[Trlog] TRLog and USB ports

[Steve London]

Okay, as long as the moderator is allowing us to make our own personal plugs for 
non-TRLog software, I feel compelled to make a few comments....

KL7RA wrote:
>> Stuck with windoze?
>>
>> Use TR4W. www.tr4w.com 
> 
> Another program is Win-Test. http://www.win-test.com/

And, of course, there is N1MM Logger. http://www.n1mm.com . This one won't cost 
you 50 Euros ! And please, no uninformed wisecracks like "you get what you pay 
for". I think my own contest results since I started using N1MM Logger in 2005 
speak for themselves.

> 
> The new release due end of this month will now have TRLog
> features instead of the (+) and (INS) keys with run and s/p modes
> for the messages. 

The TRLog, enter-sends-message feature has been a standard N1MM Logger feature 
for many years.

> 
> It was a little painful but I completely replaced my TRLog station
> with seven positions for WT which needed Windows machines. I
> like to be last to do these things but I can tell this is worth it. The
> power of a windows box far exceeds Turbo Pascal and DOS. 
> The network, radio interface, etc is flawless. 

Ditto for N1MM Logger.

> Some tips for anyone thinking you may make the change:
> 
> N6TR is a friend of mine and he still talks to me after I removed
> TRLog and all the old DOS PC's. No grudge even after giving
> me a lot of extra support over the years for Multi-Multi. I was
> one of the reasons he probably regretted selling TRLog in the
> first place. (like WT it was also written in France) 
> 
> You do not need "new" or super fact PC's. P4 work and they can 
> be bought for cheap on Ebay.

I'll be honest about this. I wouldn't use N1MM Logger with anything less than a 
1 GHz processor, with XP or Vista. Works ultra FB with my $250 Walmart/eMachines 
3.1 GHz, 256 MB XP box.

> 
> You really need 19in flat screens to see the WT display correctly
> and they are now also cheap. I bought mine from Dell direct for 
> the free shipping to Alaska.
> 
> The TRLog CW interface works with WT and runs find. WT does
> not support paddle input.

Winkey is needed for paddle input, unless you use another keyer.

> 
> We used the keyers in the 781 for the WPX and that works fine.
> 
> I now have Winkeyer USB keyers for paddle support but to be
> honest not sure they are really necessary. They are a cool keyer
> however. 

N1MM Logger supports LPT and COM port keying, but, frankly, for SO2R I would 
strongly recommend a Winkeyer. Before you whine about paying $64 for a Winkey, 
remember how much you are paying for the contest software.

> 
> The serial boards in the "new" PC, I bought six off ebay for about
> $40 bucks each, will not drive the radio comm interface and I had
> to buy USB style. 

My $30 no-name, 4-port PCI serial card, and $20 no-name PCI LPT cards work 
flawlessly with N1MM Logger. No-name USB-to-serial port converters also work fine.

> The Icom CV-17 box does work with the serial
> boards or any converter that supplies its own DC.
> 
> The Ethernet network is a major improvement for my multi-op and 
> worth the conversion alone. Resync of the log, gab messages that
> stay on the screen, freq of all stations displayed correctly, etc.

Ditto for N1MM Logger.

> 
> Having said all that I'm keeping this stack of 14 DOS/TRLog PC's
> for awhile. I'm not sure but there may never be a program as good
> as TRLog for the Sprints. 

N1MM Logger is getting pretty close, as long as you follow the suggestions in my 
"N1MM Logger Sprint Survival Guide".

> N6TR who wrote TRLog has come in
> 50 times in the top 10 using it. 

I have done pretty well, too. 39 top-ten finishes ?  The migration path was 
paper->TRLog->N1MM Logger.

73,
Steve, N2IC