[Logic] LOGic 6: "Grooming" the log for QSLs still needed

[Bill VanAlstyne]

I've developed a quick and easy way to "groom" the browse log's QSL records from
time to time.

With all this talk of LoTW, I thought re-approaching the old paper QSL question
might be a useful digression. Some of you LOGic 6 newbies might be interested in
this, or some of you "old timers" might come up with some procedural
improvements for me.

The goal of the procedure: Go through all QSOs that haven't responded to my QSL,
and decide whether I still care about getting one. If I don't care anymore,
change the "R" in "QSL rcvd" to an "X". If I do care, do a selective re-QSL
print run with a minimum of hassle.

In order to make this work neatly, I generated indexes for the QSL rcvd, QSL
sent, Grid, and CNTY columns. The "how-to" of indexing log fields is well
covered on the Logic website at
http://www.hosenose.com/radio/support/logic6/faq/Advanced.htm. Once the columns
are successfully indexed, any column header preceded by an asterisk (*) can be
double-clicked, and a re-sort of the log entries based on that field will
result.

I first sort the log on the "QSL rcvd" column. The log will sort into three
sections (assuming no "I-Ignore" QSL codes have been used): first, the QSOs
where I've received a QSL ("F"); second, the QSOs where I requested a QSL, but
haven't received it ("R"); and finally, the QSOs where I didn't care about a QSL
("X"). The QSOs in each section will be in chronological order, apparently be
default. (Nice touch!)

Then, I simply go through the "R" section starting with the earliest QSO and
work my way up to the present, evaluating my current need for that QSO/QSL with
respect to the goals or awards I'm chasing. In the process of evaluating QSL
need, I can easily re-sort the log on other columns "on the fly." For example, I
can click on "CNTY" or "Grid" to see if I now have another QSL from that County
or Grid. Once having decided whether I still need the QSL, I double-click "QSL
rcvd" and I'm back to the original sort order.

If I decide I no longer care about a QSL for this QSO, I go into the log input
form and change the "R" to an "X". Then -- and this is the important part,
because it works very smoothly this way -- DO NOT click the diskette icon to
save the change, but instead simply click in the browse log on the QSO that you
just changed. The QSO's "QSL rcvd" will change to "X" and the QSO will
disappear, relocating itself into the off-screen "X"-sorted section. The next
"R" QSO to be evaluated will then be selected automatically.

Once I've processed all the"R" QSOs in this manner, it's time to print QSLs and
envelopes. Prior to doing a print run of QSLs with my QSL Printer (I created
this printer report for my own offset-printed QSLs by modifying the provided
Octavia report format), I go through the QSOs that remain in the "R" section and
decide which ones are going to get a re-sent QSL at this time. (Usually it's all
of them up to a certain date in the past.) For each such QSO, I change the "QSL
sent" field from "F" to "R". This will trigger envelope and QSL card printing
when I run the appropriate reports.

This step can also be done at the same time the "QSL rcvd" field is evaluated,
but I prefer doing it as a post-process. To each his own. I run the envelope
printer first, and then the QSL printer, which I instruct to change the "QSL
sent" status to "F". (In addition to the re-QSLs, of course, newer QSOs that
haven't yet been QSLed will be printed at the same time.)

This is all pretty straightforward, but hopefully there are a few useful bits of
information in here for somebody.  :-)  Any questions, please ask!

73,
Bill / W5WVO