During Sweepstakes at W6YX we entered spots via networked computers that
were not interfaced. These were then either worked by our run station
from the bandmap or by a second station (MO2R?) by tuning to the
frequency in the bandmap and coordinating transmit time with the run
station.
We encountered a few problems that others may run into if trying the
same thing and which should be fixed in the software.
The first problem was discovered a couple of nights before Phone SS when
we assembled our operators for a mini-SS shakeout. We'd set up packet
and there were a few DX spots listed. Before starting, one of our ops
saw a strange call in the bandmap and typed it into his computer to see
what country it was, hitting a space at the end to bring up the country
name. This also brought up the question about the spot frequency, which
he ignored and left on the screen. We then did the mini-SS, after which
we noticed that the logs on the non-run computers were still empty.
Hitting ESC to cancel the frequency question caused only the last 5
contacts to be copied to the non-run computers.
This had happened to us briefly during CW SS also, but we didn't
associate it at the time. An op had typed in a call to dupe it and then
stepped outside for some air before entering the frequency. This had
the effect of causing us to send the same serial number to two stations,
first from the run radio and then from the S&P radio before we realized
what had happened and manually sent a corrected serial number to the
second station.
So, be aware that pausing in manual bandmap entry causes the
multi-network to stop working until the frequency has been fully
entered. There may be other things that lock out multi-network updates
since we saw it happen other times, but I don't remember the causes.
Some possibilities are CTRL-J edits, playing in the bandmap (to delete
entries), editing of CW messages (CTRL-P), and scrolling through the log
(CTRL-L).
We must have typed in several thousand call signs and occasionally made
an error in typing in the frequency. There were at least 3 occasions
where an extra digit was typed in. This causes that computer to freeze
and have to be rebooted with CTRL-ALT-Delete (nothing else seems to
work). Unfortunately I rarely visit the W6YX shack except to do
contests so I'm not able to confirm the exact frequencies causing the
problem, but I think it was something like 142001.5.
There seemed to be a major problem with the BAND MAP ALL MODES
selection, which is FALSE by default. It appears that the only spots
displayed on a non-interfaced computer are for the mode in which the
program is started. We saw only DX spots in the CW bands during CQWW
Phone until mid-Sunday when we tried toggling BAND MAP ALL MODES and
suddenly saw all the spots we'd been typing in. We'd toggled to SSB via
ALT-M at the beginning of the contest. It would be nice to have this
one working for the 10-meter contest where both modes are actually used.
We discovered that if we enter a spot on a frequency that isn't in the
current band for the computer, then the smiley faces and asterisks in
the band map appear relative to the current band on the computer. For
example, if OH0Z has already been worked on 20 meters and the
non-interfaced computer is set to 10 meters (where we hadn't worked OH0)
but we tried to enter a spot of 14200.0, then OH0Z would show up in the
band map with a smiley face, even though it should have been an
asterisk. When other computers get the spot over the network, it shows
up properly in their bandmaps.
We tried setting BAND MAP DUPE DISPLAY to FALSE via CTRL-J and then
using CTRL-END and the arrow keys to select spots to move to our
interfaced computer. As you scroll through the list, each entry is
replaced by the corresponding entry in the mixed duped/non-duped list
and hitting Enter puts the rig at the frequency of this replacement
entry. This occurred in 6.53 - the other problems are all in 6.54.
Somewhere near the end of the CQWW Phone contest we decided we wanted to
turn on the BIG REMAINING LIST. I changed it with CTRL-J and waited
while it "rebuilt" the multiplier list. After changing the list, it was
clear that it was seriously wrong. The highlighting of prefixes was
incorrect, with many remaining mults being unhighlighted. I don't
remember whether there were highlighted prefixes which we had already
worked. I switched back to the normal mult list and even that was
screwed up. Finally I quit out and restarted TR and it was back to
normal. I repeated the same sequence after restarting, with exactly the
same result.
Here is our LOGCFG.DAT file for CQWW Phone:
MY CALL = W6YX
CONTEST = CQ WW
DISPLAY MODE = COLOR
MULTI PORT = SERIAL 1
COMPUTER ID = B
BAND MAP ALL BANDS = TRUE
BAND MAP ENABLE = TRUE
BAND MAP DUPE DISPLAY = TRUE
PACKET SPOTS = ALL
SPACE BAR DUPE CHECK ENABLE = TRUE
TEN MINUTE RULE = TIME OF FIRST QSO
ASK FOR FREQUENCIES = TRUE
AUTO DISPLAY DUPE QSO = TRUE
AUTO RETURN TO CQ MODE = TRUE
CALLSIGN UPDATE ENABLE = TRUE
DISTANCE MODE = MILES
HOUR DISPLAY = LAST SIXTY MINUTES
MULTI RETRY TIME = 5
MULTIPLE MODES = TRUE
POSSIBLE CALLS = TRUE
POSSIBLE CALL MODE = ALL
MY GRID = CM87VK
HOUR OFFSET = 7
ESCAPE EXITS SEARCH AND POUNCE = TRUE
BAND MAP CALL WINDOW ENABLE = TRUE
VGA DISPLAY ENABLE = TRUE
PACKET BAND SPOTS = FALSE
SAY HI ENABLE = FALSE
BAND MAP ENABLE = TRUE
-Mike, N7MH
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