Software for the 2006 Party
There are no significant rule changes this year.
However...
I have re-written the entire program from the ground
up. VA QSO Party Logger is now written in Visual Basic
.Net, which translates into lots of internal changes. I
tried to minimize the external changes that are visible to you, the
user.
Here are the changes that are important to you.
- The program now requires the .Net Framework.
- Therefore, the program runs only under operating systems that
support .Net Framework; namely, Windows 2000 and Windows
XP.
- The installation process is now more complex because you may
need to install the .Net Framework or Omni-Rig as well as the
logger.
- If you use a computer interface between your normal logger and
your radio, you may wish to install OmniRig. You can
learn about OmniRig at by clicking here.
Here are some features that have not changed and are, possibly,
improved.
- Continued support for both county names and
abbreviations.
- Improved retention of settings in the Logging screen so that
you don't have to reset options every time you start
logging.
- Better display of counties needed and worked.
- Continued support for multiple, simultaneous
executions. N8IK and KG4LTB use this feature to operate
two SO Mobile stations from the same car.
Please feel free to send me an e-mail if you find any bugs. I will
try to fix them before the contest.
BUGS FOR 2006
- Jan 31:
None yet reported;
- Jan 31:
Disabled functions
- Contest|Post (After the) Contest
Log Entry: Manual data entry
is still untested. The function will be enabled after
testing is complete.
- Help|Start
Help: Does not actually start
the Help file. Corrected in
2006.03
- Log|Edit Log:
The function has not yet been re-written in
VB.Net.
- Feb 10:
Installer creates icons that don't start the
logger. The work-around is to use Windows Explorer and
start VAQSO.exe by hand. Look in directory
C:\Program Files\Last Name Software\
- Feb 10:
Installer options are not clearly
stated. Corrected in
2006.03
- Feb 11:
Discovered error in Settings screen, which caused
the logger to crash. Corrected
in 2006.03
- Feb 24:
Enabled Contest | Post Log Entry menu
item Corrected in
2006.04
- Feb 24:
Upgraded the Logging screen with better dupe
checking and recent log entries. Also Made several
minor changes to improve usability of screens.
Implemented in 2006.04
- Feb 22:
Discovered error in Omni-Rig interface that made
Omni-Rig a requirement instead of an option.
Corrected in
2006.04
- Mar 02:
Discovered several errors in installationn
process. Corrected in 2006.05
- Mar 02:
Changed the way the Logger supports multiple
logs. You no longer need to install multiple copies of
the Logger. Implemented in 2006.05
- Mar 04:
Changed the locations of several files in order to support installation and later
updates. The install process no longer destroys pre-existing logs. Implemented in 2006.06
- Mar 04:
Corrected an error in the way the score and worked/needed counties are displayed. Implemented in 2006.07
- Mar 09:
Adjusted installation parameters to support both .Net Framework 1.1 and 2.0 Implemented in 2006.08
- Mar 09:
Corrected errors on the County Edit screen. These
changes require you to un-install the old version, including the files in
C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application Data\VAQSO Implemented in 2006.08
- Mar 13:
Corrected errors that prevented logging DX contacts
and contacts with
/P in the callsign.
Implemented in 2006.09
- Mar 13:
Corrected an error that crashed the program if you installed
the program in a non-default directory.
Implemented in 2006.09
- Mar 16:
Added capability to import an ADIF log created by other logging software.
Implemented in 2006.10
- Mar 16:
Corrected an error in the installer that caused the wrong version
of .Net Framework to be installed.
Corrected in 2006.10
- Mar 18:
Added a feature to temporarily disable Omni-Rig.
Implemented in 2006.11
- Mar 18:
Corrected a logic error that prevented the switch between
County Names and Abbreviations from working correctly in the logging screen.
Corrected in 2006.11
- Mar 21:
Corrected errors in the Edit Log screen that caused the QSO Time to
be changed incorrectly and that prevented changes to the Call Sign. Also changed
logic so that the grid returns to the QSO being edited instead of returning
to the first QSO.
