1.5.x Release Notes

Notice

1.5.x requires OS X 10.7 (Lion) or newer. If you haven’t yet moved to Lion you should. If you cannot, then do not update SkookumLogger.

1.5.21 2012.13.11

New features

Added Croatian CW Contest. Thanks W2CS, W6SX.

1.5.20 2012.12.11

New features

The Score window now includes an approximation of the value of a multiplier in the form “mult = n.n Qs”. Also, the score number now has grouping separators. Thanks W2RU.

SkookumLogger has a new Logging preference, Hide Sent Report entry field, default no. When checked, the entry fields for sent report in the QSO entry wells are hidden. This eliminates an extra tab key press needed to move keyboard focus from call field to received report field when you want to edit the received report. Thanks JH5GHM.

ADIF export now has a STATE field for QSOs that have info fields and the kind of the info field content is US State. The result is a subset of the ADIF definition for the STATE field; I cannot hope to implement the full scope of that definition. Thanks W2RU.

Changes

Updated ICOM radio module code, supplied by WD7K.

Modified Radio ▶ Normalize P3 to work around new P3 firmware (1.22) behavior that forces an autoscroll in Fix-tune auto-adjust half-span mode when the radio frequency moves within 5% of the span width from the edge frequency of the span. The undesirable consequence is that a span with left edge at a lower band edge is scrolled so that the left half of the span is below the band. SkookumLogger now sets up a slightly larger span with a guard band, so that you can tune all the way to the band edge without causing the unfortunate autoscroll. As far as I know, I am the only user of this SkookumLogger feature, so don’t worry if you don’t understand this paragraph.

Misfeatures fixed

Typing in an QSO entry field in the Edit well no longer aborts beacon CQs.

Radio ▶ Copy Pounce to Run and Radio ▶ Copy Run to Pounce were not resetting the default RS(T) values. Thanks JH5GHM.

1.5.19 2012.12.05

Misfeatures fixed

SkookumLogger crashed on Lion when attempted to start an internet connection to either a DX cluster node or the Reverse Beacon Network. This bug affects only users on Lion, not Mountain Lion. Thanks JH5GHM.

1.5.18 2012.12.03

New features

Activity table filters reject entries that do not match criteria like Needed QSO. All of the filters have a special case that accepts you own call, so that you always see spots for yourself. The special case logic has been extended to a list of calls, so that you always see spots for yourself and buddies. There is no user interface for this feature; you can create the list by defining an array named MyBuddies in the SkookumLogger preferences file. I’ll add a UI if somebody wants to use the feature and isn't comfortable editing preferences files.

SkookumLogger has a new Rotator type named Easy Rotator Control. This device is being testing by GØDVJ.

Changes

SkookumLogger no longer quietly decrements the next serial number when you delete the most-recently-logged QSO. Stated another way, the rule for sent serial numbers is: once you have logged it, it is no longer available. Thanks WD7K.

SkookumLogger no longer skips testing the multiplier status of a potential QSO when the point value of that QSO would be zero. 

If you do not hide file extensions in Finder, then the title of the Log window ends with “.sl-binary”. That title is offered as the file name in Save dialogs for exporting the log. Manually removing the extension before saving causes no problems, but SkookumLogger now does that for you. Thanks W2RU.

Many changes have been made to SkookumLogger interaction with the Elecraft K3 radio. Note that in general SkookumLogger keeps track of main receive frequency, sub receive frequency, and transmit frequency.

Note that making the frequency management logic work across band changes is rather tricky with the K3, because the K3 restores state from its own memories when it changes bands. So, SkookumLogger has to cause a band change, wait for the K3 to finish setting itself up on the new band, then override the settings. That all takes about 0.5 seconds, and you may see the state changes flash by. Please let me know if you find cases where the radio doesn’t end up in the desired state. In particular, I have not tested the cases where mode changes are also involved.

