HamLog is a self-hosted amateur radio QSO logger with support for POTA, contest logging, search, a world map, and ADIF import/export. This guide covers every feature from first login to automated backups.
- Getting Started
- The QSO Log
- Logging a QSO
- POTA Logging
- Contest Logging
- Viewing QSO Details
- Callsign Info
- Searching Your Log
- Sorting
- The QSO Map
- Importing and Exporting
- Settings
- Multi-User Support
- Offline Use
- Deleting QSOs
Open a browser and navigate to HamLog using your server's IP address and port:
http://YOUR-SERVER-IP:8050
If you are on the same machine as the server, use localhost:
http://localhost:8050
If you don't know the server's IP address, see the install guide for how to find it.
Click Register on the login screen. You will need:
- Username — 3 to 50 characters. Used to log in.
- Callsign — 3 to 12 characters (e.g.
AE9S). Attached to your log. Entered in uppercase automatically. - Password — at least 6 characters.
- Confirm password — must match.
Click Register. You are logged in immediately and taken to your QSO log.
Enter your username and password and click Log In. Your session lasts 24 hours; after that you will be returned to the login screen.
After logging in, the main page shows your QSO log as a table.
Each row is one QSO. The columns are:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| (chevron) | Expand button — click to see POTA records, reports, and notes |
| Date | The date of the contact, displayed in your local format |
| Time | UTC time of the contact (HH:MM) |
| Callsign | The other station's callsign |
| Frequency | Operating frequency in MHz |
| Mode | Operating mode (SSB, CW, FT8, etc.) |
| Band | Amateur band (20m, 40m, etc.) |
| (trash) | Delete button |
The log refreshes automatically every 60 seconds. No manual reload needed.
On small screens the table is replaced by a card layout — one card per QSO, showing the callsign, date/time, frequency, mode, and band as badges. Tap Details to expand a card.
Click New QSO (the button with a + icon) in the toolbar above the log.
A modal form appears.
Fill in the fields:
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Callsign | Yes | The other station's callsign. Uppercased automatically. |
| Frequency | Yes | In MHz, e.g. 14.074 or 7.225. |
| Received | No | Signal report you received, e.g. 59 or 599. |
| Sent | No | Signal report you sent. |
| Notes | No | Free text — anything you want to remember. |
| Mode | No | e.g. SSB, CW, FT8. |
| Band | No | e.g. 20m, 40m. |
The date and time are recorded automatically at the moment you submit the form.
Click Add QSO to save.
To log contacts with several stations in one go, enter multiple callsigns in the Callsign field separated by commas:
W1ABC, K2DEF, N3GHI
HamLog creates one QSO record for each callsign, all with the same frequency, mode, band, and reports you entered.
POTA (Parks on the Air) is a program where operators activate or make contact with stations operating from parks and natural areas. If you are participating in POTA, you can attach a park record to a QSO.
Inside the Add QSO form, click the + POTA button. A POTA section appears:
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Park ID | The POTA park designator, e.g. K-1234 or US-0001. Uppercased automatically. |
| QSO Type | Hunter — you contacted an activator at a park. Activator — you were operating from the park. |
You can add multiple POTA records to a single QSO if the contact involves more than one park.
To log contest exchange data alongside a QSO, click the + Contest button inside the Add QSO form. You can add one contest record per QSO.
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Contest ID | A name or identifier for the contest, e.g. CQWW-SSB or ARRL-FD. |
| QSO No | Your sequential QSO number in the contest. |
| Exchange | The exchange data you received, e.g. your section or serial number. |
The main table shows the most common fields. To see POTA records, signal reports, and notes for a QSO, click the chevron icon on the left side of the row (on desktop) or tap Details (on mobile).
The row expands inline.
The expanded section shows:
- POTA Records — park ID and whether you were Hunter or Activator. Click a park ID to see all your QSOs with that park.
- Details — Received report, Sent report, and Notes (if any were entered).
Click the chevron again to collapse the row.
HamLog looks up operator data from HamDB the first time you log a contact with a callsign. This happens in the background while you work.
To see the data:
- Desktop: Hover your mouse over a callsign in the log.
- Mobile: Tap the callsign.
A panel slides in from the right showing:
- Operator name
- City, state, and country
- QSO history — a list of all contacts you have made with that callsign
The panel appears automatically when info is available. If the panel does not appear, HamDB may not have data for that callsign, or the lookup may still be pending (run Backfill Locations in Settings to catch any that were missed).
Click the Search button above the table to open the filter panel.
You can filter by:
| Filter | What it does |
|---|---|
| Callsign | Matches callsigns that contain the text you type (case-insensitive). |
| Date From | Shows only QSOs on or after this date. |
| Date To | Shows only QSOs on or before this date. |
| Frequency | Matches frequencies that contain the text (e.g. 14 shows all 14 MHz QSOs). |
| Band | Drop-down — select a specific band or leave blank for all. |
| Mode | Drop-down — select a specific mode or leave blank for all. |
| POTA Park | Matches park IDs that contain the text. |
| Notes | Matches notes that contain the text (case-insensitive). |
All filters combine with AND logic — a QSO must match every active filter to appear in the results.
