At 08:51 PM 5/3/02 -0600, Phil Goetz wrote:
>During various contests over the past few months, TRLog has frozen up on
>me a couple of times. This has happened with no particular set of
>circumstances nor keystrokes that I'm aware of. Since the computer in
>the shack is very old, I've been inclined to blame it. However, in a
>recent discussion with K5OT, he mentioned that the same thing has
>happened to him a few times. The program just freezes, and no amount of
>pounding on the escape key, Control-Break, or even the time-honored
>three-finger salute (Cntl-Alt-Delete) makes any difference. The only
>solution seems to be to turn off the computer and then turn it back on.
>
>Has anybody else on the TR reflector had similar experiences? If so,
>please advise when you first noticed the situation and whether you've
>been able to identify anything that might have been the cause.
I'm inclined to believe that it isn't TRLog itself, because I haven't had
the problem over the past year in heavy contest use. I'd suspect possibly
an AC power problem. I've noticed that my AC power in the shack frequently
dips enough to cause my UPS to beep and cut in, even though the lights
haven't dimmed visibly.
RFI's another possibility. Today, I was setting up RecAll Pro to record
from the headphone jack on my SO2R box, when RecAll suddenly went
nuts. Every time I'd try to record a CQ, after 5-10 seconds it would crash
with a software error. I quickly discovered that the problem was RF
entering the computer through the audio feed to the Line In jack. I tried
1, then 2 snap-on chokes at the computer end of the circuit, with many
turns of cable through them, and it still happened. Then I discovered that
the ground had come disconnected from the case of the computer. As soon as
I reconnected it, the program crashes ceased.
73, Pete N4ZR
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