Issue M7SJO reports "Email is working well although it is still sending two emails to my Outlook inbox every time!" Cause It turns out he is using an email address as the name - and it happens to be the same email address! So I didn't look up the RFC / protocol, to check what is allowed. But apparently in Gmail at least, the name cannot be an email address. The Gmail client actually flags this as an error! Suggested fix So, you should run input sanity checks. If the addressee or name is disallowed, then reject or return the message. Ideally, you should catch this even earlier - in the composition stage, and not allow them to enter or to send to an illegal name/addressee. Error Message in Gmail Log file - Example 1 22/07/2025 20:47:59 - (CN:1) Incoming message. 22/07/2025 20:48:02 - Email sent to M7SJO@OUTLOOK.COM through Email gateway successfully. 22/07/2025 20:48:03 - (CN:1) Email sent to M7SJO@OUTLOOK.COM through Email gateway successfully. 22/07/2025 20:49:36 - (CN:20) KISS BEACON received from PD0WAG 22/07/2025 20:49:36 - (CN:20) PSKReporter: Logged successfully (PD0WAG) 22/07/2025 20:49:36 - (CN:20) PSKReporter: Sending accumulated records 22/07/2025 20:49:36 - (CN:20) Logging Contact to DB: PD0WAG 22/07/2025 20:51:23 - (CN:20) KISS BEACON received from PD2GCM 22/07/2025 20:51:23 - (CN:20) PSKReporter: Logged successfully (PD2GCM) 22/07/2025 20:51:23 - (CN:20) PSKReporter: Sending accumulated records 22/07/2025 20:51:23 - (CN:20) Logging Contact to DB: PD2GCM 22/07/2025 20:52:25 - (CN:20) PSKReporter: Logged successfully (EA5URB) 22/07/2025 20:52:25 - (CN:20) PSKReporter: Sending accumulated records 22/07/2025 20:52:51 - (CN:1) Email gateway: incoming email through IMAP server detected: Destination callsign: M7SJO. Pulling to the VMailbox. 22/07/2025 20:53:51 - (CN:1) Email sent to M7SJO@outlook.com through Email gateway successfully.

Issue 1. Vmails waiting RELAY indicator is red. 2. There is a mail icon in the Beacons list. 3. The Vmail Relay Notifications are missing from the list - even though there are vmails waiting. The list is empty! 4. I connect to the station, and it transmits a vmail. Then the RELAY indicator clears. Example:

Issue 1. M7SJO reports that his emails relayed through my station are duplicated - two copies of each email are sent. 2. It turns out that my VarAC station sends to his email address twice per email message. 3. VarAC is sending to "email <email>" i.e. VarAC is copying the email address and prepending it, which is in the position of the addressee name. 4. Gmail interprets this as an additional email address, and sends two copies to the addressee. 5. When he sends email through SM3ULU, this issue does not happen. The message is sent to only one addressee. 6. I am using VarAC v12.0.4. They are both using v12.0.0. Originally, I thought it was an addressee + name validation issue on his end. (I submitted a bug report requesting to add validation.) But after reviewing the Chat History it appears that VarAC is sending to "email <email>" i.e. VarAC is copying the email address and prepending it, which is in the position of the addressee name. And Gmail interprets this as an additional email address, and sends two copies to the addressee. Chat History

I noticed issues in the Last Heard Peeking (LHR) functionality: 1. The message is sent in local time - but it should be sent in UTC! 2. The message is too verbose - abbreviate the message, to reduce airtime. A. Do not report seconds. HH:MM is enough. B. Delete BEACON, it is redundant. If you can report also broadcasts - that would be best, so then it is not redundant, but should be abbreviated (e.g. BCN vs BRCST). But maybe it doesn't matter how it was heard? Just delete it! C. Remove "dB". It doesn't appear under SNR, why send unneeded data here? D. After all this, remove ">" and "/" and just use white space to separate the columns. E. Ideally, pretty print it, so the columns are aligned and human readable. F. If you do this, you could pretty-print it in the client, to save airtime. G. Compress the message before transmitting over the air: e.g., most of the time the band will be "20m" so why it is redundant to send the same text - just replace it with a short unique symbol for each band! Example

