• QSOs totals for 1296 MHz showed as 0. Fixed.

Auto CW - all HF programs:

• PTT is now enabled (pin 16, LPT1). A reminder that you can set your own value, between 1 and 999ms, by editing the SD_PTTDELAY parameter in SDCONFIG.SYS. The default is 40ms.

• It’s convenient, when running CW stations, for the keyer to be activated automatically. The command CWAUTO toggles automatic keying while logging. The default is OFF.

  Press Enter in an empty Callsign field to play the message corresponding to F1 (TEST or CQ).

  Press Enter after a callsign, minimum 3 characters, to play F2 (Callsign + exchange). Your F2 memory should end with the #E (Enter) parameter. You can add extra characters to the callsign before the keyer reaches that point. For example, W3L Enter PL will send W3LPL followed by the exchange.

  Use Tab to leave the callsign field without playing a memory.

  When the QSO is logged, F3 plays (suggest you set it to TU #R), but only if you previously used Enter (not Tab) to leave the Callsign field.

  Log on Enter should be disabled, with the LOGONENTER command, as otherwise the F3 messages may play immediately after the F2 message.

  Esc will stop the keyer instantly. However, if a callsign is being played when you press Esc, as is usual with F2, you’ll need a second Esc - otherwise the exchange will continue to be sent.

  This feature is independent of the status of Caps Lock, but you must have previously enabled a CW port using the PORTS command.

SDI - IOTA Contest:

• While logging, the score did not display correctly in the score window - fixed.

• If you entered an IOTA reference greater than the maximum specified in SDI (now 260), the program gave an error message and looped. Fixed.

SD - Type 9 - General, Country Multipliers:

• The option of "No Multipliers" has been added. This permits support for contests with variable points by location (own country, other countries, other continents), but no multipliers.

SDCHECK:

• Type 11. Fixed display of Serial Sent in .LOG file.

• Type 6 (WPX). 160m QSOs were not counted in the Cabrillo claimed score. Fixed.

SDXCHECK:

• The edit option did not permit a band edit to 6m. Fixed.

• The ADIF and Text export options did not support 6m QSOs. Fixed.

All Programs - Esc:

• When you use Esc to wipe a field, the message "Esc to restore xxxx" appears, where xxxx represents the field you’ve just wiped. I’ve added this at the suggestion of new users who pressed Esc by mistake, and didn’t always know how to recover.

SDV - Country Multipliers:

• DXCC.CTY is now the default country reference file, rather than RSGB.CTY which counted cerian call areas as country multipliers.

SDV - Locators:

• V9.77 featured the automatic insertion of locators when found in .LST records. Unfortunately, in contests with locator multipliers (and constant RST Sent) such locators were not flagged as multipliers when appropriate. Fixed.

SD, SDI - Editing Band:

• When editing the band (with F1 and F2) on QSOs logged earlier, the score window was not updated correctly. Fixed.

• When you enter a matching callsign, with a .LST file loaded, the locator, if any, is extracted from the .LST record and inserted in the locator field on the logging line.

  In contests with District Codes, the code is similarly extracted.

  The first field in the .LST record must be a call-sign. Any remaining fields (Name, District Code, Locator) may be in any order.

SDX and SD (Mixed-mode options):

• With matching callsigns, any data extracted from a .LST file is shown in full, together with the summary of bands and modes already worked. Where the programs have flagged a potential dupe, the relevant data is also shown.

SD - YUDX Contest:

• Type 3, which already supports IARU HF and LZ DX contests, now includes an option which correctly scores QSOs in the YU DX contest. YU prefix multipliers are not recorded. This may not matter as the contest organisers accept Cabrillo logs in which QSOs are not scored, and multipliers and dupes are not marked. SDCHECK has been updated to give a Cabrillo log for this contest.

Actual Frequency:

• Now included in ADIF exports (SDCHECK, SDICHECK, SDXCHECK) when rig control is enabled while logging.

SDX - DXpedition Logger:

• Dupes are now logged by default, so that insurance QSOs will be retained. If a dupe is indicated, the only way to NOT log the QSO is by using minus.

