How do you log your QSOs ( if at all if that's something allowed in by your regualtor ?). Share your best practices, software and tips !
this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2023
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Amateur Radio
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When I first ot licensed back in the early 90's I started logging on paper. Back then I only had a novice licence allowing me 10w on 2m. Nevertheless I made thousands of QSOs over the years on FM and SSB.
A PC only became part of my amateur radio station when I got hooked by packet radio. That's also when I started logging on PC rather than on paper.
I could't remember all of the software I used to log but here are the ones I finally settled on :
Fast Log Entry by DF3CB : Fast Log Entry isn't a logbook as such. Instead it's a piece of software designed to convert paper logs to digital logs. For every QSO you only have to enter the information that changed from the previsous QSO. I still use it to this day when I'm just going out for a few QSO's on portable and log them on a paper notebook. If you are into SOTA or POTA it's definitely something to look into. I used it to convert years of paper logbooks to digital logbooks. DF3CB is also the author of BV7 a fantastic software used by QSL Managers.
Logger32 by K4CY has been my general purpose logbook. It's the one that's installed and that is used to log casual QSOs. It's full featured, interfaces with all my equipement and rather easy to use once setup. It also has support for LotW through an extension.
WinTest by F5MZN is what I will use if I join an HF contest those days ( that's becoming rare). It has support for pretty much any contest and is the go to application for SSB/CW and also RTTY contests. It's also offten used by DX-Expedition due to it's simplicity. While I would not recommend WinTest as a general logging application, I did use it for that purporse when I was operating from 9V but I did mostly run pile-ups during that time which made it usable for that purpose but don't do it if you want something that register's the other's stations operator's name and QTH.
Tucnak by OK1ZIA. Unlike the other applications listed above Tucknak is designed first and foremost for VHF+ contests. Initially develloped for Linux systems only, it since became available also on Windows, Android and even jailbraiked Kindle ! What makes Tucnak unique is the entry which is inheritaed from Taclog from OZ2M. Due to the bands conditions and the amount of information ( Callsign / report / QRA locator) it's not rare to miss a part of the exchange. Tucnak allows you to enter any information into a buffer and will automatically allocate it to the right field. Once all the information is completed a specific command stores the QSO. This associated to a large station database built over the years makes it a very strong application but with a steep learning curve. If you are going to use Tucnak during a contest, make sure to practice first so you don't loose a QSO during the contest. Tucnak has various functions dedicated to VHF+ contest, including networking allowing you to send skeds to other stations, ON4KST chat integration, log synchronisation, etc. It uses very little ressources so you can easily stick it on a Raspeberry PI behind a monitor.
That's it ! What do you use ?