so ive been using WSJT-X for FT8 stuff for about a year now and it logs to its own internal log fine but ive been wanting something that handles everything in one place, like when i do the occasional contest plus my regular HF work plus the digital modes. right now my setup is kind of a mess -- WSJT-X logs to its adif file, i manually import that into Log4OM every week or so when i remember, and then for contests i fire up N1MM because thats what our club uses and i kind of just live with having duplicate entries or missing stuff.

anyway i was talking to a guy at the club meeting last thursday and he said just pick one and stick with it but that doesnt really help because N1MM is clearly better for contest ops but Log4OM has the nicer interface for everyday logging and LoTW sync and all that. does anyone have a workflow that actually works here or am i just overthinking this. also does Log4OM play nice with N1MM exports after a contest, ive had issues with duplicate QSOs when i try to merge the adif files

yeah this is basically the eternal question for anyone doing both contesting and casual HF work. i went through the same thing a couple years ago. what i ended up doing is using N1MM strictly for contests and nothing else, then after the contest i export the adif and import it into Log4OM with the duplicate check turned on. Log4OM is actually pretty decent at catching dupes as long as your dates and callsigns match up, the issue usually comes in when WSJT-X has already logged some of those same stations from a previous session and the timestamps are slightly off.

the WSJT-X integration in Log4OM got a lot better in the newer versions, theres a UDP logging option where WSJT-X can push QSOs directly to Log4OM in real time so you dont have to do the manual adif import thing anymore. worth looking at if you havent set that up yet. still doesnt solve the N1MM side of things but at least the FT8 logging becomes automatic

Honestly I just use N1MM for everything including day to day logging and people think im crazy but it works. The non-contest logging mode is underrated, most guys only think of it as a contest tool but ive been keeping my full log in there for years. WSJT-X talks to it fine over the network port. Only thing it really lacks compared to Log4OM is the award tracking stuff, like if you care about DXCC progress and visual maps and whatnot Log4OM is nicer for that.

Duplicate merging is always going to be a headache no matter what combination you use, thats just the nature of juggling multiple programs. I'd just pick whichever one you want as the master log and treat everything else as secondary.