Showing posts with label morsepower. Show all posts
Showing posts with label morsepower. Show all posts

Friday 12 August 2016

CWCOM - How to make a QRZ/contact list & Logging page

How to make a QRZ/Contact list for CWCOM....


NOTE.... CLICK ON THE PIC .... FOR A LARGER VIEW...



 When I first started on cwcom, I used a sheet of paper for making notes on the callsigns and qth of contacts.. but it soon got out of hand, and was "messy".. and not in any usable order... and so I decided to "have a go" at making some kind of QRZ list, using the Spreadsheet available in "Open Office"..

You can also make a "log book", using a spreadsheet format....  Nothing too difficult about that... just name the head of the columns to show what information you want to keep....  e.g.

DATE     DAY    TIME    CALLSIGN     NAME    QTH      NOTES



(click the pic... to enlarge)



You can resize this, so that it fits below the mains screen, giving you and "easy access" to  a record of your qso`s on your desktop.


 View of part of my "on screen" Logbook made with Open Office Spreadsheet. 






 Click on the pics for a larger view !

My "QRZ/Contacts" list.... 
(reduced size from bottom right corner of computer screen)


Larger size for editing purposes.....





CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE 

After you have finished inserting  all the information... re-size the QRZ list so that it can fit on the side of your screen, ready for your next QSO... ...

RESIZED TO FIT ON RIGHT HAND SIDE OF COMPUTER SCREEN
CLICK ON THE PICS TO ENLARGE



Open Office is a suite of programs, which is very handy to have, but most of all, it is totally FREE .. it is free to download, and free to use... Just google  < Open Office Download > and follow the usual download routines.  get it installed... it will read just about any kind of text document.. yes.. even Microsoft Office documents..  !  ( and we all know THAT costs a fortune as a stand alone Microsoft offering  ! ! )..

Note.. the following is based on Open Office.. but I am sure it will work pretty well for any other spreadsheet program that you may already be using...

 Open…. Open office

ChooseSpreadsheet click on File   >  Save as    enter File name as CWCom QRZ  then Save (OR   CWCOM LOGBOOK ) as required


Move cursor on to the separation line between columns B and C…. “hold and drag” to reduce B to a quarter of its size .  ( this column is now used as a spacer )

hold and grab” the next line between C & D… make C half as wide again.

Repeat on D & E but reduce it to make a space column

Repeat on E & F...but increase it to double the size

Repeat on F & G  but reduce it to make a space column

Repeat on G & H. but increase it to double the size.

In the first cell,   A1 ,   enter   CALLSIGN

....  move cursor to C1 and enter NAME

..... Cursor to E1 enter LOCATION (QTH )

   Cursor to G1  enter Notes  ( this col will be used for notes about the operator, morse quality, hobbies etc… )




Entering Callsigns and information




If you already have some callsigns and info you can enter them into the columns start with the 3rd line, to leave a spare row beneath the title row...   You can enter info  in random order of callsign, as "SORT" instructions are included below.

…. Add in as much info in the other columns at the same time…

When finished your initial entries
move the cursor to the bottom right corner  ( Say G20  or bottom right hand corner of the last line of entries)

 and left click and hold the mouse, draw it across the spreadsheet up to A2,

                              … the whole spreadsheet should now “selected”…

Click on “Data” on the top tool bar…. And then “Sort” in the drop down menu…..

Another window opens and you can now sortColumn A"  In  Ascending Order.

You will not need to do this again…. !  Unless you enter a call in the wrong place and need to re-sort them again…







To insert NEW callsigns…. Locate the next alphabetical call sign BELOW the one you want… I.e.  If the call sign is G4FON and you have G4HYD. You will need to click the cursor on G4HYD….

 Then go to the top toolbar and click on “Insert”… then “ROW” in the drop down menu…

.an Empty row will appear above G4HYD…. Now you can enter the new callsign G4FON in the correct alphabetical position…

Move the cursor to a clear area at the bottom of the spreadsheet, and click on any cell….. Then click on “FILE > SAVE “…..

Job Done...


If you put a line of info in the wrong place….you just “select” the whole line ( row )    ( use “Insert” as above, ) and then drag it to the correct place….

To delete a row of information

     use the “Insert” to DELETE a line…. But be careful to select “ROW” in the little box !

When finished.... 


Click ......    File > "Save"  as above..



