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[AA6YQ]

+ My comments on CEO Minster's 2021 QST Editorial, excerpts of which are quoted here, are preceded by + below.

"The third initiative is called Project X. This is an effort to create an ecosystem for radiosport. It naturally would include electronic logs and confirmations found in Logbook of the World today, as well as awards."

+ Despite its name, Logbook of the World (LoTW) does not "include electronic logs". LoTW does not retain information like signal reports or a QSO partner's name, as even the most basic logbook would do; LoTW only retains the information required to track confirmations. Expanding LoTW to retain enough QSO information to provide a log backup service was one several features proposed in 2016 by the ARRL-LoTW Committee to which LoTW users would be optionally able to subscribe for an annual fee, generating revenue to help offset LoTW's operating costs.


"Our vision is to go beyond this, creating live uploading of contacts and the creation of new products for users."

+ After the LoTW Server was upgraded to support a more powerful and reliable database engine in 2017, ARRL management announced to logging application developers that it was acceptable to support the submission of individual QSOs to LoTW in real time, rather than in batches of multiple already-logged QSOs as had been the previous recommendation. Many logging applications have been providing "live uploading of contacts" for years.


"For example, it would be possible to create contests within contests through realtime logging and scoring., so that small groups of individuals or small teams could compete against each other, potentially using a different set of scoring rules, to move away from the publishing timeline to real-time gaming environments. Just ask a young ham: Do you want to know who won now, or wait a year to find out?"

+ In support of the ARRL's 2014 "Centennial QSO Party", LoTW was extended to provide online leaderboards. In support of the ARRL's 2016 "National Parks on the Air" (NPOTA) activity, LoTW was extended to provide leaderboards that were updated "several times each day":

https://npota.arrl.org/leader-board.php

+ Similar online leaderboards were provided for the 2018 International Grid Chase on-air activity.

+ Thus "Realtime logging and scoring" in LoTW has already been supported, and was in fact one of the reasons why the above three on-air activities were so popular, attracting many new participants to LoTW. Why were they not continued?

+ In 2017, ARRL staff prototyped a web service that would accept an ADIF file submitted by a pre-approved sponsor, and report which of the QSOs specified in that file were confirmed by LoTW. This web service would enable small groups of individuals or small teams or local radio clubs to hold sprints and contests with scoring based on LoTW confirmations. This web service would also enable larger award sponsors to efficiently accept LoTW confirmations for their awards without the need for the extensions to LoTW implemented for the WPX and WAZ awards. Completing this prototype would convert the current freeloading by several award sponsors to a revenue stream that would help offset LoTW's operating costs. Why has this prototype been accumulating dust for the past 4+ years?

 

"I had hoped to make more progress on this, but what makes LoTW great also hurts progress. The very people who should be involved with moving Project X forward are too embedded in the past, so I have had to find alternative resources to work with. "

+ There is nothing in business more pathetic than a CEO who publicly whines about being unable to accomplish his or her objectives.

+ The League maintains an online discussion group for the explicit purpose of facilitating communications among LoTW users and ARRL
staff/management:

- http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-creates-new-online-groups-for-members-to-communicate-with-leadership

+ Since you've become CEO, you have yet to participate in this group even once! Your Project X plans are only described in podcasts or from convention session podiums, where there is little if any sustained technical interaction. It's no wonder that your understanding of LotW is so limited, and that your view of the objections to your "start over from scratch" proposal is so twisted.


"These conversations have led to the view that open-source applications can sit on top of Project X to create innovative features with data that do not exist today. This is exciting stuff."

+ Yes, it's fun to brainstorm about the future, but I suggest that you focus on the dire IT problems that the ARRL faces today:

1. The ARRL's web presence is built on a long-obsolete infrastructure that makes posting new information outrageously time-consuming for ARRL staff, and makes applications like LoTW unnecessarily difficult to use.

2. The Personify association management software has still not been deployed.

3. The DXCC system, whose condition four years ago was characterized by ARRL management as so precarious that LoTW developers were assigned to re-implement it, remains in that precarious state.

4. Over its entire history, LoTW has never been this starved for resources. "In the first half of 2021, Logbook has had virtually no software resources with which to make adjustments, much less improvements."
 
