I’ve had WRL for a few months, but I’m very impressed with today’s update and just signed up for a paid membership to support the cause and future development. It’s exciting to see a new product here that clearly has a great development team and seeks feedback from the community. One that is easy to use and has a great GUI! Keep up the great work! I did want to add a few of my wish list items, some of what have been covered before by other users. This website/program has potential to be the leading logbook program and I think it’s headed that way!
-DX Cluster- integration DX Heat or similar is awesome. All in one- cat control- logging- spotting! The way normal logbooks (L4OM) do this is so clunky and old fashioned with the servers. Websites like DXHeat are awesome for this.
-A preview type page. When you type in a call on Log4OM (or are conversing with one on WSJTX/JTDX), there QRZ picture downloads and when/modes you have spoke to them on before. It has a map you can zoom to there QTH. This would be awesome- adds a face to the callsign and certainly makes it more personable, especially with FT8.
-A bio page like QRZ is awesome, I enjoy the personalization of it. I know there is already this, but maybe make it a little more easier to access- similar to the above comment about a preview mode when inputting in a callsign.
-A “master” logbook. All my QSO’s from the past are in one ADIF. They have location data embedded in them from what QTH I was at, but if we could have one master logbook. I don’t always need a specific logbook for casual QSO’s when I’m not doing POTA or a contest, etc.
-Visibility/privacy. This goes for the logbook and bio, etc. Maybe restriction options like “me”, “WRL members”, “public”.
-Monthly billing options. I know for a startup, money now is better. Perhaps a slightly higher price for a monthly fee (or a discount for a year purchase)? I believe that could help your cause in getting more paid members instead of having to front money.
Congrats again on the great update, and today I look forward to really switching over to using WRL full time! Today’s updates and integrations really make it usable as a full-time and master logbook program, not just a “side program”.
Thank you so much for your support it really means a lot to us all!
We currently have a ‘limited’ dx cluster functionality that we plan on expanding on as time goes on. You can access this via the ‘spotting’ tab inside your logbook and then selecting one of the 3 cluster servers besides POTA, SOTA, or WWFF. We will be adding a way users can add their own preferred cluster servers to this as time goes on.
Since you are a QRZ subscriber you can enable QRZ callsign lookup via the integrations page and then once you enter a callsign inside your logbook it will pull the users profile image from QRZ into the logging application underneath the logging fields
Once the contact is made it will show up in in the QSO map tab. I’m assuming your referring to having the ability to see this prior to logging the contact though.
As for the bio page, we can certainly look into adding some additional features and making it easier to access.
We’ve decided against having ‘master’ logbooks where qso’s are in one logbook but then also in the ‘master’ logbook as it ends up duplicating qso’s and throws off the analytics.
We have some changes we are working on implementing that will only allow seeing logbooks, bios, other information if a user is a member. Those changes will be coming soon.
The monthly billing options, we have done in the past and it didn’t really work out well but we’re happy to have a discussion about it and revisit it in the future.
Thank you again for your support and the suggestions! We always take them into advisement and are constantly working on new feature and innovation to help grow the community! If you ever have any other ideas please feel free to reach out!!
I’m familiar with the DX Cluster option. My suggestion was more making integrated to the program. With DX Heat, you click on the frequency, and your radio tunes it.
When using DX Cluster in L4OM, it tunes it, and sticks the callsign etc in the log box so all you need to do is click add once you complete your QSO. I know the cluster feature has a similar feature for crossfilling callsign/freq data, just requires a few more clicks with WRL. I think these two features would make for some really smooth integration! Two clicks- one to tune, one to log given the prefilled DX cluster callsign data.
Regarding the “preview” idea, here’s a screenshot of L4OM. I haven’t found this with any other logging program, but I actually have really come to like it- especially with DX stations where you want to see where they are on the map very easily while waiting for them to answer your response to there CQ. The picture is nice, along with the data if you’ve had a QSO before. Just adds a touch of deeper information without having to go to there QRZ page. Again, I know this is all within WRL, just not quite as smoothly integrated.
Thanks again and looking forward to seeing what the future brings for WRL!
EDIT: I apologize, I meant HolyCluster has the web based rig control/click to tune feature, I mistakenly said DXHeat. If you aren’t familiar with it, I’d recommend downloading- its similar to DXHeat, just much more practical and easy to use!
So you can use the WRL Cat Control app in conjunction with the web app (https://app.worldradioleague.com/) and when you are inside your logbook and on the ‘spotting’ tab you can double click any of the spots and it will change the frequency/band/mode on your radio as well as fill in the logging fields for you. I think that’s pretty much doing the same thing you are referring to via the holycluster, i think at least; still working on first cup of coffee for the day so I’m not completely with it yet hahaha
Let me know if that will work for you. One thing to note is that the cat control app is still in beta and will most likely be going away once we launch the desktop app in the next month or so as cat control will be integrated natively into the desktop app. ‘
