Getting Started with POTA Logging (PotaLog) (Note: At first execution of PotaLog, the 'Help->Getting Started' window will open. This will help you navigate through the PotaLog program. Also Note: The Raspberry Pi has no sound support at this time.) INTRODUCTION There are now two versions of the PotaLog program. 1. An installable program (PotaLog-n.n.n.exe) for normal installation on any computer with start menu and uninstall capabilities. 2. A portable program (PotaLog-n.n.n.zip) with executable and all libraries that can be put on any disk or USB drive and executed from that drive. The file 'Getting Started' contains the description and operation of the Amateur Radio POTA Logging (PotaLog) program. You can read this file any time while running PotaLog by clicking on 'Help->Getting Started'. You could also read this file by opening the "README.txt" file, from the subdirectory '\N7LWD\Programs\PotaLog\Info' (or whichever subdirectory you installed the PotaLog program) in your favorite text viewer. This might be helpful the first time you run PotaLog so that you can follow the step-by-step instructions within this file. Throughout this document, 'items' in single quotes refer to program data, windows, menus, and/or sub-directories. The PotaLog program is designed to help the POTA park activating station log contacts and display contact data from the QRZ database. To get complete QRZ data for each contact, a subscription to the QRZ XML Database is required (in 2021, ~$30/yr). Without a subscription, only the call, first name, last name, city, state, and country can be retrieved and will be limited to 100 call retrievals per day. Although a mouse can be used, the main logging operation has been designed to operate by keyboard input only. This will allow the operator to keep their hands on the keyboard and not have to switch back and forth between keyboard and mouse. Obviously, being a touch typist will be a great attribute to have when using this program. However, even the casual typist should be able to use this program albeit a little slower. Program menu operations and window placements will require a mouse. So, perform all your menu operations and set your window positions before starting a POTA activation. This program was developed using the Cross Platform Qt Creator IDE and Microsoft Windows, Linux Mint environments, and Raspberry Pi OS. It could be and will be ported to macOS once the development hardware becomes available. GENERAL COLOR SCHEME The color scheme use generally throughout the program is: 1. White or Black - General Labels, 2. Green - User input controled data, 3. Blue - Control actions and program controlled data, 4. Red - Caution for removing data, or Attention for detail, or action needed. STARTUP AND SETUP FOR LOGGING 1. When starting PotaLog for the first time, the main 'POTA Logging' window and all sub windows will open: a. 'Setup->Station Details', b. 'Setup->Contact Details', c. 'Setup->Park Log', d. 'Setup->Activations Log, e. 'Setup->Contact Log', f. 'Setup->Activation Statistics', g. 'Setup->WSJT-X Panel', h. and 'Help->Getting Started'. 2. Close any window you do not need and arrange the windows on your computer as you desire. For keyboard positioning of the windows in Windows 11 and earlier, follow these steps: a. Switch to the desired window using Alt + Tab. b. Press Alt + Space to opens the window menu. c. Now, press M. d. Use the left, right, up and down arrow keys to move your window. e. For more precise movements, use Ctrl + arrow keys. f. When you have moved the window to the desired position, press Enter. 3. You can set the directory where the program will store the potalog.db, error.txt, and activation adi files by selecting 'File->Set Data Directory' from the main window. The default directory will be set to: a. Windows: "C:/N7LWD/Programs/PotaLog/Data" b. Linux: "/home/{user}/N7LWD/Programs/PotaLog/Data" The current position of all windows will be saved upon the program closure. Configure your station details ('ALT+S' or click on 'Station Details' window then 'Tab' through editable boxes) 'Station' callsign, 'Operator' callsign, 'QRZ PWD', 'Lat', 'Lon', 'State', 'Mode', 'Band', 'MHz', transmit 'Power', and 'County') for your current activation by editing the values in the 'Setup->Station Details' window. Enter the official POTA park 'Location' designator if different from the standard 'US-ST' value. Also, enter the Park Reference number, Park Name, and check 'Mst' if the park