[WT-support] question about software blocking in M/M category

[Bob Wilson, N6TV]

On Fri, Nov 25, 2016 at 3:52 AM, Plamen Georgiev <fagroup at abv.bg> wrote:

> Currently we have hardware blocking between operating positions A and B on
> the same band at LZ9W M/M station.
> Is there a possibility to add a software blocking between positions A and
> B in WINTEST ?
> If it is possible, how exactly we can do it.
>

If you have hardware lockout working, why do you need software lockout?

The short answer is that no, software lockout is not supported.

Some things are not possible only with software.  For example, there's no
way that software can prevent the operator of station B from using an
internal memory or the TUNE button while station A is transmitting.

However, starting with WT 4.21, you can send text commands to other
computers to, for example, interrupt sending on remote computers.

First you install a LUA script on the remote computer and assign it to the
text command PRESSESC:

-- Halt sending by simulating a press of the Esc key
wtApp:SendFKey("Esc", WT_KEY_NONE)
-- No further keystroke processing
return -1


Next on the local computer, you assign a script to the Escape key that
halts sending on both computers, like this:

-- Do normal local keystroke processing of Escape key,
-- first time through.
-- Request callback, then after that completes, Press Escape
-- on the Stn2 computer by sending a text command
local rc = 1
if wtApp:IsPostKeyProcess() then
   -- Press Esc on the Stn2 radio to halt any sending there
   wtApp:TextCommand("PRESSESC", wtArg, WT_REMOTE_NOTIFY_ALWAYS)
   rc = -1
end

return rc


Where *wtArg* is the station name of the remote computer, passed as an
argument to the second script (you enter "STN2", for example, with the
quotes, in the Argument box when assigning it to the escape key in Scripts
Manager).

But this will only interrupt a Win-Test message, not paddles or other
methods of sending, and it will not prevent STN2 from pressing F1 to
restart his CQ, for example.

To block all function keys from STN2 while locked out, and restore all
function when it's not locked out, would require a global variable to be
set and reset at the beginning and end of every CW message, and a script
assigned to every message key to check for that global variable's value.
Script calls at the beginning and end of every message, with special
handling for Alt-K (keyboard CW), would also be required.

In sum, providing software lockout using LUA scripts alone would be much
more work than you might think and it would not be foolproof.

73,
Bob, N6TV
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