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Reviews For: ARRL - Logbook of the World - LoTW

Category: Ham Logging Software

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Review Summary For : ARRL - Logbook of the World - LoTW
Reviews: 511MSRP: 00.00
Description:
LoTW ... is a repository of log records submitted by users from around the world. When both participants in a QSO submit matching QSO records to LoTW, the result is a QSL that can be used for ARRL award credit.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.arrl.org/lotw/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
153.75113.3
KW4J Rating: 2013-05-08
Good but can be improved Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I must agree that there is too much security for a non-critial process. However, it is a good tool for ARRL members to collect data for awards and such. I just wish there was a mechanism in place that would allow exchange of information between other card services, such at eQSL.cc. I have some contacts that use the other services but not LoTW and it would be good to be able to move them over.
AB1LT Rating: 2013-05-08
Rediculous Security Measures Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Let's put this in context. Among the various banks and financial institutions I've trusted with my life savings, not one of them has put me through the hassle LoTW has. The waiting for a post card, 2 passwords and difficulty moving from one computer to another is rediculous. Let's face it, QSLing is just a game. No one's life or fortune depends on it.

As a service to the ham community I still use LoTW, but grudgingly. I much prefer eQSL.
G0MMI Rating: 2013-05-08
Poor show! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
In 1 year I have asked twice for my certs. Sent all the relevent info required for non US hams. Last as recently as 3 months ago and not a sign of a cert. Given up!
AJ4RW Rating: 2013-04-15
New call certificate, smooth as silk Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just got a new 2 x 1 call. I'm not a computer geek but the process of getting a new certificate went like clockwork for me. Read the instructions, created a new certificate request with my new call, emailed it and got it back, saved it and ran the file. Shazam, new certificate for my new call. The whole process took less than a day from start to finish.
N4KC Rating: 2013-04-11
Getting better all the time Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Recent new hardware has apparently helped the slow processing issue considerably. There is still a few days' delay after a major contest but otherwise confirmations take from a few seconds to a few minutes.

I did have one issue with a certificate renewal. I used the email link they put in the instructions on the web and attached my renewal request...as directed. A few days went by with no response. I tried it again. Still no response. Then I noticed the link as displayed in the instructions was different from the actual link that appeared in my email TO: field and when I hovered the mouse over the link. I copied and pasted the text and sent off a third request. A confirmation came immediately and the new certificate came along a few hours later. Otherwise renewal was seamless.

I mentioned that email-link discrepancy in my third email but that may have gone to some robot somewhere. I still have not remembered to email it to a human.

Still, at least a 4...good, getting better. Seems more DX stations are signing up, too, and that is a wonderful thing for us all!

Don N4KC
www.n4kc.com
www.donkeith.com
(Author of the new book RIDING THE SHORTWAVES:
EXPLORING THE MAGIC OF AMATEUR RADIO)



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Earlier 2-star review posted by N4KC on 2012-11-22

K6CRC is absolutely right! For LOTW to ever achieve its potential it must not only work well and be easy to use but it must have the perception that it works well and is easy to use.

The events of the last few weeks do not contribute to either situation. I hope the League will take the measures necessary to get this system to where it needs to be. A significant number of hams will have to buy in for that to happen.

It remains a wonderful service but it could be so much more if 90% of those who needed it felt it was working well and within their capabilities to use.

Don N4KC
www.n4kc.com
www.donkeith.com


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Earlier 2-star review posted by N4KC on 2010-09-20

KK4PR makes an excellent point. Just as with paper-and-stamp QSL cards, the honesty comes when one station confirms a contact that another station is claiming. I see no reason for all the encryption and security-key mumbo jumbo that needlessly complicates an online version of what we hams have been doing for almost a hundred years.