has multi-state locations, in the first line boxes under the 'Park', 'Park Name', and 'Mst' headings. If you have an activation location that is within two to five parks, then enter those parks in the second through fifth line boxes and check the 'Act' box for those Parks that are for your current activation. Note: You may have to expand the 'Station Details' window to see the additional park lines.) You can also preload the parks for a days activity and when you get to the park, select that park with the radio button, the 'Act' box will automatically be checked for that one park. Click on 'Save Station' to save the information to the PotaLog database. (Note: the station details are automatically saved when exiting the program. However, if a new unsaved park is detected, the program will ask if you want to save the park. This keeps empty park activations from being added if you are just opening the program and not activating a park.) Click 'Connect QRZ' or type 'ALT+C' if you have an internet connection and a QRZ account. While connected to QRZ and you have a database subscription, you will be able to get complete contact data from QRZ including 'Latitude/Longitude'. Grid, Miles, and Azimuth values, from your station point of view, will be calculated and displayed in the 'Contact Details' window for the contact being retrieved. This should be helpful in determining propagation direction and skip distance. Once the 'Station Details' are complete, if you have more that one park listed, select the Park you want to show on the 'POTA Logging' window by clicking on the radio button next to it or use the 'Up' and 'Dn' arrow keys while focused on the Station Details window. This will populate the Park Reference, Park Name, Multi-St, Location, County, Grid of the park information in the main 'POTA Logging' window for the park selected. If the listed parks are not at the same location, you will have to update the location information for that park in the 'Station Details' window. At this point you should choose the display theme ('Light Theme' or 'Dark Theme') from the 'Setup' menu. The default is the 'Light Theme' but you might like the 'Dark Theme' better. Experimentation in the field will determine which works the best. Although best if left open, if you don't need or want the 'Station Details' or 'Contact Details' windows open, you can close them at this time and open them when needed, 'Setup->Station Details' and 'Setup->Contact Details'. The 'Contact Log' should normally be close while in operation because it slows the response down considerably since it has to read the complete database for updates. You are now ready to start logging. LOGGING WITHOUT INTERNET CONNECTION 1. Enter 'Call' of contact and press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'Sent' box. Notice that this will populate the time and operational fields from the 'Station Details' data. 2. If given, enter the 'Sent' RST value and press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'Rcvd' box. 3. If heard, enter the 'Rcvd' RST value and press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'QSO' box. 4. If heard, enter the contact's 2 letter 'ST' (State) designator and press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'Name' box. 5. If heard, enter the contact's 'Name' and press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'QSO' box. 6. Enter any comments you like in the 'QSO' comment box and press 'Enter' to log the contact. 7. If the contact mentions a Patk-to-Park, press the 'F1' key to go to the 'P2P' box and enter the park reference number. (Note: If the contact mentions another Patk-to-Park, press the 'F2' key to add another Park-to-Park in the 'P2P' box, a 2fer, etc. The contact with the previous P2P will have been logged each time you press the 'F2' key with the current contact data. If the data for the contact wasn't completed, you may later have to edit the previous contact data.) When complete, press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'Sent' box, Step 2 above. You will notice the the contact has been logged and is shown in the 'Park Log' window. Also, the contact data has been cleared and the text entry cursor has been move to the 'Call' box, ready for the next contact. When you get back to your internet connection, you can fill in the missing QRZ data. First, select the start and end 'Activation Dates' theb select the 'File->Populate QRZ Data' menu item. The 'File->Populate QRZ Data' procedure