 - http://www.arrl.org/files/file/ODV/Board%20Meeting%20July%202021/Document%2020%20LoTW%20Committee%20Report.pdf

5. The ARRL's IT Director position remains unfilled, and you've not even begun to recruit software engineers.

- http://www.arrl.org/employment-opportunities

+ You have an IT organization to recruit, on-board, and align around your objectives - and you're way behind the power curve.


     de Dave AA6YQ, ARRL member since 1990, recipient 2008 ARRL Technical Innovation Award, recipient 2020 ARRL President's Award

[KT4WO]

I would renew if the ARRL would push the FCC on enforcement.
In the last 20 years it's ALL about contests and ECOMM Whackers.

[W9IQ]

I would renew if the ARRL would push the FCC on enforcement.
In the last 20 years it's ALL about contests and ECOMM Whackers.

November 2021 Volunteer Monitor Program Report

This is the November 2021 report of Volunteer Monitor (VM) Program activity. The VM program is a joint initiative between ARRL and the FCC to enhance compliance in the Amateur Radio Service.

    Operators in Ardmore, Tennessee; Lithonia, Georgia; Coconut Creek and Miramar, Florida, and East Bridgewater, Massachusetts, were issued Advisory Notices regarding excessive bandwidth, contrary to FCC rules. The operators were transmitting on SSB with bandwidths of 8 to 9 kHz.

    Advisory Notices were issued to operators in Northridge (Los Angeles) and Hemet, California, for interference to repeaters. Both operators had been requested by the repeater trustees to cease using the repeaters. The Advisory Notice issued to the Northridge operator cited broadcasting and failure to identify, and it informed them that the FCC was requested not to grant their upcoming renewal application unless the case was resolved.

    An Advisory Notice was issued to an operator in Powell, Wyoming, for transmitting overdriven FT8 signals that resulted in spurious emissions. The operator has since corrected the problem.

    General-class operators in Bartonville, Illinois, and St. Clair, Michigan, were issued Advisory Notices for operation in the Amateur Extra-class portion of 40 meters. A Technician-class licensee in Windber, Pennsylvania, was issued an Advisory Notice for operating in the General-class portion of 75 meters.

    One case was referred to the FCC for enforcement action and review of a license renewal application. The FCC referred two cases to the VM Program.

Totals for VM monitoring during October were 2,939 hours on HF frequencies, and 3,282 hours on VHF frequencies and above, for a total of 6,221 hours. That is the highest number of hours monitoring since the inception of the VM Program. -- Thanks to Volunteer Monitor Program Administrator Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH

- Glenn W9IQ

[GRUMPY2021]

The way I look at it.... you don't need the NRA to own a gun and you don't need the ARRL to enjoy radio.     Like everything in our society anymore...50% will support the ARRL and 50% won't.   

[KT4WO]

"VM monitoring"

https://www.fcc.gov/enforcement/orders

The VM program has no teeth and until the FCC acts it
is no better than the OO program=useless

When the crap on 7.200Mhz is cleaned up, I will believe it.

[W9IQ]

"VM monitoring"

https://www.fcc.gov/enforcement/orders

The VM program has no teeth and until the FCC acts it
is no better than the OO program=useless

When the crap on 7.200Mhz is cleaned up, I will believe it.

I would suggest that you volunteer to be a VM so that you can be part of the solution, but you must be an ARRL member.

- Glenn W9IQ

[N5XJT]

While I am just an average ham I would like to make the following observations: (not criticism, just comments)
1.) Still paying ARRL $50 per year for membership and to receive the shrinking number of pages in the monthly MFJ circular.
2.) LOTW is perhaps useful to some but for me more complexity and difficulty to use than merited.  Compare to EQSL or direct mail QSL and wonder why we have LOTW except for ARRL.
3.) The somewhat out of touch ARRL website is not only hard to comprehend but very difficult to use. I actually don' t try much anymore.
Will I renew?  Not sure at this point

[N4KZ]

I've been an ARRL member for more than 50 years. I have often disagreed with the things done and not done by the League. Why do I continue to renew annually? Lobbying by the League among those who count. That's why. Name one other amateur radio organization that looks out for our interests both nationally and internationally as ARRL has done. Only the League continues the good fight -- and it is a battle -- to preserve our access to the radio spectrum. Without our amateur bands, we'd all soon be chatting with one another via the Internet and pretending it was ham RADIO.  73, N4KZ

[K0CFI]

"I would suggest that you volunteer to be a VM "

Alas, there are limited "slots". From the ARRL web site:

"Thanks for your interest. ARRL is not currently accepting applications. There are a limited number of slots in the program which have all been filled. When slots are open and the reserve pool depleted, we will resume processing applications for the program."