SDXCHECK - Post DXpedition:

• Ran out of memory when loading a log with more than 6000 QSOs. Fixed.

.LST Reference Files:

• Capacity increased to 10000 records.

Keyer Mode:

• [ gives dahdidahdidah (CT).

Audits (to disk or printer):

• The AUDIT command gives an audit trail, to disk or printer, of every QSO logged or edited. Since the introduction, in V9.74, of the simplified full-screen editing, spurious audit records were generated. Fixed.

• With rig control enabled, the QSO frequency, rounded up or down to the nearest kHz, is stored in the .ALL file. SDCHECK includes the frequency in Cabrillo (ARRL Standard File Format) logs and its Text Export option.

• The frequency is compressed in the .ALL file - and cannot be read directly. This was necessary to keep the QSO records the same size as before.

Left Arrow:

• In V9.74 I noted that Left Arrow was equivalent to Shift_Tab, and could take you from one field to another - in reverse sequence.

  This caused problems for me in the ARRL DX contests. I always use OVR mode for data entry, and when I return to the callsign field to insert a prefix, I’m used to hitting Left Arrow a few times to take me to the beginning of the field. In some cases, I ended up in the State or RST fields. Now, Left Arrow does nothing when the cursor is at the start of a field.

FOC Marathon:

• SD supports the FOC Marathon, when you select Type 9, and FOC as your CTY file. Copy DXCC.CTY to FOC.CTY before starting. Mults count once only, 1 point per QSO, Pts/Bonus 2 (country bonus points).

  SD automatically assigns bonus QSO points for 5th and 6th band QSOs with individual stations, and double points for G4FOC. Note that consistency of scoring is not enforced following callsign edits on QSOs already logged. I’ll probably add an automatic rescore, on restarting SD, to address this issue - and it occurs to me that it might be useful for all contests.

  If you log non-members, you can enter any text in the serial received to score the QSO with zero points.

  I’d appreciate feedback and suggestions for this FOC option. I’ll add the appropriate analyis to SDCHECK over the next few months.

Dupes - SD:

• It’s often useful to enter the call of a station already worked, if only to see on which other bands that station is wanted.

  Previously, the Dupe message at the bottom line on the screen replaced the list of bands worked. Now, both sets of information are shown.

SDCHECK:

• JIDX Contest - the .LOG file is now in Cabrillo format.

• Cabrillo - the Operator Callsign field would not accept numbers and treated Space as Enter. Fixed.

• RoPoCo Contest. Some postcode characters not shown in .LOG file - fixed.

• Cabrillo and Export as Text options include actual QSO frequencies to nearest kHz - rounded up or down.

• It’s often useful to enter the call of a station already worked, if only to see on which other bands that station is wanted.

PTT - all programs:

• The delay was fixed at 40 milliseconds. You can set your own value, between 1 and 999ms, by editing the SD_PTTDELAY parameter in SDCONFIG.SYS. The default is 40ms.

• When you type a Canadian prefix, the relevant Province code is now displayed before you leave the callsign field. With LOGONENTER enabled (ON), the QSO is logged immediately following an Enter from the callsign field. If you prefer not to have Canadian QSOs logged this way, use Space Bar rather than Enter, or set LOGONENTER Off.

  Use the STATUS command to check the status of LOGONENTER and other parameters.

SDU - V9.74 in the UBA Contest:

• For ON Entrants, Type 19 crashed when a callsign beginning with V was entered. Fixed 19/2/2001.

• For DX Entrants, Type 20 did not recognise ON2 as a Belgian prefix. Fixed 19/2/2001.

SDV - Locators:

• After entering a locator, the cursor returned to the callsign field and, at times, truncated the callsign to 4 or 6 characters. Fixed.

SDCHECK - Print Option:

• Print spacing had doubled, due to spaces at the end of each line not being suppressed. Fixed.

• For Belgian entrants, SDU Type 19, SDU crashed when a callsign beginning with V was entered. Fixed.

• For DX entrants, SDU Type 20, SDU did not recognise ON2 as a Belgian prefix. Fixed.

• Insert/Overwrite data entry modes are toggled with the Insert key. Previously, INS mode applied only to Callsigns whereas all other fields defaulted to OVR mode. Your selected mode now applies to all fields.

