The Kenwood TS-870 has been added as a supported radio.
RSGB Machine Generated Modes is now a supported contest.
Start dates for RSGB and UKEICC contests have been updated for 2019. Thanks GØDVJ.
In RSGB contest names, “AFS” and “AC” are now spelled out. If you need to open an existing log for one of those contests, you will need to use the Change Log’s Contest Rules feature.
Stew Perry now has explicit start dates for the four contests, divined by studying the history of previous events provided by the perpetual calendar page on the WA7BNM site.
The Problem Reporter has been discarded, as it was creating problems itself more often than it was helping to resolve SkookumLogger problems.
Rules for the ARRL RTTY Roundup have been updated to allow FSK, PSK, and Data mode QSOs. QSOs are per-band and not per-mode.
Use of the File ► Change Log’s Contest Rules command potentially led to a crash because the command was not updating the set of data input fields. Thanks GØDVJ.
An empty Pounce End Magic Message was stalling message sending until the messages controller was reset by tapping escape. Thanks KX6A.
SkookumLogger 2.3.7 crashed at launch due to a code-signing mistake. Thanks CT1DRB.
SkookumLogger was crashing when trying to add a QSO with mode “NS” (Not Supported) to a checksheet. Thanks AF8A, W6TN.
A Date Picker has been added to the Great Circle Map and the Maidenhead Map. When the terminator is visible and Automatic Terminator is not checked, you can increment and decrement any of the fields in the date-time display by clicking on a field to select it and clicking the arrows in the stepper. Command-up-arrow and Command-down-arrow are the keyboard shortcuts for clicking. Tab and Shift-Tab move the selection to the next (right) and previous (left) field. Thanks W2RU.
Logging preferences has a new option, “Do not use SCP database”. The default is off. When checked, your SCP database does not supply calls to be tested for partial matches against what you have typed in a Call entry field. Partial matching continues to use calls you have worked, calls you have added to an activity table, and calls in your exchange database.
Practice mode generates caller exchanges for these types of CW contests:
For the ARRL DX case, caller calls are drawn from a US and Canada subset of the SCP database. When the Exchange archive knows the state/province, that is what the caller sends. Otherwise, the name string for the call, provided by the Countries database, is parsed to obtain a list of possible state/province codes and one of them is selected to be sent by the caller. I won’t be supporting ARRL DX for inside entrants, unless asked with a specification for for a set of “realistic” powers.
This release has additional changes by JH5GHM affected only the 2T2R operating mode. The detailed behavior is documented here.
Omit the Statistics Report Band Change table for single-band contests.
Omit the list of unique worked calls in statistics reports when no call unique call was worked more than once.
Remove code that was setting P3 MKR A when shift-clicking on an activity table entry.
The Zone column in the Statistics Report Zone table was using zones for cty.dat zone instead of using received zone. Thanks JH5GHM.
SkookumLogger was not including Country and Other multipliers when computing scores in single-band contests. Thanks W6PH.
SkookumLogger was not showing the QSOs/mult item in the Score window for single-band contests.
Messages now has a second set of Beacon CQ delays for Radio 2.
The Information Messages window now has a “Don’t Show at Startup” option, and a “Getting Started Help” button leading to that section in Help. The Help menu now has “SkookumLogger Getting Started” menu item. These additions are intended to assist new users discover what to do the first time they start SkookumLogger.
The mode text in the QSO entry boxes is now colored blue if sending a CQ message, otherwise red if sending a message or orange if sending a message and another message is queued. Thanks JH5GHM.
This release has many changes by JH5GHM affected only the 2T2R operating mode. These changes will be documented later.
The RSGB Club Calls contest rules have been updated to deal with unannounced rules changes: reports required in Cabrillo export; no multipliers; changed QSO points. Thanks EI5DI.
The Log ► Move Call from Pounce to Run command has been changed to Log ► Move QSO from Pounce to Run. The new command Clears Run, copies all Pounce QSO entry fields to corresponding Run entry fields, clears Pounce, and changes keyboard focus to Run. Thanks W2RU and GØDVJ.
