Our friend Marek SP7DQR, in cooperation with Ruud NL290, created a new logging program which can be used by SWLs for almost all the Contests with an SWL category, including our IOTA SWL Contest. In fact the program offers the possibility to change the settings of the input parameters according to the Contest rules.

Actually the latest version is 1.20 . The program can be downloaded from the site of NL920 at http://swl.veron.nl/SWL_Consoft.html and from the site of SP7DQR at http://sp7dqr.waw.pl/eng/index_en.html . Ruud also wrote a nice User’s Manual, available in the same site.

The most important features of SWL DQR_LOG are:

• Off-line logging (to transfer paper logs into electronic logs) as well as real-time logging. You can switch between the two modes by clicking the right mouse button on the “Date” field.
  
  
• Generation of Cabrillo file at the end of the Contest (see “Generate Cabrillo File” button). This format is requested by our IOTA SWL Contest and accepted or even dictated by most of other Contests.
  
  
• Possibility to write on the same line the reports of both the stations in QSO. When the program generates Cabrillo, this line, if the proper box is checked in the “Cabrillo Header” window and both reports are recorded, will be split into two lines.
  
  
• The control groups can be divided into two sections (e.g. serial number and IOTA reference number).
  
  
• Availability of hotkeys to speed-up logging (see “Help” button). Very useful are the PGUp/PGDn keys to quickly change the time in the Off-Line logging (the cursor must be in the Heard station/Working fields).
  
  
• No need to save the log. An “swl_log.dqr” file is stored on the disk after any logging action. All data are restored when the program restarts.
  
  
• Correction of already recorded data is easy to do. You can click with the right mouse button on the line to be corrected and edit the data

For The IOTA SWL Contest we suggest to set the Fields configuration as follows (the Fields configuration can be accessed by clicking the right mouse button on an input field of the default window, e.g. “Call” under “Heard station”).

Any comment that could lead to an improvement of the program is welcomed by Ruud at NL290@amsat.org or by Marek at SP7DQR.