Bob,
Working the WAE Contest is a lot of fun, but knowing how to handle the QTC's
is critical to maximizing the fun of this contest. I am at a bit of a
disadvantage here because you indicate you are blind, but then state that
you can "..."see" a QTC button on the screen..." I can only surmise that
you are legally blind, but still have some sight, at least enough to allow
to see something's on the screen. Based upon that conjecture I would
suggest the follow:
First, go to the WL Help Manual and in the Search tab box enter "wae
contest". This will bring up a dedicated set of instructions on how to use
the WAE Contest module. These instructions are dedicated to helping you
understand how to use WL to both send and receive QTCs in the contest,
including some specific details about how to set up your F key memories to
work correctly with the WL QTC screens and a writelog.ini file entry to
allow use of the DVK in working with SSB QTCs. It's a bit confusing at
first, but it is essential to understanding how WL will help you manage the
QTC traffic. I keep a printed copy of these instructions at my operating
position during the contest for reference.
There are three different WAE contests - CW, SSB and RTTY. WL has two
different WAE Contest modules, one for both CW and SSB, and another
specifically dedicated to RTTY. The WAE contest rules are somewhat
different for the CW/SSB contests and the RTTY contest. The biggest is in
the CW and SSB contests you can only contact EU stations, all other stations
don't count. Also, in CW/SSB events, you can only "send" QTCs to EU
stations and not receive any. If you are in the RTTY contest the rules are
different. You can work anyone in the world, not just EU stations, and you
can both send and receive QTCs for additional points.
Starting with the WL WAE CW/SSB module you will notice that as you enter a
call into the CALL field and Space to the next field, WL will update the
"Tx-Qtc" field and show you how many QTCs you can send to this station. The
MAX is 10, but if you have previously worked this station before on any band
and have sent less than the maximum of 10 QTCs WL shows the balance of QTCs
you may send to this station.
To send the QTCs access the Send QTC Dialog window by typing ALT+S. This
opens the WAE Send QTCs window which contains the call sign of station you
are working, the QTC packet number and the number of QTCs that can be sent
to this station. For example the Send QTC window header may say, "WAE Send
QTCs DL4CF 12/10". This means you are going to send packet number 12
containing 10 QTCs to DL4CF. The main window will show a list of the 10 QTC
records that will be sent. This list is automatically populated by WL from
your log QSOs. It shows the QTC time, the CALL and the NR received from
that station.
On the right side of the window is a column of buttons that can be clicked
on with the mouse or accessed by ALT+ the underlined letter in the button
name. The first button is titled QRV?. Clicking on this button sends the
QTC group/count numbers followed by the contents of the SHIFT+F11 message.
For example, my SHIFT+F11 key has " QRV?" in it. Notice the leading space.
When a station sends me "QTC?", I send "RR QTC", and type ALT+S to open the
Send window. Then clicking on the QRV? button in this case sends "12/10
QRV?", to which the receiving station will probably send either QRV or R.
The next button in the window is "Xmit QTCs". NEVER use this button on
either CW or SSB (when using the DVK) as it transmits the entire list of
QTCs without interruption. Instead click on each QTC line in turn, or type
ALT+nr, or just type the number of the QTC to have WL automatically sent it.
After sending a QTC wait a bit to get either a "R" from the other station or
a fill request on something he missed. This could be TIME, CALL or NR. You
can resend either the entire QTC by clicking on it or typing its number in
the list, or send just the missed part by hand, or use ALT+K to open the
keyboard send window and type in the missed info. After sending the first
QTC you can also use the down arrow key to send the next one in the list as
well as a mouse click or typing the number.
The next button, "QSL?", sends the SHIFT+F10 memory, which in my case is
"QSL?" which I send after the last QTC to verify he has received them all.
Usually this gets "R", "TU" or "CFM" in return. If he missed something he
may ask for a repeat here. If needed, resend all of the QTC in question or
only the missed part. If all is OK, click on the "OK" button. This enters
all of the QTCs just sent into the log appended to the call just worked. If
something gets messed up click the "Cancel" button and nothing gets entered
into the log.
As QTCs are sent and subsequently marked as OK, WL enters a "X" into the "x"
column in the log. This indicates which log entries have been sent as QTCs.
The next batch of QTCs will start with the first log entry not marked with a
"X".
The RTTY module is very similar except in that module you can also use the
ALT+R window which brings up the Receive QTC window. All of this is fully
documented in the Help manual.
The WAE SSB edition is coming up the weekend of Sept. 13th, so there is
ample time for you to digest the instructions and play around a bit with the
WAE modules. I would suggest setting up a log and entering 10 or more dummy
QSOs into the log. Then practice sending the QTCs and see how it works for
you. Once you get the hang of how WL manages all the QTC traffic you will
be surprised at how easy this contest really is to run, not to mention the
fun aspect. Good luck.
73,
Gary AL9A
-----Original Message-----
From: Bob Garrett
Sent: August 11, 2014 3:29 PM
To: WriteLog@contesting.com
Subject: [WriteLog] QTC In WAE Contest
Greetings,
I worked the WAE test this past weekend. Being new to the game and
obviously not doing my homework, I did not receive or give out any QTC.
My questions are, how in WriteLog do I identify a group of contacts to send
as QTC? I'm a blind ham and I see a QTC button on the screen but, not sure
how to make it send say the ten QTC contacts. Or, do I have to read the
contacts and send the info to the receiving station?
I know a lot of questions but, I missed out on a lot of points and probably
annoyed many stations for not doing QTC. I certainly got asked a lot for
QTC HI. 73, Bob K3UL
PS: WriteLog has truly made contesting fun and a new facet of the hobby for
me.
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