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

[KE1B]

On Mar 31, 2017, at 12:53 PM, Andy Cunningham <andycwb at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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.  
> 

Yes, you are correct. The OP is trying to overcome two learning curves; HF operating (per his own admission, he has ONE non-FD QSO) with computer logging. If you are only making a few Q’s, you don’t need a software logger. In fact, it gets in the way (which is what the OP has shown). 


The best way to learn to operate HF is to: (1) Sit down with an experienced Elmer and make some Q’s while being coached (which is what the FD GOTA station is for), and (2) Listen, Listen, Listen! Tune the bands, and listen to others making QSOs. Find a friend with a well-equipped station and work folks with your friend chiming in only when necessary. (It’s really hard to learn to operate with a low-power station and very modest antennas; you can call CQ or call others all day and not be heard well.)

You’ll find there are all kinds: casual ragchewers, roundtables, rapid-fire split-frequency DXpeditions, contesters, you-name-it. Listen to them all. Try them all. Make a hundred QSOs or more and log them on paper. The ARRL still makes paper logbooks. Trust me, you will NOT be limited by the speed of logging if you’re just learning how to handle yourself on the HF bands. On the other hand, in a contest I can sometimes run 250-300 QSOs per hour, and the logger is critical. It becomes an extension of my mind, and it has to operate intuitively.

The OP complained that he didn’t *KNOW* what his ham workflow was, so he couldn’t apply my suggestion of using MLDX to make his workflow efficient. That tells me that the OP needs to develop a workflow. What that workflow is depends on what you like to do: chat for hours, chase DX, work contests, go exotic (microwave/EME/etc.). If you don’t know what you like, try them all to see. Warning: It may be difficult to “test the waters” with digital modes, since most of those BY DEFINITION require a computer interface. Perhaps you have a radio with a built-in RTTY and/or PSK-31 decoder (like the IC-7600). That could allow playing with digital modes with only a keyboard.

The message is: Overcome the OPERATING learning curve first, and a paper log is fine. Then take a look at computer loggers, and I suspect you will IMMEDIATELY understand many of the basic features, and can start playing with more sophisticated ones over time.

> 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.  
> 

Want a bigger challenge? Try contesting using SO2R (Single-Op, Two Radios) where you are decoding two CW streams simultaneously, one in each ear, while operating the contest logging program (which is controlling two radios). I have one friend who has operated SO5R (yes, that’s five radios). It’s possible only for digital modes (RTTY in particular), where you don’t have to listen with your brain (CW or phone), and can just read what’s on the (five) screens.


> (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. 
> 

I think the pre-printed ARRL log forms get it right. They have columns for date/time, his call, your call, frequency, RST sent, RST received, etc.

Then, when you have a few hundred QSOs logged, and get a software logger under control, you can pay your kid a few bucks to transcribe the paper logs into MLDX using the “Speed Log” feature (which is specifically there for this purpose).

Rich KE1B