so ive been using Log4OM for about two years now and generally like it, does everything i need for day to day logging, the WSJT-X integration works fine most of the time but i keep running into this annoying thing where if i have both WSJT-X and Log4OM open and i try to switch to SSB mid session it just kind of... stops updating the log automatically and i have to restart something, not always sure which one is the culprit honestly

anyway a buddy of mine who does a lot of contesting keeps telling me to just switch to N1MM and be done with it, says its the gold standard for contests which yeah i know, but i dont really do that many contests, maybe 3 or 4 a year, mostly CQWW and the occasional state QSO party. is it worth having two separate logging programs just for that or is there a way to make Log4OM work decently for contest operation too

also side question does anyone know if Log4OM can export to Cabrillo properly because last time i tried to submit a CQWW log it was kind of a mess and i ended up manually editing the file which felt wrong

yeah the two program thing is annoying but honestly thats just kind of how most serious contesters end up. N1MM is really purpose built for contesting and trying to make Log4OM do what N1MM does natively is just fighting the software the whole time. the dupe checking alone in N1MM during a run is night and day compared to anything else ive tried

that said if youre only doing 3-4 contests a year it might not be worth the learning curve, N1MM has a lot of config and the first time you set up a new contest template it can be confusing. the Cabrillo export from N1MM is rock solid though, never had an issue with it. Log4OM's cabrillo output has always felt a little sketchy to me, i remember someone on the Log4OM groups.io thread mentioning there were some header field issues a while back, might be fixed now but id double check against the contest sponsor requirements before submitting anything

for the WSJT-X dropout thing, check which program has the UDP port bound, sometimes they fight over it especially if you launched them in a weird order

i just run N1MM for contests and keep my everyday logging in WSJT-X's own log then import to ADIF later, its not elegant but it works and i stopped stressing about integration. the UDP stuff between logging programs and WSJT-X can be finicky depending on firewall settings too, worth checking that if you havent already