[WT-support] LUA script functionality

[Bob Wilson, N6TV]

On Mon, May 26, 2014 at 9:41 AM, John Warburton G4IRN <qrz at dxdx.co.uk>wrote:

> I am modifying one of my earlier LUA scripts and I would like to do the
> following over a two radio (and 2 x Win-Test) network:
>
> * Running a LUA script on Radio1, determine the Run / S&P status of Radio2.
>

As of now you cannot determine the RUN or S&P status with a LUA script,
only the station type (RUN/SUPPORT).  But maybe you don't really need it.

I suppose you need to know if the frequency displayed in the status window
(or returned by a LUA call) is "safe" to use as a pass frequency.  Maybe
it's not really a good frequency if the operator is busy chasing a
multiplier.  I made that mistake once:  I passed an easy multpiler to the
VFO frequency displayed in the status (Alt+J) window, not realizing that
the other operator wasn't actually CQing there (he was temporarily chasing
as spot).

At a multi-op, it just isn't that practical for operators to constantly
update PASSFREQ or manually switch to S&P mode every time they click on a
spot.  It's simpler for other operators to always pass multipliers to an
established run frequency.

Win-Test actually knows the run frequency.  This is established
automatically whenever you press F1 or Alt+F5 (a "CQ" marker is optionally
displayed in the band map).  It would be nice if Win-Test could display
*this* run frequency in the Alt+J window.  Maybe an asterisk next to a VFO
frequency could imply "Caution:  operator not CQing there."

Or maybe it could be returned by an enhancement to the wtStatus:GetStatus()
method, e.g.

wtStatus:GetStatus("Stn1")["runFreq"]  -- (not supported yet)



> * Running a LUA script on Radio1 , determine the pass frequency (PassFreq)
> of Radio2 on a band that it is not currently tuned to.
>

wtStatus:GetStatus("passFreq") always returns the pass frequency associated
with the primary radio (switched via [*] key), never the secondary.  It
returns whatever you see under "PASS" in the Status window.

Unfortunately, wtStatus:GetFreq(band,mode) and $FREQnn do not work as you
might expect if you have two radios on a computer.  It always seems to
return the current frequency of Radio 1, even if Radio 2 is made primary.
 For example, wtStatus:GetFreq(10,"CW") or $FREQ10 looks for the *station* that
has a radio on 10m, then returns the frequency of Radio 1 (which may
*not*be on 10m).  This is mainly problem when an SO2R station is
temporarily
configured as a M/2 or M/S, with two radios per operator.  With only one
radio per computer, it's never a problem.

I suspect that neither of these is possible, however I thought it best to
> ask before I give up.
>

Minor enhancements to GetStatus() could support new fields:  "runFreq",
"passfreqP" (primary), and "passfreqS".  I also think it's very confusing
for $FREQ10 or GetFreq(10) to return anything other than a 10m frequency,
but that's how they work at present.  I don't think there are too many
people relying on that so the behavior could be changed without worrying
about any compatibility issues, but maybe there are technical reasons that
it had to work this way.

73,
Bob, N6TV
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