Many of you know that I am a big fan of DF3CB’s ‘Fast Log Entry’ (FLE) syntax for entering my paper logs after an activation. FLE is the most efficient way to capture paper logs. If you don’t already know about FLE (and you log on paper), then I suggest you check it out here: DF3CB.com :: Fast Log Entry (FLE)
DF3CB’s FLE is only available for Windows. However if like me you are a Mac / Linux user, you can still take full advantage of FLE thanks to the work of some great people!
‘Syntax highlighting’ means highlighting different parts of the log for readability. For example, times might be green, band/mode info might be red, summit refs might be yellow, etc. This helps you find mistakes when you are entering your logs. Here is an example where I have made a typo in a summit ref, which is easy to find because of the syntax highlighting:
OK, so you have your log entered in a text file in FLE format… now what? Thanks to our own SOTA MT rockstar dev @VK3ARR you can directly import your FLE files via SOTAData. Just click ‘Uploads’ then ‘Import FLE’ and off you go.
We are lucky to have so many talented people in our amateur radio community. My hat is off to these fine folks - thank you for your contributions to our hobby!
We’ve had FLE direct upload since 30th August Romain. It had a few rough edges initially but it’s my go to method for logging entry now. I just type the paper log in to a text file in FLE style and upload it. A few clicks and the job is done.
I have been using FLe for a number of years for my WWFF park activations and I love it, it is easy and fast. A great logging program. I notice that the latest revision of FLe has a provision for SOTA.
de W6LEN / Jess
Thanks for posting the link. My original link went to Michael’s Blog which then linked to the git page you posted. Not sure what happened to his blog.
I highly recommend his syntax file for anyone using vim to enter FLE logs. Finding typos is MUCH easier! As Andy pointed out you may need to tweak the band names, but it is simple to do… the syntax is defined in a text file. Here is what I have for bands in my file:
Vim is Beelzebub’s own editor. It was produced and released after PL-259 et al. had been placed into circulation as something equally unwieldy and crufty.
I’ve been using it for ages. I think I first ran it on an Amiga in '91 or '92. It was developed on the Amiga. I still have some disks around here with some early versions of vim.
I exchanged an email with DK1MI a few days ago in reference to the URL change as the Readme still had the old URL. He responded very quickly and corrected it, so I do believe it is still in active development, just on a new site!
iThe only thingxh cwwrongbad about ~Vim is the inability of other editors to implement the appropriate, god-given key actions!:%s/implement/understand/g:wq
Most of you children using Vim will be using the cursor keys version and not hjkl like us old dudes did when I used vi on V7 on an 11/44 in 1982/3. Now get off my lawn!
‘vim’ is ‘vi-improved’. Actually, it was originally ‘vi-imposter’, but later changed to ‘improved’. You CAN use the arrow keys (part of the improvements?), but that is an inefficient method. There are commands to move by words/lines/etc, and yes if I need to move by single chars I use hjkl because my fingers are already on/near those keys.
This will really blow your mind… they have versions of vim that even use a MOUSE.
More vim learning aids on my website, including other language layouts.
@ZL4NVW Hardcore vim users tend to build their custom 60% or less mechanical keyboards without cursor keys to save valuable desk space. The keebtalk.com Discord community is as nice, welcoming and addictive as that of the SOTA folk. You’ve been warned.
This is great, now I can very simply upload logs from my phone!
Not so good on a glass TTY.
