Why are we developing DxQSO? Our intent is to provide hams worldwide with a new technology platform that will improve the operating experience.
This project started as an LoTW 2.0 prototype to demonstrate to the ARRL how a modern, high-performance and scalable system could match QSOs in real time and do it in a cost-effective manner. Of course, like many other things I have done, we built more and more functionality in and eventually productized it.
After proving that we could process real-time QSOs in a serverless, cloud-based architecture at scale, we then decided to build into DxQSO the first phase of the TQSL improvements I had hoped to make as the ARRL’s IT Director. (TQSL is the ARRL/LoTW-provided application that connects your logbook application to the back-end LoTW server to submit QSOs.)
So we built an improved TQSL application — calling it DX-TQSL — which backs up its configuration information to the cloud. (An improvement I had hoped to make to LoTW while at the ARRL.) This lets users restore their environment from the cloud and install it on a new PC/Mac with simply a DxQSO login and password. It will also (hopefully!) significantly reduce the support burden on the ARRL staff in resolving certificate-recovery issues.
We also modified DX-TQSL to submit its data to not only LoTW but also DxQSO. Your entire QSO logbook record now flows to both systems. The difference is that DxQSO stores all of your logbook data. A true and complete logbook backup system.
We then built an integration between LoTW and DxQSO allowing all QSLs to be regularly imported from LoTW. We also improved the DX-TQSL app to automatically back up and restore its configuration data.
We added a universal logbook translator that lets you download logbooks into a specific format, and an LoTW submission module (another LoTW improvement I had envisioned at the ARRL) that submits QSOs to LoTW. We are now building mobile applications for Android, iPhone, tablets and iPads to view, upload and download logbooks to and from DxQSO — so mobile apps can submit QSOs to LoTW while storing all of their QSO information in a cloud-based logbook.
Our goal is a true real-time logbook sync (we call it Ham Logbook Sync™). Imagine saving your POTA log on an iPad app like HAMRS, RUMlog or SDR-Mobile, then going to your PC and having all of those QSOs appear in your primary logbook — and automatically submitted to LoTW and QRZ in the background. Or operating a contest with N1MM or SkookumLogger and, when you finish, your QSOs appear immediately in your primary logging application.
Our next major development will focus on teams and clubs. We want to encourage and support small teams and groups competing together with real-time contest scoring and the ability to see how you and your team are doing. Single-op contesters should be able to see their real-time score from within their logbook application. We also want to give teams and clubs more tools that encourage operating activity and make it even more fun.
Our focus is to provide communications and collaboration tools to all logbook applications. We do not plan to build or compete with the logbook applications that already do such a great job. We want to empower these applications to provide more features and functionality from within their app — and grow the excitement and fun of this hobby!