should be used if you want to update the QRZ data due to either not having internet access or an earlier version of PotaLog that did not have the Country and DXCC values retrieved. However, be aware that if you choose thousands of contact records from your database, then this can take a long time. Typically, it could take about 30 minutes to retrieve 7,000 contacts depending on your internet and computer speeds. Select a smaller date range to reduce your processing time. If you only have a few records to populate, you can use the contact edit feature within the main window. Recall the contact, click 'Get Contact' in 'Contact Details' window, press 'F8' key to update. LOGGING WITH INTERNET CONNECTION AND QRZ SUBSCRIPTION 1. Enter 'Call' of contact and press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'Sent' box. Notice that this will populate the time and operational fields from the 'Station Details' data along with the contact's name and state. Also, the 'QRZ Contact Details' window is populated with data from the QRZ database. 2. If given, enter the 'Sent' RST value and press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'Rcvd' box. 3. If heard, enter the 'Rcvd' RST value and press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'QSO' box. 4. Enter any comments you like in the 'QSO' comment box and press 'Enter' to log the contact. 5. If the contact mentions a Patk-to-Park, press the 'F1' key to go to the 'P2P' box and enter the park reference number. (Note: If the contact mentions another Patk-to-Park, press the 'F2' key to add another Park-to-Park in the 'P2P' box, a 2fer, etc. The contact with the previous P2P will have been logged each time you press the 'F2' key with the current contact data. If the data for the contact wasn't completed, you may later have to edit the previous contact data.) When complete, press 'Enter' to be taken to the 'Sent' box, Step 2 above. You will notice the the contact has been logged and is shown in the Park Log window. Also, the contact data has been cleared and the text entry cursor has been move to the 'Call' box, ready for the next contact. LOGGING AND SEARCHING WITH WSJT-X 1. Open the 'Setup->WSJT-X Panel' window and set the Server 'UDP IP' (default 224.0.0.1) to what WSJT-X (File->Settings->Reporting) has in 'UDP Server:' and then set the Server 'UDP Port' (default 2237) to what WSJT-X has in 'UDP Server port number:'. Click on the 'Restart UDP Server' button. 2. To use PotaLog with other software like JTAlert and Grid Tracker, put a multicast IP value in both WSJT-X and PotaLog (default 224.0.0.1). 3. 'Settings (F2)' window of WSJT-X: a. Check the 'AutoGrid' box within the 'General' tab for PotaLog Station Grid reported to WSJT-X. b. Check the box 'Prompt me to log QSO' within the 'Reporting' tab. 4. Log a contact in WSJT-X and it will be automatically logged in PotaLog. 5. Automatic searching for specific data within received messages will be performed. If found, the message will be shown in the 'Search Results' box along with an audio alert. 6. Search priorities: a. search data - Operator's callsign, alert sound: 1. "Calling You" for normal response messages, 2. "Good Bye" if the message contaings "73", "RR73", or "RRR", 3. "Duplicate Contact" if the contact is already in the log, b. search data - 'CQ POTA', alert sound: 1. "CQ POTA", contact is not logged, 2. "Possible Duplicate" for logged contact but Park, Frequency, or Mode could be different, c. search data - 'POTA', alert sound - "POTA", d. search data - Search 1 text (on program first start 'CQ QRP'), alert sound - "Search One" e. search data - Search 2 text (on program first start 'N7LWD'), alert sound - "Search Two", 7. To help search for other activities or callsigns, put the desired text in search box 1 or 2. 8. A callsign in a search box will show any message containing that callsign and sound an alert. 9. If a 'CQ POTA' message is found, you can have a semi-automatic QSO response to the message by having the 'Auto Reply' radio button in the WSJT-X Panel selected. The QSO will proceed to the logging point where you have to log the QSO in WSJT-X or 'Cancel' logging the contact to continue. LOGGING WHILE HUNTING 1. Setup your 'Station Details' as normal but enter "HUNTER" for the Park Reference. 2. Select the 'Hunter' mode indictor in the main logging window or select menu item 'Setup->Hunting Log' (shortcut key 'Alt+H') to enter hunting mode. 3. Then log as per above. This will produce a special Park displayed in the 'Activation Log' window and will be called 'Hunting Log'. 