CT Frequently Asked Questions

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CT Frequently Asked Questions

Before the Contest

How do I install CT for DOS?
CT for DOS is meant to be run only on a computer which can be booted to a DOS prompt. This includes MS-DOS 4.x, 5.x and 6.x, as well as Windows 95/98 as long as you shut down to a DOS prompt. Read this article if you want to control the Windows 95/98 boot options so the PC will boot up into DOS directly.

To install CT for DOS, download and run CT_SETUP.EXE. It will prompt you for the installation directory – choose something meaningful like C:\CT9. Note that CT_SETUP.EXE may not be the most recent version, nor contain the latest country and section files. See the FAQ questions about updating the software, country and section files.
How do I update CT for DOS?
CT for DOS updates do not include a full installation program. The update contains only the program file (CT.EXE) and the release notes (RELEASE9.TXT). To update the program, follow the Download CT link from the K1EA web page. Download the .ZIP file, then UNZIP the file into your existing CT directory.
How do I install or update CT for Windows?
Windows users can download and install the character-mode version of CT for Windows. This is a full version of CT, unlike the DOS updates which contain only the program file and release notes. CTWin is packaged as a .ZIP archive. After unzipping the archive, run the SETUP.EXE program to begin the installation.
- If you are installing for the first time, you will be prompted for the install location. Follow the instructions.
- If you are updating CTWin 9.71 or later, select "Repair Installation" and it will update your current installation with the new files.
- If you are updating CTWin 9.70 or earlier, you must use Add/Remove Programs from the Windows Control Panel to completely uninstall the old version before installing the new version.
How do I keep the CT program, data files and log data separate?
CT makes it possible to organize your files so that the program, the data (.BIN) files and your log are all in different directories. It is a good idea to at least keep the data (.BIN) files separate from the actual program installation. It makes them easier to find, as well as prevents you from accidentally deleting needed files.

You can add the path to CT into your PATH statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT so that DOS will find the program no matter which directory you are in:

set PATH = C:\CT9;%PATH%

CT uses the CT_PATH environment variable to specify the location of the data (.CTY and .DAT) files. You will usually keep them with the CT program itself. Here is an example how you would specify CT_BAT in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

set CT_PATH = C:\CT9

Specifying PATH and CT_PATH allows you to run the program from any directory. For example, if your current working directory is: C:\HOME and CT is installed in D:\CT, you could type the line:

C:\HOME> CT D:\CT\LOGS\CQWW\CQCW99.BIN

CT will search for the data files in the following order:
- The directory containing the .BIN file ( D:\CT\LOGS\CQWW)
- The directory pointed to by the CT_PATH environment variable (C:\HOME)
- The directory containing the executable (D:\CT)
How do I update the country file(s)?
Country files are updated several times a year. There are several different files, depending on what version of CT you are running. Download the latest update from the Contest Country Files web site, then extract (unzip) the files you need depending on your version of CT:
- If you are running CT 8.53 or earlier, you need to extract the following files: ARRL.CTY, CQWW.CTY, IARU.CTY
- If you are running CT 9, you need only extract this file: CTY.DAT
When you extract the files, put them either into the directory where you keep your .BIN file, the directory specified by the CT_PATH environment variable, or the directory containing your CT program itself.
How do I update the section files?
Section files are updated occasionally when contest sponsors change their multiplier lists. Download the latest update from the Section Files area of the web site. When you extract the files, put them either into the directory where you keep your .BIN file, the directory specified by the CT_PATH environment variable, or the directory containing your CT program itself. It's best to extract all the files.
How do I interface CT to my radio?
Interfacing CT to your radio allows you to track frequency changes made by the radio, or to command the radio to change frequency. CT supports a number of radios. You may need external hardware to interface your radio to CT (i.e. CT-17 for ICOM or IF10B for Kenwood), consult your radio manufacturer.
- If you are using CT for DOS, you will need to load a COM port TSR (COMTSR) to provide a communication channel between CT and the radio. Consult the CT manual.
- If you are using CT for Windows, there is no need to load a TSR, since all communication is handled through Windows.
To enable your radio in CT, first tell CT which radio model you are using by filling the RADIO1 and/or RADIO2 fields in the initializtion screen. Then tell CT about the COM port and baud rate in the ports setup screen.