Bug CQ + Slot selector buggy on the satellite! This causes a bunch of issues: 1. The slot number is appended to the callsign instead of appearing in the slot column. 2. Failure to connect upon answering the CQ. 3. The RELAY indicator may NOT clear after retrieving vmails. Spotted in v12.0.4 Workaround and Suggested Fix Enabling Skip Slot Selector makes things work, though of course you lose the slot selection functionality. At the moment, most stations don't have auto-qsy ability on the satellite yet (though a few e.g. Pluto SDRs do). So probably best by default to disable CQ slot selection and requirement to QSY when on QO-100 satellite. And if it is on, warn that it may cause issues with stations that lack the capability. Example Effect of Skip Slot Selector

Issue Unhandled Exception Exception details See the end of this message for details on invoking just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box. ************** Exception Text ************** System.Collections.Generic.KeyNotFoundException: The given key was not present in the dictionary. at System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2.get_Item(TKey key) at VarAC.Form12.combobox_canned_messages_SelectedIndexChanged(Object sender, EventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.OnSelectedIndexChanged(EventArgs e) at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.WmReflectCommand(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.ComboBox.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam) ************** Loaded Assemblies ************** mscorlib Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9310.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v4.0.30319/mscorlib.dll ---------------------------------------- VarAC Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0 CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/VarAC/VarAC.exe ---------------------------------------- System.Windows.Forms Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9251.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll ---------------------------------------- System Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9310.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Drawing Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9037.0 built by: NET481REL1 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Core Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9297.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Core/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Core.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Configuration Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9037.0 built by: NET481REL1 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Xml Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9037.0 built by: NET481REL1 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll ---------------------------------------- Accessibility Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9037.0 built by: NET481REL1 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Accessibility/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Accessibility.dll ---------------------------------------- WindowsFormsIntegration Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9195.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_B CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/WindowsFormsIntegration/v4.0_4.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35/WindowsFormsIntegration.dll ---------------------------------------- PresentationFramework Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9297.0 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/PresentationFramework/v4.0_4.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35/PresentationFramework.dll ---------------------------------------- WindowsBase Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9297.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/WindowsBase/v4.0_4.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35/WindowsBase.dll ---------------------------------------- PresentationCore Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9297.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_32/PresentationCore/v4.0_4.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35/PresentationCore.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Xaml Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9297.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xaml/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xaml.dll ---------------------------------------- PresentationFramework.Aero2 Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9037.0 built by: NET481REL1 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/PresentationFramework.Aero2/v4.0_4.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35/PresentationFramework.Aero2.dll ---------------------------------------- CookComputing.XmlRpcV2 Assembly Version: 3.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0 CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/VarAC/VarAC.exe ---------------------------------------- System.Data.SQLite Assembly Version: 1.0.116.0 Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0 CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/VarAC/VarAC.exe ---------------------------------------- System.Data Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9214.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_B CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_32/System.Data/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Data.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Transactions Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9037.0 built by: NET481REL1 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_32/System.Transactions/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Transactions.dll ---------------------------------------- System.EnterpriseServices Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9037.0 built by: NET481REL1 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_32/System.EnterpriseServices/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.EnterpriseServices.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Numerics Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9037.0 built by: NET481REL1 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Numerics/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Numerics.dll ---------------------------------------- UIAutomationTypes Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9297.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/UIAutomationTypes/v4.0_4.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35/UIAutomationTypes.dll ---------------------------------------- UIAutomationProvider Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9297.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/UIAutomationProvider/v4.0_4.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35/UIAutomationProvider.dll ---------------------------------------- System.DirectoryServices Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9282.0 built by: NET481REL1LAST_C CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.DirectoryServices/v4.0_4.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.DirectoryServices.dll ---------------------------------------- System.Speech Assembly Version: 4.0.0.0 Win32 Version: 4.8.9037.0 built by: NET481REL1 CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Speech/v4.0_4.0.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35/System.Speech.dll ---------------------------------------- ************** JIT Debugging ************** To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this application or computer (machine.config) must have the jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section. The application must also be compiled with debugging enabled. For example: <configuration> <system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" /> </configuration> When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer rather than be handled by this dialog box.

