The next major release of SkookumLogger may not be able to open existing log files due to extensive changes in internal data structures. Let me know right away if this will be a show-stopper for you.
Note that my objectives for SkookumLogger focus on operating a contest and preparing the (Cabrillo) report for the contest sponsor. SkookumLogger does not, and likely never will, provide post-contest analyses that so consume us between events. If anyone wants to create their own analysis software, there are several options:
The default folder for the Save dialog when exporting now has standard Mac OS X behavior: it is set to the folder selected when the Save dialog was last opened. Before it was unconditionally set to your home folder. Thanks GØDVJ.
Updated mode support in Kenwood radio module. Thanks JH5GHM.
Internet connections (DX Cluster, Reverse Beacon Network) are now disconnected if the computer enters sleep mode, and reconnected when the computer awakes. In general though, you should not allow your computer to sleep while operating a contest, and it is senseless to leave SkookumLogger running when you aren’t operating a contest.
Corrected serial port speed for K2 radio module. Thanks HB9CEY.
If you unplugged the USB cable to your Winkeyer while it was connected, your computer would probably lock up, requiring a power-cycle to reboot. I’ve fixed this one, but please, please, don’t do risky things like that and expect me to devote a lot of time to finding ways to prevent damage. Thanks JH5GHM.
The target location dot on the Great Circle map is now positioned at the location of the call in the focused well when switching between data entry wells.
Cleaned up issues associated with the Log > Insert In Activity function.
Cleaned up issues associated with assigning time-stamps to internet announcements.
Log utility windows, such as the Score window, were not brought to the front by their Show commands after the first time. Thanks JH5GHM.
Shift-double-click on an activity table row (to stuff a spot in the current log’s activity table well) no longer interrupts Morse message sending. Thanks GØDVJ.
Do not set radio mode from activity when pouncing. An activity’s mode is set from the radio mode at the time the activity is created and may be wrong in mixed-mode contests. Thanks GØDVJ.
The “Insert in Activity Table clears log entry fields” logging preference wasn’t functional; inserts were always clearing.
The “Search QSO Data Entry well” shall henceforth be known as the “Pounce QSO Data Entry well” to avoid confusion with the Log window’s search field. The fields in the Pounce well are set up when you grab an entry in an Activity table, which is one way to do “search-and-pounce” contesting.
The CQ160 algorithm for guessing VE provinces from callsigns has been migrated to the ARRL DX (DX Side) contest.
The test for whether or not a QSO might be a multiplier now checks that the mode of the QSO matches the log’s category mode, except when the category mode is Mixed.
Zero-point QSOs were not be identified in the ARRL DX Contest, DX side. Thanks GØDVJ.
Zero-value QSOs were not being labeled with the “Worked Before” font and color in the ARRL DX Contest.
Logging of badly-formatted DX announcements has been turned off in the release build.
Saving and reloading of activity tables has been turned off in the release build.
SkookumLogger was trying too hard to detect when a connected serial device stopped responding, resulting in spurious “device stalled” alerts and sometimes hanging the application as well. Now, there is no read timeout detection. If you do something like turn a connected radio off (but don’t do that!), then back on, SkookumLogger will not complain, and will quietly resume communication with the radio.
Previously, SkookumLogger would, at startup, attempt to connect to serial devices (radio, keyer, rotator, amplifier) that had serial ports assigned. Now, SkookumLogger records which devices are connected when it quits, and restores only those connections at startup. The same applies when the computer sleeps and wakes up while SkookumLogger is running.
The Type and Port popup menus in the Serial preferences pane are disabled when a device is connected (also indicated by Disconnect as the title of the Connect button), because it is not safe to change them while a device is in use. Some mistakes in managing the disable states have been corrected. Note that there may be a delay of one second or so between pressing Disconnect and re-enabling of the popup menus, while SkookumLogger cleanly shuts down serial communications. This delay is also present when you quit SkookumLogger.
The Port popup menus in Serial preferences have been made wider to show all of a typical port name. Thanks W2RU.
When a USB-serial device was plugged in, SkookumLogger offered to use the added port for either the radio or the Winkeyer. That facility is now generalized to each of the four kinds of serial devices supported by SkookumLogger. Note that this feature will not allow you to change the port for a connected device, and does not press the Connect button for you.
Skimmer and DX Cluster preferences have been merged into a new preference pane named Internet. Quite a bit of duplicate code has been eliminated. The editors for the list of DX Cluster nodes and for commands have been removed.
When you tabbed into a report field, then used spacebar to navigate out without first deselecting the strength digit, the strength digit was replaced by a space. Now, yet another freaky override of standard Mac OS X text editing behavior restores the strength digit to 9 when it appears to have been lost. Thanks GØDVJ.
Three RSGB contests, 2mAFS, 70cmAFS, and UKAC, were incorrectly determining Maidenhead locators. Thanks GØDVJ.
Added Yaesu FT-817 radio support by GØDVJ. Not tested, so not considered a “new feature.”
The truncated log created by Log > Reset wasn’t being automatically saved. If you closed the log or quit SkookumLogger without logging anything, the deleted QSOs reappeared when you reopened the log. Thanks GØDVJ.
The non-functional printing-related items in the File menu have been removed.
The log window height no longer grows when you reopen a log that had been saved with the search well expanded. Thanks WD7K.
Closing the Morse keyboard window didn’t always transfer keyboard focus back to the appropriate log data entry text item.
The repeat interval for beacon CQs was being handled incorrectly. It now applies for the F1 message shown in your log’s Morse Message editor instead of the default F1 message in Messages preferences. The CQ Message Repeat Interval value in Messages preferences is the interval between the end of one message play and the beginning of the next play. Thanks GØDVJ.
The logic for distinguishing activities that are needed QSOs now labels zero-point QSOs as “Worked Before” unless they are multipliers. Thanks GØDVJ.
I’m struggling to deal with not-normal conditions, mostly associated with USB-serial devices. For example, I try to handle a device-unplug nicely, by posting an alert identifying which port was unplugged and advising you not to do that while the port is in use. That alert dialog blocks other activity in SkookumLogger, such as updating the content of the Skimmer window when you have it open and connected to Reverse Beacon Network. If you don’t close the alert rather promptly, there will be a possibly-substantial delay when you do close it while SkookumLogger catches up, resulting the SPOD (spinning pizza of death) and an apparent hang. Please try to avoid getting into these circumstances by not deliberately doing things that disrupt USB-serial communications.
For what it is worth, in another project, simply trying to start communicating with a USB-serial-based device using certain otherwise-functional USB ports causes kernel panics. Perhaps we’re closer to the bleeding edge than we’d like.
This is a major milestone, reached with the considerable assistance of GØDVJ, WD7K, and JH5GHM. Many thanks!
Future releases that introduce significant changes or new features will increment the second digit in the version number. Releases that merely fix bugs will increment the third digit.
The Kenwood radio module has been updated to handle set-frequency commands outside the range of frequencies supported by the radio. Thanks JH5GHM.
Navigation among the fields in the the search data entry well was broken. Thanks JH5GHM.