Hi All,

State QSO Party Programs for LA, ON, MO, NM and MT are Now Available!

State QSO Party programs for Louisiana, Ontario, Missouri, New Mexico and Montana are now available! As always, these programs are free to N3FJP Software Package users! Just enter the state QSO party password we sent with your package list and you will be all set!

You can download the new programs here:

http://www.n3fjp.com/stateqsoparty.html

Enjoy!

NA Sprint Log 3.7 Now Available! However...

This requires a bit of explanation. The National Contest Journal has ended its sponsorship of the North American SSB Sprint. The following is from the January 8, 2015 ARRL Letter:

National Contest Journal (NCJ) has ended its sponsorship for the phone version of the North American Sprint. Going forward, the magazine will support Sprint events for CW and RTTY only. The magazine cited dwindling support for its decision.

"The September 2014 running of the phone North American Sprint attracted just 52 logs, and we estimate that approximately 3500 contacts took place," said NCJ Editor Pat Barkey, N9RV. He pointed out that the CW Sprint a weekend earlier attracted nearly 10 times that number of entries. Barkey said the lack of "a critical mass of participants" significantly changes the nature of the competition, where winning scores are built through recruiting and coaching new participants, "and the operating experience that makes the CW Sprint so special is essentially lost."

Meanwhile, another group is attempting to keep the SSB Sprint active, which is super. However, I'm having a difficult time remaining in the loop for what may be some very significant last minute rule changes that affect the functionality of my software for this weekend's contest. To make a long story short, I only became aware that the new group was adding Hawaii as a multiplier because another N3FJP Software user noticed the change on their website on Monday.

I went ahead and added the Hawaii multiplier to the NA Sprint Log 3.7 (for SSB only, it is still not added when CW / RTTY are selected in conformance with those versions of the rules). I was about to announce version 3.7 when it came to light that the new group was considering additional rule changes Monday evening as well.

The additional rule changes they are contemplating add more section multipliers that can only be accommodated by creating a new, separate program for the SSB version of the event. Adding the additional sections to the existing software would break the program for the CW / RTTY versions of the contest.

I have not heard a word from the new sprint group since Monday evening. If / when they e-mail me with definitive direction, I'll do my best to accommodate their new rule set, even if that means creating an additional program, should their rules diverge significantly enough to require it. That said, I'll need to hear definitively from the group that the new rule set is firmed up and that the proposed changes are documented and publicized. The effort here is significant, so I can't compound the time it will take by chasing a dynamically fluctuating rule set.

So, the bottom line is that NA Sprint version 3.7 has been updated to accommodate the new Sprint SSB rule set as documented on the new group's web site as of 1/26/15. You'll find version 3.7 here:

http://www.n3fjp.com/nasprint.html

As always, upgrades are free to registered users.

Enjoy!

And in response to the questions we always receive when we neglect to include the following in our e-mail announcements...

Package Upgrade Information...

If you have registered one or more individual programs and would like to upgrade to N3FJP's Software Package or N3FJP's Software Package and CD for full use of all our Amateur Radio software, we would be glad to apply the amount that you have registered so far as a credit towards that purchase. Please send us an e-mail directly and we'll let you know your balance.

N3FJP's Software Package includes approximately 50 programs for contesting, net management, general logging and other Amateur Radio related applications. In addition to full use of all these programs, registered package customers are also entitled to receive free passwords for any new software that is added to the package and free upgrades to existing programs. You'll find all the details on the Register Now page at www.n3fjp.com.

Donations are Gratefully Accepted!

And in response to the often asked question for which Kimberly and I are very grateful...

"I know your upgrades are free, but I also realize how much time and effort coding these enhancements and new programs take and that your pricing policy doesn't fully reflect that. Can I send you something to show my appreciation for your continued efforts?"

Yes, thanks so much, your continued support in any amount is very welcome and deeply appreciated! You can use this page:

http://www.n3fjp.com/donations.html

or send your contribution by mail, payable to Affirmatech Inc., to:

G. Scott Davis
118 Glenwood Road
Bel Air, MD 21014-5533

Thank you so much for your continued support!

Thanks!

As always, thanks for your kind words, support, linking to our web site and spreading the word about our software. Kimberly and I really appreciate it!

73, Scott
N3FJP
http://www.n3fjp.com

Serving the Amateur Radio community with contesting and general logging software since 1997.