  NOTE: When you type a character in INS mode, all characters to the right of the cursor (if any) move to the right and the cursor also moves to the right. If the field is already full, the rightmost character is lost (drops off the end). When the field is full and the cursor is placed over the rightmost character, this character is replaced by any character typed, and the cursor does not move.

Simpler Data Entry - all programs:

• While logging, Right Arrow and Left Arrow will take you from one field to the next, just like Tab and Shift/Tab. There’s one difference - for Left Arrow, the cursor must be at the beginning of the field. For Right Arrow, it must be at the end of the field.

  As before, Enter is required to log a QSO. (Space Bar is equivalent to Enter when the cursor is at the end of a field).

Simpler Full-Screen Editing - all programs:

• While editing previous QSOs, Left and Right Arrow work as described above. In addition, Up or Down Arrow now log any edits to the QSO being edited and take you to the corresponding field in the previous or following QSO - still in Edit Mode.

  Use Enter to finish editing and return to logging.

  As always, the logging line must be blank before you can edit previous QSOs.

  NOTE: Once any edit is logged, by moving the cursor away from the edited QSO, SD updates all other relevant QSOs in real-time, so that your mults and dupes and points are consistent and correct.

SD - CQ 160 m Contest:

• Prefixes from YU, and later (alphabetically), were not recognised due to an internal prefix table being too small. Fixed.

Date Change at Midnight - all programs:

• Logging was interrupted for 1 minute - Fixed.

SDU - UBA Contest:

• RSTs were not logged at times - Fixed.

  SDU scored some QSOs incorrectly, apparently randomly. It happened when, during logging, a Belgian or European call was typed, and was replaced with a DX call without leaving the callsign field. The QSO was then scored according to the original callsign. Fixed.

LST Callsign Reference Lists:

• Records are now loaded to expanded memory. This is automatic, at startup, when the parameter SD_LOAD is set to a .LST file name. The option to load to disk has been removed from SDU.

SDCHECK - UBA and REF Contests:

• Improved multiplier analysis on the Summary Sheet.

SDCHECK - Cabrillo for CQ 160 m:

• The Contest Exchange field expected a minimum of 2 characters before you could continue. It’s changed to 1 character now. The output .LOG file was not affected.

SDV - Locators:

• While logging, Enter from a blank locator field halted the program. It didn’t crash, but the effect was the same. Fixed.

  When you enter a valid locator, stations already worked with this locator are shown in the Prefix window. This can serve as a cross-check on the callsign entered.

  NOTE: Entering a locator in the Callsign field has the same effect.

SD - REF Contest:

• Applies to all contests with area codes. A user had logged an Area QSO with no corresponding Area Code (in this case, a French station with no Departement). I can’t say how this happened, because SD doesn’t normally let you log an "area" QSO without a valid area code.

• However, when the area code was added, in edit mode, SD crashed. Fixed.

Auto-Prefix Checking - all programs:

• No longer optional - it’s always ON. The PRE and PREFIX commands have been removed.

• French keyboards are different in that the number keys, along the top row, require Shift or Caps Lock. This conflicts with some SD features that require Caps Lock to be Off. I’ve updated both SD and SDU to access numbers regardless of the state of Caps Lock. French Keyboard users must also download the corresponding SD.MAP keyboard mapping file from http://www.ei5di.com/sd/sdmap.zip and place it in the same directory as SD.EXE and SDU.EXE.

  Note that the keyboard mapping feature is active only while logging and editing, and not in SD’s opening screens.

  On French keyboards, when used with the SD.MAP file, the minus key on the top row is mapped to 6. However, the minus key on the numeric keypad is unchanged and can be used, as normal, to wipe QSOs or abandon Edits. Other alternative "minus" keys are F11 (does not update Quick Memory), Alt-W, and ø - the key immediately to the right of 0 on the top row, physically equivalent to the minus key on UK and US keyboards.

  If you use a French keyboard, you need V9.73 of both SD and SDU. All other users can remain on V9.71.

• Following testing of SD for the REF Contest, I’ve updated REF.MLT, REF.CTY and REFDX.CTY. There’s a couple of minor changes in SD’s scoring routine to give 15 points for QSOs between French stations in different continents.

