Rick/K6VVA - I think your spam killer got some of my messages
to you as well, because I have sent you several ideas
about voice keying and never heard back...
I am all for efforts that would make WL voice keying
less robotic and to find ways to protect my voice
(which is my livelihood in radio news...)
To that end, I sent the following proposal to the
Writelog team earlier this year on voice keying.
I originally was not going to put this on the reflector, but
with the latest thread, I figured why not....it can only
earn me a few more flames on the subject of voice keying.
--------------
To: The Writelog Development Team
I am writing to formally propose several Writelog modifications that
I believe would further improve your program's capabilities for SSB
contesting and the use of recorded .wav files. They deal with:
* Callsigns
* Pre-recorded prefixes and suffixes
* Serial numbers
* SSB messages
I. Callsigns
I was pleasantly surprised to recently discover that Writelog can
recognize and send pre-recorded full callsign .wav files when
using the following command:
<%C.wav>
What I envision is a companion command to this that allows Writelog to
first search for a recorded full callsign, and if that is not available,
then sound out the call as %C allows for.
(I would compare this to the %B dupe check, which allows Writelog
to proceed, or immediately send another message like QSO B4.)
For example, I am calling CQ. W5XD calls. I type W5XD in the entry
window and hit the appropriate F-key. If I have a recorded <W5XD.wav>,
that would be sent, otherwise, W5XD would be sounded out by %C.
II. Pre-recorded prefixes and suffixes
Writelog already does a great job with callsign soundouts. I would
propose improving that by allowing for three character combinations.
Recorded pairs sound great for 1x2 and 2x1 calls like N9-OH and NS-3T.
Three characters though would dramatically improve Writelog's
DVK capabilities for calls like VE5-UF, EA8-BH, VK4-UC, etc.
In this example, I call CQ. GW4BLE answers. I type that into the
entry window and hit the F-key command. Writelog determines that
no full callsign .wav exists, so it sends a pre-recorded GW4-BLE, rather
than GW-4B-LE or GW-4-BL-E.
When combined with the full callsign idea above (I), Writelog would have
an even better marketing tool to attract SSB contesters - not only a
great contest logger, but a voice keyer that beats any other on the market.
III. Serial Numbers
The use of serial numbers in contest exchanges seems to be growing
in recent years, not only in US state QSO parties, but also in EU contests.
Serial numbers obviously present a different challenge than a regular
exchange like 59-state or 59-zone in terms of .wav files.
Writelog already has the ability to recognize pre-recorded serial
number .wav files with the following command:
<%n.wav>
The idea is if Writelog does not find a fully recorded .wav file for
serial number XX, then it would be automatically sounded out, using
pre-recorded 0-9 .wav files, with the regular %n command.
(This is basically the same idea as #1 with callsigns, again
patterned on the %B dupe check example.)
Again, I am calling CQ and K5DJ answers. I type his call in and
he is my 387th QSO. I hit the F-key for the exchange. Writelog
checks to see if I have a <387.wav> file - if not, the serial number
will be sounded out as 3-8-7 by %n.
IV. SSB Messages
Currently, Writelog users have the ability to store 20 messages for
CW and RTTY contests, but for SSB, the shift-F keys are instead
used for recording-on-the-fly, limiting SSB ops to 10 messages.
(One interesting note is that SSB messages can be stored on the
shift F-keys, though they cannot be launched from there. The only
way to trigger them is by using the %M function.)
My proposal would be an ini file entry, which would allow the
user to employ those Shift-F-key slots for SSB messages:
RecordOnFly=off (default would be "on")
Doubling the available number of SSB message slots would be
a great improvement for Writelog's voice keying capabilities,
allowing an operator to in essence have 10 slots for S&P messages
and 10 for CQ'ing.
---
Flame suit now donned.
Jamie NS3T
_______________________________________________
WriteLog mailing list
WriteLog@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/writelog
WriteLog on the web: http://www.writelog.com/
|