[Trlog] While they're fresh...

[Ron D. Rossi]

>A few quick comments about TR in the ARRL phone test.
>
>No crashes.

Great.

>
>SBDVP integration went very well.  As I reported earlier, it is possible to 
>embed hex radio commands in the same function key as SBDVP filenames, if 
>you put the hex first.  This does not work, however, in the alt-P|Other 
>keys.  It would be neat if it could, though I didn't really run enough to 
>assess how useful it would be, for example, to have the clarifier cleared 
>automatically when a CQ or 73 message is sent.
>
>One station sent me a decimal power "0.5 watts."  I couldn't get TR to 
>accept the "." character in the exchange field.  Will the robot recognize a 
>decimal power in my Cabrillo log if I hand edit it?

Gee I don't know...life is too short for QRP ;) =;-) 
Seriously I would need to know what the Cabrillo "standard" is for decimal 
power. Should the entry be 0.5 or 0d5 or what? I can get TRLog to accept or 
generate the correct value when known.

>
>Worked a lot of splits on 40 and 80.  There is an anomaly in the Alt-N 
>command.  If you enter a 3-digit integer for the split transmit frequency, 
>it is displayed in the lower corner of the screen as (for example) 
>"253X253".  What's the "X" for and why is the frequency displayed 
>twice?  If you enter a decimal transmit frequency ("253.5" for example), it 
>then displays a truncated version of the "xxxXxxx".  Looks like it is 
>running out of room.

Remember you are using the BETA!! I had a debug line which I forgot to turn 
off which shows up when you enter a frequency to send the radio to. I did not 
notice I had left it in until running with a beta this weekend :)

>
>I also found that if I was moving around 10M multiplier hunting, and enter 
>a frequency in the call field, there is a small bug.  Entering "729" moves 
>the receive frequency to 28729, but entering "729.3" moves my Mark 5 to 
>".729.3"

Yes this is the way it works. I don' know if I can make it better. The logic 
is that if you enter three or fewer digits then it is assumed you are moving 
within band and they are decoded as KHz. If you enter more than three it is 
assumed to be MHz.

>
>The way the exchange field is parsed in this contest is a PITA for the few 
>people who give you either a different power on your second QSO with them 
>or a signal report other than the expected 579.  Either case winds up with 
>garbage in the received power field in the log that has to be fixed with 
>Alt-E.  I know this is tough but there ought to be a way at least to 
>improve it (requiring a space between, and then assuming an order, for 
>example, to tell which is which).
>

An RST override needs to be the first entry on the line for this contest an 
any others where RST and numbers could be entered as part of the exchange. I 
do see that everything after an initial number gets logged as the 
power...spaces and all. I can see about changing that. What will likely happen 
is that the last number entered with be the power and the first number entered 
will be the new RST.

>When you dupe-check a station with the spacebar, or when you tune across 
>him using the bandmap, sometimes the station's call and the initial 
>exchange both appear in the call field.  Sometimes, calling the station 

This is normal and if you hit enter to start logging all is okay. How did the 
SO2R stuff work with the call getting loaded automatically from the bandmap?

>does not put the initial exchange in the exchange field.  I can't yet 
>characterize this well enough to find, I suspect -- will experiment some more.

Please do. The initial exchange worked great for me this weekend.

>
>And finally, does anyone else yearn for a key on the keyboard that would 
>serve as a momentary-contact "PTT ON" switch?  With SBDVP, I was able to 
>work many S&P QSOs without ever opening my mouth, but when running I had to 
>find and stamp on the footswitch to say the other station's call.  That was 
>the physically most difficult part of this contest for me, and if I ever 
>operate another phone contest seriously I want another way to do it, either 
>in hardware or software.

CTRL-SHIFT!

-- 
73 es God Bless de KK1L...ron rossi(kk1l at arrl.net) <><
Support Programmer for TRLog http://www.qth.com/tr
QTH: Jericho, Vermont
My page: http://www.qsl.net/kk1l