Ready to start

Now you are ready for first running of the program: the installation procedure creates an icon on your Desktop. To launch BBLogger just double-click on its icon. For Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: if you encounter  problems in getting your software properly working, you can configure it to be executed in mode compatibility Windows XP. Click on the BBLogger icon on your Desktop with  right button of the mouse and  select Properties. Click on Compatibility and tag the box "Execute the program in mode compatibility for" -> Windows XP.

Fill all the fields of the OM Data form and choose from the list your condition (OM / YL / Clubstation / SWL). In OM Service section put your e-mail address, the server for the outgoing mail (e.g. out.yahoo.com) and possibly the password you use for e-mail (some servers, but not all, require it). Then you can fill the eQSL and LoTW ID & PWD if you are member. Also the Log Sevice section is for members of these on-line logbooks. Save your settings with OK.

Maximize the window and click on LOG in the tool bar and select NEW LOG:

Automatically the program proposes the Callsign you entered in the previous stage, in LOG NAME you can enter all you want, in LOG TYPOLOGY you can select HUNTER (the home log) or EXPEDITIONER (if you are going to activate an abbey, a castle, an island, etc.) or SWL. According with the typology of your log the features can be different. The checkbox has to be flagged if you wish to send the QSO in real time, in other words when you save the QSO, to HRDLog.net, Enzolog and/or Club Log (if you are member). The option MY FAVOURITE MODES /BANDS allows to select the bands and the modes you are going to use for that log. Anyway you can change these choices later. The program allows to enter more than one User, in case you need to manage different callsigns, like contest calls, slashed calls, or just someone else's calls you are managing.

Once the log has been created, it has to be filled. If you wish to import your old log from another managing software be sure to have exported it as ADIF FILE. Now click on FILE in the left side of the tool bar, then on FILES MANAGER: a window like that in the picture will open: IMPORT ADIF FILES allows to import an ADIF FILE. It's possible to set a date range to establish the importation, tagging the box and entering the range of date. The two options in the bottom allow to correctly identify the Country. With Automatic DXCC check only QSOs without any doubt about the Country will be imported, meanwhile the software produces a text file and a secondary ADIF file related to QSOs with ambiguous Country (e.g. VP8, used for Falkland, South Shetland, South Georgia, South Orkney, South Sandwich and Antarctica). This secondary ADIF can be examined and imported later under the option Manual DXCC check:  the program proposes all different options for ambiguous prefixes and the user will choose the correct one, on the base of the QSL card or the previous log. This operation could be quite long. The automatic procedure will import your data at average speed of about 1000 QSO per minute, but real sped depends from your processor. Of course it is possible to check and import your log in one step, selecting the manual check, but that could be very long. The windows allow to check the progress of the process and to see the list of the QSOs not imported. If the comment field of the imported ADIF file contains REFERENCES IOTA, DCI or DAI, they can be imported in the proper fields of BBLogger through the procedure Tools > Configuration/Maintenance > Award Auto Checking.. Of course the references must be written in the correct way, according with those in the databases.  File Type selects the file to be imported. The options are: Generic ADIF, to import the most part of  the logsheets in ADIF format, ADIF Confirm eQSL to import the confirms eQSL (please remember that is the ONLY WAY to update your eQSL  confirm situation), ADIF Confirm LoTW to import the file generated by LoTW system. There are two more options: TXT Credit DAI and TXT Credit DCI: these confirm files are sent by the Managers of the DAI and DCI Awards, and allow to automatically credit the references of the respective Awards. When a Generic ADIF file or a eQsl ADIF file is imported, the QSO's not in log appear in the grid of the file manager under the label QSO NOT IMPORTED. To force the recording of one or more QSO's in your logbook anyway, double click on the row of a selected QSO and the normal inserting QSO window full of all data will appear. Hit SAVE to record the QSO in your logbook.

With EXPORT ADIF FILES you can export your files in ADIF format for any purpose. Tagging Copy to Comment and selecting the Award you can copy the containing of the field of that Award into the Comment field of the adif file you are going to export. With File Tipology you can select the kind of file: generic ADIF File for any purpose, or specific ADIF file for LoTW or eQSL.cc The menu QSOs Filter allows to select the QSO to be exported relatively to the QSL card already sent, or all the QSOs.

With DOWNLOAD FILE LoTW / eQSL you can import the credit file sent by LoTW or eQSL.cc for the automatic crediting procedure saw in the chapter "Import File". It is possible also to import QSOs records from DM780, selecting the proper path.

The section Link to QRZ.com allows to interface the software with QRZ.com. To do that,  insert your User ID (usually the Callsign) and the Password used to access your own page at QRZ.com.Now click on Create QRZ Link to import the Keyword that allows to get the info from QRZ.com. The complete access to the data is possible through a subscription to this service to perform at QRZ.com web site at the address:  http://www.qrz.com/XML/ otherwise the data recovered will pe partial (name and family name only). In case you are a QRZ subscriber, you can use this service beside the Callbook on disk. Start the programm with BBLogger [space] qrz command. In this way the software will look for the data of the inserted callsign in your Callbook on disk, and, if nothing is found, automatically looks for the data on QRZ.com. Click on the BBLogger icon on the desktop with the right key of the mouse, then select Properties and in the command line after BBLogger.exe add [space]qrz. Save with OK. Of course you can get the data from QRZ.com with the usual way: ALT+Enter.

The columns of the log sheet can be sorted alphabetically from A to Z or vice-versa from Z to A. La combination CTRL+Letter allows to place the cursor on first record starting with that letter, facilitating the seeks. Of course the column DATE can be sorted from fresher QSO to older one or vice-versa. It is possible that, despite of the checking procedure, some prefix can be misdecodified, as example European Russia or Asiatic Russia or Kaliningrad for celebrative prefixes like R750, or maybe with prefixes belonged to ex U.S.S.R, changed many times and assigned to different Countries, like Russia and Ukraine. These changes were not contemporary, so it is possible that in the transition time same prefix has been used by different Countries. For that we advice to check your log after the conversion to eliminate these possible mistakes.

If you want to create an Expeditioner log, you have to select EXPEDITIONER from the menu. You also will have to fill the fields related to the reference number and the kind, as IOTA, DCI, DAI, and so on: as example the reference NA156 for IOTA:

WARNING: the Expeditioner logs are necessarily more spartan than the Hunter logs, as exemple the fields for the Awards are not implemented. If you merge these logs with your main log you have to consider that! Revise the QSOs and if necessary, complete them for Awards you usually follow.