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tlf

Console contest logger built for speed, driven from the keyboard

What it does

A curses contest log covering the major CW, SSB and digital contests, with per-contest scoring rules, duplicate checking, multiplier tracking, a band map fed from a DX cluster, and CW sent through cwdaemon or the rig's own keyer. It talks to hamlib for frequency and mode and to fldigi for digital modes.

Why you would want it

Contesting is a typing job under time pressure, and every mouse movement is a lost second. Everything here is on the keyboard, the screen fits in a terminal, and it runs over SSH to a remote station without a graphics stack. It is also the logger most likely to already know the scoring rules of the contest you are entering.

Before it will work

A configuration file with your callsign: Hammunition writes ~/tlf/logcfg.dat with it and your grid square from station config (hammunition station set --callsign <yours> --grid-square <yours>); with either unset the package installs and the file is reported as not written. A contest adds a rules file -- tlf ships them, and the commented default configuration shows every other setting. CW keying needs cwdaemon or a rig that can key itself. Cluster spots need a network connection and a cluster to connect to.

How it installs

  • apt: tlf

Configuration it writes

  • ~/tlf/logcfg.dat (written, mode 0644, existing file backed up); filled from the station values callsign, grid_square, and not written while one is unset (D-035)

Known problems

The learning curve is the real cost: the key bindings are not discoverable and the first contest with it will go badly if it is also the first hour with it. Set it up and run a practice session beforehand. Scoring rules for a contest that changed its own rules this year may be a release behind, so check the multiplier logic against the current rules rather than trusting the total. What the configuration block does: writes ~/tlf/logcfg.dat in your home (yours, mode 0644; under sudo written as root and handed to you, never through a symlink) with CALL= your callsign and MYQRA= your grid square, which tlf also uses for your position (beam headings, distances). It replaces tlf's own default only when tlf is started in ~/tlf or given -f; started anywhere else, tlf reads that directory's logcfg.dat or its default. A file that was there before is kept as ~/tlf/logcfg.dat.hammunition-backup, once. Every hammunition install that includes tlf rewrites this file from station config, so keep contest settings in the copy in each contest's directory, not here. Inspect with cat ~/tlf/logcfg.dat. hammunition uninstall tlf does not remove it (config files are not reversed, and the plan says so); to undo, rm ~/tlf/logcfg.dat.

Keeping it current

  • probe: apt policy
  • strategy: apt_upgrade

Where to get help with the software itself

GitHub issues at https://github.com/Tlf/tlf and a mailing list linked from the project page.

Source: catalog/packages/tlf.yaml