First off, thanks for the well wishes. Seems like Lafayette was spared the
wrath of Rita. W5WMU, N5AN and myself all just had some antennas shift a
bit, but no one lost anything. I had the usual branches and limbs that had
to be cut up and hauled to the road but everything else was ok. There's a
few neighbors who had massive trees through the houses, but not as many as
Lilly 3 years ago. That did most of the "pruning" for us. My force12 is
about 90 degrees out of whack, which means VK is now at about 150 on the
right side of the dial instead of the left side of the dial at 240! Will
get that straightened out this week..again.
Now, since I get this in digest form, a reply to the two following emails
concerning Pat's using Writelog.
-----Original Message-----
Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 06:21:27 -0500
From: "Bob Naumann - W5OV" <W5OV@W5OV.com>
Subject: Re: [WriteLog] SO2R with 2 computers
To: <writelog@contesting.com>
Message-ID: <20050922112133.22C0C319252@dayton.akorn.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
OK.
How did he manage all of this with 2 computers running NA? Why wouldn't he
do it the same way with Writelog? In other words, just replace NA with
Writelog and keep the hardware the same as it was. Is there an issue with
doing this?
Regarding the difficulty with windows, that basically goes away when you're
operating. The interaction with Writelog is nearly the same as with NA with
some minor differences that go along with the Windows interface. Sure it
looks different, but you're doing the same things.
73,
Bob W5OV
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Bob, some things were simpler, but overall it was still messy. First off,
since there's two radios, he needs two mics. No automatic switching. For
SSB, the keying of the rig is no problem, of course when sending canned
messages, the ptt is activated by Writelog. For fills, he has Vox on.
This introduces either an extra step or other issues. If you leave vox on,
then the canned messages seem to act funny. Even though the radio is doing
ptt, the messages usually get chopped (audio fed into the Phone Patch on the
rear of the 1000D). If you turn off the vox, you have to remember to kick
it back on each time you want to talk. No problem, footswitch.. He doesn't
use them.. Might require a change of thought though.
To feed each radio he's configured a W5WMU special. He took a Heil Proset,
and taped the mic part of a Heil BM10? To the boom on the Proset. Voila, 2
mics, one headset. Rig audio is fed to a mixer (which he likes) and he
shifts the audio back and forth by using the sliders on the mixing board (I
think this was introduced by k6tr, not sure though, it was there before me).
Dan, k1to, suggested a Top Ten device, this was great but it required only 1
radio. Kz5d has that for the time being, trying it with k1mm logger, but
he's resigned to the 1 computer deal.
As for the remainder, im working on that. But there's always issues.
Because things were cut and dry with NA (I guess due to its limitations).
Since there's no wav file output for audio, you had to have a w9xt card.
The audio connections are fed into that. 1 mic per radio still, but it goes
through the card, this removes the need to have an additional, non radio,
microphone plugged into the mic jack on the rear of the radio. Shift Fx and
it records that message. Once the messages with WL are done, no problem
except the above playback issues. This leads to networking.
Networking in NA is either there when they start or it isnt. If the ENTIRE
program is set for networking AND the networked computer is there, no
problem, thelogs sync. With writelog, you have to link to the network, link
to the network, connect to the right computer. No problem. I've got that
on the sheet, 3 extra steps though.
Other then those things, there's a few itches and stuff that I'd like to get
out. NA's sprint module knows whether or not you're in search and pounce or
if you're in run. It knows the last qso you made and adjusts it. He's said
that he wont be using Writelog for Sprint anymore because its too confusing
to remember if he's running how to end the qso vs. if he's s/p'ing how to
end the qso. Its automatic for him in NA, same key each time, it just knows
whats what and when.
He's working on the Windows things, its just that a windows based computer
is easy for you and me, but not for him. He's learning, but adding all of
the "options" to do this and that just throws him for a loop. Dos was
basic, it did basic things. Writelog does so much more, and that's why I
want him to use it, but its hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
-
Message: 4
Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2005 15:56:35 +0000
From: David O Hachadorian <k6ll@juno.com>
Subject: Re: [WriteLog] SO2R with 2 computers
To: writelog@contesting.com
Message-ID: <20050922.155635.440.0.k6ll@juno.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
I use one computer myself, but I think the following would work.
I think you will need two footswitches (L and R) to activate PTT for the mic
audio and manually-sent CW.
You won't have to switch the prerecorded message audio. Hard-wire the left
sound card to the left radio and the right sound card to the right radio's
phone patch input. You will have to use PTT (LPT interface, serial
interface, or serial command), not vox.
That's pretty much what I have now. As I said above, he normallyl has the
vox on on both radios at all times, so I'll have to give the footswitch idea
a twirl. That would solve the vox/canned message issue.
Also, hard-wire the left cw interface to the left rig and the right cw
interface to the right rig. Connect these interfaces to the rigs'
straight-key inputs. Use the same ptt method as the prerecorded audio.
That's what we're doing now. CW really isnt an issue, except that he liked
the paddle inputs on NA. Didn't need an external keyer, which he insists on
the fact that they don't work (but they do).
> Can I use 1
> paddle, 1
> external keyer and a Y cable between the two rigs and just control the
> TX with the VOX?
I think you mean ptt, not vox? Yes, tee the keyer output and mic audio (you
may need isolation xfmrs on the mic audio to prevent hum). The footswitches
will activate the correct radio's ptt for manually sent cw and spoken audio.
Hope I've got it straight. It's pretty strange.
Tell me about it being strange! I know, I have to figure this out! No, I
did mean VOX. Turning on the vox on the 1000d's is the break in. So in cw
mode, he'd have one on and one off, whichever one he wanted keyed, OR just
use two separate keyers. Really I was wondering if it was ok to Y cable out
the keyer. If we use the footswitch (which is going to blow his mind!) then
I don't need to switch the vox on and off.
Believe me, if I could get him down to 1 computer, it'd be great. I might
try it on one of the smaller contests just to see if he likes it or not.
Thanks again for the well wishes and prayers and stuff. As I told ke5og
today, it musta worked!
73
Charlie
KI5XP
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