Logbooks are something most radio hams use to keep a record of their activities. Radio Logs were first published in the early 1920's to aid the general public in finding stations to listen to. This was important as much of the population lived far from any of the early broadcast stations. Originally the FCC required amateur operators to keep a log book, but the FCC dropped that mandate in 1982. Today most amateur radio operators keep a logbook of stations they have contacted for their personal interest. The type of information contained in an operators logbook is up to the individual, but normally a logbook contains the date and time of the contact (called a "QSO"), the name of the other ham contacted, his callsign, his location (called a "QTH"), the frequency the contact was made on, and a signal report of how well the other station received his signal and how well he received the other stations signal (called an "RST" report). In most cases logboooks are required if an operator wants to claim an award of some sort from various organizations and clubs who sponsor awards in contests for the most stations contacted, the most countries contacted, etc. as proof that the radio communication took place.  You can learn more about amateur radio contesting at the ARRL website here. You can use the scroll buttons to browse through my amateur radio logbook below.

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