
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >  WARNING  < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < 

         THE .LOG FILES OF RELEASES PRECEDING V 3.0 MUST BE CONVERTED.
         READ THIS FILE TO GET FURTHER INFORMATION.


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                               FASTLOG  V 3.1                              
                                                                           
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 MAIN DIFFERENCES COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS RELEASES 

Between 2.7 and 2.4 (2.5 and 2.6 are test versions not distributed):

- Option to choose between colour and monochrome display.  Useful with LCD to
  avoid a complete blue background. Use SETUP to select this option.

- Management of deleted countries and prefixes. An example is  Y2,  valid  as
  East Germany until October 1990 and as Germany after this date.

- Label printing (36 x 107 mm.) for listed QSO (all menus).

- Printing of multi-QSO labels (36 x 107 mm.  5 QSOs maximum). Available from
  SEARCH menu only.

- Writing to disk of a FASTLOG or ASCII file for listed QSO (all menus).

- Option to exclude the sent and/or received reports in  case  of  incomplete
  QSO. The program doesn't count the QSO during the  searching  for  squares,
  fields, DXCC, contest, etc.

- Option to add the suffix /B to point out a beacon.

- Management of British counties. Read the REMARK help option during the  QSO
  writing. A complete list of British counties is shown in the help option of
  COUNTY menu.

- QSO logging in real time (contest) and dupe check.

- Handling of "printer not ready" error.

- Frequency and mode are printed in full.

- Arranging utility, by date and time, inside FASTLOG. ARRANGE.EXE file is no
  longer required.



Between 2.8 and 2.7:

- Option to run the graphic program WORLD.EXE written by I0AKP Adamo Modesto.



Between 2.9 and 2.8:

- Removed some spelling mistakes (TNX G0JHC).



Between 3.0 and 2.9:

- Management of 5BDXCC, WAC and WAS.

- Option to add an optional comment line on the label (for instance, you  can
  use it to point out your county).

- Provinces, counties and states lists  available  from  REMARK  help  option
  during QSO writing or editing.

- Default locator and remarks for QSO writing.

- Easy setup of the parameters for contest QSO writing.

- Opening of a window, only for contest QSO writing, showing you data updated
  in real time (QRB of the QSO, total QRB, worked squares, etc.).

- Opening of a window, only for normal QSO writing, showing  you  the  status
  of the worked DXCC country.  You  are  advised  if  you have already worked
  that country, on which bands, in which mode and if it is  confirmed or not.
  You can verify the status of a country also from UTILITY menu (option #5).

- Option to manually assign the DXCC country (during writing or  editing)  in
  case the one assigned by FASTLOG is not right. PAESI.DAT file now  contains
  all the DXCC "deleted" countries.

- PREFIXES AND COUNTRIES UPDATING function has been moved from DXCC  menu  to
  UTILITY menu (option #6).

- Packet radio management, in particular for  the  Packet  Cluster  (PCL).  A
  packet window has been created, available from anywhere in the program. You
  can be connected to your PCL node and still use any FASTLOG  function.  For
  example, you can write QSOs while connected to your PCL.  If the PCL  sends
  you  something  (DX spot,  talk, announce, etc.)  FASTLOG  informs  you  by
  ringing a bell (if the option BELL is set to YES) and by replacing the date
  (upper left corner of the screen) with a flashing " QTC PACKET ".  At  this
  point it is possible to press the TAB key and enter the  packet  window  at
  once, and see what the PCL has sent you.  Pressing TAB  key  (or ESCAPE)  a
  second time will leave the packet window and allow you  to  return  to  the
  original function. Keep in mind that you can request the packet window from
  any input and at any stage of FASTLOG operation by pressing TAB key.



Between 3.1 and 3.0:

- Removed some spelling mistakes (TNX G0JHC).



 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS 

- Computer                 :   PC IBM or compatible

- Operating system         :   DOS version 3.0 or later

- Conventional memory      :   at least 500 Kbytes free

- Expanded memory          :   recommended 512 Kbytes

- Hard disk                :   highly recommended

- Math-coprocessor         :   recommended

- Printer                  :   text mode on LPT1: port

- Graphics card  (1)       :   text mode, 80 columns 25 rows

- Packet TNC               :   on COM1 or COM2 port


(1) WORLD.EXE program requires a VGA graphics card and colour display.


Due to the dimension of the executable file, FASTLOG has  been  compiled  and
linked with the  OVERLAY  option.  In  an  overlaid  version  of  a  program,
specified parts of the program are only loaded if and when needed. In FASTLOG
environment this means that when you pass from a menu to another menu a small
delay occurs. There are two ways to eliminate or reduce such a delay:

 a) allow 512 Kbytes of EXPANDED memory, using a driver such  as  EMM386
    (LIM EMS) or similar. In this case the program parts  that  are  not
    currently loaded, will be loaded into expanded  memory.  FASTLOG  is
    able to determine  if  expanded  memory  is  available  and  use  it
    automatically.

 b) run a disk-cache program, such as SMARTDRV or  similar.  Apart  from
    the overlay problems, it  is  always  useful  to  run  a  disk-cache
    program before invoking FASTLOG. It speeds up disk access.

