[CQ-Contest] The Station Notebook

[K4RO Kirk Pickering]

Do you keep a Station Notebook?  I'm talking about
a binder (or perhaps computer documents) where you
keep track of station design and construction.

What parameters do you keep track of?  Which do you
find the most useful for troubleshooting antenna or
station problems?  How do you organize the data?

I am trying to take care of some severe inter-station
interference in my humble one-tower SO2R station. The
number of antenna choices and feedlines is bewildering
for my little station; I can only imagine what it must
be like to keep track of a serious M/M or M/2 station.

To get the answer pump primed, my station notebook is
currently a file cabinet with a myraid of folders, plus
some documents on the computer. I have separate folders 
for tower, antennas, rigs, antenna switching, and non-station 
stuff like DXCC etc.  I have just started logging information 
for each antenna feedline (currently numbering 16, including 
RX antennas.)  For each antenna, I am logging resonant frequency,
SWR curves, and impedance resistive and reactive components.  
One goal is to have a place to start troubleshooting when an 
antenna does not seem to be working properly.

I would be interested in hearing about other's Station Notebooks,
and what information is considered the most important to track.

73

-Kirk  K4RO