Misfeatures fixed

In some cases, pressing a special key, as defined in your Logging preferences, while holding the control key triggered the special key action instead of the action associated with the control + special key shortcut.

1.5.17 2012.11.18

New features

Added Messages ▶ Exchange + Log QSO, and corresponding Message 2 + Log special key (in Logging preferences). I use this special key in search-and-pounce mode to combine sending the exchange and logging the QSO, so that I don’t clobber a good QSO in the Pounce well by forgetting to log it before grabbing another activity.

Typing a send-message special key while in Keyboard mode now send the message instead of the Morse character for the key. Note that Keyboard mode is intended for sending short fragments of text as an alternative to using the paddle, for those of us who aren’t adept with the paddle. There are issues with backspacing over already-sent text that I do not intend to address in SkookumLogger.

Changes

File ▶ Download CWops Database was getting a copy of a manually-maintained file from the software page of the CWops web site. Now, that command gets the web page containing the membership roster table, and extracts the rows of that table to construct the name and id pre-fills for CWT and CW Open events. The data should be more up-to-date, and the burden imposed by SkookumLogger on the web site maintainers is now essentially nil. Thanks W2CS for the suggestion.

Misfeatures fixed

Crash due to infinite recursion when unplugging MOAS USB connection. This one would have only been seen by me, since MOAS is not yet generally available.

Cabrillo export was inserting an extra space in QSO records due to a mistake in the X-QSO feature implementation introduced in 1.5.16. That space caused some anal  log-checking robots to declare the Cabrillo file malformed. Without explaining why, of course.

1.5.16 2012.11.11

New features

SkookumLogger has two new Cabrillo export preferences in the Logging pane, Export SQ as X-QSO and Export SM as X-QSO. If either of these preferences is checked, then when you export your log to a Cabrillo file QSOs marked with the corresponding flags are written as X-QSO: records. Contest sponsors who understand this record type will omit the QSO when scoring your log, but will treat it as a valid QSO when scoring the other station’s log. Thanks W2CS.

Misfeatures fixed

Time Tracker was failing to notice an off time at the beginning of an event.

Crash if antenna configuration has no receive antennas. Thanks WD7K and GØDVJ.

Transmit antenna pattern display of beam width wasn't band-dependent. Thanks WD7K.

Logging a QSO in the Pounce pane wasn’t updating Activity table needed status.

The RSGB Club Calls database wasn’t being filled properly, so all calls and club codes were being identified as “Unknown Entity.” Also, text typed into the club code field is now automatically transformed to uppercase. Thanks GØDVJ.

When the last QSO is deleted, SkookumLogger decrements the next serial number. When a log is reset, SkookumLogger sets the next serial number to 1. These behaviors were not working correctly when the last QSO was deleted indirectly via SkookumNet, and when a log was indirectly reset by a sync over SkookumNet. In addition, when the last QSO was among the selected QSOs, the Delete Selected QSOs function wasn’t decrementing the next serial number. Thanks GØDVJ.

Crash when Alpha 87A delivered a badly-formatted response to poll. Thanks W2RU.

Update URL for OK-OM DX Contest. Thanks W2RU.

Cabrillo export wasn’t including the EMAIL record. The OK-OM DX Contest sponsor requires this record.

1.5.15 2012.11.03

New features

Radio ▶ Amplifier ▶ Save User Data To ▶ Segment n instructs a connected Alpha 87A amplifier to save the current tune settings to User Data Segment n.

Added K4FCG to the list of “DXSpider” nodes, for WW4B. This is, in fact, an ARCluster node, with a different login prompt than standard DXSpider nodes. The added logic for detecting the different prompt works for this particular node; no guarantees that it would work for others.

ADIF export now supports writing a subset of the log’s QSOs to a .adif file. If the log table has selected rows, then only those QSOs are exported. If the log is filtered, then only the QSOs passing the filter are exported. For example, you might filter for a special string in the Notes column. Otherwise, the entire log is exported as before. Thanks W2CS.

