Hi Jeff,
Their isn't much in linux logging software that is worth the effort
(maintaining even a casual log is an effort). I've tried them all. There just
are not enough eyeballs to make a solid effort in Linux logging effort worth
while.
So where am I going with this. Back in the late 80's and early 90's I wrote
the first windoz based logging software. It was modular in that logging, rig
control, packet were all separate code bases that talked to each other. It was
popular for 5 or 6 years. It took a huge effort to write and maintain. Y2K
came and windoz time stamping required a major overhaul. I dropped the effort
(to much going on in my life back then). The experience was great and I have a
good feel for what a logging program should do. I the past couple of years, I
settled on dxlab. It shares much of the strategy I used in the original windoz
logging software I wrote. It is not a panacea.
The good:
It is very modular,
You choose to use pieces or not, the basic logging program does not care.
It is very well maintained (new releases fixing bugs, making enhancements come
out often
The one line databases for DXCC are updated as soon as new DXCC data is
available
It couples very nicely with LOTW and eQSL
It does extraordinarily well in shack automation (if that is what you are into)
It is easy to backup the log database and restore somewhere else
Works fine when not connected to the Internet
The bad:
It runs on windoz
It uses visual basic as its environment which is slow even on a very fast
machine
The logging window can be annoying because of its slow speed (erasing a call to
enter a new call to find information can take 20 or 30 seconds)
I've often thought of starting an open source development team that would build
a platform independent, web service based logging program using something like
couchDB. Core services for the shack would still be required to run on the
shack machine. Well defined service interfaces using web api's would allow for
very flexible development and customization.
Anyway, no time for that now. dxbase fills my basic requirements (DX and award
chasing, logging, qsling, LOTW eQSL, rig control, rotator control, dxcluster
data etc)
Good Luck in your search!
Paula NX1P
________________________________
From: Jeff Lane <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, April 3, 2012 2:05 PM
Subject: [Ubuntu-hams] Logging Software
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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)
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 :/
Cheers and 73,
Jeff
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