[MacLoggerContest] MacLoggerDX Contest panel

[David Ferrington, M0XDF]

Thanks for taking the time to think about it. I see my role as one of  
correlating requests, trying to put them in some form of priority and  
with a 'really must have', down to a 'would be nice but..' type  
structure so Don has something he can work towards and not have to  
wade through all the ideas etc. So the more input we get here, the  
more likely we are to have something Don can implement.

I will look back through the archives of this reflector to remind  
myself of previous ideas as well.

I agree, I don't think MLDX will ever replace a contest specific  
logging program and I don't think that is what Don wants to do either.
I think the number of contest formats/rules out there will make it  
difficult to achieve that without the contest part taking over MLDX  
and that's not what we want. We should bear in mind Cab-Converter and  
it's value as the go-between MLDX and Cabrillo.

Looking for far more input on this list please.
73 de M0XDF
-- 
Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons,
For you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

On 2 Nov 2009, at 14:46, Rich Seifert wrote:


> At 10:03 AM -0500 11/1/09, Don Agro wrote:

>> We have had a few requests for changes to the Contest Panel and  

>> would like to invite you to share your experiences/frustrations  

>> with the Contest Panel and Contest Helper in actual contests.

>>

>> David Ferrington (M0XDF) has generously volunteered to moderate  

>> this discussion and to pass on the results so that they can be  

>> implemented in the next release of MacLoggerDX V5.

>>

>> David is an avid contester has been a Ham since 2003 and passed his  

>> Advanced in the U.K. in 2006.

>>

>> Any suggestions/complaints regarding the Contest panel of the  

>> Contest Helper are welcome.

>>

>

> I am also an avid contester, and for the most part have sort of  

> "given up" on using MLDX except in the most "casual" of contest  

> operations. That said, I appreciate Don and David re-opening the  

> discussion forum on this topic.

>

> As has been said here before, I don't think anyone is proposing that  

> MLDX be expanded to become a "full featured" contest logger, as that  

> would really be a digression from its core of users (and the core of  

> its technology). The range of contest exchanges, Cabrillo formats,  

> context checking, etc. is simply enormous and constantly changing.

>

> I plan to take some time to *think* about what could reasonably done  

> within the framework of MLDX to improve its "casual" contest  

> capabilities, and will post again when I have organized my thoughts.  

> A few things come immediately to mind, however:

>

> -Force all text to uppercase, both in the callsign entry and  

> TXSTRING fields.

>

> -Do "dupe" checking "on the fly", i.e., don't require hitting TAB or  

> <CR> before giving an indication that a station has been worked  

> before. Yes, this may give some intermediate "false dupes" when, for  

> example, you have already worked KE1B and now are working KE1BYL,  

> but that's OK because the operator knows that he is still entering  

> data.

>

> -In the same vein, give a BIG BOLD indication of a dupe, not just a  

> listing of a call in ordinary text in the Contest Helper table. (By  

> the way, this suggestion and the previous one reflect the way Chen  

> does it in cocoaModem.)

>

> -Make the contest keyer (both CW and voice) run off of the Function  

> Keys or some similar, one-touch operation. Yes, I know that I can  

> define a Function Key to perform any menu operation under OS X, but  

> that would require I change the key definition every time I change  

> the keyer contents (since the "menu item" then changes). Also, using  

> OS X-style function keys today requires an extra <CR> to actually  

> trigger the keyer to send.

>

> I will post again when I have had time to think about this more.  

> Thanks for opening the discussion.

> -- 

>

> --

> Rich Seifert                    Networks and Communications Consulting

> rich at richseifert.com            21885 Bear Creek Way

> (408) 395-5700                  Los Gatos, CA 95033

> (408) 228-0803 FAX

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