[Ham-Mac] Mac Contester

[N1OFZ]

Hi all,

I'm a serious VHF/UHF contester.  Either SOLP (50/144/222/432/1296) 
under N1OFZ or part of the W1QK limited multi.  I have been using 
RoverLog under OS X and Linux at N1OFZ and CT under DOS at W1QK, though 
last week we tried N1MM Logger at W1QK for the first time.

What I would look for in a VHF contesting program is:

Good interstation messaging.  Being able to chat, pass, as well as pull 
up shared scheds.

Good rig control (supporting many radios).  You should be able to pull 
up a list and see what frequency the other radios at your station are 
operating on.  If I work a guy on 50 I can see that our 432 op is 
calling CQ on 432.125 and send the contact right to him.  In addition 
I'd also do a pass to the 432 op.  The rig control also need to be able 
to compensate for transverters.  It's also nice as a single op to have 
the logging software change bands automatically when you change bands 
on a radio.

Bearing calculator based on 6 digit or better grid squares.  I know my 
UHF+ beams are very sharp and +/- 5 degrees and I might not ever hear 
someone.  So I need a very accurate heading (and reverse heading) based 
on at minimum 6 digit grid squares.  In addition it is also nice to 
have rotator control as well.

Voice and CW keying.  Voice keying works off saved audio files.  It's 
nice if there is built in recorder as well.  On CW the keyer should be 
able to grab the callsign and grid from the logging line.

Grid square map showing Q's per band.

I'm sure there are more things, but I've tried to come up with a few 
things that are kind of VHF+ centric.  It goes without saying that that 
all the stuff G0DVJ mentioned as well.

Finally I'd love to see an open source project for this application.  
If there was enough interest and people willing to participate we could 
all develop a killer application.  Even if you don't know how to 
program you can participate in specs, screen design/usability, testing 
and other stuff.  We would just need a core of a few talented 
programmers.  I don't mind paying for a commercial application but it 
really needs to do the job well and the developer needs to be very 
responsive to bug/feature requests.  They also need to make the 
application relatively easy to customize for each individuals operating 
style.

Thanks for the bandwidth,
Dana
N1OFZ