 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||
 Previous: ARRL Announces 2003 Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award Winner |  Next: NWS/ARRL SKYWARN Recognition Day |
By Dave Hassler, K7CCC
QST Assistant News Editor
November 6, 2003
The unique contact credit system's secure database tops 20 million QSOs; 158 DXCC entities represented
NEWINGTON, CT, Nov 6, 2003--ARRL's Logbook of the World continues to grow and expand, and it's now operational on the Macintosh OS X operating system. Mac enthusiast Steve Palm, N9YTY, compiled a version of TrustedQSL to work with newer Macintosh computers. The program was built using MacOS version 10.2--"Jaguar"--and was tested on versions 10.2 and 10.3, the new "Panther" upgrade.
Palm, said he had a lot of fun porting the TQSL code to the Mac environment, and was satisfied that he was able to help fill a real need for Mac users. "There was a lot of discussion about this on the HamMac mailing list. It was obvious that many Mac users were looking for something," he said. Palm, the author of EchoMac, a Macintosh OS X EchoLink program, said it took about a week of concentrated effort to complete the port to the Mac platform.
"The base code developed by the TrustedQSL team at ARRL didn't really have any issues that prevented it from being ported to the Mac, so kudos go out to them for doing a good job writing portable code," Palm said. He tackled a few Windows-Mac translation issues and made the Macintosh program "more Mac-like," with configuration and help files embedded in the program so it can be installed in drag-and-drop fashion.
ARRL Web and Software Development Manager Jon Bloom, KE3Z, said he's also working on integrating Palm's MacOS changes into the official source tree so that other Mac developers will be able to easily build a library and their applications from the source code. The TQSL software also runs on the Windows platform, and Red Hat Linux versions 7.2 and 8.
Palm, a ham since 1994 and a programmer since the early
1980s, said that with the new program development
tools Apple has recently released, he believes that more Macintosh Amateur
Radio software authors will now get involved with porting existing ham programs
and creating new ones.
 It might take years--and a couple hundred dollars--to accumulate this many cards using traditional surface mail. ARRL's secure Logbook of the World system allows hams to upload logs and get confirmation of contacts in the quickest and most cost-effective manner possible. |
Logbook Database Continues to Grow
In the six weeks the system has been open to the public, Logbook of the World has accepted logs from 4,000 users from 158 DXCC entities. These users--all with secure digital certificates--have uploaded 20,268,192 QSO records into the system, as of November 3. All of those contacts have so far resulted in 335,196 QSL records being generated, Bloom said.
ARRL Assistant to the CEO David Patton, NN1N, said Logbook continues to evolve, with the ability to claim confirmed contacts for ARRL awards credit being just around the corner. He said the cost per credit would be between 15 and 25 cents, making each credit far cheaper than the cost of mailing a paper QSL card with a self-addressed, stamped envelope and possibly an international reply coupon, as well.
Meanwhile, users of the system are enjoying the benefits of using Logbook of the World. Here are a few of the latest comments:
For a complete overview on Logbook of the World, just head on over to the LoTW Web page, or check out the QST article by ARRL Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG, on page 46 of the October 2003 issue. Or, you can jump directly to the LoTW Frequently Asked Questions file.
Dave Hassler, K7CCC, can be reached via e-mail at k7ccc@arrl.org.
| Previous: ARRL Announces 2003 Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award Winner | Next: NWS/ARRL SKYWARN Recognition Day |
