P-t-B stands for either Pass - the - Buck or Powers - that - Be Software. It depends on who you’re asking. Actually, P-t-B SoftWare started about 1990 with several products aimed at the then burgeoning land-line Bulletin Board System (BBS) arena.

Products included games such as Desperado Blackjack, Time Bandit (with Mike Poston) and Poker Pallor (a play on the word parlor reflecting the condition brought on by staying indoors and playing too much poker. Yeah, no one got it then either.)

Desperado Blackjack was really fun. You could play and win as much as you could and then as you left the virtual casino you could be held up and all of your money taken away from you. Sometimes you would run into a celebrity and end up getting a thousand dollar tip for providing a light for his cigarette. This unpredictable ending caused some users to become upset with the system operator, thinking they were purposely trying to make them look bad on the scoreboard. I finally had to put in a switch in the configuration file to allow the System Operator to disable the little drama at the end. Some people just have no sense of humor.

The outstanding feature of the above programs, or ‘Doors’ as they were known, was the speed at which they operated. The UART communications handlers were written in house and out performed anything available at that time for speed and accuracy.

Being a dyed in the wool Ham Radio operator I decided to adapt the comm routines to something useful for the Hams that were drawn to the “HamShack BBS.” Frankly, I can’t remember all of them but they included a Call book lookup using the QRZ CD ROM, a Worked All States competition door, an annual QST Index database and a Propagation and Bulletin Reader.

The software was quite popular and people actually dialed the BBS, at 1990's long distance rates, from all over world to download their favorites.

The premier product, by far, was the Amateur Radio Packet Door or ARPD. This program allowed dial-up users to use the packet radio station at the BBS location to connect to local packet networks and through them to the rest of the world. Packet networks were quite extensive then and the service was quite useful.

The program was so complete that when a user entered the door, the callsign on the TNC was changed and their personal station log was updated with the time, date and all contact info. This allowed the user to operate the station under remote control rules in effect at the time. The log could be downloaded later for inclusion in their normal station log.

Soon BBS systems fell out of vogue. The Internet was all the rage. Of course, everything that could be done, had been done and I found no niches needing filling. Then one day I decided to write a little ID timer for my own amusement. I called it QSO Clock and was off and running again. I set up a web site and offered it to an expectant public.

There followed a number of small simple standalone utilities for the Hamshack and the SWL’er. Finally, tired of maintaining separate programs, I decided to combine the functions of the earlier programs and some new functions into one Ultimate Shack Assistant.

Like it’s predecessors, USA was written with my particular philosophy as a guide. To begin, the computer that ends up in the Hamshack is usually a cast off that was replaced when the XYL got her new machine. It is slow and has little memory and lots of old software that is probably no longer available for newer versions of Windows®.

USA will work and play well with any machine that runs any version of Windows® after 98. Some measures were taken to insure that such would be the case and that nothing would upset any other program(s) running on the system.

If you can use any of the myriad of Hamshack utilities feel free to download it and use it and share it with your friends. If you find an error or omission or have a suggestion for improvement, just drop me a note and we’ll see what comes of it.

Vy 73,

Dave, W4KGU