MixW QTC
Helper by SQ6KBY
Contents:
Introduction
QTC Helper
is a small program for operators participating in DARC
Hell Contest. The participants can exchange QTCs during the QSOs, which
gives a lot of fun.Unfortunately, support for QTC
exchange in MixW is not ideal. QTC Helper aims to
simplify that.
Key
features and characteristics:
·
External
program (not a plugin) that works together with MixW
·
One-click
to send or receive QTC
·
Keeps
track of QSOs used in sent QTCs (avoids sending duplicates)
·
Automatically
generates CBR file with QTCs
This
program is distributed as Freeware. QTC Helper has been so far tested with MixW versions 2.2 and 3.2, but it is still an early version
where bugs may occur.
Be sure to carefully read the manual to avoid
any confusions.
Configuration
QTC Helper
does not require installation, but before the first use, you have to configure
few things both in the helper and in MixW.
QTC
Helper
To open QTC
Helper configuration, double click on the exe file. You’ll need to configure
the following options:
1.
Contest
start and end: when generating CBR log, QTC Helper will
include only QSOs made during the specified time frame. If you have some other
QSOs in your MixW log, specify the exact start and
end date of the contest to avoid including other QSOs. If you have a separate
log for the contest, you can leave the default setting.
2.
MixW settings:
·
Log
location – path to your MixW log, it
is typically stored in the %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\MixW
folder, but another one may be chosen during MixW
setup.
·
Window
title – QTC Helper transmits the QTCs by generating a
temporary file, switching the focus to MixW window
and sending a simulated keystroke to trigger a macro to read this file. It
looks for the MixW window based on its title (visible
on the title bar). Typically, it contains the MixW
name, so the default setting should work fine, but in case it differs on your
computer, you should also change it here. You don’t need to type the entire title,
just the part that is enough to distinguish it from other windows.
3.
QTC
lists: you can specify how many QSOs should be included in
the QTCs.
4.
Save
log: you can use
this option after the contest to generate a CBR log file. It is important to remember
that QTC helper stores sent and received QTCs outside of the MixW log. Before you start operating in the contest, you
should make sure that there are no leftover QTCs from previous editions. If
there are, use the “Reset” option to clear QTCs and log of used QSOs.
MixW
On the MixW part, you need to define three macros.
First, the
one that will allow QTC Helper to send messages to MixW:
1. CTRL+SHIFT+F12 (any name):
<TX><TEXTFILE:C:\users\%userprofile%\appdata\roaming\qtchelper\message.txt><RXANDCLEAR>
Remember to replace %userprofile% with your Windows profile name!
Then, the
ones that you’ll use during the contest.
2. (any key) SEND QTC:
<EXEC:%path_to_qtchelper%\qtchelp /send
<CALL>>
3. (any key) RECEIVE QTC:
<EXEC:%path_to_qtchelper%\qtchelp /receive
<CALL>>
In both cases, be sure to include full path to
QTC Helper EXE file!
Additionally,
macros used to send exchanges like Do you
have QTC for me?/I have QTC for you/R U QRV/etc. will also be useful during
the contest.
Operation
in the contest
General
rules and remarks
The contest
rules allow two stations to exchange up to 10 QTCs. In this version, QTC Helper
does not keep track of the count of QTCs exchanged with each station. So
you won’t see any warning when this limit gets exceeded.
As
mentioned previously, QTC Helper stores sent and received QTCs outside the MixW log. Each QTC is stored in a separate text file. When
you use the CBR save function in QTC Helper, it reads the MixW
log and for each of the QSOs it tries to find a matching QTC based on callsign and date (precisely: time difference between a QSO
and QTC file timestamp). Therefore, it is necessary to have an entry in MixW log for each QTC exchange conducted.
If you have
a QSO with a station XYZ and you’re sending a QTC and then, immediately,
receiving a QTC from that station, a single log entry in MixW
will be fine (both the sent and received QTC will match properly to that QSO
since the time difference won’t be big).
But if you
have a QSO with a station XYZ and you’re sending, let’s say, 5 QTCs (and
logging the QSO), and then, some time later, you
establish another contact with the same station to send another 5 QTCs (rules
allow that), be sure to log the second QSO in MixW as
well. Otherwise the second QTC won’t be properly matched by QTC Helper and won’t
be included in the log.
Sending
QTCs
Now, the
operation in the contest is straightforward. When you want to send a QTC, press
the Send QTC macro and QTC Helper will generate the QTC automatically.
The callsign will be entered automatically if it has been
entered in MixW. The serial will also be generated
automatically. You can now:
a) change
how many QSOs are included in the QTC (and click Generate to make a new list to
be sent)
b) send
whole QTC
c) send
individual QSOs.
Pressing
any of the ‘Send …’ buttons should make MixW
automatically transmit the selected message. If it does not, review settings from
the earlier part of the manual (MixW setting in QTC
Helper configuration and CTRL+SHIFT+F12 macro in MixW).
When the receipt
of the QTC is acknowledged, click Save to save the sent QTC and mark QSOs as ‘used’
(so they won’t be included in next QTCs). If something goes wrong and you want
to discard the QTC, press Cancel and confirm.
Receiving
QTCs
Receiving
QTCs works similarly, during the QSO you press the Receive QTC macro and you will
be presented with a form to be filled with the received data:
You can use
the TAB button on keyboard to jump between fields (buttons are omitted). You
may also use the AGN/CFM buttons when necessary.
Not all
fields have to be filled if the received QTC contains less than 10 QSOs. When
you click Save, QTC Helper will also check for possible missing data and ask to
complete it before saving.
Generating
log
To save the
log, you have to use export function in QTC Helper, because MixW
won’t see the QTCs stored by QTC Helper. The export option is available in QTC
Helper settings, in the Save log section.
Upon
selecting this option, you can provide a CBR header to be appended to the
generated file:
Click Save
and you’ll be asked to provide a location for the output file. The file will
contain both the received and sent QTCs alongside the QSOs:
If
something goes wrong during matching the QSOs with QTCs, you will see the
following error message:
This can
occur if the MixW log doesn’t contain a proper QSO
entry for each QTC exchange, as mentioned in the beginning of this section. In
this case, some QTCs are not included in the output log because there are no
QSOs they can be matched to. If this happens, you need to go to QTC Helper
folder (%appdata%\Roaming\QTCHelper), manually look into files in sent and received subfolders and try to incorporate
them into the CBR file.
Download
Contact
Feel free
to send feedback, questions, bugreports via email:
sq6kby (at) icloud
(dot) com