[RTTY] Which logger sends "Now <nextcall>..."

[Ed Muns]

Gary, AL9A, describes below one way to accelerate QSOs when you have more
than one call sign available, either from a pileup, or from a tail-ender.
This method is the way I used to do it up until a year ago.  For me the
"gymnastics" with this prior method were pretty severe, especially with two
strong runs going on SO2R.

The far better method is to use "call sign stacking" and N1MM Logger led the
way with this functionality the past few years.  WriteLog has had a call
sign stack but it was almost as hard to use as Gary's description below, so
none of us did it that way, AFAIK.  In the past year, WriteLog has enhanced
its call sign stacking feature so that now it is extremely efficient and I
use it almost every QSO.  I don't always just pounce on the first call sign
that prints with the Insert function any more.  Instead I left-click the
first call sign into the Entry Window, then wait a partial second to see if
any other calls might, and do, come through.  They get stacked as I'll
describe later.  If things get hairy on SO2R or SO3R, then I revert to the
Insert function to keep the juggling going.

An important benefit of call stacking for me is the ability to control the
order in which I work stations.  I've always hated the common logger
behavior of grabbing the last call sign in the pileup rather than the first
one.  That is exactly backwards from the pileup behavior you want to
encourage--you want short calls, not long ones and repeated calls that
extend the pileup and QRM your ability to respond to someone.  Plus, I think
it is rude to not give priority to the first station who gets through.  With
call stacking I click the first call in the Entry Window (instead of using
Insert) and then click the next calls into the stack in the order they
print.  N1MM Logger used to then pop calls out of the stack in the reverse
order, that is last one in, first one out which is just plain wrong.  Rick
fixed this a year or so ago by allowing the operator to choose whether the
stack is first in, first out or last in, first out.  Please configure your
N1MM stack for first in, first out and push calls onto the stack in time
order of appearance.

In WriteLog, the stack has always been first in, first out as (I believe) is
the only way it should be.  What has improved this past year is the
extremely efficient way that calls are pushed onto the stack, eliminating
"gymnastics".  First, Wayne added PUSHCALL to the menu of the right-click
function of Rttyrite.  You right-click a call sign and a menu pops up giving
you seven choices.  The default WriteLog configuration has PUSHCALL as the
first menu item which annoyed Don, AA5AU, because he likes to use the SENDF3
menu item which used to be the first one before PUSHCALL was added.  Now,
Don had to be distracted to move the mouse cursor down the list to the
second item.  That prompted a second enhancement where a new writelog.ini
section was added so the user could select the order of menu items.  Once
that was in place I suggested that if one configured this menu to have only
one item rather than all seven, how about the right-click simply executing
that menu item immediately, to eliminate the second mouse click.  This was
added to 10.84c which Wayne sent out literally hours before WPX RTTY began
last Friday.   I immediately updated all my computers with that Beta
release, played with the feature and decided to go for it in the contest.
This is counter to my strong belief that one should never change any
components in their setup at the last minute, especially logging software
and especially Beta logging software.  But the temptation was too great to
have this feature which really polishes off the capability in WriteLog.

So now, I left-click the first call into the Entry Window and right-click
subsequent calls into the stack.  Also, I right-click any tail-enders into
the stack.  There were some brilliant tail-enders this past weekend who
dropped their call in just once with perfect timing at the end of the
exchange I was receiving from the station being worked.  I right-clicked
their call and then hit the Fn key with my "TU %C, NOW%L" key, followed by
my normal Run Exchange key (either the Fn key or just Insert, since the
stack pops a call sign into the Entry Window when the first station is
logged with '%L').

The other thing I do in WriteLog is define two keys as PUSH CALL and POP
CALL which allows me to manipulate the stack.  Repetitive cycles of PUSH
CALL, POP CALL effectively circulate the stack through the Entry Window
allowing you to get the call sign you want if things get out of order.  Or,
as sometimes happens, the first call sign that pops and you send an exchange
to doesn't respond.  Hit POP CALL, then Insert to send an exchange to the
next station in line, etc.  If you want to erase a call from the stack,
circulate it as above and when the call you want to delete is in the Entry
Window just go Alt-W.

The top three calls in the stack are "sometimes" visible just to the left of
the Entry Window where the QSO number resides, but the serial number takes
precedence in the display so there is very little time when the stack is
visible.  N1MM Logger's call stack is always visible and this is an
advantage.  Maybe Wayne can figure out a way to improve this in WriteLog.
But, in practice I've found that there is seldom more than one or two calls
in the stack and it is better that the stack image is in my brain rather
than on the screen anyway, where I am distracted by reading it.  So, I don't
miss the visible stack at all.  If I have a question on stack contents, I
simply circulate the stack with my PUSH CALL, POP CALL keys, doing Alt-W as
needed. 

Wow, this posting really got strung out.  Sorry about that.  I just got out
of bed and am still in a fog.  Time for coffee before heading over to P49V
to meet the fire department bucket truck so we can fix his 40m Yagi
feedline.

Ed - P49X (W0YK)

> I do this with WriteLog, although probably not in the most efficient
> manner.
> I think N1MM and Win-Test can do similarly.  Kudos, as always, to Don
> AA5AU
> and his terrific web site for the how to do it instructions.  The secret
> is
> to program a F key macro memory (I use F8) with the following:
> 
> "%R%P1 TU NOW %C 599 %3 %3 %C %E" which translates as:
> 
> %R - Line feed & Carriage return
> %P1 - the call of the previous station worked
> %C - the call of the new station
> %3  - the 3 digit NR
> %C - the call again
> %E - end of transmission
> 
> It works like this.  After sending a CQ and I am called by multiple
> stations
> that print clearly.  WL highlights them as mults, good ones or dupes.
> Press
> Insert and WL populates the Call field with one of the calls and sends the
> normal exchange.  WL always uses new mult calls first regardless of the
> order received and then good calls.  If two calls are equal, either both
> mults or both good ones, WL selects the last one printed.  I usually don't
> like this and click on the first one received to put it into the Call
> field,
> but that is operators choice.
> 
> Once the first call is worked the mouse/keyboard gymnastics start.  After
> sending my exchange to the first station I wait for his reply.  When it is
> received I click on his NR and then hit Shift+Enter which logs the QSO
> without sending a new CQ.  I then quickly jump back to the mouse and click
> on the second call to populate the Call field.  When the first station
> ceases transmitting I hit F8 which sends his call, now the previous call
> worked, TU and then NOW the second station's call.  If more than two
> stations have printed do it over again for the next one(s).  When none are
> left hit Enter to log the last one and send CQ.
> 
> I need to learn about using the call stack as this may simplify the
> process.
> Ed W0YK just posted a message this evening on the WL reflector about
> improvements recently made in V10.83 and new enhancements in beta V10.84
> that are coming soon.  Hope to be up to speed so to speak by the next
> contest.
> 
> 73,
> Gary AL9A