Keeping Electronique Logs ??

[John Holotko]

Although the FCC has not required that hams keep logbooks for a verylong time I am still of the mindset where I like to maintain a log. In years gone by I kept an updated chronological log in a simple spiral notebook. Each on the air session was logged with data consisting of the time I signed on, Rig, antenna and power levels I ran, a listing for each station worked consisting of callsign, name, frequency,location, mode and equipment asnd finally the time I signed off. Each year I would start a new notebook. Of course;looking for a particular calsign was like looking for a needle in a haystack. I had to  thumb through the notebooks ion hope of stumbling across the persons callsign. Needless to say it's chronological ordering was  not helpful for referencing  by name, callsign, location, etc.

Now, enter the 21st century of high speed powerful computers, powerful software and networking in every  home.  Many of todays home desktop computers are running relational  DBMS software that was found in only the biggest organizations in years gone by. Today, with my radio station surrounded by high speed computers,running full featured relational database systems, (i.e. MySQL, Postgresql, Oracle, IBM DB2, etc...) I would be hard pressed to go back to using a spiral notebook again. Something tells me  I should make use of all that electronic data processing capacity for keeping my new logbook. Not only would it be efficient but can readilly be accessed via different ways, accessed from virtually  anywhere, and even linked to  other databases should the need ever arise. Plus give me the capacity to reference by anything I want,i.e.name, callsign, equipment, date, time, cats, dogs, fish, you name it.


Likely  a simple multitable database  would suffice. The trickiest part (as with any database design) is laying out the tables in such a way that they relate nicely with one another. This essentially involves laying out nessesary fields, choosing proper keys and indices and normalizing the tables efficiently in the manner prescribed for good database design.   Since it's not a particularly complex database that won't be  too hard for me to do.  Once the database is properly layed  out it should be simple enough to  interface it with almost any application, web app, standalone app, embedded app, etc..

Just curious who out there has rolled  their  own multitable electronic logbook using an existing desktop computer and DBMS system ? How did you lay it all out ?? How well is it working for you ??  Yes I know there are commercial electronic logging apps available but I am primarilly inteested  in rolling my  own via a standard relational DBMS app.

 

[KL7OF]

We don't need no steenkiing logs!!

[w3jn]

I got my logbook between my legs, caw mawn

[John Holotko]

I got my logbook between my legs, caw mawn

Yeah but do you operate it electronically or manually ? caw mawn

[w3jn]

 

[W3NP]

I stopped using a paper log about 5 years ago. Prior to that I have all of my logbooks dating back to Jan 1960.

I started using a Rolodex electronic directory...it worked well for about 3 years. I bought 2 of them on closeout from Radio Shack for $10 each. They had IR transfer, so I used one as a backup...guess what?? they both crapped out about the same time.

Then I started using a Sharp Wizard 3 mb with PC backup...it works well, small, instant on, has lots of fields, good search features, etc.

The problem with ALL of the record keeping schemes is that I FORGET to update them....in a hurry I plan to transfer info from my paper pad on the operating desk, but often times forget.

Same reason I stopped using Quicken home financial some years ago...too much work to keep up to date.

[John Holotko]

Oh yeah --

I ran across the VHS tape that you got your avatar from.  Looks to be a decent "Dirty Harry" type movie.   I need to rent it one of these days.   

Yeah, that's "Bad Lieutenant" starring Harvey Kietel. My main interest in the film stemmed from the fact that I met the actress/screenwriter for that  film in NYC back around the time the film was made. Her name was Zoe Lund, a rather brilliant stunning multi-talented energetic redhead and although she starred in a couple  other movies she remained a relatively obscure actress. In this movie she plays the very small part of a junkie whom the screwy lieutenant visits twice the film. She was a drug user in real life. Sadly she died at all too young an age. However I don't know if her death was connected to her drug use. The film itself is not bad for a relatively obscure film. The story line is very good and yes, it is sort of a "Dirty Harry" like story in the sense  of a corrupt cop having a change of heart and trying to do whats right. It's  also got some great NYC street scenes. Her website
http://lundissimo.info/Zoe/docs/writings.html yields a great deal  of info regarding the writing and creation of the film.

BTW that  film is also out  on  DVD. You can get it from  a place like  Movies Unlimited. 

[John Holotko]

John --

You can certainly roll your own, if that floats your boat, but so many nice onces are commercially available I'd recommend you buy one and spend the time difference on the air. 

I gave up the paper log book in Jan 2005.  I've been using N3FJP's "AC Log" program since then.  It works well and you can register it for about $6.   

I usually manage some way to glue  myself to the computer  console...Hi Hi .  Actually I was outlining a preliminary database table structure on paper last night and it  looks pretty simple. I could  probably  do the whole thing with 3 short tables referencing one another via the callsign as a primary key and then fortify the structure with a couple foreign key constraints and I'll have a pretty powerful, robust  and relatively foolproof database structure that  would do almost anything I want. Matter  of fact  it  looks simple enough to implement via flat file storage or even a simple  non-relational database line DBM. A full  featured relational DBMS is almost  overkill.

However, I will take your advice and I'll check out some of the commercially available ones first. In particular I'd  be interested in a logging app that  runs under the Linux KDE or GNOME desktop.


Daver/W3NP yes,  I agree, sometimes the most difficult thing with all these electronic data storage techniques is keeping them synchronized as they are updated. Many times I have jotted stuff down on paper and then forgotten to add it to the electronic storage  medium. Keeping everything in synch can be a pain.