NetTrack by Missing Link Software

NetTrack is software designed for HAM and GMRS radio clubs and organizations so that they can track net meeting sessions and user participation. The current version is 2.0.0 and is supplied at no charge . NetTrack is copyrighted software, but the licensing is open. This means that you may use it, give it away, make it available to others on a public or private server, throw darts at it, or set it on fire, but you can NOT sell it. This software is meant to be true FreeWare.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome to improve the function and use of the software. Any communications should be sent to :

The current version of the software is always available at THIS link for Windows users

THIS link for Linux users.

This a simple zip file with everything needed for NetTrack to run. Create a directory (folder) for it, and copy the zip file into that directory. Then unzip the file. You can create a desktop link or run it from the file explorer. On Windows the program name is : NetTrack.exe, and on Linux, the program name is nettrack.

What does it do?

NetTrack allows you to log net sessions with an easy to use quick lookup in real time as you type call signs. You can use the down and up arrow keys to move through the suggestions that it finds in your existing database of users. When the right one is displayed just hit the ENTER key to put that entry into the checkins grid. You can mark users that wish to be check in only, as well as those that have traffic for the net.

NetTrack features an FCC license lookup function that uses the actual FCC public database(s). If you wish to use this feature, NetTrack will download the selected database type and import it (them) into it's own database for instant lookups. We suggest importing only the entries for your state, or adjacent states if you are near a border. NetTrack allows you to import up to 4 different states for searches, or it can import the full national database that will result in over 48 megabytes (582,000 entries). The less you import, the faster and smaller your database will be. This is especially true for the HAM database, that contains more than 1.6 million entries.

You can keep the FCC database up to date by downloading the weekly updates from the Import > FCC database item in the Config menu. They are MUCH smaller and take only a few seconds to import. I do this every Sunday evening for my own state. You choose how much or how little of the FCC database you want to maintain. You can always choose to do a full import and select only those states that you will be using. Doing this wipes out the current database and starts over with a fresh and up to date version. All of this can be done easily from within NetTrack.

We decided to use the FCC database offline like this because of the unreliability of the online FCC API to do remote lookups. It only takes a minute or so to download the full database, however, It may take several minutes to compile and import it into NetTrack. This depends on the speed of your computer. My laptop has a Rysen 7 8 core processor, and the database import is done on the SSD. To do a complete import takes about 9 seconds, or to just do my state and the 3 states around me (Kansas, Texas, & Arkansas) takes just under 4 seconds. Weekly updates take less than 1 second each Sunday evening.

You can export your database for others to use. The database will be merged into the other users database so only new or more recent entries are added. Only NET related items such as net sessions, members list, and checkins are imported. The FCC database is not included in the merge.