CWSend by Al Williams WD5GNR

This program allows you to send Morse Code with your Pocket PC's speaker. The program has many features:

• Adjust sending speed and audio pitch
• Buffer to let you "type ahead" and correct entries
• Common prosigns available as characters or on a menu
• Shows dots and dashes for entered letters
• Pause playback
• Remembers settings in registry (full version only)
• Send a text file (great for practice; full version only)
• Practice mode (full version only)
• Four macros (saved in full version only)

Note: The startup CW is not present in the full version!

The display is very simple. The left side current box shows the letter CWSend is currently sending. The right side box shows the equivalent Morse code in dots and dashes. The lower box shows characters waiting to be sent. While characters are still in the lower box, you can use a backspace to erase them. Once a character moves to the upper box, it is too late to remove it from the queue!

NOTE: Transcriber is not supported.
The keybord input method works best. You can use Letter Recognizer or Block Recognizer, if you prefer.

Special note about Letter Recognizer:
Some letters and symbols (for example, i and ?) may require two strokes. On the first stroke, the input recognizer will create a different character (for example, an l or a 7). Then it sends a backspace and the corrected character. If you are filling the buffer (either by being ahead of the sending code or if CWSend is paused) this works fine. However, if the "first stroke" character is already in the buffer, both characters are sent.

To avoid this, use single strokes, when possible (for example, an i can be a single stroke going up -- use the Demo feature of the input method help). If this isn't possible, you'll have to pause playback, get a bit of text put in, and then unpause playback so you are writing to the buffer instead of sending directly. Of course, the keyboard method does not have this problem.

You can also use the @ character to force CWSend to pause until there are at least two characters in the buffer. So if you want to send a question mark, you can enter @? which the buffer will see as @7 followed by a backspace and a question mark. Then when you enter the next character (perhaps a space), transmission will resume. Of course, there is no need to use this feature when setting a macro or while paused (although it will do no harm). The @ key has no effect during file transmission or practice sessions.

Prosigns

CWSend recognizes the following prosigns:

• AR - Use the \ key
• AS - Use the % key
• BK - Use the | key
• BT - Use the = key
• HH - Use the ~ key (8 dots used to signal an error)
• KN - Use the ; key
• SK - Use the $ key

You can also select certain prosigns from the toolbar.

The File menu has three choices:

• Open - Opens a file for playback. This should be a text file, of course.
• Stop File/Macro - If a file or macro is being played back, this will stop playback after the curent character completes.
• Exit - Stops the program.

Note: File playback is only available in the registered version.

The Options menu has three choices:

• Options - Sets the sending speed and audio pitch. You can also select what character sets are used during practice sessions.
• Pause - When checked, CWSend does not send CW. You can still enter text into the buffer. Uncheck to resume normal playback.
• Practice - When checked, CWSend sends 5 character groups until unchecked. You can use the Options dialog (above) to select letters only, letters and numbers, or all characters.

Note: Practice mode is only available in the registered version. In addition, speed and pitch are only saved in the registered version.

The Tools menu allows you to view the About box or enter common prosigns without using the keyboard.

You can also set or playback macros. To set a macro, check the Set Macros menu item. (If you check it by mistake, simply select it again to uncheck it). Then enter text as usual into the buffer (CWSend will be paused). When you are satisfied with your input, select the macro you want to store from the Tools menu. This will return CWSend to its normal state and store the macro. The macro label will show the first part of the macro's text.

Note: Macros are saved in the registered version only.

The tool bar allows you to send BT, KN, or Err (HH) prosigns quickly. You can also use the ? icon to ask for help.

Here are some tips for resolving problems with CWSend:

1. Switch to the keyboard input method. CWSend does not work with Transcriber and may or may not work with other input methods.
2. Be sure your audio is not muted.
3. Not all PocketPCs support the audio hardware required for CWSend to work. CWSend requires MIDI support which most PPC2002 platforms should support.
4. CWSend may not work while other audio programs are running.
5. If you kill any program that uses audio (including CWSend) in an unusual manner, the audio device may be locked up. Verify that you can play other audio programs. If not, do a warm reboot of your Pocket PC.
6. Not all PocketPCs can support high speed sending. Try reducing the speed.