At 01:27 PM 9/29/2009, Dennis Bradley wrote:
>All:
>
>With all the talk about the contest last weekend I thought I would ask
>what stored macros folks are using during contests and for just
>general RTTY qso's. I've not operated RTTY that much and wondered what
>some of the more useful one's are.
>
>Dennis
>
>Dennis Bradley, P.E. (N5TZ) |
>Email: dennis@dbradley.net |
There is more to it than just what the macros contain - if and how
they can be joined is just as important.
Writelog lets me join macros by pressing a second macro key before
the first has completed. This is very useful and reduces the number
of macros I need in contests.
I do not use separate run and s&p macro lists. This one macro list
covers everything and there is no distinction between run and s&p
modes - I just use them differently when in s&p.
In yesterday's CQWWRTTY contest, I used:
f2 %D 599 05 05 SC SC %E (%D is his mouse-clicked callsign, %E is
end of macro)
f3 %D TU %H QRZ %O%E ( %H is his friend file entry, %O clears my RIT)
f4 W4UK %E
f5 %D %E
f6 CALL? %E
f7 AGN AGN %E
f9 599 05 05 05 SC SC SC SC SC %E
f11 TEST W4UK W4UK CQ %E
In my writelog.ini file, CtCompatibleAccel=YES, SendCallExchangeKey=2
and QRZFunctionKey=3.
Important - for all macros, a space precedes and follows any string
that would print on his screen. This means if I hit the f4 three
times to send W4UK W4UK W4UK, it actually transmits with two spaces
between each call. But it also means that no extraneous character
ever precedes or follows my callsign to confuse him. I use no line
feeds or carriage returns anywhere.
Routine use:
In Run mode, I start a repeating f11 CQ with the f1 key. Esc
terminates the CQ or any other macro in progress. When you call, I
click on your callsign and hit Insert key to send
" N5TZ 599 05 05 SC SC " (I could add my callsign or yours at end, or
neither, depending on condx).
You respond with something like " W4UK 599 05 05 TX TX N5TZ ".
I click on your exchange and hit numeric pad +, which logs the
contact and sends
" N5TZ TU DENNIS QRZ " I usually append a f4 or f1 to add my callsign
or start another CQ string, but not if a pileup is in progress. If
N6ABC has already sent his call in a pileup, I will respond to him as
next before your TU ends by immediately clicking his call and append
the f5, Insert, and f5 key again, so your TU transmit as " N5TZ TU
DENNIS QRZ N6ABC 599 05 05 SC SC N6ABC" . This seems to work about
as well as the guys who have special "NEXT" macros to transmit NEXT
instead of my QRZ.
When in s&p mode, I will hit the f4 two or more times to send my call
as many times as conditions require to answer your CQ. The insert key
sends the exchange, which also implies my QSL. One important
difference in s&p is that I then log the contact with the enter key
instead of the numeric pad + so WL does not send the TU QRZ macro.
This is the only difference I need to remember for s&p mode.
f9 is used if he asks for a repeat, and f7 if I need one. f7 or f6
will usually get a repeat of his callsign if I need it. Remember all
can be joined, so three f6 keys will send " CALL? CALL? CALL? ", or
a f5 and f7 will send "N5TZ AGN AGN " to try to silence someone
calling over you out of turn.
Notice that I never hit f2, f3, or f11 directly - these are called up
by other key functions (the insert, etc)
I touch-type OK, so if anything unusual is needed, I just do an alt-K
and type it manually. This happens in less than 1% of the QSOs.
If I left anything out, just ask.
I wish I had antennas that work as well as these macros with Writelog.
Jerry W4UK
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