so ive been running Log4OM for about a year now for general logging and i really like it, the interface is clean and the LoTW sync works great for me. but every time a contest comes around i end up switching over to N1MM and then spending like 20 minutes trying to remember how i had everything configured last time. its kind of annoying.

the thing is i also use WSJT-X pretty regularly for FT8 and FT4 and i have that piped into Log4OM through UDP just fine, works without much fuss. but when i fire up N1MM for say the ARRL DX contest or sweepstakes, i feel like im managing two completely separate universes and stuff doesnt always sync up right. dupes from my Log4OM general log dont carry over obviously and i just end up with this messy situation where i have to do a manual merge after the fact.

anyone else dealing with this kind of split workflow? im wondering if i should just commit fully to N1MM for everything including day to day logging, but honestly the general logging features in N1MM feel kinda clunky compared to Log4OM. or is there some way to get them talking to each other better that im not seeing. ive read some stuff about ADIF exports and imports but that feels like a bandaid not a real solution

yeah this is basically the eternal problem with contest logging vs general logging, they really are two different use cases and no single program does both perfectly. N1MM is without question the best contest logger out there, the CW macros, the bandmap, SO2R support if you ever go there, nothing touches it for contesting. but youre right that for day to day it feels like overkill and the interface isnt exactly friendly when youre just casually working DX on a tuesday night.

what i do is keep Log4OM as my master log and just accept that N1MM is a contest-only tool. after each contest i export the Cabrillo and also an ADIF from N1MM and import the ADIF into Log4OM. its not seamless but it only takes a few minutes and i havent had a real problem with dupes in the general log because i dont really care about dupes there, only in the contest itself. the WSJT-X UDP feed going into Log4OM is solid in my experience too, just make sure youre on a recent version of both because there were some issues a while back with the packet format.

honestly i just use N1MM for everything including FT8 via WSJT-X and it works ok once you get the UDP port configured right. the Log4OM integration stuff sounds like more headache to me but i get why people like it. N1MM's general logging is clunky like you said but i got used to it after a while. the contest features are just too good to give up and i didnt want to maintain two logs