Hi Ken -- I bow to NOBODY in my claims to being the Lowest Common Denominator
(hi). Be that as it may, let me try to answer from my non-programmer's
perspective. Responses interspersed below.
At 08:33 AM 7/19/2006, Ken Alexander wrote:
>Thanks Pete and David for providing the link.
>
>Allow me to introduce myself: I am The Lowest Common
>Denominator. I'm the guy you have to dumb
>instructions down for so that everybody understands
>them, and I don't see anything on that page that
>explains what I have to do or how to do it. For
>example:
>
>1. What's a DTD?
It defines the form the data will take between sender and receiver. This
enables logging software writers to conform to the standard, and anyone with
desire to start a scoreboard to do so, knowing that all the logging software
packages will provide their data in the same form.
>2. Is there something I'm supposed to download,
>install and run to be able to participate? If so,
>what and where?
No, not yet. Eventually, our hope (my hope, certainly) is that all the major
logging software will incorporate provision for transmitting data to
scoreboards that will be set up either by contest sponsors or by private
individuals. This process will be essentially transparent, except that the
user will decide whether to have his data displayed and precisely what data
will be shown. So, for example, if you only want to display your running
score, that will be your choice; similarly if you want to display your
band-by-band totals, you can do that. Or you can opt out altogether.
>By comparison, W2EV's RFSport Logger is beauty and
>simplicity itself. There's a clearly identified
>application that the user downloads, installs and
>runs. Once you set it up (a trivial matter) it takes
>care of everything else.
Yes, but how many contesters do you know who are willing to change the logging
program they use in order to be able to send results to a scoreboard? This is
the major reason why it was decided to go with a standard that everyone could
work with separately. It also avoids the situation where either the means of
communication or the operation of the scoreboard are proprietary to any
individual. Instead, any contest sponsor could set up a scoreboard. Say, for
example, the Florida QSO Party wanted to let people keep track of the
competition among rovers activating as many counties as they can. Easy.
>If the XML thing (does it have a name?) reports
>results on HF contests to a website then I'm ready to
>get behind it. Maybe there's a FAQ somewhere that
>explains all of this?
We ran tests all last fall and this spring, using a rudimentary scoreboard that
had been set up on www.hornucopia.com. Once the standard is finished (at least
version 1), I'm sure there will be a proliferation of scoreboards. N1MM Logger
is the only major contest logging package that currently supports the evolving
standard, and it was used for the tests, but the reporting is easy to
implement, so I'm sure others will get on board once the standard is set.
73, Pete N4ZR
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