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write your own review of the AC Log by N3FJP.
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W8UDX
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 3, 2009 09:49
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AC LOG
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The other day, I was reading an article about the Olduvai Gorge in Northern Tanzania and the work done by Louis and Mary Leakey. The main thrust of the article was a discussion of the Oldowan tools discovered in one of the prehistoric sites excavated by the Leakeys’. These tools are now defined as some of the first tools ever created by mankind. And, if you think about the very long timeline between these first tools and your latest Black and Decker acquisition, you can see that tools down through the ages were designed to fit our human hands, not the other way around. Enter the design philosophies of software. With a nod to the Wizard of Redmond, we can see that in most cases software has been designed to provide an expected functionality and, when considered as a tool, did not fit our hands very well. We were required to modify the way we performed tasks to fit the software functionally; in a sense, change the shape of our hands to fit the tool.
I have been using this marvelous set of logging functions exclusively for many years and have loved its simplicity and ease of use. I have dabbled with some of the multifunctional applications and, although they fill the screen of my monitor with a vast amount of information and “point and click” options, they are vastly an overkill tool for me. Maybe it is because I have been operating for so many years, I still want to grab and twist knobs while pushing buttons.
I believe that at this point in the timeline of our wonderful hobby, we are blessed to have all of these wonderful tools available for use to complement and enhance our operating pleasures. When considering a logging application, I prefer to keep my opposable thumbs and let the tool fit my hand. Keep up the great work Scott and Kimberly!
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KD5OM
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Rating: 2/5
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Jun 3, 2009 08:44
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No plans for staying State of the Art
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I gave it a 2 which means "Needs Help". I have recently got into contesting where my logging program needs to work totally in conjunction with my rig and keyer. AC log including the contest versions do not. Sure, it reads my VFO and displays the frequency and I can pre-program ten CW transmissions. But, if I need to QRS for a station that can't work faster than 10 wpm, I can't simply slow down with by turning the speed control on my Winkeyer USB. The software has control of my keyer and to QRS (and back up) I have to make several menu navigations to get to the up-down arrows, click in the speed, make the contact, then redo everything back. I admire the fact that the author has decided that he wants to spend more time with his family, but if you are about to invest in a logging program, getting configured for LoTW, etc.... There's not going to be or very few if any updates to the software for any new technology. For simple logging for the rag chewer, I give it a 4-Good. But if you plan on keeping your station "State of the Art", it really needs help and there's no immediate plans to give it help.
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NA7US
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Rating: 5/5
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May 12, 2009 14:05
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Works Great!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I have tried a lot of logging programs but many are cumbersome or do not have contest logs. Everyones opinion is just that; an opinion and it seems to me that a rating of 4.8/5 with 13 or 15 pages of reviews says a lot more about the software then one or two who do not like for their own reasons.
Try it. It's easy to use and tracks awards as well. I am upgrading so I can get all the logs.
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KN4JX
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Rating: 4/5
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Apr 13, 2009 13:39
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Easy to use.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have used many log programs and just wanted one that was easy to use with out all the bells and whistles but this one has both easy and lots of features if you want. It imports and exports easy witch I found useful when I use N1MM contest log and want to import that contest info to my main AClog. I also like the ability to download the up to date call books for the US and Canada. I will say it would be nice to have a way to save the files in Cabrillo format because so many contests ask for files to be submitted that way. I use LogChecker to convert so not that big of a deal. But all in all this is a great simple logging program.
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W2FBS
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 2, 2009 14:51
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Logging is fun again!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Perhaps this logging software is not sophisticated enough for the dx hot shots, but for me, a ham with almost 50 years on my license, it is a wonderful tool. No problems in hooking it up to my Pro 3 and after a short learning curve, I configured the DX Spotter to my needs.
Lots of features I will never use like all the contest software, (yes I bought the whole package to make sure the author gets some support), but the ones I use make hamming a lot easier and more fun.
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AB7E
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Rating: 2/5
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Feb 19, 2009 15:37
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Mediocre at best
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've owned and used ACLog for several years, but here are some of the things about it that greatly annoy me. They may or may not represent major issues for other users, but I don't see how anyone can rate this logger a "5", much less call it "elegant".
1. ACLog requires two separate ports and two separate cables to interface with the rig. One cable is needed for CAT control (frequency, mode, etc) and another is needed to key the rig using the buffer macros. With other loggers such as N1MM for contest logging and Logger32 for general logging, only one port/cable is necessary.
2. ACLog only recognizes SSB and CW for mode under CAT control. Even if I'm in RTTY (which most rigs treat as a separate mode), ACLog plugs in SSB and I have to manually edit the entry to change it.
3. The signal report boxes (Sent, Rec) don't track mode. If I make a CW contact and give the other guy a 599, and then make a CW contact, the Sent and Rec boxes still show a 599 and I have to manually enter a 59 in both boxes. It works that way whether I enter the mode manually or whether the program reads it from the rig.
4. The QSO tracking feature is horrible. ACLog makes you enter a separate query for each and every possible summary (band, mode, confirmed or not) you might want to know. It's one query to find out which countries I have confirmed on 80m CW, it's a different query to find out which countries I have worked (but not necessarily confirmed) on 80m CW, it's another query to find out which countries I've worked on 40m SSB, etc, etc, etc. Other logging programs give you a nice chart showing all the countries down the left side, each band across the top, and the cells filled with one color for worked and another color for confirmed .... one query does all.
5. ACLog makes me do a search to see if I have previously worked a station, or at the least I have to tab into the date field to see that information.
6. If do a search on a callsign that I have entered into the callsign field and then hit the ESC key to return to the main log, the callsign field gets cleared and I have to re-enter the callsign.
7. ACLog retains whatever information I put in the Comments field for all subsequent contacts with that station. For example, if today I work F5IN on 80m CW and enter "good contact, but horrible QRN" into the Comments field, when I work F5IN again next week on 20m CW the same text ("good contact, but horrible QRN") will show up in the Comments field and I have to manually delete it. It's a total pain in the a**.
8. I can't search the stations I've worked in any particular country by prefix ... for example, trying to see all of the stations I may have already worked in Greenland when an OX3 shows up on the band. Instead, I have to click on the country field to tab down to Greenland and then click on Search at the top of the log.
There are probably others that don't immediately pop into my mind, but you get the idea. ACLog is simple and on the surface has a clean visual interface, but it clearly was not written as a competent database ... it is way too clumsy for that. I think you could write a more useful database application in Excel with a few macros. On top of that, N3FJP hasn't updated the program for a long time (two or three years? I'm not sure.) and I don't see any indication that any significant changes are going to happen.
I'm generally not too demanding of a general logging program (which is the only reason I hadn't dumped ACLog long ago), but I finally decided to search around for alternatives that would address the shortfalls in ACLog. WinLog32 looks pretty nice and appears to be fairly powerful, but it requires a separate ASCII-driven hardware interface like WinKey to key the rig. Lots of folks seem to like the EQF series, and while miLog looked appealing I didn't see much recent support for it.
I finally chose Logger32 and it runs circles around ACLog. It's free and updated regularly by the author, and anyone who thinks it is too complicated to use is just plain too lazy to read the documentation enough to learn how to simplify its features.
Dave AB7E
p.s. I have no affiliation whatever with Logger32 ... neither the program nor its author.
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ARRLBOOSTER
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 19, 2009 11:16
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Great, don't beleive lids
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I use the AC log and the SS logs from Scott. Lost my registration number a couple of times as I switched the computer OS. Scott was friendly and quick with his support to get me fixed up. Nothing wrong with KISS.
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K4ZNC
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 19, 2009 10:36
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Simply Elegant!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Contrary to the previous reviewer, I find this logging program just what I want for my operating needs. This "newbie" has been back on the air since 1999, has logged over 300 DXCC enteties, has worked 5BDXCC and works CW, SSB, and digital modes almost daily.
This is an elegant piece of software! Elegance is not defined by a multitude of bells and whistles, but the extent to which it accomplishes its intended purpose. Simply stated, simple characterizes elegance, but simple made simpler accomplishes nothing.
This logger works for me; I don't need to use something more complex to impress others!
John K4ZNC
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K9IUQ
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Rating: 1/5
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Feb 19, 2009 10:05
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Too Simple
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This is a Logging Program for Newbies. It lacks many things that hams need in a good logging program. A much better choice for a General Log is Winlog32 which is free and actually looks like a Windoze program. N3FJP Logging programs remind me of the old Dos programs. The GUI need updating to a more modern look. Those that think N3FJP logs are good for contesting have never used a good Contest Logger like N1MM (also FREE).
N3FJP loggers get great reviews because they are simple to use. The key word here is Simple. Newbies will quickly outgrow N3FJP loggers and move up to something more sophisticated and useful.
Stan K9IUQ
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KG6EJT
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 30, 2009 11:49
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Excellent and User Friendly
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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115 Reviews. 4.95 Average...'Nuff said.
This is a great app. Very easy to use. Excellent support.
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