QSO Entry box

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K0HB
Old Man
Posts: 239
Joined: 12 Jun 2013, 20:32

QSO Entry box

Post by K0HB »

I would like to see the "entry box" be detachable so that it could be placed at a convenient eye-level spot on the screen. Many of us (most of us?) have our computer monitors located above the radio, and some have multiple screens.

Image

The upper left position is MOST INCONVENIENT, as it requires craning your neck upwards to make entries, and is especially hard to read if you wear tri-focal eyeglasses as I do.

If that box could be "detachable/moveable" (like the Winkeyer window), that would be a most wonderful PayPal-eligible gift!

Thank you!
DE Hans, KØHB
--
"Just a boy and his radio"
--
Superstition Trails ----> http://OldSlowHans.com
sp9wpn
Advanced Class
Posts: 30
Joined: 27 May 2019, 22:52

Re: QSO Entry box

Post by sp9wpn »

There's a "Contest entry box" which can be detached and is not limited to contests only. Check Contest/Contest in menu. Perhaps this will help.
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G4POP
Log4OM Alpha Team
Posts: 10753
Joined: 21 Jan 2013, 14:55
Location: Burnham on Crouch, Essex UK

Re: QSO Entry box

Post by G4POP »

It is a well know fact in graphic interface circles that the human eye scans top left to top right and then diagonally down to the lower left corner before moving across to the lower right corner of screens, leaflets, newspapers etc etc (Some countries in the middle east are of course the opposite)

That is why the input fields are placed where they are

You could of course reduce the window size to that of Win4Icom suite and possition at the bottom just like Win4Icom suite!

Or do as suggested and use the contest or winkeyer windows as below, the options are varied but I dont see a reason to rewrite the UI?


Capture (FILEminimizer).JPG
Capture (FILEminimizer).JPG (181.33 KiB) Viewed 3197 times
73 Terry G4POP
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K0HB
Old Man
Posts: 239
Joined: 12 Jun 2013, 20:32

Re: QSO Entry box

Post by K0HB »

G4POP wrote: 25 Oct 2020, 11:12 It is a well know fact in graphic interface circles that the human eye scans top left to top right and then diagonally down to the lower left corner before moving across to the lower right corner of screens, leaflets, newspapers etc etc (Some countries in the middle east are of course the opposite)

That is why the input fields are placed where they are

You could of course reduce the window size to that of Win4Icom suite and possition at the bottom just like Win4Icom suite!

Or do as suggested and use the contest or winkeyer windows as below, the options are varied but I dont see a reason to rewrite the UI?

I respectfully disagree with the "well known fact" in this case.

If I am reading a document, I would agree with your "well known" fact, but if I am entering data, I want the "entry field" to be center screen, at eye level. Since our logger screen is almost always mounted above our radio, the upper left data entry box is almost the worst possible place, since it causes us to take our eyes from the radio and crane our neck awkwardly.

Now then..... the idea of using the Contest Entry or WinKey forms and position them in lower center screen makes a LOT of sense. Below is how that looks at my station. (This is a 2-monitor arrangement. The left screen is centered above my radio.)

The right half is the familiar Log4OM main screen, set up to provide me with information about the contact. On the left side I have positioned the WinKey window in the perfectly IDEAL spot for data entry, directly above my radio. Just a minor shift of my eyes takes me from the radio to the data entry window.

So the problem would seem to be solved, right?

Unhappily, NOT.

While the data entry point is now EXACTLY where it ought be, the information being entered is not linked to the main screen on the right.

Note in my screen grab, I have entered the call of K7SS in the WinKey window. But the main screen on the right reflects information from a previous QSO on a different mode.

Ideally, when I enter a call in the "WinKey" window, the "main" screen at right should behave as if I had entered that call over there. (The "contest" entry window has the same behaviour)

In short.....

1) The "upper left" data entry point sucks ergonomically.
2) Using the alternate "contest" or "winkey" data entry, while ergonomically perfect, fails because the main screen doesn't follow/react to the data being entered at the WinKey window.

Image
DE Hans, KØHB
--
"Just a boy and his radio"
--
Superstition Trails ----> http://OldSlowHans.com
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