New Log

Creating a new log in Win-Test is a two step process. Of course, this only needs to be done once, prior to the contest.

Step 1: Choosing a filename for your log

Upon opening Win-Test, click on the File | New... menu option. Alternatively, with Win-Test in its default state without a log open you will have two toolbar icons available, too - new and open. Choose an appropriate filename for your log.

You can of course create the log within a new folder named after the particular contest in which you plan to participate.

Click the Open button once you have chosen an appropriate filename.

Step 2: Setup your log

After choosing a filename for your log in step 1, you will be greeted with a window similar to the one below. After opening a log, you can easily change any field on this screen by typing the text command REOPEN:

Hopefully this screen will be quite self-explanitory, but here's a brief summary of what the various entry fields indicate:

• Callsign - enter the callsign which you plan to use during the contest
• Locator - only required in contests which you give your locator as part of the exchange. This must be filled with a complete locator (ex: CM97CF). To determine your locator, go to http://f6fvy.free.fr/qthLocator/fullScreen.php, find your location on the interactive map, and click on it to display your grid square number. This value is used to calculate beam headings and sunrise/sunset times for your QTH.
• Exchange (zone, ...) - If this field is editable, enter a CQ zone for the CQ WW contests, your year of first licence for the EU HF Championship, year of birth for the All Asian contest, your state for the NA Sprint, etc. It may be disabled for contests which require a serial number. If the contest has a Domestic-side and a DX-side where a serial must be sent, enter "DX". Sets the $ZONE, $STATE, or $YEAR message variables for CW messages, depending on the contest.
• DXCC Prefix - your station's standard country prefix, from cty.dat
• WAZ zone - your station's CQ zone number
• ITU zone - your station's ITU zone number
• State/Province/Other - your station's U.S. state, Canadian province, or "DX".
• Name - the name which you want to be inserted into the final Cabrillo/ADIF log file
• Address - the address which you want to be inserted into the final Cabrillo/ADIF log file
• Club - the name of your radio club, for the Cabrillo log file (do not abbreviate)
• Load - click one of these buttons to quickly load address and configuration information saved previously (one of five different configurations may be selected). This avoids retyping everything when you create a new log.
• Save as - click one of these buttons to save the current address and configuration information in one of the five preset buttons. You will be prompted to name the button.
• Contest - this is a drop-down list from which you choose the contest which you plan to partake in. Check [This month only] to shorten this list considerably. If you select DX Expedition, press the [Days...] button to set the span of the Statistics Window from 1 to 15 days.
• Category - choose the appropriate category which you plan to enter in the contest
• Mode - CW, PHONE, MIXED, RTTY, DIGITAL, or All modes?
• Overlay - if the particular contest supports a 'contest overlay' (e.g. CQ WPX), choose it from this drop-down list
• Band plan - click [Setup...] to set up frequency ranges, and Win-Test will automatically filter packet spots by frequency, showing only those spots that apply to your selected contest mode. See Bandplans for more information.
• Class - the power class you plan to enter (drop-down list)
• Op. name - the operator's name, sets the $MYNAME message variable
• Operators - this operator list will be inserted into the final Cabrillo log file. It must be a space-delimited list of operator callsign(s). You may also list the callsign of the host station by placing an "@" caracter in front of the callsign within the operator list.
• Station - station name, only important in a multi-op environment where each networked computer needs its own unique identifier. Check [Enable time distribution across the network] if you want this computer's clock to be the "master clock" for all networked computers.

Click one of the Save as buttons to save address and other information. Click [OK] to open your newly created log. That's it! This only needs to be done once per contest log.

Editing the contest configuration

You can make changes in the above contest configuration dialog at any time by re-opening the log file. To do this, use the REOPEN or OPEN text command, or go to the File | Open menu option in Win-Test, and choose the appropriate log filename. Click Open and once again you will be greeted with the configuration dialog box. You can make any changes you like here and then click [OK].

Opening your log automatically upon opening Win-Test

If you wish, you can have Win-Test open the last opened log file upon start-up. This could be useful if you have to make a reboot (for whatever reason) during a contest and upon, for example, double-clicking the Win-Test icon on the desktop will open the last opened log file.

To enable this feature, you will have to firstly open the log which you want to be opened automatically each time (as instructed above), and then goto the Options | Load contest at startup | Enabled menu option.

Close Win-Test and then re-open to verify it works.

See Also

• Merging/exporting log
• ...