[SEDXC] Logbook of the World - Current Problems

[n4xp at juno.com]

I have been asked to post this to the club reflector.  You may have
already seen it at another location,  it is being widely disseminated.

Should you wish to voice any thoughts please forward them to the author,
N4NW at n4nw at n4nw.org and not me.

Thanks

N4XP

-------------------------
In October, 2003 issue of QST, the American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
announced the start of Logbook of the World (LoTW) September 15, 2003.
Wayne Mills, N7NG outlined in the announcement how LotW would work with a
simple procedure under a system to ensure the validity of QSOs. 

In the past decade, LotW has grown to more than 53,000 users and nearly a
half billion (456 million) QSOs on file. However, this 50k users
represent less than 3% of the licensed hams in the world. In Mills
original article he states that use of LoTW will be paid for by usage in
the form of credits purchased by users seeking DXCC, WAS and WPX awards
programs. 

If would appear that the income from the users has lagged far behind the
cost of improvement and maintenance of the computer system(s) – hardware
& software. Initial problems appeared after the first major DX contest in
2011 then the LoTW servers seemed to choke with the influx of logs in
October, 2011. Days would pass before uploaded logs would be processed
into the LoTW database. The ARRL offered little in the way of explanation
other that a vague comment that it was the sheer number of logs uploaded
after the contest which created the slowdown.

In mid October of this year, once again LoTW crashed. No public comment
was made by the ARRL until three days after LoTW stopped working and that
was a vaguely worded comment that the system was undergoing maintenance. 
I received Information from an ARRL staffer that the system, ‘ ran out of
memory.’ Later in the week the ARRL stated that they expected LoTW to
resume operation at the end of the week. Still no official word has been
forthcoming as to what actually happened, nor what steps were being taken
to prevent another failure. The only thing the ARRL emphasized was that
no data was lost. 

During the 2012 National Capitol DX Association DX East convention, ARRL
Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N, stated that
there was no intent by the ARRL to change the method users become
validated – LoTW system emphasizes secure authentication using
cryptographic key distribution. The ARRL, unlike most other secure online
systems, still relies on paper validation of users in the form of a
license copy and some form of official identification document for non-US
licensees to be sent via mail to ARRL headquarters and the return of the
digital key being mailed back to the requester before one can become a
LoTW user. Perhaps it is this antiquated method of adding users to LoTW
that the ARRL relied upon to prevent usage that causes the system to
crash.

In mid November, an ARRL staffer was reported as blaiming extensive use
of LoTW on contests but on third party software programs – such as DXLab
& DX4WIN as the reason it is slow and crashes. 

It is time for the users, and potential uses of LoTW, contact the members
of the ARRL board of directors directly and demand that sufficient
resources be devoted to the LoTW system to ensure its efficient and
reliable operation for not only today but in the future. A list of ARRL
Directors & vice Directors with their contact information  may be found
at this web page 
If you are an ARRL member ask your Director to:


•       Respond to you why LoTW is crashing and not operating
efficiently, 
•       Respond to you as to what steps he/she is taking to ensure
sufficient resources are being devoted to the LoTW system 
•       Encourage a more modern and simple means for non-US licensees can
become authenticated as LoTW users 
•       Create an ARRL headquarters staff position with the
responsibility for LoTW & online data based awards program operations.


If you are not a LoTW user, complete the steps to become an authenticated
user and use LoTW daily to upload, maintain and back-up your logs.

Tom Gregory,  N4NW

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