Profile: logging¶
Station logs, contest logging and award tracking
Stage: 1.0
Who it is for¶
An operator who wants a station log, contest logging or award tracking, and wants to choose the logger that fits how they operate.
At a glance¶
| Stage | 1.0 |
| Units | 11 |
| Disk | about 700 MB; QLog is a long source build |
| Hardware | None. Loggers can follow a radio's frequency and mode through rig control but work without one. |
| Consent | none |
| Install | hammunition install logging |
What it installs¶
Five general-purpose logs with different centres of gravity, two contest loggers — one for HF in a terminal, one for VHF and above with distance scoring — TQSL for signing uploads to Logbook of the World, the W1HKJ suite's log server and net-control roster, and a Python library for callsign and locator work.
Disk footprint: Around 700 MB installed, and QLog is a source build with roughly twenty Qt6 development packages and a long compile — expect that step to dominate the install time. CQRLOG's MariaDB server is most of the disk.
Why these belong together¶
Most operators want one logger, not five. They are grouped rather than chosen for you because the right one depends on how you operate, and the difference is real: QLog is the most actively developed and the one whose online-service integrations keep working, and it is the recommended default; CQRLOG wants a database server and gives award tracking that is actually correct; xlog opens in under a second and does the basics; KLog sits between them and runs on Windows too; PyQSO is the one whose source you can read. TQSL is not a choice — LoTW accepts nothing it has not signed.
Packages (11)¶
qlog, cqrlog, klog, xlog, pyqso, tlf, tucnak, trustedqsl, fllog, flnet, python3-pyhamtools
What it deliberately excludes¶
not1mm, which is in the Debian Hamradio Blend's logging task and is not in Debian: only Kali packages it among our six targets. Including it would make this profile half-install everywhere else. kel-agent is also held back — it bridges browser-based logging to the radio by running a local WebSocket server that any web page you visit can attempt to reach, and that is an opt-in decision rather than something to install as part of a bundle.
Install it¶
Read the plan first. It changes nothing and prints every package, build, file and system change, and every consent gate you will meet:
Then do it. The engine asks for your sudo password once, near the start,
and shows the same plan again before it asks you to confirm:
A member your machine cannot take is deferred by name and the rest installs (D-039); the plan lists each under Will NOT happen, with the reason and the command that fixes it. Installation explains how to read every part of the plan.
What you configure by hand afterward¶
Your callsign, grid square and station location go into each logger separately — there is no shared station configuration yet, which is the open design question this catalog is waiting on. Every award computation depends on getting the location right. Request a LoTW callsign certificate early: it requires proof of licence and takes days rather than minutes, and TQSL is useless without it. Back that certificate up — it is a private key in your home directory and losing it means starting over. CQRLOG needs MariaDB running, which apt installs because this engine does not suppress Recommends; with them suppressed it starts and then fails to reach a database, which reads as a configuration problem rather than a missing package.
Your first ten minutes¶
- Request your Logbook of the World certificate now if you do not have one. It needs proof of licence and takes days, and TQSL is useless without it.
- Read the plan:
hammunition install logging --dry-run. QLog compiles from source with about twenty Qt 6 development packages; expect that step to dominate. - Install:
hammunition install logging. - Pick one logger to start. QLog is the recommended default; CQRLOG gives the most correct award tracking and needs MariaDB running; xlog starts in under a second.
- Enter your callsign, grid square and station location in that logger. There is no shared station setting yet, so this is per program; award computations depend on the location being right.
- Back up your LoTW certificate (a private key in your home directory) before you do anything else with it.
- If you operate with a radio, point the logger at the shared rig service (
127.0.0.1:4532, Hamlib NET rigctl) so frequency and mode fill themselves in. Rig control (CAT) has the table.
Take it off again¶
This removes what Hammunition itself installed and nothing else. It does not remove dependencies apt pulled in, group memberships or configuration files it wrote; the plan says so and the transaction log records them (D-004).