AA6XA-Logger

My Portable-OTA logger.

This logger is designed to be an easy to use logger to enter in handwritten logs after various portable on-the-air activations, e.g. SOTA, WWFF, POTA, or contests from summits or parks. It is written in Python, so it should be easy to use on any computer that has Python installed. It can export a CSV file formatted for the SOTA database, ADIF Files for upload it for WWFF/POTA, or to ClubLog or other general purpose logger, and Cabrillo files for a few supported contests. If you're looking for a full featured logger that will keep track of your DX and control your transceiver, look elsewhere; this is a simple one.

Download and Installation

You will need Python 3 installed, and some Python packages:

• Tk
• dateutil
• datetime
• csv
• configparser
• re (regular expressions)
• glob

On my Raspberry Pi, all of those were installed already. On my Ubuntu laptop, I had to install Tk and dateutil. A quick search will show you how to check if you have these packages, or how to install them if you don't know how to.

Linux: cd to the directory you want to put the program in, then type git clone https://github.com/kabelj/AA6XA-Logger.git This will download all the necessary files to the directory. It can then be run with the command python3 logger.py. If you have set the python command to use Python 3, then just use that instead. The change the loggersettings file before you start.

Mac/Windows: If you have git installed, you can follow the instructions above. If not, click the green "download code" button and download the Zip file. Unzip this in the location you want to save it. Open a terminal window, cd to that directory, and run the command python3 logger.py. I don't have a computer with either OS, so I can't test the logger.

Usage

In the directory with the code there is a file, "loggersettings" which contains settings you should only have to set once, or very infrequently. Open this and edit with your information.

It is very important you set your callsign, at the very least. Otherwise, I'll get credit for your activation :D

On opening the logger, it will prompt you to select a log file. Select an existing log file. If you wish to create a new file, click "cancel" and another dialog will appear to allow you to create a new log. Enter in the log data, clicking Enter or "Save QSO" after each one. Selecting Export>SOTA CSV or Export>WWFF ADIF will prompt you to choose the name of the file, then write the QSOs in the appropriate format. Exporting one of the contests will behave similarly.

Currently, you need to give it a new log file name for each activation. It is not smart, and will write all the QSOs in a log to the CSV, ADIF, or Cabrillo file. Only a few fields (callsign, name, QTH, power) don't have some sort of input validation. Anything you add to these fields will be accepted and written to log without any complaints or warnings. Also note that the SOTA checking is set up to accept summits from anywhere in the world, but it doesn't have a list of valid associations and regions. Anything that could be correct won't be caught by the checker, e.g. W6W/AA-123 would not be caught. Similarly for WWFF/POTA. Be careful! If you do make a mistake, just open the .log file with your favorite text editor and fix your typo.

Remember:

• New log file for each activation
• Data validation, but still be careful
• No editing QSOs in the program. Use a text editor to fix
• The first time you use the logger, edit the loggersettings to your information

Exports

For the SOTA CSV export, the following fields are used:

• Date
• Time
• Callsign
• Frequency
• Mode
• My SOTA Peak
• S2S Peak

The operator's callsign is taken from the settings file.

For the Parks export, which is just an ADIF files, all of the fields are written to the file. "Date" is used for both the <qso_date> and <qso_date_off> fields. "Time" is used for both <time_on> and <time_off>. The frequency is written to the appropriate field, and the program automatically determines the band from it. "Park Ref" is written to <my_sig_info>. The "operator" field is taken from the settings file.

Features not yet added

There are plenty of improvements to add:

• Show the last few QSOs in a nice format
• Visual improvements to gui (though I think it looks ok now)
• Export cabrillo for other contests, if desired
• Re-order QSOs to chronological for SOTA export

And some things that would be nice to have, but I may never implement, since I'm not really a great programmer:

• Remember name/qth/state of people you've contacted before. This would make it closer to a general purpose logger, and there are better ones out there, so don't hold your breath for this type of feature. Also, I'd need to learn how to do databases.
• Export only certain QSOs for a given export
• Other fields people may want
• Support for other On The Air activities
• Simpler GUI for typing in contest QSOs, with only the needed fields

Bugs

If you use this and find a bug, let me know, and I'll add it to the list. I might even fix it for you!

Known Bugs:

• QSOs are written to the SOTA CSV in the order they're in the log. The SOTA database expects them to be in chronological order. If they're not, you'll need to manually cut/paste lines in a text editor to fix this.
• Only bands that I use (or will soon!) are currently supported. This shouldn't matter unless you're really into microwaves. (All HF/VHF/UHF are supported)
• Python's datetime is still a mystery to me, so be careful with dates where the month and day can be interchanged, e.g. 3/4/2021. I added a note to the GUI to remind you the format that is expected by the logger, Day/Month/Year. Only that format!
• I'm pretty sure I did all the input validation regex's right, so please let me know if you find a bug in one!
• I've had reports that on Windows the file extensions are not added. It appears the files are still written in the format they should, and can be opened with a text editor. I'm having trouble reproducing this, since I don't own a Windows computer.
• Anything listed in the "Issues" section on GitHub.

History

When my Macbook, the main computer in my shack, started to die, I replaced it with a Raspberry Pi. This meant switching to Linux. Overall this was a good experience; however I was not able to find a general purpose logger that I liked. Luckily, there is no law against making my own. In fact, I'd argue it's in the spirit of ham radio to make your own. I wanted a logger that supported SOTA, WWFF, and other portable operation very well. It also needed to support the contests that I like to do from summits. I am less interested in chasing DX awards and stuff like that. This is the result. I hope you enjoy it and find it useful.

Now that you've made it this far, go out and have some fun!