I find all of this discussion interesting. I would suspect that most of those
who are concerned about this run/s&p business may have come from a TR
background. Those of us who used CT don't generally have the anxiety that some
of you guys seem to have over this issue.
For example, over the last nearly 20 years now of using a computer for CW
contesting, my memories have always been set up like this:
F1 CQ - Run mode (what other mode would you call CQ in?)
F2 exchange
F3 tu qrz
F4 My callsign
F5 His callsign
F6 ?
Oh, and pressing Enter always only logs the QSO.
CT and Writelog (in CT compatibility mode) supports the use of the Ins and +
keys on the numeric keypad to assist in running.
The way it works in "Run Mode" is this:
Press F1 call CQ
Type the Callsign
Press the spacebar*
Press that big Ins key which sends F5 and F2 (his call + the exchange)
Copy his exchange
Press that big + key which sends F3 and Enter (tu qrz & logs the QSO)
In S&P it's like this:
Type a new callsign
Press the spacebar*
Press F4 (sends my call)
Copy exchange
Press Ins (or just F2 if you don't want to send his call first)
Hear a QSL from him
Press Enter
* Pressing the space bar is a good habit to get into as it positions the cursor
where it needs to be to copy the exchange (or like for SS, it moves the cursor
to the next field in the exchange). It also will fill in the exchange for you
in certain contests like CQWW (zone), or in most, if not all, contests if
you've worked the other station before it will also fill in the exchange based
on what you copied previously. If the station you are going to work is a Dupe,
when you press the Spacbar, it also displays the Dupe message to you. The
space bar is also the largest, easiest to find key on the keyboard. Use it!
All of the function keys only do what they are defined to do. Their function
does not change depending upon what the computer may "think" is going on.
Enter only Enters. This approach seems so much simpler and easy to deal with
especially in conditions with a lack of sleep. I also will confess that this
simpler approach is easier to be away from for a while, and come back to after
you've been off for a couple of months dealing with your normal life issues.
I purchased a lifetime subscription to TR years ago, but gave up on it because
of this "automation". Invariably, the computer would think it was in one mode,
when I was in the other, and it was the single reason I left TR behind. Great
software, very powerful, and Tree is a brilliant guy, but just not for me.
The reason I mention all of this is that I suspect that there may be others
like me, and perhaps some newcomers, who may find this alternate approach
simpler/easier/better.
To set Writelog up to do this you need the following entries in the respective
sections of your Writelog.INI file:
[Configuration]
CtCompatibleAccel=YES
CqFunctionKey=11
QrzFunctionKey=3
SendCallExchangeKey=10
[ENTRY]
SmartEnterKey=0
(SmartEnterKey is the feature that makes the Enter key do different things.)
73,
Bob N5NJ
P.S.
30 years ago, my old Accukeyer's 4 memories were set up like this:
1 CQ
2 exchange
3 tu qrz
4 My callsign
>From what I've seen, this pattern was pretty standard for most operators.
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