Changes

Integrated changes supplied by WD7K affecting ICOM and microHAM support.

The ↑ and ↓ shortcuts, for Log ▶ Focus Run QSO Entry and Log ▶ Focus Pounce QSO Entry respectively, have changed to ⇧↑ and ⇧↓ to avoid interfering with arrow-key navigation in multi-line text entry fields.

SkookumLogger now refuses to commit edits to QSOs that are incomplete.

The General Log “contest” now uses the CQ country list instead of the ARRL DXCC country list.

SkookumLogger has timeout logic that detects lost internet connections. Now, if a connection is thought to be lost, SkookumLogger waits one more timeout interval and tries to reconnect. This adds some convenience for users whose internet connection blips cause time-consuming restarts of modems and such that are on the order of the SkookumLogger timeout interval (10 minutes).

SkookumLogger now defaults to RTS and DTR on for serial devices. SkookumLogger doesn't support using those signals for nefarious purposes like powering devices, toggling PTT, or sending Morse. If you are using a device that does something odd with either of these two signals and you cannot tell the device not to do that, let me know.

Misfeatures fixed

Logic that guesses whether or not a QSO might be with a station in NY now decides  YES if the content of the Info field matches a NY county code. So, for example K8MR in STE is recognized as a NY station. Affects the NY QSO Party. 

Fixed a bug specific to CWT that broke QSO editing.  

Corrected a bug affecting radios that are obstinate about requiring 2 stop bits; specifically, the FT1000D. Thanks K7GQ/KH6CW for patient testing, K1RX for loaning me his FT1000D, W7AY for his Serial Tools project, and AC7CF (author of Aether) for sharing how his application communicates with the FT1000D.      

1.5.14 2012.10.17

New features

Added contest type New York QSO Party Outside New York.

Changes

Added logic for NYQP from either side that recognizes QSOs with the same station in different NY counties as distinct QSOs. You do not need to append county code to calls to avoid dupes for this contest.

Misfeatures

Added 160m to the list of bands accepted by NYQP.

Cleaned up issues in identifying second-call-area stations in NJ appropriately.

1.5.13 2012.10.16

New features

Integrated code provided by WD7K, updating the ICOM radio module and adding support for the microHAM microKEYER II.

SkookumLogger now sets the Alpha 87A meter to TUNE when the amplifier is turned on by SkookumLogger.

Changes

Several of the auxiliary windows had this behavior: when SkookumLogger became inactive the auxiliary windows disappeared; when SkookumLogger then became active again the auxiliary windows reappeared, but perhaps behind the windows of other applications. In this release, the auxiliary windows are always in front of all regular windows, including SkookumLogger windows. In general the auxiliary windows are small, so you can usually arrange them to not obscure the Log window. The auxiliary windows with this new behavior are: Pass Information, Rate Tracker, Score, Time Tracker, and the six Checksheets. This type of window is distinguished by a thinner title bar. Thanks W6FB.

Added a note to the Maps page on this web site explaining how to see the user’s Library folder in Finder. Thanks K5ND.

Misfeatures fixed

Revised the column visibility menu for the log table to properly reflect the two Suspect columns introduced in 1.5.12.

Repaired a bug that disabled the point-at-target feature for both transmit and receive antennas. This feature chooses, among the antennas available for the current band, the antenna with main lobe bearing closest to the bearing for the current or most recent QSO.

SkookumLogger was failing to identify needed QSOs (USA calls in sixth call area) in the California QSO Party for entrants outside California.

SkookumLogger was failing to identify calls ending in /6 as in CA for the CQP contest. Thanks W6FB. Note for developers: the project now has a unit test target with some simple tests that exercise the code for extracting prefixes and call areas from call signs.

