Update WSJT-X to the Latest CTY.dat File

 The following quote is from: https://norfolkcoastamateurs.co.uk/cty-dat-country-files/

Have you ever wondered how all of the various types of amateur radio software, e.g. N1MM and DX Cluster nodes, keep up to date with the plethora of changes that occur to a simple list of countries and prefixes? These changes take place almost daily and getting it right can be vital for contest point scoring and award tracking so you need to log the correct information.

Which DXCC entity is GB4CTY located in this week? It could be any of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Island, Guernsey or Jersey.

What about G3YPP/NHS. Surely the /N places him stateside.

It would be a remarkable feat if every single program was updated individually by their development teams every time a prefix or entity changed or a new Special Event Station was activated.

Fortunately, most logger and contest software makes use of cty.dat files which have been kept updated by Jim Reisert, AD1C as a labour of love for many, many years. Known as country files, full details can be seen on Jim’s website here: Country Files

This is from: https://www.country-files.com/contest/wsjt-x/

The WSJT-X User Guide states, “WSJT-X includes a built-in cty.dat file containing DXCC prefix information. Updated files can be downloaded from the Amateur Radio Country Files website when required. If an updated cty.dat is present in the logs folder and readable, it will be used in preference to the built-in one.”

Starting with Version 2.7, you can update the country file from within the program. In Settings, click on the Colors tab and you’ll find the information at the bottom of the window.

WSJT-X pull down File | Settings... | Colors tab

This update process simply can not be any more painless.  Doing this assures that your WSJT-X decodes are identified as the correct country.  And, if you use supplemental programs like JTAlert or GridTracker, they can give you audible or text/email alerts for those decodes you need.

Configure JTAlert to Send Text Msg or Email User Alerts

JTAlert has the ability to alert the user (you) by playing an audible message for Wanted States, New DXCC, New Zone, New Grid, or several other decodes you want to be notified about when it decodes a callsign matching one of your "Needs."  This feature has garnered me several New Ones on 6-M (both DXCC's and Grids) by playing an audio message of "Wanted Call," "New Country," "New State," "New Grid," or any of a dozen or so other alerts.  This feature is wonderful as long as you are close enough to your computer to hear that audible alert from your computer's speakers. 

But what about when you are too far away to hear that alert?  To solve that problem Bill, WTØDX, has written a procedure to allow JTAlert to send a Text Message and/or an Email in addition to that audible alert using JTAlert's User Alert feature.  Zowie!  I would say this procedure is the "Bee's Knees" but you have to be "of a certain age" to understand that phrase!  Maybe I should call it "Lit", or "Dope" or "Fire" to be more current in my slang.  In any event, I think this is Absolutely AWESOME!

I  was lucky to be a "Beta Tester" for this procedure.  My findings were that "Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of creating folders and working with text files should be able to follow this procedure with no problems." It took me exactly 1 hour to complete the procedure AND record 2 pages of notes at the same time.  I did already have a Gmail account with 2-Step Verification enabled so that gave me a bit of a head start.

The procedure is contained in a 19-page PDF file.  It is that long because it has a LOT of screenshots to make each step easy to follow.  An overview of the procedure is:

- Create Gmail email account (optional if you already have a Gmail account you want to use)
- Enable 2-Step Verification for the account
- Generate an Application Password for that account
- Edit the Send Alert file and save as a batch file
- Download CMail application
- Store Send Alert batch file and CMail application in a folder
- Configure JTAlert
- Test

You can download the PDF file plus two text files (Send Alert.txt and CMail test.txt) which are described in the procedure, as a ZIP file from this link:  JTAlert User Alert Files.  UnZIP that file then follow the procedure in the PDF file.

Below are screenshots of an email and a text message created by this procedure.  I had left my radio receiving on 17-M and JTAlert decoded 4L7T which would be a New One for me.  It then sent me the email and text messages shown below.  (I missed working 4L7T because I was on the mower and did not hear my phone ding!)

4L7T Email + Text Message

The latest version of JTAlert is 2.60.10 available HERE.  My version is 2.60.5 (Build date: 7-Feburary-2023) and this procedure worked just fine with my older version.

