Scott Davis, N3FJP wrote and maintains a collection of ham logging software for both general use as well as custom spin-offs that are specially taylored to the various contests. Collectively they are a great way to manage your radio contacts and enjoy your contest operating experience. Here are the configuration tips that I use to make the most of the software.

The Amateur Contact Log database is a Microsoft Access .mdb file format that sits on your local hard disk. The good news is that it's a single file to backup and maintain, but at the same time, it does need to be backed up.

I use Microsoft OneDrive to manage all of my files and to keep live backups of all of my data. By locating the Amateur Contact Log (ACL) database on the OneDrive platform, it ensures that my log is constantly being backed up to the cloud, and also that it is synchronized between my desktop computer and the laptop.

My primary database is located in the C:\{Username}\OneDrive\DocumentsAffirmatech\N3FJP Software\ACLog directory, and is simply named LogData.mdb. Both my desktop and laptop have this file shared between them, and each installation is pointed at the local version.

One word of caution is that there's no facilities within OneDrive itself to merge a conflict between two versions of the single LogData.mdb file, therefore it is critical that you don't leave the ACL software open on both computers at the same time. There would be ways to recover and merge the information, but it would be a manual and tedious process that is best to be avoided.

Amateur Contact Log supports up to eight custom fields to utilize for various tracking purposes. I make two basic changes to facilitate operating Parks on the Air (POTA), and to track my radio statistics.

In the ACL software, go to Settings then OTHER. The following screen comes up. By using the large Template button at the bottom of the screen, you can pre-populate everything required to utilize POTA.

Following along the screenshot, verify that Other 1 and Other 2 are filled in as shown. Then I skip down to Other 6, 7, and 8 to track how the station prefers to be QSL'ed with (direct, Buro, LOTW, etc) which comes from their QRZ.com webpage profile.

QRZ.com also does Lat/Lon geocoding which makes plotting stations on a world map possible.

I have some information about how I import and track my radio operation statistics on my Ham Radio Statistics page.

CAT Control of the radio delivers a ton of efficiencies to the logging process. The most basic being that the operating frequency is always included (and correct) in the radio log. But it goes much further than that, such has being able to quickly jump to a DX station that showed up on the DX Spots, or triggering a prerecorded message to be played such as your callsign on a CQ call.

In Settings, go to Rig Interface. That brings up the configuration options.

• Icom IC-7610: Icom2 with a default baud rate of 38.4k
• Kenwood TS-590SG: Kenwood2 with a default baud rate of 115200 (select the Other button)
• Yaesu FT-891: Yaesu 891 with a default baud rate of 4.8

Most of the rest of the options can be left at default.

With the radio connected and turned on, when you click the Test button you should see the operating frequency of the radio displayed in the Frequency readout on the form. Once this is functional, the basic CAT control is ready.

Once the CAT control is functional within Amateur Contact Log, one feature that most modern rigs has is built-in voice recorders to play back messages at the push of a button. The classic use case is of course calling CQ where you might be broadcasting for tens of minutes between contacts. When contesting, there's also a good case to be made to pre-record your callsign or a contest exchange if the contest is repetitive (November Sweepstakes for instance).

In ACL under Settings - Transmit, click on Phone Setup. ACL has two options for transmitting prerecorded voices. The traditional way is to use a microphone on the computer to record a .wav audio file, then let ACL transmit that using a sound card interface. That solution works fine, however it means that (likely) a different microphone is being used to record the message, than the one that's being used to make the contact. While not the end of the world, it is kind of annoying to hear a voice changing throughout the contact.

Instead, if the radio has its own recorder in it, you can use the same microphone that you'll be using to transmit to also record the message. Additionally, the radio manufacturer has presumably gone to at least some effort to ensure that the audio levels are going to be very similar with transmitting with the microphone versus when you're transmitting a pre-recording.

To enable CAT Rig Control to play back a message, you may need to consult the documentation from your radio manufacturer for the correct values. In the mid-section of the configuration page, instead of Browsing out to the .wav audio file, type in the letters "RI:" followed by the CAT control codes for the playback.

These numbers match up with the three recording spots on the radios, so in the event that want/need to use the physical buttons, I don't have to re-learn which number is which.

The first recording in ACL is special, as it repeats every X seconds, and is intended for calling CQ.

If you're operating on the digital mode FT8, by default the contacts are just logged within the WSJT-X software. There are ways to export contacts from WSJT-X, but the simpler approach with Amateur Contact Log is to enable the API integration between the two software.

Inside of ACL, click on Settings - Application Program Interface (API). That will bring up a window, and all that's needed is to check the box in the middle of the window to "Listen for WSJT-X".

Once that is complete, the WSJT-X will begin talking to Amateur Contact Log, and any time a contact is made in WSJT-X, it will automatically get logged inside of ACL.

• N3FJP Website
• W0ZC Ham Radio Statistics