How to Log Your Session on Netlogger

How To Log Your Session On Netlogger

And Other Helpful Hints About The Netlogger Program – This is primarily for 2.4 users

A new version of this help will be forthcoming for 2.9.14 and subsequent releases.

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Be sure you have your "Club Profile" in your Netlogger folder!
If you aren't sure how to get your Club Profile (a .prf file) ask your website administrator. In the case of the YL System that would be me.
After some time has gone by you should check this website to see if our Club Profile has been updated and using your Netlogger program, go to "Function" and "Download Latest Club Profile" (while not on a net). We try to keep this updated every week or two, as we get new additions or changes.
NOTE:The following has been created with the YLSystem in mind. If you are working with OMISS, American Traffic Net, or any other net or club, please substitute the YLSystem information with whatever net pertains to your situation. These can include such things as the .prf (Club Profile) file, Control operators, membership numbers, etc.

1. TO START LOGGING YOUR SESSION WITH A "Net" NAME OF YOUR OWN:

If you want to start Logging a new session, go to "Function/Start Logging a Net" and fill in the form with whatever name you wish to call your session. As long as it has something about the YLSystem in the name our folks will find you. Then fill in the other boxes, the "Net Control" can either be left blank or put K9DIG here if she is the Primary Control, or yourself if you are Primary Control. Don't forget the checkmark to use the Almost Instant Messages!

When you have that form filled in, click "OK" and it should notify you that your "Net Is Online" and your green "Nets Online" box will be grayed out.

Go to "Setup" and click on "Club Profile" then highlight the "YLsystem.prf" and click on "Select" and "Yes".

After typing in the call sign of your station checking in, hit the TAB key on your keyboard to fill in the rest of the info automatically.

Start your log with the Primary Control station's call sign. In the "Remarks" column you can add the comment that they are PRIMARY CONTROL or CO-CONTROL or ASSISTING CONTROL, whichever applies.

NOTE: As the Logger, you should always have their Caps LockON! You want to be noticed, and your comments in the "Remarks" column should be noticed!

After each entry has it's line filled in, and you have taken out the "No club info" and replaced that with GUEST or MOBILEIN __ or whatever applies, you must click on the button that says "Log Contact" in order for it to go out to the internet for other people to see it.
Clicking on the "Log Contact" button puts them into the lower "Contacts" Grid.
You should delete all the contacts in the "Contacts" Grid later.

If you get one that is a member but shows "No club info", add his/her info and remove the "No club info" and then highlight the call sign and Right click and hit "Add/Update Club Info" and THEN hit the "Log Contact" button so that you have added that person to your YLsystem.prf and can later email them to me to be added to the Master YLsystem.prf (see below)

Remember to go to "Function" and "Close Net" when you are done!But first tell people in the AIM window that you are about to close, wait a few seconds for any last comments from anyone, as the AIM window will close when you Close your Net.

2. TO TAKE OVER THE LOGGING AFTER ANOTHER LOGGER STOPS DURING A SESSION:

If you ever want to take over the actual Logging during an ongoing session, after another Logger has been Logging, all you do is click "Log Contact" on all of the check-ins that the current Logger has already Logged.
Do NOT close down your Netlogger when he closes his "Net"...(I use "net" here because that's what Netlogger calls it).

Then you will go to "Function" and "Start Logging a Net" and then fill in the name with the exact same name as the previous Logger used, since you are continuing a session. You have to wait for the other Logger to close his/hers, and then you can start yours.
Don't forget to "Enable Almost Instant Messages"!

To continue with the log as it stands and keep going, you should NOT have a checkmark on "Enable Duplicate Entries" under "Function", so it won't allow you to Log a dupe.
It's a good idea to do a "Refresh List" at this point as your list might not show up to other people until you do that.
Another way to Refresh your List is to highlight the first Log and hit Enter, going down the list, hitting Enter on each one.

Go to "Setup" and click on "Club Profile" then highlight the "YLsystem.prf" and click on "Select" and "Yes".
If you are unsure if you are using the correct Club Profile, look down at the very bottom of your Netlogger window. You can see which server you are on and which Club Profile is in use by you. You should be on the OMISS server and using the YLsystem.prf for the Club Profile.

After typing in the call sign of your station checking in, hit the TAB key on your keyboard to fill in the rest of the info automatically.
When you have his information filled in and have changed the "no club info" to GUEST or whatever fits the situation, then click the "Log Contact" button to send it out over the internet for folks to see.