73, Tom

[KV1P]

I totally agree with Glen W9IQ; we have too many people who just like to complain and not be part of the solution!!!

[WO7R]

I cannot improve on Dave's analysis.  He has a wealth of understanding, some of it from the inside, that is hard to match.

I would make the following modest suggestions:

1.  The key thing that LOTW has always marketed and hams have responded to is its security.  But what of the actual server farm and its data base?  It seems like every month there is a major incident with a Fortune 500 company with far more resources than the league that suffers a humiliating break-in.  I submit that it is likely that the LOTW system, as a whole, is probably far more vulnerable to ordinary server farm hacking than the very elaborate certificate system.  The farm simply hasn't (so far!) attracted attention.  I don't base that on any actual knowledge other than what I do know about corporate level hacking.  So far, all has been well on this front.  But more actual damage could happen with a breach on this front than anything associated with all those certs that seem to impress so many hams.  And, the "bad guy" infrastructure to mount the attack already exists.  Which means the bad guys will attack the server farm very long and hard before even bothering with the cert system.  It is not the sort of thing ever discussed in public, but I hope the league is making serious investments here.  What I read about the level of technical debt, however, suggests vulnerability, not strength.  I very much hope I am wrong here.

2.  I see nothing in what Dave quoted that suggests anything is going to be done to make signing up for LOTW easier.  Yet, as far as I can tell, that certificate system and all its widely perceived overkill is the #1 reason people don't sign up.  I suggest a modest change:   A much reduced signup for the following countries:   1) W, G, DL, JA, F, I, and probably others.  It could be done much the same as DXpeditions to popular places are done -- you basically just sign up as you do for Clublog and the ARRL accepts your contacts until or unless there is some sort of problem alleged.  That's how anyone can activate holiday expeditions to places like 6Y without any "documentation".  Now if one operates from (say) a top 100 DXCC, one doesn't get to add that LOTW account without going through today's full court press of authorization.  Or, maybe, in that rareified air, the league would know the individuals involved anyway and issue the account when the right documentation is received.   Would my suggestion reduce security a bit?  Yes.  It is possible that someone could finish up a 160m DXCC or something with something like I suggest.  But does anyone really care about that in the end?  What people show passion for is Honor Roll and #1 Honor Roll.   Getting the rest of hamdom signed up would do more for the program than a bunch of new features nobody is asking for and is (in my mind anyway) of marginal value.

[KT4WO]

"like to complain and not be part of the solution!!!"

I have documented(very well) and submitted QRM
4 times to the FCC.  I didn't even get a "go jump in the lake" back.

And I will believe the VM program is working WHEN there is
ENFORCEMENT by the FCC. 
Hell, I can't even get a reply email from the ARRL-VEC program!
I have emailed them FOUR times in the last 6 months about
my VE status.....nil (and NO---It's not in my spam)

I was a member in the past but got tired of paying for the monthly
MFJ catalog.

Y'all drink all that Kool Aid you want.
Oh and one other thing---
If "someone" wants the ham bands there ain't a thing the ARRL can do about it

[AA6YQ]

While I am just an average ham I would like to make the following observations: (not criticism, just comments)

2.) LOTW is perhaps useful to some but for me more complexity and difficulty to use than merited.  Compare to EQSL or direct mail QSL and wonder why we have LOTW except for ARRL.

3.) The somewhat out of touch ARRL website is not only hard to comprehend but very difficult to use. I actually don' t try much anymore.

Both of the two issues you cite above share a common root cause: the user interface framework used by everything accessible via www.arrl.org - from press releases to LoTW - is both difficult to use and long-obsolete. Static content (like press releases and committee reports) must be composed in raw HTML using a primitive content management system (GetSimple); this makes posting such information very time-consuming (and unpleasant) for ARRL staff members. The obsolete user interface framework contributes significantly to LoTW's perceived complexity.

Designing a new user experience for the League's web presence, choosing a modern user interface framework on which to construct that web presence, and updating all existing content and applications to utilize the chosen framework are the largest challenges facing the ARRL's non-existent IT Department - but go unmentioned in the CEO's Editorial.

To your other point, LoTW is hugely superior to QSL cards: it eliminates the time and expense required to create them, fill them out, stuff them in envelopes, affix postage, and re-send them when the first attempt is waylaid by postal fraud.

Only QSL card and LoTW confirmations are accepted for ARRL DXing awards, still considered the "gold standard" among DXers, despite the ARRL's inexplicable negligence in publicizing, promoting, and expanding these awards.

