Contest Station Descriptions 6.0
Now Available!
8 August 1997
I am pleased to announce the Version 6.0 of my Contest Station
Descriptions files are now available. Since the release of
Version 5.0 last February, the data in the files has continued to
expand. I now have references for 619 US/Canada and 295 DX
contest stations, an increase of 175. Additionally, almost 200
other records have been updated or checked since the Version 5.0
release. All in all, the files are developing into a great
reference work for the inquisitive contester. You will find band
by band descriptions of antennas, rigs and amps, e-mail
addresses, and contesting software used. New to this version is
the addition of the contester's name to the database. For any of
you rolling your own TRMASTER.DTA files, this might come in
handy.
As with the last releases, the files are available for FTP
downloading. If you have FTP capabilities I highly recommend you
obtain your copies of the files this way. The particulars are:
* FTP Server: netnow.micron.net
* Username: k7zofile
* Password: k7zofile
(You should find yourself in the directory /users/k/k7/k7zofile.
I know this looks funny, but what I am doing is using an e-mail
address as a FTP file drop. This is something that my ISP, Micron
Internet Services, has figured out as a way to offer their
subscribers simple FTP capabilities. It worked well with Release
5.0.)
* File names and types:
CONTXL4.ZIP Excel 4.0 Format 110KB (322KB unzipped)
CONTXL5.ZIP Excel 5.0 Format 115KB (317KB unzipped)
CONTWD2.ZIP Word 2.0A Format 100KB (475KB unzipped)
CONTXL7.ZIP Excel 97 Format 108KB (338KB unzipped)
CONTWD7.ZIP Word 97 Format 125KB (1,096KB unzipped)
CONTWP51.ZIP WordPerfect 5.1 Format 77KB (570KB unzipped)
The native file format I use to collect the information is
Excel 5.0 in Windows 3.1. The first three files above were
created with Windows 3.1 versions of the apps. The next two
Office 97 versions were created by reading the Excel 5.0 file
into Office 97 apps running on a NT 4.0 Client, and then saving
them off in their standard file formats. They should also
work on a Windows 95 client with Office 97 as well. If not let
me know. I have no idea why the Word 97 file is so large. I was
surprised myself when I saved it off. The WP5.1
version was created with a SAVE AS option in Word 2.0A on
Windows 3.1. I have not been able to check it, as I do not have
WordPerfect 5.1 (DOS). So, it might work. It might not.
The spreadsheet formats are much more usable than the word
processing formats. Spreadsheets let you easily move around the
records from cell to cell. Because of the way the text falls in
the tables, the word documents are now 60 pages long and are not
the most convenient way to review the information.
I am also working with Bill/W4AN to make the files available on
his excellent Contesting web site. Bill and his team did a great
job with version 3.0. Not only did he host the FTP access but
they also converted the file to HTML to make it viewable from
your favorite web browser and provided an Abode Acrobat version.
Hopefully this version will be available in these formats as well
sometime in the future. So stay tuned to www.contesting.com.
(Currently, the version 3.0 files available on contesting.com are
a year old, be careful if you download those versions.)
If you don't have FTP access or don't have a friend that has FTP
access, and can't wait until they appear at www.contesting.com,
send me an e-mail and we will see what we can do.
I hope you enjoy looking through these files. In case you are
wondering where I get this information, I get it from your
postings to 3830@contesting.com. Someday I would love to convert
this to a full CGI driven web site so you can make your own
updates. My ISP, now offers a package to their subscribers that
would let me do it. But, I don't have the time or money to make
it happen right now. So, for now, my goal is to aim for 2 or 3
releases a year in this file based format.
As always, if you can add or correct anything or just have a
suggestion, please send me a message.
============================================================
Scott Tuthill/K7ZO Boise, ID k7zo@micron.net
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