IMPORTANT: If you are NOT using CT for frequency control of the radio, make sure to set both RADIO1 and RADIO2 on the CT Information Sheet to NONE.
How do I use CT to send CW?
CT requires a simple interface between either a COM or LPT port and your radio's “CW KEY” input. You can build one using the schematic in the CT manual, or you can purchase a pre-made interface from one of the following sources (no endorsement is expressed or implied):
- K1NU CW Interface Cables
- W1WEF CW Interfaces
- W2ENY Computer Interface Cable for CT
- Jim Talens, N3JT, makes an interface that includes universality, RFI protection and adjustable weighting. Contact him at n3jt@arrl.net, or 703.241.1144.
NOTE: COM port CW is not currently supported in CT for Windows.

CT also supports paddle input for sending CW. The startup menu offers NONE, SuperCMOS, CurtisA, CurtisB and BUG. Use the following text commands to select a keyer type while in the program:

NOKEYER, SUPERCMOS, CURTISA, CURTISB, BUG

There is a new text command to specify the time PTT is asserted before keying starts. This is PTTDELAY. Enter the number of milliseconds delay your amplifier needs. Minimum delay is 0 mS, maximum is 255 mS.

The CW paddles use the same pinouts as NA and TR. LPT pin 13 is dot, pin 12 is dash. If you LPT port does not have pullups on pins 12 and 13, you will need to add 10K resistors from Pin 12 to Pin 14 and from Pin 13 to Pin 14 on your LPT port.

Finally, if the paddle is “backwards”, use the REVPADDLE command to swap dits and dahs.
How do I set up CT so it remembers my default information?
CT.CFG is the file which specifies your default information. This file should be located in the same directory as your .BIN file, the directory pointed to by CT_PATH or the the directory that contains the CT executable. See the example on the web site.
How do I save my log during the contest?
CT writes each QSO to disk as soon as it is logged. You can also set up CT to back up the log file to a floppy every hour, on the hour. Put a formatted floppy disk in the A: drive, and type AUTOSAVE into the callsign field. If you want to save your log to floppy immediately, type SAVELOG into the callsign field. Note that it may take a few seconds to save you log to floppy disk, this could lock out other operations during the save process.
How do I remove all the QSOs from my log?
Sometimes people will log QSOs while “warming up” for a contest. It's best to start the contest with a clean log, so no QSOs or multipliers are missed. Exit CT, then use the TRUNC_BI command at the DOS command line to remove the QSOs from your log:

TRUNC_BI <log>[.BIN]
How do I increase the screen size?
CT has a built-in “VGA” 50-line mode. This works differently depending on whether you are using the DOS or Windows version:
- DOS users should use the “-vga” switch when starting CT. This will put the program into 50-line mode.
- Windows users should also use the “-vga” switch when starting CTWIN. However, this may produce a 50-line Window on your Windows desktop, rather than a full-screen window. Use Alt-Enter to change the window to a full-screen window.
How do I reset the CT windows to their default positions?
You can reset the windows within CT to their default (startup) positions by starting CT with the “-reset” switch.
How do I use a mouse?
- If you are using the DOS version, you must have a mouse driver loaded in your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files.
- If you are using the Windows version, under Windows XP at least, you must turn off Quick Edit Mode and Insert Mode in the properties box of the CT window. Sad to say, you have to run CTWIN once, click the little red CT icon in the upper left corner. Next select properties, then options. Uncheck the Quick Edit Mode and Insert Mode boxes. Hit OK, then select modify the shortcut that started this window.
To use the mouse to move a window in CT, select anywhere inside the window with the left mouse button, and drag it to the desired destination. To close a window in CT, right-click anywhere inside the window.
How do I tell CT my geographic coordinates?
CT uses your geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) to calculate beam headings and distances which are displayed in the Check Country (F10) window. The best way is to set up the Latitude: and Longitude: parameters in the CT.CFG file. Once in the program, you can use the SETLAT command to enter your coordinates. FIXME: Rember that North and West are positive, South and East are negative.
How do I set the date and time?
- CT assumes your DOS computer is set to UTC. If you wish to leave it on local time, set the TZ environment variable in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. CT will automatically compute UTC based on the TZ variable. CT won't compensate for daylight savings, avoiding the sudden change in time during CQWW SSB. For example:
  SET TZ=EST5 // eastern standard time 5 hours behind
  SET TZ=PDT7 // pacific daylight time 7 hours behind
  SET TZ=CEU-2 // european central time 2 hours ahead
  SET TZ NST3:30 // Newfoundland std time 3 hours 30 minutes behind
  
