arabella IV

FOC Marathon scoring & analysis
Helping members to accurately score their
Marathon entries since 2003

Developed for FOC by
John Linford
G3WGV
FOC 1600


Marabella for the 2025 Marathon

Now that the usual frenetic activity immediately after the Marathon has died down I can start looking at broader concerns for Marabella. So far 170 members have used Marabella to check their 2025 log, so it seems to me that there is still strong demand for the program.

One concern is Windows 11. I do not, and probably will not have Windows 11 on any of my PCs, which means that I cannot test for W11-specific problems. As a general statement Microsoft is making it increasingly difficult for amateur programmers like me to create apps that will install/update/run correctly. And there is the ever present risk of one of the numerous AV programs taking a dislike to the app because of a false positive virus signature match.

So I would like to hear from anyone that is running W11 and had problems of any sort getting Marabella to install, update or work correctly. In due course I will probably look for members willing to do some testing on W11. Please contact me directly (off reflector) if you can help.

I have fixed the bug that resulted in a member in the continental USA being incorrectly assigned to KH1. Marabella 4.006.02 is available in the downloads section and will be offered as an update the next time you run Marabella.

I've also updated the help documentation to include the new warning class discussed below.

Members changing suffix (e.g. G3WGV to G3WGV/P) has caused so much difficulty this year that I have added new code to Marabella to detect this specific type of callsign change and report it as a separate warning class. There is also an option to suppress the display of these warnings, which, as with all such warnings suppression, I suggest is used with caution.

Marabella 4.006.01 is available in the downloads section and will be offered as an update the next time you run Marabella.

I will update the help documentation later today.

I am aware of a problem with callsign entity resolution. A member's callsign is being incorrectly mapped to KH1 by the Club Log entity database, which is widely considered to be the most accurate in the world. I need to find out whose callsign is the culprit and then I can make a fix. If you have this problem with your entry please send me your log. It's not in my log so I can't do anything until I get a log that is reporting KH1 as worked!

I hope everyone had fun in the 2025 Marathon, thanks for the QSOs! If you find any odd calls that don't seem to match the FOC number please can you let me know and I will include them in an updated members' database release as soon as I can.

Just 25 minutes after the end of the event and Marabella has already been used by 55 members to check their logs!

Update 2025-02-02

I have now uploaded the 2025 version of Marabella and, importantly, the most up to date entity and member callsigns database. Of course there will be some members that have turned up with an unannounced callsign and I will deal with those when I find out!

If you already have Marabella IV installed on your PC then the new files will be offered to you as an update, which you must accept. If you are installing Marabella IV for the first time then the install file, Marabella.msi, contains all the latest files.

Update 2025-01-27

I have made a few improvements to Marabella for 2025 but the basic principle of operation is unchanged. This new version will be available before the end of the Marathon.

A major aspect of Marabella's operation is having up-to-date Entity information, which I obtain from G7VJR's excellent Club Log and the FOC membership database maintained by Tyler, N4TY. Both of these, but especially the membership database are in a state of flux, especially in the run-up to the Marathon.

Because of this I will not be posting new databases until near the end of the event. There is no point running Marabella until after the event. Please be patient.

Update procedure

If you already have Marabella IV installed or on athe first run of a new installation you will be automatically offered the updates when you start the program. Please be sure to accept these updates! Marabella can only score your log correctly if it has the latest databases.

If you need further information on Marabella or are having difficulties with the program then please contact me directly by e-mail. Please do not post problems with your use of Marabella on the FOC reflector.

Good luck in the Marathon!

73
John G3WGV

Copyright © 2025, John R Linford, G3WGV. Page updated 2025-02-04