CT-USER Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List - May 2, 1994

Jim Reisert AD1C 02-May-1994 1508 reisert@wrksys.enet.dec.com
Mon, 2 May 1994 15:03:57 -0400


[NOTE:  Lines preceeded with "|" are different since the last release.]


                       Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) List
                                CT-USER@MLO.DEC.COM
|                           Last revised:  May 2, 1994

     This FAQ list is posted at  the  start  of  each  month  and  covers  the
     following topics:

     1.  What is CT-USER?

     2.  How do I join CT-USER?

     3.  What are the suggested "operating practices" for CT-USER?
|  
|    4.  Why  are  messages  sometimes  returned  to  me   as   undeliverable?
|        Shouldn't they go to the list maintainer instead?

     5.  How do I obtain CT?
|  
|    6.  How can I receive updates for the country (CTY) files?
|  
|    7.  How do I obtain other CT-related files?


     1.  What is CT-USER?

         CT-USER is an electronic mail reflector for discussions  relating  to
         the  CT contest logging software and DVP (Digital Voice Processor) by
         Ken Wolff, K1EA.  This is the place to ask questions, report bugs and
         suggest new features.  In addition, updates to CT are often announced
         here, and I regularly post updated  countries  lists  ("CTY"  files).
         Ken  himself  even  reads these messages, and might just reply to you
         once in a while.  This list was  started  to  off-load  some  of  the
         CT-specific traffic from the CQ-CONTEST@TGV.COM reflector run by Trey
         Garlough, WN4KKN.

         Each message you send to CT-USER@MLO.DEC.COM will be sent out to  all
         the other subscribers.  Therefore, it's important to think about what
         you're going to say, and how you're going to say it, before you  send
         the message.

         Also remember that  many  subscribers  receive  their  EMAIL  through
         commercial services such as CompuServe and MCImail.  In essence, many
         people are paying for each byte of every message sent to CT-USER.  In
         order  to  minimize  spurious  messages,  please follow the operating
         hints detailed below.

     2.  How do I join CT-USER?

         There is no charge or fee for being on the mailing list,  apart  from
         any  charges  your  particular system might impose for reading and/or
         sending  Internet   mail.    Subscription   management   is   handled
         automatically  by  a  program ("MajorDomo") that answers mail sent to
|        MajorDomo@MLO.DEC.COM.   To  join  the  group,  send  a  message   to
|        MajorDomo@MLO.DEC.COM with the following text in the BODY of the mail
         message:

                     subscribe CT-USER

         To   remove   yourself   from   the   list,   send   a   message   to
|        MajorDomo@MLO.DEC.COM with the following text in the BODY of the mail
         message:

                     unsubscribe CT-USER

         The Subject:  line is ignored.

         Please do not send "SUBSCRIBE" requests to CT-USER!

         MajorDomo  provides  other  functions  like   getting   a   list   of
         subscribers, or an archive of past messages.  To find out about these
|        features, send a message to MajorDomo@MLO.DEC.COM with the  following
         text in the BODY of the mail message:

                     HELP
|  
|        Remember, MajorDomo is not itself a mailing list, but a  robot  which
|        handles administrative requests.

         Finally, if you are unsure how to subscribe or how to get  help,  you
         can  send  an  empty  message to "CT-USER-REQUEST@MLO.DEC.COM" and it
         will send you some hints.

     3.  What are the suggested "operating practices" for CT-USER?

          *  Include your name and callsign with every message you  send.   We
             don't   all   know  everyone  by  just  a  call  or  a  nickname.
             Furthermore, some  user  names  (part  of  your  electronic  mail
             address)  make  it  almost  impossible  to  identify  the sender,
             especially those from CompuServe, MCImail and Prodigy.

          *  Use a subject line that accurately indicates the content of  your
             message.  If you are asking a question, end the subject line with
             a "?".  If you are reporting a bug, use the word BUG somewhere in
             the  subject  line.   It  makes  it easier to find these messages
             later.

          *  When answering someone's question, reply to the  asker  directly,
             rather  than to the whole list, unless you *know* the answer will
             benefit everyone.  Users are encouraged to solicit answers,  then
             post a *summary* of the received replies back to the reflector.

