HFU HF Underground
General Category => General Radio Discussion => Topic started by: glimmer twin on June 06, 2013, 1436 UTC
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This may have been addressed in a previous post. I am trying to get back into the habit of keeping a written log of what I hear on HF. I used to log stations religiously but when I renewed my dx\swl'ing about a year ago I only write down stuff occasionally. I picked up some pre-made forms from universal & made copies at work & I keep separate logs of what I hear from my qth here in KCMO & what I hear on various remote receivers. I am wondering if & how others log their reception. I've tried using a computer to keep a log but that sucks. I want to actually write it down. I recently moved my setup into an "empty" bedroom upstairs & I found ,in the room where I had put them years earlier, my logbooks from the late 90's. It made for some interesting reading. This was before I even had a computer & relied on GH's world of radio & the other dx shows along with pop comm , monitoring times & of course passport to world band radio. GH still did a printed version of dx listening digest at the time. I also found the logging form that I made for myself. It is almost the same as the thing from universal radio but it was tailored for what I wanted to record. I'm starting to ramble here...so do you keep a log & if so how do you do it?
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You know, I used to, I still have my log book that I started in 1968, going faithfully into the early 1990s, but after that I just got lazy and lost interest in keeping it up. These days I just jot down what I hear in a spiral bound notebook and file any written/email reception report in the computer.
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Lots of good ideas here http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,10294.0.html (http://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,10294.0.html)
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I write everything down, using a spiral ring notebook. I go through maybe 3-4 of them a year.
Upper left hand corner, I write the date in UTC, and day (local day, i.e. "Thurs eve.", even if UTC is actually Friday -- that way if I screw the date up, which can happen, I can go back and correct it more easily). I'll also write down the model of the radio I'm using next to the top line of the sheet somewhere.
Down the page, to the left of the blue line I keep the time in UTC, right side of the line I jot the log notes -- khz, what I am hearing, SIO, etc.
I write a lot down, probably more detail than I need to, but it helps me later on if I have an UNID, to help figure out what station it may have been. It also is useful because I don't make recordings of my loggings, so notes is all I've got to go by.
Later on I'll put the main loggings on the computer -- IDed stations and tentatives. I have separate Excels for MW and SW.
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I used to keep logs, but lost them (all my QSL's too) in a flood in the mid-90's. Never felt much like investing the time and effort after that. If you do keep logs, I recommend having them backed up on the cloud or other online storage system to avoid loss. I do still log most of my ham radio contacts.
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i still have my SWL log pages from GILFER in NJ that they sold from about 1967...in a three ring binder....they made a nice log sheet, along the line of an ARRL log format, but with SINPO scale....not alot of room for program details/comments tho.....i mainly used them to log the rare stations i sent reception reports to, so i could track responses, and see who needed to be sent another one with more $$$$ (hello, Sao Tome?? hello,Voice of Basque Underground???).......it worked well....also used it for other special catches, not everyday loggings....
i keep meaning to start using them again...gots lots of unused ones left...but i keep dragging my feet......
i go hot an cold...on a year...off a year.....
funny....yesterday i found a BIG BIG brown envelope stuffed with DOZENS AND DOZENS of pirate loggings from around 2006 with precise/anal scribbled reception report notes/logging details done in real time reception transcription scribble on legal pads......and i filed them away under some PILE...and there they have sat since 2006 ! SHEESH.......i wonder how many pirates would take offense to my good intentions by receiving 7 year old reception reports ??? :-(
Oh well.....i MEANT to write them up and send them at the time ! I really really did....but LIFE got in the way....apologies to all....ahhhhhhh...but the programs were still GREAT !!!! Excelsoir !!!!!
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Back in the late 80's & early 90's I did. Looked through it recently and regret I didn't log more. A bunch of stations that are long since gone - R Moscow, R Prague, WRNO (on Dec 20, 1989, they broadcast the Rolling Stones "Steel Wheels" concert from Atlantic City live), R Kiev, Radio Bras, R Sofia, Radio RSA and ones that are still around, R Havana, BBC, and R Australia. Logged an UNID on July 24, 1989 on 15360 that was playing Polka music. Whole bunch of military, maritime, MW BC, and NDBs too. Last entry was Oct 21, 1991 on 29620 FM. WI0J repeater from NH. Only two entires in 1991. Also have a bunch of stuff on VHF and higher.
Started logging again, but I need to be a bit more dedicated to doing it.
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I keep a log book, a bound record book, religiously. In the past, I have used spiral notebooks also.
It's very interesting to read into your own back pages and see where you have been. When glimmer started this thread, I pulled out my first logbook from 1969-70. I found a log there for CJCX 6010, Cape Breton Island that I didn't even remember hearing (I was 17, you can do the math). Lots of stations, as skeezix said, that are long gone and just warm fuzzy memories now. But with all the station attrition, there is still a ton of stuff out there to hear today. Log 'em in a book now, and you won't regret reading them again in the future.
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Speaking of attrition- Heard on World of Radio #1672 today that all transmissions from Wertachtal have ceased. Additionally, WYFR is in a spiral to going off as well as they've cut a lot of their broadcasts.
The Nauen site is still going.
If the broadcasters go off the air, more spectrum for pirates? :'(
One thing I've been doing to make logging a bit more efficient, if I log stuff here on HFU, I'll come back after a day or two and print off the log, then toss that into a 3-ring binder.
But, still logging to my old little 3-ring binder.
Also got a few R Moscow QSLs in 1989-1990 or so.... I'm sure I've been on some list for a while now. ;D
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I used keep notebooks on the pirate radio station back in the 80's. I've kept all of the ACE books / loggings from the 1980's. I also have a large binder of QSL's (many from pirate stations not even listed on HFU main list)
BTW - What ever happened to Kirk Baxter and George Zeller?
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George Zeller is still around, he did the pirate forum at the Winterfest this year again, but his weekly pirate logs ceased over a year ago, so I think his interest is lessening. GZ is a big Indians fan and he's hoping that Tito Francona can take the Tribe to the World Series this year. ;)
Haven't heard from Kirk Baxter in a looong time.
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Not anymore...still have my medium wave log starting in 1964, hermetically sealed for hand-me-down protection. I just circle frequ. listed on printout for prime time shortwave.