  The first three letters of the TZ spec don't mean anything, but the time offset does. For example,
  
  SET TZ=XYZ-6:27 // tells CT to assume you are 6 hours, 27 minutes ahead of UTC
- CT for Windows does not care whether your computer is set to local or UTC time. It will “do the right thing” automatically. If you want to set your Windows PC to UTC time, make sure to use the “Casablanca/Monrovia” setting. Otherwise, you may incur Daylight Savings Time adjustments when you don't expect them.
How do I set my section, county or IOTA?
The first time you setup a contest, CT will prompt you for your ARRL Section, US County or IOTA number as needed. Contest sponsors need this information in order to classify logs. If you want to change them during the contest, use one of the following commands: SETSECTION, SETCOUNTY, SETIOTA.
How do I use CT in a non-supported contest?
CT does not have a generic contest module. You must find a contest which is a close fit to one of the existing contests. For example, if the exchange is RST + serial number, the use the WPX module. If the exchange is VUCC grid square, use one of the VHF contest modules. CT supports a limited number of state QSO parties. It may be possible to create a custom multiplier file for a state QSO party that CT does not directly support. Note that by using a similar contest, CT will probably not score your log correctly. If the contest sponsor accepts Cabrillo logs, then you just need to send that log, and they will score it for you. For other contests, check the contest rules – you will probably have to score the contest yourself and submit an appropriate summary sheet.

During the Contest

How do I keep track of transmitters in M/S and M/2 contests?
Contest sponsors generally require Multi-single and Multi-2 logs to indicate which transmitter made the QSO. This can be accomplished by using the following text commands during the contest:
- RUNSTN, RUN1, STN1, TX1 all set the computer to Transmitter 1
- MULTSTN, RUN2, STN2, TX2 all set the computer to Transmitter 2
In addition, the keyboard command Alt-Y will toggle between TX1 and TX2. A flag will be printed at the end of each line of the Cabrillo file, indicating which transmitter made the QSO. Note that CT does not use the station number in the setup screen for this purpose (station numbers are only used in network traffic). You must use one of the commands above.
The serial numbers are messed up – how do I fix them?
If a computer leaves the network, or drops QSO's, you must reset the serial number manually using the text command SETSERIAL. SETSERIAL applies to TX1/TX2 depending on the current setting of the computer.
How do I make parts of my CW message send faster or slower?
To speed up part of a message, use the “+” character to increase the speed by 3 WPM. Each “+” should be offset by a corresponding “-” to slow down the speed by 3 WPM, for example:

+599-NH

Use the “^” character in your message to add and extra half-dit space. This may be useful to emphasize or separate certain Morse characters (i.e. 's' followed by 'i').
How do I make use of two radios?
First, make sure you have entered both radios in the CT setup screen, have the COM port TSRs loaded (DOS only) and have the correct ports and baud rate in the Ports Setup screen.

There are two text commands: ONERADIO and TWORADIO
- Use the ONERADIO command with SO2R Master in manual mode.
- Use the TWORADIO command with SO2R Master in automatic mode.
Alt-PERIOD is the make key combination to switch radios.

