Design proposal · for review by the multi-op crew
Teams in SKCC Logger V2
Thank you for contributing to the overall design and testing of the new Teams feature in the V2 logger, which will enable N1MM style Multi-Multi operations during WES events. This document explains the design approach and asks for your input as the operators who know multi-multi best, before preview testing starts next month.
N1MM vs. SKCC Logger, side by side
| Getting set up | N1MM+ | SKCC Logger Teams |
|---|---|---|
| Network | Same subnet on a LAN; for split sites, a VPN (Hamachi or similar) on every PC, with the address bookkeeping that brings. | No VPN or router configuration is required. Just connect the logger to your rig (locally or remotely) and it uses the internet to communicate with team members. |
| Joining the effort | Every computer configured onto the network, matched N1MM versions everywhere, same contest and class selected on each, master station designated, run as Administrator. | One member creates the team and gets a short code like MMWES7. Everyone else enters that code in the logger. That is the entire setup. |
| SKCC scoring | KU8L's UDC files, which approximate SKCC events as far as UDCs can. | The logger's own exact SKCC scoring: SPC multipliers, C/T/S bonuses, bonus stations, WES themes, built in and always current. |
| Dupes across positions | Replicated log on the network; spots passed from the master. | Every position keeps a full copy of the team log. Each QSO is added to every copy as it is logged. Dupe checking is per band: a station worked on 40m shows as a dupe on 40m and still needed on 20m. No master station, no spot passing. |
| When the internet hiccups | A dropped VPN member is off the network until reconnected and resynced. | Designed for it: logging, scoring, and dupe checking run locally and never pause. On reconnect everything catches up by itself; nothing is lost. |
| If a computer crashes | The networked replicated log means the other positions still have everything, one of the best things about it. | Kept, and strengthened: after any outage, even losing the connection service itself, the whole shared log rebuilds automatically from the positions' own copies. Nothing has a single home. |
| Talking to each other | The gab window. | Team chat plus person-to-person messages, in the style of the sked page everyone already knows. |
| After the event | Combined log from the master, then hand-work to get results into SKCC form and submitted. | Any member produces the combined Multi-Operator submission with one click (the WES form's Multi Operator category is already board-approved and live). Every member keeps the team's full results on their own machine, forever. |
| Kept from N1MM on purpose | Operators seeing each other's band and rate; the gab channel; each computer keeping its own QSOs. Deliberately NOT copied: software transmit lockouts (hardware's job, and N1MM's own manual says not to trust them), time sync (NTP exists), master-station spot passing, partner-mode call stacking. | |
An event, start to finish
Before the eventForm the team, share the code
Teams are standing things, created any time ahead of the event from Sprint > Teams > Create Team: a team name and the team's station callsign, answered with the join code. The code goes out with an invite however you like: email, sked page, on the air. Invitees use Sprint > Teams > Join Team to enter the code, see the team and who is on it, and decide to join or not. Next month the same team is simply there again: same name, same roster, no re-setup.
Event startOne new choice in a dialog you already see
The event participation prompt (the Yes/No dialog) gains one option: join with your team. Decline it and you are a solo participant exactly as today; nothing about solo operating changes.
Joining with the teamThe team call signs, your call operates
Join with the team and your logging identity is set for you: the station callsign on every QSO is the team's station call, and the operator callsign is your personal call. Every position logs normally; the paperwork identity is handled, and per-operator attribution falls out for free.
During the eventThe team at a glance
New team screens show, live for every member: who is online, what band and frequency they are on, whether they are running or searching and pouncing, their QSO count, and their rate over the last 30 minutes. The combined team score grows on the scoreboard as positions work stations.
Staying in touchChat and personal messages
Team chat for the razzing, plus person-to-person messages, deliberately similar to the SKCC sked page so nobody has to learn a new way to needle the op whose rate died.
Leaving the eventLeave and rejoin at any time
You can leave the event at any time and rejoin later. While you are out, your logging identity switches back to your own call. You stay on the team roster the whole time.
Your own goalsNeeded stations stay visible
Stations you need for your personal goals (a new Senator, a new DXCC entity) stay flagged while you operate with the team. You still get credit for working them, as long as you add those QSOs to your master award tracking log later.
After the eventOne submission, everyone keeps the record
One member of the team, any member, submits the Multi-Operator results: the combined log and totals are identical on every machine, so there is no master station to depend on. And every member's logger keeps the team's final results permanently, next to their own logs, so October's numbers are still there in March.
Assumptions
These are the assumptions the design rests on. Confirm or correct any of them.
- October runs one shared call, WA8ARS, on all team positions, separate bands or the same band with one running and one chasing multipliers and bonus stations. Classic CQWW-style multi-multi.
- A new operator can join the team partway through an event; the roster is not fixed once the event starts.
- An operator can submit their own results for QSOs made with their own station call during the event, outside the multi-multi team.
- The team screens described above show everything you need during an event.
Reply to my email or send corrections any way you like. 73,
Chris WX7V