Completed Yaesu FT-847 radio support. Thanks GØDVJ.
Added Yaesu FT-1000 radio support. Thanks GØDVJ (coding), K7GQ (testing).
The Partials window, QSO Information window, Summary window, and Morse Keyboard window now hide when SkookumLogger isn't the active application.’
Changed the horizontal divider style in the DXSpider window and made the to-Spider text entry box (at the bottom of the window) the first responder. That means: when you first open the window, keystrokes will be collected by the to-Spider text box.
Updated Help, in particular Radio Settings, with assistance from GØDVJ.
Made Green Heron rotator controller serial port communications startup more robust. Thanks N7DRK. Dave also reports that SkookumLogger doesn't work with the Green Heron USB port.
Added Partner command to the Log menu, and Gab and Frequencies commands to the Windows menu. They are disabled unless the Join as Station Number item is checked in the CT group in General Preferences. When that item is checked, SkookumLogger can, optionally, act as the time standard for CT/DOS computers, and can interconnect CT/DOS and DXSpider. These features are specific to the CT/DOS network at KC1XX, although they also work with multiple instances of SkookumLogger — on different computers interconnected via ethernet with certain IPs. More CT multi-transmitter (but not SO2R) features to come, but they won't be documented unless somebody really cares.
This corner of SkookumLogger will have two roles. First, it will bridge the KC1XX computers to the internet, with a modest bit of filtering — discarding band-edge spots for example. Second, it will (perhaps) integrate SkookumLogger into the KC1XX network as a full-fledged contesting application, without disrupting the existing 13 computers.
The Compensation field in WinKeyer Preferences was setting First Extension instead of Keying Compensation.
Toggling the WinKeyer connection off, then on again in the Log window was causing a sequence of incorrect alerts.
Unhelpful alerts appeared at startup when a serial port wasn't defined for either radio or WinKeyer, resulting in duplicate Help menus and no Log window. Those alerts have been banished.
The font for the text panes in the DXSpider window was Bitstream Vera Sans Mono. When that font wasn't installed, SkookumLogger defaulted to a proportional typeface, which looked awful. Changed the font to Monaco.
Modified the AgSocket framework to avoid accessing a private ivar.
Added support for Yaesu FT100, FT847 radios, provided by G0DVJ.
Added support for IOTA contest.
Added support for Salmon Run contest (in Washington).
For paper logging, added seconds to UTC picker, and commands for bumping minutes and seconds from the keyboard.
Updated in-built Countries and SCP databases.
Added Green Heron rotator controller support. Choose the Log->Set Rotator from QSO Information (Control-F10) command to set the rotator azimuth to the bearing for the call in the His Call field. The command is disabled unless you have connected to a rotator controller in General Preferences.
When the radio band changes, the band map for the new band is moved in front of other band maps if it is open.
When downloading of a Countries or SCP database file completes, an alert tells you the new version. If a download fails, another alert tells you why (not tested).
Added something I believe to be similar to the sought-after "ESM" -- whatever that is. The Morse->Magic Message (F14) command does this:
The concept is that you keep punching the same key as you make QSOs and SL just does the Right Thing. Remember, you can change the key equivalents for commands in your keyboard system preferences. It's not possible to bind to the bare return key, to option-enter, or to shift-enter without conflicting with standard Mac OS X behavior, so I didn't name this command "enter sends message" -- the "enter" key is named return anyway :-)
Internal Changes
Revamped ContestRules class and its subclasses. ContestRules now holds a dictionary of subclasses, like the RadioController class, for easier extension. Subclasses now define their Cabrillo contest name.
In the Log Settings sheet, the address and email fields may now be empty.
In the Log window, the search field popup menu now includes the Mode column.
In the Log window, the current radio mode is now displayed to the left of the tx frequency at the bottom of the window. Thanks GØDVJ.
Commands in the Radio menu that are not implemented by the driver for the current radio are now disabled.
Rockingham county was mispelled in the NEQP database.
Cabrillo export was writing incorrect RS(T) fields for mixed-mode logs.
Many repairs to the initial FT2000 radio driver. Thanks GØDVJ.
WinKeyer sidetone timing was distorted when sending with paddle. Thanks GØDVJ.
Key binding for Radio->VFOs->Reverse item was missing.
Omni VII support. The radio is expected to be in RADIO MODE, and the SERIAL IF menu item is expected to be set to ONMI-VII. Thanks K6LE.
