[ct-user] "Busted logs" from old DOS CT

[Dave Haupt]

Back when I started contesting from California Santa Rosa, I logged using CT on a Win95 laptop borrowed work, using DOS mode.   I saved the files (in all formats) to floppies and figured on someday transferring them to a "master" logging package when I could afford the space and budget for more than one home computer.

A used XP machine finally became part of the shack about five years ago, and last weekend I found the stash of floppies.  Of the several dozen logs, all but three seem to be "in good shape" and the ADIF versions transferred as expected into DXKeeper.

However....

Three of the logs seem to have a timestamp error.  In the ADIF file, starting at some point in the contest log and continuing until the end, the timestamp for all QSOs became 1970-01-01-0000.  In the *.ALL file, the date/time fields are simply blank.  The files, as transferred into DXKeeper, take on an unusually exhilarating property.  DXK cannot stand the thought of simultaneous QSOs, so it incremented the timestamp on each QSO by a few seconds.  The first "unstamped" QSO got a timestamp of a few seconds more recent than the last QSO with a real timestamp.  So, I have the glory of showing a nice 400 per hour rate for the last half of several contests, while using only a dipole at 12 feet and hand-sending CW.  Whoo-whee!

I still have the *.bin files for these contests and wonder:

- What might have caused the original error?  Is this a sign that the internal clock in the laptop experienced a hardware error (can you tell I'm not computer-fluent?)?
- Is there a chance that the *.bin files have correct timestamps?
- Will CT for Windows run under XP, and will it successfully open CT for DOS files?
- Will anything else out there open a CT for DOS binary file?

TNX ES 73,

Dave W8NF
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