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================== = CONLOG = = November = = Sweepstakes = = Logging System = ================== Steven E. Margison, WA9DRE Program and Documentation Copyright 1987-1989 by Steven E. Margison -- All Rights Reserved --------- TABLE OF CONTENTS --------- Introduction ................................. 1 A. Background ...................... 1 B. Supplied Files .................. 2 C. Hardware Requirements ........... 2 D. Other Software Requirements ..... 3 Installation ................................. 5 A. Backup and Working Disks ........ 5 B. CONFIG.SYS ...................... 6 C. Date & Time ..................... 7 D. Hard Disk INstallation .......... 8 E. Configuration ................... 8 INSTCLOG ..................................... 9 A. Usage ........................... 9 B. Editing CONLOG.PRM .............. 11 C. Customizing CONLOG Operation..... 14 CONLOG ....................................... 16 A. Files and Formats ............... 16 B. Screens ......................... 19 C. Logging On and Off .............. 19 D. Changing Bands .................. 20 E. Printer Listing ................. 20 F. Making Contacts ................. 20 G. Statistics ...................... 23 H. Delete a Contact ................ 24 I. Edit a Contact .................. 24 J. File Functions .................. 25 K. Standby (Screen Saver)........... 26 L. Invoking DOS from CONLOG ........ 26 M. Terminating CONLOG .............. 26 N. Using the Notepad Function ...... 27 O. Resumption of Operations ........ 28 DUPSHEET ..................................... 29 LOGSHEET ..................................... 30 File Maintenance ............................. 31 A. Saving to Disk .................. 31 B. Replacing & Deleting BACKUP.LOG . 31 C. Using the Log Information ....... 32 Shareware .................................... 33 Warranty ..................................... 35 Screen Layouts ....................... Appendix A Registration Form .................... Appendix B I. INTRODUCTION A. Background You're a ham, and so am I, so this manual will largely be a person to person chat, rather than a dry technical treatise. I'm WA9DRE, licensed in 1962, and veteran of over 20 hectic weekends in November called the "ARRL November Sweepstakes". Maybe we've wound up in each others' logs. If not, I'll be looking for you next time (especially if you're ALASK, YU-NWT, or PAC). CONLOG was started about 9 years ago on an old Z80-based system as a simple duplicate check program. It evolved into a full logging program and logsheet printing program. In its first year as a full logging program my score went up by about 25%, confirming my theory that automated logging could increase the efficiency of contest operators, especially single operator stations. In addition, instead of spending hours re-copying my logs and dupsheets for submission (they'd never be able to read the hastily done originals!), I generated beautifully printed sheets ready to be mailed only an hour after the contest ended! That version of CONLOG was, however, not available to other hams, since it was created for a custom-built computer with a professional programmer's operating system normally not available to the hobbyist. It was inevitable, I suppose, that I should join the ranks of IBM-PC owners, which I did in 1986. And, for the 1986 Sweepstakes, I had a totally new contest logging program running on the PC. Which brings us to the point. For several years I have been creating IBM-PC programs as an independent shareware author (more about shareware later). Now, I am making CONLOG available to other contesters as an inexpensive shareware program. Use CONLOG once, and you'll throw out the ARRL's venerable log forms. (By the way, the printouts made by CONLOG were submitted to the ARRL, and with their consultation were made acceptable as official submissions.) CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 1 B. Supplied Files The following files should be present as part of a full CONLOG distribution: CONLOG.EXE Logging program INSTCLOG.EXE Installation program DUPSHEET.EXE Duplicate Checksheet Formatter LOGSHEET.EXE Log Sheet Formatter SYMBOL.EXE support program for formatters CONLOG.DOC This manual for "plain" printers CONLOG.IBM This manual for IBM/Epson printers NOEOF.BAT Strips EOF marker from backup file README Any update notes not in the manual README.1ST If present, read this file FIRST! These files may be on either a distribution diskette, or may be found on certain Bulletin Board Systems as the file CLOG18.EXE or CNLOG180.EXE. These EXE files are "self-extracting archives". In other words, each file is actually a compressed collection of files, with a special section of executable code which causes the files to expand themselves. Of course, if you're reading this, you've probably already expanded the files! C. Hardware Requirements CONLOG will run on a floppy disk system with at least 110K of memory available after DOS has been loaded any any other device drivers and resident programs you may use. Generally speaking this means a system with at least 192K of installed memory. The program will run faster on a hard disk, but a floppy is sufficient. CONLOG has been tested on genuine IBM PC/XTs and ATs, and on many different "clones". As long as your system is a true compatible, it should work without any problems. Your operating system must be MS-DOS version 2.11 or higher. Version 3.00 or higher is to be preferred because of advanced critical error handling. Any standard video adapter may be used: CGA, MONO, or EGA. If you are using an EGA or CGA video card but using a composite monochrome monitor, CONLOG can be configured to use only black and white, blinking, and highlighted text to avoid the usual shading problems associated with color output on non-color monitors. If a MONO adapter is used, CONLOG senses it and automatically uses non-color text. Your printer should be an IBM Graphics compatible printer, or Epson FX-type printer. Most printers sold with IBM-PCs fall into this category. Typical printers include the Epson MX/RX/FX series, any Okidata with IBM Plug 'n' Play ROMs, most STAR brand printers, and many others. However, if your printer is not IBM or Epson compatible, CONLOG can be configured CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 2 to print out in plain text compatible with any printer, including daisy wheels. It is also possible to configure CONLOG to use non-IBM control codes for boldface, italics, and double width printing in the forms, although graphics require one of the two supported types. D. Other Software Requirements CONLOG is a completely self-sufficient system requiring no other software (other than the DOS operating system). However, you may desire to manually edit the logging files or parameter file in which case you will need to have a text editor. Any editing done on CONLOG files must be done in a "non-document" mode. That means that the editor may NOT insert special characters or mark characters by setting the high bit of each character (WordStar does this in its document mode), nor may it automatically replace horizontal TAB characters with spaces. CONLOG uses the TAB character as a field delimiter in the logging files, and replacing the TAB character with spaces will cause the CONLOG system to malfunction. Many text editors have an option which will allow TABs to be automatically expanded or left intact. Be sure this option is set to leave TABs intact. Check your editor documentation if you are unsure of what it does to TAB characters. Memory-resident programs, or "TSRs" are becoming more and more common, and they are largely very useful. CONLOG is not a memory-resident program, but it does use some of the DOS interrupts. Most TSR programs are written in a "well-behaved" manner; i.e., they will not create any conflicts with other programs. However, this is not a hard and fast rule. If you are using any TSR programs which use the function keys as "hotkeys" (the key you press to activate the TSR program), there will probably be a conflict, since the TSR will "trap" the function keys before CONLOG can respond to them. If this is the case, either change the other program's hotkeys (if possible) or do not install that program when running CONLOG. CONLOG also uses the real-time interrupt, which is another favorite of TSR programs. If CONLOG should not keep time, more than likely there is a conflict with a TSR program. CONLOG plays by the generally accepted rules, and will peacefully co-exist with any other program which also plays by the rules. CONLOG has been successfully tested with many TSR programs, but it cannot be guaranteed to be compatible with everything on the market. If you think you are having trouble with CONLOG because of a memory resident program, reboot your system with NO resident programs and then try CONLOG. If the trouble goes away, add your resident programs one-by-one, testing CONLOG after each installation. When the trouble comes back, you'll know which program is the culprit. (TSR, by the way, means Terminate and Stay Resident.) There is one confirmed TSR program which causes the CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 3 timekeeping functions of CONLOG to fail. The program, which has appeared under several names, is designed to automatically "park" the heads on a hard disk if a certain time period passes with no disk activity. Do NOT use this program with CONLOG. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 4 II. Installation At this point, I could write pages and pages on how to use your computer. Many commercial instruction manuals go on ad nauseum about which end of the disk to insert, which drive is A:, etc. I am going to assume that you know the basics of your system. If you are not familiar with such things as "path", "directory", "drive", "FORMAT", etc., then I suggest you stop here and review your DOS manual first. After installing the program files as instructed next, BE SURE TO RUN THE INSTALLATION PROGRAM "INSTCLOG" BEFORE USING ANY OF THE OTHER PROGRAMS! Until the CONLOG system is properly installed, the program will not execute. Installation is required because there is much information that CONLOG needs to know about your station before logging can be accomplished. Installation is NOT required because of any copy protection scheme. A. Backup and Working Disks CONLOG is not copy protected. In fact, copying is urged (see chapter on shareware). But the first copies you should make are for yourself. Your original diskette, whether received as a distribution diskette or expanded from a downloaded EXE file, should be used to make one or more working copies of the disk, and then stored in a safe place. NEVER execute the programs from your original master disk. If something should go wrong (unlikely) your original disk may be lost. If you are using a floppy based system, I suggest formatting a fresh disk, without the system files (do not use the /S option to FORMAT), and copying onto it all of the EXE files from the distribution disk. (place fresh disk in drive B:) FORMAT B: (place CONLOG disk in drive A:) COPY A:*.EXE B: - or - DISKCOPY A: B: (and follow the program prompts) The documentation files are not needed during program execution and will simply use up disk space. Run CONLOG from this disk, and after the contest is over, save the entire disk, making a new disk for next year's contest. In the unlikely event that a future update of CONLOG cannot use log files from earlier versions, you will then have preserved not only your log files, but the programs needed to manipulate them as well. Granted, there is probably no need to re-print any logs at a later date, but there is no point in burning bridges either. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 5 If you are using a hard disk system, then I suggest copying your final log files onto a freshly formatted diskette after the contest and placing this archive disk in a safe place. If you get a newer version of CONLOG in the future, be sure to save the current version in the unlikely event that the log files will be incompatible. B. CONFIG.SYS When DOS is first booted up, many items of information are initialized. Some items, which are very common, are the system date and time, the "prompt", and the "path" environment variable. These are usually set from within a file called "AUTOEXEC.BAT". Although sometimes missing from floppy-based systems, this file is omnipresent on hard-disk systems. There is also another file which is often overlooked on both floppy and hard disk systems: CONFIG.SYS. This file contains information relating to additional device drivers, country information, ram disk initialization, and other strange and wonderful items. If this file is not available during boot up, DOS does not complain; it simply makes certain assumptions which are usually valid. One of the assumptions made is the number of file handles which can be simultaneously open by all programs. File Handles are the means used to identify file or device channels between DOS and application programs. They are numbered beginning at 0. By default, each executing program starts with 5 file handles which are automatically opened by DOS: standard input -- the keyboard standard output -- the screen standard error -- the screen (and sometimes the keyboard also) standard aux -- usually the first serial port found standard printer -- the "PRN:" channel, usually LPT1: The first two channels, standard input and standard output, may be "redirected" from the command line using the '<' and '>' symbols. (You DID read about that in your DOS manual didn't you??) The other channels may not be redirected from the command line, but may be altered using the DOS "MODE" command. The point of this discussion is that 5 file handles are automatically opened at program execution time, whether they will be used or not. (Just as an aside, CONLOG uses standard input and error, but not the others. INSTCLOG uses standard input, output, and error, and the others use standard output and error. None of the programs will allow standard input or output redirection. Attempts to do that will get you a warning message and the program will terminate.) Unless specified differently, DOS will default to a maximum of 8 possible file handles. This CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 6 leaves just 3 extra handles available for CONLOG. If you don't do anything tricky, this is enough. However, if you should exit to DOS from within CONLOG (more about this later), you will probably not have enough file handles left to do anything meaningful. CONLOG uses at most 2 file handles. INSTCLOG also uses two, while LOGSHEET and DUPSHEET use 1 each. However, LOGSHEET and DUPSHEET each invoke another subsidiary program, and this may cause the 8 handle limit to be exceeded. How is the 8 handle limit altered? Well, that's where CONFIG.SYS comes in. Check yours now. If it exists, look for a line like this: files=20 If it is NOT present, then add it to your CONFIG.SYS using your favorite text editor. The line shown above will alter the default number of files to a maximum of 20. This is the recommended "standard" by power-users of DOS. More and more programs are using larger numbers of files. By setting files=20, it is unlikely that you will ever encounter strange program problems due to the lack of sufficient file handles. C. Date & Time CONLOG keeps track of the date and time for all contacts made. Therefore, it is IMPERATIVE that your system date and time be correctly set before invoking CONLOG. If your system has a real-time clock built in, then you probably already have it set to adjust the system clock at boot up. (By the way; when did you last check the time???) If not, then either add the "DATE" and "TIME" commands to your AUTOEXEC.BAT, or execute them manually. CONLOG "cheats" a little. It never looks at the month, which it forces internally to be always November. This was primarily done to allow practice runs of CONLOG in other months, and make the program look like it was November. (I'm in serious trouble if they ever move the contest to July!) However, CONLOG does look at the date and the year, and of course the time. Seconds are used only to initially sync CONLOG's clock with the system clock. CONLOG does not report time to the second. For logging purposes, all times should be in UTC (GMT). This can be accomplished by either setting your system clock to UTC time, or by establishing a time zone or hour offset during the configuration of CONLOG. (This is explained a little later.) If such a time zone is set, then CONLOG will automatically adjust the system time to UTC time when making log entries and displaying the time onscreen. This eliminates the need to reset your system time from local to UTC for the contest and then back again. Of course, any date/time stamps on the logging files will still reflect your system time, since CONLOG does not CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 7 actually reset the system clock. D. Hard Disk Installation Hard disk installation is very easy. First, make a working directory: c: cd \ mkdir nss cd nss Of course, you can name the directory anything you like, or make the directory under another directory instead of the root directory. Once in the working directory, place the CONLOG distribution disk into drive A: and enter: copy a:*.EXE b: As with the floppy installation, the documentation files are not needed except to make a printed copy once. At the end of the contest, I recommend placing the final logging files onto a floppy disk for safekeeping. Whether you leave them on your hard drive as well is up to you. E. Configuration CONLOG must be told something about yourself and your system in order to function correctly. This procedure is called "configuration", and consists of creating a special file named CONLOG.PRM. This file will contain all of the special knowledge required by the entire CONLOG logging system. The file is normally placed in the same directory (or disk) as the executable programs, but it may be placed anywhere in your current "path" as well. If it cannot be found or opened by CONLOG, LOGSHEET, or DUPSHEET, these programs will report the error and terminate. INSTCLOG does not report the inability to find CONLOG.PRM, since this program is used to create it in the first place. Details of using INSTCLOG are in the following chapter. If you are a glutton for punishment, you may create a CONLOG.PRM file with any standard text editor which does NOT make special files (such as WordStar does in the document mode). Details on the format of the file are in the next chapter. The only time you must manually edit the parameter file is to change the printer control sequences for boldface, double width, and italic printing. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 8 III. INSTCLOG A. Usage The CONLOG system requires a parameter file named CONLOG.PRM, which contains all the customized information for your installation. This file contains your name, QTH, section, check, rig info, club affiliation, power, time zone offset, plus program information regarding printer capabilities, screen colors, etc. This file is normally in the same directory as the CONLOG programs, but may actually be located in any drive:\directory specified in your PATH variable. CONLOG.PRM is an ASCII text file which may be created using a standard text editor. However, to insure accuracy, simplicity, and avoid syntax errors in the file, INSTCLOG is provided to automate the task. INSTCLOG is an interactive program which asks you for each item of information required and processes your responses into the parameter file. There are no command line arguments to INSTCLOG; simply execute it as any other program. If INSTCLOG finds a file named CONLOG.PRM in the current directory ONLY, then it will retrieve information from that file for each question and display the current entry. This entry may then be replaced with a new one or used as is. INSTCLOG will ultimately rename the old CONLOG.PRM file to CONLOG.BAK and then make a new CONLOG.PRM file. Most items requested require text information, such as your name, address, etc. Several items require a simple yes or no (Y/N) response, or a single digit parameter. For all cases of text input, INSTCLOG allows you to edit the line as you type, and only accepts the line when the <enter> key is pressed. To edit, simply use the backspace ( <-- ) key as you would in any text editor. The <HOME> key erases the entire entry and allows you to start over. The left arrow cursor key is accepted as though it were the backspace key. INSTCLOG will only allow a certain number of characters for each entry; the maximum determined by the available space for that information in the other programs. When the limit is reached, no further characters are allowed, and each keypress sounds a beep. The <enter>, <home>, and backspace keys will still function as expected, however. INSTCLOG parses the keystrokes to allow only valid data for the entry. For example, when asked for your "check", only digits 0-9 will be accepted. Some entries will automatically convert lower case characters to upper case, others will leave case as is. The <ESC>ape key performs a special function. It tells INSTCLOG to quit and NOT make a new parameter file. This allows you to evacuate the program if you really mess up. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 9 This is the order in which information will be requested: CALLSIGN maximum 10 characters NAME maximum 50 characters ADDRESS maximum 50 characters CITY,STATE,ZIP maximum 60 characters SECTION maximum 20 characters CHECK maximum 2 digits POWER maximum 4 digits TIMEZONE maximum 3 characters RIG INFO maximum 3 lines of 79 chars SINGLE/MULTI OP STATION? S/M response CLUB AFFILIATION maximum 50 characters PRINTER PORT NUMBER 1, 2, or 3 is valid PRINTER TYPE 1, 2, or 3 is valid SLASH ZEROS? Yes/No response AUDIBLE ALARMS? 