If I add a contact in my logging software with ZS8M--which I can do by merely typing it in--and then upload it to Logbook of the World, it takes the entry without question, despite the security key and encrypted file it went through in the process. The entry turns a pretty shade of green in my logging software, indicating I have "sent" a "QSL," whether I ever really made the contact or not. But unless ZS8M uploads his side of that QSO, it never turns red on my end--indicating I have "received" a "QSL"-- and it does not count for anything. Dang! No joy for all that calling I did in the pileup the other day without getting him!

That being said, there is a real need for this service and I appreciate the effort and expense the ARRL has gone to in order to establish it. For contacts to apply to ARRL awards, they are the only ones who CAN do it, unless they someday allow a third party to give it a whirl.

See, the real utility of LOTW is only achieved if most hams use it. And I have helped design and market enough software to know that an easy-to-use interface--lowest-common-denominator interface, if you will--leads to more usage. The more people who use LOTW, the more value it has to the rest of us, and that should be goal of the League, not impressing us with how doggone secure this thing is.

Lose the "007" security-key overkill, give it a simpler interface, and a basic user name/password account setup, and it becomes a much better and more effective service. Oh, and speed it up! I have yet to upload contacts into the "queue" without having to come back hours later to get them confirmed.

It's our only option now (No! eQSL is something entirely different, so don't even go there!) and LOTW works. But it could work so very much better.

Don Keith N4KC
www.n4kc.com
www.donkeith.com
http://n4kc.blogspot.com
K9OHI Rating: 2013-04-11
Certificate Renewal Time Owned: more than 12 months.
After reading all the bad rap about LOTW, it was with a bit of fear and trepidation that I read the ARRL email telling me that it was time to renew my LOTW certificate.

Full disclosure--I have been using LOTW for many years and have not have a bit of problem. I use the DXLab interface, and it works completely seamlessly.

Anyway, I downloaded the instructions for renewal from the website, went through the process which was extremely well documented and easy to follow, and sent off my .TQ5 file. Within a minute, I received a confirmation email from ARRL letting me know they received the file and were processing it. In less than a half an hour, I got the .TQ6 file from ARRL. Update was a no-brainer, and within a couple of seconds my certificate was renewed and I'm back in business.

Guess I don't understand why all the issues--follow the directions, don't skip steps, don't second guess the instructions, and you will have no problem at all.

73 de K9OHI
KK4AH Rating: 2013-03-30
What? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have tried and tried to get my certs but guess what? Still nothing. I have a ham friend (who uses LoTW and really knows computers) who has tried to help me to get this system to work but I have had no luck. I know it is important to make sure that hams who use LoTW are who they say they are but give me a break! How many hoops do I have to jump through to get this system to work? I've used computers since 1981 and have never seen anything so utterly ridiculous to get a system like this to work. I know if I keep trying sooner or later I'll get it but man what a hassle!!! Is it really worth all this crap?------NO------
N6KZB Rating: 2013-01-13
Updated opinion Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I will give credit where it is due. Since the installation and/or whatever ARRL I.T. staff did, the Que time is down to 19 minutes this morning.

Having quick validations means I don't spend a lot of time trying for one's I already have, I can try others.

If it is not dramatically delayed after the next major contest, I will take behavioral training to modify my attitude in regards to LoTw.
KB9TMP Rating: 2013-01-12
A Real PITA (but worth it if you need it) Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you want to collect awards from the ARRL and don't want to wait on the paper copy it's great. For someone like me that don't care about the awards or even the paper card it's a PITA. Having someone's contact listed in my log is good enough, but if they want to exchange cards I'm OK with that also. I let my LoTW expire because I'm tired of jacking with it for the limited return I get. From now on cards and eQSL is the way I'm going. The QSL card / LoTW listing isn't where the fun is for me, it's the QSO. "Your mileage may vary!"
KD8SAV Rating: 2013-01-11
A service I wish was there in 1979. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I see a lot of complaints here about the delays.

Now that the new hardware has been installed, the delay is down to two days, with 6000 logs backlog, and going down every hour.
Looks like they may be ready for the spring contest season.