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-
-
- DOCUMENTATION FOR
- FIELD DAY DUPE CHECKING / LOGGING PROGRAM
- Copyright (c) 1991, 1992 by Kevin Myers
-
-
- The FIELD DAY DUPE CHECKING / LOGGING PROGRAM was written for
- The Downey Amateur Radio Club for use during the annual American Radio
- Relay League (ARRL) Field Day. The objectives were, SIMPLICITY for
- the operator, FAST search for dupes, DESIGN to minimize operator
- errors (including entering of wrong section abbreviations) and
- no operator action hang-up. This program was written to the
- requirements specified by Warren Pope, K6JFX, and supported by my
- father Frank Myers, N6ATU. I would also like to thank Reed Craven,
- WB6BFK, for technical support. Most of all I want to thank Douglas
- Lyon, N6WZI, who's insight as Beta tester for this program proved
- invaluable.
-
- The way this program is intended to be used is as follows:
- A - On Field Day sites with multiple stations capable of
- operating on the same Band / Mode.
- B - One IBM or compatible computer at each station
- working the amateur bands.
- C - One or more extra IBM or compatibles as backup.
- D - Only one diskette for each Band / Mode being worked to
- avoid duplication of calls being logged.
- E - All unused diskettes should be kept in a central location
- for easy access by all hams.
- F - All diskettes collected after Field Day, edited, and
- logs printed out and submitted.
-
- To start the process, install the files you need on your hard
- disk. Use the install program provided on the floppy. Next, one
- diskette for each Band / Mode must be created. This is done with
- the master program "LOGMSTR.EXE" you should have installed on
- your hard drive. Each Band / Mode diskette contains 4 files
- when it is created.
- These are:
- A - BANDMODE.DAT Band and mode data (i.e. 20 meter phone).
- B - DICT.DAT Section listing (i.e. LAX=LOS ANGELES).
- C - LOG.EXE Logging program.
- D - AUTOEXEC.BAT Starts program (if diskette is bootable).
- And after making a log:
- F - LOG.DAT Log of all contacts.
-
- The ham operators start the day by inserting a Band / Mode diskette
- into drive A of their computer. Then type A:LOG and then pressing Enter.
- (Note - if you use self booting diskettes, inserting the diskette and
- turning on the computer will do). The operator will receive a salutation
- in Morse code and a request to press a key. The introduction screen will
- appear and ask the following questions:
-
- A - Is daylight savings time in effect?
- B - Time zone you are working in. Lists the zones for the continental
- United States, Alaska, and Hawaii.
- C - Is this correct and the options if you answer no.
-
- Note - Transmitter I.D. is for your use, to keep track of which
- transmitter logs each call.
-
- I believe that the rest of the LOG program is self-explanatory
- with the exceptions of switching Band / Mode, diskettes and color toggle.
-
- To switch Band / Modes replace the old diskette with the new one only
- when the screen is asking to enter the call letters and enter `B'
- to access the new diskette.
-
- After much trial and error and some luck, it was discovered that
- bright yellow on a black background gave the best contrast for daytime
- viewing. However at night the colors where harsh on the eyes. The
- program switches over to light gray on black at 9 PM. But since the
- sun sets at different times at different latitudes, I installed a toggle.
- By entering the letter `T' you can toggle the colors.
-
- About keypress and data entry, you will notice that in some
- cases you must press enter and in other cases just one key. This
- is because a keypress (entering just one key) is different
- to the computer than entering data (a set of letters or numbers).
- So to make things easier I have put up an Enter symbol (crooked arrow)
- to indicate data entry where needed.
-
- HINTS
- Here are some hints learned the hard way by the Downey Amateur
- Radio Club.
- A - Use Double * Density / Double * sided diskettes for
- compatibility with all computers.
- B - An overhead canopy with a backdrop provides the
- best protection from the glare of the sun off the
- computer screen.
- C - Timely initialization of diskettes and distribution
- at the Field Day site.
-
- Known BUGS
- At the time of release:
- A - Space bar in help program activates a window that
- requires entering a number to exit.
-
-
- LICENSE STATEMENT
- Legal owners - You are a Legal owner if you have paid me,
- Kevin Myers, the $19.95 purchase price. Legal owners are licensed
- to use their copy in a single competition and to make archival
- copies for the sole purpose of backing up the program. THE DUPE CHECKING
- / LOGGING PROGRAM may be moved from one competition location to another,
- as long as there is no possibility of it being used at two competition
- locations at the same time. WARNING: You must have a licensed copy to
- use THE FIELD DAY DUPE CHECKING / LOGGING PROGRAM on ARRL Field Day.
-
- Two lines are reserved for the users name (club, person or other
- entity) on the intro screen. Please include club name or other information
- when purchasing this product. If none is included, this area will be left
- blank.
-
- Please refer any correspondence to:
- Kevin Myers
- 11621 Samoline Ave.
- Downey, CA 90241-1745
- 310-869-2894
-