Just to confirm what Eric said, my experience was similar durig this past CQWW
CW where I ran WriteLog for the first time in a network configuration.
At first, it worked perfectly, but then, my main PC crashed. This is not
typical for this computer, and I have no clue why it crashed, as I was not
operating when it occured and my screen saver was activated at the time.
The second computer kept running and reported the network failure and loss of
connectivity to the main PC. This looked great - I was impressed with the
status reporting.
Thereafter, I was not as diligent as Eric, and gave up when I found that
recovery was not automatic. And I had trouble figuring out what steps needed
to be taken to recover.
I'm hesitant to use this software as-is in a serious multi-op situation given
this problem. Don't get me wrong, I love WriteLog and use it as a single-op
all the time in every contest I operate from home.
However, I usually coordinate the computing environment for the multi-ops I
participate in, and am looking into alternatives for DOS based CT as most
operators show up with their work laptops with XP, NT or 2000 on them which are
not conducive to CT use.
Can't the configuration be stored and recovery become more automatic? Or, am I
just unable to figure out how to make this happen?
N5NJ
>
> From: "Eric Scace K3NA" <eric@k3na.org>
To: <writelog@contesting.com>
> Date: 2002/11/27 Wed AM 10:33:11 EST
> To: "WriteLog" <writelog@contesting.com>
> CC: "Dennis NB1B" <NB1B@attbi.com>, "Jim VE1JF" <74237.2073@compuserve.com>
> Subject: [WriteLog] fast re-start of WriteLog
>
> During the WW CW weekend I used WL for the first time in a multi-op
> environment.
>
> On rare occasions one could be confronted with the need to re-boot a
> computer in the middle of a contest. In our multi-two
> station, the start-up process typically involves:
>
> 1. booting Windows.
> 2. logging into Windows.
> 3. starting WriteLog.
> 4. confirming the choice of log file to open.
> -- might need to confirm that one wants to integrate in QSOs which had not
> been saved before.
> 5. clicking "OK" on the "Welcome to WriteLog Packet. Please use the File
> menu to select a COMM port." to make it go away.
> 6. clicking Setup/Register to Accept Network Connections.
> 7. clicking Setup/Link To Network and confirming the proposed choice of
> computer to which to connect.
> 8. clicking Setup/Network Name and entering a name for the radio to use on
> the Network Frequencies display. (This gets forgotten
> when WL is closed.)
> 9. If two radios are controlled by this operating position, one must go to
> the QSO Entry form, change the keyboard focus to the
> second radio, and then again use Setup/Network Name to enter a name for the
> second radio.
> 10. Select/open the WL Packet window and click the File menu and selecting
> 'local network' (or perhaps 'Telnet') to get spot
> processing to resume.
> 11. If using Telnet, log into the Telnet spotting system.
> 12. Use sh/dx 100 or some similar command to the packet spotting network to
> attempt to repopulate the bandmap and the packet spot
> windows. (All the contents of these windows are lost when WL closes.)
> 13. Start the CW decoders.
> 14. click Entry/Change Operators to select the operator on duty (to recover
> personalized voice keyer files and log subsequent QSOs
> appropriately).
> 15. click Radio/Headphone Split to restore split headphone operation (this
> setting is forgotten when WL is closed).
> 16. click Radio/Headphone Latch to restore headphone latching (also
> forgotten when WL is closed).
> 17. click Entry/Enter Sends QRZ-Exchange (this setting is sometimes
> forgotten).
> 18. click Tools/Soundboard options and then Continuously Record Audio to
> File to restart the audio record process.
>
> Depending on your particular setup, you might need fewer (or more!) steps
> before WL has been restored back to full operating.
>
> That's a LOT of MANUAL steps to do correctly while tired in the middle of
> a long contest. A manual checklist posted next to the
> screen can help avoid overlooking any key steps... but I feel that we could
> be doing better. So here are my questions for the
> collective wisdom of the reflector:
>
> What can be done to automate the above process of re-establishing logging
> in the middle of a contest?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.
>
> -- Eric K3NA
>
>
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