Getting Started with Amateur Radio Club Net Logging (NetLog)

This is a file on the description and how to use the Amateur Radio Club (ARC) Net Logging (NetLog) program. You can read this file any time while running NetLog by clicking on 'About->User Guide'. You could also read this file by opening the "README.txt" file, from the subdirectory '\N7LWD\NetLog', in your favorite text viewer. This might be helpful the first time you run NetLog so that you can follow the step-by-step instructions within this file. Throughout this document, 'items' in single quotes refer to program data, windows, menus, and sub-directories. While {acronym} stands for the club name acronym, Amateur Radio Club (ARC) is used in this document. 

The NetLog program is designed to help the ARC Net Control Station log net check-ins and display station data from the QRZ database. To get complete QRZ data for each contact, a subscription to the QRZ XML database is required (in 2017, ~$30/yr). Although a mouse can be used, the main net operation has been designed to operate by keyboard input only. This will allow the operator to keep their hands on the keyboard and not have to switch back and forth between keyboard and mouse. Obviously, being a touch typist will be a great attribute to have when using this program. However, even the casual typist should be able to use this program albeit a little slower. Program menu operations and window placements will require a mouse. So, perform all your menu operations and set your window positions before starting a Net Control session.

Note: Having the 'Contacts Database' window open, 'Help->Show Contact Database', can slow down program processing somewhat depending on the size of the database. It is recommended to not have this window open during normal net operations.

Even though this program is designed for Net Control operations, it is also very useful for the net participant to follow along during a net to see member data and/or to log member and guest contacts. It can be used on any net such as HF, VHF, UHF, or EchoLink.

This program was developed using the Cross Platform Qt Creator IDE and Microsoft Windows environment. It could be ported to Linux or iOS, with the help of other people willing and able to install Qt5 in the appropriate operating system and recompile the program for that environment.

When starting NetLog for the first time, the program will check for your QRZ username and password. If missing or incorrect, enter this data in the 'Setup->Station Details' window and click 'Connect QRZ'. When connected, click on 'Get Station' and 'Save Station'. If you are working portable, you can configure your station details (Latitude/Longitude, Grid, UTC, etc.) to your current location by editing the values in 'Station Details' and then click 'Save Station'. While connected to the QRZ database, you will be able to get complete contact data from QRZ including 'Latitude/Longitude'. Azimuth and distance values, from your station point of view, will be calculated and displayed in the 'Contact Data' box for your contacts. This should be helpful in determining beam direction and skip distance. 

At this point you should choose the display theme ('Dark' or 'Light') from the 'Setup->Theme' menu. The default is the 'Dark Theme' but you might like the 'Light Theme' better. I personally like the 'Dark Theme' which closely matches my Flex Radio PowerSDR theme.

The next thing will be to create the ARC Roster. By having a roster, the ARC membership status, 'Yes/No', can be displayed within the 'Contact Data' box. This will let you know whether or not the current contact is a member of the ARC or is a guest. It will also help to refer to the member's license class, address, phone number, email address, etc in the 'Help->Show Contact Details' window.

The roster installation procedure can be done any time you think the ARC Roster has changed and you want to update the ARC Roster within NetLog. At a minimum, you should update the ARC Roster whenever the ARC updates its Roster. There are two methods to create or update your ARC Roster.

Note: The best procedure is to perform Method 1 (Club Data) followed by Method 2 (QRZ Data) to combine both sets of data for a complete roster.

Method 1
If you already have a spreadsheet for your club's roster, the easiest way to create the ARC Roster is to use LibreOffice Calc or Microsoft Excel to copy and rename the "Roster-ARC.csv" file, included within the '\N7LWD\NetLog\Data' subdirectory, to "Roster-{acronym}.csv".
Then perform the following steps:
  1. Edit file "Roster-{acronym}.csv" to add values for the following columns:
    Call {6 characters} (Note: required data, the rest are optional)
    First {name, 15 characters max},
    Last {name, 15 characters max},
    Class {Extra, Advance, General, Technician, Basic},
    Expire {date license expires}
    Address {street, 30 characters max},
    City {20 characters max},
    St {2 letter state abbreviation},
    Zip {5 digits for US},
    Country {station's Country location}
    Email {35 characters max},
    Phone {10 digits open format e.g. 1234567890, (123)456.7890, 123-456-7890},
    Lat {station's Latitude}
    Lon {station's Longitude}
    Grid {station's Grid Square values}
    Source {source of Lat/Lon values}
    UTC {station's UTC offset}
    DST {does station observe Daylight Saving Time}
    Born {operator's birth year}
  2. Enter the club name acronym within the main window field 'Club' and press 'Enter'.
  3. Load the file "Roster-{acronym}.csv" with 'File->Load File->Load Roster'.
  4. To add QRZ data to complete the roster, go to Method 2, Step 4 below.

