logs can be printed. When you print you get a NAME_RUN and a NAME_MULT set of logs. The run station is notified of mults on HIS BAND, the mult station is notified of mults on all bands. REGULAR QSO's Just log guys as you always do. The data is forwarded to all other computers. CHANGING QSO's Up arrow back as usual. The changed data will be sent around to the other computers. PASSING MULTS Use ALT-D to pass mults. There is a "schedules" window which keeps the last 10 passes or so. I haven't put in a key to enable/disable that window. Any ideas for a good key? AUTO-SPLIT When using computer controlled radios, the "-" key brings up a prompt for a split transmit frequency. Kenwood radios are then set to the split mode and the TX frequency is set properly. DIRECT FREQUENCY CONTROL Direct control of the radio's frequency now sets the frequency of the current VFO, not VFO A as before. This way, you won't be surprised by losing something in the "other" VFO. WINDOW CONTROL The ALT keys for controlling windows have changed somewhat. ALTA ANNOUNCE (when not single op) ALTB SCHEDULES ALTR RATE ALTZ ZONES ALTP PASS (when not single op) ALTO PACKET ALTS SUMMARY (send QTC has moved to ALTL) Logging a station still causes the country window to update, but does NOT force the country window to be visible. Rev 6.00 * Added continuation character for long lines in .CTY file. Place a & character at the start of additional lines of prefixes for a country. For example: Shetlands: 14: GM/s: GM0VR,GM0CYJ,GM0ERM,GM3RFR,GM3SJA; & GM3STU; & GM3TSG,GM3TST,GM3WCH,GM3XFK,GM3XOQ; & GM3ZET,GM3ZNM,GM4AGX,GM4DQD,GM4GPN; & GM4GPP,GM4GQD,GM4GQM,GM4IPK/A,GM4JAB; & GM4JVC,GM4LBE,GM4LER,GM4PXG,GM4SRU; & GM4SSA,GM4SWU,GM4WXQ,GM4YEL,GM4ZET; & GM4ZHL,GM0ILB; Rev 6.01 * When a radio is configured in INFORMATION SHEET but a comm channel to the radio is not opened in the SETUP MENU, any access to the radio fails and hangs the program. This is now fixed and gives a error message. Rev 6.02 * The ALT-F key now allows you into the time field of a qso to change the time. There is a new text command: FIXDATE to specify the date you want a qso to have. RULE 1: Save an original copy of your .BIN file on a floppy and put it away!! If you are editing an old log and do not wish to change the date of a qso, just use the arrow keys, PgUp, PgDn or CTL-G to place the cursor on the qso of interest. Hit ALT-F, change the time and hit <CR>. If this is a new QSO or you want to change the date, you must first tell CT what date you want to use by entering the "FIXDATE" command in the callsign field. After a FIXDATE dvery QSO, new or old, that you use ALT-F on will get this new date. Now that you are free to change dates and times, it is possible to get the log out of time order. This means that the rate meters and offtime may be wrong or even negative. CT can't do anything about this. * The ALTQ and ALTX keys let you out of the program, but not before you are asked to confirm. * The function keys now work while you are in the packet window. * '?' is now a valid character to type in the call field. A call with an embedded '?' cannot be logged. * There is a new text command: RMDUPES. It creates a file called NEW.BIN which identical to the current .BIN file except all the dupes have been removed. There are two uses for this command. 1) You are a purist and can't stand to see any dupes in the log. 2) You want to cancel a qso after you have worked the guy. Up arrow to the bad QSO, then change it to a sure dupe (like the QSO before). AFTER the contest, run RMDUPES and rename NEW.BIN to whatever you like. * For multi-single operations: ALTY changes a run qso to a mult qso and vice versa. * A bug in check partial has been fixed. Calls which were logged then fixed later were sometimes not found by check partial. KY1H found this. Rev 6.05 * ARRL DX from DX side is new and selected in the startup screen in the contest type form. Select ARDX. Rev 6.06 * I finally lost control and bought an IC781. Sure enough, support for it in CT was not quite right. Among other things, the radio talks to the program every time its frequency changes. CT now checks for this and knows when the radio has changed bands. CT and other radios get "out of sync" until you work a guy on the new band. Rev 6.09 * SAVELOG and AUTOSAVE now write to a file called NAME.SAV instead of NAME.BIN. We had a couple of cases where SAVELOG saved a file into itself and destroyed the .BIN file. * In all versions of 6 and 5 the following bug occured: In an SSB contest hitting ALT-K seemed to lock up the keyboard. You could type, but nothing happened. In reality, the program thought it was in KEYBOARD mode (CW) but didn't display the CW box. Another ALT-K brought you out, but operators who caught this mode din't know it and usually rebooted. ALT-K is now inactive in SSB tests. K3NA found this for me. * Fixed the "disapearing entry" problem when using up arrow from an incomplete log entry Rev 6.10 * When using the space bar to check a call, -DUPE-, ______, or *MULT* now appear. In addition, there are new sounds from the speaker for these things. * The breakdown sheet now reports mults by hour for WPX, VHF QSO PARTY and ARRL DX from DX side correctly * IC735 support added * Fixed SEND SPLIT (the minus key (-)) to select the correct sideband in a phone test * serial numbers with 0, 1, or 9 are translated into T, A, N when sending