[WriteLog] "double numbers" and out-of-sequence problems

[W. Wright, W5XD]

The short answer is: no, it has not been corrected, and in addition,
I am not working on anything to change WL's current behavior.

I am sure that's not a very satisfying answer, so here is more
explanation.

The bottom line is I cannot fix what you are calling a problem,
because it is impossible to run two radios in a serial number
contest without having "flaws" in the serial numbers.

The easiest scenario that proves this is to consider running S&P
on both radios and you start a QSO on radio A by dropping in
your call. He sends his exchange to you, you respond by sending
yours to him, and, at the instant your transmission on A ends,
you drop your call in on radio B. If the guy on A asks for a
fill (or never QSL's at all), and the QSO on radio B finishes,
(with a little juggling by you because you can only transmit
on one radio at a time). Then you will either get an out-of-order
(A eventually finishes) or a gap (A never finishes).

I admit though, that WL does allow more gaps and out-of-order
that it "needs to". It could reduce these by assigning the
serial numbers later in the QSO--when they are sent. But
WL doesn't really know when you send the serial number,
espcially for SSB. WL also allows duplicates, which I could
make never happen (until you add more PC's on a network--then
I can't stop duplicates either).

The reason I have no plans to do any more work on this is that,
because of the above scenario, EVERY single serial number
contest weekend is going to be followed by postings on this
reflector saying the same thing the attached posting says:
"It's still broken". Yes, sir, it is.

So why bother? I have other things to work on that I can
actually succeed at fixing. And who has had QSO's disqualfied
because of out-of-order, duplicates or gaps? (Folks HAVE
lost QSOs because of mis-logged numbers, but WL does
guarantee it logs the number as-sent).

(My shields are now up. Fire away)

Wayne, W5XD


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-writelog@contesting.com
[mailto:owner-writelog@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Greg Clark
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2001 12:43
To: Writelog@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [WriteLog] confusion about upgrades



Has the problem with QSO numbers (double numbers, out of sequence) been
corrected
in this new release? It's not stated in the release notes and I've received
no direct replies from Ron.

Is it still broken?

Greg
K9IG




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