Method 2
Create the ARC Roster from just a list of callsigns using QRZ data.
Perform the following steps:
  1. Enter the club name acronym within the main window field 'Club' and press 'Enter'.
  2. Get a list of member callsigns from the club's membership manager.
  3. Create and Save the list on your computer as a "Callsigns-{acronym}.csv" file using a spreadsheet program like LibreOffice Calc or Microsoft Excel.
  4. Click on 'Setup->Roster QRZ Data'.
  5. Select the Roster or Callsign List file containing your list of callsigns. A properly formatted Roster-{acronym}.csv file from Method 1, Step 3 above will work here. It will be updated with QRZ data and will be saved when the program terminates.
  6. For data backup, save the created ARC Roster by choosing menu item 'File->Save File->Save Roster'. The saved file will be 'Roster-{acronym}-{date}.csv' which can be processed by spreadsheet programs like LibreOffice Calc or Microsoft Excel.
  7. Optional: You can reload the previously saved or modified ARC Roster file at anytime by choosing the memu item 'File->Load File->Load Roster'.

Note: If a station callsign from your list is not found on the QRZ database, a message to that effect will be written to the error log, 'About->Show Error Log'. It would be wise to check the error log to help correct mistakes with the station callsign list.

You can also add or remove members for the ARC Roster by having the contact displayed within the 'Contact Data' box and then press '[Ctrl +]' to add or '[Ctrl -]' to remove the member.

Press the 'ESC' key and notice that the flashing cursor is in the 'Call Search' input box. Type in your call and your data should appear in the 'Contact Data' box. If you are the Net Control Station, you might want to show the Net Script with Preamble by clicking on 'Help->Net Script with Preamble'. This will help guide you while you are conducting the net.

Note: You can edit the 'Net Script with Preamble' file "PREAMBLE-ARC.txt" to your own specific needs and save as "PREAMBLE-{acronym}.txt", all in the '\N7LWD\NetLog\Data' subdirectory.

As you hear stations wanting to check-in, start typing part or all of the station callsign into the 'Call Search' box. You should notice a list of candidate calls from your contacts database is displayed in the 'Candidates/Match' box. You can display each candidate within the 'Contact Data' box by using the 'Up', 'Dn', 'PgUp', and 'PgDn' keys to select the desired heard candidate. You should notice that candidates are normally listed in blue text and the selected candidate will be listed in green text. Pressing the 'Enter' key will put the selected candidate station in the 'Net Check-in Data' box as a normally heard station and put the cursor back into the 'Call Search' box ready to search for new calls.

If a unique match is found from the Contact Log, only one call within the 'Candidates/Match' box will be shown and data will be displayed in the 'Contact Data' box. Pressing the 'Enter' key will put the station in the 'Net Check-in Data' box as a normally heard station and put the cursor back into the 'Call Search' box ready to search for new calls. 

In either case, the 'Contact Data' area will be filled in with 'Ck #' number of check-ins and the 'Last' check-in date for the station. This, of course, is only for your station's contact database. If 'Latitude/Longitude' (or 'State') data is present, then the azimuth and distance to the station will be displayed. If the 'State' data is different from QRZ (i.e. a portable station) the calculation is based on the geographical center of the station's 'State' in relationship to your station's 'Latitude/Longitude' values. The reverse azimuth (from the station to your station, which normally is not 180 degrees) is also calculated and displayed. The 'Mem' box will be filled with 'Yes' if the contact is an ARC member, otherwise 'No'. 

If no data is displayed for this station, you can press the 'F5' key to lookup the station data from QRZ.

