ADMIN: CT-USER Frequently Asked Quesions (rev. 96/01/02)

Jim Reisert AD1C AD1C@tiac.net (Jim Reisert AD1C)
Wed, 03 Jan 96 19:42:53 EST


                      CT-USER: Frequently Asked Questions

Last revised: 2 January 1996

This FAQ list covers the following topics:

  1. What is CT-USER?
  2. How do I join (subscribe to) CT-USER?
  3. How do I leave (unsubscribe from) CT-USER?
  4. How do I read old messages sent to the reflector?[NEW]
  5. How do I obtain CT?
  6. How do I receive updates for the country (CTY) files?
  7. How do I receive updates for MASTER.DTA?
  8. How do I obtain other CT-related files?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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, as are updates to the country
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@ve7tcp.ampr.org 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 E-mail through commercial
services such as CompuServe and MCImail. In essence, many people are paying for
each byte of every message sent to CT-USER. So please follow the following
simple rules:

     [*]Sign EVERY message you send with your NAME, CALLSIGN, and E-mail
     address! Many people do not see all the mail headers, so they can not
     determine who sent the message.

     [*]Make sure every byte of your message adds value to the reflector! Don't
     quote an entire message, only to add "I agree" to the end.

     [*]If you want to reply to the original sender only, PLEASE make sure to
     remove the mailing list address from your mail header! Otherwise everyone
     on the list will see your private comment.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I join (subscribe to) CT-USER?

Simply send a message to ct-user-request@ve7tcp.ampr.org with the following
text in the BODY of the mail message:

        subscribe

A better way, however, is to include your name and callsign in the message to
ct-user-request, for example:

        subscribe reisert@ve7tcp.ampr.org (Jim Reisert AD1C)

This can also be helpful if you want your mailing address to be different than
your usual REPLY address. For example, if you log into multiple workstations
that are all in the same domain.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I leave (unsubscribe from) CT-USER?

Send a message to ct-user-request@ve7tcp.ampr.org with the following text in
the BODY of the mail message:

        unsubscribe

If you subscribed with an address that was different than your usual REPLY
address, you will have to include that address in the request, for example:

        unsubscribe reisert@ve7tcp.ampr.org (Jim Reisert AD1C)

Please do not send "SUBSCRIBE" or "UNSUBSCRIBE" requests to CT-USER! They will
be returned to you anyway.

Please note that there is no SET NOMAIL command for the list manager. If you
want to temporarily stop mail, you MUST unsubscribe, and then re-subscribe when
you return.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I read old messages sent to the reflector?

All messages sent to the reflector are archived.

If you have a World Wide Web browser, point to:

        http://ve7tcp.ampr.org/Lists/INDEX/ct-user

The mailing list archives can also be obtained through anonymous FTP:

        ftp://ve7tcp.ampr.org/mailing-lists/archives/ct-user

Finally, you can send a message to ct-user-request@ve7tcp.ampr.org with the
following text in the BODY of the mail message:

        index

The mailing list archives are in the archives subdirectory and have file names
like ct-user.YYMM where YYMM is the year and month of the archive. You can then
send a message to ct-user-request@ve7tcp.ampr.org to download them, for example
by putting:

        get archives/ct-user.9512

in the BODY of the mail message. The example above would get all the messages
from December, 1995.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I obtain CT?

CT Version 9 was released at the 1994 Dayton Hamvention. It is available from
K1EA Software:

K1EA Software
A Division of Harvard Radio, Inc.
2 Mount Royal Avenue
Marlborough, MA 01752-1935
Orders: 508-779-5054 FAX: 508-460-4099
Support: 508-460-8873 BBS: 508-460-8877

The current version of CT is 9.27 as of November 20, 1995.

CT Version 8.53 was the last to support 8086/80286 PCs. You can still order
this version from K1EA Software. CT Version 9 runs only on PCs using an 80386
or better.

A very old version of CT 6.26 is available by anonymous FTP from:

                 ftp.coast.net:/SimTel/msdos/hamradio/ct626.zip

Note that this version is several years old, has very little in the way of
documentation, and there is NO support from K1EA.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How can I receive updates for the country (CTY) files?

The country files for CT Version 8 (ARRL.CTY, CQWW.CTY and IARU.CTY) and CT
Version 9 (CTY.DAT) are updated regularly by Jim Reisert, AD1C, usually
starting a month before each major contest (CQWW, ARRL DX, WPX, IARU, WAE). The
updated files are announced on the reflector and are posted on the CT BBS
(508-460-8877) and the DX BBS (502-898-8864). You can always obtain the latest
files by sending a message to ct-user-request@ve7tcp.ampr.org. Here is a sample
message:

        GET cty.dat
        GET arrl.cty
        GET history.cty

These commands go in the BODY of the mail message. You can include as many
lines as you wish. Note that file names must be in lower case.

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

                   ftp://ve7tcp.ampr.org/software/ct/cty.zip

John Zapisek, K2MM also has an FTP site where he keeps CT-related files,
including the CTY files:

                   ftp://maspar.maspar.com/pub/k2mm/ct-files

Finally, users who download CT updates from the CT BBS will automatically
receive the latest CTY files posted there.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I receive updates for MASTER.DTA?

MASTER.DTA is a list of known-good callsigns that CT can look up using Super
Check Partial. This file is maintained by Scott Jones, WR3G. Please send your
.BIN files to his callbook address! He uploads the latest master file to the CT
BBS.

Ed Parsons, K1TR has created a similar database of callsigns found in VHF
contests.

The following master callsign databases are currently available from anonymous
ftp to ftp://ve7tcp.ampr.org/software/ct.

        masall.exe      November 17, 1994
        masusve.zip     February 11, 1995
        masnous.zip     February 11, 1995
        masvhf.zip      April 4, 1995

There are also a couple of files (mas_tool.exe and mas_k2mm.exe) for creating
and managing your own MASTER.DTA files. You can obtain from the file server,
K2MM's FTP site and the CT BBS.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do I obtain other CT-related files?

The mailing list server also contains a repository of CT-related files. You can
obtain a list of available files by sending message to
ct-user-request@ve7tcp.ampr.org with the following text in the body of the
message:

        index

This E-mail file repository only 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, or any binary files.

Binary files can only be obtained by anonymous FTP to
ftp://ve7tcp.ampr.org/software/ct
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jim Reisert AD1C <reisert@ve7tcp.ampr.org>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CT is copyright K1EA Software, a division of Harvard Radio.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------



--
Submissions:              ct-user@ve7tcp.ampr.org
Administrative requests:  ct-user-REQUEST@ve7tcp.ampr.org
WWW:                      http://ve7tcp.ampr.org/Software/ct
Questions:                owner-ct-user@ve7tcp.ampr.org