Message-Id: <20050502222928.VCGX2434.imf24aec.mail.bellsouth.net@[68.212.105.216]>

On 2005-05-02 [log in to unmask] said:
   >I always used the writer for traffic and handling nets.  The biggest
   >challenge was EAN the Eastern Area Net on cw.  Its a fast net and
   >have people going everywhere hi hi.
YEs area nets are a challenge.  I know people do it with a brailler.

Rapid nets where I didn't want the speech interrupting what I'm
listening to such as cw nets are one reason I built my little batch
file net logging programs under dos.  Even without the screen reader I
can enter data fairly reliably from the command line and view it when
I want.

FOr example while sitting at a dos prompt I type st for a station
logging into the net.  IF he has traffic I type  tl for each piece he
list followed by his call and the destination.  TO get it to at least
show in the traffic list I might type zt to just zap a line of text to
the traffic list.  I can catch up on the listings while somebody is
sending traffic on freq.

The reason I have two different methods for appending data to the
traffic list is simple.  these days nts nets from region and above
show how many pieces of traffic were presented as well as how many
were actually handled.   Those presented are "listed" and those
handled are "cleared.
SO for example, if kk3f checks into central area with 3 for region 9
and 1 for region ten I'll be typing four commands after the original
zt which might say something such as:  kk3f 3n 1t
THen wh ile something else is happening I'll type
tl kk3f rn9

Do this twice more and then the same for Pat's region ten.

WHen the traffic is cleared my little programs say it's "distributed"
or cleared, but I've got a problem.  My machine has a ct.bat which
does something else, so we call it distributed and type dt followed by
the station holding it and who he or she sent it to.

At the end of the net session my software counts the appearances of
such words as "listed" notice the quotes around listed  or "cleared"
same with quotes around cleared, and automatically appends to my net
report fi le the number of occurrences of each.


Have run busy nets with a brailler and a slate and stylus.  eVery now
and then I make myself run one with a slate and copy traffic that way
also so as to stay in practice.  HOWever with an easy to use interface
the computer does make things easier there.

WOn't be doing that in the next week or so however on local nets
because our stm is quite ill and he's also Louisiana cw net manager
and I'll be taking reports for him for station activity and public
service honor role as well as cw net reports from last month still
outstanding.  I want the reliability and hate using headphones,
especially at the hospital station.  The slate and stylus seems to
make me lose things when trying to listen to some of these fast cw
ops.

tO those of you who are vhf/uhf only ops or haven't really gotten into
traffic handling, even if it ain't your thing do a bit of it.  When
the stuff hits the fan you'll be glad you have done it.  YOur local
emergency coordinators will thank you even if they're not aware enough
to know it yet.

73 de nf5b



Richard Webb

Electric Spider Productions
                                            "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--- Benjamin Franklin, NOvember 1755 from the
Historical review of Pennsylvania