so ive been going back and forth on this for a while now and figured id just ask here because googling just gives me the same three articles over and over. right now im running WSJT-X for FT8 and it logs to its own ADIF file which i then import into Log4OM and that mostly works fine except sometimes the dupes dont get flagged right and i have to manually check which is annoying but whatever.

the issue is i want to start doing some contests — nothing serious, maybe SS or a state QSO party here and there — and everyone keeps telling me N1MM is the way to go for that. which i get, N1MM is basically built for contesting. but then i'd have two separate logs going and merging them afterwards sounds like a nightmare honestly. does anyone actually run both and keep everything synced up or do you just pick one and accept the tradeoffs. im running Windows 10 if that matters, nothing fancy, just a regular shack PC.

also curious if Log4OM can even handle contest-style dupe checking in real time because i never really tried to push it that way

yeah this is the classic problem and there's no perfect answer really. what most guys i know do is just run N1MM for contests, period, and then after the contest export the ADIF and import it into their main logger. Log4OM handles that import pretty cleanly in my experience, just watch out for the time format sometimes coming in weird depending on your N1MM export settings.

for WSJT-X there's actually a UDP broadcast option where you can have it feed N1MM directly during a contest if you want credit for digital contacts in something like RTTY Roundup or whatever. never tried it myself but ive heard it works. outside of contests just keep using Log4OM as your main book, its honestly better for general logging anyway, the award tracking and LoTW integration is nicer than anything N1MM does for day to day stuff.

Log4OM does have a contest mode but i tried it once for a county expedition and it felt kinda clunky compared to N1MM, maybe they've improved it since, im running an older version

I just keep N1MM for contests and import after. Tried to make one logger do everything for like two years and kept running into weird edge cases. Life got easier when I stopped fighting it.