4. Hunting Log data will not be included in the activation statistics but will help you control who you have worked for the day. PARK LOG EDITING 1. At anytime in the logging process or after, you can select a logged contact for editing the data by pressing the directional keys 'PgUp', 'PgDn', 'Up-Arrow', 'Down-Arrow' to select the logged contact while focus is on the main window. 2. Make the corrections in the contact's information boxes. 3. Press the 'F8 (Log)' key to save the corrections and to be ready for the next contact. 4. Use the directional keys 'PgUp', 'PgDn', 'Up-Arrow', 'Down-Arrow' to move to the next selected contact. 5. Use the F10 (Del) key to delete the selected contact from the log. ACTIVATION (or HUNTING) LOG EDITING 1. Once you have Park Activations completed, the Park information will be stored within the PotaLog database file. These parks will be displayed in the 'Activation Log' window. 2. Select a park activation by using shortcut keys 'Alt+Up', 'Alt+Dn', 'Alt+PgUp', and 'Alt+PgDn' to select an activation from the 'Activation Log' window while focus is on the main window. 3. Press the 'F6' key to re-load the park and start a re-activation. 4. At this point, you can edit Contact and Park Activation data to correct any errors. 5. If you press the 'F7 (Tdy)' key to set the date to today's date, you can start a new re-activation at the same park. 6. Use the Alt+F10(Del) key to delete the selected park from the activation log. EXPORT A LOG TO ADIF FILE 1. Select a park activation by using shortcut keys 'Alt+Up', 'Alt+Dn', 'Alt+PgUp', and 'Alt+PgDn' to select an activation from the 'Activation Log' window while focus is on the main window. 2. Press the 'F6' key to re-load the park for activation logging. 3. If the date of activation is not the current park date, enter the desired park date in the Activate-Date box in the 'POTA Logging' window and press 'Enter'. The park log should load from the program's database into the 'Park Log' window. 4. If you have multiple days at a single park, then enter the last activation date in the 'Through-Date' box. This will produce an ADI file with all contacts from the 'Activate-Date' to the 'Through-Date' for this park in a single log file. 5. For a POTA log, click on 'File->Export Park Log (ADIF)' to generate the proper POTA ADIF Log file stored in the 'Data' subdirectory under your PotaLog installation directory, default "\N7LWD\Programs\PotaLog\Data". The file will have the naming convention: call@ParkRef_yyyymmdd.adi, e.g. "N7LWD@K-1912_20210512.adi" and only contain the ten important data items (STATION_CALLSIGN, OPERATOR, MY_SIG_INFO, MY_STATE, QSO_DATE, TIME_ON, BAND, MODE, CALL, and SIG_INFO) for submitting to the POTA area coordinators or the now enabled self loading procedure. If the park is a multi-state park, then the file will have the naming convention: call@ParkRef_ST_yyyymmdd.adi, e.g. "N7LWD@K-1912_FL_20210512.adi" 6. For a Full Contact log, click on 'File->Export Contact Log (ADIF)' to generate a ADIF Log file stored in the 'Data' subdirectory under your PotaLog installation directory, default "\N7LWD\Programs\PotaLog\Data". The file will have the naming convention: call@ParkRef_yyyymmdd_complete.adi, e.g. "N7LWD@K-1912_20210512_complete.adi" and contain all the data logged for the contacts including items such as signal reports, state, name, QSO comments, etc. IMPORT AN ADIF FILE TO PARK LOG FROM OTHER PROGRAMS like WSJT-X 1. In 'POTA Logging' window: Set Date of Activation in Park Date 2. In 'Station Details' window: a. Set Station Callsign b. Set Operator Callsign c. Set Latitude of Park d. Set Longitude of Park e. Set State of Park (USA) f. Set County of Park (USA) g. Set Park Reference for Park Selected (Sel) h. Set Park Name for Park Selected (Sel) i. Check 'Mst' for Park Selected (Sel) if the park has multi-state locations j. Click on 'Save Station' 3. If you have multiple days at a single park, then enter the start and end date for that park in the 'Activate-Date' boxes. 4. If you have multiple parks in a single day, then enter the start and end time for that park in the 'Activate-Time' boxes. 5. Click on 'File->Import Park Log (ADIF)' 6. Select your '*.adi' file from your computer system For general maintenance of the PotaLog database or any other SQLite database, download, install, and run the program 'DB Browser for SQLite', https://sqlitebrowser.org/.