There is another text command ALTERNATE which CQ's back and forth between radio1 and radio2 until you type in a call. At that point you are locked on the radio that has the caller. The next CQ starts the cycle again.
How to I send a (gab) message to all stations on the network? How do I send a message to only one station?
The gab key (ALT-G) is used to broadcast a message onto the network. Type in your message, then hit ENTER to send the message to all stations, or Ctrl-ENTER to direct the gab to a specific station.

Normally the gab message that pops upon your screen will disappear automatically after 15 seconds. You can use the text command GABTIMEOUT or SETGAB to change this. If the timeout is set to -1 or "FOREVER", the gab window will never time out. If it is set to 0, the default 15 second timeout is used. Otherwise, the timeout is in seconds.
Is there an easy way to do split frequency operation? Even with ICOM radios?
CT has been much improved in the use of split-frequency operation. ICOM radios had been particularly difficult to use, but now work as well as other brands, as long as you stay away from the buttons on the radio!

To set a split transmit frequency, use the “-” key and type in the frequency. You can type up to the 100 Hz digit, for example “72435” meaning 7,243.5 KHz. To go back to transceive operation, use the “-” key but just hit ENTER instead of typing in a frequency. Avoid using the split button on your radio, CT may become confused as to whether the radio is in transceive or split-frequency mode.
What is Check Partial and Super Check Partial?
Check Partial is a way to type in a few letters of a callsign and have CT show you all possible matches for that callsign fragment. Many operators find it easier to pick callsigns out of a pileup when CT gives them hints about the callsign. For example, type in “1AR” and CT will show you the callsign K1AR, among others. You can even use the “?” as a wild-card character, for example “K?AR” which will show you not only K1AR but also K7AR and others. Check Partial uses only the stations from your log. Super Check Partial uses information from an external database of known good calls. CT will load in the master callsign database automatically if it is found in the search path. F8 brings up the Check Paritial window, while Shift-F8 brings up the Super Check Partial window instead.
How do I delete a QSO from my log?
If you have not logged any QSOs since the one you want to delete, just scroll up to that QSO using the up-arrow key and log the next QSO in that space. Note that the new QSO will inherit the date/time from the QSO you are over-writing. You may need to fix this if it has been a long time since that QSO.

If you have already logged more QSOs, or just want a quick way to mark a QSO for deletion without having to relog someone else, scroll up to that QSO using the up-arrow key and type in your own callsign. You can later use the FIX_MINE program to remove that QSO from the .BIN file (see below).
How can I use CT for Windows to connect to an Internet DX cluster?
Select TELNET in the startup window for packet. Any attempt to send something when disconnected results in a prompt for a telnet address, for example: K1TTT.NET or 205.247.190.48 (W1HR).

You may also specify a port number to the telnet address, for example: dxc.k1ea.com 7300
How do I grab a spot from the Announce (Alt-A) window? The band map?
To grab a spot from the Announce window, use Ctrl-> (right-arrow) to go into the window. Use the up/down arrow keys to select the spot, then ENTER to grab it. You can also use Alt-F4 to grab the most recent spot in the window (at the bottom). You can grab as many spots in a row as you want by using Ctrl->, just use Alt-F4 at the end to return to your run frequency.

To grab a spot from the Band Map, use Alt-> (right-arrow) to go into the window. Use the up/down arrow keys to select the spot, then ENTER to grab it. You can grab as many spots in a row as you want by using Alt->, just use Alt-F4 at the end to return to your run frequency.
How do I change the spots that are showing in the Announce (Alt-A) window?
Use Ctrl-> to go into the Announce window. Page up/down will change the spot selection from needed QSOs this band, needed QSOs all bands, needed multiplier this band and needed multipliers all bands. You can also use the text command BANDSPOT and ALLSPOT to restrict the Announce window to spots needed on your current band, or on all bands respectively.

