Internet Support
Today more and more radio amateurs have a permanent connection to the internet and the internet has become an additional tool for many of us. Therefore I decided to integrate the Internet as seamlessly as possible into SWISSLOG. Currently SWISSLOG supports the following functions with more to come:
Follow the links above for more details.
Search Calls in Internet Callsign Databases
When you enter a Call in the QSO-Entry Window SWISSLOG can look up the details for the call either in a local database like the Radio Amateur Callbook or Buckmaster or you can define that SWISSLOG looks for the call details in an internet database. Currently SWISSLOG supports QRZ, HAMQTH and HamCall QRZ databases. Both CDs are searched if the call is not found in the first database.
You can also open the web page of the Internet Callbook DB by pressing the corresponding buttons located on the toolbar. It opens the web page with the current Call as argument. The current call is the one which is selected in the active window. The option Update Quick-Stat automatically must be active for the log-view window otherwise the current call is not set.
For more details see Callbook Database Support.
Search QSL Managers in QSL Manager Databases
SWISSLOG allows you to search a great number of local and internet QSL databases. All databases you have defined are searched and the result of all searches is displayed in a special window.
For more details see QSL Manager Database Support.
An option is available in the TOOLS menu called "Update awards information (internet)". It's a sub-menu containing many options so that users can periodically update from internet the following information tables:Members list of the following clubs: 30MDG, BDM, Club Log, CWOPS, DIG, DMC, EA QRP Club, EPC, FISTS, FOC, HSC, EHSC, SHSC, VHSC, Lynx DX Group, MF, NDG, SKCC, TBDXC, TENTEN, URE.
Awards references: ARLHS, BCA, DCE, DCI, DEE, DEFE, DERESP, DFCF, DMVE, ILLW, IOTA (only Windows Vista or higher), SOTA, WCA, WFF.
Users of: LOTW and eQSL AG.
When executing one of these options Swisslog will download an updated list of all members/references from the official website and will import them into the corresponding info tables. Depending the number of members/references of the selected option it may take some time to be performed. A progress bar is displayed.
IMPORTANT: In order to update the AGCW, DCE, DEE, DERESP and HSC tables Microsoft Excel / OpenOffice must be installed in your computer. Otherwise you won't be able to update these info tables.
Also included an option to "Update ALL" which run all options. Keep in mind that depending your computer speed and internet connection it may take long time to update everything! As an example: In a Core 2 Quad computer and 5Mb ADSL connection it takes about 13 minutes to update all. It's recommended to use this option when you are not using your computer to allow Swisslog working alone. Now there is no need to wait for an updated version of Swisslog to get all these statistics updated! In future versions I will be implementing all awards whose references changes often or from time to time.
Not all award managers make available on internet a suitable list of references / members. Some award managers are publishing listings in complicated formats difficulting automatic data extraction (i.e. PDF format). Special tools and manual work are needed to extract data in such formats. In that cases I will adapt the format manually so that Swisslog can download the adapted format from the Swisslog server instead of the official website.
At startup, Swisslog will display a message informing which tables need update indicating the number of days since your last update. I have set a warning time period of 30 days for LOTW/eQSL members list, 60 days for awards and 180 days for club memberships. Swisslog will prompt you if you want to update just after the message is displayed.
Web links to download the updated information for every award / club may change in the future. Swisslog saves these links in the [URL-List] section of the configuration file (SWISSLV5.INI). In case you get permanent "Host not found" errors when executing a particular option, the web link has probably changed. If there is no new Swisslog version available correcting this, user can edit the configuration file and update the affected link manually.
IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that the data format of the new link MUST keep the same format as the old one. Otherwise you may get errors or corrupted data imported into the info table.