Android SOTA Logger
I created the Android SOTA Logging program using the app development tool found at appinventor.mit.edu. It was converted to the market file using ApptoMarket. The currently released version is 1.3.
The program has text fields where the user can enter information about the summit and QSO information. Upon touching the “Next Entry” button, the data is saved into the app database on the phone. To understand this process, it is convenient to think of the database as a wall of boxes, such as at the post office. Each box has a tag which identifies it, and then it has information stored inside. In order to look up the information, the name of tag on the box must be known. Each QSO creates a box in the database which is tagged with the callsign and summit reference. If the same callsign and summit reference are used again, the data in the box will be overwritten.
The data can be viewed on the View Log page. From here it can be e-mailed to the user and also cleared. There is currently no method for directly emailing the log to the database, but the database manager is working on it and when it is implemented the app will be updated. When the log is cleared, it is actually not deleted from the device. The first box in the database lists the tags of all the QSO’s in the current log, sort of like the old card catalogs in the Library. When the log is cleared, this box is emptied, effectively preventing the app from locating the data. The way to permanently delete the data is through the settings>apps>manage apps>SOTA Logger>clear data.
The paid version of the app also has a spotting function which will format and send text messages to either or both QRPSpots and SOTAWatch.
© 2013, Stephen Denison
Last Updated: May 30, 2013