The toolbar shows a count while any filter is active:
Showing 12 of 347 QSOs
To remove all filters at once, click Clear Filters at the bottom of the search panel. When no filters are active, the count shows the total:
347 QSOs
The Search button shows an active badge when any filter is set, so you can tell at a glance whether the list is filtered.
Click any underlined column header to sort the log by that column:
- Date — sorts by date and time (newest first by default)
- Callsign — sorts alphabetically
- Frequency — sorts numerically
- Mode — sorts alphabetically
- Band — sorts alphabetically
Click the same header again to reverse the sort direction. An arrow icon next to the header label shows the current direction.
Sorting and filtering work together — the log always shows the filtered set, sorted by your chosen column.
Navigate to Map in the navigation bar to see your QSOs plotted on a world map.
Each marker represents a QSO. The map automatically fits the view to show all your markers at once. When you change the time filter, the view re-fits to the new set of markers.
The label at the top right reads "N QSOs on map" when every QSO in the selected time range is plotted. If some contacts don't have a known location yet, it reads "X of Y QSOs mapped" — where Y is the number of QSOs in the selected range and X is how many of those have coordinates. When nothing can be plotted, a banner under the filter bar explains why: either there are no QSOs in the selected range, or the QSOs in range have no location data yet (with a link to Backfill Locations in Settings).
The bar above the map has preset time filters:
| Preset | Shows QSOs from |
|---|---|
| Day | Last 24 hours |
| Week | Last 7 days |
| Month | Last 30 days |
| 6 Months | Last 6 calendar months |
| Year | Last 12 calendar months |
| All | All time |
| Custom | Date range you choose |
Select Custom to enter a From and To date manually.
Click any marker to see a popup with:
- Callsign
- Operator name (if available)
- City and country
- Date and time of the contact
- Frequency, mode, and band
The map only shows QSOs where HamLog has a latitude and longitude for the callsign. If you have a log but the map is empty, run Backfill Locations in Settings first (see Settings). This queries HamDB for location data for all callsigns in your log.
Map tile images are loaded from OpenStreetMap and require an internet connection. If you are offline, the map tiles will not load (the background shows a plain neutral color) and a banner appears:
Map tiles unavailable offline. Markers are still shown with correct positions.
Your markers still appear in the right places even without tiles.
ADIF (Amateur Data Interchange Format) is the standard file format used by
logging software. Most loggers can import and export .adi or .adif files,
making it easy to move data between programs.
- In the QSO log toolbar, click Import ADIF.
- Select a
.adior.adiffile from your computer. - HamLog processes the file and adds the QSOs to your log.
- A message shows how many QSOs were imported.
Existing QSOs are not affected. Imported QSOs are added alongside them.
POTA park records in the ADIF file (APP_POTA_ID field) are imported and
linked to the correct QSOs.
Click Export ADIF in the toolbar. Your browser downloads a file named
hamlog-export.adi containing all QSOs in your log. This file can be
imported into any ADIF-compatible logging software.
Navigate to Settings in the navigation bar.
Three themes are available. Click one to apply it immediately — no save button needed.
| Theme | Description |
|---|---|
| Indigo + Emerald | Professional dashboard look |
| Teal + Amber | Warm radio aesthetic |
| Dark Mode | Easy on the eyes at night |
HamDB looks up operator info automatically when you log a new QSO. For older QSOs already in your log, or for any callsigns where the lookup failed, click Backfill Locations to run a lookup on every callsign that is missing location data.
The button shows progress while running and reports how many callsigns were updated and how many failed when done.
This requires an internet connection. Backfill processes one callsign every 500 ms to avoid overwhelming HamDB.
Two backup formats are available:
Download JSON Backup — a complete backup of all QSOs, POTA records, and contest records in a structured JSON file. Best choice for archival and for restoring your log.
Download ADIF Export — your log in standard ADIF format, compatible with other logging software.
Both files are named with today's date, e.g. hamlog-backup-2026-05-27.json.
You can automate backups using HamLog's API. The Settings page shows the exact
curl commands to use. The general pattern is:
- POST to
/api/auth/loginwith your username and password to get a token. - Use that token as a Bearer header to download a JSON or ADIF backup.
A PowerShell script is included for Windows users:
scripts\backup-api.ps1 -Username myuser -Password mypass
scripts\backup-api.ps1 -Format adif -Username myuser -Password mypass
Output goes to the backups\ directory by default.
Any person on your local network can create an account. Each account has its own callsign and its own private QSO log — one user cannot see another user's QSOs.
There is no administrator account. Registration is open to anyone who can reach HamLog on your network. If you want to restrict access, control it at the network level (firewall, VLAN, etc.) rather than within HamLog.
All core features work without an internet connection:
- Logging QSOs
- Searching and sorting
- ADIF import and export
- Backup downloads
Two features require internet access:
- Map tiles — the map background is loaded from OpenStreetMap. Markers still show in the correct positions when offline.
- HamDB callsign lookups — operator name and location data come from HamDB. QSOs still save normally; the callsign info panel will simply be empty until a lookup succeeds.
To delete a QSO, click the trash icon on the right side of the row. A confirmation dialog appears asking you to confirm.
Click Yes to permanently delete the QSO and any associated POTA or contest records.
This cannot be undone. Before deleting anything significant, download a backup from Settings first.