SkookumLogger v2.3.3 now available

Bill Myers, K1GQ, released version 2.3.3 of his contest logging software SkookumLogger for macOS.

SkookumLogger is a full-featured contest software package suitable for the most demanding contester.

2.3.3 Release Notes

About Mojave

I have fussed quite a bit with cosmetic issues — stretching out work on things that matter like bug fixes — trying to make SkookumLogger usable with both Light and Dark modes in Mojave. Please see the Help topic for two issues I am aware of, and let me know if you encounter others.

Future features

I have been experimenting with a scheme for displaying the video output of an Elecraft P3 panadapter in an SkookumLogger window. The scheme requires an Elecraft K3 radio, and is hidden unless you connect to the K3x radio type. Briefly, SkookumLogger overlays a cursor on the video that tracks the mouse and shows a call next to the cursor when the frequency of the cursor is near an activity table entry. A mouse click jumps the radio to the frequency of the tracking cursor. The scheme also requires the P3 SVGA option and a SVGA to USB video capture device; these are not inexpensive items.

New features

In practice mode, Radio ► RIT/XIT ► Offset Up decreases all Radio1 caller pitches by 20 Hz, and similarly for Radio2. Offset Down increases the pitches. The offset starts at zero each time a set of callers is created. Radio1 ► RIT/XIT ► Clear sets the Radio1 offset back to zero, and similarly for Radio2. Thanks JH5GHM.

SkookumLogger handles the new Cabrillo QSO mode code ‘DG’. Thanks W9JJ.

Performance issues on Mojave have led to a total rewrite of the great circle map code. The corresponding topic in Help has been replaced, and the Maps web page has been cleaned up and now lists available Maidenhead maps.

FM mode is supported in the FT897 radio. Thanks GØDVJ.

Contests in the Generic group accept all of the modes recognized by SkookumLogger. Thanks WA1Z.

SkookumLogger now supports the CQ WW RTTY contest for Inside and Outside entrants. Thanks WA1Z.

Changes

The Practice mode approach for generating random caller pitches has been modified to avoid clustering pitches with little spread at low audio frequencies. Since you asked: the pitch is drawn from a random number generator with a Gaussian distribution (provided by the Apple GameKit framework). The deviation for the distribution is equal to the Spread preference value divided by six, corresponding to 3-sigma on each side of the mean (the GameKit generator never returns a value outside that span). The mean for the distribution is the Center preference value when center + 3.0 * deviation is greater than 100 Hz, and otherwise 100 Hz + 3.0 * deviation. The generator parameters are determined from the preferences when Practice mode is enabled, so you must turn Practice mode off in order to change the generator parameters. I use Center = 400 and Span = 300. Thanks JH5GHM.

The Window ► SkookumNet menu item has been removed and the window’s close button has been disabled. Window visibility is controlled by the (Logging) preference ‘Enable SkookumNet’. Thanks GØDVJ.

The Text Decode window now remembers its visibility state across restarts.

Misfeatures fixed

Editing a Bearing cell in the Antenna Configuration window crashed when the cell was made empty. Also, the range of accepted bearings was incorrectly limited to 0 to 100 degrees instead of 0 to 360 degrees. Thanks GØDVJ.

Clicking on a QSO entry field in the the QSO entry box without keyboard focus was transferring keyboard focus to the entry field, but was failing to obey the “Transmit focus follows keyboard focus” OpMode option. Thanks GØDVJ.

The Rate Tracker window sometimes opened at a different vertical position after a restart. Thanks GØDVJ.

The Data Messages Editor was using the saved size/position of the Morse Messages Editor. Thanks GØDVJ.

The Explain Suspects window had duplicate items instead of distinct items when there was more than one cause of the SQ flag.

The latest version of SkookumLogger is available free of charge for download here.