Combine the above procedure to alert you to needed callsigns which your own station copies with the HamAlert feature which will send you a text message when a needed entity is spotted on the Cluster or reported to PSKReporter, and you have covered all the bases.  Here is a Post detailing the HamAlert notification feature: DX Spots that "Only YOU Need on Your Phone.

UPDATE RE Verizon Wireless:

For those of you with Verizon Wireless, please read the following article regarding a new "feature" to disable email to text messages. 

If you have turned off email to text "spam" messages, then you will not receive the alerts.  (Thanks to Jim KC4HW for pointing this out).

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/29/verizon-has-a-new-way-for-customers-block-email-to-text-spam-messages.html

--
73 Bill WT0DX

Ham Radio STILL Gives Me a Thrill!

Last night provided me with a thrill in Ham Radio that just never seems to get old.   Snagging that elusive DX on a New Band.  Working a New One is only surpassed by working an All-Time New One (ATNO) and it seems several in the West Virginia DX Association (WVDXA) scored one of those "rarest of the rare" contacts with this DX'pedition to A2, Botswana.  CONGRATULATIONS to all those folks!  Hopefully you got your piece of pie as a reward for scoring that QSO!!!

I am reminded of how it was "back in the day" when a New One was worked.  Back then there were no WARC bands (30-M, 17-M and 12-M) so the record keeping was a "little" easier.  Still, it meant having separate PAPER DXCC lists for each band AND for each mode!

Note: at the beginning of my DX'ing career, I had only ONE DXCC List because there were no 5-Band awards.  If I worked A2 on one band, that was all I needed in my mind.  And, if I worked them on SSB, I made no effort to work them on CW let alone RTTY (digital.)

Since there was no PacketCluster spotting system back then, you found the DX by simply tuning your radio and checking out EVERY signal you heard until you could identify that station.  If you happened to run across a pileup on the band, you had to then physically check your list(s) to see if that was a New One.  But I can tell you that if it was an ATNO, that list was kept in your brain and you knew instantly you had never worked that country before!

There were check-boxes in your paper logbook to let you record if a QSL had been sent or received.  But you still needed to keep paper records to record when you sent for a QSL, where you sent for it (bureau, manager, direct, etc.), and what you enclosed ($$$, SAE, etc.)  All this paper-shuffling made you feel more like an accountant than a ham radio operator.  That data can now be easily recorded in your logging program and instantly available to you.  It is simply amazing what an improvement that is.

Plus, today with the PacketCluster, computer logging, Club Log and LoTW - that record-keeping "burden" has been removed.  Today you don't need to tune the bands looking for DX, your logging program will take the incoming PacketCluster spots, check them against your log, then color-code them for you to tell you not only what stations have been spotted but whether or not it is a New One or an ATNO for YOU personally!

On the image at the upper-right, you can see that there are three spots from the PacketCluster that are color-coded Blue.  (Click on any image to see a larger version.) These spots are displayed in my logging program's BandMap.  Those are New Ones for ME.  If they were Red, those would be ATNO's.  If I hover my mouse over any of those (like I did with AP2HA in the above screenshot) I get a pop-up (shown in Yellow) with tons of detail.  BOY, that's so much of an improvement over the "old days" that you just can't believe it unless you were there.

The Green square shown just to the left of most of those calls indicate that station is an LoTW user, as does the "+" sign in the Yellow pop-up.  LoTW has improved the DX'ing hobby beyond measure.  At one time I waited 13 YEARS to get a QSL from an ATNO!  And, when that card came, it was still an ATNO as I had never worked that country again in all those years.  Today, you can sometimes get an LoTW confirmation while the DX'pedition is STILL UNDERWAY!  WOW!

All one needs to do is to click on any spot in the above BandMap and your radio jumps to the exact frequency and mode for the spotted station plus the callsign gets placed in the Call field of the logging program and is ready to be logged once the station is worked.