You enter new callsigns ,& other info , during your qso`s if you keep the QRZ page "live" BUT minimised  on your desktop...  see pic below,







 
You can put the "Log Book" page below the main screen in the gap between the "on channel" and the QRZ list 

 

when you try to close the sheet, by clicking X in top right corner. you will be asked if you want to SAVE the new sheet or DISCARD any changes you have made.... 

              ALWAYS choose SAVE   ! ! !..



Tuesday 9 August 2016

CWCOM - Editing the Morse Library

The Morse Library is the set of letters, figures, and prosigns, that appear on screen when you send or receive morse on CWCOM.

You can modify this to suit your own needs, but it needs some careful thinking about the process you are doing.

WARNING.... IF YOU CORRUPT YOUR morse.lib FILE THEN YOU SHOULD TRY THE FOLLOWING...

 

A recent problem, that I have not personally encountered, was the corruption by a user, when editing the Morse Library, of the  morse.lib file.
It seems that when he tried to download a new copy of CWCOM, somehow this did not replace the old corrupt copy of the morse.lib file. Having deleted his mrx folder and cwcom folder, it still would bring up the corrupted copy on a new install. 

 

To get around this problem l suggest that you rename the original folder(s) as OLD MRX software, and OLD cwcom

 
Then download, and install a new copy of cwcom...
Once it has been "proved" as a good copy, then you should be able to delete to OLD versions and run CCLEANER to clear out any odd bits... then run a REGistry CLEANER ( from CCLEANER ) or WISE REGISTRY CLEANER ( free to download and use )  to remove any excess registry items.  (REG CLEANER not applicable to Linux or MAC Machines! ! ) .( but is useful when using WINE for Windows apps ! )

 

 

 
Continuing with EDITING THE Morse.lib File.


You cannot just "change"  things...  e.g. if you want to change IMI  on screen to ?  you cannot do this as a "change".. first you must locate the symbol IMI... and delete that line,  

 

Then you must replace it with the NEW version of IMI so that it prints the question mark on the screen.

Edit Morse Definition

Text     Symbol     WavFile     Response     Type

IMI       113311      imi                ?             Punct

Many operators on CWCOM have removed the UPPER CASE/CAPITAL letters as they prefer to see the "normal" lower case text on screen..

Of course, there are many operators, who, over the years, have been trained to type, and use capital letters/upper case when writing the messages, so that they can be easily read, rather than having to decipher "doctors writing" type "long hand" ....  

Again, there are those who have difficulty reading small print text on a computer screen, and there is a facility for making the print size ( font size ) larger...   if you so desire.. ( this kind of change will only happen on your screen... it does not change the distant operators screen font size )... See the end of this page.....

So, here is how to go about modifying or 

 

editing the Morse Library.

the process generally follows this route.... 

1.edit the original Morse.lib file

2.rename it  ORIGINAL Morse.lib

3. save the modified version as   NEW Morse.lib

4 close down cwcom. and restart for the changes to take effect. 

 


Instructions for modifying the Morse Library......  Or....
 How to remove the upper case letters ...

> 1. click on the yellow A next to QRV

> 2.at the bottom of the window that opens... click on "open"

> 3. another window opens... showing "Morse.lib" folder ...... select/highlight that and then click "open" on that window. 

(see NOTE! below... regarding "save" ).... 

> 4. you will now be presented with yet another window.. with a grid showing the UPPER CASE/CAPITAL letters down the left side..

> 5. the top one A,  should be "selected/highlighted"

> 6. at the bottom of that window click on "X Delete" and keep doing that until all the CAPITAL letters have been deleted.

> 7.be careful not to delete any more ! ! ! ...

(If you do... just close the window... do not "save" , and then reboot cwcom and start again) 

 IMPORTANT...
8. You now need to find the lower case `z`  

and delete that line also, this is because the symbols are wrong  and will print ? instead of z  because the Symbol is wrong.. it should be 3311.


ADDING NEW SYMBOLS TO THE LIBRARY 
 (see note at end of this section for adding accentuated letters) 

The following  instructions apply to any "new" additions, or changes you want to do ( e.g. change IMI to show  ?  or BT to show =   or AR to show +  etc ).,.


