[na-user] Radio control

[k8cc]

At 09:37 PM 1/15/01 -0800, Ralph Parker wrote:
>During last month's RAC Winter contest, I came across a situation that I
>can't find an answer for in the manual (but it might be there).
>
>The RAC contest covers 6 and 2 meters as well as the non-WARC bands 160 to 10.
>I have the FT-1000mp connected to NA for band-mapping and band switching.
>Very handy. Except when I tried to log 6 and 2 m QSOs, the radio wouldn't
>let me switch NA to 6 or 2 meters. As a work-around, I logged the 6/2
>contacts on paper.
>
>After the contest, I re-started NA without the radio, manually entered the
>QSOs, and merged the resulting (separate) file with the original. The new
>combined file scored everything correctly, and all was right with the world.
>
>My question is this:
>Is there a way to temporarily disconnect the radio from NA in the middle of
>the contest so I can log the VHF contacts? A physical disconnection is too
>cumbersome to accomplish in the middle of a contest.

Ralph,

The solution posted by Rich, KA8OKH is the straightforward way to deal with 
the situation you describe.  However, there is a slicker solution.

What I would do is "pretend" that you're running a "single-op, two radio" 
(SO2R) setup.  You turn this on in NA in the Configuration Editor's 
(CONFIG.EXE) Equipment Configuration Screen (F5).  Under RADIO 1/2, select 
a LPT port - it can even be a non-existent one; we're not going to use the 
fancy switching but turning on the port enables some program features we 
need.  Set RADIO #1 to your FT-1000MP, and set RADIO #2 to none.

When operating the RAC next time, when you want to operate 6M or 2M press 
the Alt-R key to switch NA over to radio #2.  Since radio #2 was defined as 
"NONE" (i.e., no computerized radio control) the manual bandswitching keys 
will come alive and you can log contacts as necessary.  Press Alt-R again 
and the FT-1000MP will again take over.  Also, NA remembers what band radio 
#2 was last on and will return to it the next time you press Alt-R.

In the middle of the red command bar above the logsheet is an indicator 
showing "TX#1" or "TX#2" which will reveal at a glance which radio is the 
active one.

73,


Dave Pruett, K8CC
DATOM Engineering
datom@contesting.com
http://datom.contesting.com


--
Submissions:              na-user@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  na-user-REQUEST@contesting.com
WWW:                      http://datom.contesting.com/
Questions:                owner-na-user@contesting.com