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CT-USER: Frequently Asked Questions

Last revised: 29 January 2000

This FAQ list covers the following topics:

  1. What is CT-USER?
  2. How do I join (subscribe to) CT-USER?
  3. How do I leave (unsubscribe from) CT-USER?
  4. Is there a digest format of CT-USER?
  5. How do I read old messages sent to the reflector?
  6. How do I obtain CT?
  7. How do I receive updates for the country (CTY) files?
  8. How do I receive updates for MASTER.DTA?
  9. How do I obtain other CT-related files?
  10. How can I find out more about CT, the DVP, CT Secrets, etc.?

What is CT-USER?

[email protected] is an electronic mail reflector for discussions relating to the CT contest logging software and DVP (Digital Voice Processor) by Ken Wolff, K1EA. This is the place to ask questions, report bugs and suggest new features. In addition, updates to CT are often announced here, as are updates to the country lists ("CTY" files) and callsign database ("MASTER.DTA"). This list was started to off-load some of the CT-specific traffic from the CQ-Contest reflector run by Trey Garlough, N5KO (ex-WN4KKN).

Each message you send to [email protected] will be sent out to all the other subscribers. Therefore, it's important to think about what you're going to say, and how you're going to say it, before you send the message.

Also remember that many subscribers receive their E-mail through commercial services such as CompuServe and MCImail. In essence, many people are paying for each byte of every message sent to CT-USER. So please follow the following simple rules:

  • Sign EVERY message you send with your NAME, CALLSIGN, and E-mail address! Many people do not see all the mail headers, so they can not determine who sent the message.
  • Make sure every byte of your message adds value to the reflector! Don't quote an entire message, only to add "I agree" to the end.
  • If you want to reply to the original sender only, PLEASE make sure to remove the mailing list address from your mail header! Otherwise everyone on the list will see your private comment.

How do I join (subscribe to) CT-USER?

Simply send a message to [email protected] with the following text in the BODY of the mail message:

subscribe

A better way, however, is to include your name and callsign in the message to ct-user-request, for example:

subscribe [email protected] (Jim Reisert AD1C)

This can also be helpful if you want your mailing address to be different than your usual REPLY address. For example, if you log into multiple workstations that are all in the same domain.

Use your own E-mail address, name and callsign -- not what's in the example above!


How do I leave (unsubscribe from) CT-USER?

Send a message to [email protected] with the following text in the BODY of the mail message:

unsubscribe

If you subscribed with an address that was different than your usual REPLY address, you will have to include that address in the request, for example:

unsubscribe [email protected] (Jim Reisert AD1C)

Please do not send "SUBSCRIBE" or "UNSUBSCRIBE" requests to CT-USER! They will be returned to you anyway.

Please note that there is no SET NOMAIL command for the list manager. If you want to temporarily stop mail, you MUST unsubscribe, and then re-subscribe when you return.


Is there a digest format of CT-USER?

The CT-USER messages are also distributed in digest form. This means that all messages posted to CT-USER on a given day will be bundled together and resent as a single message, nominally at 11:45 p.m. EST. This is useful for people with Internet providers that place a limit on the number of messages you can have in your mailbox at once. This is the case for many of the JA subscribers.

To subscribe to the digest, send a message to [email protected] with the following text in the BODY of the mail message:

subscribe

To unsubscribe from the digest, send a message to [email protected] with the following text in the BODY of the mail message:

unsubscribe

If you are subscribed to the digest, you will still be able to post messages to CT-USER. You do not need to be subscribed to CT-USER.


How do I read old messages sent to the reflector?

All messages sent to the reflector are archived.

If you have a World Wide Web browser, point to:

http://lists.contesting.com/_ct-user/

Or you can send a message to [email protected] with the following text in the BODY of the mail message:

index

The mailing list archives are in the archives subdirectory and have file names like ct-user.YYYYMM where YYYYMM is the year and month of the archive. You can then send a message to [email protected] to download them, for example by putting:

get ct-user.199512

in the BODY of the mail message. The example above would get all the messages from December, 1995.


How do I obtain CT?

CT Version 9 was released at the 1994 Dayton Hamvention. It is available from K1EA Software:

K1EA Software
Distributed by XX Towers, Inc.
814 Hurricane Hill Road
Mason, NH 03048
Orders: 603-878-4600 FAX: 603-878-1102
Support: 603-878-4200 BBS: 603-878-1900 (28.8K, 8N1)

The current version of CT is 9.47 as of January, 2000.

Updates to the program are available on the Internet.  Please visit http://www.k1ea.com for more information.  The telephone BBS is no longer kept up-to-date.

CT Version 8.53 was the last to support 8086/80286 PCs. You can still order this version from K1EA Software. CT Version 9 runs only on PCs using an 80386 or better. Registered users of Version 9 can obtain Version 8 for a modest fee. Contact K1EA Software.

A very old version of CT 6.26 is available from:

http://www.qrz.com/files/logging/ct626.zip

Note that this version is several years old, has very little in the way of documentation, and there is NO support from K1EA.


How can I receive updates for the country (CTY) files?

The country files for CT Version 8 (ARRL.CTY, CQWW.CTY and IARU.CTY) and CT Version 9 (CTY.DAT) are updated regularly by Jim Reisert, AD1C, usually starting a month before each major contest (CQWW, ARRL DX, WPX, IARU, WAE). The updated files are announced on the reflector and are posted on the CT BBS (603-878-1900) and the DX BBS (901-641-0230).

The files are also available on the Internet from the CT web page:

http://www.k1ea.com/

Finally, users who download CT updates from the CT BBS will automatically receive the latest CTY files posted there.


How do I receive updates for MASTER.DTA?

MASTER.DTA is a list of known-good callsigns that CT can look up using Super Check Partial. Jim Reisert AD1C recently took over the maintainence of these files.

Ed Parsons, K1TR has created a similar database of callsigns found in VHF contests.

The following master callsign databases are currently available from the CT web page:

	http://www.k1ea.com/master/masall.zip
	http://www.k1ea.com/master/masterdx.zip
	http://www.k1ea.com/master/masterss.zip
	http://www.k1ea.com/master/masusve.zip
	http://www.k1ea.com/master/masvhf.zip	.

There are also a couple of files (mas_tool.exe and mas_k2mm.exe) for creating and managing your own MASTER.DTA files. You can obtain them from the WWW page..


How do I obtain other CT-related files?

The mailing list server also contains a repository of CT-related files. You can obtain a list of available files by sending message to [email protected] with the following text in the body of the message:

index

This E-mail file repository only includes the ASCII .CTY and .DAT files, the release notes for version 8 and version 9, and some text files associated with CT. It does NOT contain the actual CT program itself, or any binary files.

Binary files (not the CT program itself) can only be obtained from the CT web site:

http://www.k1ea.com/


How can I find out about more about CT, the DVP, CT Secrets, etc.?

The WWW home page for CT has this information and more:

http://www.k1ea.com/

Jim Reisert AD1C <[email protected]>


CT is � K1EA Software, a division of Harvard Radio.


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