Zoli,
In practice, I don't think it's all that much trouble to manually move the
keyboard focus when you want to S&P. When I begin an SO2R session, I start
the CQ and move the keyboard focus to the second radio. When the CQ band is
slow, I spend a lot of time tuning and duping on the second radio and just
leave the keyboard focus there. If I find a station to work on the second
radio, I use F4 and F3 to complete the QSO. The keyboard focus stays on the
second radio and I tune to the next station. I use repeating CQs and Auto
Restart while this is going on. In other words, I only move the keyboard
focus once and tend to leave it where it is for a while.
The only time I have to move the keyboard focus is if someone answers my CQ.
I agree that this can be awkward when the CQ band is busy, and have fumbled
with the keyboard many times while trying to do this. This wouldn't happen
if WL moved the keyboard focus back to the CQ radio automatically, but I'm
not so sure this is desirable. What if I'm just about to work a super-rare
mult that I've been calling on the second radio when the CQ on the first
radio ends? The keyboard focus will be shifted out from under me and I'll
have to move it back or I will accidentally send my call or the exchange on
the first radio! I work stations on the second radio both during and between
CQs, so I don't think there's a time when it's necessarily correct to move
the keyboard focus back to the first radio automatically. I can see a lot of
potential for errors if the focus moves back automatically.
One thing I have done to make this a little easier is use a keyboard macro
program to define keys for moving the keyboard focus ("["), transmit focus
("]") and both ("\"). I also remap the Insert key to "-" and the + key to
"=". All of these keys and the Enter key are very close to my right hand so
there is minimal movement to perform these functions. I use a little program
called Keyboard Remapper, which you can find at http://www.dev-labs.com/kr/.
You can also define macros. I use this feature to setup single keys for
switching between split and mono audio.
I wish there was an automatic solution for the problem of having the
keyboard focus on the wrong radio, but I can't think of one that will work.
Somehow WL must know which radio you want to dupe/work/log, and the only way
to tell it is to move the keyboard focus there manually. Something automatic
would require WL to know what decision is inside your head!
I should mention that there is a partial solution to the problem: use two
computers networked together. That way, you just move your hands to
whichever keyboard you want to use. Wayne recently made a change that will
let you configure a networked PCs so that can interrupt the transmissions of
other PCs on the network (see Setup...RTTY single Tx lockout... last one
wins). This would work for the S&P PC automatically interrupting the CQ PC.
Unfortunately, the Auto Restart feature is not implemented for this case. If
it was, I'd seriously consider using two networked PCs for SO2R.
Any chance of that Wayne?
73, Dick WC1M
> -----Original Message-----
> From: zoltan.pitman@vodafone.com [mailto:zoltan.pitman@vodafone.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 10:34 AM
> To: writelog@contesting.com
> Subject: [WriteLog] Moving focus automatically?
>
>
> Hello,
>
> I'd like to get the keyboard focus moved automatically in SO2R mode,
> preferably included in messages like F1, F2 and F3 but can't find
> out how.
>
> The sequence by my understanding is like this:
>
> 1. Start a CQ on the first radio (F1 in CT mode).
> 2. "Split" the focus by hitting SHIFT-UP-ARROW or SHIFT-DOWN-ARROW.
> 3. Find a station to work on the second radio.
>
> this one I'd like to have like this:
>
> 1. Start a CQ on the first radio (F1 in CT mode). Radio1 goes to TX, CQ
> starts AND keyboard focus moves to second radio automatically.
> 2. Find a station to work on the second radio.
>
> I see two possibilities here:
>
> A, I did not find a station to be worked on the second radio (no
> F4 is hit).
> In this case the keyboard focus is moved back to radio1 when the
> CQ ends on
> it.
>
> B, I found a station to be worked on the second radio, hit F4
> (callsign in
> CT mode), then the CQ stops, the transmit focus shifts to the second radio
> and my call is sent.
>
> The point is that I'd like to avoid to have to press SHIFT-UP-ARROW or
> SHIFT-DOWN-ARROW every time I start a CQ on one of the radios.
>
> Any idea? If it's not implemented yet, please let me know - I
> wouldn't keep
> on looking for something what is not there.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Zoli HA1AG
>
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