Learn · 4 of 7 · 3 min
The sites and tools people use, and why
QRZ, LoTW, HamStudy, Wavelog, POTA, RepeaterBook, CHIRP, NetLogger and the rest, each in a sentence or two, and which QSO App connects to.
The rule this site follows
Where a good open tool exists, QSO App connects to it rather than copying it. Where the tool is closed, abandoned or forbids reuse of its data, QSO App builds an open replacement. That is why some of the names below are links and others are things this site does itself.
Identity and callbooks
- QRZ.com is the commercial callbook: look up any callsign, see the operator's page, and for subscribers a logbook and an XML lookup API. Most hams have a page there. QSO App lets a subscriber use their own QRZ key to enrich lookups; the site itself never pays QRZ.
- The FCC ULS and ISED databases are the public licence records. QSO App mirrors them daily, which is how the callsign lookup and licence verification work without any third party.
- LoTW (Logbook of The World) is the ARRL's system for confirming contacts with certificates. A LoTW signature proves you hold a callsign, so it is one of the ways to reach level 2 here.
- RadioID.net issues DMR IDs. QSO App shows them.
Learning and the exam
- HamStudy.org by Signal Stuff is the free, adaptive exam prep almost everyone uses. QSO App links to it and will never build its own.
- Exams are run by volunteer examiners (VEs) under a VEC such as ARRL, W5YI or Laurel, in person or online. A club's exam session is an event on its QSO App calendar.
Logging and confirming
- Wavelog is the open-source web logbook (a fork of Cloudlog) with an API and an option to sign in with another site's identity. QSO App logs your milestones into your own Wavelog and Wavelog can offer "Sign in with callsign".
- QRZ Logbook, eQSL, Club Log are other places logs go; Wavelog pushes to all of them.
- DX clusters and PSKReporter show who is being heard where in real time.
Getting out and being hunted
- Parks on the Air (POTA) and Summits on the Air (SOTA): operate from a park or a summit, others hunt you, everyone logs it. POTA's spots are on the where-am-I screen; SOTA waits on its own registration.
Repeaters and programming the radio
- RepeaterBook is the usual repeater directory. Its data may not be reused, so QSO App keeps its own directory that operators fill in and trustees claim.
- CHIRP is the free program that writes frequencies into most handhelds. QSO App gives you a CHIRP file of the repeaters near you.
Clubs and nets
- HamClubOnline was the free club-management site (roster, dues, elections, skills, assets). It is closed and dated; QSO App's club pages replace it.
- NetLogger is the Windows program net control operators use to keep the check-in list; QSO App exports a net in its format.
- ARES Connect records ARES volunteer hours; QSO App exports them in its shape.
- Discord and groups.io are where clubs talk between meetings.
Emergency communications
- Winlink and its open client Pat move email and forms over radio. ARES and RACES are the volunteer organisations; SKYWARN is the weather-spotter network.
Desktop and station
- WSJT-X and FT8 are the weak-signal digital modes; Fldigi the older digital suite; HamClock and OpenHamClock the station dashboards; Hamlib controls the rig. All desktop, all well served; QSO App leaves them alone.