[RTTY] Macros

[Richard Ferch]

The messages in the buttons at the bottom of the DI window in N1MM 
Logger are stored in a lookup table in the database. You can edit these 
buttons in the Digital Setup window under the Macro Setup tab, but you 
have to be careful to select the appropriate Digital Macro Set. If you 
edit the buttons in the wrong set, they won't appear when you open the 
DI window (unless you change to a different digital interface method). 
There are four separate sets: one set that is used with MMTTY and 
Fldigi, one set for MMVARI, one set for an external TNC (called 
"Other"), and one set for a DXP38. Select the set that is appropriate 
for the digital interface you are using. After editing these buttons, 
click on the "Save Configuration" button to save your new definitions in 
the database. Once you do that, they will be remembered across program 
invocations. You can also save them to a text file (*.mc) which can be 
loaded later, if you like to experiment with different message button sets.

The messages in the function-key buttons in the Logger's entry window 
are also stored in the database, in a separate part of the lookup table. 
The thing to remember here is that these are remembered on a per-mode 
basis, so if you edit them with the Logger in RTTY mode, but when you 
next start up the Logger it is in CW mode, you won't see your digital 
messages until after you change the Logger into RTTY mode. These can 
also be stored in a *.mc text file; typically, most users keep separate 
sets for different contest types. If you save both kinds of message 
files, you have to be careful to load or import them into the right 
place. If you load a DI message button set into the entry window, the 
function keys probably won't work correctly. Also, as Larry has pointed 
out, if you have configured the contest you are using to call up a 
particular function key file, that file will be reloaded every time you 
start up that contest. This only applies to the entry window function 
key messages, not to the DI window button messages.

With both of these types of messages, there are limits on the length of 
messages that can be stored. The Logger was designed for short contest 
messages, not for long-winded brag messages. There is a {FILE:xxxx} 
macro that you can embed in a message to call up a text file, for 
messages that are too long to be saved in the database. For a 
description of this and other macros that can be used in messages, see 
the on-line documentation at www.n1mm.com .

73,
Rich VE3KI