Randy, K5ZD, put out another request for volunteers to assist with entering paper logs that were submitted for the 2010 CQ WPX SSB contest. I let Randy know I was willing to help out and he sent me a scanned log for OK2PBG with 161 logged Q’s.
Randy suggested using a program called LM which I didn’t have installed on my new notebook so I downloaded it and fired it up. It is very efficient for entering in paper logs once you figure out the little tricks, especially around the time of the QSO. You just need to enter the last digit of the time and it takes a good guess at what it should be based on the previous Q’s time. You only need to mess around if the time is more then 10 mins after the previous time and you just highlight the other numbers in the time, one by 1, and adjust as needed.
I am a decent typist so I banged out the first log quickly and sent it back last night. This morning Randy sent me another log for HP3FTD and before heading to work I fired up LM, entered in the base info (call, name, power, class, address, etc.) and entered in the first batch of Q’s in no time. I will finish it up tonight when I get home from work.
I find it interesting to do this. Since this is a recent contest I am seeing many calls I have worked myself. It is also interesting to see the contacts made from other locations in the world. It is like having a one way mirror view of what each operator was hearing as they worked the contest.
I am just glad the 2 ops logs I got sent have very good handwriting. I do wonder though, if they both supplied an email address, couldn’t they have done the same thing I am doing now and entered their log into LM and sent it in? Yes, they could just have email, but I bet they have a computer.
73,
K2DSL
I have a good friend who still logs on paper. I’ve been trying to convert him to electronic logging, but in the meantime I have been able to convince him to submit his logs by converting them with the application available at http://b4h.net/cabforms/. That’s a bit easier for him than installing something on his PC, plus he can do it from his machine at work during downtime since he can’t install software there at all. It’s a shame that more folks aren’t aware of these options.
The most frustrating thing about radio contesting is the long delay between the competition and the announced results. I can think of no other sport where the wait is so long. Imagine if the results of the Superbowl weren’t known until June… one of these days, contests really should think about saying ‘no’ to paper logs. Computers are ubiquitous worldwide now; you don’t need broadband, just a modem to send a text file. Maybe if they said no to paper logs the results could be compiled faster.
Jim – I too think the time is much greater then it needs to be but maybe we need to keep in the back of our minds, people outside the US. They might not have a computer, or they might be traveling or in a remote area and it could possibly be weeks before they are able to truly submit a log. I know most of those that run contests want as many as logs as possible but maybe we need to reduce the lag between the end of the content and submissions.
Also from following Randy’s blog and posts to Twitter/Facebook, even after all the logs are in electronic data, there is a lot of time/effort to clean them up, match QSOs up, etc. I don’t see any reason it can’t go from about 1 year to maybe 6 months. That of course doesn’t mean much as I don’t have any influence on how long it takes for any contest.