California QSO Party Logging Program Helpful Hints ver 5.03 9/19/98 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- This disk is the latest software I wrote for CQP. It started over 10 years ago as an "after the contest" dupe checking and printing program and has grown into a full blown on-the-air logging tool. That was well before K1EA came out with the original CT. This program doesn't have all the nice bells and whistles of CT, but I like the "format free" data entry of this program. The program is written in Quick Basic. The .BAS file is included should you be interested in digging into the program listing. Please feel free to give copies to friends. I cannot guarantee fault free operation on YOUR computer. PLEASE try it out BEFORE the contest starts! There is only a small help file... please read these hints: Hints: 1. !!!!! Set your DOS clock to GMT !!!!! 1.1 Run the program CQP503.EXE with the files CAINIAL.DAT and CQPMASTR.DAT on the same disk & same directory. If you operate from outside California, there is another file called CAMASTR.DAT which will be used instead. (its the same list, but has only CA calls). The CAINIAL.DAT file contins all the set up (initialization data). If the program can't find this file it creates a new one... and you have to manually enter all the multiplier names yourself. 2. The program will start in the operating mode, ready to go. The first time you run the program, you will get the initialization screen. The initialization allows you to set things like your callsign, the disk file you want the log to be called, etc. It's pretty simple. After your callsign is entered, subsequent starts will bypass the set up and go immediately to the "on the air" mode. You can still to the set up screen by ALT-F8, then select initialization from the menu. BUG WARNING: in the EXE file, choosing 7 from the menu may crash the program. If this happens, just re-run the program. Nothing should be lost. This doesn't happen if running the BAS file from the QBX environment. When all the initialization stuff looks right, enter 0 or just hit the RETURN key to advance to the multiplier list. There are two lists, depending if you selected IN or OUT of state operation. It is important to know the first 2 or 3 letters of each mult. I've tried to use standard names, but if you like you can change any or all to your own choosing. Keep in mind, the program will try to match whatever you type in the exchange with this list. For example, I set up British Columbia as: VE7. So when I work VE7CC, I enter "VE7" and not "BC". That way the program recognizes the multiplier. When all the mults look the way you want them, enter a 0 or just hit return. All the initialization data will be written to disk so you only have to do this once. Of course, you can still change things again later. Note: If you are operating IN Calif... you normally enter the county name for a W6 QTH instead of "CA". Thus you can easily miss the CA mult. I recommend entering the first Ca station QTH as: "CA/xxxxx" where xxxxx is the county given in the exchange. ex: CA/LAX (LAX/CA also works) 3. Band change. Type ALT-F1 from the on-the-air screen. The present band/mode QSO total will begin to flash. Use the arrow keys to move the flashing QSO total to the band and mode you want. Then hit ENTER 4. On-the-air operation. BEFORE you start banging away in the contest, TRY out the program first to get used to it. If you are working PHONE only, the operation is simple. Ignore the mode (hunt and pounce / run). Simply enter callsigns as you hear them. Hit the space bar after the call. If it is a dupe you will see it immediately. Enter the report as a number, space, and QTH (remember those mult names). Any number and any text will work for this. The program will check mult to see if its a new one, but will not stop you from logging a bad or mis-spelled mult (it simply won't score it). remember: the SPACE BAR seperates call, nr, and QTH This program uses an unformatted data entry field. This means you can enter callsigns, QSO number, and QTH in any order! If you entered a busted call, simply type it again correctly without having to backspace or tab. The program is smart enough to recognize that W6YL is a call, 123 is the number, and SF is a QTH as long as a space separates the entries: W6ODP 456 LAX will be logged correctly. W6OGP 45 LAX 456 W6ODP will also be logged correctly. There is no limit to the number of corrections as long as they are typed BEFORE hitting the enter key!! To clear the data entry line, hit ALT-W (just like CT) There will be some stations operating on county lines and giving two, three, or even four county QTHs. Enter them all with a slash character / seperating the names. For example: GLEN/MEND/TUL There is no limit to how many mults you can get with a single QSO, but practically... QTH data is truncated after the 20th character. There is a "mobile rule" which says a station can be contacted again on same band and mode IF he has moved into a different multiplier QTH. Enter the station & his report. Its NOT a dupe for points, and the new multiplier counts! However, it will appear as a dupe in the LOG. You need to correct it by hand after the contest. Use alt-N to write yourself a quick note. 5. If, while entering call, number, or QTH you screw up or the guy QSYs on you, don't worry. Use the ALT-W key to erase the entire line and start over. This only works BEFORE you hit the RETURN key. If you happen to log a dupe, don't worry, it won't be added to the score. 