Beacons Load Last Heard History is Inconsistent with the Beacons pane, in a VarAC Cluster. The history loads entried from multiple instances, whereas the live Beacons history only displays the beacons on the current instance number. Suggested Fix I suggest when an instance loads history, the history should select for display only the entries heard by that instance number, not from other instances. The rest should be filtered out and excluded. I.e. it should restore the same entries that were displayed previously. In any case, the behavior should be consistent! Test Close and then reopen an instance and ensure it shows the same entries as before, and not additional entries leaked from other instances. Screen Capture

Screen Capture Log 16/06/2025 18:23:35 - Sending beacon 16/06/2025 18:23:35 - KISS BEACON sent 16/06/2025 18:23:52 - PSKReporter: Sending accumulated records 16/06/2025 18:24:11 - Error: unable to update instance busy status in SQLite:database is locked database is locked at System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Step(SQLiteStatement stmt) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult() at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() at VarAC.VarAC.update_instance_busy_state(Int32 instance_id, Boolean is_busy) 16/06/2025 18:24:11 - Error: updating instance keepalive in SQLite:database is locked database is locked at System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Step(SQLiteStatement stmt) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult() at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() at VarAC.VarAC.update_instance_keepalive(Int32 instance_id) Related Issue? https://www.varac-hamradio.com/forum/bug-reports/varac-cluster-breaks-from-last-heard-peaking-multiband-sqlite-conflict-v11-2-0

Issue Datasteam Message: "Error: UNABLE TO DECODE DATA FROM <STATION>. ABORTING." Example: Log: 08/06/2025 05:37:38 - Sending beacon 08/06/2025 05:37:38 - KISS BEACON sent 08/06/2025 05:37:42 - Clearing outgoing queues. 08/06/2025 05:37:53 - Connecting F1GBD 08/06/2025 05:38:04 - Connected to F1GBD 08/06/2025 05:38:10 - Error: UNABLE TO DECODE DATA FROM F1GBD. ABORTING. See VarAC.log for more info. In most cases a VARA packet from another QSO on the same frequency slipped into this QSO and corrupted the link. VarAC will now restart the VARA modem. Standby.... 08/06/2025 05:38:10 - Input string was not in a correct format. at System.Number.StringToNumber(String str, NumberStyles options, NumberBuffer& number, NumberFormatInfo info, Boolean parseDecimal) at System.Number.ParseInt32(String s, NumberStyles style, NumberFormatInfo info) at System.Convert.ToInt32(String value) at VarAC.VarAC.<connect_varahf_modem>b__126_2() 08/06/2025 05:38:10 - Corrupted data that caused this: RMS Trimode 1.3.58.0 SECURITE CIVILE - STATION SATELLITE - ADRASEC (sysop: F1GBD op:Jean-Louis) 4Z5PE has 116 daily minutes remaining with F1GB 08/06/2025 05:38:10 - Aborting Link... 08/06/2025 05:38:10 - Aborting... 08/06/2025 05:38:10 - Disconnected from F1GBD 08/06/2025 05:38:11 - Logging QSO to DB: F1GBD 08/06/2025 05:38:11 - Unable to log QSO with F1GBD ,missing information 08/06/2025 05:38:11 - Restarting VARA modem 3/3 08/06/2025 05:38:11 - Disconnecting VARA modem... 08/06/2025 05:38:11 - Disconnected! 08/06/2025 05:38:11 - Error in mailbox_send_outbox_thread 08/06/2025 05:38:11 - Thread was being aborted. at System.Threading.Thread.SleepInternal(Int32 millisecondsTimeout) at System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(Int32 millisecondsTimeout) at VarAC.VarAC.<connect_varahf_modem>b__126_6() 08/06/2025 05:38:12 - Opening COM port 08/06/2025 05:38:21 - Connecting VARA Main Modem Command interface... 08/06/2025 05:38:21 - Connecting VARA Main Modem data stream... 08/06/2025 05:38:21 - Connecting VARA Main Modem KISS Command interface... 08/06/2025 05:38:21 - Connected to VARA modem 08/06/2025 05:38:21 - VARA version: VARA SAT v4.4.4