To delete a spot from the Announce window, use Ctrl-> to go into the window, then use the up/down arrow keys to scroll to the spot you want to delete, and use the DEL key to delete it. To delete a spot from the Band Map, use Alt-> to go into the window, then use the up/down arrow keys to scroll to the spot you want to delete, and use the DEL key to delete it.

Spots in the Announce window and Band Map normally “expire” and disappear after 60 minutes. Use the text command BANDMAPAGE to set the number of minutes to keep a call in the bandmap or announce window before purging.
How do I enter calls into the Band Map/Announce window without broadcasting them over packet?
Sometimes you want to remember where a station is on the band without broadcasting the spot to packet (or you're not using packet in the first place). Type in the callsign, then Ctrl-ENTER. If you are using radio control, the frequency will be captured automatically, otherwise type in the frequency.
How do I change what the Rate Window (Alt-R) shows?
There are a number of text commands which affect the Rate window:
- BANDRATE shows the rate on the current band only. This is useful for tracking your own rate in multi-op.
- ALLRATE shows the rate computed across all bands.
- POINTRATE displays the rate in POINTS over the last 10 minutes or hour.
- QSORATE displays the rate for the last 10 or 100 QSOs.

After the Contest

How do I generate a Cabrillo log?
Use the CT text command WRITELOG to generate a Cabrillo log (among other files). The name of the file will be your callsign, with an extension of .LOG, for example K1EA.LOG. You can write the Cabrillo file by itself using the text command WRITECAB. The Cabrillo log will contain blank lines prefixed by “OPERATORS:” and “SOAPBOX:”. Type any additional information into the Cabrillo file using a text editor. You can read more about Cabrillo by following this link.
How do I generate an ADIF file?
ADIF support is not currently built into CT. Instead, download C2A.ZIP and unpack it into your CT directory. The file is run by typing (at a DOS prompt):

C2A <log>[.BIN]

This will generate a file named <log>.ADI which can be imported into your logging program. There are other command-line options, see the README.TXT file included in the archive. You can read more about ADIF by following this link.
How do I merge two or more logs together?
It's possible to lose QSOs over a network in CT. Or maybe you did not network the computers together. In either case, you will need to merge the logs together before generating a log file to be sent to the contest sponsor. Use the MERGE program to merge two logs together. The data from the second log specified on the command line is merged into the first log. This makes it easy to merge multiple logs together by recalling the command and only changing the second file name.
How do I change the time and/or date of one or more QSOs?
To fix a single QSO, go to that QSO in the log and type Alt-F (or is it Ctrl-F)? Type in the correct date and time, then ENTER.

To adjust all the times in the log by a fixed amount, use the CT_TIME program. This allows you adjust the entire log by a fixed number of seconds. Make sure you do your math properly!

In extreme cases, it might be easier to fix the log using a text editor. You can run the B2R9 program to create an ASCII text version of your log (<log>.RES). Make the necessary changes using a text editor, then run the R2B9 program to convert that ASCII log back into binary.
How do I remove a dupe from my log? What about an unwanted QSO?
Normally, you should leave duplicate contacts in your log. It's possible that the other station did not really work you the first time, and by removing the duplicate from your log, s/he might lose credit for that QSO. There is no penalty for dupes in electronically-submitted logs. In fact, the Cabrillo format does not even have a provision to mark a dupe, it's simply a record of ALL QSOs you made during the contest, whether they are dupes or not.

If you still want to remove duplicates, you can run the RMDUPE program on your log:

RMDUPE <log>[.BIN]

In the heat of battle, you may have logged a QSO using your own callsign in order to mark it for deletion later. To remove these QSOs, you can run the FIX_MINE program on your log:

FIX_MINE <log>[.BIN]

Do not remove QSOS from a log where the contest includes a serial number. This will cause the sent serial numbers in your log to become corrupted, and through log checking you may lose these QSOs.
I started the contest late, but the breakdown sheet shows my first QSO as the start of the contest. How do I fix this?
Manually change the time of the first QSO to 0000z (or whenever the contest started), print the breakdown sheet, then restore the original time of the that QSO before printing the logs.