Multi-Op & network logbook

First

Which of the two you need

This page covers two different things. Most people only need one of them.

	A logbook on a server	The contest network
What it is	The logbook lives in a MySQL/MariaDB database instead of in a file.	Machines in one shack exchange contest QSOs directly over the LAN.
What you need	A server, an account on it, and its address typed in once per machine.	Nothing. No addresses, no port numbers, no server.
Use it for	One everyday log used from the shack PC and the laptop; a club log everybody logs into.	A contest weekend with two or three operating positions.
Needs a contest?	No.	Yes - it only runs in a contest log.

You can combine them: a contest logbook on a server uses both. The contest network works just as well with a .sak file or a local .sadb.

Once

Setting up the server

Install MySQL or MariaDB on something that is always on - a NAS, a small PC, or one of the shack machines. Most NAS boxes offer MariaDB as a package.
Let it listen on the network, not only on localhost, and open port 3306 in the server's own firewall for your shack network.
Make one account by running the two lines beside this text on the server (for example in phpMyAdmin or the mysql command line). Change the password and the network address to your own.

Each logbook is a database of its own, named sa_…. In ShackAssistant you only see the name you gave it.

Give the account a password of its own and limit it to your own network (192.168.1.%), as in the example.

A server account, once, on the server

-- every logbook is named sa_..., so one grant covers them all
CREATE USER 'shackassistant'@'192.168.1.%' IDENTIFIED BY 'a-good-password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON `sa\_%`.* TO 'shackassistant'@'192.168.1.%';

Why ALL PRIVILEGES

Making a logbook creates a database, and deleting one drops it. The grant only covers names starting with sa_, so it reaches your logbooks and nothing else.

Once per machine

Telling ShackAssistant about it

Settings → Network Logbook. Add as many servers as you like - the NAS at home, the club station. The grid shows which one is in use.

New, then a name of your own, the host, the port (3306), the username and the password.
Test connection shows what the server answers - for example a wrong password, or host not allowed.
Apply.

One server at a time. Picking another and pressing Apply closes the logbook you had open and switches over.
The password is stored in plain text in the settings file, like the QRZ and LoTW ones.

Settings, Network Logbook tab: the list of servers with host, port and username, and the fields below it — As many servers as you like; the arrow marks the one in use.

Day to day

Opening, making and deleting a logbook on the server

File → Network Logbook opens the list. Press Connect to load it.

Each row shows the name, the number of QSOs, whether it is a contest and when it starts, and the callsign.
The arrow and the bold row mark the logbook you have open.
The drop-down at the top lets you look at another server without going to Settings. Press Connect after choosing.
New… makes one: empty, empty contest, or a copy of the logbook you have open - that is how you move a local log to the server. The new logbook opens straight away.
Delete… removes a logbook from the server. It shows the QSO count and callsign and asks first. There is no way back. The logbook you have open cannot be deleted.
Rename… gives a logbook another name. It is refused while another machine has that logbook open; your own open logbook is closed, renamed and opened again.

Open logbook on the server: the logbooks on this server with QSO count, contest flag and start — What is on the server.

New logbook on the server: name and the three kinds — Empty, empty contest, or a copy of what you have open.

Good to know

How the machines keep in step

Every new QSO, edit or delete reaches the other machines within about a second.

Correcting a callsign or time is safe: it stays the same QSO on every machine.
Two machines editing the same QSO: the last edit wins.
Server briefly unreachable? As soon as it is back, each machine fetches the QSOs it missed.

A contest weekend

The contest network

A contest network needs no server at all. The machines find each other on the LAN by themselves and exchange their QSOs. Nothing to type in.

It runs in any contest logbook - a file, a local database or one on a server.
Machines work together when they have the same contest, the same station callsign and the same definition. A machine logging something else is shown with what it is logging, but no QSOs are exchanged. Open the right logbook on it.
A logged QSO is on the other screens within a second. Anything missed is fetched automatically.
A machine that joins halfway gets the whole log.

Arrange the firewall beforehand - see below, and Install.

Who is on

Network Stations

File → Network Stations. One row per machine, updated every few seconds.

Column	What it says
Station, Address	The machine's name and its address on the network.
Master	Which machine holds the cluster connection - see below.
Callsign, Operator	Who is logging, and who is at the key.
Band, Mode	Where that machine is now.
In log	Whether it is in this logbook.
Rules	The contest definition and revision it runs. Red: no definition at all. Yellow: another revision - it works, but worth a look. The line underneath shows what this logbook asks for.
Holding	The serial number that machine has reserved right now.
Clock	How far its clock is from yours, in seconds. Bold red past three seconds - fix it, or QSOs can be lost at the log check.
Version	The program version. Different versions work together.

Three buttons along the bottom:

Sync clock sets this machine's clock from the others on the network. Clocks are only changed when you press it.
Resync log fetches the whole log from every machine and asks the others to do the same. Use it when a QSO is missing somewhere.
Reset serial numbers puts every station above the highest number in the joint log, for when the numbering has drifted apart. It never lowers a number.

Reset serial numbers: put every station above the highest number in the joint log — For numbering that has drifted apart.

Making one machine the cluster master, with the confirmation it asks — A tick in the *Master* column, and a question before anything changes.

In a contest

Serial numbers that cannot collide

Each machine takes its own next number and claims it when you leave the callsign box. Two machines never send the same number.

In the entry the number is grey while it is only a guess, and red once it is yours.
A number that has been sent is used up. A gap costs nothing at the log check; a double number does.
A machine that drops out frees its reserved number by itself.
This is only for contests with one running serial number - not for a fixed exchange or numbers per band.

What happened

Notifications

The second tab of the Network Stations window lists what happened, with the time: a machine joining, a different version, a station logging another contest, a resync, a serial reset, a clock that drifts.

Messages that can cost you a QSO are in bold red, and the tab shows a mark until you have looked.
They appear here, not on the status bar, so they never hide your own logging messages.
They are kept when you close the window.

The Notifications tab: timed lines about machines joining, version differences and serial resets — What the network did while you were working.

Spots

One cluster connection for the whole shack

A DX cluster sends you spots: stations other hams hear on the air. In a shack with several machines, one machine is the master: it holds the cluster connection and passes every spot on to the others. So your callsign is logged in to the node only once.

Tick the Master column in Network Stations and confirm. The tick shows once the network has agreed.
The others close their own connection and use the master's spots. The cluster window shows whose spots these are and from which node; on the master it shows how many machines it feeds.
A slave can still spot: the spot goes out through the master, under the master's login.
On a slave the Clusters tab is greyed out until the master is gone or the contest is closed.
A machine that joins later knows who the master is right away.

The cluster window on the master: connected, and how many clients receive these spots — On the master: connected, and how many machines are fed.

The cluster window on a slave: spots come from the master — On a slave: whose spots these are.

Troubleshooting

If they cannot see each other

What you see	What to do
They see me, I see nobody	The Windows firewall blocks incoming traffic. The installer adds the rule, but if somebody once clicked Cancel on the Windows firewall question, that block wins. Re-install to fix it.
A machine is listed but greyed, with another contest beside it	It has a different logbook open. Open the right one.
Red in the Rules column	That machine has no definition for this contest. Copy the `.ctd` over, into the CTD folder in Documents.
Serial numbers have drifted apart	Reset serial numbers in Network Stations.
A QSO is missing on one machine	Resync log in Network Stations.
Two machines with the same Windows name	They show up as one row. Give one of them another name in Windows.
Cannot connect to the server at all	Test connection in Settings shows what the server said. Host not allowed means the account is limited to other addresses.