Your logging program can also tell you where you have and have not worked that particular entity (band/mode/QSL Rcvd or not.)  In the screenshot on the left, I have A2, Botswana, Confirmed (shown in Red text) on 10-M and 20-M SSB plus 30-M and 40-M CW.  The two Yellow "DIG" fields show that I have "Worked" (Blue not Red text) A25RU on 17-M and 30-M Digital Modes.  They are Yellow since I typed A25RU into the Call field to see these Worked/Confirmed records and the Yellow says I have worked "A25RU" (not some other A2 station) on those Bands/Modes.  If I had just typed "A2" in the box, there would have been no Yellow boxes, just the Mode shown in Blue text since it was not confirmed on those QSO's.  Plus the Yellow box for 80-M CW indicates my QSO from last night (as recorded in my log.)  It is SO easy to check what bands/modes you need an entity on now, just enter the prefix for the entity and your Worked/Confirmed window will display all that data!  No need to shuffle through all those PAPER DXCC lists!

From this data I can easily see that from this A25RU DX'pedition I have added two New Bands to my A2 list of stations worked as well as one New Mode.  And, it also shows a gaping hole for 12-M which is one I still need.

If I want to check when I worked those stations, I can just click on any of the above boxes and get a pop-up with my log data.  For instance, if I click on the Red SSB for 20-M, what I see is shown above.

Are you kidding me?  1973 for that A2 QSO?  WOW!  Some of you reading this may still have been in diapers or not even born then!

Still, the way things used to be, you were never 100% sure your QSO made it into the DX Station's log until you got his QSL (or not) which would always take 6-months or more and sometimes YEARS!  Today, you just need to check out an online log to see if the DX has recorded your QSO.  Below on the right is a screenshot of Club Log for the log of the A25RU DX'pedition checked against my own call.

Bingo!  All my A25RU QSO's made the log!  That is SUCH a benefit that you can't imagine.  Years ago I was certain I had worked A5, Bhutan, for my very last country.  That would have put me on the Top of the Honor Roll.  Two of my friends heard the QSO and congratulated me on the contact.  BUT, almost a year later I got back a "Not in Log" to my QSL request.  I was CRUSHED!  If I had been able to check online at that time for my contact and seen it was not there, I would have tried for another.

Finally, my logging program, Logger32, even tracks my progress toward various awards.  Looking at my confirmations for Mixed DXCC I can see my totals in the screenshot at the bottom of this Post.

That 80-M QSO with A25RU last night gave me 240 entities worked on 80-M All-Time and 237 Current since I have 3 Deleted entities worked on 80-M.  You can see two Yellow boxes with a "W" in them.  That indicates that A2, Botswana, has been "Worked" on those Bands but not yet Confirmed.

The Green boxes with a "G" in them indicate those QSO's have been Confirmed AND Credit for them has been "Granted" by ARRL.  The Orange "C" box tells me that QSO is "Confirmed" but not yet Granted toward my DXCC.  

This table is a HUGE help in trying to confirm your contacts.  Just scroll through the list and see what contacts are "Worked" but not "Confirmed."  Click on the "W" box and a pop-up will give you the log information on that entity/band QSO.  Below is what I see if I click on the Yellow box for 80-M on the A2, Botswana line.  This gives me the information for ANY station marked as "W" (Worked and NOT Confirmed.)  That will allow me to track when (or if) I sent for a QSL and give me access to all the information regarding that QSO.  Using these tools you can stay up to date on your QSL'ing.  And, we all know, the QSL is supremely important.  Without a QSL or an LoTW Confirmation, you have NO Credit for working that entity.  Anyone can "claim" they worked anything but if you can PROVE it, that makes all the difference.

The Red boxed text in the image below simply shows I've been DX'ing for a LONG time.  I have Worked and Confirmed 18 entities which no longer count for DXCC!  Some of those countries I have worked on as many as 3 modes and NINE bands!  But, none of those QSO's count anymore because those entities have been DELETED from the ARRL DXCC List.  BUMMER!