[W9IQ]

Hell, I can't even get a reply email from the ARRL-VEC program!
I have emailed them FOUR times in the last 6 months about
my VE status.....nil (and NO---It's not in my spam)

You can reach the ARRL VE program via telephone at 1-800-927-7583.

- Glenn W9IQ

[AA6YQ]

1.  The key thing that LOTW has always marketed and hams have responded to is its security.  But what of the actual server farm and its data base?  It seems like every month there is a major incident with a Fortune 500 company with far more resources than the league that suffers a humiliating break-in.  I submit that it is likely that the LOTW system, as a whole, is probably far more vulnerable to ordinary server farm hacking than the very elaborate certificate system.  The farm simply hasn't (so far!) attracted attention.  I don't base that on any actual knowledge other than what I do know about corporate level hacking.  So far, all has been well on this front.  But more actual damage could happen with a breach on this front than anything associated with all those certs that seem to impress so many hams.  And, the "bad guy" infrastructure to mount the attack already exists.  Which means the bad guys will attack the server farm very long and hard before even bothering with the cert system.  It is not the sort of thing ever discussed in public, but I hope the league is making serious investments here.  What I read about the level of technical debt, however, suggests vulnerability, not strength.  I very much hope I am wrong here.

A "Callsign Certificate" is comprised of a public key and a private key. Messages encrypted with the private key can only be decrypted with the public key. The private keys associated with your "Callsign Certificates" are only stored on your computer(s). The LoTW Server only stores public keys. When you direct TQSL to submit one or more QSOs to LoTW, TQSL encrypts those QSOs with your private key and conveys the result to the LoTW Server, which decrypts them with your public key and then proceeds to process them.

Thus breaching the LoTW Server would not allow an adversary to gain access to complete "Callsign Certificates" and use them to forge confirmations or flood LoTW with bogus confirmations.

2.  I see nothing in what Dave quoted that suggests anything is going to be done to make signing up for LOTW easier.  Yet, as far as I can tell, that certificate system and all its widely perceived overkill is the #1 reason people don't sign up.  I suggest a modest change:   A much reduced signup for the following countries:   1) W, G, DL, JA, F, I, and probably others.  It could be done much the same as DXpeditions to popular places are done -- you basically just sign up as you do for Clublog and the ARRL accepts your contacts until or unless there is some sort of problem alleged.  That's how anyone can activate holiday expeditions to places like 6Y without any "documentation".  Now if one operates from (say) a top 100 DXCC, one doesn't get to add that LOTW account without going through today's full court press of authorization.  Or, maybe, in that rareified air, the league would know the individuals involved anyway and issue the account when the right documentation is received.   Would my suggestion reduce security a bit?  Yes.  It is possible that someone could finish up a 160m DXCC or something with something like I suggest.  But does anyone really care about that in the end?  What people show passion for is Honor Roll and #1 Honor Roll.   Getting the rest of hamdom signed up would do more for the program than a bunch of new features nobody is asking for and is (in my mind anyway) of marginal value.

Two significant sources of LoTW's perceived complexity are

1. The user experience framework employed to implement LoTW's web presence - and everything else accessible via www.arrl.org - is primitive and obsolete. The League must design a new "web presence" for all of its web-accessible content and applications, choose a modern user interface framework that supports this design, and then update all existing content and applications (like LoTW) to properly utilize the new framework. The ARRL CEO's Editorial fails to mention this challenge, or the fact that there are currently no IT personnel to address it.

2. Because LoTW was ridiculously underscoped and underfunded, many corners were cut during its development. Several of those corners involved hiding implementation details from users -- like the need to link your LoTW account to your DXCC record, or the need to be aware of and manage "Callsign Certificates".

Many of the "LoTW's security is too complex" complaints would disappear if the implementation details were properly abstracted. From a user's perspective, all LoTW needs to know is that I am AA6YQ, and that I'm submitting QSOs made from my QTH in Wayland Massachusetts, Middlesex County, grid square FN42. It would be nice if LoTW could also be informed that I am pursuing DXCC Challenge, WAS on 160m and 6m, and 5-band WAZ - and take this information into consideration when I apply for awards.

Note that the requirements for authentication of non-US LoTW participants was simplified back in 2018. Sending government documents to ARRL Headquarters by postal mail is no longer required; scans of these documents can be sent via email. Alternatively, local DXCC card checkers can also provide authentication. See

https://lotw.arrl.org/lotw-help/getting-started/