Announcing the QRZ Logbook

Regardless of whether it is paper or electronic it all comes down to the integrity of the ops anyway, the medium (electronic or paper) makes no difference.

KF6A you hit the nail on the head!!!!!!!!

 

I use both eQSL and LOTW, but will always value paper QSL cards over any electronic service. I value the cards I receive and I do look back at them from time to time. It's nice to be reminded of past QSOs and stations you haven't heard from in a long time, including past DXpeditions and special event stations. In fact, I refuse to mail any cards to Newington precisely because I value the cards more than any of the ARRL awards. I figure I will eventually accumulate enough QSLs on LOTW for a given award, but if not I won't lose any sleep over it.

 

Compete with ARRL

I attempted to use the ARRL Log of the World a few times but all of a sudden it asks me for the password and have to go through a lot of procedures to continue. I gave up on it and hopefully can eventually take my QSL cards to a Hamfest where the ARRL can count them for my awards. I know I have "WAS" worked many times and probably "DXCC" 2 or 3 times. I use QRZ in my nGENLOG and as soon as I enter a call, a photo of the person or their shack is instantly displayed if they have one posted which is a terrific feature of QRZ. I am wondering if QRZ will have their own "WAS" and other awards for hams that will compete with the ARRL?

 

Pat, I don't know how the database works for US members but I can definitely edit mine to the correct location. In fact, when I started I made a mistake in the calculations for the Maidenhead square and was able to correct that later

I don't use LotW for one simple reason - I will NOT jump through all their hoops to get registered. Why do they 'need' photographic ID to be snail mailed? After all, I would presume the ARRL can afford copies of national call books and I am in the RSGB one - so why can't they simply accept that?

At least eQSL just asks for a scanned copy of my license to be e-mailed

 

I think you are living in a reality distortion field. Have you seen how complicated it is to send DX QSLs direct? This website http://www.n6dhz.com/irc-chart.html explains it.

After reading all of that, punching a few items into a website sounds pretty simple. Oh yeah, and it doesn't require any outlay of cash.

Even domestic QSLs are a little bit of a pain. The stamps are expensive, nearly 50 cents a piece, and they constantly change the rates so I have to keep buying new ones. If you make a couple of contacts a night and QSL all of them, you can quickly wind up spending 30 bucks a month on postage. That's why I only send cards on special occasions or when requested by the other station.

Outside of ham activity and netflix, I only send about 10 pieces of mail a year. The rest of the world has largely moved beyond driving scraps of dead tree hundreds of miles across the country as a form of communication.

We hams have been the pioneers of electronic communication. Why are some so resistant to using electronic means of QSLing?

 

I did try this logbook, with a qso that I made. Once I looked thru it and tryed it, Only problem I found was that I wasn't able to save the entry. It looked easy to use, and with practice I'm sure that I could use it. I'm sure my problem was , the so called operator error that we all seem to blame when something goes wong. I will keep trying it, in hopes to get it correct.

 

Yes, we will have QRZ versions of all the popular awards including WAS, DXCC, Counties, etc.

 

Thanks Frank. Say hi to Fred for us...

 

Daithi:
In the US, the QRZ database policy is that the address of record with the FCC is entered directly from the FCC database, and you cannot edit it. All hams in the FCC licensing database are included, but the locations shown are only for the FCC contact address -- not the operating locations. Obviously, this often leads to confusion.

When a US ham tries to edit the location in the QRZ database they are directed to a for-profit service offering to submit an address change to the FCC.

Pat / WA6SCW

 

Thanks Pat - as I said, not being in the USofA I just didn't know how that worked. However, while it's 'useful' I prefer the old fashioned method of actually READING the QSO and getting the info from that. If I simpy wanted to use the internet to get the info from the other guy, then why bother using steam radio to do it? I send my loc, qth, etc over the air which is how it's supposed to be done (and if I can't 'read' the other guy's info I ask for a repeat)

 

Vlad,

I'm a bit curious seeing my call in your log.

In fact, I only have TWO 10 metre QSOs logged on 10 metres and both were on the 18th of May (not the 24th).

I have worked you - but that was on 7th February 2008 on 40 metres

 

Sorry Vlad - I misunderstood - and I doubt if you'll see me in the contest (I disappear to the WARC bands when those are running for a bit of peace and quiet) , but I will be operating as MN0EPC during June