 

 

Below is the list of countries/entities I have Worked and Confirmed in the past that no longer count for DXCC:

  1.  Abu Ail Is.
  2.  Yemen Arab Republic
  3.  Saudi Arabia/Iraq Neutral Zone
  4.  Germany
  5.  German Democratic Republic
  6.  Bajo Nuevo
  7.  Serrana Bank & Roncador Cay
  8.  Kingman Reef
  9.  Canal Zone
10.  Czechoslovakia
11.  Territory of New Guinea
12.  Bonaire, Curacao (Neth. Antilles)
13.  Sint Maarten, Saba, Saint Eustatius
14.  Malyj Vysotskij Island
15.  Southern Sudan
16.  Aldabra
17.  Penguin Islands
18.  Walvis Bay


So, even though I have been DX'ing for over 50 years, I probably enjoy it now more than I ever have.  That is because of all the new technology that makes the hobby easier to enjoy.  For me, this thrill of contacting some far-off country on a band where I have never worked them before, is STILL powerful!  It just does NOT get old!

Please remember this history when your QSO does not show up in an online log as fast as you expect.  Or when you think it is taking too long for LoTW to update after your upload.  Today things are so much better than before so please - have a little patience!  Remember, I waited 13 YEARS for one country to be confirmed!!!  Just enjoy what we have now and keep working the New Ones!

GridTracker with Logger32

New Ham Radio software continues to appear which adds tremendous functionality to our hobby.  Computer programs for Amateur Radio applications seem to be growing at an exponential rate.  This provides a lot of utility for hams but also comes with a (sometimes steep) learning curve!

Red Path: W8TN to 5Z4VJ

Yesterday I decided to take a look at the program called "GridTracker" and I can report that my mind was officially BLOWN!  I had previously been using JTAlert since the beginning of December, 2019, and was very pleasantly surprised that it helped me work a half dozen New Countries and a couple of New Grids in really short order.

GridTracker performs similar functions.  JTAlert interfaces with WSJT-X or JTDX and provides audio and visual alerts for stations you may need for various awards and you can find it HERE.  GridTracker does the same thing but includes a graphical (map) interface which is WAAAAAY COOOOL!  On the right you can see the map showing the paths between stations I could hear on one period on 20-M yesterday.  The Red path showed up while I was working 5Z4VJ.  (Click on any image to see it larger.)  Notice that I had it display the position of the moon (at that time just off the West coast of South America.) Hover your mouse over the moon and you will see the Azimuth and Elevation for the moon from your QTH.

To begin learning about GridTracker I found a video on YouTube by Josh, KI6NAZ, who posts a lot of videos under the heading of "Ham Radio Crash Course."  This particular video is 1-1/2 hours long and has Josh interviewing the creator (author) of GridTracker, "Tag" Loomis, NØTTL.  You can see that video HERE.

Even though I was watching the above video, I still spent SIX HOURS getting GridTracker up and running and trying to understand some of its features.  The reason I placed the "WOW!" graphic above is because the functionality (and complexity) of this program is HUGE!  I have only scratched the surface of what it will do and what I have seen is just phenomenal.  In fact, I would stop the video every so often and use what I just saw/heard for learning about my installation.

You can download GridTracker HERE and rather than printing all the features in this Blog, I will just refer you to that page.  Suffice it to say that GridTracker is a companion program for WSJT-X or JTDX.  It listens to what those programs decode and displays that information on a map.  It also interfaces with your digital log and will give alerts for stations you have not worked or have not confirmed.  Say for example you are working on your W.A.S. award, it's nearly impossible to just look at what WSJT-X (or JTDX) decodes and know where a particular station is located.  GridTracker has a database of all U.S. hams and compares their call to that list.  It can then display the information for that station for you.

Note that I just said "display that information."  BOY, that is an understatement!  GridTracker can display more information than you can even imagine.  And, that is one of the keys to the utility of this program.

I looked for an online "manual" for installing the program and what I found was a PDF file (find it HERE) for Version 1.18.0318 and the current version is 1.20.0821.  In the YouTube video "Tag" says this information was written TWO YEARS ago and is out-of-date.  Still, it is a bit of a start.  "Tag" has a real job and works on improving GridTracker on the weekends but it seems to be evolving very quickly.  The YouTube video was created just 3-1/2 months ago and I found a TON of things that were different in the current version.

