The CT-USER EMAIL list has moved to ct-user@eng.pko.dec.com
Please keep this message for future reference. Change bars ("|") indicate
differences from the last release.
73 - Jim AD1C
reisert@eng.pko.dec.com
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List
| CT-USER@eng.pko.dec.com
| Last revised: September 29, 1994
This FAQ list is posted at the start of each month and covers the
following topics:
1. What is CT-USER?
2. How do I join CT-USER?
3. What are the suggested "operating practices" for CT-USER?
4. How do I obtain CT?
5. How can I receive updates for the country (CTY) files?
6. How do I obtain other CT-related files?
1. What is CT-USER?
CT-USER is an electronic mail reflector for discussions relating to
the CT contest logging software and DVP (Digital Voice Processor) by
Ken Wolff, K1EA. This is the place to ask questions, report bugs and
suggest new features. In addition, updates to CT are often announced
here, and I regularly post updated countries lists ("CTY" files).
Ken himself even reads these messages, and might just reply to you
once in a while. This list was started to off-load some of the
CT-specific traffic from the CQ-CONTEST@TGV.COM reflector run by Trey
Garlough, WN4KKN.
| Each message you send to CT-USER@eng.pko.dec.com will be sent out to
all the other subscribers. Therefore, it's important to think about
what you're going to say, and how you're going to say it, before you
send the message.
Also remember that many subscribers receive their EMAIL through
commercial services such as CompuServe and MCImail. In essence, many
people are paying for each byte of every message sent to CT-USER. In
order to minimize spurious messages, please follow the operating
hints detailed below.
2. How do I join CT-USER?
There is no charge or fee for being on the mailing list, apart from
any charges your particular system might impose for reading and/or
sending Internet mail. Subscription management is handled
automatically by a program ("MajorDomo") that answers mail sent to
| MajorDomo@eng.pko.dec.com
| To join the group, send a message to MajorDomo@eng.pko.dec.com with
the following text in the BODY of the mail message:
subscribe CT-USER
To remove yourself from the list, send a message to
| MajorDomo@eng.pko.dec.com with the following text in the BODY of the
mail message:
unsubscribe CT-USER
The Subject: line is ignored.
Please do not send "SUBSCRIBE" requests to CT-USER!
MajorDomo provides other functions like getting a list of
subscribers, or an archive of past messages. To find out about these
| features, send a message to MajorDomo@eng.pko.dec.com with the
following text in the BODY of the mail message:
HELP
Remember, MajorDomo is not itself a mailing list, but a robot which
handles administrative requests.
Finally, if you are unsure how to subscribe or how to get help, you
| can send a message to "CT-USER-REQUEST@eng.pko.dec.com" and it will
send you some hints.
3. What are the suggested "operating practices" for CT-USER?
* Include your name and callsign with every message you send. We
don't all know everyone by just a call or a nickname.
Furthermore, some user names (part of your electronic mail
address) make it almost impossible to identify the sender,
especially those from CompuServe, MCImail and Prodigy.
* Use a subject line that accurately indicates the content of your
message. If you are asking a question, end the subject line with
a "?". If you are reporting a bug, use the word BUG somewhere in
the subject line. It makes it easier to find these messages
later.
* When answering someone's question, reply to that person directly,
rather than to the whole list, unless you *know* the answer will
benefit everyone. Users are encouraged to solicit answers, then
post a *summary* of the received replies back to the reflector.
* Many people pay $$$ when they receive messages. Some people pay
per message, some per byte. Therefore, please take this into
consideration when writing a response. Ask yourself if you would
have paid $0.50 to read the message that you just wrote.
* Praise in public, criticize in private. If someone posts
something objectionable, respond to the poster directly, not to
the whole list. If, however, someone does something especially
wonderful, feel free to tell everyone about it!
* Make sure there is something of value in each message you send to
the reflector. Avoid messages that are a complete reprint of
someone else's message, with nothing but "I agree" or "Me too"
added to the bottom -- not much value there.
* Some people pay by the byte, so when following up to someone
else's message, be sure to include only the essential pieces or
thread of the note. Don't include those 20 extra header lines
that your mail gateway tacked onto the original message.
4. How do I obtain CT?
|
| CT Version 9 was released at Dayton. It is available from K1EA
| Software:
K1EA Software
A Division of Harvard Radio, Inc.
5 Mount Royal Avenue
Marlborough, MA 01752-1935
Orders: 508-779-5054 FAX: 508-460-6211
Support: 508-460-8873 BBS: 508-460-8877
|
| The current revision of Version 9 is 9.06 as of September 28, 1994.
| Everyone who has purchased CT9 will receive the latest version,
| including an updated users manual, via MAIL in time for the October
| CQWW Phone Contest.
|
| The last revision of Version 8 is CT 8.53.
There is also a shareware version of CT available by anonymous FTP
from:
oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/hamradio/ct626.zip
Note that this version is several years old and has little in the way
of documentation.
5. How can I receive updates for the country (CTY) files?
I update the files regularly, usually starting a month before each
major contest (CQWW, ARRL DX, WPX, IARU, WAE). The updated files are
announced on CQ-CONTEST and posted to the CT BBS (508-460-8877) and
the W6GO BBS (916-992-0923). You can always obtain the latest files
| by sending a message to "MajorDomo@eng.pko.dec.com". Here is a
| sample message to obtain the latest CTY.DAT:
|
| get ct-user cty.dat
The files are also available on the Internet via anonymous FTP from
the following site:
gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/misc/hamradio/cty.zip
However, I can not post to this area directly, so there is some time
| lag (a day or two) between the time I announce the new files and the
time they're available at the FTP site.
Finally, users who download CT updates from the CT BBS will
automatically receive the latest CTY files posted there.
6. How do I obtain other CT-related files?
I maintain a CT file repository on the same system that runs the
CT-USER list manager. You can obtain a list of available files by
| sending message to "MajorDomo@eng.pko.dec.com" with the following
text in the body of the message:
index ct-user
This file repository includes the ASCII .CTY and .DAT files, the
release notes for version 8 and version 9, and some text files
associated with CT. It does *NOT* contain the actual CT program
itself, nor does it contain any binary files. I am thinking of
providing some of the binary files (for example, MASTER.DTA) in
UUencoded form in the repository - the details of this are still to
be worked out.
Finally, please be gentle with me. I'm a hardware engineer - software is
just a hobby, and list maintenance is something new altogether. If you
have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to contact
me directly. My address is reisert@eng.pko.dec.com.
73 - Jim Reisert AD1C
reisert@eng.pko.dec.com
* CT is a copyright of K1EA Software, a division of Harvard Radio.
|