0, 1, 2, 3 is valid AUTO-ADVANCE FROM CHECK? 1 or 2 is valid SECTION NAME STYLE 1 or 2 is valid ORDER OF DATA ENTRY A, B, C is valid COLOR SELECTION (see below) The four items mentioned above just before color selection will be discussed in detail under heading C in this manual section. Color selection is effective ONLY if a color video card is detected. A miniature screen is presented in the upper left corner and a menu of color parameters in the upper right corner. A "rainbow" of possible colors is presented underneath these items. You should be able to see 15 of the 16 colors in this rainbow (the 16th is, of course, black). If you cannot see all 15 visible colors, adjust the color controls on your monitor before proceeding. (As a matter of fact, you can use this program any time you want to adjust your monitor. It displays all 16 of the possible CGA colors.) Some color monitors, notably the genuine IBM ones, cannot display color #08, which is actually a highlighted black. It should show up as a faint gray. If your monitor does not display that shade without cranking up the intensity to a very high level, then just treat it as another black. Don't risk harming your screen to get that color to show. You are then prompted to select an item to adjust from the menu, and then a color for that item. After each selection, the miniature screen in the upper left is re-painted to reflect the change. When the screen first appears it uses the colors in the current parameter file, or my defaults if there is no current parameter file. When you have the colors the way you like them, one menu selection allows you to save them. This option also causes the final creation of the parameter file and the exit from INSTCLOG. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 10 The only other "tricky" entry is the TIMEZONE entry. This is used by the CONLOG program to offset the system clock to UTC time. You may enter any of the usual timezone designations: EST EDT CST CDT MST MDT PST PDT UTC GMT Z If your timezone is not listed above, as for the Pacific Section, then enter an hourly offset from your local time (as set in your system clock) to UTC, expressed as 1 or 2 digits. For example, Central Standard Time (CST) is 6 hours behind UTC, and could therefore be entered as "6" instead of "CST". Note that it is assumed that any time offset will be hours to be ADDED to local time to meet UTC time. This is valid since all participants in the contest are in a relatively narrow range of time zones. If your system clock is set to UTC, then use UTC, GMT, Z, or simply 0. B. Editing CONLOG.PRM Normally, CONLOG.PRM may be completely setup by running INSTCLOG. However, since it is a straight ASCII text file, it is possible to edit the file to alter entries. Although the file is ASCII text, there are certain rules which must be observed. Each line in the file describes a single item, and is of the form: id=data where "id" is a code to indicate which item is being described, the "=" sign separates the id code from the data, and "data" is the actual data assigned. The first line of the file must be a designation of the format for the configuration file. For Version 1.80 this line must read: @=0489 Any numerical codes (such as printer control codes or color codes) must be entered as decimal values in the range 0-255. If multiple values are needed, each is separated by a comma. No other characters may be used. For all text entries (name, address, etc.) the maximum number of characters for the entry (after the "=") is as indicated in the previous section. Exceeding any entry's size WILL CAUSE THE CONLOG PROGRAMS TO FAIL! Here is a list of the code ids and associated data: CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 11 C=callsign N=your name A=street address or P.O. Box Q=city, state, ZIP S=section name (spelled out, not abbreviated) Y=your check (last two digits of year first licensed) P=transmit power in watts Z=time zone designation or offset F1=first line of rig information F2=second line of rig information F3=third line of rig information Omit any "F" entry not used M+ (If you are a multi-op station) - or - M- (if you are a single-op station) H=name of club affiliation Omit the H= entry if not affiliated with a club L=printer port number: 1, 2, or 3 G+ (If your printer supports IBM/Epson style graphics) - or - G- (If your printer is not IBM graphics compatible) B+=boldface ON printer control string (see notes below) B-=boldface OFF I+=italics ON I-=italics OFF W+=double width ON W-=double width OFF 0+ (to enable slashing zeros on printouts) - or - 0- (to disable slashing of zeros) T=Audible alarm code 0, 1, 2, or 3 V+ (to enable auto-advance after check entry) - or - V- (to disable auto-advance) U+ (to enable short section names display) - or - U- (to use long section names) X=nnnnn (selects order of data entry on screen from left to right) (where nnnnn are the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4) R=color selections (see notes below) - or - R- (to disable colors) - or - R_ (to disable colors but keep worked sections visible) The printer entries deserve some further explanation. First, your printer must be connected to LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3. CONLOG may NOT be used with serial port printers, only parallel port printers. Fortunately, serial printers are becoming increasingly rare, which is why serial printers are not supported. Second, some printers have a slashed zero as a CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 12 standard character form, while most do not. If you have a printer which slashes zeros, then set the slashed zero entry OFF (0-). Otherwise, set it ON (0+) to cause overprinting of any printer line with slashes at each zero character. This feature applies only to DUPSHEET and LOGSHEET. The printer logging output of CONLOG does not slash zeros. Finally, the control strings for boldface, and double width default to IBM-type printer codes, with italics enabled if you have selected an "Epson" type of printer. If you have a printer which uses other codes, then you will have to edit them into these lines. (Actually, this is the only real need for editing this file.) The data fields of these lines contain the decimal control character strings to enable or disable the named feature, with an additional decimal value as the first value. This additional value is the number of control characters in the string. For example, the IBM control sequence to turn on boldface printing is "<ESC>ape E", which is decimal value 27 and 69. Since this string consists of two control characters, the string would be entered as: B+=2,27,69 Make sure that each value is separated by ONLY a single comma. The maximum number of control characters for each entry is 9, which should be more than enough for any printer. If a feature is not supported, or if you simply want to defeat it, then either eliminate both the ON and OFF control strings from the file, or set the first value to 0 as follows: I+=0 I-=0 The above two lines will defeat italics printing. The color entry (R=) is formatted just as the printer control strings, except that there is a fixed number of values which MUST be entered. Each value represents a color used on the screen, and must be represented as a two-digit decimal number in the range 00-15. The order of entries is: Main Background Main Border & window borders Main Text Data Input & window text Function Key Menu Background Function Key Menu Border Function Key Menu Text Highlights Error Background Error Text Statistics Worked Section Color To defeat all colors, simply use R- as a entry. Of course, if your default video device is a monochrome adapter card, this entry will be ignored anyway. Using R_ will defeat colors, but allow worked sections to be underlined on monochrome adapters, and dark blue on color adapters. Here is a list of the legal color values: CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 13 00 Black 08 Gray (hi intensity black) 01 Blue 09 Light Blue 02 Green 10 Light Green 03 Cyan 11 Light Cyan 04 Red 12 Light Red 05 Magenta 13 Light Magenta 06 Yellow 14 Light Yellow 07 White 15 High Intensity White Use care in assigning any color value above 08 to a background color, since you will get blinking foreground colors instead. There are no "Light" background colors. Any line beginning with a semi-colon (;) is treated as a "comment" line, and is ignored by all CONLOG programs. This allows you to enter notes into the file relative to the meanings of the lines, if you wish. It cannot be stressed to strongly that errors in the parameter file will seriously affect operation of all CONLOG programs, even though the programs attempt to validate the syntax of each line before trusting it. I strongly suggest using INSTCLOG first and printing out the resultant CONLOG.PRM file before attempting to edit it. The printout will serve as a sample of proper entry format. C. Customizing CONLOG Operation There are several items which will configure CONLOG to your own tastes. The INSTCLOG program requests a selection for each of the following items. If you are manually editing CONLOG.PRM, use the number selection given below for each item. First of these is the autible alarm selection. You may select: 0 = no alarms at all 1 = alarm on data entry or system error 2 = alarm on duplicate callsign 3 = alarm on duplicate callsign and data entry/system error I suggest using selection 2 or 3, unless you plan on wearing headphones. In that case, it doesn't matter if you have audible alarms or not. Since the check field always requires exactly 2 digits entered, it makes sense to automatically advance to the next field after the digits are entered. This is especially true if you are a fairly accurate and fast typist. CONLOG may be configured to accomplish this auto-advance, or to advance only after the <space> or <enter> keys are pressed. Select: 1 = no auto-advance 2 = auto-advance enabled CONLOG has always used the "traditional", or long section names, rather than the newer 2 or 3 letter CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 14 abbreviations. This is primarily due to tradition and nothing else. However, there is good reason to use the shorter section names, especially on CW. So, beginning with Version 1.80, both section names are supported. In the section field, you may enter EITHER the long or short section name at any time, and CONLOG will accept it. The section name display in the lower half of the screen must display one or the other, though. You may select the format of section names thus: 1 = long names 2 = short names Note that this selection does not affect logsheet printouts, which will continue to use only the traditional section names. Lastly, CONLOG now allows the order of data entry to be customized. The original order of data entry, and the default method if none