Log ► Move Call from Pounce to Run failed to correctly set keyboard focus to Run. Thanks W2RU.
The Start date for ARRL 160m Contest was one week too late in 2018. Thanks GW4OKT.
Creating a new log for ARRL 160m Contest when the Contest Call in Sent Exchange panel of New Log preferences was not in K or VE caused a crash. Thanks GW4OKT.
For the Generic Grid contest module, the minimum grid character count is now 4 instead of 6. Thanks WA1Z.
The Morse ► Immediate Morse Mode command has been replaced by the View ► Keyboard Mode command. The new command has the same keyboard shortcut (⌘K) as the old command and the same behavior when the transmit radio is in CW mode. When the transmit radio is in FSK or PSK mode, the new command transfers keyboard focus to a new text entry field in the Decoded Text window. When you type the return key, the content of that field is transmitted using the radio’s text-to-data encoder. Thanks WA1Z.
Broken code relating to dealing with opening corrupt logs and logs with old contest names has been repaired. For the later case, the old contest name is changed to General Logging. The new File ► Change Log’s Contest Rules… command can then optionally be used to change General Logging to another contest name. This is an advanced option and should be applied only to a copy of the original log; results are undefined if the choice of new contest name doesn’t have the same exchange fields as the original log. Thanks GØDVJ for reminding me of the ugly prior behavior, including crashes and alerts that wouldn’t go away.
Mode-text coloring when sending messages has been augmented: red when a message is sending, orange when message is sending and another message is queued to be sent. Thanks JH5GHM.
The ARRL Sweepstakes CW module had two bugs that caused every QSO to be marked Suspect, and failed to explain why. This release will open existing SS CW logs and score them properly. Thanks W2RU and K2QO.
Now prevent a rare crash caused when presenting a list of available serial post names and one of the port names is undefined. Thanks BG5EEF.
Identifying multipliers in NYQP, Inside has been corrected. Thanks K2QO.
A combination of Automatic Rebuild enabled, SkookumNet in use and DX Cluster in use (G3CO operation in CQ WW SSB) exposed a threading issue. The Automatic Rebuild preference has been removed; internal data structures are now (safely) rebuilt only when you manually choose Log ► Rebuild Checksheets. Thanks GØDVJ.
The statistics report was generating the same table (Countries) for all six kinds of multipliers. Thanks JH5GHM.
I have fussed quite a bit with cosmetic issues — stretching out work on things that matter like bug fixes — trying to make SkookumLogger usable with both Light and Dark modes in Mojave. Please see the Help topic for two issues I am aware of, and let me know if you encounter others.
I have been experimenting with a scheme for displaying the video output of an Elecraft P3 panadapter in an SkookumLogger window. The scheme requires an Elecraft K3 radio, and is hidden unless you connect to the K3x radio type. Briefly, SkookumLogger overlays a cursor on the video that tracks the mouse and shows a call next to the cursor when the frequency of the cursor is near an activity table entry. A mouse click jumps the radio to the frequency of the tracking cursor. The scheme also requires the P3 SVGA option and a SVGA to USB video capture device; these are not inexpensive items.
In practice mode, Radio ► RIT/XIT ► Offset Up decreases all Radio1 caller pitches by 20 Hz, and similarly for Radio2. Offset Down increases the pitches. The offset starts at zero each time a set of callers is created. Radio1 ► RIT/XIT ► Clear sets the Radio1 offset back to zero, and similarly for Radio2. Thanks JH5GHM.
SkookumLogger handles the new Cabrillo QSO mode code ‘DG’. Thanks W9JJ.
Performance issues on Mojave have led to a total rewrite of the great circle map code. The corresponding topic in Help has been replaced, and the Maps web page has been cleaned up and now lists available Maidenhead maps.
FM mode is supported in the FT897 radio. Thanks GØDVJ.