Settings for Logger32

Lightning Strike Alert Settings

I won't try to give a step-by-step description of how to install this program but, it is really not that hard to do.  For those with limited screen real estate, there are some things I can suggest to help out.  Right off the bat, you can shrink down the WSJT-X window vertically because you no longer need to see a LONG list of stations, GridTracker will take care of that for you. In the upper left you can see I shrank mine to about 5 lines tall.  Next, if the GridTracker map takes up too much room, you can grab the left side of it and shrink it to the right to just leave the control panel.

There is a grid of 18 buttons in the lower right of the control panel.  Just above that grid is a button called "Call Roster + Award Tracker."  Click on that and position the window that opens below your WSJT-X window.  On the Call Roster there is a menu screen with many selections.  Once you select what you want, Right-Click in the Black area and choose "Hide Controls."  To get that menu screen back, Right-Click  to the right of the word "Callsign" or any blank part of the menu bar and choose "Show Controls."  If you Left-Click on any column header in the Call Roster, the contents will be placed in order.  For example, click on the DXCC heading and all the same countries will be grouped together and alphabetically.  Click again and the column will change between "Lowest to Highest" to "Highest to Lowest."  When you are finished, click on the "Age" column to put the spots in order with the most recent showing first.

In that "Grid" of 18 buttons, the "Settings" button is at the right end of the second row.  It looks like two gears meshed together.  This is where you access most of the controls for GridTracker.  There are 11 tabs on that screen to organize the settings in a logical manner.

Once you set up the Audio Alerts, you will get a pleasant female voice saying "New State" or "New DXCC" or whatever alerts you have enabled.  There is also a Button for Lightning Strikes!  I thought this was a really nice feature.  It will indicate on your screen and play an Alert sound if lightning is within (I think) 30 miles from you.  (See the "Lightning Strike Settings" image above.)  So, I turned that on but nothing seemed to happen.  An hour or so later a HUGE sound burst from my speakers and nearly cause me to lose control of my bladder!  It was the Lightning Strike audio alert (default is set to "Long") and the volume level default was set to 100%.  I managed to find the controls for that under Settings | Audio, dropped the volume level to 41% and changed the alert to a "Voice" alert.  Whew!  If you want to hear the original sound, click HERE.

If you want to see how I configured GridTracker to work with Logger32, check out the second image above (on the right.)  It gives the settings I used in GridTracker and the ones I used in Logger32.  Now, spots from WSJT-X (GridTracker) flow into the UDP Bandmap in Logger32 and, when I tell WSJT-X to "log" the contact, it transfers to my Logger32 Logbook.

Use your mouse-wheel to scroll in or out of the Map.  If a country is shown bordered in Red it means you decoded someone calling "CQ NA" or "CQ JA" etc.  Click on Settings | Map and you can adjust a ton of things there and you can even change the map source.  

In Settings | Logging you can tell to get your log from ClubLog, LoTW, QRZ, eQSL, or from a local ADIF file.  You can set a "Button" for many of these on the menu and/or tell GridTracker to get the file at startup.  By mistake I clicked the "Log?" button for ClubLog (see above on the left) and today I find that my QSO from last night has been uploaded to ClubLog!

The place where I have NOT managed to fully understand GridTracker is in how to get it to just display ONLY the spots I am interested in.  I can "hear" the audio alert for "New DXCC" but I can't see the spot in the Call Roster.  I did manage to get it set up to display "New State" and you can see above the settings I used for that.

Press "F1" anytime and you will get a pop-up with all the Hot-Keys like you see in the image on the right.  Right from that pop-up you can print that list.  A push of one of two Buttons will pop-up a window for PSK Reporter for the last 24 hours or a set time to see who has heard you.  OH, there is a text messaging feature built-in where you can send a text to another user of GridTracker.  Maybe you need him on another band or something so just message him.  This only works if he is using GridTracker.