Search-and-pounce by grabbing activity table entries was misbehaving when a mode change was involved. Symptoms were that the radio frequency differed from the spot frequency by a mode-dependent offset, or that the radio mode was different from the spot mode. The repair involves sending carefully-ordered frequency change and mode change commands to the radio, with delays to allow the radio to process a command before sending another command. The total delay is 0.5s if the radio mode is changed, and 1.0s if the radio band is changed. Tested with an Elecraft K3 radio.

Tested one more round of repairs to the Alpha 87A module. Thanks W2RU.

Morse Keyboard Hold mode was entirely non-functional. Thanks W2RU.

Log ▶ Reset wasn't saving the cleaned log, so if you used Finder to copy a log, opened it in SkookumLogger, applied Reset, and quit without saving, the copy would reopen with the original QSOs intact. Now, SkookumLogger silently saves after doing the Reset. Beware, if you Reset an original log instead of a copy, the original will be destroyed. You do use Time Machine, right? Thanks W2RU.

1.5.12 2012.09.30

New features

VE7CC has been added to the list of DX Spider nodes in Internet preferences. Requested by WD7K.

Callsign suffixes with three or more letters are now ignored when deducing the country for the call. For example, KK7JL/FRA is now determined to be United States rather than Reunion Island. You can use calls adorned like the example to prevent SkookumLogger from declaring as dupes QSOs made with the same station in different locations. As before, SkookumLogger determines the location for these cases from the exchange, not from the call.

The S log column is now labeled SQ (Suspect QSO), and has a new friend, SM (Suspect Multiplier). The Log menu has corresponding Explain menu items. QSOs tagged with the SQ flag are ignored when computing scores. QSOs tagged with SM are not ignored; the flag indicates that the QSO might be a multiplier that SkookumLogger wasn’t able to detect. SM flags typically arise when the string that you typed into an exchange field didn’t match anything in a list of valid multiplier codes. Implementing this behavior has touched a great deal of code relating to contest rules. Please check SkookumLogger for your favorite contests well before the events start, and alert me if you find issues.

The Score table now has separate columns for CW and SSB QSOs.

A new Notes page describes the Antenna Configuration feature.

Misfeatures fixed

The Alpha 87A amplifier code now relies entirely on status messages from the amplifier to determine its state, rather than assuming that commands that change state always succeed. An undocumented flow control  behavior was discovered that was blocking those status messages for no apparent reason. Thanks W2RU.

Fixed a crash when adding a new antenna configuration.

Addressed several mistakes in scoring for Salmon Run, including missed multipliers, incorrectly considering state/province QSOs as country multipliers, and MAR instead of MR as the code for “Maritimes” province. Thanks WD7K.

1.5.11 2012.09.18

Changes

The AMSerialPort software framework for communicating with serial devices has been replaced by the ORSSerialPort framework. Everything should work the same as before, with two exceptions:

ORSSerialPort is the work of the author of Aether, a general-purpose logging program.

The amplifier drive power feature has been revamped again, but the changes are all internal; the user interface is unchanged. In simple terms: SkookumLogger monitors the Alpha 87A by polling status every 5 seconds. If either band or operate/standby mode changes, then SkookumLogger looks up stored drive power setting for the new band/mode and commands the (K3) transceiver to use that setting. If the amplifier isn't turned on, or if the Autoset Drive Power menu item is not checked, or if a radio that supports setting power isn't connected, nothing happens. There are, apparently, issues with decoding to status reports from the 87A. And it is, as yet, undefined as to what happens if the amplifier is turned off or disconnected while in the operate mode. Mark this as an experiment.

1.5.10 2012.09.11

New features

Revamped the amplifier drive power feature introduced in 1.5.9. The Radio ▶ Amplifier ▶ Save Drive Power command stores the current radio output power in a table for the current band and current amplifier mode (operate or standby). The Radio ▶ Amplifier ▶ Autoset Drive Power command enables/disables automatically changing the current radio output power level to the value from the table whenever the band or the amplifier mode changes. Tested with K3 + KPA500. Should work with K3 + Alpha 87A. At present, only the K3 radio module supports this feature.