reports Rev 6.11 * ICOM radios now go to the correct sideband when bandswitched by CT. Rev 6.12 * A freshly created .BIN file defaults to COM1 for the TNC, COM2 for the radio if SETUP is not run. This makes radio and tnc setup in version 6 backwards compatible with version 5. * Single Unlimited was not remembered correctly across program reboots and CT would come back up in Singlre Op after shutting down a Single Unlimited log. Fixed. Rev 6.14 * Dayton release, a bunch of minor fixups. Rev 6.14A * 6.14 did not allow packet for SINGLE/UMLIMITED. Fixed in 614A. Remember, 5.08 still works for SINGLE/UNLIMITED. Rev 6.14B * Many operators did not like CW abbreviations (0 = T, 1 = A) in serial number of WPX and WAE. There are now text commands: CWABBREV and NOCWABBREV to enable and disable CW abbreviations. Rev 6.15 * First cut at Seepstakes. SPACE moves the cursor: CALL->SER->PREC->CK->SEC->CALL Shift-Tab moves the cursor: CALL->SEC->CK->PREC->SER->CALL * The text commands: CWABBREV and NOCWABBREV enable and disable cw abbreviations in the serial number field of WPX and WAE. For example, with CWABBREV on, 007 becomes TT7, and 109 becomes ATN. * Removed surious "country not found" message in the WPX contest Rev 6.16 * The TurboC++ compiler came, so a bunch of stuff got changed. This may introduce some new bugs, but it makes my life easier in the long run. * Fixed WRITELOG for ARRL DX from DX side. * Many many fixes to SS code. Almost works now. * Fixed up 4K1 calls to give correct zone, thanks to W6YA. * Many fixes in CQWW.CTY thanks to N6RJ. * In Sweepstakes contest: ALT1 sends SERIAL NUMBER ALT2 sends PREC ALT3 sends MY CALL ALT4 sends CHECK ALT5 sends SECTION Rev 6.17 * Lots of bug fixes. * This version has an extra 40K in the .EXE file for the overlay manager. Only a subset of the .EXE is in memory at any given time. The overlay manager pulls parts of .EXE from the disk to memory as needed. The net result is that only the code for the contest in progress is in memory and other contests are never loaded. Future additional contest types added to CT will increase the size of the .EXE, but won't affect the maximum number of QSOs in any given contest type. * A bunch of the headers in output files have changed. * CT.HLP has been reorganized by function, not name. * SS sections found in file SS.SEC. This works like th .CTY file for DX tests. Users can modify the .SEC file to take abbreviations they like. Rev 6.18 * This is the update sent to over 700 stations Rev 6.19 * Stations in the ANNOUNCE WINDOW that have been worked should be marked with a *. CT was marking all stations with a *. Fixed. * In SS contest ALTF did not work. Fixed. (Tnx AD1C) * In SS contest was possible to crash CT: 1) Log a station 2) leave CT and change SS.SEC, making a orphan "bad section" 3) Bring up CT and attempt to fix the bad section. Fixed now. (Tnx AD1C) * The QSO rate for last 100 QSO did not match the total QSO rate during the first 100 QSO. Fixed now. This was an endpoint bug. The total rate counted both endpoints, while the 10 and 100 QSO rate only counted one end point. For example, if you work four stations at one minute intervals is the rate 4 qso / 3 minutes = 1.33 qso/min, or is it 3 qso / 3 minutes = 1.00 QSO per minute? The total rate said 1.33, the 10 and 100 rate said 1.00. I have changed the code to indicate 1.00. (thanks N2IC/0) * 6.18 had a crashed on bad prefixes. All users of 6.XX are getting 6.19 to correct this. Rev 6.20 * Corrects some problems in frequency control of TS940/TS440 * Corrects a linked multiple computer bug. * K5NA/2 is now recognized as zone 5, not zone 4. (Thanks ZL3GQ) Rev 6.21 * 6.21 is an ill-fated version that didn't make it to the field. If you somehow get a copy of this version, DELETE IT. Rev 6.22 * Corrects a crash scenerio involving computer controlled QSY of a radio from an empty QSO other than the last one. * Corrects a problem controlling TS940 in split freq operation. * In NAME.CON Oceania and Africa headings were wrong, now corrected. (Thanks W6RCL) * Printer will now come out of compressed mode, after printing the multiplier sheet, in all contests. (Thanks K1VR) * In SS, CT will now accept POSTCONTEST and NOPOSTCONTEST commands. * In SS, sections are displayed by call district plus VE and DX * The SS speed problem with the CALL FIELD to CHECK FIELD is corrected Rev 6.25 * IC765 users had been getting "LOG: OUT OF BAND" message. Corrected now. * HDGCTY.EXE is a program by VE7CQD to add headings to .CTY files. CT had to be modified slightly to correctly compute zones in USA, Canada, USSR, VK and BY. HDGCTY is now include on the distribution disk. * Several small SS bugs were fixed * CHECK COUNTRY (F10) now works differently. CHECK COUNTRY reports on each band *first* the call you are checking, then if not found, the first call worked on a band. This way a single keystroke checks both the call and country. K3NA thought of this. * The rate meters no longer count dupes in computing the rate, but do count zero point contacts (for example W works W in CQWW) * Most of the beeps and noises have been removed, they interfere with CW sending on many machines. Rev 6.26 * CW keying fixed (again). * Jim Rafferty N6RJ is the official keeper of the .CTY files! You send your suggestions to: Ham Radio Outlet Jim Rafferty N6RJ 2620 West La Palma Anaheim, CA 92801 714/761-3033 9AM to 5PM Pacific Time