Click on the "Show Stats" button on the end of the top row of Buttons, and the window that opens has more detail about your logbook than you can imagine!  Keep scrolling down to see it all.  You can set GridTracker to pop-up a window from QRZ, HamQTH, QRZCQ or the free "CALLOOK" to give information on the station you are working.  You can see that function during the YouTube video above.

Click on the button that looks like a Gold Cup and toggle between EIGHT different "Overlays" for various awards.  This will show graphically (on the map) what Continents, CQ Zones, ITU Zones, States, DXCC Entities, Counties, Grids, etc. that you have worked.  Just zoom in with your mouse for more detail.  Hover your mouse over the Grid that is shown and see a pop-up of those stations you have decoded from that Grid.

I know I have covered only PART of the functionality of this program here so you can see why my mind was totally BLOWN yesterday.  It did take a little time to get this set up, and I know I need to figure out how to display only the spots I want, but the program is working GREAT without any "Gotches" so it seems to be a VERY well-written piece of software.

On the left above is a list of the items that need to be configured in WSJT-X under Settings.  These are just the UDP settings that worked for me - your mileage may vary!

So, this is my "overview " GridTracker.  I will continue to be learning how to work this going forward but I see that for many folks, this will be a WONDERFUL addition to your software stable.

Why You Should Backup Your Log - NOW!

Don't Put This Off - DO IT NOW!

Have you given any thought to what would happen if you were to lose your log?  Think of those THOUSANDS of QSO's and data that are contained in your log.  Do you keep track of Grid Squares, States, IOTA, Counties, names of operators worked, QSL Sent / Received status, comments about those QSO's, other notes, etc.?  What if all that information and those memories simply disappeared?  FOREVER!

Well, that happened last week to WVDXA member, Jimmy Aeiker, W8JA.  Jimmy had QSO's in his log going back to the 1960's.  Over 11,000 QSO's!  And suddenly, they were GONE!

Jimmy's computer got hit by a virus and he had it taken to a local computer repair shop to be repaired.  That shop ran an automated virus removal program to clean up the hard drive and, unfortunately, that removal program did not recognize Jimmy's logging program, Logger32, as a valid program.  It thought Logger32 was a virus and it removed the program PLUS everything in that folder.

Jimmy called me in a panic and we did a conference call with the computer technician.  I gave the tech the file names he needed to look for in order to help Jimmy recover his data.  Jimmy had Logger32 set to make sequential backups of his data every time the program was shut down so he was hopeful that the data was saved in a ZIP file. 

Monday Jimmy called to say he had the computer back and the tech had placed the files he recovered on the desktop.  Tuesday I visited Jimmy's QTH and attempted to put his logbook back together.

Simply stated I was able to load a new version of Logger32 and, using my own Logger32.ini file, get Jimmy's Logger32 back to pretty much where it should be - minus the log data.  However, after going through 35+ files left by the computer tech, ALL those ZIP files were EMPTY!  We had struck out!  NONE OF HIS LOG DATA WAS LEFT!

At this point I told Jimmy that I could recover the basic info for the QSO's he had uploaded to Logbook of the World (LoTW) but that data was limited to DATE, TIME, BAND, MODE, and CALL.  NOTHING MORE!

That meant that if I downloaded all the QSO info from Logbook of the World, Jimmy would not have any of the data he had previously recorded in his log for Grid Squares, States, IOTA, Counties, names of operators worked, QSL Sent / Received status, comments about those QSO's, other notes, etc.  That data would be all GONE FOREVER!

USB Thumb Drives Come in Various Shapes and Sizes

While Jimmy was digesting this bad news, he was trying to find SOME way to make it not be TRUE!  He suggested the fact that his log had been uploaded to Clublog but I told him that I believed Clublog stripped out all that extra data and just kept the basic 5 items.