CHECKING TO SEE IF A CHECK-IN IS A YL SYSTEM MEMBER AND ADDING ONE THAT IS NOT IN THE "CLUB PROFILE":

Do you have The YL Database on your computer? The Window's version that is on the ylsystem.org page? That's what we use to verify if a person is a member. Sometimes we get a check-in who is not on our YLsystem.prf file but is a YLSystem Member, so in that case, we have to type in, on Netlogger, their info. If you get one like this, you can then highlight their call sign and Right Click and scroll down to "Add/Update Club Profile" which will add it to your YLsystem.prf. Later, after your "Net", you can open that YLsystem.prf file right from your Netlogger by clicking on "Setup/Club Profile" and highlight the YLsystem.prf and click "Edit". From there you can copy and paste those new additions (they will be at the very bottom) onto Notepad or directly into an email to me: mailto:
We add them to the Master Copy of the YLsystem.prf which I keep, and pass out new updates, when it gets a few additions or corrections.

* * * MORE HELPFUL INFORMATION * * *

SWITCHING FROM ONE LOGGING SESSION TO ANOTHER WHEN MONITORING:

If the person who is doing the Logging on Netlogger closes his "net" your "Nets Online" button will turn green again. Then you should click on that to see if another YL member has picked up where the first Logger left off. If you see any "nets" that look like they could be the YL System, whether it's called the exact same or a bit different than what you were monitoring, just choose "Monitor" on that "net". You will also be able to see the call sign of who is doing the Logging of that session. Just remember, it takes a minute or so for the new Logger to get his/her "net" set up and online, so if you don't see one online, wait a minute and check again.
If you want to leave the net you are monitoring and look for a different one, go to "Function" and "Stop Monitoring". This is also useful if your AIM window seems not to be picking up all the words that are being typed. You can Stop Monitoring and then get back to it via the "Nets Online" button. This will refresh your windows.

TO VIEW YOUR NET MONITORS WINDOW CLICK ON "NET MONITORS" UNDER "VIEW":

If you click on "Net Monitors" under "View" you can see all those who are monitoring the net, this will open a green window on the left.
Put a checkmark in the Auto Refresh box at the bottom of that window. These call signs remain on there even if they have left, it's called "ghosts", so they may not still be watching.

TO QUICKLY LOOKUP A CALL SIGN ON QRZ.COM:

You can Right click on a call sign (if it is highlighted) and choose "QRZ Online Lookup" to quickly access their qrz.com page. This can also be done with the keyboard shortcut of CTRL + Q.
There are many keyboard shortcuts. To see hints of what they are and do: Right click on an item and look to see what they are and what they should do. These may or may not work for you. It seems to depend on what Operating System you have.

TO PRACTICE ENTERING CALL SIGNS AND TO SEE HOW NETLOGGER WORKS:

If you just want to practice logging, you can put some call signs in on a blank line and hit your TAB key on your keyboard. If you have your YLsystem.prf in the right folder, and you have selected it under "Setup"/"Club Profile", you will see how the line gets filled in automatically.
You do not need to be online with Netlogger (Function/Start Logging a Net) in order to practice with Netlogger or to do some general logging with it. In fact, for general logging, it is recommended that you not be online with it so as not to have the distractions of the AIM window being used by inquisitive onlookers.
To practice logging an imaginary net, you can call your net "Testing" or "Practicing", not a name of a real Club's Net, thus eliminating confusion for those folks who are looking for that Club's Net.

TO CHECK TO SEE IF ANOTHER MONITORING PERSON IS IN OUR "CLUB PROFILE":

I usually use a line lower than what the person Logging would be using real soon, as a way to see if the person is a member and is listed in our "Club Profile". Don't worry that your typing in a box on there would interfere with the Logger's logging, theirs would still come through and would wipe out your line that you typed if it should come out on the same line. No one but you will see your log. The only way for others to see your logs would be if you do the "Start Logging a Net" option stated above in #s 1 or 2. So, using an empty line, type in a call sign and hit your TAB key on your keyboard. Their info should show up to you, but it won't go out over the internet.

THE "CONTACT" SECTION OF YOUR NETLOGGER WINDOW:

If you are doing the Logging, or if you want to save one of the Check-ins, you can highlight their call sign and hit your "Log Contact" button. Their info will then go to the bottom right section of your Netlogger screen, called the "Contacts" grid. You can then "Export" that contact, or all your contacts that are in that section, to either an ADIF file or an EXCEL file for saving on your computer. (The EXCEL format saves them with more detail than the ADIF format does.)

TO DELETE THE CONTACTS IN THE "CONTACTS" SECTION:

Once you have some contacts in that lower right section of your Netlogger screen, you will want to delete them to get your Netlogger ready for your next session. Highligt one of the contacts in that section (lower right, blue lettering), and click the big minus sign just above those. It will ask you if you want to delete that record, click "OK". Unfortunately these must be done one at a time. I have found no way to do them all at once.

STATUS BOX (COLUMN):

The Status box shows if YOU have logged that contact and will show to you that it is "Worked" by putting a "w" in there. If you see one that shows up as "c/o" that means he has checked out. You can click that Status box and then Right click it to get a menu of what can be inserted there, or to clear that box.

