Last Sunday, I attended a SOTA summit and participated at the National Mountain Day Contest in Switzerland (BTW: very nice contest on 80m: ‘about the NMD’; ‘contest rules’)
I was well prepared with a paper logbook. However, I then wanted to open the appropriate online logbook in the WRL mobile app.
This was not possible. In the mobile app, you can only open a POTA/SOTA/IOTA logbook, but not one based on an existing template.
I absolutely understand that the template creator is not available in the mobile app.
However, I don’t understand why in the mobile app you can’t create a new logbook based on an existing template. (I’m talking about existing templates, not about the enrollment of contests.)
So I place this information as feature request.
73 Pepe
P.S. After the 4-hours-contest on 80m in the morning I continued my SOTA activation in the afternoon on 40m and 20m. It was such an amazing day.
We definitely need to get some more template customization options in the mobile app. A quick follow up question for you if you don’t mind:
What fields would you have wanted for your SOTA activation? Not that I want to hard-code it, just curious.
Thanks so much for all your feedback. We’re working as hard as possible to get things done quickly. The database migration is definitely taking a lot of our time right now.
Curiosity is very welcome. Be inspired by Jane Fonda:
And here is the answer on your question:
Preamble:
Logbook preferences are very individual. This is why I love the template builder where I can design my logbooks.
Generally I prefer to have a few fields too many than too few available.
A SOTA QSO is often very short. But sometimes you get into conversation. I like to make a note of what my counterpart tells me (Name, City, Grid, Notes)
My own SOTA template currently has the following fields:
As you can see, I moved Frequency/Mode from the secondary fields (little buttons) to the primary fields (form fields). As I don’t use cat control whit my portable TRX, these are fields I have to fill out on every QSO. So I need them as primary fields.
Also with the “Notes” I prefer to have this field ready (without having first to search for the right button among all the small buttons and click on it to finally be able to make the note).
And as I’m living in the middle of Europe I don’t need “State”.
Thank you Pepe you have a great attention to detail, which matters a lot!
Currently on the mobile app, we only have one row of Primary fields which by default is Call, RST Sent, RST Rcvd, and State.
The space for one row is pretty small, so would you prefer to have more than one row of primary fields? It would be tricky for the UI because it would increase the height, but we could think about that.
Adding more secondary fields is more simple - like adding Name, City, and Grid (Notes is already in secondary).
What about this:
You can change the primary fields, but it is limited to one line maximum (4 fields)
You can change the secondary fields with no limits.
The current version already allows users to scroll left and right to find the desired button. Therefore, no limit is necessary by the system. It is the user who is well advised to limit himself so that it remains reasonable to use.
My answer is multifaceted:
1)
I would appreciate the ability to exchange fields.
Example: In your country, “State” seems to be an important field, but in my country, most OM don’t care from which state in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, … you come from. We name the next large city for orientation purposes within the country.
2)
Is the number of lines really that clear on the mobile apps?
Whether one, two, or three lines are possible depends on the size of the display. On a smaller smartphone, one line is definitely the maximum, on a larger smartphone, two lines may be possible, and on a tablet, three or more.
3)
Handling
I could well imagine that you could also scroll left/right here—just like with the buttons for the secondary fields. This would also allow for a longer field (e.g., “Notes”) or more than four fields. Also here: It is the user who is well advised to limit himself so that it remains reasonable to use.
This is my personal opinion. I invite everyone to express their opinion as well.
Thank you Pepe - this feedback helps a lot as we try to find the optimal design!
We will definitely need to update mobile app templates in the near future.
Example: In your country, “State” seems to be an important field, but in my country, most OM don’t care from which state in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, … you come from. We name the next large city for orientation purposes within the country.
This is very important and we will make sure we find a way to address this. We want the app to support worldwide operations very well!