Then, that "Light Bulb" came on above my head and I started searching Jimmy's hard drive.  Under "C:\Ham Radio\Logs\Clublog Uploads" I FOUND the last ADIF file Jimmy had uploaded to Clublog.  It was of his FULL LOG up to July 5, 2018!  Within 2 minutes I had loaded that ADIF file into Logger32 and VIOLA!  -  NEARLY all of Jimmy's logbook was safely back in Logger32! WHEW! 

The last QSO in that ADIF file agreed with the last QSO he had uploaded to LoTW.  Any QSO's after July 5th were NOT in the ADIF file, had NOT been uploaded to LoTW, and were NOT backed up since the Logger32 daily backup ZIP files were empty.  Thus, any QSO's he had made after July 5, 2018, were LOST FOREVER!

You can't imagine the expression on Jimmy's face when he saw all that data back in his Logger32 logbook.  Heck, I was grinning wide enough to hurt my own cheeks!

This happy ending occurred simply because of an amazing stroke of LUCK!  Not, planning!  That file could have so easily been removed by the computer tech or by the virus itself.  Nothing but LUCK saved these 11,000+ QSO's worth of data!

Jimmy HAD a good plan to prevent this - in the past!  He subscribed to an online (cloud) backup service called Carbonite (https://www.carbonite.com/).  All the files on his last computer were uploaded to Carbonite daily.  BUT, when he got his new computer, he failed to enable the Carbonite backup!  Critical error!  (BTW, he NOW has the Carbonite backup back in place on his current computer!)

I told Jimmy, it is not a question of "Will my hard drive fail?"  Instead, it's a question of "WHEN will it fail?"  All hard drives will fail - that's a given!  Plan and prepare for that fact NOW!!!  Jimmy laughed and said, "That's exactly what the computer tech told me!"

So, here is my advice to you (I recommend that you do this NOW!)

Backup your log on a REGULAR basis (DAILY!)
Backup the data somewhere that is NOT on your Hard Drive!
   1.   Use a Cloud Service like Carbonite or FREE services like Dropbox (https://www.dropbox.com/) or Google Drive (https://www.google.com/drive/).
   2.   Backup the data to a USB Thumb Drive and REMOVE the drive after you store the backup - Use the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the System Tray to safely remove the USB Drive.
   3.   Send the log data to yourself in a web-based email program like Gmail, Hotmail, MSN, etc.

HECK - use ALL or more than one of the above!  Belt AND suspenders!

NOT a Good USB Thumb Drive!

While you are backing up the basic log data, don't forget things like the initialization (.ini) files for your logging program, your CW/RTTY/Data Macros, etc.  No need to have to "re-invent the wheel" WHEN your hard drive crashes!  And it should go without saying, any documents, photos, or other files that you would be upset to lose should be backed up at the same time.  Data on your hard drive is FRAGILE and can disappear in a heartbeat!  Last year the contractor who built my house had his hard drive crash.  It had all the financial data for his entire business.  I helped him try to recover it but in the end, it had to be sent to a firm in California and it cost him over $2,000 to recover the data!  (Yes, I had recommended he use an online backup service like Carbonite when I helped him set up the computer but he failed to follow through on that suggestion.)

It is equally important to backup your Logbook of the World Certificate, otherwise, you have to start that process all over to be able to use the LoTW system.  Click HERE for instructions on how to save your LoTW Certificate.

Jimmy KNOWS how lucky he was this time.  I am really sure it won't happen to him again!  He suggested that I write this Post so that others can avoid the problem he just faced.

As I was typing this information, I had a brief phone call from Tim, K8RRT.  He was in bed but wanted to ask me a quick question.  Before hanging up I told him about Jimmy's "near miss" at losing his log.  Tim immediately got out of bed, went to his ham shack, and backed up his log to his USB Thumb Drive.  He normally does this but I guess he realized it had been too long since he last did it and felt he could not go to sleep without doing it NOW!

You can do this backing up manually but it is best to set the backup process so that it is done AUTOMATICALLY.  That way you don't get caught by forgetting to make a backup.  Look at the cartoon at the top of this Post.  Good intentions are NOT enough!

DO NOT BE THE POSTER CHILD FOR A LOST LOG!  BACKUP YOUR DATA NOW!

HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU!