[PaQSO] RE: PaQSO Digest, Vol 28, Issue 8 - Operators not knowing their ARRL section

[Allen S. Huber]

Several times I operated 20 M during the PQP and often came across those
who didn't know (or, frequently, didn't care to know) their ARRL section
but they did know their county.  They could tell me their town and how
far they were from the interstate or from Cape Canaveral or Disney World
or...but I don't bring a US road map to the contest site and certainly
don't have the time to look for their town if I had a map.  ANYWAY, I
wrote a little program I called "Section Finder" that lets you type in
the first few letters of a county name and in return it lists the county
name and ARRL section of all matches.  Behind the scene is a file of all
counties from states that have more than one ARRL section.  It's tiny
and you can tuck it in the corner of the screen until you need it.  When
you select a county it copies the section onto the clipboard so you can
quickly paste it into your logging program.

Works great.  This functionality has been integrated in the MAQP-to-PQP
conversion I'm doing right now.  It's a freebie download at
www.allenhuber.com if you want it.

73, Allen, WG3E

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Subject: PaQSO Digest, Vol 28, Issue 8

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Today's Topics:

   1. Re: N3SH 2006 Bonus Station Update 08/06... (K3YD at aol.com)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Sat, 12 Aug 2006 15:57:20 EDT
From: K3YD at aol.com
Subject: Re: [PaQSO] N3SH 2006 Bonus Station Update 08/06...
To: ke3ht at ke3ht.org, paqso at mailman.qth.net
Message-ID: <bd7.2f9178f.320f8ca0 at aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"


In a message dated 8/12/2006 13:16:08, ke3ht at ke3ht.org writes:

<< I would like ask the 
"Software Developers" 
to stick their heads UP and tell us what they support or if they do not
support everything this contest offers? .... I have tried a couple that
say 
they support PAQSO but do not support county lines as an example
(Without paper 
on the side).>>

Hi Tim,

I'm answering some of your comments from the standpoint of being a
longtime 
semiserious contester.  PAQP is a very unique contest in several
respects (i.e. 
1.5 point QSO's, county-line stations, rovers, double mults [county and 
section with one QSO]).  From a programming standpoint, the possible
alternatives 
which must be logged and scored are huge and I cannot imagine writing
the code 
to handle every possible alternative.

I have used several different programs over the years, CT, NA, KA3JWE,
N1MM 
logger among others.  They are all good, they are are helpful, and all
require 
just a little bit of operator ingenuity at times to handle some
situation.  I 
operated PAQP back in the days before computer logging was commonplace.
Any 
halfway decent logging program is a quantum leap better than the days of

stubby pencil!

Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I don't see anything wrong with taking a
few 
notes during a contest to record a situation which doesn't fit neatly
into 
program data fields.  My favorite example is the FLA., NY, TX and CA
station who 
know their county, but not their ARRL section.  (I'm picking on those
states 
because each has many sections within it's borders.)

73 and see you in the contest!

Blair, K3YD



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End of PaQSO Digest, Vol 28, Issue 8
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