[WriteLog] Learning WriteLog

[Bob Wolbert, K6XX]

I promised to learn WL for a contest this summer and have been 
struggling with it since December. It is difficult for a new user to 
adopt WL. “Help” is unhelpful—-a prime example: writelog.ini is 
discussed throughout, but no longer exists. Most of my recent Help 
searches have not answered my issues, hence this post.

As background, I’ve entered ‘a few’ contests over the years, and started 
confuzer logging with CT, progressed through TRLog, TR4Win, then to 
N1MM+. I’ve heard glowing reviews for WL over the years, but need expert 
suggestions to optimize the experience. Bluntly, the way it runs seems 
rather clunky.

I have mostly figured out running.

BUT… How to S&P in WL? The way I’ve been doing it is awkward.

Enter call, then Spacebar.

If Non Dupe, F4 to send my callsign, then “,” or F2, which is programmed 
to autolog without requiring a further ENTER.

If Dupe,  F12 to clear it from the callsign window, then turn the big 
knob. Is there way to autoclear this dupe to eliminate second keystroke? 
F12 is in the middle of a row on craptop, so not as easily located as 
with a full-size keyboard. While a key redefinition would work, I’d 
rather eliminate this redundant keystroke and have it flash off a few ms 
after pressing the spacebar (and still show up in the bandmap, of 
course). Is this possible?

In both cases, there are extra keystrokes from various places around the 
keyboard. Isn’t there a more efficient technique? I’m used to TRLog/ESM 
functionality where the ENTER key is my friend.

Bandmap:
When we tune back to same frequency, the callsign is not automatically 
entered unless I mouse click on it (and the recorded bandmap frequency 
may no longer be zero beat). Can this be automated? Any way to avoid 
using the rodent?

General Functionality
Editing my frequent mistakes has been difficult. Why does the cursor key 
move between fields?! If the cursor is in the middle of a callsign, I 
don’t want to have to watch and count the keystrokes to edit a prefix or 
suffix. I just want to hit “lots” of arrows to guarantee the cursor is 
at the beginning or end of a field, and then fix the call. For example, 
5 keystrokes generally assure me that I’m at the correct spot in all of 
the other logging programs. But in WL, I could be in a completely 
different part of the exchange. Sometimes. It isn’t consistent. Isn’t 
there a better way?

Why does the default contest setup have fields for “Country” (full name, 
spelled out) and “C” fields? These seem unnecessary and exacerbate my 
cursor movement problem. What the heck is “C”? Any downside to 
eliminating them from the entry window?


Nice Features Hiding or Missing?
The other loggers have features that I can’t find in WL.

Multiplier Window. How do I:
   —DX contest—show the world, not just one continent.
   —Show both Zones and DX mults at the same time?

Partial check. In the contest I’m preparing WL for, SCP databases are 
verboten, but we are allowed both full and partial calls from our own 
log. How is this done? If the SCP window is the only way, how does one 
clear out the SCP file? I really miss seeing possible callsign matches 
winnow down as more letters are entered. Or watch the “duplicity” of a 
callsign that I’ve tuned before typing the entire thing (and hitting the 
spacebar!).

Bandmap decay time. Is it adjustable?

I’ll end on a minor nit: in WPX RTTY, INSert kept selecting my callsign 
and I then called myself. This was addressed by logging myself on each 
band so that I became a dupe.  How is this avoided?

Suggestions are appreciated. TU!

73 de Bob, K6XX