[WriteLog] QTC In WAE Contest

Mon Aug 11 23:05:10 EDT 2014

Bob,

Working the WAE Contest is a lot of fun, but knowing how to handle the QTC's 
is critical to maximizing the fun of this contest.  I am at a bit of a 
disadvantage here because you indicate you are blind, but then state that 
you can "..."see" a QTC button on the screen..."  I can only surmise that 
you are legally blind, but still have some sight, at least enough to allow 
to see something's on the screen.  Based upon that conjecture I would 
suggest the follow:

First, go to the WL Help Manual and in the Search tab box enter "wae 
contest".  This will bring up a dedicated set of instructions on how to use 
the WAE Contest module.  These instructions are dedicated to helping you 
understand how to use WL to both send and receive QTCs in the contest, 
including some specific details about how to set up your F key memories to 
work correctly with the WL QTC screens and a writelog.ini file entry to 
allow use of the DVK in working with SSB QTCs.  It's a bit confusing at 
first, but it is essential to understanding how WL will help you manage the 
QTC traffic.  I keep a printed copy of these instructions at my operating 
position during the contest for reference.

There are three different WAE contests - CW, SSB and RTTY.  WL has two 
different WAE Contest modules, one for both CW and SSB, and another 
specifically dedicated to RTTY.  The WAE contest rules are somewhat 
different for the CW/SSB contests and the RTTY contest.  The biggest is in 
the CW and SSB contests you can only contact EU stations, all other stations 
don't count.  Also, in CW/SSB events, you can only "send" QTCs to EU 
stations and not receive any.  If you are in the RTTY contest the rules are 
different.  You can work anyone in the world, not just EU stations, and you 
can both send and receive QTCs for additional points.

Starting with the WL WAE CW/SSB module you will notice that as you enter a 
call into the CALL field and Space to the next field, WL will update the 
"Tx-Qtc" field and show you how many QTCs you can send to this station.  The 
MAX is 10, but if you have previously worked this station before on any band 
and have sent less than the maximum of 10 QTCs WL shows the balance of QTCs 
you may send to this station.

To send the QTCs access the Send QTC Dialog window by typing ALT+S.  This 
opens the WAE Send QTCs window which contains the call sign of station you 
are working, the QTC packet number and the number of QTCs that can be sent 
to this station.  For example the Send QTC window header may say, "WAE Send 
QTCs DL4CF 12/10".  This means you are going to send packet number 12 
containing 10 QTCs to DL4CF.  The main window will show a list of the 10 QTC 
records that will be sent.  This list is automatically populated by WL from 
your log QSOs.  It shows the QTC time, the CALL and the NR received from 
that station.

On the right side of the window is a column of buttons that can be clicked 
on with the mouse or accessed by ALT+ the underlined letter in the button 
name.  The first button is titled QRV?.  Clicking on this button sends the 
QTC group/count numbers followed by the contents of the SHIFT+F11 message. 
For example, my SHIFT+F11 key has " QRV?" in it.  Notice the leading space. 
When a station sends me "QTC?", I send "RR QTC", and type ALT+S to open the 
Send window.  Then clicking on the QRV? button in this case sends "12/10 
QRV?", to which the receiving station will probably send either QRV or R.

The next button in the window is "Xmit QTCs".  NEVER use this button on 
either CW or SSB (when using the DVK) as it transmits the entire list of 
QTCs without interruption.  Instead click on each QTC line in turn, or type 
ALT+nr, or just type the number of the QTC to have WL automatically sent it. 
After sending a QTC wait a bit to get either a "R" from the other station or 
a fill request on something he missed.  This could be TIME, CALL or NR.  You 
can resend either the entire QTC by clicking on it or typing its number in 
the list, or send just the missed part by hand, or use ALT+K to open the 
keyboard send window and type in the missed info.  After sending the first 
QTC you can also use the down arrow key to send the next one in the list as 
well as a mouse click or typing the number.

The next button, "QSL?", sends the SHIFT+F10 memory, which in my case is 
"QSL?" which I send after the last QTC to verify he has received them all. 
Usually this gets  "R", "TU" or "CFM" in return.  If he missed something he 
may ask for a repeat here.  If needed, resend all of the QTC in question or 
only the missed part.  If all is OK, click on the "OK" button.  This enters 
all of the QTCs just sent into the log appended to the call just worked.  If 
something gets messed up click the "Cancel" button and nothing gets entered 
into the log.

As QTCs are sent and subsequently marked as OK, WL enters a "X" into the "x" 
column in the log.  This indicates which log entries have been sent as QTCs. 
The next batch of QTCs will start with the first log entry not marked with a 
"X".

The RTTY module is very similar except in that module you can also use the 
ALT+R window which brings up the Receive QTC window.  All of this is fully 
documented in the Help manual.

The WAE SSB edition is coming up the weekend of Sept. 13th, so there is 
ample time for you to digest the instructions and play around a bit with the 
WAE modules.  I would suggest setting up a log and entering 10 or more dummy 
QSOs into the log.  Then practice sending the QTCs and see how it works for 
you.  Once you get the hang of how WL manages all the QTC traffic you will 
be surprised at how easy this contest really is to run, not to mention the 
fun aspect.  Good luck.

73,
Gary AL9A

-----Original Message----- 
From: Bob Garrett
Sent: August 11, 2014 3:29 PM
To: WriteLog at contesting.com
Subject: [WriteLog] QTC In WAE Contest

Greetings,

I worked the WAE test this past weekend.  Being new to the game and
obviously not doing my homework, I did not receive or give out any QTC.

My questions are, how in WriteLog do I identify a group of contacts to send
as QTC?  I'm a blind ham and I see a QTC button on the screen but, not sure
how to make it send say the ten QTC contacts.  Or, do I have to read the
contacts and send the info to the receiving station?

I know a lot of questions but, I missed out on a lot of points and probably
annoyed many stations for not doing QTC.  I certainly got asked a lot for
QTC HI.  73, Bob K3UL

PS:  WriteLog has truly made contesting fun and a new facet of the hobby for
me.

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