CWLink

MORSE CODE COMMUNICATIONS VIA THE INTERNET 
OR A LOCAL AREA NETWORK.

IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR YOUR RUBBER DUCKY CLICK HERE

CWLINK ALLOWS TWO PEOPLE TO USE THEIR COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET 
TO SEND MORSE CODE (CW) TO EACH OTHER BY USING THE BUTTONS ON THE 
MOUSE (LEFT BUTTON FOR THE DIT, RIGHT BUTTON FOR DAH) TO SEND THE 
CODE.  

ON THE RECEIVING END, THE MORSE CODE IS PLAYED OUT THE COMPUTERS
SPEAKERS BY THE SOUND CARD.

THERE IS A TEXT MODE ALSO AVAILABLE SHOULD EITHER USER WISH TO 
COMMUNICATE PROFANITY OR SOME OTHER MESSAGE UNSUITABLE FOR
TRANSMISSION OVER CW.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

EACH STATION NEEDS TO BE RUNNING A RECENT VERSION OF MICROSOFT 
WINDOWS AND HAVE A NETWORK/INTERNET CONNECTION, A MOUSE, A 
WORKING SOUNDCARD AND SPEAKERS.  THE MINIMUM SPEED OR MEMORY
REQUIREMENTS NEEDED FOR PRACTICAL USE OF THE PROGRAM HAVE NOT 
YET BEEN DETERMINED. 

THE PROGRAM IS CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT AND IS BEING WRITTEN
USING MICROSOFT VISUAL BASIC AS THE PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.   SORRY,
IT IS NOT THE INTENTION TO MAKE THIS PROGRAM OPERATE ON REALLY OLD OR 
SLOW COMPUTERS--- UPGRADE!    NO PLANS ARE IN THE WORKS FOR A MACINTOSH
OR LINUX VERSION (THOUGH THAT WOULD BE NICE).

NO RADIO LICENSE IS REQUIRED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THIS PROGRAM.

DOWNLOADING:

THIS ALPHA DEVELOPMENT SOFTWARE IS IN A ZIP FILE OF ABOUT 2MEG IN SIZE.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FILE VIA HTTP.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FILE VIA ANONYMOUS FTP.

PROGRAM VERSION:    0.03A

THE PROGRAM IS CURRENTLY IN ALPHA LEVEL DEVELOPMENT.

THIS MEANS THAT WHILE IT WORKS ON THE DEVELOPERS SYSTEMS, IT MAY NOT
FUNCTION FOR YOU AND WILL LIKELY HAVE ODD QUIRKS THAT CAUSE IT TO ISSUE
ERROR MESSAGES OR CEASE TO RESPOND.  THERE PRESENTLY IS NO HELP FILE
IN THE PROGRAM.   YES-- THE PROGRAM IS HELPLESS JUST LIKE THE AUTHOR.

USING THE PROGRAM:

YOU WILL NEED TO ENTER A CALLSIGN ('HANDLE' TO SOME) IN THE CALLSIGN FIELD
BEFORE YOU DO MUCH ELSE.  IF YOU SET THE CALLSIGN FROM THE LINK IN THE PULL
DOWN MENU IT WILL REMEMBER THAT FOR YOU WHEN YOU START THE PROGRAM NEXT.

IF YOU WISH TO BE ABLE TO RECEIVE A CONNECTION FROM ANOTHER STATION YOU 
MUST HIT THE 'LISTEN' BUTTON.

TO CONNECT TO ANOTHER STATION THAT IS LISTENING, ENTER THE REMOTE STATIONS
IP ADDRESS OR HOSTNAME IN THE 'REMOTE STATION' FIELD AND THEN HIT 'CONNECT'.
IF YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR IP ADDRESS YOU CAN CLICK HERE TO OPEN A NEW
BROWSER WINDOW AND THE IP CHICKEN WILL TELL YOU WHAT YOUR IP ADDRESS
IS AT THE CURRENT MOMENT.

