[Dx-qsl] Info?

Sun Oct 9 09:52:03 EDT 2005

Funny you should ask this question John. Some of us have been looking pretty 
hard at a lot of these programs at Monitoring Times magazine for sometime 
now. I have used just about all of them out there at one point or another 
and they are all pretty nice. Personally, I believe in simplicity, but 
capability.
As a result, I have been a huge fan of the Logger series for sometime now 
(using it the last 5 years). It handles every chore I need to manage my info 
in the shack and now that you can export some of the basic award info into 
Excel, pretty neat. It handles all of the basic awards tracking (DXCC, WAS 
WAZ, IOTA, CQ Zones, Continents, Grid Squares, WPZ, and US Counties) and 
three new ones recently added JCC/JCG/DOK. It handles all my QSL chores and 
award tracking. Plus I have radio control, sat track, propagation, DX 
cluster--log book integration, digital modes, rotor control and more. The 
program is very customizable for presentation and has a good windows feel. I 
have even used it for some basic contesting as well (when I am not running 
for points). Overall I have been very happy using this program and would 
highly recommend it if you want a quality product at a great price (FREE)! 
Oh yes they also have an online support group and have been good about bug 
fixes and evolving the product.
My favorite contest program N1MM. I don't need all sorts of reminders how 
slow I am or my qso rate, give me the basics and a program I that is easy to 
use, shows me what I have worked and what I have left. Simplicity, my shack 
is busy enough during contest.
Finally for general SWL/Ute/MW/FM/TV Dxing I use the SWL Log. While I could 
use N1MM, It does not have really the type of database that is very useful 
for this portion of the hobby. SWL Log is a bit clunky and is not easily 
updateable in certain aspects, but it is the best in this category I have 
seen.
Have fun, as there is a lot out there to play with. Drop by and visit my old 
friend AC6V's website. You will find links to most all the software out 
there. Bottom line the opinions above are mine and do not reflect my 
employer, but it should! ;-)
73 de Larry
Larry Van Horn, N5FPW
Assistant Editor/Milcom Columnist
Monitoring Times magazine