9.  Replace the lower case `z` as follows

10. click on "New" at the bottom of the library .
 
                  then under Edit Morse Definitions, in the first box{column heading TEXT}  (already `selected` ),  enter the lower case z   
        
                  next box along, (column heading Symbol 3311  {these the symbols for dashes and dots.. 3 = dash and 1 = dot} . 
               ..
                  next box (column heading  WAV file)  enter lower case z ....    
      
                  next box ( column heading Response) lower case z     
    
     and finally make sure it show  "letter"....( in the column headed Type)


If that is the only change... then you MUST follow this .....
     . Click on the "Add" (with green tick)... 

      then "save"

       then "Exit...

WARNING!... When you "save" your changes, it replaces the original morselib file.... therefore, if you are not sure what you are doing is going to be right.... it would be best to "save" with a new title for the file....e.g.  NEW Morse   or   NEW Morse.lib ... 
.. 
( Go to PART Two -further down this page to continue)

  

Follow the same procedure for changing other items....i.e  BT   ...... IMI....  . AR..  ..  etc..  ( change the last box from "letter" to "prosign" though....)


You can either delete them first... or do the changes, then delete them,...but you must delete the old ones before you "save & exit" and re start CWCOM.


You can make up your own "prosigns"   so long as you remember the morse symbols that you used..  I use CT to make  ~~ on my screen... and I have changed the layout of SK or VA for ( See You Later) and also AS from WAIT to Pse Wait....  
 
Remember... You can`t "just change " what is already in the library... you must add a new prosign and delete the old one.
 
IMPORTANT 
 
To continue.... go to "Part Two"   below this next bit 
 
 


How to add "non-english" accentuated letters 
       to a standard english keyboard . 

e.g.  Germany uses  ä   Ö   ü    and  ß  which do not appear on a standard english language keyboard...  to add these to the morse lib is a little different to adding new letters/symbols...  so read this carefully....

first "copy" the letter  ä  (or whichever you want to do next) from this page... by highlighting/selecting the letter, and then right click and "copy"...  

Open up the MorseLib... as above...

 then proceed as for "new"... 

Select NEW from the bottom row menu..... and then in the frame follow this example... 

Text  Symbol  WavFile     Response      Type

 aa     1313        aa                ä            Special

***  (here you must select       "special"   instead of Letter) in the TYPE column,  then click the space under RESPONSE,   and you should be able to paste in the accentuated letter     ä     ......     Go to the bottom row, and click ADD ... then click "save"....  and save it as detailed above...  

You can add the rest of the accentuated letters, in the same operation following the above procedure... don`t forget to "ADD" them.... and finally "Save"   save as a new title "Morselib accentuated"  and then exit.... and restart cwcom.  ( and going through the "Rename" proecedure to make the new version "Morse.lib" otherwise you may find a message Can`t find Morse.lib


  ä  = 1313        (aa) (no brackets in Text and Wavfile columns)
  Ö  = 3331       (oe)
   ü = 1133        (im) 
   ß = 1113311   (sz)
 
 
 
 PART TWO of Editing the Morse.lib file
 
After doing the changes/editing, and saving and exit.. You now need to find the "saved" NEW Morse.lib file.
Originally, it was saved in the Program Files (x86) folder, MRX Software>CWCOM....
 
 but something has changed in Windows 
 
and it is now saved in somewhere called "Virtual Store" as follows 
 
On your Computer - Locate
 
Local Disc(C:) 
       Users
           (your username folder)  
                 App Data
                       Local  
( scroll down the list in "Local"  until you get to )
                          Virtual Store
                              Program Files (X86)
                                   MRX Software
                                         CWCOM 
 
In the cwcom folder,
       you should have listed your NEW Morse.lib file.
                          Right click and "Copy" it 
 
close that page. 
 
Now find your 
Computer > 
         Local Disc (C:) > 
                Program Files (X86) > 
                              MRX Software > 
                                               CWCOM 
 
and then "Paste" your NEW Morse.lib copy into the CWCOM folder
 
It will now have two "morse.lib" files... but will only run on one... so you must now rename them as follows 
 
Locate  and Select the "Morse.lib" file   ( the original one ) and rename it ORIGINAL Morse.lib   
 

Select the new morse.lib file 

NEW Morse.lib   and rename it Morse.lib 

Close the windows.


This will now be the "default" Morse.lib library with all your changes effective the next time you start CWCOM 

When you restart CWCOM, it should show your edited version, and will be "default" until you change it again. !


Any problems....... (hope not ! ! )  email me, and I will try to help....
 