6. The most previous QSO is displayed above the working line. If you blew the call, or report, you can fix it with the F keys shown. The alt-F5, alt-F6, and alt-F7 keys halt activation of all other routines until you type in the new data and hit RETURN. If you change your mind and don't want to change anything just hit RETURN with no new data to return to the normal operation. The score displayed in the upper right corner may not be accurate after you have changed either the call sign (if a dupe is involved), or if the QTH involves a new multiplier. However, after the next band change, the display should be accurate. If, while entering data, you wish to see the log; hit F12 (or ALT-F3). The last 21 log entries are displayed. If you want to go back farther, simply enter the log number you want to see. You then get 21 log entries starting with that number. Just hit ENTER (with no number) to get back to operating. If, while entering data, you want to see the multiplier list, hit ALT-F4. The multiplier list is displayed with still needed multipliers highlighted. Hit any key to return (don't hit F keys!). 7. For CW operation things get interesting! If the CW sidetone is set to anything between 37 and 10000 Hz (setup menu), the computer speaker blares CW to you at the frequency you selected. If the sidetone is set to less than 37, then the CW is sent to the serial port. The serial port can be changed by F11 (or ALT F10), but it is not stored in the configuration. You need to build a key adapter to plug into the computer to key your xmitter. I used a 120 ohm resister and a 2N2222. This is the same circuit as the K1EA program uses. In fact, if you already have a cable which works with CT, it should work with this program too. (Parallel port keying is not supported). Pin 20 is the signal. Connect pin 20 to the 120 ohm resister. The other end of the resister is connected to the base of the transistor. The emitter is connected to ground (pin 7). The collector should be connected via small coax to your keying line (+12 volt) and in parallel with your normal key. The keying timing is independent of your computer clock speed. If you have a "TURBO" switch on your PC, set it one way or the other but don't change it while running this program. type NOSOUND in the data entry line and the speaker is turned off and the serial port is activated. type SOUND to activate the speaker and disable the serial port output. Can't do both speaker code and drive the serial port at the same time. Use up arrow and down arrow keys to change CW speed. Any CW message can be stopped with the ESC key. F1, F3, F4 and F6 thru F10 are general purpose CW keyer memories. You can put anything you want in them by shifting the function key. For instance, do a shift-F1 and a new screen appears asking for new F1 string. Type what you want (ex: CQ CQ TEST DE AD6E) and hit return. Only the first 20 characters are saved to disk, so after starting the program, try them out to make sure they are OK. If any were trunkated re-enter the string using shift_Fx. In CW mode, the bottom line shows the first few letters of the F keys. F5 sends the most recent callsign typed. F2 sends the current serial number plus your QTH. The QTH string can be changed with shift-F2. In CW mode, there are two modes: "RUN mode" and "Hunt and Pounce mode". The ALT-F9 key toggles between them. In the "RUN" mode, the left bracket [ key send: " ". The right bracket key "]" sends: "TU ". In "Hunt and Pounce" mode, ] does nothing; the [ key send: "R ". The most common screw-up is using these keys in the wrong mode!! You can change the mode with ALT F9. Note that you don't HAVE to be this fancy. RUN Hunt & Pounce ] TU QRZ DE (ignored) [ R The ~ key toggles on/off the auto-exchange feature. This only works in the "RUN mode" and is really nice when you are running a good rate. It works like this: When someone answers your CQ, you type in his call and hit the space bar -- then the computer sends that callsign plus the exchange (same as "[" key) automatically. In fact, everytime you type a callsign, it sends the exchange. After the exchange data is entered and the QSO logged by hitting , the message TU is sent automatically. Consider this an "expert" mode. I don't recommend it since its so easy just to hit the "[" and "]" keys when needed. The finished log can be converted into an ASCII file by selecting the printout item in the main menu (item 6). You will be prompted for the contest year and a file name. This program also tabulates the score, and gives band break down. The last page of the ASCII log is a summary sheet which will have the totals already. Print out the log, fill out the requested info (Name, Addr, etc.) sign the summary sheet and mail it in!!! Don't forget to also print out the dupe sheets. CU in the pile ups. 73 de Al, AD6E 3330 Farthing Way San Jose, CA. 95132 Note: ASCII logs can be emailed to: AD6E@aol.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- /VER 5.03 Sept. 1998 Fixed AltM display bug. Added AltN note function. Notes appear in a separate NOTE.TXT file Added CW keying from LPT1 port. Use AltF10 to set it up. Doubled size of CQPMASTR.DAT /VER 5.0 Sept. 1997 Added CQPMASTR.DAT as a master file with known calls and QTHs. Access with Alt-M. Band changes no longer require re-loading the log for dupe checking. Partial call search with Alt-M for master list, or Alt-L for log search. A valid call sign automatically does a log search for display (Alt-L). /VER 4.7 Sept. 1996 Added SUMMARY sheet to ASCII log. Increased CAINITAL.DTA fields to 20 characters, changed filename to CAINITAL.DAT CW strings (and mults) now 20 char long. Setting CW strings now shows what the old string was before the change. Deleted auto switching between RUN and S&P. Now mode is only changed with ALT-F9 /VER 4.6 Sept. 1994 Added log printout routine to main CQP program. CQPRINT no longer needed. Added ALT F1 band change from within the on-the-air operating screen Changed "clear line" function to ALT-W or Ctrl-K ... ESC no longer works CW memories F1 thru F10 stored on disk (first 10 characters only) CW memory F2 must be QTH CW memory F5 is not a memory... F5 sends callsign of the OTHER guy as typed /ver 4.5 Sept. 1993 Corrected minor bugs in curser location. Corrected multiple mult totaling error. Deleted support for a back up floppy. Prevents logging a call without a number and QTH. Increased QTH data size from 10 to 20 characters. This means v4.5 cannot read log files made with v4.4 and earlier.