I stand by the iterative roadmap developed by the ARRL's LoTW Committee.

+ While this roadmap was occasionally discussed in the online ARRL-LoTW Discussion Group, it was never publicly released. I will summarize it here:

Step 1: eliminate the technical debt in the LoTW Server, and replace the dependency on a obsolete version of SAP database engine with an industry standard ODBC interface

- eliminating the technical debt included correcting crash defects, eliminating performance bottlenecks, and providing comprehensive documentation for users

- replacing the proprietary interface to the SAP database engine with ODBC would enable an immediate upgrade to the then-current version of the SAP database engine, and eventually to more powerful ODBC-compliant database engines, including cloud-hosted database engines

Step 2: Provide a web service the enables non-ARRL award sponsors can (for a fee if desired) gain access to LoTW confirmations without ARRL IT staff having to construct a user interface (as was done for WPX and WAZ).

Step 3: Provide a basket of capabilities to which users could optionally subscribe for $10-$25 annually; examples included direct communication with QSO partners, notification of awards earned, log backup and recovery. The resulting revenue stream would enable LoTW to achieve financial break-even with two dedicated developers.

Step 4: Develop a RadioSport Web Presence: a new online user experience (UX) for DXers and Contesters employing modern user interface technology, with an emphasis on personalization. This (UX) would enable each user to declare his or her specific interests (e.g. 5-band DXCC and 6m VUCC, or phone contests) and provide access to all underlying sub-systems (DXCC, VUCC, WAS, WPX, WAZ, LoTW, Leaderboards, etc.) while hiding the implementation details (like the current need to "link" an LoTW account to one's DXCC record). Like TQSL, this UX would be localizable to other languages by volunteers.

Step 1 was completed in mid-2016, taking longer than expected in part due to the requirement that NPOTA, Centennial, and Grid Chase be supported. LoTW's measured availability increased from less than 90% to more than 99%, where it remains to this day. The rate at which submitted QSOs are processed was doubled.

After step 1 was completed, we chose to extend LoTW to support WAZ. While not part of the roadmap, it was deemed necessary given user expectations (surveys showed WAZ support to be the most requested new functionality), and given a long-unfilled commitment to CQ Magazine, the sponsor of WAZ.

A working prototype of the web service called for in Step 2 was constructed, but never carried forward due to the lack of development resources.

"Market research" for step 3 was conducted at the Dayton Amateur Radio Convention and via online surveys, but never advanced beyond that point due to the lack of development resources.

Step 4 has an unfulfilled prerequisite: the selection of user interface framework to replace what's currently employed by arrl.org. The current framework is a disaster that should have been replaced years ago. Creating content using its "GetSimple" content management system is like building a ship in a bottle using tweezers; every content creation task takes 10X longer than it should.

So what should be done now? When appropriate resources become available, the ARRL should

A. select a modern user interface framework to replace what's currently used by arrl.org

B. construct the top level of the RadioSport Web Presence using the selected user interface framework, implement access to a small subset of LoTW functionality (say, DXCC statistics and awards), and make this accessible to users

C. refine the RadioSport Web Presence based on feedback from B, and continue extending it, iteration by iteration, until all RadioSport functionality is accessible

D. re-implement aging subsystems (e.g. DXCC) in a manner that is transparent to users; if the necessary resources are available, this can be accomplished in parallel with step C

E. replace the LoTW Server's SAP database engine with an ODBC-compliant database engine that can be cloud-hosted, and then relocate the LoTW Server to the cloud; if the necessary resources are available, this can be accomplished in parallel with step C

de AA6YQ

de AA6YQ

We’ve seen the job ads for an IT Director, demonstrating that ARRL Management accepts the need for one,

+ Recruiting an IT Director does not imply any commitment to LoTW 2.0

+ A year has gone by with no IT Director being hired.

Don’t use my personal feelings about the grid chase as a stick against it. 

 

If members want it there can be a case for it. I do not make policy by myself or in a vacuum. 

 

Also I didn’t say I was against it anyway. I did say that I didn’t like that it had become basically a battle of (fully) automated FT8 robots. If it can become a properly managed non automated event then it would be nice to have

+ I don't have a personal problem with the grid chase, but there is no effective way to prevent automation in FT8, FT4, PSK, RTTY, or CW if someone is intent on implementing it.

+ Are you going to identify the serious problems in the current implementation of LotW that you mentioned above?

de AA6YQ

Imagine where LoTW, plus the rest of ARRL’s IT presence, might be in a year or three’s time, given appropriate strategies, support, resourcing and a modicum of good fortune!

 

Sorry to be so upbeat and enthusiastic.  Just trying to counterbalance your negativity and angst in the hope of ending up in a more realistic place, most of all moving forwards, neither backwards nor at a dead stop.

Imagine where we'd be now had the ARRL gotten LoTW mostly right from the get-go....

de AA6YQ

The last ARRL International Grid Chase took place in 2018.
http://www.arrl.org/international-grid-chase-2018

+ I was explicitly referring to NPOTA.

I don't see a problem with testing that it still works - but then I am an
optimist, whereas you are The Voice Of Doom, Dave. If you turn out to be
right, and if there are indeed significant/insurmountable problems with
reinstating it, then fine, can the idea.

+ Ria already expressed her opposition to the Grid Chase, and I doubt that anyone thinks that re-running the Centennial would be a good idea. NPOTA was quite popular, and could likely be tied in with POTA for a second go-around.

+ If I were the voice of doom, Gary, I wouldn't have driven down to Newington in November 2012 to convince ARRL management that LoTW was salvageable -- particularly after criticizing the ARRL's approach to its development during the preceding years - my Jeremiads, as Hans called them at the time. Nor would I have spent the next 6 years helping the ARRL's IT team to salvage it.

+ Developing software at LoTW's scale and complexity is serious business. While enthusiasm and optimism are helpful, they are far from sufficient, and when injudiciously applied can turn realistic planning into gelatinous wishful thinking. LoTW already fell into that pit during its initial development: "Sure, one developer can design, code, document, and test all of LoTW in 2 years - no problem! Anyone who says otherwise is just a nay-saying ARRL-basher".