Embed current cty.dat: version 20090604.
Added tooltips to the multiline fields in the Log Settings sheet and Me preferences pane, explaining how to start a new line (option-return).
Fixed lost display of cty.dat version at the bottom of the QSO Information window.
Changed handling of question marks in the His Call field. The example takes about 4 seconds on my development machine, so you may find this facility sometimes gets in your way. See Partials Window for details. Blame (errr, thanks) W2RU.
Added ICOM radio support. The Radio Types menu lists IC-7700, IC-7000, and IC-56 ProIII. If you have a different model, try setting its CI-V address to 0x74, 0x70, or 0x6E. Thanks N7DRK.
Don't attempt to parse prefix out of call signs shorter than 3 characters; result is non-responsive UI. Thanks KH6CW.
Enable entering & character in Exchange messages. Duh! You can enter the character in any message, but it is ignored except in F2 F6 F7 F8. Thanks KH6CW.
Fixed a bug that prevented play of DVR messages. Thanks N7DRK.
Added CATEGORY-OVERLAY in Cabrillo export. Thanks KH6CW.
The new, improved handling of sent info in 0.6.5 was improperly filling the sent exchange field of each QSO in the log. See Log Settings Sheet for details. Thanks KH6CW.
Now allow empty Club Name field in the Log Settings Sheet.
Automatically determine K3 baud rate by trying every possibility until either the choices are exhausted or the radio responds. Thanks W6FB, who pointed out that 38400 is not a good choice for all users.
Cabrillo and ADIF exported files are now named so that the files are recognized as plain text files, readable by, for example, TextEdit. Thanks AB7R.
Added FT2000 radio type. Remains to be tested. Thanks GØDVJ.
Significant updating in the Help document, but it is already out of date again.
Removed contest-specific automatic RST in the sent exchange. Now, use the caret (^) character as a proxy for RST in the Sent Info Template (in the Log Settings sheet). This change allows prepending other text before RST, for exchanges like "TU 5NN 31". Thanks KH6CW.
Allow ? characters in the His Call field. The check partial function is run with the largest substring after subdividing the field content with the question mark as the delimiter. Thanks KH6CW.
Simplified RadioController instantiation of its radio ivar using a dictionary of class objects with RadioType as key.
Added initWithRadioType designated initializer to RadioMethods category (required). Implementations can use the radioType argument for model-specific code branches.
Removed half-baked code related to radio audio routing. It wasn't working anyway.
When the Log Settings Sheet is open, pressing the return key now triggers the OK button.
When the Sent Info Template field was cleared out (so that the exchange message is simply RST), SL wouldn't send the RST and would refuse to save the Log.
Renamed Spot item in the Radio menu to Toggle Spot Tone.
Changed default DXSpider login call to empty, so that (future) SL users won't bump me off K1EA whilst exploring SL.
Refactored radio-related code to simplify adding new radio types.
Completely rebuilt the MainMenu.xib resource file. Something about the previous version was causing sporadic exceptions deep in the Apple frameworks. I was able to cause the exceptions here by choosing the Open Recent item in the File menu; now I can't. I believe this has fixed the crasher reported by AB7R. Thanks to Greg for patiently testing things.
Reworked how default values are established for preferences, and cause them to be defined very early in SL startup. Previously, sporadic strange behavior (not crashes) could happen if code tried to use a preference value that hadn't yet been defined.
Context (popup) menus were not working in the Nodes and Commands tables in the DXSpider preference pane. Thanks AB7R.
Revised the function key assignments again, to assist those lacking keys above F12. Now, F1 through F10 do various combinations of messages, with His Call and Exchange on F9 and Ack and Logit on F10. Thanks AB7R.
Change color of transmit frequency label (TX:) to yellow when the main receive frequency is different from the transmit frequency.
Revamped keyboard shortcuts. Compromise among goals of maximum use of function keys with modifiers to minimize collisions with Mac OS X, similarity with CT, most-frequently-used commands bound to function keys without modifiers, consistency. Example of the latter: all commands that Show <something) use the option key as modifier. Also reworded some of the command names to make their effect more transparent, and to better conform with Apple HIG. Thanks W2RU and KH6CW for feedback which helped shape these changes.
Allow forward slash character in received exchange.
