tSotaLog: Fork of general purpose FOSS logging app TOTALOG

[IN3JIB]

super can’t wait to test the new updates!
happy implementing

And thank you a lot Beni!

[HB9EAJ]

Hi Beni,

Thanks a lot for your efforts for the SOTA community!

I have installed your version 0.6 and thought before you go into the details of the user interface, I would give you a quick feedback on my most critical usability findings.

Since my second SOTA activation about 4.5 years ago, I have logged more than 15’000 QSOs with VK-port-a-log, developed by @VK3ZPF.
VK-port-a-log has some features that I don’t use at all (like the pile-up function or the callsign shortcuts), but I really recommend looking at it and testing it from a typical activator’s perspective. I think if you study this application, which has been improved over time, you’ll save yourself a lot of development and modification effort.

I think the process of first entering your activation details (which don’t change during an activation) will save you a lot of space on the entry form.
There’s also no need to switch between ACT and S2S mode. Just add an optional S2S input field. While we’re at it, CHA mode (if needed) is also something that should be set initially.

@IN3JIB

Always display on: I would also implement a switch for turing on the display all time.

This should do it:
getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_KEEP_SCREEN_ON);

@HB9HNT

The upside of this is that the form design is more consistent with the rest of the app. The downside is that the form uses a lot more space:

If you want to save space, why not place the RS(T) TX and RS(T) RX labels in front of the input boxes instead of above them. Both input boxes need space for max. 3 numbers.

High on the priority list should also be the ability to spot directly from the app. The summit reference and the on air callsign set initially, and the frequency and mode set in the log entry form, will then be sent to the API. This eliminates the need to switch to other applications and spot with duplicate data, which is error prone.

Again, this is just my personal opinion and YMMV.

73 Stephan

[HB9HNT]

Hey Stephan

Thank you for your detailed reply and your inputs.

@HB9EAJ

VK-port-a-log has some features that I don’t use at all (like the pile-up function or the callsign shortcuts), but I really recommend looking at it and testing it from a typical activator’s perspective. I think if you study this application, which has been improved over time, you’ll save yourself a lot of development and modification effort.

I tried this app but being a bit of a open source zealot it never felt right to use a closed source app for logging. So I started my own. As stated before, my main aim is to create something I find useful. If there is a closed source app which suits someone else needs better, I don’t mind them using whatever suits them. I’d be totally ok with me being the only user of tSotaLog. That said, of course I also welcome input or merge requests as long as they don’t interfere with my ways of doing things.

@HB9EAJ

I think the process of first entering your activation details (which don’t change during an activation) will save you a lot of space on the entry form.
There’s also no need to switch between ACT and S2S mode. Just add an optional S2S input field. While we’re at it, CHA mode (if needed) is also something that should be set initially.

I considered having a setup for the activation and then remove those field from the log book. However I didn’t for two reasons:

• I often chase people on the way to the summit and don’t know whether the log entry will become a s2s. I want those in the same ADIF/CSV export and don’t want to go into some initial settings on the way up.

• If I activate multiple summits in one day or do a multi-day activation, I still want the option to export all the activations to a single file.

I was unable to come up with a way to do both in an easy to use way so I left it the way it was.

@HB9EAJ

This should do it:
getWindow().addFlags(WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_KEEP_SCREEN_ON);

Do I sense a merge request here?

@HB9EAJ

If you want to save space, why not place the RS(T) TX and RS(T) RX labels in front of the input boxes instead of above them. Both input boxes need space for max. 3 numbers.

That’s a goot idea, I’ll try this. Thanks.

@HB9EAJ

High on the priority list should also be the ability to spot directly from the app. The summit reference and the on air callsign set initially, and the frequency and mode set in the log entry form, will then be sent to the API. This eliminates the need to switch to other applications and spot with duplicate data, which is error prone.

It’s not high up on my priority list because I don’t need this myself. However, the reason I didn’t implement it yet is the fact I couldn’t figure out a way to get a persistent anonymous token for the SOTA API (i.e. without a registering an oauth client which I can’t do because including a client secret in an app where the code is public isn’t an option). Also, I don’t want to save the username and password in the app for security reasons and I don’t want the user to have to re-authenticate with the SOTA API every time they use the app for convenience reasons. If someone would be willing to help me figure out how I can achieve this, I’m happy to implement spotting.

Of course all of this is also my personal opinion. Hence tSotaLog is a pretty opinionated app. The great thing about code being open source is that you can mostly do with it whatever you want - it’s under MIT license, which basically only says you have to give attribution if you reuse the code and can’t sue if it burns your phone or eats your dog. So if I’m not willing to change the app in a way that suits someone, there is still the option to fork the code.

73, Beni

[G7KSE]

Not a big deal to lose a bit of screen space for me Beni. I might only need to see a couple of log entries.

Spotting would be nice but nice isn’t always necessary. Most of the time RBN works or someone spots me.

The most important thing for me is that it’s clean, uncluttered and straightforward to log and then get the log into the SOTA database and my own log. Which it does very well.