ubuntu-hams team mailing list archive

[Nate Bargmann <n0nb@xxxxxxx>]

* On 2012 03 Apr 16:25 -0500, Jeff Lane wrote:
> I know this comes up from time to time, and I also know the answers
> can be defended/argued as strongly as vi v emacs ;-) but I thought
> I'd ask you guys what the cool kids are using for logging these
> days.

For general logging, I think CQRlog wins hands down.

> I've played with various logging programs over the years, none of
> which I've ever stayed with, mostly for one big reason... no way to
> easily store or sync the log data online somewhere.  Which means if
> I use a program on one laptop, that means it's yet another piece of
> data I have to remember to sync between systems.

I do my logging on my main machine.  If I were to do any on a laptop I
would probably export it as ADIF and import that into the main database.

With the Spideroak backup that I use, it's probably possible to sync
between machines, but that is a very low priority for me so I haven't
investigated it.

> So I was hoping to get an idea of what good general purpose logging
> programs are popular right now. I don't do a lot of contesting, so I
> don't need that kind of horsepower, but something good for general
> purpose logging.

CQRlog does considerably more than I use it for.  Admittedly, it is the
first logging program I ever became serious about using so I don't have
preconceived notions about what/how it should do things.

> Hopefully something that will sync on the fly or on demand with
> something online (looking at LOTW, I've never used it before but
> maybe that's the solution I'm looking for, even though their
> software doesn't appear to be linux friendly).

LoTW, despite its name, is NOT a logging system/program.  It is an
electronic QSL system for certain ARRL and now CQ WPX awards.  That's
it.  It retains far too little data for me to consider it to be any sort
of backup for my main log.  I think the same of eQSL.

> I do most of my logging still with pen and paper because I've never
> found a logging program that wow'ed me enough to stick with.  I even
> started writing my own at one point that was going to sync with a
> SQL database hosted along with one of my websites, or at the very
> least sync its data to one of my websites for backup purposes. But I
> got lazy and abandoned that because pen and paper still work well.

I was at that point until last fall and committed my paper logs to
CQRlog and uploaded the entire works to LoTW and eQSL.  Since then
CQRlog has made it painless to update each site with new log data.

What I don't do is import any contest log data into CQRlog although it
is uploaded to LoTW and eQSL separately.

With my log data now in CQRlog and backed up offsite with Spideroak, my
log data is now recoverable after a catistrophic event than when it was
on paper.

> It would be nice to have something that could do QSL lookups on the
> fly but that's not necessarily required as I may or may not have
> internet connectivity when operating (portable, QRP, etc)

Once a call is entered in the Call field, CQRlog does a search and shows
any previous QSOs in its database that match the call once <Space> or
<Tab> is pressed.  QSL received and sent are among the available fields
shown.

> Anyway, it just occurred to me to ask that old familiar question as
> I sat here working today with the HF rig on behind me.  I've stopped
> and made a few contacts today, including an IOTA and a SOTA station
> on 20m and realized that sometimes my logs consist of scraps of
> paper that were handy when I needed something to write on :/

Back in 2000 I worked the FO0AAA expedition but when I entered my log
data last year I nearly panicked when I didn't find it in my logbook.  I web
search showed that the expedition has an online log and a search of my
call showed that we had worked, but I had none of the particulars.  I
was bummed until I decided to look in the notebook that I used mobile
back then, and still use (not much HF mobile in between time).  I found
the QSO logged for date, time, and frequency and entered it.  I uploaded
it to LoTW and received the confirmation!  Don't throw those scraps away
until a card is received or it's confirmed via LoTW or other award
tracking method.

If you want to try CQRlog, you'll probably be better served installing
the 1.3.1 .deb from its home page:

http://www.cqrlog.com

as the latest version is not yet able to be packaged by Kamal for
Debian/Ubuntu as I understand it.

73, de Nate >>

-- 

"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all
possible worlds.  The pessimist fears this is true."

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