other is specified, is: CALL NR PREC CHECK SECTION This is the order shown on all the screen layouts in the Appendix of this manual. An alternate form, perhaps useful to CW operators is: NR PREC CALL CHECK SECTION These two formats may be selected as follows: A = CALL NR PREC CHECK SECTION B = NR PREC CALL CHECK SECTION INSTCLOG allows a response of 'C' to the format request, which then allows you to arrange the five entry field in any order you prefer. Each field is assigned a number as follows: 0 = CALL 1 = NR 2 = PREC 3 = CHECK 4 = SECTION The object is to arrange the five digits in the order you wish them to appear in the CONLOG screen from left to right. The default condition would therefore be "01234". The alternate (CW operator's) format would be "12034". Note that you must specify all five digits, with no digit more than once. INSTCLOG will check your response for accuracy and reject anything not valid. If you are editing CONLOG.PRM, the data entry field may be omitted if you wish to use the standard "01234" arrangement. Otherwise, the data entry format line should read: X=nnnnn where "nnnnn" are the five digits representing the fields, in the order you desire them from left to right. Since you are not using INSTCLOG, be sure that you have all five digits, in the range 0-4, with no digit more than once. The CONLOG program expects this line to be valid, and will fail to work if this line is inaccurate! CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 15 IV. CONLOG A. Files and Formats Logging information from CONLOG is saved to disk in two different formats. The first format is in a file named BACKUP.LOG, and saves data on all operations done during the operation of CONLOG. This file is used as a disaster backup. If power should fail, or your system should fail, BACKUP.LOG can be used to recover your log intact up to, and probably including, the last entry. Information saved includes each log entry, times on and off, log entries deleted or edited, and the time and filename of log dumps to disk. Total time spent on each band is not recoverable, but that information is not really necessary for logging anyway. The second type of file is a "log dump" file, which saves the log information currently in memory. This type of file does not save deleted entries, and only saves the edited copy of an edited entry. It also saves section and QSO totals, total time logged on, and other vital information. It may also be used to recover from a power or system failure, but it will only be as accurate as the last time the log dump was performed. Unlike the BACKUP.LOG file, which is automatically created and updated, the log dump files are created only on operator command (see section I in this chapter, and chapter VII.). The log dump file is the file used with LOGSHEET and DUPSHEET to create the final printouts. BACKUP.LOG cannot be used for this purpose. Both file types are saved as ASCII text files, with one entry per line. However, the BACKUP.LOG format is not readily readable, since information is stored in a format which is convenient for use by CONLOG, rather than readable by real humans. The BACKUP.LOG format looks like this: ;File opened: 1207Z, 11-19-89 +0727 14 0000 : WA9XYZ 0001 0023 B 62 56 0727 2 0000 : W1AW 0002 0001 A 24 00 0728 2 0001 : K9ABY 0003 0123 B 55 63 0730 3 0003 @ K9ABY 0003 ;EDIT WA9XYZ 0001 ! WA9XYZ 0001 0024 B 62 56 0727 2 0005 -0732 14 0005 ;File: LOG89.001 Saved 11-19-89 1212Z ;READ LOG FILE: log89.001 at 1300Z 11-19-89 ;File closed: 1301Z, 11-14-89 This short excerpt shows just about all of the entries which can occur in the BACKUP.LOG. Note that each time you execute CONLOG, it will append new data to any existing BACKUP.LOG file in the current directory. If there is none, then it will be created anew. It should be obvious that the first character in each line has a special meaning. These are: CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 16 ; Comment or note for "human" readers + Indicates a "time on" entry - Indicates a "time off" entry : Indicates a QSO entry @ Indicates a deleted QSO entry ! Indicates an edited QSO entry The data following each code character varies with the type of entry. For time on and off entries, the first set of digits is the current time (UTC is assumed) in minutes since midnight of the current day. The next set of digits is the date, and finally is the current total time logged on in the contest, also expressed in minutes. QSO entries begin with the callsign, of course, followed by your QSO number, and then the other station's QSO number. Next is the precedence, check, section, time worked, band, and total contest time in that order. The section is specified as a number which is translated within all CONLOG programs to a section name. Number 00 is the CONN section, and number 76 is the YU-NWT section. The numbers are ordered as they appear on the CONLOG screen, proceeding downward in each column. Of course, this information is really not necessary for you to know, but it helps to understand what this log format contains. The band entry is also a number which corresponds to a band, with 1 being 80 meters, and 6 being 160 meters. Band 0 means that no band was selected. The entry time and total time are expressed in minutes since midnight, and total minutes, respectively. An edited entry appears in the same format as a normal QSO entry, except that certain fields will not change. The time worked and your QSO number cannot be altered. The total time will be the total time when the edit took place. This total time field is used during recovery functions to constantly update the total time counter. The comment entries appear for noting when files were saved or recovered, and for logging times when the BACKUP.LOG file was opened and closed. They are for user information only, and have no other purpose. Although possible, it is EXTREMELY UNWISE to attempt to edit the BACKUP.LOG file. Tab characters are used as field delimiters within each line, and they may NOT be altered to spaces. In addition, some text editors place and end-of-file marker character in a file. If this occurs, CONLOG will later append new data AFTER the EOF marker, and all that data will then be difficult, if not impossible, to recover. To cover this last case, a batch file is provided called NOEOF.BAT, which can be used to remove an EOF character from the BACKUP.LOG file. If you should happen to edit this file, be sure to run NOEOF.BAT before attempting to re-use BACKUP.LOG with the CONLOG program. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 17 The format of the log dump file is similar to that of BACKUP.LOG, but more readable to a "real person". The format of lines is: ;File: LOG89.001 Saved 11-19-89 1212Z + TIME ON 11-14-89 1207Z : WA9XYZ 1 24 B Ill 62 1207Z 40 : W1AW 2 1 A Conn 24 1208Z 40 - TIME OFF 11-14-89 1212Z >Conn 1 >Ill 1 ;QSOs SECTIONS SCORE TOTAL TIME # 2 2 8 00:05 ;Next number to send is: !4 ;Total band times: 80-40-20-15-10-160 &0000 0005 0000 0000 0000 0000 The same scheme of identifying each line with a code character is used, except that some different characters are used. Here is a list of the codes for the log dumps: ; Comment or note for "human" readers + Indicates a "time on" entry - Indicates a "time off" entry : Indicates a QSO entry > Indicates a section total # Indicates scoring and logging totals ! Indicates the next number you will send & Indicates total times (in minutes) for each band In these files, all times are reported as normal hours and minutes, except for the total times on each band. That item is reported as total minutes. The QSO entry line should be easy to read. The fields in order are callsign, your number, his number, precedence, section, check, entry time, and band. You will notice in the above example that there are no entries for deleted or edited QSO entries. That is because deletions should not appear in the log, and only the final edited entry is valid. Compare this example to the BACKUP.LOG example above and note that the K9ABY entry does not appear (since it was deleted), and the WA9XYZ shows his number as 24, which is the edited version (the original entry was 23). All items relating to section totals and score totals are for the use of LOGSHEET and DUPSHEET programs, and for restoring the complete log to memory if you re-execute CONLOG. The section names are always specified in the "long" format, even if you have configured CONLOG to use short section names. The short section name configuration affects ONLY the CONLOG display screen, nothing else. The same cautions apply to the log dump files as to BACKUP.LOG regarding editing them. There really shouldn't be any need for that, but if so, all tab characters must be CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 18 preserved. However, an end of file marker character is acceptable here, since these files are never appended, only created new. Section I of this chapter and chapter VII explain more about using the various file recovery and save functions. B. Screens There are three screens used in the CONLOG program. The main screen is used for actually logging QSOs. The function key menu "pops up" in the lower half of the main screen in order to give access to special non-logging functions. The function key menu is visible when you first execute the program. The special functions menu is also displayed in the bottom half of the screen, and contains extra features related to contest operation. Refer to Appendix A for printouts of the screen formats. The function key menu is displayed whenever CONLOG is in the "command mode", and disappears when CONLOG is in the "logging mode". The switch is made with the <F1> key. It will toggle CONLOG between the two modes. The special functions menu may be invoked by pressing the <ALT> key and <F1> keys at the same time. The special functions menu allows the <F1> key to return to logging mode, or the <F2> key to switch directly to the command mode. If you are not logged in to the contest, the <F1> key in the special functions menu will not be operative. C. Logging On and Off Logging on and off creates entries in the contest log which indicate the times you started and stopped working the contest. Current rules state that an "off" period must be at least 30 minutes, but CONLOG does not enforce that rule. Be sure you observe it, however, to avoid disqualification of your log. Logging on and off may only be done from the command mode. If you are currently logged off, CONLOG cannot be placed into the logging mode. An error message will appear if you attempt to use the <F1> key while logged off. The function key menu will always be displayed while you are logged off. Pressing <F2> while in the command mode will log you on or off, and the legend onscreen will change accordingly. When you log on, the total contest time counter will begin to run as well, and will stop when you log off. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 19 D. Changing Bands The band you are working must be manually selected in the command mode. This is accomplished with the <F5> key. Each time it is pressed the BAND field of the main screen will change to the next band. The order of change is 80-40-20-15-10-160 and then back to 80 again. You may alter the band setting regardless of being logged on or off. It is VERY easy to forget to change the band setting when changing the band on your rig. This could cause your log to be disqualified. BE SURE to change the band information in CONLOG whenever you change bands on your rig! E. Printer Listing Besides the normal backup files which CONLOG creates, it is possible to also log each operation to your printer. In the command mode, function key <F9> toggles printer logging on and off. The legend on the function key menu will report the current setting. This may be toggled regardless of being logged on or off. If you use this function, be sure your printer is online and loaded with paper. If CONLOG detects any printer error during operation, a warning message is displayed for a few seconds, and the printer is automatically toggled off. This feature is a handy way of being able to quickly scan back through your log without having to save it to disk, exit to DOS, and look at it in that manner. F. Making Contacts This is where the fun begins. After getting your rig warmed up, laying in a supply of your favorite liquid refreshment, kicking the kids and spouse out of the house, and taking the phone off the hook, you're ready to begin making contacts. If using floppy disks, place the CONLOG working disk into either drive A: or B: as you desire. Switch to that drive, and invoke the program by typing CONLOG This will run the program and establish or re-open the BACKUP.LOG file. DO NOT REMOVE THIS DISK WHILE CONLOG IS EXECUTING! To do so will cause failure of CONLOG and loss of your backup log file! If using hard disk, change to the CONLOG directory and invoke the program as above. Obviously, you cannot remove the disk, so there should be no trouble here. After the sign-on screen appears, hit any key (except CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 20 Ctrl-Break) and CONLOG will be ready for use. First, use <F5> to set your band. Then, use <F2> to log "on" to the contest. Finally, use <F1> to enter logging mode. The main screen (Appendix A) is divided into separate areas depending upon the information being reported. The top line is the only line actually used in making the log entry. The second line will always report the next number for you to send, and your current band. The lower half of the screen reports the sections NOT WORKED. As you make contacts in new sections, this area will gradually become empty. NOTE: With the addition of the ability to configure the order of data entry, it is difficult to explain the sequence of operation for all possible configurations. Therefore, it will be assumed that the default field order is in use. If you change this, remember that data entry always progresses from left to right on the screen, starting with the left-most field. The cursor is always on the top line, and shows you where your next character will be entered. For a fresh entry it starts in the CALLSIGN field. It is not necessary to fill in the entry fields in order, but they must be all filled in before the entry may be logged. For all but the PREC field, the entry may be edited by using the backspace ( <- ) key. In addition, the <HOME> key will erase the current field and place the cursor at the start of the field. Invalid keystrokes will cause a "beep" (if alarms have been enabled during configuration) and will not be echoed to the display. The CALLSIGN field does not accept any punctuation, so do not attempt to enter any portable ("slash") identifier suffix. It really isn't needed for logging anyway. Duplicate checking is performed when the CALLSIGN field has been filled, and movement to another field is attempted. When the log begins to get large, there may be a slight pause during the search process. If the callsign is already in the log, an error message is displayed next to the CALLSIGN field showing the number you sent to that station. After a pause of several seconds, the error message is erased, and the CALLSIGN field is cleared out. (Anytime an error message is displayed by CONLOG, a keystroke will terminate the message before the normal timeout.) If you re-enter a field which was already filled in, any characters typed will first cause the field to be blanked. Otherwise, the field may be left alone by moving to another field. Moving to another field is done by pressing the <enter> key, or <space> key. This will move the cursor to the starting position of the next field to the right, with wrap-around from the SECTION field to the CALLSIGN field. You may also directly move either to the next field right or the next field left by using the cursor right or left arrow keys respectively. This is handy for moving across a field without making an entry into it, CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 21 or without disturbing an entry already in place. <enter> and <space> only leave a field if an entry has been made in the field. To move and leave the field blank, use the arrow keys. The <DEL>ete key will clear all fields and place the cursor back into the CALLSIGN field. If all fields have been filled, but the entry has not been logged, you will be questioned by the system to see if you really want to clear the pending entry. A "y" response will complete the clear. Any other response will ignore the delete request. The <INS>ert key is used to actually log the contact. All fields must be filled, or the <INS> key will be ignored. If the log entry is made, the entry fields will be cleared and the cursor placed in the CALLSIGN field. The next number to send will be incremented, and the scoring line will be updated. The last entry logged will be displayed just above the section tally, and if the contact was a new section, its name will be removed from the section tally. Finally, the entry will be saved in the BACKUP.LOG file, and sent to the printer if printer logging is turned on. The <F1> key may be used at any time to return to command mode, without disturbing any pending entry on the screen. Likewise, the <ALT-F1> key combination may be used at any time to invoke the special functions menu, without disturbing any pending entry. The PREC field is entered slightly differently. When first entered, the field defaults to "B", and that precedence may be selected simply by hitting the <enter> key. If the precedence is "A" or "Q", then simply type an "A" or "Q" in either upper or lower case. Use the <enter> key or one of the other keys described above to move to the next or previous field. The SECTION field has extra features. The section can be typed in if desired, or the cursor up and down arrow keys can be used to scan through the list of sections until the desired section is found. The <PgUp> and <PgDn> keys may be similarly used, except they scan by 15 sections at a time, whereas the up and down arrow keys scan in one section increments. Any time a section is selected which has not been worked, its name in the section tally is highlighted. When typing in the section name, either upper or lower case characters may be used. Due to space limitations on the screen, the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) section is listed under the 5th call area instead of the 4th call area. A hyphen (-) after the Puerto Rico (PR) section reminds you that USVI should be listed next. At any time, you may enter either the "traditional" long section name or the new shortened name. CONLOG will accept either one. During configuration you have the option of selecting which format will be displayed on the screen, but that does not limit which format you may manually enter. If, during configuration, you have selected "auto-advance" out of the check field, the second digit entered in this field will automatically cause the cursor to advance to CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 22 the next field to the right. It is not required to press <enter> or <space> to leave the field. In this manner, the check field works similar to the precedence field, which also doesn't require an <enter> key following data entry. G. Statistics CONLOG contains some simple statistics intended to aid contest strategy. These statistics include: Average number of contacts per minute Total contacts for each band Number of contacts since the last band change Total time operated on each band Total time operated since last band change Average number of contacts per minute since last band change It should be easy to see how this information can help determine when a band change is in order, or when it's naptime! The average contacts per minute are calculated as the total number of contacts divided by the total number of minutes logged in (your total time). This average is carried only to 1 decimal place, and is updated every minute when the time and total time displays are updated. The value may be followed by a "+" or "-" sign to indicate that the current average is more or less than the previous average. If neither sign appears, then the average hasn't changed. Like any average, changes will be most dramatic when the total time and/or total contacts are low numbers, and will be slower to change when the values are higher. The average number of contacts since the last band change is calculated the same way, except that it is reset each time the band is changed. Just above the sections worked display are the total QSOs for each band, and the total time spent on that band. The count is updated for each contact, and the time is updated each minute. In addition, there is a final "CURRENT" entry, which is reset to zero each time the band is changed, and shows how many contacts were made since the last band change, and how much time has elapsed since the band change. The counts are not saved to the backup logs, but the times are. Reading a file into the program will reconstruct the counts accurately. Total times for each band are not recoverable from the BACKUP.LOG file. If you recover from this file, the band times will be reset to 0. However, this is not critical information for logging, so no real problem exists. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 23 H. Delete a Contact Sometimes you work a station and log him, only to find out that he really wasn't working you. Or perhaps you simply jumped the gun and hit <INS>ert before you really confirmed the contact. (It happens!) Any logged contact may be deleted by first using <F1> to enter command mode, and then selecting <F3> to delete an entry. You will be asked for either the callsign of the station or your QSO number. If the entry is found in the log, you will be asked to confirm the delete. After completing the action, use the <F1> key to return to logging mode. Note that the deleted call is still in memory, but marked as "deleted", so that it will not be matched during duplicate checking, and will not be saved to a log file later. The QSO number associated with that contact may not be used over again. In addition, your score will be adjusted accordingly. If the contact represented the only contact in a section, the section name will re-appear in the section tally. I. Edit a Contact You work a station and copy his check as "66". Several minutes later you hear him again, only much clearer this time, and realize that he is reporting a check of "56". You can correct the entry by returning to command mode with the <F1> key, and pressing the <F4> key to edit an entry. You will be prompted for either the callsign or your QSO number. If the contact is found, the data from that contact will be placed into the top line of the main screen, and the cursor will be placed in the CALLSIGN field. This is the only time when the cursor will be in the main screen while the function key menu is also displayed. You may now edit any of the fields displayed just as though it were a new entry. Note that any entry in the CALLSIGN field will cause duplicate checking to occur. This means that simply hitting <enter> in that field will run a duplicate check on the current callsign, which will cause a duplicate to be reported. Therefore, unless you really want to change the CALLSIGN field, use the cursor left or right keys to change to the next field, not the <enter> key. The <DEL>ete key will abort the editing process at once. The <INS>ert key will complete the edit function. You will be prompted one final time to confirm the edit or abort it. If confirmed, the entry will replace the old entry in memory. If a section change was made, the scores and section totals will be adjusted as needed. If the section was not changed, the score and totals won't change either. Certain items associated with a log entry may not be edited. These include your QSO number, the time worked, and the band used. The reasons for not allowing alteration of these items should be reasonably obvious from a contest rules standpoint. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 24 J. File Functions The <F8> key in the command mode controls the three file functions available. They are: Write the log to a logfile Read a logfile into memory Recover from BACKUP.LOG The last choice would be used only if a power or system failure caused an exit from CONLOG and the log had not been recently saved to a logfile. The current log in memory should be written to disk before any exit from CONLOG, and before using the <F7> Suspend to DOS function. After pressing <F8>, you will be prompted for the type of file function you wish to perform. If you choose to write the log file, the entire log in memory will be written to a new file. The name of the file will be: LOGyy.nnn where "yy" is the last two digits of the current year, and "nnn" is a number from 001 to 999. CONLOG automatically searches the current directory and uses the lowest number available. Therefore, for 1989, the first file written would be "LOG89.001", and the fifth file would be "LOG89.005". If you write more than 999 files, the final extension will be "000", and each write will overwrite the last file with that number. You may use the <F7> function to exit to DOS and erase some files. Normally, you will not save more than 999 files, so there should be no need to erase intermediate files until after the contest (unless you get short of disk space). If you choose to read in a log file, you will be prompted to enter the name of the file to read. This should be the most recent log file saved, so that the log will be as up to date as possible. If the log file was created and nothing further was entered after that, then the log will be fully up to date. If you have data currently in memory, you will be warned that it will be lost, and allowed to confirm or abort the read operation. If you choose to recover from BACKUP.LOG, that file will be read and your memory log will be restored. If there is data in memory at present, you will be warned and given the opportunity to confirm or abort the operation. When you will be logging off the contest for an extended period of time, say an hour or more, you should log off with the <F2> key, save the file to disk, and then exit the program using <F10>. Later, execute CONLOG again, and as the first operation, select <F8> and a Read operation on the last file saved. This will restore you to the condition at which you left off. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 25 K. Standby (Screen Saver) CONLOG is a "static" screen program. In other words, much of the information displayed never changes. It is possible to permanently etch information into the phosphor of a CRT. (Check out your bank's "Money Machine" screen to see what I mean!) CONLOG normally won't be used enough to cause this problem, but a feature has been added to help avoid it if you leave the contest for some minutes and don't want to exit CONLOG. Using <F1> to enter command mode, press <F6> to invoke the screen standby. The screen will be blanked except for one line, which reminds you to press the space bar to restore normal operation. L. Invoking DOS from CONLOG It is possible (if you have enough memory) to temporarily exit CONLOG back to the normal DOS prompt, without actually exiting CONLOG. This can be done to quickly check disk space, look at the directory, print a file, or whatever. What can be done is mainly limited by how much free memory is available on your system with CONLOG in place. From the function key menu, press <F7> to suspend CONLOG operation and exit to DOS. If the suspension works, you will get your normal DOS prompt. To return to CONLOG, type "EXIT<enter>" and you will be returned to CONLOG as you left it. If you are "logged into" the contest when invoking DOS, the time you spend in DOS will be added to your total time when you return to CONLOG. If you are going to be in DOS for more than 30 minutes, be sure to log off the contest first, so the time will not continue to accumulate. M. Terminating CONLOG From the command mode, simply press <F10> to quit CONLOG. If you have made any changes to the log since the last time you saved the log, CONLOG will remind you of the fact and ask if you really want to exit without saving the log. In all cases, CONLOG will request confirmation of your decision to exit before the exit actually happens. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 26 N. Using the Notepad Function I don't know how you operate the contest, but when I am "queued up" to work a station, I usually enter as much information as possible before the station works me. Then, I need only enter his QSO number and I'm done. If I decide to move on for awhile, I jot this info down on paper and add the frequency, and then come back later. The "notepad" feature of CONLOG has been added to perform this function electronically. The notepad is 25 "slots" in the computer's memory which can store a station's callsign, precedence, section, check, and an optional frequency notation. Later, this information can be printed out, viewed, or automatically retrieved into the logging screen. The notepad functions are invoked from the special functions menu with the <ALT-F1> key combination. There are three choices on this menu to handle the notepad: F3 Save An Entry to the Notepad F4 Print the Notepad F5 View the Notepad To save an entry in the notepad, first enter the callsign of the station in the logging screen as normal. Then, enter the remainder of the station's data, except his QSO number. It is not necessary to enter all information as long as either the section or check is entered. Precedence, if not entered, defaults to "B". After entering this information, invoke the special functions menu with <ALT-F1> and press <F3>. You will be prompted for a frequency. If you wish, you may enter from 1 to 5 digits representing the kHz of the station. Or, simply press <RETURN> to omit a frequency entry. After the frequency is keyed in, pressing <RETURN> will enter the information into the notepad. If you enter a station into the notepad which is already there, the old information will simply be replaced with the new information. A station will not occupy more than one notepad slot. There are 25 slots in the notepad. If a 26th entry is saved, it replaces the oldest entry in the notepad. To view the items in the notepad, press <F5> in the special functions menu. A window will open in the center of the screen with the first available notepad entry. (This may not actually be the first entry you made in the notepad, however.) Pressing the <SPACE> bar will advance to the next entry, until all have been displayed. When no more entries are available, the window closes. Also, pressing the <ESC> key at any time will terminate the viewing function. Pressing the minus <-> key will delete the currently displayed entry from the notepad. The <F4> key in the special functions menu will cause the entire notepad to be printed out on the printer. The printer logging option from the command menu does not have to be on for this to operate. However, the printer does have to be ready and online. The notepad entries are printed out in order for however many entries are valid. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 27 The most helpful feature of the notepad is its ability to automatically recall information. When a callsign is entered in the logging screen, a duplicate check is, of course, made against the log. If the callsign is not a dupe, then the notepad is searched. If the callsign is found in the notepad, the notepad information is automatically transferred to the logging screen fields, where it may be used as is, or edited as though you had manually entered it. If you do not log the station, the entry remains in the notepad. However, if you now log the station with the <INS> keystroke, then this station is deleted from the notepad automatically, thus freeing up a slot in the notepad for a new entry. The notepad information is not actually valid logging data, but it is nice to preserve it if you exit the program and resume later. The RESUME.LOG file will save the notepad information for later recovery. (See the next stion for details.) O. Resumption of Operations Beginning with Version 1.80, CONLOG incorporates a feature which automatically restores all data when CONLOG is invoked. Upon exiting CONLOG a special file is automatically created, named "RESUME.LOG". This file is NOT, repeat NOT, a text file, and cannot be edited or viewed! The "RESUME.LOG" file contains the following information: Last file number saved Band active when program exited Printer ON/OFF status All active notepad items When CONLOG is run, the RESUME.LOG file is read and the band, printer, and notepad are restored to the conditions existing when CONLOG was exited last. Also, the last log file to be saved is automatically restored. The net effect is to restore operations exactly as they were when the program was last exited. Of course, if the wrong log file is read in, a different one can be re-read with the <F8> function. Alternately, you can erase the RESUME.LOG file before running CONLOG. If the RESUME.LOG file is missing, CONLOG does not attempt any restoration of operations; it just starts anew. IMPORTANT: When starting the contest from the beginning, be sure than no RESUME.LOG file is present! In other words, after completing the CW weekend, erase RESUME.LOG before the Phone weekend. In addition, it is not necessary to save the RESUME.LOG file after the contest is completed. No information of any real value is preserved in that file. It is only for convenience in resuming operations during the contest. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 28 V. DUPSHEET Even though a logging program like CONLOG will positively prevent duplicate contacts, the ARRL still requires a duplicate check sheet for all log entries totaling 200 QSOs or more. However, the ARRL has agreed to accept an alphabetic printout of callsigns, arranged by call area, in lieu of the standard handwritten form they issue. DUPSHEET is a program which prints a duplicate check sheet from your log file. DUPSHEET will not use the BACKUP.LOG file, only a log file which was created with the (W)rite option of <F8> in the CONLOG program. The filename specified must have the last two digits of the year as the last two characters in the basename portion of the filename. Filenames generated by CONLOG are acceptable. If you rename these files, be sure to observe the same basic format: LOG89.007 is O.K. PHONE89.LOG is O.K. SWEEPS.89A is invalid To use, simply invoke DUPSHEET with the name of the log file to use: dupsheet log89.008 Naturally, substitute your actual filename in the example above. All printer configuration information will be retrieved from CONLOG.PRM, which must be available and already established by running INSTCLOG. (See Chapter III.) The printout will be made with call area 0 first, proceeding through call area 9, and then Canada. Within each call area, callsigns will be arranged alphabetically by callsign suffix. Prefixes are ignored for sorting, and this is considered acceptable by the ARRL. To sort by both prefix and suffix would extend the time the sort takes by a very great amount, and for no real purpose. Even a sort of 300 entries on a typical 4.77mHz IBM-XT will take a number of seconds. The larger the file, the longer the sort. BE PATIENT! Just because nothing seems to be happening doesn't mean the program has crashed. If your contacts number into the thousand range, the sort on a standard XT may even take a minute or more. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 29 VI. LOGSHEET The final stage in working the "sweeps" is preparing a log and summary sheet for submission to the ARRL. LOGSHEET is a program which performs this function from your log file. LOGSHEET will not use the BACKUP.LOG file, only a log file which was created with the (W)rite option of <F8> in the CONLOG program. The filename specified must have the last two digits of the year as the last two characters in the basename portion of the filename. Filenames generated by CONLOG are acceptable. If you rename these files, be sure to observe the same basic format: LOG89.007 is O.K. PHONE89.LOG is O.K. SWEEPS.89A is invalid To use, simply invoke LOGSHEET with the name of the log file to use and the word "phone" or "cw" to indicate which mode was worked: logsheet log89.008 phone Naturally, substitute your actual filename and mode in the example above. The filename must be the first parameter and the mode second. All printer configuration information will be retrieved from CONLOG.PRM, which must be available and already established by running INSTCLOG. (See Chapter III.) In addition, LOGSHEET collects all the miscellaneous information entered in CONLOG.PRM to complete the summary and log sheet headings. Basically, there is nothing to do after running LOGSHEET. The logsheets will be printed first, followed by the summary. Just sign and date the summary form where indicated. If you are a multi-op station, you will also need to fill in the callsigns of all operators in the space provided. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 30 VII. File Maintenance A. Saving to Disk While running CONLOG, the <F8> function can be invoked at any time to write out a disk file of the complete log. This should be done as frequently as you see fit. I suggest writing the log every 1 hour or 100 contacts, whichever comes first, but adjust this to your operating conditions. The BACKUP.LOG will always be up to date, but it should be relied upon only as a disaster backup, not as the primary disk image of the log. A current log dump always gives me a "warm, fuzzy feeling", as it should do for you, too. Naturally, this log dump should ALWAYS be done before exiting CONLOG. If you don't, CONLOG will remind you before you are allowed to exit the program. After the contest, use the last dump as the file for creating the log sheets and duplicate check sheets. When they are properly printed out, you can erase all of the earlier log dump files. Don't even bother to save them on a floppy -- only the last file is really valid. If you operate both the cw and phone contests, be sure to save the BACKUP.LOG and LOG??.* files in a separate directory or floppy disk before running the phone weekend. This is very important! If you don't, your phone operation may become appended to, or replace your cw logs! Finally, the RESUME.LOG file is created when CONLOG is exited. It is used for automatic resumption of operations. After the contest is over, erase this file. It will serve no further purpose. B. Replacing and Deleting BACKUP.LOG The BACKUP.LOG file has no further use after the contest is ended and the logs are printed out. At that time, it should be deleted. Since it is no longer needed, there is no point in using up disk space. More importantly, since CONLOG always appends information to any existing BACKUP.LOG, erasing it will insure that it starts fresh for the next contest, or for the phone contest if you have already worked the cw contest. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 31 C. Using the Log Information The log file is mainly used for creating the final printout. However, if you print out the log file as it stands using any convenient means, such as "copy log89.007 prn:", you will find that at the end of the file is a list of all the sections worked and the number of contacts in each section made. This information may be useful to you in future contacts to determine where to direct your beam, what geographical areas you seem to work best, etc. Future plans for CONLOG include statistical compilation of this data indicating the optimum times for each section, busy hours, slack hours, etc. Until then, use this file information as you will to improve your score. Remember, "there's always next year"! CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 32 VIII. SHAREWARE Shareware is reasonably priced "try-before-you-buy" software. You can get trial copies of shareware software for free from anyone who has a copy, or often from bulletin board systems or commercial distributors such as PC-SIG or the Public (Software) Library of Houston. If you use and like the program, then you are obligated to purchase, or "register", the program for a fee usually much lower than a typical commercial program. By registering you will often also receive notice of available upgrades or supplemental programs. Keep in mind that the purchase of a program from a distributor or payment to an online service (such as CompuServe) does NOT constitute registration of the program since the producer of the program does not receive one penny of that payment. Shareware is NOT public domain software, and continued use of a program carries with it the OBLIGATION to purchase the program. The free distribution method is intended only as a means of obtaining a copy to evaluate before purchasing. The CONLOG system is a shareware program. If you use it, please complete the order form at the end of this manual and submit it with your payment. Notice that quantity purchases through a club are eligible for a generous discount! You will receive via return mail a diskette with the latest version of the program and documentation, and will be notified of future program upgrades. Online help is available through CompuServe (74435,1042) or GEnie mail (S.MARGISON). Sorry, but online help is available ONLY to registered users. Help is also available by mail. I will try to answer all letters within 48 hours. Non-registered users must include a SASE for a reply. The degree of help offered to non-registered users is purely discretionary. No phone calls, please. CONLOG may be freely exchanged or given away. However, it may not be included or "bundled" with any software which is sold or is a commercial product without prior permission. No charge may be made for copying or transferring the files. PC Users groups and PD software distributors may charge a nominal fee, PROVIDED permission is requested for distribution. With permission, a complete distribution disk will be submitted with the latest version. CONLOG and its documentation may not be transferred nor exchanged in any modified form. If you really want to "hack" the program or the documentation, by all means do so; but don't give the hacked version to anyone else. I cannot be expected to help others use this program if it is not the same as it was when distributed. Under no circumstances may the copyright notices be altered or removed from the program or this documentation. If you decide not to use CONLOG, then just erase it or pass it on to someone else. If you do use it, please honor your obligation and purchase this product. Inexpensive shareware cannot continue to exist if those who use it continue to treat CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 33 it as a gift, rather than as a product for which the author must receive payment. Shareware used regularly without payment is piracy just as much as illegally copying "Lotus" or any other commercial product. Ignore the claims by some people that shareware, by virtue of its unique distribution method, carries no obligation to the user. These claims are false, and discourage many good programs from remaining as shareware. CONLOG is somewhat unique in that it is useful for only two weekends during the year. What, therefore, constitutes "regular use"? If you try the program out before the contest, that is "trial usage". However, if you actually USE the program DURING THE CONTEST, then you are a "user" and are obligated to purchase. Registering CONLOG after the contest is entirely acceptable. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 34 IX. WARRANTY Oh, this shouldn't be necessary among friends and gentlemen, but it's really the lawyers who run the world and they say we gotta do this: ** CONLOG, its support programs, and this documentation are copyright 1987-89 by Steven E. Margison. ** This program and documentation are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. ** The user of this program and documentation agree to hold the author and/or distributor(s) of this program and documentation harmless for any direct or consequential damages resulting from its use. In other words, "you're on your own!" ** IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. ** MS-DOS is a trademark of MicroSoft Corporation. ** Many other tradenames have been used in this manual, acknowledgement of which may be assumed. CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page 35 APPENDIX A. Screen Layouts (Shown using standard field format) COMMAND MENU SCREEN +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | CALL NR PREC CHECK SECT | | Send QSO # 1 BAND 40 | | | | Time On: Time: 1826Z Total Time: 00:00 | | | | QSO Total: 0 Sections: 0 Score: 0 QSO/Min: 0.0 | | Last Call Logged: | | BAND 80 40 20 15 10 160 Current Avg | | QSOs: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | | TIME: 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 0.0 | | 1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | Co| COMMAND MENU |r | | EM|F1 Exit To Logging Mode F6 Screen Standby |e | | Me|F2 Log On & Off --> OFF F7 Suspend to DOS |t | | NH|F3 Delete An Entry F8 File Functions |n | | RI|F4 Edit An Entry F9 Printer Toggle --> OFF |sk | | Vt|F5 Select Band F10 Exit Program |ta | | WM| Make function selection... | | | | |T | | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | PR - USVI Pac | +----------<F1> Command Menu---------------<Alt-F1> Special Functions----------+ Main Logging Screen +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | CALL NR PREC CHECK SECT | | Send QSO # 1 BAND 40 | | | | Time On: 1826Z Time: 1826Z Total Time: 00:00 | | | | QSO Total: 0 Sections: 0 Score: 0 QSO/Min: 0.0 | | Last Call Logged: | | BAND 80 40 20 15 10 160 Current Avg | | QSOs: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | | TIME: 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 0.0 | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 VE | | Conn ENY EPa Ala Ark EBay Ariz Mich Ill Colo Mar | | EMass NLI Del Ga La Los Ida Ohio Ind Iowa Que | | Me NNJ MDC Ky Miss Org Mont WVa Wisc Kans Ont | | NH SNJ WPa NC NMex SBar Nev Minn Man | | RI WNY NFla NTex SCV Oreg Mo Sask | | Vt SC Okla SDgo Utah Nebr Alta | | WMass SFla STex SF Wash NDak BC | | Tenn WTex SJV Wyo SDak NWT | | Va SV Alask | | PR - USVI Pac | +----------<F1> Command Menu---------------<Alt-F1> Special Functions----------+ CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page A-1 Main Logging Screen with Entry Pending +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | CALL WA9DRE NR 12 PREC B CHECK 62 SECT ILL | | Send QSO # 1 BAND 40 | | | | Time On: 1826Z Time: 1826Z Total Time: 00:00 | | | | QSO Total: 0 Sections: 0 Score: 0 QSO/Min: 0.0 | | Last Call Logged: | | BAND 80 40 20 15 10 160 Current Avg | | QSOs: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | | TIME: 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 0.0 | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 VE | | Conn ENY EPa Ala Ark EBay Ariz Mich Ill Colo Mar | | EMass NLI Del Ga La Los Ida Ohio Ind Iowa Que | | Me NNJ MDC Ky Miss Org Mont WVa Wisc Kans Ont | | NH SNJ WPa NC NMex SBar Nev Minn Man | | RI WNY NFla NTex SCV Oreg Mo Sask | | Vt SC Okla SDgo Utah Nebr Alta | | WMass SFla STex SF Wash NDak BC | | Tenn WTex SJV Wyo SDak NWT | | Va SV Alask | | PR - USVI Pac | +----------<F1> Command Menu---------------<Alt-F1> Special Functions----------+ Prompt to confirm killing of pending entry +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Kill current entry? (y/n) | | CALL WA9DRE NR 12 PREC B CHECK 62 SECT ILL | | Send QSO # 1 BAND 40 | | | | Time On: 1826Z Time: 1827Z Total Time: 00:01 | | | | QSO Total: 0 Sections: 0 Score: 0 QSO/Min: 0.0 | | Last Call Logged: | | BAND 80 40 20 15 10 160 Current Avg | | QSOs: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | | TIME: 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 0.0 | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 VE | | Conn ENY EPa Ala Ark EBay Ariz Mich Ill Colo Mar | | EMass NLI Del Ga La Los Ida Ohio Ind Iowa Que | | Me NNJ MDC Ky Miss Org Mont WVa Wisc Kans Ont | | NH SNJ WPa NC NMex SBar Nev Minn Man | | RI WNY NFla NTex SCV Oreg Mo Sask | | Vt SC Okla SDgo Utah Nebr Alta | | WMass SFla STex SF Wash NDak BC | | Tenn WTex SJV Wyo SDak NWT | | Va SV Alask | | PR - USVI Pac | +----------<F1> Command Menu---------------<Alt-F1> Special Functions----------+ CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page A-2 Main Menu with Several Contacts Made +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | CALL NR PREC CHECK SECT | | Send QSO # 6 BAND 20 | | | | Time On: 1826Z Time: 1834Z Total Time: 00:08 | | | | QSO Total: 5 Sections: 5 Score: 50 QSO/Min: 1.0+ | | Last Call Logged: K9XXX | | BAND 80 40 20 15 10 160 Current Avg | | QSOs: 0 2 3 0 0 0 3 | | TIME: 00:00 00:05 00:03 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:03 1.0+ | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 VE | | Conn ENY EPa Ala Ark EBay Ariz Mich Ill Colo Mar | | EMass NLI Del Ga La Los Ida Ohio Ind Iowa Que | | Me NNJ MDC Ky Miss Org Mont WVa Wisc Kans Ont | | NH SNJ WPa NC NMex SBar Nev Minn Man | | RI WNY NFla NTex SCV Oreg Mo Sask | | Vt SC Okla SDgo Utah Nebr Alta | | WMass SFla STex SF Wash NDak BC | | Tenn WTex SJV Wyo SDak NWT | | Va SV Alask | | PR - USVI Pac | +----------<F1> Command Menu---------------<Alt-F1> Special Functions----------+ Error window for invalid section name (Short section names shown) +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | CALL WA9DRE NR 12 PREC B CHECK 62 SECT ILM | | Send QSO # 1 BAND 40 | | | | Time On: 1826Z Time: 1827Z Total Time: 00:01 | | | | QSO Total: 0 Sections: 0 Score: 0 QSO/Min: 0.0 | | Last Call Logged: | | BAND 80 40 20 15 10 160 Current Avg | | QSOs: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | | TIME: 00:00 00:02 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:02 0.0 | | 1 2 3 +-----------------ERROR----------------+ 0 VE | | CT ENY EPA| |L CO MAR | | EMA NLI DE | INVALID SECTION NAME |N IA PQ | | ME NNJ MDC| |I KS ON | | NH SNJ WPA+--------------------------------------+ MN MB | | RI WNY NFL NTX SCV OR MO SK | | VT SC OK SDG UT NE AB | | WMA SFL STX SF EW ND BC | | TN WTX SJV WW SD NWT | | VA SV WY | | PR - VI PAC AK | +----------<F1> Command Menu---------------<Alt-F1> Special Functions----------+ CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page A-3 Special Functions Menu Screen +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | CALL NR PREC CHECK SECT | | Send QSO # 1 BAND 40 | | | | Time On: 1826Z Time: 1826Z Total Time: 00:00 | | | | QSO Total: 0 Sections: 0 Score: 0 QSO/Min: 0.0 | | Last Call Logged: | | BAND 80 40 20 15 10 160 Current Avg | | QSOs: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | | TIME: 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 0.0 | | 1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | Co| SPECIAL FUNCTION MENU |r | | EM|F1 Exit To Logging Mode F6 (future use) |e | | Me|F2 Exit to Command Menu F7 (future use) |t | | NH|F3 Save Entry to Notepad F8 (future use) |n | | RI|F4 Send Notepad to Printer F9 (future use) |sk | | Vt|F5 View Notepad F10 (future use) |ta | | WM| Make function selection... | | | | |T | | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | PR - USVI Pac | +----------<F1> Command Menu---------------<Alt-F1> Special Functions----------+ Notepad Viewing Window +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | CALL NR PREC CHECK SECT | | Send QSO # 1 BAND 40 | | | | Time On: 1826Z Time: 1828Z Total Time: 00:02 | | | | QSO Total: 0 Sections: 0 Score: 0 QSO/Min: 0.0 | | Last Call Logged: | | BAND 80 40 20 15 10 160 Current Avg | | QSOs+--------------VIEW NOTEPAD--------------+ 0 | | TIME| |0:00 0.0 | | 1 +--------------| WA9DRE Ill B 62 14275 kHz |------------+ | | Co| | | |r | | EM|F1 Exit To Log| <space> Scroll <ESC> Quit <-> Delete | |e | | Me|F2 Exit to Com| | |t | | NH|F3 Save Entry +----------------------------------------+ |n | | RI|F4 Send Notepad to Printer F9 (future use) |sk | | Vt|F5 View Notepad F10 (future use) |ta | | WM| Make function selection... | | | | |T | | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | PR - USVI Pac | +----------<F1> Command Menu---------------<Alt-F1> Special Functions----------+ CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page A-4 Short Section Names Format +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | CALL NR PREC CHECK SECT | | Send QSO # 1 BAND 40 | | | | Time On: 1826Z Time: 1826Z Total Time: 00:00 | | | | QSO Total: 0 Sections: 0 Score: 0 QSO/Min: 0.0 | | Last Call Logged: | | BAND 80 40 20 15 10 160 Current Avg | | QSOs: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 | | TIME: 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 00:00 0.0 | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 VE | | CT ENY EPA AL AR EB AZ MI IL CO MAR | | EMA NLI DE GA LA LAX ID OH IN IA PQ | | ME NNJ MDC KY MS ORG MT WV WI KS ON | | NH SNJ WPA NC NM SB NV MN MB | | RI WNY NFL NTX SCV OR MO SK | | VT SC OK SDG UT NE AB | | WMA SFL STX SF EW ND BC | | TN WTX SJV WW SD NWT | | VA SV WY | | PR - VI PAC AK | +----------<F1> Command Menu---------------<Alt-F1> Special Functions----------+ CONLOG November Sweepstakes Logging System Page A-5 APPENDIX B. Registration Form ====================================================================== SOFTWARE REGISTRATION FORM AND ORDER ====================================================================== This form may be photocopied or printed out. PRODUCT: --------- CONLOG SWEEPSTAKES SYSTEM V1.80 -------------- Quantity: Amount: _________ Standard Registrations $20.00 $______ (Payment in US Dollars ONLY) If ordering 3 or more copies, discount the price by 20% ($4.00) per copy LESS DISCOUNT $______ (Quantity orders to one shipping address. However, for update purposes, please send individual names and addresses of registrants.) TOTAL ENCLOSED: $______ If you already have this program, from where was it obtained? [ ]CompuServe [ ]Friend [ ]Employer [ ]BBS:__________________ Version___________ Serial No._______________ Payment is by check[ ] or money order[ ] (Sorry - no COD or charges) NAME _____________________________________CALL: ____________ ADDRESS ____________________________________________________ CITY _______________________________________________________ STATE___________________________ ZIP _______________________ ====================================================================== Send completed form and payment to: Steven E. Margison, WA9DRE 124 Sixth Street Downers Grove, IL, 60515