Looking for opinions on which of the available free logging programs (contest capabilities not required, LOTW exporting required) would be best for easy inputting of old paper log data. Just date, time, band (MHz), mode, call sign, and RST sent are all I should to have to enter. I have log sheets dating back to the early 1990's, when I was assigned my current call sign. I also have log sheets from my prior call sign dating from then back to the mid 1980's. I was about to throw them all away, but first I thought I'd see what software might be out there.
DXKeeper, the logging component of the freeware
DXLab Suite, provides three ways to do this.
1. DXKeeper can be configured with one mouse click to optimize for the entry of QSOs from a paper logbook. In this mode, a new QSO is initialized to the frequency and mode of the last QSO logged (instead of your transceiver's frequency and mode), with a start time that is initialized to 1 second after the the end time of the last QSO logged (instead of the current date and time). By defaulting signal reports to 59/599, only changing the frequency when the band changes, and only updating the QSO start time when its more than 15 minutes off, most QSOs can be logged by typing the callsign followed by the Enter key followed by CTRL-J -- a keyboard short cut that logs the QSO and creates a new one. Since LotW and eQSL.cc accept time matches within 30 minutes, the 15-minute accuracy suggested above is sufficient.
2. If you're more comfortable entering QSO data into a spreadsheet, DXKeeper can directly import a tab-delimited file that conforms to a specified layout. A
starter log in this format is available
here.
3. Use Bernd DF3CB's freeware
Fast Log Entry application, which produces an ADIF file you can import into DXKeeper or any other competent logging application.
Most ops who have tried all three approaches, including me, consider the the first alternative to be the fastest, but your mileage may vary...
73,
Dave, AA6YQ
