[WriteLog] Networked Ops (long)

[Ford Peterson]

I gotta tell you about my FD weekend.  I have never been confronted with such a pig headed piece of software.  We've use WL for M/M in the past, but this weekend was hopeless.  We installed WL10.59D on several laptops last week, and had WL on a stand alone desktop PC, all running XP Home.  The VHF station had a laptop running WIN98SE.

Each of the operating positions pointed to the desktop PC we called "MAIN."  Each op position would be linked to the main log through a TCP/IP network configuration.

What problems?  Holy smokes for the problems.  The 'save configuration' would cause all sorts of problems with the network.  Each op position had a local copy that would allow us to re-link when we got disconnected.  The the laptops would lose track of where the wave files were.  The F key setups would disappear and need to be manually re-typed into the screen on-the-fly (try that with a pile-up calling you!)  Cntrl-W would simply stop working.  The only fix was to get out of WL and restart.  This of course would cause yet more problems with network ops, F key setups would disappear.  On power up the undocked windows would be rearranged and require adjustment.  The log would re-link and then disconnect.  You would get error messages about fields in the backup log that don't agree with the main log.  One op position would start asking questions about an "internet log"--what the heck is an internet log and why is it looking for an internet connection?

I gotta tell you, we spent hours pouring over help files to make certain we were setting things up correctly.  If this isn't fixed by somebody, it will be the very LAST M/M I ever attempt using WL, which has been a real workhorse for years.

In a M/M situation, you have ops at all levels of experience.  Some are familiar with PCs and others are not.  Each has logging habits that are good for them--and others are forming habits (some good and some bad).  Some like the "enter key arrangement", the "timed CQ" causes great angst for some, and arguments over 1.2s, 1.8s, 2.5s, etc.  Some ops will only use the F keys when pressed manually with no automation.  Yet others will grab a notebook and start paper logging at the first hint of log configuration problems as they are intimidated by the PC in the first place.  The software needs to conform to the situation, not the other way around.  You cannot possibly train people on-the-fly to use a logging method that is foreign to them.  All you get are arguments about TR vs CT vs N1MM vs WL.  Why?  You get these arguments because people are passionate about their logging methods.  AND THE SOFTWARE SHOULD ACCOMODATE THEM, not the other way around.

It seems to me, when an op sits down at the radio, the software should know who they are, and how they want to interface with the log.  When I sit down to "change op", the F keys should be programmed for me.  The wave files should have my voice connected to my F key.  The enter key should behave the way I expect.  The windows should look the way I want them to look with the gismos on the screen that I want to use.  If the dang PC powers itself down, when it comes up it should look like the way I want it to look.  And it should know how and where to save it's files, reconfigure itself to the network.  It should power up and simply RUN--not 10 minutes (and I'm not kidding about this), yes 10 minutes of reconfiguring screens, F keys, wave files, op names, file locations, backup copy locations.  This is rediculous!

I will be the first to admit that we may have had stuff configured wrong.  I will be the first to defend our network team.  We had two people who make their living managing networks in charge of our operations.  Both were pulling their hair out in COMPLETE frustration.  We spent several evening configuring PCs, Rigs, and WL, in anticipation of the weekend's 2A event.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not bashing WL.  I use it at my home QTH all the time, have for years, and I understand its many strengths and quirks.  But this past weekend was nothing short of a cluster-f*ck.  Either it gets fixed, or it will be the last M/M I host using WL.  Life is too short to deal with the fallout of buggy software.

I welcome a dialog, public or private, with ANYBODY interested in figuring this out as I believe WL could become known as the logging software of choice, instead of the anti-Christ that it has become.

Ford-N0FP
ford at cmgate.com