Reworked logic surrounding Paper Logging Mode to remove ambiguity about the state of the mode across multiple logs. Disable the Focus UTC Picker command when the mode is not active.
Remove sqlite and xml log file format options. They were broken anyway.
Changed "Send Immediately" command to "Keyboard Hold Mode" and added to the Morse menu. It was previously only accessible via a checkbox in the Morse Keyboard window.
Removed Send Serial and Send Previous Serial commands. Modified Exchange (F2) so that when the His Call field is empty, the previous serial number is sent. Thanks KH6CW.
Refined PowerMate behavior. For VFO A, use step size of 20 Hz in CW and 50 Hz in SSB (was 10 Hz in both modes). Set the repeat rate near 5 in PowerMate preference pane to minimize tuning runaway.
Edits in the Call and Rcvd columns of the QSO table are now automatically formatted with the same rules as applied to the corresponding QSO entry fields. That means only letters, numbers, and forward-slash (and space in the Rcvd field) are accepted. Anything else is discarded, and letters are uppercased. Thanks W2RU.
Changed RIT/XIT Clear to also set RIT on and XIT off.Embedded cty.dat VER20090519.
Fixed initialization order bug that affected bearing and distance computations when the cty.dat file was loaded.
Fixed lost connections that resulted in non-functional Announce Spot, Toggle Spot/Run, and Define Run commands.
Added General Logging "contest" type. Determines multiplier from callsign using the cty.dat ARRL list. New multiplier rule: once per band-mode. Duplicate QSO rule: once per band-mode. All QSOs and received exchanges are valid. Thanks KH6CW.
Added menu items for incrementing/decrementing VFO B. But they increment VFO A instead; appears to be a K3 firmware bug; TBD.
Added Audio Routing submenu to Radio menu, with items "Main Left Sub Right", "Main Both Sub Right", "Main Left Sub Both", "Sub Both". Eventually disabled it. Uses K3 direct DSP commands that aren't documented. Some of the choices can potentially damage the radio if you don't have the right firmware to protect against things like pumping all the audio output into a channel that happens to be shorted by a mono speaker plug.
Added display of radio frequency in the status bar at the bottom of the Log window. Thinking about a Split mode gumdrop. Also thinking about setting radio frequencies by typing into those displays (it's too awkward to do in contests I think).
Repaired dorked link on the web site. Thanks KH6CW.
Adjusted dorked layout in Log window.
Fiddled with UTC Picker in Paper Logging mode, trying to find a way to move keyboard focus without using mouse. Couldn't make tab key do it; defined shortcut.
Cleaned up radio mode-handling code, renamed menu items.
Separate submenus for VFO frequency control and RIT/XIT frequency control, in case someone is nuts enough to want to use two PowerMate knobs.
Fixed message editing funkiness. Cursor was jumping to end of string on each keystroke. Thanks KH6CW.
Show and control radio mode with a new Mode submenu in the Radio menu. Supports only CW and SSB modes, the rest are displayed as "Other" and cannot be set. Changing modes sets both Main and Sub.
Toggle K3 SPOT on and off with the Spot command in the Radio menu, keyboard shortcut option-command-home.
Control radio frequency with new commands in the Radio menu. There are four commands and two frequency control modes. In the normal mode, the commands control RIT/XIT:
Keyboard shortcuts are:
The 10 Hz step size is determined by the K3 command set; I can't change it. Holding down the command shortcut keys for Up and Down smoothly "tunes" the radio frequency. The general application I have in mind is tuning around near a run frequency with Up and Down. Clear then quickly puts the receiver back on the transmit frequency. If a lid moves too close, use Up/Down to zerobeat him, Swap to transmit there and tell him to go away, then Swap and Clear to get back to work.
These commands are really sweet when driven by a Griffin Power Mate. They all seem to work while transmitting, without hosing the CW.
The Paper Logging Mode command in the Log menu unhides a date picker and a time picker in the active log window. The contents of these pickers then determine the UTC for each QSO that you add to the log. Frequencies and mode are still taken from the radio. This mode is intended to support converting non-electronic logs into Cabrillo files, by volunteers assisting various contest sponsors. Thanks WA1Z.
Tune mode wasn't entering tune the first time it was chosen, and the checkmark was then out of sync with the true state.
Handling of radio state when entering sleep mode was broken.
This release involves massive changes to the code base. Please let me know if you find things that don't seem to be working as they should.
