picked this up from another email reflector, anyone heard about it ? Phil ON4VP
---- insert ---- According to the ARRL Letter today, they have just completed alpha test, = and have not yet released the client library to software=20 developers. Here's the full story: "=3D=3D>LIMITED "LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD" TESTING IS A HIT The long-anticipated "Logbook of the World" (LoTW)--the ARRL's secure electronic contact-confirmation system--took a major leap toward public release this month with several weeks of limited--or "alpha"--testing. Dozens of Amateur Radio operators checked out a preliminary version of = the LoTW software, which is still under development. Once it's ready, LoTW will provide a means for participants to qualify for awards such as DXCC or WAS without having to first collect hard-copy QSL cards. "This is cool!" exclaimed one alpha tester. "Slick!" declared another tester. "It's pretty neat so far. This looks like a good start." ARRL staffer Dave Patton, NT1N, said the limited test run was extremely helpful. "One of the main things that will come out of this phase of testing is a good package that will be ready to give to logging program developers to incorporate into their software," he said. ARRL Web and Software Development Manager Jon Bloom, KE3Z, explained = that the League hopes that logging software vendors will choose to add value = to their products by integrating LoTW client-side functions. "But the software we provide to individual amateurs will be sufficient for basic use of LoTW," he added. ARRL will not be releasing the LoTW server code, however. Linked via e-mail, the LoTW testers spent two weeks registering their = call signs, uploading logs and attempting to push the system to extremes. One tester was amazed at its robust nature after he uploaded a complete station log of about 320,000 QSOs. "I sent this blob expecting it to = croak the server, but it didn't!" he said. Logbook of the World Project Leader Wayne Mills, N7NG, says LoTW won't spell the end of QSL cards. Instead, he says, it will provide an avenue for increased speed and accuracy for hams chasing awards, as well as remove some chances for human error that can occur in the traditional process. "This is really a system to offer credits for awards," said Mills, who = is also ARRL's Membership Services manager. Mills said LoTW will minimize opportunities to "game the system" or otherwise cheat--something that's not always possible to detect even with paper QSLs. He emphasized that = the League has no plans to do away with accepting traditional QSL cards as it's been doing all along. "We're not replacing the whole paper QSL = scheme with Logbook of the World," he said. Unlike electronic QSLing systems now in use, LoTW is not set up to exchange QSL "cards" via the Internet. The main idea is that ARRL will maintain a secure log database that will be constantly updated by DXers, contesters, DXpeditions and thousands of individual amateurs. = Registering and uploading electronic logs cost nothing; the only time a user will incur a charge is when applying accumulated contact credits toward an award. LoTW beta testing for the general Amateur Radio public is expected to begin soon. The ARRL has not announced a specific inauguration date for Logbook of the World." ---- end insert ---- --- StripMime Report -- processed MIME parts --- multipart/alternative text/plain (text body -- kept) text/html The reason this message is shown is because the post was in HTML or had an attachment. Attachments are not allowed. To learn how to post in Plain-Text go to: http://www.expita.com/nomime.html ---
