[UK-CONTEST] Contest logging software for general dxing

[Ian White G/GM3SEK]

Steve wrote:
>
>I know of at least one person who is now using N1MM for sporadic es 
>opening on vhf as its so fast to input and the bandmapping is great for 
>spot hopping in an opening.

The N1MM bandmap is superb. Even when not using cluster assistance, it 
maps the QSOs you've already made, so you know whose run frequencies you 
can skip over in future.

>I too am coming around to the idea of using N1mm for general dxing and 
>just using logger32 for award tracking and qsl management- I presume 
>that you have imported your whole log via adif into N1MM and then run 
>in dx mode?

I'm in the unusual position of having just started again from scratch in 
a new country, so N1MM in "DX" mode contains my entire log. Each contest 
is logged separately, and then those QSOs are copied into the DX log. 
N1MM keeps a basic track of band/mode/country slots worked, pops up 
details of previous QSOs, and alerts me to any new ones. This is exactly 
the same information that it provides for contesting, and it's all I 
need while actually sitting in front of the rig.

QSLing and award tracking is mostly book-keeping, and it can be done 
anywhere, and at any time. So when I've had a few more QSOs  from the 
new QTH, I will export the complete log out of N1MM into something 
better suited for QSLing and award tracking. (From the warm 
recommendations here, that may well be Logger32.)

It's a truism that you can't optimize software to do too many different 
things at once, so we probably have to use at least two different 
programs to cover everything. The most common way to make the split is 
to use different programs for contesting and non-contesting operation. 
I'm looking at splitting it a different way: using the same program for 
all my operating, and something else for the non-operating tasks.

There are advantages and disadvantages both ways, and of course it's 
everybody's personal choice.

> - I have not explored using its features for dxing yet but can see the 
>advantages of being more familiar with the features when you contest 
>with it - I find I have to have some practice in the week b4 the 
>contest to re familiarize myself with the software.

That's exactly what I'm trying to avoid. I'm trying to stay up to speed 
with the operating interface all the time, so I only need to familiarize 
myself with the specific contest.

>If you have the time I would be interested in hearing any tips you can 
>pass on your N1mm set up for dxing (direct rather than on this 
>reflector perhaps).
>
Nothing special at all. With all Windows logging programs, the main 
thing is to decide on how much information to keep on-screen at the same 
time, and how to arrange the windows.

As an extreme example of the amount that can be squeezed into on screen, 
while still remaining reasonably understandable, look at F6IRF's SO2R 
RTTY setup (which happens to use N1MM but would also work in WL):
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1444/1457/1600/n1mm@f6irf%20(Small).jp
g



-- 
73 from Ian G/GM3SEK