[DogParkList] Where's the Overview or Intro to MacLoggerDX Video or PDF?

Fri Mar 31 15:53:11 EDT 2017

Two things struck me while reading this.

1) Everyone learns differently.  I switch off listening to educational videos because my brain works faster than people can speak.  For me, a video would be irrelevant, but I get that it would be useful for others. 

2) Rich, I think you are loading two learning curves together - that of a HF QSO with the logging software.  Go back to a paper log, and keep it simple, with headings of Time, Bad, His Report to Me, My report to Him, comments.   Once you can keep those thing straight in your mind, then worry about software logging.  Then perhaps try logging for a friend making the QSOs, or entering your paper log after the fact.  Then try both together. 

I got into contesting for a while, and have a decent setup including foot switch, headphones and mic, and a couple of different logging programs.  Learning to enter QSO's -- especially on VHF with locators and real signal reports, while working the radio and thinking about strategy was an interesting challenge, but it comes with experience and practice in all the component aspects. 

(As an aside, the report headings of 'My report to him' and 'his report to me' are much more useful than 'Sent' and 'Received' - does sent mean what I sent or what he sent?  Yeah, I know which way round they should be, but I still found it easier to have explicit headings on the paper.

73s and good luck

Andy
M0HAK
> Rick Hubbard (RHE) <mailto:rick.hubbard.email at gmail.com>
> 31 March 2017 at 20:18
> Rich,
>
> Thanks for the note. My hope is such clarifying discussions will lead to a better experience for all affected parties.
>
> Please accept this claim “as is.” Our circumstances are very, /very/ different.
>
>   * You are (clearly) a “Power User.” Both for Ham Radio and MLDX.
>
>
> On the other hand, I hope to evolve into “POU” (Plain ‘Ole User)…and have a long, /long, *long*/ way to go. 
>
>   * How far? For example: NOT including Field Day, I have *one (1) HF QSO* to my credit. _That’s it_. One. Singular. This means—unlike you—I can’t rely on “what I do with a radio” to guide what I want to do with MLDX because I don’t have a “what I do with [HF] radio” frame-of-reference.
>
>
> Hopefully this point-of-view will clarify why an Introductory Overview of MLDX would be so helpful to a certain class of user, like myself. 
>
> The absence—for users in a similar situation as mine—of an Intro/Overview is a SIGNIFICANT BARRIER to using MLDX. It’s painful. I have a vague idea MLDX can do a lot…but *_/I have no idea where to star/_*t. Nor can I find a place (/e.g.,/ a manual, video) to find out where to start.
>
>   * From your perspective, that is, in the hands of an experienced Ham Radio operator like yourself, MLDX is probably a great tool…because you can rely on your *prior* knowledge and experience. 
>
>
> Because I—and many similarly situated users like myself—cannot rely on prior knowledge…the absence of (as we say in the tech world) “On Boarding” renders MLDX shelfware. I’ve had a license to use MLDX since July 1, 2016 had have made ~half-a-dozen attempts to understand and use MLDX since them (please recall…my days are overflowing with science, prepping grad school classes, research and writing). Candidly, I’d welcome—BUT DO NOT HAVE THE LUXURY of—an opportunity to hack around and figure out what MLDX does. 
>
> Let me also clarify what’s envisioned for an Intro/Overview…
> …something on the order of ~7-10 minute YouTube video which explains /What? MLDX does—at a high level (certainly not every feature).../and provides some form of a “Things to do first” checklist. 
>
>   * Power Users such as yourself can skip the video. 
>   * Newbies, such as myself, might view the video several times as we’re trying to build an understanding of what it does…AND THEN try to figure how to do something.
>
> *This important point merits re-affirmation:* Many tasks that Power Users, like yourself, routinely accomplish with MLDX are tasks, which users like myself, DON’T KNOW EXIST and HAVE NEVER DONE (or, we’d know about them…etc.). 
>
>   * Rich, please understand: The next time I use MLDX to do what *you* consider to be a routine tasks will—for me—be the *first time ever. *
>
>
> While I’m one of the slow kids in the MLDX class, I do know this: Over the course of my four decades in the Tech Sector—representing hundreds of millions of dollars in software projects—I’ve learned that brilliant software that users cannot use is not brilliant. It does not matter how clever developers (and power users) believe code or design is…if everyday users cannot use it. Every module of software spanning the range of human experience can be reduced to one of two categories: either it *enables* users achieve a desired outcome effectively and efficiently or it *impedes* users from achieving a desired outcome effectively and efficiently. For users like you: MLDX appears to enable your desired outcomes. For users like me: MLDX impedes us from achieving desired outcomes…and leaves frustration and a bitter after taste.
>
> A thoughtful introductory overview {video, PDF, ?} is the type of artifact that can be produced in hours, not days…and would make the MLDX experience so much better for those—like myself—new to the product (and HF).
>
> Rich, in closing: thanks again for the comments…and please have mercy on us tyros. Please be mindful: what you consider routine…I’ve never done and may not know exists.
>
> Hope this helps…and the comments of others users (from Power to N00b) are invited, as well.
>
> /73 de KI6VOS,/
> /Rick/
>
>
>
>
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>  
>
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> Rick Hubbard (RHE) <mailto:rick.hubbard.email at gmail.com>
> 31 March 2017 at 01:42
> MacLoggerDXers,
>
> Although MacLoggerDX’s Help Files have an abundance of /“How to…”/ entries useful for the already knowledgable, there’s virtually zilch, nada, nil, {empty set} that I can find regarding “What…” can be done with MacLoggerDX.
>
> For someone who is new to using MacLoggerDX, the help files are the equivalent of tossing a few dozen components on the table and telling them… “there you go! Now, build something.”
>  
>
>   * Which would be OK if the hapless newbie (like myself) knew what could be built with the components that were provided. For those of us who lack such prior knowledge…MacLoggerDX seems…well as impenetrable as a random pile of foreign components whose purpose and functioning is unknown.
>
>
> Where is the /“Welcome to MacLoggerDX! Before you dive into the ‘How to…’ Help Files, here’s an Overview of All the Cool Things You Can Do with MacLoggerDX”?/ 
>
>   * A comprehensive video Intro/Overview would be IDEAL…a PDF would be helpful.
>
>
> Regrets, if there is such a thing as an Overview or Intro to MacLoggerDX video or PDF…I can’t find it (after several attempts and many, /many, *many*/ searches).
>
>   * Suggestions? URLs? Pointers? Are there Intro/Overview resources lurking somewhere that a newbie can access prior to trying to assemble MacLoggerDX’s “pile of components?”
>
>
> Many, /many/ thanks!
>
> /73 de KI6VOS,/
> /Rick/
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