Logging Overview
Your logbook is where all your contacts live. Hamtrax gives you a full-featured digital logbook that works offline, syncs automatically to the cloud, and supports the fields you need for everyday operating, contesting, and portable activations.
How contacts are stored
Hamtrax uses an offline-first architecture. Every contact you log is saved immediately to your device's local database (IndexedDB). When you have an internet connection, contacts sync automatically to cloud storage (Firestore), keeping your log backed up and available across devices.
- No internet required to log. You can log contacts in the field with no cell signal. They will upload when you reconnect.
- Automatic sync. Changes propagate to the cloud in the background -- you do not need to press a sync button.
- Last-write-wins. If the same contact is edited on multiple devices, the most recent write takes precedence.
What fields are tracked
Each contact (QSO) in Hamtrax can store a wide range of fields:
| Category | Fields |
|---|---|
| Core | Callsign, frequency, band, mode, submode, date, time on |
| Signal reports | RST sent, RST received |
| Location | Grid square, QTH, name, state, county, country, continent, latitude/longitude |
| My station | My grid square, my city/state/country, my radio, my antenna, station callsign, operator callsign, TX power |
| Activity references | Park reference (POTA), activation ID, MY_SIG / MY_SIG_INFO, SIG / SIG_INFO |
| Contest | Contest ID, serial sent, serial received |
| Propagation | Propagation mode, satellite name, satellite mode |
| DX | DXCC entity number, CQ zone, ITU zone |
| QSL tracking | QSL sent/received, eQSL sent/received, LoTW sent/received, QRZ logbook ID |
| Organization | Folder, notes |
| Round-trip fidelity | Unknown ADIF fields are preserved in a rawAdifFields map so re-exporting does not lose data from other programs |
tip
You do not need to fill in every field. Callsign and frequency are required -- everything else is optional. Hamtrax auto-populates date, time, and your location when you open the QSO form. Separately, your account must have a callsign set before you can log any contact (add it in Settings → Account).
What you can do
- Log contacts manually -- Add Contact in the global sidebar opens the full QSO form. Each activation, monthly hunting, or custom folder also has one folder-bound Add Contact action that opens a role-specific quick-add card; See full contact form carries the draft into the full form without changing its destination. See Manual Logging.
- Import contacts -- bring in a whole logbook from an
ADIForCSVfile, or pull contacts from a connected QRZ Logbook. Hamtrax sends every source through the same review step, auto-sorts contacts into the right folders (activations, monthly hunting, or a custom folder), and skips duplicates. A separate path imports a single past activation fromADIFwith park confirmation. See Importing Contacts. - Export contacts -- generate
ADIForCSVfiles, or push contacts directly to QRZ and HamQTH. See Exporting Contacts. - Organize with folders -- contacts are automatically sorted into monthly folders (casual QSOs) and activation folders (POTA activations). You can also create custom folders, drag-and-drop to rearrange, and pin favorites. See Folders.
- Edit or delete individual contacts -- in the contact list view, each contact row has edit and delete actions. Tap edit to open the QSO form with that contact's data pre-filled, or tap delete to remove it. To keep folders organized, the edit form locks the park, date, and your operating location for contacts in an activation folder, and the date for contacts in a monthly folder, with a banner explaining why (see Manual Logging). Contacts belonging to a POTA activation also show a warning before edits. Contacted POTA contacts display the park's state and name inline on the row for quick context.
- View contacts on a map -- toggle between list view, map view, and DX view for any folder.
- Review and bulk-edit equipment -- each folder summarizes the radio and antenna used by the most contacts. Choose Bulk Edit, select individual contacts or Select all, then use Set equipment to update only those contacts. See Folders.
- Manage photos -- each content folder shows an inline Images strip in the Logbook and in your own Showcase folder modal. Add up to 4 JPEG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, or HEIF photos per folder, up to 10 MB each. The + button hides at the cap, and validation, upload, or deletion failures explain what went wrong.
- Download per folder -- export contacts from any individual folder as ADIF or CSV without leaving the logbook.