I disabled my QRZ lookup by deleting my account password.
I then set up a dummy SOTA activation (New Operation).
I put my phone in flight mode to prevent any external internet access.
I then tried adding a QSO, picking a random callsign that I know exists in the names.txt file.
This successfully picked up the name and displayed it.
However, when I commit the QSO to the log the name is not carried over.
If I am online, or if I pick a callsign in the “Hams of note” list the name is carried over. So it seems if it only affects the additional lookup files you can optionally add.
That is all correct and by design.
The names file lookups are not transferred to the log file.
The names file lookup is only there to assist your making the contact.
When you are back online you can use the “Lookup all QSOs” option.
This will populate your log with lookups from your chosen online source.
That’s fine, if slightly unexpected behavior, well unexpected by me .
I suppose I’m used to the way VKPortaLog operated. Which didn’t have a QRZ lookup, only the names.csv file. This did go into the QSO details (optionally).
Might possibly be worth making it clear on the manual page.
I continue to be amazed and impressed by Ham2K. Bravo.
I cannot duplicate this.
When I am in flight mode (no internet) and have Hams of Note active. I get the name shown above the call box but it does not get stored in the log. Only the little emoji is stored in the log.
This is the same for custom notes files. I get a star emoji showing in the log file list but no name. My names file, like yours does not contain any emojis so it gets the default star.
I at least know from the presence of the emoji that I can see the name of the OP if I tap on the QSO to edit, it shows the name. And another tap will close the edit.
After the operation, I browse the QSOs and anyone who does not have a star, even though I have looked them up on QRZ, I know to add to my names file for next time.
I think the source of all this confusion is that this feature is for a NOTES file, not NAMES.
It’s meant to be a source of additional information to HIGHLIGHT on a call, like pointing out that this is a POTA volunteer, or a member of your club.
It is NOT meant to be a source for offline name lookups. But the fact that the note is shown where the name would be, and that notes usually include a name, can make it seem like it is a good way to cache name lookups.
For offline data, we use past QSOs, and allow uploading historical data in the form of an ADIF file. This is better because it allows for data other than just names, like grid, city, etc.
I do know that some of you (wink wink VK1AO) have large datasets in the form of name files, but at least for now, I’d like to first explore how to move that data to a simple ADIF version, instead of changing how “Callsign Notes” works.
OK fair enough wrt Notes versus Names.
But 4 things more to consider here:
I have 77k names in my notes file. There are people in it that I have NOT worked yet but would like to. And when I do I am prepared and can acknowledge them by name.
The ADIF history file is a history file so I would have to manufacture a file in this format which is NOT historical by nature if I were to take advantage of the names lookup in this format.
An ADIF fie with 77k callsigns would be an order of magnitude larger than it is as a notes file and we already experience device memory issues now with other lookup data files.
The names file is installed once and updated in the background without having to go to settings, wipeout the previous copy and install the current version each time. It can also be shared with many users without their having to intervene.
We’re just trying to use the two mechanisms we have available right now (notes and history) for things they were not designed for. They kinda work, but they are imperfect.
And instead of trying to “fix” them, I want to think of a better approach for the “large-scale offline lookup” use-case.
Just for further feedback/testing results
So I generated an ADIF file for 77k callsigns. Installed this file as History ADIF and enabled it. The file contained only 2 ADIF fields, CALL and NAME and was 3Mb in size.
And I turned flight mode ON
Just to test
So it takes a looooong time to import the structured file. 77k took about 11 minutes
The lookup short circuits on callsigns, so e.g. the name for VK4KC is the name for callsign VK4K, so this would be a problem right now for users of history files since the QTH etc other fields would be doing this.
And this incorrect data (as well as correct data when it’s correct) takes a looong time, 2 seconds to respond to the UP arrow into the log. This is way too long for activation QSO rates to tolerate.
The name did, however, get stored in the QSO list panel
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