"A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words" - and this is oh-so

"A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words" - and this is oh-so-true, especially with some of today’s
seemingly complicated computer software and at first glance, the YOTREPS Reporter, as used
by Pacific Seafarers Net and others is no different.
Let me clarify this opening statement by saying that "seemingly complicated" is just that...... it
'seems' complicated, however, the reality of it is, it is very very simple.
As I write this (November 2004), I have been a PACSEA NET member for about 4 months. I
started 'scribing' and wrote the original version of this document after being on the net just 1
month.... If I can do it, so too can you.
The purpose of this second edition of this 'help' file is to try to show others that the myth of
"Using the Reporter is very difficult" is just that, a myth.
During the time that has passed since then, Mike VK2IZY, the author of YOTREPS Reporter has
suffered through many e-mails from myself and others and has very kindly made a number of
changes to the original program, making it now even easier to use than it was before. The
purpose now is to show you step-by-step with the aid of as many pictures as possible how to use
the latest version of Reporter in the hope that you too will become a "Net Controller and Scribe"
or, at the very minimum, a regular "Scribe"
Firstly, you need to obtain and install a copy of the latest version of the software. To obtain this,
visit Mike’s web site at http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/32bit_reporter.php where you will find a
link to download the latest version. This web page will also show you other features of the
software that are not covered here.
The second thing you need is a copy of the most recently posted 'rollcall' e-mail message. If you
are not currently receiving these messages with the subject titled "YOTREPS PACSEANET" you
should subscribe to the Yotreps list server. To do this, send an e-mail to yotreps@pangolin.co.nz
with just the words JOIN PACSEANET in the BODY of the message. For further information on
the list server send a message to the same address with the word HELP in the BODY of the
message.
Let us begin. Firstly, open your e-mail program and display the e-mail mentioned above. I use
'Outlook' so the pictures in this instance might not look precisely like your screen, but I am sure
you will 'get the idea'. Just follow any red lines and perform the instructions written in red.
If you wish, you can now close your e-mail program.
Open your favourite plain text editor, (if you do not have a favourite one, use ‘notepad’ that came
with Windows) and ‘paste’ the copied data.
Save this newly created document as a plain text file to any name and folder you wish. (In my
examples, I used a folder called PACSEA and a file name of rollcall1.txt)
The next step is to open ‘reporter’ and configure it for ‘PACSEA’ use.
When you start the Reporter program, you should see a screen like the one below. That is, one
with 3 separate ‘panes’.
Sometimes however the program opens with only ‘panes’ 1 and 3 visible. If this happens to you,
do this :-
Next,
And choose the settings as per the picture below making sure you choose “Classic YOTREPS”
from the selections in the drop down box. The other settings are those most commonly used in
reporting and setting them now will save you time later. If you do not like these settings, you can
always change them at any future time.
Click OK to save any changes and to close the “Reporter options” window.
The next step is to get the “rollcall” in to the Reporter program for the purpose of updating the
information.
The Reporter program will now look similar to this :-
You are now ready to ‘scribe’. (Is this easy or what ??)
First vessel on the rollcall is ‘Eagle Dancer, KN6FG – In the TOP window, double click anywhere
along the line for the entry for KN6FG and ‘reporter’ changes to look like this :-
The TIME is highlighted ready to accept or alter. Generally, the time displayed will not be the
time the reporting vessel gives so just press the ‘End’ key on your keyboard and you are ready to
‘backspace’ (usually just the last 2 digits) to alter the reporting time.
Now, just press the TAB key to move from field to field making alterations to the numbers as
required… But wait, the program says he at a Eastern Longitude position and he tells you he is
now West. Not a problem. After you put in the minutes and TAB, the word ‘East’ is shown with
a dotted box around it
Just tap your space bar to change it to WEST.
This is how you change ‘North’ to ‘South’, ‘East’ to ‘West’, ‘True’ to ‘Mag’ and ‘Feet’ to ‘Metres’, or
the other way around as the case may be. (Reporter ‘remembers’ the last reported status of these
fields.)
On rare occasions a vessel will not be able to supply current wind, swell, cloud or barometer
information. In this case, just press your ‘Delete’ or ‘Backspace’ key to erase the old data.
(NOTE, putting blank ‘spaces’ in the Barometer data box will result in an error so remember to
use the delete or backspace.)
Once you have read back the report and made and corrections, click the OK button… A new
Window pops up…..
This is the ‘Validity checker’ which might occasionally display a warning if certain parameters are
outside what the program considers to be ‘right’. (I deliberately put some over-the-top figures into
this sample report to bring the ‘warning’ up) It also gives you the distance the boat has travelled
since the time of the last report. Clicking “Add to List” will update the data for the reporting
vessel. (In this case, the line for KN6FG will update to show the new information.)
Occasionally a boat will come back to you AFTER you have closed the ‘Validity checker’ window
and ask you how far they had travelled for the day. Pressing the F9 key will open a window
which will show you this information. (sorry, no picture)
That’s it folks, you have ‘scribed’ your first boat report. All that is required now is to double click
the entry for the next one on rollcall and repeat the procedure. Don’t forget to ‘save’ all your
work.
When the ‘scribing’ of the rollcall is complete, the report needs to be ‘posted’ on e-mail. I won’t
go in to the complete procedure here however, I will say that basically it is the reverse of the
information at the start of this tutorial. Very simply put, you copy the text file into a plain text email and send it off.
I hope that this document is useful to you. Regards
John Caine – VK4CEJ