WIDTH OF YOUR COLUMNS:

The width of the columns can be stretched or shrunk according to YOUR preference. We have the Single Sideband Number and TFO numbers under the "QSL Info" as we like to use the "Remarks" column for other, temporary info, such as MOBILEIN __ or whatever fits the situation. Having that much info in the QSL box makes it hard to read it all unless you stretch that column wider by clicking on it's right 'wall' at the top header portion of the column and dragging it to the right. Once done, this setting will remain until you change it again. You can also stretch any of the other windows the same way, by dragging the walls over or up or down. If you wish to move a column, you can do so by dragging it to the position you want.

GLITCHES AND ERRORS:

You may lose your "Almost Instant Messages" window sometimes. If you don't see it, and you do have it check marked under "View" it will mean that it has gotten squeezed shut. This seems to happen quite often. When it does, just grab hold of the left wall with your cursor, where the AIM window should be, and drag it to the right to open it back up.
Sometimes your "Net Monitors" window may refuse to be there no matter what you do. We found a little trick to work around this glitch: When you log onto your Netlogger, use a slightly different Call Sign, try adding a number, or your first name.
If some things seem to have frozen up, such as you are not seeing any new messages in the AIM window, try this: "Stop Monitoring" (under "Function") and then get back to the same net via the "Nets Online" button. This will refresh your windows.
Sometimes you may get an error message like the one below:

Exception occurred.
ClassName: EDatabaseError
ErrorMsg: Field 'Date' must have a value
or Field 'Time(UTC)' must have a value

Any of these error messages refer to the "Contacts" grid, so just put any call sign and any date and any time in there to stop the error message. Later after you have Logged some more into the "Contacts" grid, you can then delete that erroneous contact.

NUMBERED ROWS

Sometimes the numbers of your rows might get mixed up. Simply click on the # sign at the top to make them line up correctly again.

USING THE "FIND" FUNCTION:

If you want to look up someone in the "Check-Ins" grid you can use your keyboard keys of ctrl and f rather than scrolling through all the logs to search for them.

NET GETS STUCK ON SERVER AND WON'T CLOSE:
This sometimes happens, and is no fault of your own. You can try to get back on Netlogger and see it it will let you continue Logging your Net but if it won't, don't worry. The OMISS folks have assured us that their server will eventually drop that Net, it may take up to 3 days, but it will go away eventually. In the Meantime, you can just change the name of your Net slightly and it will let you Log your Net. Just keep the name similar enough that your folks will know it's for them.
If your net does seem to close, and no longer shows up under Nets Online, but your computer thinks it is still open, you can go into your Netlogger folder and delete the .ini file associated with the call sign you were using that is having this problem. Such as kk4yl.ini, that would delete my saved nets under my call sign. It would not hurt Netlogger, but I would have to retype the info into the "Function/Start Logging a Net" boxes if I wanted to Log a session using that same call sign again.

MORE ABOUT DELETING YOUR .INI FILES:

The call sign .ini files get stored in your Netlogger folder once you have used your Netlogger under your call sign as a history of your use. Deleting these files does not hurt your Netlogger program, it just gets rid of all the history of you using it. Thus you will end up with what appears to be a completely new Netlogger except for the fact that you will still have the YLsystem.prf Club Profile and won't have to install that again. Deleting your history (your callsign.ini) files cures a lot of glitches that come up from time to time with Netlogger. So if you find your Netlogger is not responding correctly and keeps acting odd, and closing it and reopening it doesn't seem to fix it, then you should delete your callsign.ini files. Here's how: Right Click on Start, or open the yellow File Folder in your Taskbar, to get to your files. A double paned window should appear with a long list of folders in the Left Pane. Scroll down in that left pane until you find your Netlogger folder. If you have followed my installation instructions you should have a "Netlogger" folder under C drive, or maybe in Documents. If not then it will be in Program Files. Hopefully you did not install Netlogger in Program Files as it gets many more glitches and errors if it is there. Also if it is in Program Files it will probably be in a folder called N1HWQ and then a sub folder called Netlogger. Once you have found your Netlogger folder, Left Click on it in the Left Pane and then look at the Right Pane window and look for any files that start with your call sign, even those that you may have used that you modified slightly by adding your initials or your name or your state. You can Right Click on each of those and delete them. This is safe and won't hurt your Netlogger Program as long as you only delete the callsign.ini files. As I said in the previous paragraph, you will then have to enter the information in your Function/Start Logging a Net boxes as they will be blank now as you have no history. Also it will clear (erase) all of your contacts in your Contacts Grid so if you wish to keep those for your records you should save them to a new file before you delete your callsign.ini files.