Introduced a brand new Preferences window, with modern Mac OS X style. Relocated Keyer Settings items to a new WinKeyer Preferences pane, Radio Settings to the General pane, and the Messages items from the Log Settings sheet to a new Messages Preferences pane.
Reduced the number of CW messages to eight, with the first five having unchangeable roles. All messages are now global except F2 and F5, which depend on the currently active log.
The F2 message is defined by the Sent Info Template item in the Log Settings sheet. SL will automatically prepend the signal report depending on the contest type. SL will substitute the current serial number of the active log at the time the function key is pressed in place of the # symbol in the Sent Info Template.
The F5 message is determined by the content of the His Call field of the active log. This message is sent one character at a time, so you can start the message before completing His Call text entry.
Messages are defined in the Messages pane of the Preferences window. Text typed into the message definition fields is automatically converted to uppercase, and characters that SL doesn't know how to convert to Morse code are ignored. Edits in these fields take effect immediately, so you can punch the corresponding function key to hear them. You can change the label for three of the messages; these labels show up in SL's Morse menu.
Added two new "messages." Shift-F2 sends the current serial number. Option-F2 sends the previous serial number. In each case, the serial number is determined by the currently active log.
Tapping one of the four buttons on the WinKeyer USB now does the same thing as the corresponding first four function keys. For example, the first button plays the CQ message, using the WinKeyer or the K3 DVR depending on the radio's mode.
Changed the way SL interacts with WinKeyer USB so that CW messages continue to play when SL isn't the active application. You can even change the CW speed (twirl the pot) while SL isn't active.
WinKeyer USB v22 properly deals with Mac OS X sleep mode, so SL no longer hacks around the bad behavior of earlier versions. If you find the WinKeyer non-responsive, try disconnecting and reconnecting.
Changed cut serial numbers rules to: (1) Always send at least three digits; (2) Send leading zeros as T. The previous elaborate rule was over the top. Thanks KH6CW.
Cleaned up SL handling of "special" Morse characters, using the WinKeyer Merge function to redefine two that WinKeyer translates incorrectly (semicolon and colon), and to add four more that WinKeyer doesn't translate (grave accent becomes eight dits, exclamation, percent becomes AA, and underscore). There is now only one special SL message symbol, #, which SL recognizes only in the F2 message.
Simplified the user interface for radio and WinKeyer serial com. There are two popup menus in the General pane of the Preferences window, listing candidate serial port names for the two types of devices. Choose one and SL will immediately try to use it. If it fails, SL displays an alert explaining why and sets the choice to None. Otherwise you are done. SL remembers the choice, so you only have to do this once.
The port names aren't very helpful if you have a lot of serial ports on your computer. Try this: quit SL, unplug the USB cable, start SL, open the General pane of the Preferences window, then plug in the USB cable. SL will notice the added serial port and ask you if you want to use it for a WinKeyer or a radio, so you don't have to know the serial port name ahead of time.
Added checkboxes for Radio and WinKeyer connection status at the bottom of the log window. These show you at a glance whether or not SL is connected to the respective devices You can uncheck/check them to disable/enable serial com.
Tapping the escape key with focus in the Morse Keyboard window was aborting sending, clearing the text field, and closing the window. Now it only stops sending. Type a character to resume sending. Close the window with the standard Close command (command-W). Use the standard text editing commands to clear the text field; for example, command-A, delete. F15 still toggles Keyboard mode, opening the window if needed but not closing it. The backslash key will enter Keyboard mode, but does not return from that mode.
Changed all secondary SL windows so that they do not vanish when SL isn't active, and they do obey standard window layering behavior. Affected windows: Partials, QSO Information, Summary, Morse Keyboard, Band Maps. Thanks KH6CW.
Removed hacked-in support for WinKeyers embedded in microHAM devices. SL no longer requires the W7AY µH Router application.
The RST-stripping code used to prepare Cabrillo and ADIF records was too aggressive, corrupting serial numbers like 595. Fixed. Thanks KH6CW.
Cabrillo export was choking on multi-line addresses where an unexpected (non-ascii) line separator was present. Fixed. Thanks KH6CW.
Edits in many text entry fields were not taking effect unless you remembered to "commit" the edit by pressing return or moving focus away from the field. Fixed many of them; please let me know if you find one that is still braindead.