- Mar 21:
Corrected scoring errors that caused inflated scores to be
reported on the Summary Sheet.
Corrected in 2006.12
- Mar 21:
Corrected a scoring error that caused by the fact that the
logger sees
40m as a different band as 40M; this occurred
on all bands. You must recalculate your score after installing
this fix.
Corrected in 2006.12
- Mar 21:
Corrected a formatting error on the Log report that caused
some QSO's to be omitted from the report.
Corrected in 2006.12
- Mar 28:
Corrected a scoring error that omitted the mobile 100-point
bonus from the Cabrillo file.
Corrected in 2006.12.03
The Virginia QSO Party is an amateur radio contest sponsored by the
Sterling Park Amateur Radio
Club. For the 2006 party, the last software update is
version 2006.12 on March 22, 2006. If you experience any
problems, I would appreciate it if you would send me a bug
report.
VA QSO Party Logger - Installation
Instructions
Omni-Rig Installation:
The use of Omni-Rig is optional; the VA QSO logger will function
equally well with or without OmniRig. If you are already
using a computer (CAT) interface, then will probably be convenient to
use Omni-Rig.
Omni-Rig information and software is at this site. Download and
run the Omni-Rig Runtime
Package . Install the Omni-Rig Runtime Package in its
default directory. Execute Omni-Rig to specify your rig and
the COM port; this also tests your PC-to-Rig connection.
Note that the VA QSO logger can only access Rig1, even though
Omni-Rig supports 2 radios.
.Net Framework 1.1 Installation:
.Net applications will not run unless the .Net Framework has been
installed. Since the VA QSO Party Logger was developed in
Visual Basic .Net, you must install .Net Framework 1.1.
This site
has instructions for determining which version of .Net Framework is
installed on your PC. If you have already upgraded to .Net
Framework 2.0, that should not be a problem. However, if you never
installed version 1.1, you will have a problem. In that case, uninstall version
2.0, install version 1.1, then re-install 2.0. Both versions peacefully
co-exist on the same PC.
If you don't want to use Microsoft's Install Through
Windows Update process, then this
site will give you access to dotnetfx.exe; simply
download it and execute it.
VA QSO Party Logger Installation:
The distribution file for VA QSO Party Logger is a self-extracting
zip file.
Multiple installations on the same computer do not present a
problem; simply create more directories and repeat the installation
process. There is a father/daughter team who run two copies of the
logger simultaneously while they work the contest as mobiles.
Here are the steps to install VA QSO Party Logger.
- Execute the distribution file; it will unzip the installer's
files into
C:\VAQSO_2006_05
- Execute
Setup.exe.
- Respond to the prompts from the
installer. Note: The Logger now supports
multiple log files so there is no longer a need for multiple
installations on the same computer.
- To start the Logger, double-click on VAQSO icon on your
desktop.
- Click menu item
Maintenance|Settings to set up your
name, call, etc.
- Click menu item Contest to start the logging.
Note that the software comes with my test data so you can see what
a practice contest looks like without having to enter loads of
data. Therefore, be sure to click menu item Contest|New to
clear the database before the contest starts.
VA QSO Party Logger De-Installation:
The logger does not have a uninstaller program. Simply
use the features within Windows.
Here are the steps to de-install VA QSO Party Logger.
- Start the Windows Control Panel. You normally do this
by clicking
Start|Settings|Control Panel.
- Click
Add or Remove Programs and wait for the list
to appear.
- Click on the entry for VAQSO.
- Click on
Remove.
- That's should do it for most users. The logger
and all it's files should have been deleted.
- There may be residual files if you made multiple copies of the
files to support multiple calls to support both fixed and mobile
operation; there will also be residual files if you exported the log
to the same directory that contains the log. In that
case, look in the directories below
Documents and
Settings for Application Data where you will
find the VAQSO directory. Delete the
VAQSO directory and its contents.
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| Created with 100% recycled
electrons
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| Updated on March 28, 2006
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