          *  Many people pay $$$ when they receive messages.  Some people  pay
             per  message,  some  per  byte.  Therefore, please take this into
             consideration when writing a response.  Ask yourself if you would
             have paid $0.50 to read the message that you just wrote.

          *  Praise  in  public,  criticize  in  private.   If  someone  posts
             something  objectionable,  respond to the poster directly, not to
             the whole list.  If, however, someone does  something  especially
             wonderful, feel free to tell everyone about it!

          *  Make sure there is something of value in each message you send to
             the  reflector.   Avoid  messages  that are a complete reprint of
             someone else's message, with nothing but "I agree"  or  "Me  too"
             added to the bottom -- not much value there.

          *  Some people pay by the byte, so  when  following  up  to  someone
             else's  message,  be sure to include only the essential pieces or
             thread of the note.  Don't include those 20  extra  header  lines
             that your mail gateway tacked onto the original message.

|  
|    4.  Why  are  messages  sometimes  returned  to  me   as   undeliverable?
|        Shouldn't they go to the list maintainer instead?
|  
|        Good question!  CT-USER is set up as a pure distribution list.   Mail
|        you  send  to  the  list  is "reflected" to every other member on the
|        list.  Mail that can not be delivered  is  returned  to  the  sender.
|        Some  list  manager  programs  have  the  ability  to intercept these
|        messages and return them to the list maintainer so s/he can  fix  the
|        list.   However,  they  require  more overhead, and are more prone to
|        breaking.  If you want, you can return the rejected  messages  to  me
|        and I'll look into it.

     5.  How do I obtain CT?
|  
|        CT Version 9 was supposed to be released at Dayton.  It is  available
|        from K1EA Software:

                     K1EA Software
                     A Division of Harvard Radio, Inc.
                     5 Mount Royal Avenue
                     Marlborough, MA  01752-1935
                     Orders:  508-779-5054   FAX: 508-460-6211
                     Support: 508-460-8873   BBS: 508-460-8877
|  
|        The last revision of Version 8 is CT 8.53.

         There is also a shareware version of CT available  by  anonymous  FTP
         from:

                     oak.oakland.edu:/pub/msdos/hamradio/ct626.zip

         Note that this version is three years old and has little in  the  way
         of documentation.
|  
|    6.  How can I receive updates for the country (CTY) files?

         I update the files regularly, usually starting a  month  before  each
         major contest (CQWW, ARRL DX, WPX, IARU, WAE).  The updated files are
|        announced on CQ-CONTEST and posted to the CT BBS  (508-460-8877)  and
|        the  W6GO BBS (916-992-0923).  You can always obtain the latest files
|        by sending a message to "MajorDomo@MLO.DEC.COM".  Here  is  a  sample
|        message to obtain the latest ARRL.CTY:
|  
|                    get ct-user arrl.cty

         The files are also available on the Internet via anonymous  FTP  from
         the following site:

                     gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/misc/hamradio/cty.zip
|  
|        However, I can not post to this area directly, so there is some  time
|        lag  (usually  less  than  a day) between the time I announce the new
|        files and the time they're available at the FTP site.

         Finally,  users  who  download  CT  updates  from  the  CT  BBS  will
         automatically receive the latest CTY files posted there.
|  
|    7.  How do I obtain other CT-related files?
|  
|        I maintain a CT file repository on the  same  system  that  runs  the
|        CT-USER  list  manager.   You can obtain a list of available files by
|        sending message to "MajorDomo@MLO.DEC.COM" with the following text in
|        the body of the message:
|  
|                    index ct-user
|  
|        This file repository includes the ASCII  .CTY  and  .DAT  files,  the
|        release  notes  for  version  8  and  version  9, and some text files
|        associated with CT.  It does *NOT*  contain  the  actual  CT  program
|        itself,  nor  does  it  contain  any  binary files.  I am thinking of
|        providing some of the  binary  files  (for  example,  MASTER.DTA)  in
|        UUencoded  form  in the repository - the details of this are still to
|        be worked out.

     Finally, please be gentle with me.  I'm a hardware engineer - software is
     just  a  hobby, and list maintenance is something new altogether.  If you
     have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to  contact
     me directly.  My address is REISERT@MLO.DEC.COM.

     73 - Jim Reisert AD1C
          reisert@mlo.dec.com

     * CT is a copyright of K1EA Software, a division of Harvard Radio.