Besides pressing the 'Enter' key to put the station in the 'Net Check-in Data' box as a normally heard station, you can also press a 'tag' key to indicate that the station is a specially heard station.
The keys for tagging the specially heard station are:
  'F1' (T), a Traffic Station, or 
  'F2' (M), a Mobile Station, or 
  'F3' (S), a Short Time Station, or 
  'F6' (R), a Relay Station, or
  'F7' (N), a Net Control Station (NCS).
The status letters T, M, S, R, N will be displayed in the status ('S') column of the 'Net Check-in Data' box.

If the contact is being relayed, you can enter the relay station callsign into the 'Contact Data' 'Relay' box by pressing the 'F4' key.  The relay station will stay within the 'Relay' box until you clear it by the 'F4' key again, or by selecting another heard station.  This is so that the relay station can relay in more stations without you having to re-enter the relay station callsign everytime. The relay station callsign will show in the 'Net Check-in Data' box so that you will know who to contact in case additional information from the checked-in station is required.

After entering all stations heard, move the gray highlighting background up or down within the 'Net Check-in Data' box by using the 'Up', 'Dn', 'PgUp', and 'PgDn' keys to select the desired heard station for contact check-in processing. During check-in processing, the station heard should be displayed within the 'Contact Data' box. You can move around within the 'Contact Data' box by pressing the 'Tab' key. Fill in all the data fields for the contact the best you can. You can enter any comments by the contact into the 'QSO' field (128 characters maximum). When the current contact processing is complete, press the 'F8' key to 'Check' the contact into the Log file. Pressing the 'Enter' key while editing within the 'QSO' field will also 'Check' the contact into the Log file. When the current contact is checked-in, the cursor will return to the 'Call Search' box ready to search for or to select the next station for check-in processing. If you have checked-in a contact by mistake, you can use the 'F8' key again to uncheck that contact. After processing all stations heard, repeat this procedure to get more check-ins.

Note: While editing the current contact data, if you hear another station and want to process it, just press the 'Esc' key to save the edited data and go to the 'Call Search' processing.

You should notice the display text for heard stations will change color as check-in processing is being performed. The text is green for all heard stations. The green text will have a red background color for a relay (R) station. When the green stations are logged as contacts with the 'F8' (or QSO 'Enter') key, the text will turn blue. When a relay (R) station is logged as a contact with the 'F8' (or QSO 'Enter') key, the text will turn red and the red background will disappear. The tagged Net Control (N) station is always listed in constrasting base colors. When all stations have been checked-in, your check-in listing should have all regular contacts in blue and all relay contacts in red. Also, all contacts should have a 'C' in the checked-in/contact ('C') column. Anything left in green remains to be processed or checked in.

Stations may be removed from the 'Net Check In Data' box or the Contact Log by typing the station callsign into the removal box or by selecting the station within the 'Net Check In Data' box with the gray highlighting background ('Up', 'Dn', 'PgUp', or 'PgDn' keys) and having that station displayed in red in the removal box. Pressing the 'F11' key will remove the station from the 'Net Check In Data' box while pressing the 'F12' key will remove the contact from the Contacts database. You will have to press 'Enter' or click the 'OK' box in the pop-up window to actually remove the station.

When no more stations are heard, you may close the net, assuming you are the Net Control Station.

If you would like to check the log file for another date, enter the date and time into the 'Net Log Select' date spin boxes and beginning & end time boxes. Choose menu item 'Help->Show Net Log Select' and the log for that date and time will be displayed instead of the current date and time log within the 'Net Check In Log' window (opened with 'Help->Show Net Log Select').

For general "Contacts.db" file maintenance, you could download, install, and run a utility program like SqliteBrowser. You would load the file "\N7LWD\NetLog\Data\Contacts.db" into the SqliteBrowser for processing. For general Log or Roster "*.csv" file maintenance, you can use programs like LibreOffice Calc or Microsoft Excel. However, to just delete records from the Net Log Database, enter the record number into the 'Delete [Rec#]' data box and click 'Delete [Rec#] in Net Log Database'. You can get record numbers from the 'Help->Show Net Log Database' menu item.

I do hope you give it a try. Any feedback is welcomed and appreciated. I hope to hear you on the net as a Net Control Operator or at least as a Net participant!

Questions, comments, or suggestions can be directed to N7LWD at:
   n7lwd@arrl.net