[CQ-Contest] SAC-logs - PLEASE HELP!

Tue Oct 5 22:01:36 EDT 2004

Hello contest friends,

First...

A sad story:

We have no "robot" sending confirmations for received logs for the
Scandinavian Activity Contest. I have to act the robot myself and check the
incoming logs manually. That takes lots of time!

Very early last Wednesday morning (29th September) I was checking attached
SAC-logs in my e-mail program, Outlook Express. I checked if the Cabrillo
logs had correct headers and if the log was OK and followed the Cabrillo
specification. I sent a confirmation if the log looked OK and asked for
additional information if the log had errors. Then I also saved the log on
another location and also on another media (USB memory).

When I was to tired to continue at 0230 UTC and was preparing to go to bed,
I got a message on my computer telling me there were updates to do from
Windows Update. I accepted as I usually do. I shouldn't have done that!

Windows Update started to install SP2 for Windows XP and when that was
finished after 45 minutes, I was asked to restart the computer. I did that -
but the computer was stone dead. I went to bed and when I woke up later that
day, I tried to start the computer again. No luck! I had to send the
computer for repair. They managed to save everything stored on my hard
drive, but they had to format the hard drive and install Windows XP from
scratch.

During the repair I borrowed my wifes computer to be able to receive and
send e-mails.

I just got my computer back. Windows XP Pro with a functional SP2 and Norton
AntiVirus installed. That's all. My old files were saved in a separate
folder. I started to configure the new Outlook Express and went to the
folder with my old files to get all my stored e-mails. They were not there!
Even my profile was gone. Of course I had most of my data files backed up on
other media anyway, but I hadn't thought about backing up the e-mail folder.
I talked to the guys repairing my computer and they thought my profile and
all the e-mails stored were destroyed during the Windows Update. They had
done a mirror copy of my hard drive, so everything I had stored should be
saved.

Thousands of my stored e-mails in different folders in Outlook Express were
all gone, together with my e-mail address book. Several saved rules and
results I hadn't yet have time to update on my contest site and much, much
more.

And - the worst - around 120 SSB-logs and 20 CW-logs for SAC, sent by
e-mail, which I had stored in two different folders in Outlook Express and
which I hadn't checked or sent confirmation for.

Now I also have some days work to re-install all my programs and make the
computer look familiar again...

The moral is:

Never do an Windows Update (especially to SP2) before you've made a backup
of your important data files!

And - DON'T FORGET TO DO A BACKUP OF YOUR E-MAILS!

Second...

IF YOU HAVEN'T GOT A CONFIRMATION that I have received your log for SAC -
PLEASE SEND IT AGAIN!!!

Please send the logs in the Cabrillo format if possible.

If you cannot do that - send the log in ASCII format (plain text), readable
in a simple text editor, and I'll convert them to Cabrillo for you. Then I
also need a Summary Sheet. NO logs in Word, Excel or similar, please...

It seems if you have sent your log somewhere between Sunday 26 September
2300 UTC to Wednesday 29 September 0320 UTC and received no confirmation
- I DON'T HAVE YOUR LOG!

If you sent it before or after that time period and also got a
confirmation - I have it.

I'll send separate lists with OK received logs, so you can see if your log
has reached me.

At the time I write this I've got 419 CW-logs and 204 SSB-logs sent by
e-mail - safely stored and backed up.

For this reason we will extend the deadline to 30 NOVEMBER 2004,
with hope of getting all those lost logs again.

I'm very sorry for all the inconvenience and trouble!

I also hope you've all learned something from my sad story...

I have!!!

73!

Jan-Eric Rehn, SM3CER
2004 Scandinavian Activity Contest Committee

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Jan-Eric Rehn - SM3CER - Contest call: 7S3A
SSA Contest Manager - SWEDEN
E-mail: sm3cer at contesting.com - sm3cer at ssa.se
SM3CER Contest Service: http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/
SK3BG Web Site: http://www.sk3bg.se/
Also QRV in MS or MM from: SI9AM - SK3IK - SL3ZV
K6U at WRTC-96 / Referee at WRTC-2000 and WRTC-2002
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