I gave up trying to quietly save drive powers; the state machine logic broke my brain. You must use the Save Drive Power function to set up and change stored levels. The defaults remain 25W for operate mode and 100W for standby mode, but may be different if you experimented with this feature in 1.5.9.

1.5.9 2012.09.06

New features

Text entered into a Name QSO entry field is automatically capitalized. Thanks W2RU.

The Antenna menu has a new Configure… item that opens a window for editing antenna properties. These properties influence the content of the Great Circle Map window and the Transmit Antenna and Receive Antenna submenus. The properties also influence the state of relays in a MOAS (Mother Of All Switches) device if you have one. But you don’t have one; YCCC hasn’t yet completed that project. Since the hardware isn’t available, I have a feeble excuse for delaying documentation of the SkookumLogger configuration editor, but feel free to ask questions.

When SkookumLogger is connected to both an amplifier and an Elecraft K3, SkookumLogger now keeps track of the K3 power for each band and for standby and operate mode of the amplifier. When the radio changes band, or when the amplifier changes standby/operate mode, SkookumLogger sets the K3 power to the appropriate stored value. The default set powers are 25W for operate mode and 100W for standby mode. To change a stored value, adjust the K3 power in the usual way with the PWR control on the radio. The tables of powers are stored in the SkookumLogger preferences file, so the values are remembered when SkookumLogger quits. This feature does not apply if the amplifier type is KPA500. [I don’t have an Alpha 87A anymore, so this feature hasn’t been tested with real hardware.]

1.5.8 2012.09.01

New features

Added Hawaii QSO Party for entrants outside Hawaii. There is not a lot of action in this one, but I have fond memories of my 7-year “visit” in the early 70s.

If you choose one of the three items at the top of the File menu (New, Open, Open Recent), SkookumLogger now unconditionally closes an open log for you, instead of forcing you through a sequence of steps. I use Open Recent to quickly switch among two or more logs, for those casual-contesting weekends where there are simultaneous interesting events. The Confirm Close Log preference still applies to the File ▶ Close action; the purpose of this preference is to help you avoid accidentally closing your log via the standard OS X close shortcut.

Misfeatures fixed

Corrected determination of multiplier status for CWT and CWOpen.

1.5.7 2012.08.16

New features

View ▶ Define Country opens a new window for managing a custom list of country definitions.

This facility replaces and extends a similar feature that was in the Country Checksheet, where it could only be used when the current log had country multipliers. The first column contains a complete call sign. When you enter that call sign in a log data entry field, the items in the remaining columns for that row override whatever would have been determined from the Countries (cty.dat) database. So, for example, you can create an entry for R7BA/9, associating that call with the UA country code in EU, instead of UA9 in AS as would have been determined from “R9BA”. The example table also shows a definition for KH2D, who was in Florida during the 2012 IARU HF Championship, and for M4U to illustrate that some country codes have values for their IOTA reference parameter.

To create an entry in the table, enter a call sign in the Define Call field, choose a Country Code in the popup list, and press Do It. The parameters for the selected country code are used to populate the remaining columns in the table. You may then optionally edit values other than Code and Name. For example, you might want to change the Latitude and Longitude coordinates (the default coordinates are based on population centroids, and are not likely to be accurate for a geographically large country). To delete an entry, select the row and press Remove. The custom list is saved each time it is changed, and applies for all situations where SkookumLogger needs to look up information for a call.

Hint The Country Code button list has hundreds of entries, making it cumbersome to manually scroll to a selection. To auto-scroll, select the button by pressing the Tab key, then type the first character of a country code.

Changes

QTCs for Selected Series table columns may now be resized. Thanks JH5GHM.

