By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor

This week, Surfin’ considers another replacement for HyperTerminal and a new blog that digs up the low-down on DXCC entities.

The DXCC Sleuth

I wrote last week’s Surfin’ in response to an e-mail from Rich Holoch, KY6R, who was looking for “an in depth account of the history of the DXCC program.”

I found a few items online and mentioned them last week, but Rich wanted more and decided to do it himself. The DXCC Sleuth is the result. Its purpose “is to gather, aggregate, summarize and preserve the colorful stories that make the American Radio Relay League’s DXCC program the fascinating program that it is.”

Each week, Rich plans to tackle a DXCC entity. Kingman Reef was his first target. Only 339 to go!

Windows Communications Redux

Three weeks ago, I mentioned alternatives to HyperTerminal, the Windows communications program that Microsoft stopped bundling with new versions of its operating systems (Windows 7 and Windows XP).

Ralph Bugg, K8HSQ, had this to say on the topic: “I use PuTTY for my SSH connections to my Linux systems and find it works quite well; however, for normal serial terminal applications, I prefer Tera Term 4.74. Not only does it work as a normal serial terminal, but will also work as a telnet terminal. It will make SSH connections, but I prefer PuTTY for that.

“The reason I suggest Tera Term 4.74 is for its scripting ability. It has a very nice macro language and I have written many scripts to perform repetitive tasks such as removing a TNC from KISS or HOST mode without having to do a hard reset. Tera Term is a free download and you get a lot more than what you pay for.”

Until next time, keep on surfin’!

Editor’s note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, seeks the unusual in radio. To contact Stan, send e-mail or add comments to the WA1LOU blog.