[EIDXA] 2nd Try!

[Steve Miller]

Not certain what happened but we'll try again!!


Greetings EIDXA Club Members:


The ARRL International DX Contests are coming up soon. This coming 
weekend, February 19-20 UTC), is the cw portion while the ssb part 
will be March 5 & 6 UTC ( each runs from 0000Z Friday night to 2400Z 
Sunday evening). I have listed several logging programs below. I 
won't feed you any baloney. I have used the programs of N3FJP and 
Writelog. Both are excellent but the others may be as good or better. 
Much of the information came from the websites but I would encourage 
you to investigate them for yourselves. Most of these programs will 
generate a cabrillo file for submission to the ARRL. If you need any 
help, ask on the club reflector. I'm sure there are many members 
using some of each.


I am asking all club members to make at least 100 contacts in either 
ARRL International DX Contest (or both). When it is finished, please 
submit your score and list EIDXA in the club competition box. Your 
score will be listed separately but the score will be added to all of 
the other members of EIDXA. If you can make more than the 100 
contacts, it will certainly make our club look that much better!! 
Thanks for support your club!!


If you are aware of other fine quality contest logging programs, 
please let me know and we'll get out the word. Please provide a brief 
description and the website for each. Thanks and Good Luck in the 
contest!! 73 Steve N0SM




N1MM - This is a free logging program(though I'm sure donations are 
gladly received) that covers numerous contests and modes. It does 
have a learning curve, however. Features: it covers all major 
contests and many minor ones, cw, ssb, and digital, has modules for 
the various contests available, and can also be used as a general 
logging program. The website is: http://n1mm.hamdocs.com/


N3FJP - International DX Contest Log - is N3FJP's contest logging 
program for the ARRL International DX contest (both ssb and cw). If 
you're just a casual contester, you can download this program for $6 
and it is very easy to use but is limited to these two contests. When 
the contest is over, creating the cabrillo file is very simple and 
doesn't take long. Everything is on a single screen. While it is not 
as sophisticated as Writelog, the learning curve is much shorter 
(though Writelog isn't difficult either). Like TR Log, there is a 
"trial" version available (actually it is the full version but 
requires a number key to go beyond 25 or 30 contacts). Web address: 
http://www.n3fjp.com/ Price $6


TR LOG - design philosophy is to give you the most information 
possible at all times, and to make
entering contacts as intuitive and fast as possible. Having more 
contest information at your disposal all
the time can help you make better decisions during a contest. Being 
able to enter QSOs with a
minimum number of keystrokes, without ever having to hit backspace, 
gives you more time during the
contest to do other things. TR LOG is all about elegance, simplicity, 
and performance - helping you do
the most during your limited contest operating time. It supports over 
60 contests, rtty, and has a variety
of other features which you can see on their website: 
<http://www.trlog.com/>http://www.trlog.com/ I was unable to find the
price of this software. A trial copy is available.

Win-Test by F5FZN - is a relative newcomer to contest software. It is 
a highly sophisticated program which supports over 100 international, 
national and vhf contests, has a number of floating screen which 
provide lots of contest information, can be resized and moved around 
the screen to suit the operator, will work with MMTTY for rtty, has a 
tremendous number of features but is a little pricer software. 
Current price is 50 Euros or 20 Euros to upgrade from version 3 to 4. 
You should check out their website: 
http://www.win-test.com/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=1300 If memory 
serves me right, this is the software used by the group that went to Desecheo.


Writelog for Windows- is a very popular contest program for CW, SSB, 
& RTTY. About everything is available in a single window, allows you 
to select any of the major contests and many of the minor contests, 
helps you maintain the rules of the contest, allows you to customize 
fields according to your operating style, and allows you to correct 
qso information and you've hit the enter key (like correcting call or 
report). It is an extensive program which is very supportive of the 
operator (having been upgraded over a long period of years). There is 
a learning curve, however, to knowing how to use all of the finer 
features but it can be used "out of the box" with ease. It's best if 
you check it out on the Writelog website: http://writelog.com/ Cost 
is $30 for the current version and any revisions made within 12 
months following the purchase. And it's well worth it!!