Steve is correct that when using prefill files there will undoubtedly be
instances where the information coming from the prefill is no longer
current. It is my hope to continuously improve upon the accuracy of the
data by adding the most current year's results file when made available.
I've developed a method of appending the current year data file with the
previous years history file and then sorting them and removing duplicates so
that the latest data is retained in the file as being the most accurate.
Of course, if someone moves again between contests there is no way to
correct that prior to the next contest. If the data field in question is
prefilled with the wrong data there are a few ways to quickly correct the
situation, hopefully without too much delay. In a contest like the ARRL DX
CW/SSB, where the QTH field is always a two character state or province I've
found the fastest way is to just quickly hit the Delete key twice and then
retype the correct exchange. This is facilitated by WL placing the entry
cursor on the first position of the field, so after the two Deletes you are
ready to type in the new.
In the case of a longer field involving multiple characters there are two
options for a quick fix. First would be to hit Ctrl+W, which works just the
way Alt+W does, except it only clears the current field, not all fields in
the Entry window. Of course, this still involves pressing two different
keys at once to clear the field. A faster method would be to use Keyboard
Shortcuts to program an unused key with the command EntryClearField. Then a
single keystroke would clear the entire field and allow entry of the new
data.
73,
Gary AL9A
-----Original Message-----
From: GW4BLE
Sent: March 04, 2014 11:57 AM
To: writelog@contesting.com
Subject: [WriteLog] Prefill Files - a warning
Firstly, thanks to Gary AL9A for making the prefill ADIF file available for
DX
participants in the ARRL Contest, HOWEVER I would advise caution when using
these files -
I've never entered a contest with them before, but I did last weekend in the
ARRL DX.
In the heat of running a reasonably fast *sustained* pileup (say, over the
200/hr rate) it
can be annoying to have the field prefill, only to find the guy at the
other end
has moved from say, PA to MN ! That few seconds deleting the prefill and
typing in what the
guy actually sent put me out of sync on a number of occasions!
If the rate is 'average', maybe it's not a problem, but really I would say
it's MUCH
better to go it alone and just type in the exchange for yourself. Period.
YMMV
Steve
GW4BLE
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