[WriteLog] Re: Your data loss

[Mark Perrin <mperrin@ordata.com>]

WL Reflector Subcribers:

I just joined the reflector to post this message, after learning from Steve 
KB3MM, that my logging problems that occured during the SQ WW RTTY test 
last weekend, had been discussed here.  I was a bit stunned to hear that, 
but no allay concerns or questions, lurking in the various comments in the 
thread that I had blamed Writelog, I can report as follows.

I do not know what caused my computer to lose my cqwwrtty04 data.  I assume 
it was somthing I did or did not do, and do not blame WL or claim WL has 
any deficiencies.

I emailed Ron and he got back to me with an appropriate response within a 
few hours, I think responding either while the contest was still going on 
or just after it was over.  Unfortunately, the .wl file on my computer was 
completely empty of  contest log data and the .adi file only had the log 
data for the S5 qso which occured before the blue screen of death.  No 
clue, but not blame WL.

Here is my "for what it is worth" report.

Before the contest, I created the appropriate contest file. During the 
contest, I backed up that file regularly, in fact I recall only getting the 
"it has been 20 Q's since you backed up" message once.

I shut the computer down three times during the contest.  Late nite/early 
morning local on the first night to go to sleep.  Again on Saturday 
afternoon when I went to a funeral.  The third was late on Saturday nite 
for sleep.  Te program came right up on each occasion when I resumed in the 
contest.

Sunday morning, about 1830, while running along, suddenly I got the ole 
message that a program tried to do an illegal whatever that MS thing says, 
was terminating the program [WL] and then the ole WIN 98SE blue screen.

When I rebooted the computer, I started WL and clicked on recently opened 
tab, got the file with all my buffers etc, but no data.  No clue, but not 
blame WL.

My posting on the issue was to the MMTTY reflector, I know I know is on 
yahoo etc and a pain - but did that becuase I was using the MMTTY Plug-In 
with WL, and Monday, I found that, after a search of EVERY directory and 
subdirectory of  my computer, these three text files in MMTTY - when I 
sorted the files in EVERY directory and subdirectory by date - here are 
three .txt files with the CQ WW RTTY contest dates.

Looked in them and here was complete text file of everything that appeared 
on my screen during the contest, everything that is but band data.  [Turns 
out that when I downloaded the MMTTY.exe file and loaded it, it had as a 
default checked the option to save TX receive as txt file.  When checked 
that feature creates a complete, "streaming" as it were file, of all that 
appears on the screen.  Talk about dumb luck.]

My posting was to the MMTTY reflector to see if there were any way to 
determine band data from the .txt files.  Learned the answer is "no."

I have printed out all the MMTTY txt files, over 400 pages!  Lots of 
information there of interest; I can see who I worked, the exchange, the 
fills, the ffailed qso's, a couple of alerts of sending off freq, people 
calling the nice DX that had come back to my qso on my frequency, that I 
did in fact work the 4L, EM1HO, the HB0/ etc.  But no band data.  Still, I 
can, with help of several contesters who have kindly give me some band data 
here and there, when I knew I was either on 40/20 or 20/15 etc, I can with 
that help get my station log reasonably up to date - when I take the time 
to manually type in 441 qsos into my station log program.  However, a 
contest log is impossible.

My conclusions?

        1.  I did not have a proper backup procedure in place.  I confess, 
that in the summer and early fall, I had spent all my time getting fair to 
decent antennas up for 80 and 40 - was absolutely smitten by RTTY contest 
bug a year ago and absolutely love the mode.  I was busy the week before 
the contest started, and only did my set up, mostly with AA5AU's suggested 
buffers [tnx for all the help Don!], and god forbid, for some reason 
unknown to me, did NOT, for the first time ever, slip a diskette into the 
3.5 drive, like I have every other time I have contested since CQ WW SSB in 
1994 as ZF2MC.  Jeez, how stupid!!!!!  Repeat after me; always have a 
backup in addition to WL's.  It was me, not WL, ultimately.

        2.  During a time of pressure and fatique, I must have done 
something wrong on the blue screen incident.

        3.  While WL had bailed me out before [I have used WL in many 
contests from home QTH and lots of DX trips for contests and when power 
problems, most recently at C6A, WL flawlessly came back up when power was 
restored on the island], this time for whatever reasons and again, accept 
full blame for incident, not do it this time.

I have had several emails with Ron at WL; Don AA5AU and Phil GU0SUP.  Don 
and Phil have graciously helped me with RTTY many times over the past 
year.  I got a prompt and appropriate the response from Ron.  The data is 
gone; why not clear, but I am sure it was operator, mine, error.

I knew when I sent Ron an inquiry, that I needed a miracle when I looked at 
the size of my contest.wl file and all the contest.adi file had was the 
last pre-blue screen Q.

I got a miracle of sorts with the MMTTY .txt files, as I had many 40 meter 
Q's with zone 16, 17 and 18 - my new SteppIR Big Vertical did a fine job.

Well, this was longer than I expected, but after Steve's note that I was 
being discussed on the WL relfector and I went and read the thread, thought 
that I should post something.  [Interestingly, learned a lot of new back 
strategies from the coments.]

The great thing about ham radio is its "connectiveness" if there is such a 
word.  Oh, we carp and whine with and about one another from time to time, 
but in crunch time, we share and help one another.  And I must say that 
when I started RTTY contesting a year ago, I discovered that many if not 
most of the RTTY contest calls were new ones to me, and that the RTTY 
contest group is the best sub-set of amateur radio worldwide.

Hope that clears the air.  See you in the next RTTY contest, using 
Writelog, of course.

73 from Oregon,

Mark N7MQ

At 07:51 PM 9/29/2004 +0000, Steve Baron - KB3MM wrote:
> Look in the last week or two.  Several messages mentioned your report.
>
> Sure would like to read your MMTTY thing if you could send a copy.


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