  All other programs are unchanged and remain V9.71.

• Following rule changes for 2001, SD offers direct support for this contest (Type 10). SDU remains freeware for the UBA Contest. The REF.MLT, REF.CTY, and REFDX.CTY multiplier files have been updated for use with SD.

SD - Points per QSO:

• In all contests with variable points, SD displays the points scored for each QSO.

SDCHECK (HF, VHF, IOTA, SDX):

• Summary Sheet layout simplified (SD only), and better band analysis provided, to include separate area and country multiplier totals. In mixed-mode events, all headings are shown separately by mode, and combined (both SSB and CW). You might like to print this analysis for your own reference, even though the Summary Sheet is not required for ARRL and CQ Contests using the new ARRL Standard File Format (Cabrillo).

  The Text Output option introduced in V9.69 went missing in V9.70. Restored.

  .PRT printed log for Type 4, 9 and 10. (See V9.62) Two additional options provided. You can include or exclude Serial Sent, and you can add other fixed data sent in the exchange, such as your area code.

  Stew Perry Contest (SD Type 11): ARRL Standard File Format (Cabrillo) output added.

KG4 - Guantanamo Bay:

• SD V9.70 correctly identified KG4 calls with a two-letter suffix as Guantanamo Bay, and KG4 calls with a three-letter suffix as USA - for example KG4XXX. However, this was logged as K4XXX. Fixed.

SD - Mixed Mode, with area multipliers:

• F3 gives an area analysis (Worked/Needed) for the current mode. Successive F3 keystrokes cycle from CW to SSB to "Both".

SCP - Super Check Partial:

• F12 and = (equals) are alternatives for switching SCP On for the current QSO. However, F12 would log a QSO if pressed with the cursor in the Serial field. Fixed.

  Note: To switch SCP On or Off for all QSOs, use the SUPER command.

SD, SDC, SDU - Serial Fields:

• If you tabbed back from an empty Serial field to the Callsign and then pressed Space or Enter, the QSO was logged with no Serial. Now, you must enter a serial before the QSO is logged. To log a QSO with no serial, enter 0 in the Serial field.

• In all contests with multipliers, you’ll see the following.
  1. Total of countries worked - regardless of band or mode - Example: C 103.

  2. Total of Zones or Area/District Codes worked - regardless of band or mode - Example: Z 34.

  3. For CQ WW, Country and Zone mults are shown separately by band.

  4. For mixed-mode contests, CW and SSB mults are shown separately by band.

SD & SDU - QSO Rate Window:

• Points/QSO value is shown for all contests with variable points, whether by band, mode or location.

SDCHECK:

• For information: - Cabrillo is a fancy name for ARRL’s New File Format. There are two significant differences between this and ARRL’s old format.
  1. All QSO and Summary Sheet data is combined in a single file.

  2. In the QSO records, dupes are not marked, multipliers are not claimed, and QSOs are not scored - ARRL does all this independently when your log is received.

     SDCHECK outputs the new format for ARRL, CQ and IARU HF contests (SD Types 0,1,2,3,5 and 6) - and, in Type 4 and 10, when the name of the .MLT file you selected begins with "ARRL".

     SDCHECK outputs in RSGB format for RSGB contests. Otherwise, the previous ARRL Format is used for all other contests including:

     SD   Type   2 - JIDX

     SD   Type   3 - LZ DX

     SD   Type   4 - General, Area Multipliers.

     SD   Type   7 - CW Field Day IARU R1.

     SD   Type   8 - SSB Field Day IARU R1.

     SD   Type   9 - General, Area Multipliers.

     SD   Type 10 - General, Country and Area Multipliers.

     SD   Type 11 - No multipliers.

     SD   Type 12 - EU Sprint.

     SDU Type 19 - UBA Contest, ON entrants

     SDU Type 20 - UBA Contest, DX entrants

     SDU Type 21 - REF Contest, DX entrants

     SDU Type 22 - REF Contest, F entrants

Rig Control:

• HF programs updated to support the Yaesu FT-847, and parameter file FT847.SD supplied.