Contests in the Generic group accept all of the modes recognized by SkookumLogger. Thanks WA1Z.
SkookumLogger now supports the CQ WW RTTY contest for Inside and Outside entrants. Thanks WA1Z.
The Practice mode approach for generating random caller pitches has been modified to avoid clustering pitches with little spread at low audio frequencies. Since you asked: the pitch is drawn from a random number generator with a Gaussian distribution (provided by the Apple GameKit framework). The deviation for the distribution is equal to the Spread preference value divided by six, corresponding to 3-sigma on each side of the mean (the GameKit generator never returns a value outside that span). The mean for the distribution is the Center preference value when center + 3.0 * deviation is greater than 100 Hz, and otherwise 100 Hz + 3.0 * deviation. The generator parameters are determined from the preferences when Practice mode is enabled, so you must turn Practice mode off in order to change the generator parameters. I use Center = 400 and Span = 300. Thanks JH5GHM.
The Window ► SkookumNet menu item has been removed and the window’s close button has been disabled. Window visibility is controlled by the (Logging) preference ‘Enable SkookumNet’. Thanks GØDVJ.
The Text Decode window now remembers its visibility state across restarts.
Editing a Bearing cell in the Antenna Configuration window crashed when the cell was made empty. Also, the range of accepted bearings was incorrectly limited to 0 to 100 degrees instead of 0 to 360 degrees. Thanks GØDVJ.
Clicking on a QSO entry field in the the QSO entry box without keyboard focus was transferring keyboard focus to the entry field, but was failing to obey the “Transmit focus follows keyboard focus” OpMode option. Thanks GØDVJ.
The Rate Tracker window sometimes opened at a different vertical position after a restart. Thanks GØDVJ.
The Data Messages Editor was using the saved size/position of the Morse Messages Editor. Thanks GØDVJ.
The Explain Suspects window had duplicate items instead of distinct items when there was more than one cause of the SQ flag.
Crash when attempting to create a new log for the RSGB 80m CW Autumn Series contest — which happens tomorrow. Thanks GW4OKT.
The approach in 2.3.0 for adding explicit support for modes beyond the only two contesting modes that matter turned out to be flawed. This release has many more changes that attempt to clean up the mess.
SkookumLogger now support six modes: CW, SSB, FSK, PSK, Data, and FM. The available modes for a particular radio are listed in the Radio ► Mode ► submenu. Typing the mode name into the call field with transmit focus is a shortcut for changing the radio mode. The text command is ignored if the radio doesn’t support the mode.
The FT-847 and FT-2000 now radio modules support (narrowband) FM. Thanks GØDVJ.
The Pass Information window and the Score window have per-mode columns for mixed-mode logs.
Added contests: ARRL RTTY Roundup, RSGB 2m FMAC, RSGB 40m QSO Party.
The content of the partials field was sometimes not cleared after logging a QSO. Thanks GØDVJ.
This is a major update largely due to doubling the number of supported modes. Do not be shy about reporting things that don't seem right, but do first try to find explanations for mysteries in Help. Exception: I already know that the statistics reports need attention.
FSK and PSK modes are now fully supported by various windows and data objects (such as contest rules) that depend on mode. A new set of “data” messages are available for these modes, with a new editor for customizing the message content. A new window displays decoded text. Sending and receiving FSK/PSK data require a radio that has a suitable encoder and decoder accessible via the CAT connection. These features have been tested with the Elecraft K3S FSK-D and PSK-D modes and should also work with the KX3.
Added contests: SARTG WW RTTY Contest, Generic Info Contest. Also, the DX contests in the New Log chooser have been reorganized into three groups.
Sending the F5 CW message in a new log, or sending any CW with the YCCC SO2R Box keyer, caused a crash. Thanks K8AJS, VE3MM, GØDVJ.
The pre-fills for KH6 and KL in NAQP contests are now HI and AK instead of DX and KL. Thanks W6FB.