[na-user] NA Program Testing

[dap14@chrysler.com]

I would like to echo the recent message from Bill, W4AN about ringing out
the latest version of NA prior to the start of the contest season.  CQWW
SSB is less than two weeks away and a little effort NOW will greatly reduce
the chance of an unnoticed problem rising up to disrupt your contest
weekend.

Some of you might feel as if its not your job to test the program.
However, the reality is that NA is a complicated program and I myself
cannot test every combination.  We try very hard - the NA code-writing
computer is now the logging computer at the main K8CC station position.  We
have on-site at least one radio from each of the "big three" manufacturers,
mono and color computers, two-radio setup, PacketCluster connection,
multi-computer networks, etc.  Still, the scope of the NA program, and the
variety of ways people use it, makes user testing the most comprehensive
tool available.

We all have projects to complete prior to contest season.  This is the same
at K8CC, where I have a bent tower to remove and a new one to install (not
by CQWW SSB, but hopefully by SS CW). Nonetheless, I will make the
commitment to address and if possible fix all outstanding bug reports by
the middle of next week.  Each e-mail sent to k8cc@contesting.com gets
printed to hardcopy which I take to the K8CC shack and verify.  Obviously,
problems pertaining to CQWW and SS get priority, along with some of the
recent problems relating to CQP & PAQP results printing.

If you plan to report a problem, here are some helpful tips:

- What contest were you running?
- What were you, or the program, doing when the crash occurred?  For
example, "When loading a new log file for SS CW, the program crashed when I
tried to edit the CW memories"  It was a new file, for SS, on CW, and the
problem occurred editing the memories.  Lots of clues for the weary softare
engineer.
- Is the problem repeatable?
- If the problem might be related to your particular log file, attach the
.QDF file which exhibits the problem and a description of how to get into
it.
- If the problem might be hardware-related, describe the affected hardware.

73,

Dave/K8CC

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