Bug: VarAC Cluster breaks after receiving <LHR> (Last Heard Peaking request) with multiband peeking ON. Note: I did NOT test LHR with multiband peeking off, and it may also be broken. Scope: Spotted in VarAC V11.2.0 Symptoms: 1. EMAIL GATE turns orange (it is supposed to remain blue) in the non-sender nodes. 2. Datastream messages window - discontinuity, some messages disappear or are not displayed after <LHR>. 3. A Vmail was LOST - after being received and confirmed with <SMR>, and parked! The Vmail disappeared from parked vmails and was lost. 4. The VarAC Cluster does NOT recover until closing ALL instances of VarAC and restarting them! Analysis: The log indicates SQLite database errors: 1. 02/06/2025 22:12:04 - LHR tag identified (Last Heard Request) 02/06/2025 22:12:04 - Error: processing Request last heard callsign peeking request 02/06/2025 22:12:04 - Value was either too large or too small for an Int32. at System.Convert.ToInt32(Int64 value) at System.Int64.System.IConvertible.ToInt32(IFormatProvider provider) at System.Convert.ToInt32(Object value) at VarAC.VarAC.<connect_varahf_modem>b__126_2() 02/06/2025 22:12:11 - Error: updating instance keepalive in SQLite:database is locked database is locked at System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Step(SQLiteStatement stmt) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult() at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() at VarAC.VarAC.update_instance_keepalive(Int32 instance_id) 02/06/2025 22:12:11 - Error: updating instance keepalive in SQLite:database is locked database is locked at System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Step(SQLiteStatement stmt) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult() at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() at VarAC.VarAC.update_instance_keepalive(Int32 instance_id) 02/06/2025 22:12:15 - Error: Writing to SQLite datastream table :database is locked database is locked at System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Step(SQLiteStatement stmt) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult() at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() at VarAC.VarAC.write_datastream_log_to_db(String qso_guid, Int32 datastream_entry_type_id, String callsign, String entry, DateTime creation_time, Int32 chat_id, Int32 reply_on_chat_id, String file_path) 02/06/2025 22:12:27 - Error: Writing to cqframe table:database is locked database is locked at System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Step(SQLiteStatement stmt) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult() at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() at VarAC.VarAC.write_last_heard_to_db(DateTime cqframe_time, Int32 cqframe_type_id, Int64 frequency, String bandwidth, String from_callsign, Int32 snr, String slot, String data, String locator, Boolean is_emcomm, Boolean is_email_gateway) 02/06/2025 22:12:28 - PSKReporter: Logged successfully (4Z1AC) 02/06/2025 22:12:28 - PSKReporter: Sending accumulated records 02/06/2025 22:12:28 - Error: Writing to SQLite qso_snr_report table :database is locked database is locked at System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Step(SQLiteStatement stmt) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult() at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() at VarAC.VarAC.write_snr_to_db(String qso_guid, Int32 snr_direction, Int32 snr, DateTime creation_time) 02/06/2025 22:12:29 - Error: Writing to SQLite datastream table :database is locked database is locked at System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Step(SQLiteStatement stmt) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult() at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() at VarAC.VarAC.write_datastream_log_to_db(String qso_guid, Int32 datastream_entry_type_id, String callsign, String entry, DateTime creation_time, Int32 chat_id, Int32 reply_on_chat_id, String file_path) 02/06/2025 22:12:32 - Disable PTT status set to false 02/06/2025 22:12:32 - Setting disable ptt status to false 02/06/2025 22:13:00 - Closing Rig comport 02/06/2025 22:13:00 - Closing GPS comport 02/06/2025 22:13:00 - Closing Rig TCP port 02/06/2025 22:13:22 - Debug mode disabled 02/06/2025 22:13:22 - Instance number: 20 02/06/2025 22:13:23 - Error: updating instance email gateway status in SQLite:database is locked database is locked at System.Data.SQLite.SQLite3.Step(SQLiteStatement stmt) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader.NextResult() at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteDataReader..ctor(SQLiteCommand cmd, CommandBehavior behave) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteReader(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery(CommandBehavior behavior) at System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteCommand.ExecuteNonQuery() at VarAC.VarAC.update_instance_email_gateway_status(Int32 instance_id, Boolean email_gateway_active, Boolean email_gateway_sender_node) 02/06/2025 22:13:23 - Setting unattended links ON (load) ... Recommendation: 1. Fix the bugs indicated in the VarAC log, and fully test that Last Heard Peeking works in all cases. 2. Add additional sanity checks and error handling. I suggest: A. Display errors in the GUI and offer to send feedback/bug report to the developers. B. Then recover the cluster and all instances and the SQLite database to a sane and safe state, or instruct the end user how to do this. Screen Capture of the Bug, Showing the Broken VarAC Cluster:

The "In QSO with GUI section (circled below) is hard to find and parse. 1. The location of this section is hidden in the middle of a busy screen. It is hidden vertically between the log and the connected callsign box, with NO white space to separate it. 2. The font, lowercase, text size is hard to see and read. 3. The QRZ ? and History and Graph buttons should be a bit larger and prominent. 4. The QRZ ? button does NOT need a "?". Please brainstorm some solutions and add to the comments! Suggestion: Add a QSO timer in the status bar at the bottom of the GUI. (The circled location is just an example. It does not need to be in that specific location within the status bar.)

Since many stations never beacon, not only are they invisible, but they never receive vmail waiting messages! It appears MOST U.S. stations NEVER beacon!Note: I believe this is because of a misunderstanding of the FFC rules. NOTE: VarAC beacons do NOT the same purpose as propagation beacons! They are for networking, and NOT like WSPR. Also, most stations are at home, not in unattended remote locations like the North Pole. The operator is present at the station much of the time! TODO: I believe this is a misunderstood point that must be clarified legally and then documented well in the VarAC application itself e.g. wherever beacons are mentioned - and in the other VarAC documentation! Please suggest solutions in the comments on this post. Let's brainstorm! Here are some of my suggestions: 1. Default setting or setup wizard should ask to turn on beaconing, and explain why. 2. Nag the user to send a beacon manually. You could open a dialog box and ask if they would like to send a beacon. If they press nothing, it will close after a timeout. Could also put a Turn on beaconing button in the same dialog box. Could nag after opening VarAC, when signals are being received. Maybe after a delay, or indication that they can transmit. Definitely NOT when PTT is off! 3. Clarify and document beaconing in VarAC (as opposed to WSPR) - see the note above! 4. Any time the station is heard, even if communicating with another station - a vmail waiting alert message should be queued. In the ideal world, there should be sent a VARA BREAK message, alerting the stations in a QSO that another station needs them to contact him. Not sure if there is a way to do this in VARA modem, but it is IMHO an important feature that is in the spirit of Ham Radio! Since there is no authentication in VARA, perhaps it can be done by sending a VARA message to the target stations, asking them to break/pause/wait, and then sending the alert message. If necessary, the message can be spoofed as the other connected station, provided the real callsign is explicit in the alert message so the sender is clear. 5. If a CQ is heard, and there are outgoing messages for the station, send the Vmail waiting on the CQ slot. And after a delay of at least 5 minutes, sent it again as needed on the calling channel. Here is a typical example: A. FM4TI does not beacon, so he is only visible because he happened to CQ. So he never receives a vmail waiting alert! The vmail will likely sit in the outbox forever, even if he is online every night! B. KD8TF beacons, so he receives vmail waiting alerts.