[WT-support] score not correctly synced through network

[Bob Wilson, N6TV]

Since score is based on distance alone, and there are no multipliers, it is
possible that Win-Test fails to properly recalculate the cumulative
distance score on all networked computers when a previously logged QSO is
edited to change the received exchange (grid locator), and that the correct
distance recalculation only occurs on a remote computer during restart,
when the log is reopened and read from beginning to end.

It's kind of tricky because Win-Test has to first subtract the distance to
the old grid then add the distance to the new grid to get a new cumulative
sum.  And that cumulative sum could be changed in the middle of the
calculation if a new QSO is logged at the same instant on another computer,
or both the callsign and the exchange are edited at the same time,
resulting in a dupe and zero points.

In other words, getting the correct total distance in a busy network is
harder than you might think.

73,
Bob, N6TV

On Sep 6, 2016 1:36 AM, "Alexander Kurpiers" <a.kurpiers at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Bob,
>
> IARU VHF contest is easy: no multipliers, just distance accumulated (
> http://slovhf.net/en/claimed/ is the live score).
> All PCs ran the exact same software (=same PC image, same kind of PC,
> Windows XP).
> The contest version was "EU V/UHF - no multiplier".
> Network was Ethernet.
>
> Note that the logs were in sync (I "merged" them after the contest and got
> no conflict/problem whatsoever). The number of QSOs was correct, just the
> score was wrong.
>
> Now that you mentioned it, I remember the change in network protocol. That
> was one reason we stayed at 4.18... need to validate the newer versions
> still.
> Of course it does not make sense to debug 4.18 if the problem most likely
> is gone with newer versions. But I did not find anything in the release
> notes that could match (only "Log Sync : Better overall performance. Tnx
> DJ7TO, DL5MLO and the DA0HQ team." - but I guess that's more about
> performance and not linked to wrong results).
>
> I don't know how to reproduce. But given that at least DL0GTH had the same
> trouble, it seems systematic.
>
> Regards,
>
> Alexander
>
>
>
>
> On 09/06/2016 08:17 AM, Bob Wilson, N6TV wrote:
>
> Sorry, I have too many questions.
>
> Was the multiplier count correct?
>
> Was this for the IARU Region 1 Field Day?  Google cannot find rules or
> dates for the "IARU VHF Contest".  Is the locator used for score
> calculations?  Was it set properly on the "sked" computer?
>
> Were you using the latest version of the LiveScore program? Maybe it only
> works with the latest version of Win-Test or it generates incompatible
> packets on the LAN?
>
> We're you using a WiFi network to sync the logs instead of wired
> Ethernet?  UDP broadcasts sent over WiFi can be unreliable.
>
> We're all machines running WT 4.18?  I think a new network protocol was
> released in 4.19 to improved network reliability, especially if some
> stations were networked via a slow link (F6FVY can confirm).
>
> See http://download.win-test.com/v4/nightly/release.txt for a list of all
> (well, most) of the fixes and enhancements made since version 4.18.
>
> 73,
> Bob, N6TV
>
> On Sep 5, 2016 10:32 PM, "Alexander Kurpiers" <a.kurpiers at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> we used WT4.18 last weekend during the IARU VHF contest. One PC was
>> dedicated to making skeds, so was just synced to the other PCs, but only
>> to receive the log.
>>
>> After some time, we noticed that the log was in sync, number of QSOs was
>> ok, but score was about 10% lower than on the "active" PCs. Restarting
>> Win-test solved the problem.
>>
>> (The main issue with this was the fact that we used this PC for live
>> scoring, so made a "jump" every time we fixed our score. Of course not
>> intentional, but some other participants did not really like this...)
>>
>> As far as I understand, the same problem happened at DL0GTH (I don't
>> know which version of Win-Test they are using, but not the latest either).
>>
>>
>> Is this problem known or maybe already fixed in recent versions?
>>
>> 73' Alexander DL8AAU
>>
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