To Change the FONT SIZE  .....
(this is only effective on YOUR screen -not the remote users screen(s) ) 

                     Just click on the A and you will be presented with a pop out message box, with the current Font and Style and Size already highlighted... just use the up and down slider on the Size column, to change to a larger size as required.


Here are a couple of suggestions for "telegram" type fonts... which you can download.

TO ADD NEW FONTS TO CWCOM..

You need to locate and download them from the internet... 
 Try this site... 

 http://fontzone.net/font-details/telegram-hplhs

Or this one....

http://www.fontsplace.com/ld-telegram-free-font-download.html



Here is an "authentic" type font.....   

"Cablegram"...  

 http://ufonts.com/q108316

You need to scroll down the page until you see a very small " download" folder type icon...  click that, and the page changes...you have to type in the "code" into a box before it will download the font for you....


Once downloaded... locate it in your "downloads" folder... and then copy and paste it into your Fonts Folder, as  mentioned below...

 To add NEW FONTS to your computer, ( so you can use them in cwcom)...

In WINDOWS......
Go to....   START   button at bottom left,........., then type into the box above   FONTS ..

 you should be presented with a "folder"   then... right click on it and look for  File Location...

click that and you can then go to your downloads folder and copy and paste the font into your Fonts Folder... .

It will then be available for you to use on your cwcom screen....

If you make a real hash of it... you can always uninstall cwcom and re-install it, which will give you the original Morse Library again on the fresh copy. .. 



Scaling down the Font list
to a manageabale size ....


As a matter of interest... there are hundreds of fonts in the FONTS folder on computers... and many of them will never ever ever ever be used... 
So... if you have nothing to do for an hour or so... you can locate the Fonts Folder... open it up and just delete all those that are "not relevant" to your language... 




Friday 5 August 2016

Introducing "MorsePower" . a blog about Morse Code & CWCOM - Morse over the internet !.

Welcome...


to contact me....

 


 


CWCOM  is a program that enables you to send morse code, over the internet, and conduct "live" real-time QSO`s (contacts)  You can use a straight morse key, a single or twin paddle key...or bug key... if you do not have a key.. you can use the down arrow as a straight key, or the mouse as an iambic key using the right and left buttons.



 It is an excellent program for those Radio Amateurs, who, because of local housing restrictions on antenna`s, cannot use the radio for their hobby, to practice and enjoy communicating in Morse.

      When Morse Code was first used, the operators used simple morse keys, like an on/off switch to send a current down a telegraph line, to a distant station.  The series of on/off connections was governed by the Morse Code, invented by Samuel Morse, and his friend.  It was primarily used between large towns and cities, and invariably by the railways of the time, to pass messages. As the system grew, and spread, around the various countries, it became the original internet. And so, with CWCOM we have come full circle, so to speak, as we can now use the modern version of the internet, to communicate around the world, using Morse Code.

        To this end, I have written a series of tutorials, about the setting up and configuration of the program, although there is an excellent "help" page embedded in the program for quick reference.

(written for Windows 95.. but also can be used on Linux and MAC machines)

Check out

PAGE 18FOR LINUX

   PAGE 19 FOR MAC USERS
on this blog for FULL DETAILED instructions.


To download... CWCOM..


scroll down the page a little,  to a small window on the right hand side.

click on    Windows Executable 2 files

choose/select       

IMPORTANT NOTE......

after installing... check the "Remote Details"       "Address"  box


Make sure you have the correct "Remote Details" 
  in the   "Address" box .

it should read....

[morsecode.dyndns.org]

If it shows
[mrx.ham-radio-op.net]

you can edit that to the correct address by typing in the correct address.


To check this.... after install.... click the desktop icon, to "open" cwcom

then click the "blue world" icon next to the black square top left of screen

this is the "Connect" window..

This is what you should see 
(your ip address will be in the  ip address line )

It will also be in the "callsign" box at the bottom. which you can add your callsign into,
instead of the ip address.






If you want to learn Morse Code..  Click on PAGE 14 "How to learn morse code"


Please click on the PAGES MENU at the top of the screen for more specific information about all aspects of cwcom,   including how to connect an external key to your computer or laptop
If you have any problems. you can contact me on the email address at the top of this page....

I also run another blog that tells the stories about my 16 straight morse keys, that I have attached to my laptop.. and use a different one each day in rotation


Other interesting Morse code/ Amateur radio sites





For "MorseKOB"   ( american railroad morse )




G
M
T
Y
Text-to-speech function is limited to 200 characters