The first solution completely eliminates the delay while the  second  reduces
it greatly.  SMARTDRV and EMM386 (or similar) can not run on every  computer.
Read your DOS manual for further information.

The use of a hard disk and a reasonably fast computer are recommended. By the
way, you can run FASTLOG from a floppy disk on a 8088/4.7 MHz processor based
machine. You need only a lot of patience!

The packet routine has been tested on a 80386 33MHz computer and a TNC2  TAPR
compatible. The PCL node (I0JBL-6) used for the tests ran at 1200 baud  rate.
This does not mean that the program can not work also on other  machines  and
TNCs or at different baud rates. Reports are welcome.
  
From FASTLOG SETUP you can choose the serial port  number  (1 or 2)  and  the
baud rate, while the other  parameters  are  fixed  (8 BIT, NO PARITY, 1 STOP
BIT). For the handshake between TNC and computer, FASTLOG uses  CTS  and  RTS
lines rather than XON and XOFF. Therefore a completely wired  cable  must  be
used to connect TNC and computer.

WARNING: do not leave the packet window while there  is  a  connection  or  a
disconnection in progress. Wait until the procedure is complete.

START.TNC and STOP.TNC files contain some commmands you can send to the  TNC.
In particular, START.TNC file is  sent  entering  the  packet  window,  while
STOP.TNC is sent quitting it.  In START.TNC file you have the most  important
commands for FASTLOG. You can add more commands to this  file  using  a  text
editor like EDIT.COM of MSDOS 5 or 6.
 
WARNING: these files were tested with a TNC2 TAPR.  Check the commands sintax
for other types of TNCs.


 PREVIOUS RELEASES UPDATING 

To improve some features of FASTLOG, it has been necessary to modify the .LOG
files structure.  Therefore a file conversion is  required.  29TO30.EXE  does
this automatically.  Before starting the conversion, you must  be  sure  that
PREFISSI.DAT, PAESI.DAT, 29TO30.EXE and all the .LOG files to convert are  in
the same directory.

To handle the QSLs situation of the DXCC countries worked, FASTLOG V 3.1 uses
a file which stores this information. This file has the same name as the .LOG
file, while the extension is .DX .  If this  file  does  not  exist,  FASTLOG
creates it.  Therefore it is not necessary to make a backup copy of the .DX
files.

WARNING: do not mix your PREFISSI.DAT  and  PAESI.DAT  files  with  those  of
another FASTLOG user.

To update previous releases of FASTLOG you must delete ALL  old files (EXCEPT
your .LOG files!) and replace them with the new  files  dated  JULY 9th, 1993
12:00 PM.  In particular DO NOT USE old versions of .DAT  files.  By the way,
before completely erasing an old release, check that  the  new  runs  without
problems.

The following is the FASTLOG V 3.1 files list:

        Name          Bytes              Description

     FASTLOG.EXE      395391             main program
       WORLD.EXE      167850             graphic program
      29TO30.EXE       52032         (2) converter from V 2.9 to V 3.0
     FASTLOG.INI         184             FASTLOG configuration
     FASTLOG.HLP       52402             FASTLOG on-line help
     EXAMPLE.LOG       32320             .LOG file example
    PREFISSI.DAT       22680             prefixes of the DXCC countries
       PAESI.DAT       11107             DXCC countries
    PROVINCE.DAT        3296             Italian provinces
      CONTEE.DAT        1925             British counties
       STATI.DAT        1100             American states
       START.TNC         119             TNC commands
        STOP.TNC          15             TNC commands
      ERRORS.TXT        2068             run-time errors list
      README.TXT       11021             this file

(2) converts the .LOG files written with ANY RELEASE of FASTLOG preceding
    the V 3.0 in the format suitable for the V 3.0 or later.


EXAMPLE.LOG file contains about 500 QSO extracted from my HF  and  6  metres
log. It has been enclosed to test the program at once and  decide  if  it  is
useful for you. The identification characters I have used for the awards are:

                             Italian provinces  *
                              British counties  =
                         North American states  \


FASTLOG is not guaranted to be free from errors. If you find anything that is
not right, please let me know as soon as possible.

If you use FASTLOG please let me know by sending a  QSL  card  (direct or via
bureau) enclosing your comments and suggestions.  You can send also a  packet
radio message to I0XGR @ I0VNR
This will enable me to determine how many people use FASTLOG and include your
ideas in future releases.

 GUERRA ALBERTO                                           Best regards
 Via S. LORENZO 30                                        Alberto I0XGR
 00040 LANUVIO (RM)
 ITALY

 Packet address I0XGR @ I0VNR
 Home node Packet Cluster I0JBL-6

