[WriteLog] Insert Key

Ed Muns w0yk at msn.com
Mon Aug 30 11:53:16 PDT 2010


Comments below ...

Gary, AL9A, wrote: 
> Okay, this discussion has prompted me to go back and reread 
> the "Message Shortcut Keys" section where it discusses use of 
> the Insert key.
> 
> "Insert
> Sends the message corresponding to F10. (or you can change 
> the "SendCallExchangeKey" entry in WRITELOG.INI to use a 
> different function
> key.) Presumably you would have programmed this key to send 
> the callsign followed by the contest exchange. The callsign 
> is what's in the CALL field, unless you have a RTTY window 
> up. With RTTY, the "callsign" to send comes from the RTTY 
> window where a call detected as a multiplier (highlighted
> yellow) has priority over others. The cursor in the Entry 
> window is advanced to the first field in the exchange."
> 
> I guess I was sleeping at the switch and missed the next to 
> the last sentence that begins, "With RTTY...".  As a fairly 
> new RTTY contester I've been doing what I've always done for 
> CW contests in Rittyrite.  That is left click on the 
> highlighted call to get it into the CALL field of the Entry 
> window and then, depending on whether I'm running or doing 
> S&P, press Insert (while running) to sent my exchange or 
> another F key (S&P) that sends just my call to the other 
> running station.  What I'm getting from this thread is that 
> for RTTY I should just press Insert and WL will pick a 
> highlighted call from the Rittyrite window and populate it 
> into the CALL field.  WL will first select a multiplier if 
> any are highlighted and then a non-multiplier call.

Both methods work in RTTY.  That is, you can still click a call into the
call sign entry field from the Rttyrite window and then press Insert or the
Fn exchange key to send the exchange.  In this case, Insert doesn't select a
call sign because one is already in the entry field.  Or, as you note, you
can just press Insert and a call will be selected from the Rttyrite window
before the exchange is sent.  This saves a key stroke, but WriteLog's
algorithm chooses which call if there is more than one.  After giving
priority to a new multiplier, WriteLog selects that LAST call sign in the
window.  This is often not what you want in a pile-up situation where it is
better to reward the first caller and train S&Pers to keep their calls
short.  In N1MM Logger, the user can choose whether the first call or last
call is chosen and that would be nice in WriteLog.  Meanwhile, in WriteLog
the user must click in the first call, if that's what they want, incurring
an additional key stroke.

> What 
> isn't clearly stated is that for this procedure to work 
> correctly I must be in run mode.  If I'm in S&P I don't want 
> my exchange being sent until the other calling station 
> acknowledges my response to his CQ.  In this situation I must 
> still click on the call in the Rittyrite window to populate 
> the CALL field, but then do nothing until I send another F 
> memory key to solicit a reply.  My understanding is that this 
> use of the Insert key ONLY works for RTTY and ONLY if I am 
> running and not S&P.  If I am mistaken please let me know. 

That's right, in the sense that a different message is needed for S&P (your
call) vs. Run (your exchange).  So, you can configure Insert to send either
your exchange (as needed for Run mode) or your call sign message (as needed
for S&P).  It makes more sense for the Run mode than the S&P mode so that is
where it is always used.  Some other loggers, such as N1MM Logger and
Win-Test, allow the user to specify whether they are in Run or S&P mode and
then the correct Fn message is selected by the logger.

Insert works in CW and SSB, but of course there is no equivalent of WriteLog
automatically selecting a call as in RTTY.  Just like the precedent set with
CT, though, the Insert key sends the exchange.
 
> Also, what does "ESM" stand for?

"Enter Sends Message", originally developed by N6TR in TR-Log.  Sometimes
called a "stateful Enter key", this feature is loved by some and hated by
others, because the Enter key sends different messages depending upon the
state of the QSO (CQ phase, exchange phase, TU/CQ phase).

Ed - W0YK



More information about the WriteLog mailing list