so ive been using WSJT-X for FT8 stuff for about a year now and it logs to its own ADIF file which is fine but i want something that actually keeps everything organized and also works when i do the odd contest here and there, nothing serious just the state QSO parties and maybe CQ WPX when i feel ambitious

been looking at N1MM Logger+ and Log4OM and honestly im a bit confused because it seems like N1MM is really built around contesting first and everything else second, whereas Log4OM seems more like a general logger that can maybe do some contest stuff? or am i reading that wrong

my main use case is probably 70% casual HF logging with WSJT-X integration, 20% SSB ragchews i want to log manually, and maybe 10% actual contest operating. does N1MM even make sense for that mix or is it overkill and kind of annoying to use outside of a contest environment

also does anyone know if Log4OM handles the WSJT-X UDP logging cleanly or is there weirdness with duplicate entries when youre running both

you've basically got it right — N1MM is a contest logger that happens to let you log outside of contests, but the interface is very much designed around rate and multipliers and all that, so if youre just sitting down to work a few DX stations on a tuesday night it feels like overkill and honestly kind of clunky. i used it as my main logger for a while and eventually got tired of the workflow for non-contest stuff.

switched to Log4OM v2 a couple years ago and havent looked back for general logging. the WSJT-X integration works well, you just point WSJT-X at it via UDP and it picks up the QSOs automatically. i did have some duplicate issues early on but that turned out to be because i had logging enabled in WSJT-X AND had adif logging going to the same file, once i sorted that out it was clean. the contest module in Log4OM isnt as slick as N1MM for serious contesting but for a state QSO party where youre not exactly running 200 hour rate it does the job fine

honestly for CQ WPX id just fire up N1MM for that weekend and use something else the rest of the time, thats kind of what a lot of people do. N1MM is free and you can just have it installed without it being your everyday logger. the duplicate QSO thing between loggers is annoying but most people just do a careful ADIF merge after the contest and call it done. not elegant but it works