To quote Leonard McCoy: Good God, Man!!! At best, this represents gross carelessness. At worst, it is a resume revision event. LoTW cost AR a million dollars, is supposed to be a Flagship Product and with the Membership database, is one of our two most important databases. Yet, it is a constant source of complaints from Members (yes, with a Capital "M") and easily is one of the primary complaints we can expect to receive at club meetings and hamfests. Just yesterday, I had to assist a Life Member in his efforts to obtain a renewal certificate. That should not have been necessary, but it was. In January David and I confirmed that there was NO off-site backup of the LoTW database and there was no plan for one. It took the combined efforts of a number of us to change that act of addled judgment. Even then it took 8 months to actually achieve an actual off-site backup of LoTW --- 8 MONTHS. The Alcan Highway was built in 6 months. It should come as no shock that the dissatisfaction LoTW engenders adversely affects fundraising. Either we should get serious about the maintenance of LoTW and a badly needed upgrade to its interface, or we should farm it out to competent subcontractors to maintain and improve. If we continue on this path, one day LoTW is likely to be the dog that gives us rabies. 73 *-----------------------------------------------------* ** John Robert Stratton N5AUS West Gulf Division Vice Director West Gulf Division Legislative Action Chair Office telephone: 512-445-6262 Cell: 512-426-2028 PO Box 2232 Austin, Texas 78768-2232 *-----------------------------------------------------* On 11/6/12 9:44 AM, Shelley, Barry, N1VXY wrote:

Sorry for the delay in responding this morning.

In short, the LOTW system ran out of space last night. No data was lost. We have the hardware in place and are in the process of expanding the storage (virtually) to accommodate the ever expanding needs of the system. At the same time as we expand the space, IT is putting automatic alarms in place that will identify storage issues prior to the last minute.

The system should be back on-line early this afternoon.

73,

Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY

Chief Financial Officer

ARRL, Inc.

The National Association for Amateur Radio

(860) 594-0212

www.arrl.org

*From:*arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] *On Behalf Of *James F. Boehner, MD *Sent:* Monday, November 05, 2012 11:17 PM *To:* Edgar, William (Dir, Atlantic Div); arrl-odv *Subject:* [arrl-odv:21178] LoTW - fails, year after year

Confirmed.

Went to www.arrl.org/lotw <http://www.arrl.org/lotw> and clicked on "Log in here" and received the message listed below.

'73 de JIM N2ZZ

*From:*arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org <mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org> [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] *On Behalf Of *Bill Edgar *Sent:* Monday, November 05, 2012 9:46 PM *To:* arrl-odv *Subject:* [arrl-odv:21177] FW: LoTW - fails, year after year

Are we having issues with LoTW again?

Got this message this evening from a Maxim Society member in the Atlantic Division.

Thanks.

-Bill N3LLR

I am sorry to continue my rant, year after year, however as long as the ARRL Director's fail to take the appropriate action to fix the root problems at HQ -- nothing will change. The Director's continue to accept sub par performance from the people who are paid to do a job and consistently do not deliver.

LoTW one again is a laughing example of poor management. eQSL processes more logs with ease.

Here is what LoTW says now:

Fatal error: initializeLOTWDB: -709 - CONNECT: (cannot connect to server socket): General database error [initializeLOTWDB: -709 - CONNECT: (cannot connect to server socket)]

_______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org http://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv

All, I certainly agree with Tom that discussions on ODV and OD should be restrained appropriately; however, I admit to being quite surprised that the situation described by Barry could have been allowed to occur. I also admit that I am not the brightest bulb in the pack when it comes to computers and computerized activates, however I would not think that people skilled in these areas should have been caught with their guard down on this one. To me, the bottom line for League management includes understanding that we must not give our detractors ammunition with which to shoot us. We have sufficient numbers of "enemies" so that we do not want to do -- or fail to do -- things that cause our "friends" to wonder over our level of competence. Clearly, LoTW has already been the source of considerable angst even among our supporters. Jim Jim Weaver, K8JE Director, Great Lakes Division 5065 Bethany Rd. Mason, OH 45040 Tel. 513-459-1661; e-mail K8JE@arrl.org ARRL: The reason Amateur Radio Is Members: The reason ARRL is _____ From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of JRS Sent: 06 November, 2012 12:14 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21180] Re: LoTW - fails, year after year To quote Leonard McCoy: Good God, Man!!! At best, this represents gross carelessness. At worst, it is a resume revision event. LoTW cost AR a million dollars, is supposed to be a Flagship Product and with the Membership database, is one of our two most important databases. Yet, it is a constant source of complaints from Members (yes, with a Capital "M") and easily is one of the primary complaints we can expect to receive at club meetings and hamfests. Just yesterday, I had to assist a Life Member in his efforts to obtain a renewal certificate. That should not have been necessary, but it was. In January David and I confirmed that there was NO off-site backup of the LoTW database and there was no plan for one. It took the combined efforts of a number of us to change that act of addled judgment. Even then it took 8 months to actually achieve an actual off-site backup of LoTW - 8 MONTHS. The Alcan Highway was built in 6 months. It should come as no shock that the dissatisfaction LoTW engenders adversely affects fundraising. Either we should get serious about the maintenance of LoTW and a badly needed upgrade to its interface, or we should farm it out to competent subcontractors to maintain and improve. If we continue on this path, one day LoTW is likely to be the dog that gives us rabies. 73 ----------------------------------------------------- John Robert Stratton N5AUS West Gulf Division Vice Director West Gulf Division Legislative Action Chair Office telephone: 512-445-6262 Cell: 512-426-2028 PO Box 2232 Austin, Texas 78768-2232 ----------------------------------------------------- On 11/6/12 9:44 AM, Shelley, Barry, N1VXY wrote: Sorry for the delay in responding this morning. In short, the LOTW system ran out of space last night. No data was lost. We have the hardware in place and are in the process of expanding the storage (virtually) to accommodate the ever expanding needs of the system. At the same time as we expand the space, IT is putting automatic alarms in place that will identify storage issues prior to the last minute. The system should be back on-line early this afternoon. 73, Barry J. Shelley, N1VXY Chief Financial Officer ARRL, Inc. The National Association for Amateur Radio (860) 594-0212 www.arrl.org From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of James F. Boehner, MD Sent: Monday, November 05, 2012 11:17 PM To: Edgar, William (Dir, Atlantic Div); arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21178] LoTW - fails, year after year Confirmed. Went to www.arrl.org/lotw and clicked on "Log in here" and received the message listed below. '73 de JIM N2ZZ From: arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org [mailto:arrl-odv-bounces@reflector.arrl.org] On Behalf Of Bill Edgar Sent: Monday, November 05, 2012 9:46 PM To: arrl-odv Subject: [arrl-odv:21177] FW: LoTW - fails, year after year Are we having issues with LoTW again? Got this message this evening from a Maxim Society member in the Atlantic Division. Thanks. <!--[if !supportLists]-->- <!--[endif]-->Bill N3LLR I am sorry to continue my rant, year after year, however as long as the ARRL Director's fail to take the appropriate action to fix the root problems at HQ - nothing will change. The Director's continue to accept sub par performance from the people who are paid to do a job and consistently do not deliver. LoTW one again is a laughing example of poor management. eQSL processes more logs with ease. Here is what LoTW says now: Fatal error: initializeLOTWDB: -709 - CONNECT: (cannot connect to server socket): General database error [initializeLOTWDB: -709 - CONNECT: (cannot connect to server socket)] _______________________________________________ arrl-odv mailing list arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org http://reflector.arrl.org/mailman/listinfo/arrl-odv