Text coloring for the selected row in the QTCs for Selected Series table has been changed to behave like Activity tables (white text) to make the text more readable on dark selection backgrounds. Thanks JH5GHM.

Handling of text adornment (font and color) has been cleaned up throughout SkookumLogger. You should now see consistent adornments in the call entry field, partial-matching pane, and Activity tables, for example. Also, you do not need to restart SkookumLogger for changes in adornment preferences to take effect, although you do have to wait for or force a redraw of existing text to see the change.

The list of ARRL section multipliers has been updated to accommodate the four new sections within the Ontario province.

Multipliers for the WAEDC contests were “Regions” for entrants from both sides. Now, the multipliers are EU (ARRL + WAE) countries for entrants outside Europe.

Misfeatures fixed

F3 was prepending <his call> when pressed after sending a QTC series in WAEDC with Correct mode enabled. Thanks JH5GHM.

The prior Define Country feature was not working properly for multipart calls like R7BA/9. Thanks JH5GHM.

1.5.6 2012.08.13

New features

The special key named “Keyboard Mode” has been replaced by a special key named “Messages 5 + 3 + Log”. Use this key to send his call before the acknowledge message, when you are not using the Correct mode feature. This elminates a timing issue in sending his call in parallel with saving a QSO. See the new Keyboard mode notes page for a discussion about a more powerful way to toggle  Keyboard mode.

A new preference enables replacement of zeros with Ts when sending the HHMM field of a WAEDC QTC. The preference has no user interface. To turn it on, add a item with Key “cutifyQtcHourMinute”, Type Boolean, and Value YES to your SkookumLogger preferences file. Obviously, I do not expect most users to care about this feature.

Changes

A number of refinements have been applied to the WAEDC QTC support. Rather than list them all here, the WAEDC QTCs notes pages has been updated to describe the current implementation.

Misfeatures fixed

Repaired flawed multiplier-tracking logic for CWT and CW Open that caused crashes. Thanks W2RU.

Repaired broken weighting of multipliers by band in WAEDC, which was resulting in incorrect claimed scores.

1.5.5 2012.08.05

Changes

QTC support for sending QTCs has been revised, stimulated by feedback from JH5GHM. The notes page has been updated, but the screen shots there are stale: the Delete Series button now has no keyboard shortcut, in order to make it more difficult to invoke accidentally.

Almost everywhere that a date and time are displayed together, SkookumLogger uses the Short date format and the Medium time format from your system preferences. The exception is the Start Date in Time Tracker, which uses the Short time format. The current UTC display in the Log window prompt line uses the Medium time format.

1.5.4 2012.08.03

New features

QTC support for the WAEDC contest has been revamped. If you care about this contest, then read the updated notes describing the new user interface, practice with it, and let me know before the contest if you find show-stopper bugs.

Misfeatures fixed

For some contests, exchange-guessing was attempting to insert empty values, causing an unhandled exception. Those cases have been fixed. The effect of an unhandled exception is that SkookumLogger begins to behave oddly; for example, activity windows may stop updating, or double-clicking to grab an activity may not change the radio. Rather than limp along in this confused state, SkookumLogger now aborts when an unhandled exception happens, so you may experience more “crashes.” Your crash logs will help stamp out these situations.

GØDVJ and I have experienced intermittent cases where SkookumLogger hangs while starting up, requiring a force-quit. I’ve made some changes that affect the order of initializations during startup, but cannot assert that the problem solved.

The IOTA contest sponsors changed their scoring rules. I’ve updated SkookumLogger to accommodate, but they’ve used up one of my patience-pills.

Editing a QSO incremented the sent serial number counter when saving the edit. Thanks HK4GSL.

Internet access was broken, claiming no response to ping of Google. In fact, the code was pinging me.com, which Apple shut down at the beginning of August. SkookumLogger now pings K1GQ.com.

1.5.3 2012.07.19

New features

First attempt at support for Kenwood TS-2000 transceiver.