ONCE CONNECTED, TO SEND TEXT, TYPE YOUR MESSAGE INTO THE 'OUTGOING
COMMUNICATIONS' BOX AND THEN HIT THE 'SEND' BUTTON.   TO SEND CW, MOVE THE
MOUSE INTO THE 'CODE SENDING BOX' AND CLICK THE LEFT BUTTON FOR A DIT, RIGHT 
BUTTON FOR A 'DAH'.   THE MOUSE (WHEN IN THE BOX) WORKS SOMEWHAT LIKE A 
KEYER IN THAT IF YOU HOLD THE BUTTON DOWN IT WILL SEND MULTIPLE DITS OR DAHS.

THERE ARE OTHER MODES OF OPERATION AVAILABLE FROM THE PULL DOWN MENUS
FOR THOSE WHO ARE ADVENTUROUS AND IN GOOD HUMOR.

CAVEATS;

AT THE PRESENT TIME THE PROGRAM USES THE SERVICES OF THE MICROSOFT 
WINSOCK COMPONENT OF WINDOWS.  THE IMPLEMENTATION IS NOT PERFECT AND 
APPEARS TO BECOME UNRESPONSIVE TO THE CWLINK PROGRAM AFTER IT HAS
DISCONNECTED FROM ANOTHER STATION, OR FAILED TO CONNECT TO A STATION
FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER.  RESTARTING THE PROGRAM (NOT THE PC) APPEARS
TO GET THINGS GOING AGAIN.

THE PROGRAM COMMUNICATES ON TCP PORT 5196 AND 5197 AND WILL NEED TO 
HAVE THOSE PORTS OPEN AND PROPERLY CONFIGURED ON YOUR FIREWALL OR ROUTER.

WHEN YOU UNZIP THE INSTALLATION PACKAGE YOU INSTALL THE PROGRAM BY CLICKING
ON 'SETUP' JUST AS YOU WOULD MOST OTHER WINDOWS PROGRAMS.   IT CAN BE UNINSTALLED
BY USING THE STANDARD WINDOWS 'ADD-REMOVE PROGRAMS' LINK FROM THE CONTROL 
PANEL.  

DISCLAIMER:

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK.   

THERE ARE NO GUARANTEES OF ANYTHING HERE.   LOADING THIS PROGRAM ON YOUR COMPUTER
MIGHT CAUSE A DROUGHT IN YOUR COMMUNITY, YOUR HOUSE MAY BE UPROOTED BY A TORNADO,
YOUR DAUGHTER MAY BECOME PREGNANT, ALL THE ICONS ON YOUR SCREEN MAY GO ON STRIKE,
YOU MAY LOSE YOUR DESIRE FOR BEER, AND MUCH WORSE COULD HAPPEN.

THERE IS NO SINISTER PLOT, THE PROGRAM IS BEING WRITTEN WITH GOOD INTENTIONS AND
AS FAR AS I KNOW IS FREE OF ANY EVIL CODE-- BUT NO GUARANTEES ARE MADE WHATSOEVER.
THIS IS CURRENTLY 'ALPHA' SOFTWARE... THAT'S THE LEVEL BEFORE 'BETA' .   THIS MEANS THAT
IT WILL BE A BIT OF A KLUDGE TO RUN AND POSSIBLY UNSTABLE.  THE ALPHA STAGE OF
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IS SOMETHING OF A RITE OF PASSAGE FOR ANY PROGRAM. 

IF YOU ARE A RANK NEWBIE, OR ARE INTIMIDATED BY THE INNER WORKINGS OF YOUR COMPUTER,
THEN YOU SHOULD NOT DOWNLOAD THIS PROGRAM.  ALPHA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS ARE
ALWAYS FOR THE USE OF THOSE WITH MORE COMPUTER KNOWLEDGE THAN THEY SOMETIMES
WISH THEY HAD.   IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT IS MEANT BY 'USES TCP PORT 5196' THEN
YOU SHOULD NOT DOWNLOAD THIS PROGRAM.

IF I HAVE OFFENDED YOU THEN YOU SHOULD GO TO THE CORNER AND CRY. THAT IS JUST THE
WAY IT IS.  LIVE WITH IT. 

UPDATED 1/14/08 BY KF8KK
(IF YOU WISH TO SEND EMAIL, LOOK ME UP IN QRZ)