[TRLog] QSO number synchronization problem using networked PCs

[Mike Heideman]

We've only had TR Log at W6YX since September and have now used it in 3
contests, CA QSO Party, CQ WW Phone, and SS CW.  This was our (and my) first
use of TR Log, so we didn't exploit all the capabilities of the program.

We were using two linked computers and two stations.  We keyed one of the
stations with TR Log during SS CW, but didn't use any of the other interface
capabilities (band map, RIT, packet net, etc.).

We encountered one of the same problems that others have reported, which is
that we gave a duplicated SS QSO number twice before we realized we'd done
it.  This happened when our S&P operator hand-signaled he was done
transmitting but waited to log the QSO until he verified the exchange by
listening to the next exchange.  In the meantime, somebody had answered my
CQ and received the same QSO number.

What was more troubling was that the two computers got out of sync at some
point, which seemed to occur when a QSO logged on one of the computers
wasn't recorded by the other one.  I don't know exactly how it happened, but
all of a sudden our A station showed #940 and our B station showed #941 for
the next QSO.  We tried inserting a bogus QSO on the A station to sync them
(it incremented both serial numbers).  We also quit and restarted TR on the
B station without resolving the problem.  If we didn't deal with this
problem, we'd end up skipping a QSO number and duplicating the next number
every time the B station made a contact.

We eventually settled on giving all QSO numbers from the A computer since it
was automatically keying the transmitter.  Contacts from the B station were
made with a hand keyer anyway, so we just had to remember to look at the
other monitor for the QSO number.  We then edited the log after the contest
to correct all the QSO numbers on the B station beyond this point.

Has anybody else experienced this?  Is there a way of getting the logs
resynchronized?  We were afraid we'd lose something if we temporarily quit
out of TR on the A station.  The same thing happened during CQ WW, but
wasn't so big a deal since QSO number isn't part of the exchange.

By the way, we were running TR Log 6.43 which we discovered didn't know
about all the new precedences just a half hour before the contest started.
We hadn't gotten onto the update mailing list, so our frantic last-minute
attempt to get an updated version failed.  We ended up recording all M, U,
and S precedences on a sheet of paper which still needs to be manually
merged into the log.  We were using two 486 computers, an FT1000MP, and an
IC-761.

I'm looking forward to using TR Log for Phone SS now that I've had a chance
to read the manual and learn about everything else it is capable of doing.

-Mike, N7MH


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