Misfeatures fixed

Some contests were missing their received call input field! Thanks JH5GHM.

Changed All Asian rules definition so that the sent exchange age field is initialized from your Age preference instead of from your SS Check preference. Thanks JH5GHM.

Improved the heurisitics for deciding how many digits to display for numeric values in Info fields. If the number is a serial, then the Serial Number Precision preference determines the number of digits. Otherwise (zones, ages) two digits are displays. Thanks JH5GHM.

1.5.2 2012.07.16

Notes

The sent exchange prompt string in the Log window uses whatever you set as the info field content in the Log Settings window for contests where the sent exchange depends on things SkookumLogger cannot know ahead of time. For example, the sent exchange may be an IARU society abbreviation or an ITU zone in the IARU HF Championship. If you enter 08 as your zone, that is what the prompt string shows. Similarly, if you enter 8 as your zone, that is what the prompt string shows.

Numbers in the Rcvd column of the log table that correspond to an info data entry field are displayed with (at least) the number of digits defined by Serial Number Precision in your Logging preferences. This applies also to zone numbers; set the precision to 2 if looking at zone numbers like 028 bothers you.

Misfeatures fixed

Per-band multipliers were also per-mode, even for contests where they shouldn't be. Thanks JH5GHM.

Duplicate QSOs (and zero-point QSOs) were allowed to be considered as potential  multipliers. Thanks JH5GHM.

The laboriously-transcribed table of IARU Society abbreviations had some typos. I've repaired typos for OK and HL, and changed the abbreviation for OE to match what OE1A was sending last weekend. Also, the source table has some duplicate abbreviations, such as ARM for ER, 3A and XX9. The SkookumLogger data structure requires unique abbreviations, so ER and 3A were overriden by XX9. I've reordered the table definition so that ER overrides the other two. In any case, this affects only whether or not SkookumLogger can provide a guess for the exchange.

Hammering the escape key wasn’t instantly aborting sending of some CW messages, typically those containing “his call.”

K7VIT was identified as Alaska because the algorithm for deducing country code from call found a match for exact call K7V, which is defined as Alaska. Now the algorithm requires that an exact-call match must also match the input call.

KH2D is identified as Guam; he’s in Florida. Workaround: Define Call KH2D as Country Code K.

RAØLQ/mm, for example, was being considered as a potential Asiatic Russia country multiplier. Now calls ending in /mm cannot be country multipliers.

The IARU abbreviation guess for NU1AW is now IARU instead of ARRL.

1.5.1 2012.07.12

New features

Added a WRTC 2014 contest module. This feature adhers to the rules for that event as presently defined, and is not useful for any other event, nor for anyone who is not a Team Championship entrant. Also note that SkookumLogger is not on the list of accepted WRTC logging programs.

Added two new Logging preferences, “Use SCP in partials matching,” and “Include worked calls in partials matching.” Both default to on, the behavior prior to 1.5.0. Either or both may be turned off, which will increase QSO data entry performance. For the WRTC 2014 contest module, Use SCP in partials matching is silently turned off and exchange pre-fill from your Exchange Database is silently disabled, in order to force conformance with the rules.

For the IARU HF Championship (and WRTC), when you leave the call field SkookumLogger tests whether or not the call looks like a IARU Society (HQ) station. if so, it pre-fills the info field with the code for the society of the call's DXCC country. 

Added a Me preference for setting station number. For some contests, the station number is appended to each QSO: record in Cabrillo export; the number is otherwise unused. At present the number may be either 1 or 2 and the default is 1.

1.5.0 2012.07.07

New features

SkookumNet

SkookumLogger now has an embedded network service named SkookumNet. The new Join SkookumNet checkbox in Logging preferences determines whether or not your computer participates in the service (default off). The service automatically detects SkookumLogger running on other computers within your local area network, and quietly collaborates with them so that the following five actions are synchronized among all active SkookumLoggers in the network:

The new menu item Log ▶ Sync With Peer ▶ lists the computer names for all other SkookumLoggers in the network. Choose one of those peer computers to reset your log and fill it with copies of all the QSOs in the peer’s log. Note that SkookumLogger assumes that your log is configured for the same contest as the peer’s log.

Fonts and Colors

The Fonts and Colors group in Logging preferences has been updated.

The Log Table Font Size item sets the size of text in the Log table, between 9 and 24 points. The font for the table text is always Menlo Regular. The item that was named Log Font is now named Zero-point QSO. The four font choosers allow you to customize presentation of calls in QSO entry fields, Check Partials, and Activity tables. Font and color are applied to a call in top-down order. So, for example a QSO that is not a new multiplier, not a needed multiplier, and not worth any QSO points is adorned with the Zero-point QSO font and color. Thanks W2CS.

Data entry well focus

Previously, clicking in a data entry text field in the inactive entry well would move keyboard focus to that entry field but would not change the focused well. Now, the click also focuses the well and sets the radio frequency and mode. 

Two new commands Log ▶ Focus Run QSO Entry and Log ▶ Focus Pounce QSO Entry support quickly moving keyboard focus between the two data entry wells. The default shortcut keys are ↑ and ↓ respectively.

Serial port added dialog

When a USB-serial device is plugged in while SkookumLogger is running, a dialog appears asking for the kind of the new device. If you select a kind other than None, SkookumLogger will now try to connect to the device using your previous choice for the Type of that kind of device (e.g., K3 for a Radio). This saves you a trip to Serial preferences to click the Connect button. Thanks W2CS.

WinKeyer speed control

There are two ways to control “WPM Speed” when the WinKeyer is in host mode (talking to a computer program). In Pot Mode, the WinKeyer itself converts and scales the SPEED pot voltage. It reports the speed to the computer (for display) whenever it changes. This mode is enabled when the computer tells the WinKeyer to send at WPM = 0. When the computer tells the WinKeyer to send at any speed other than 0, Pot Mode is turned off and the SPEED pot has no effect on the sending speed. But, WinKeyer still reports to the computer whenever the pot changes.

SkookumLogger now deals with these two speed modes as follows:

The default shortcut keys for the new Morse menu commands are:

The default speed bump size is 1 WPM; you can change the size in the Set Speed window. As usual, you can override the shortcut defaults in your System Keyboard Preferences. Thanks WA1Z, W2CS, W2RU.

Changes

Activity tables

Behavior has been revisited once again. The changes are mostly subtle, but you should be aware of these points in particular:

Check partials list

In the previous releases, the pane between the two data entry wells showed calls from the combination of the the Super Check Partial (SCP) database and the current log which contain the characters in the active call entry field. Now, only Super Check Partial is consulted. This decision favors the rules uses to validate entries in SCP over your ability to accurately copy a call, and prevents a mistake in your log from propagating to additional mistakes later in the contest. Thanks WA1Z.

Internal code changes

Updated the in-built CTY and SCP databases to current versions.

Replaced garbage-collection memory management with Automatic Reference Counting using the Xcode refactoring tool.

Migrated code to modern Objective-C syntax using the Xcode refactoring tool.

Substituted a updated version of AMSerialPort created by “pizthewiz.”

Removed RegexKitLite, replacing its functionality with NSRegularExpression and eliminating annoying build warnings.

Misfeatures fixed

ARRL FD now accepts 3 characters (instead of 2) in the entry class field, and pre-fills that field with “1D” when the call is outside K/VE. Thanks W2BC team.

Corrected tab ordering in the Exchange preferences panel.

Aborting Morse Tune mode by tapping the paddle wasn’t resetting the state of the menu item.

When waking from sleep, SkookumLogger now updates the K3 radio frequency displays instead of setting them to zero.

Fixed a bug affecting Cabrillo output for RAC contests. Thanks W2CS.