The Story Behind
QSO Transcriber

It started with my first HF radio

When I got my first HF radio, I looked forward to making QSOs with operators in other countries. I also found it harder than I expected to listen and take notes at the same time.

I could be concentrating on the other station’s callsign and miss the signal report that followed. By the time I had written something down, the conversation had moved on.

That made me nervous about calling CQ or answering a station. I worried about getting the details wrong, and some of the enjoyment went out of being on the air. If you have felt microphone anxiety, you may recognise that feeling.

I wanted a way to check what I had heard afterwards, so I could give the operator at the other end more of my attention during the QSO.

The first idea

After one of those QSOs, I opened Apple Freeform and sketched an app for the iPhone beside my radio. I thought of it as subtitles for the received audio, with a recording I could return to.

The useful details would be the same ones I was already trying to note:

• Callsigns
• Signal reports
• Operator names and QTH
• Frequencies and modes
• Equipment mentioned during the QSO

I also wanted to keep the conversation itself. A log entry records a contact, but hearing the other operator’s voice again can bring back more of the memory.

From sketch to working app

The sketch gradually became QSO Transcriber. It can transcribe speech while listening, or work from an imported recording. Local analysis looks for callsigns, reports and other contact details in the text.

Those details need checking. Speech recognition can struggle with weak signals, QRM, QSB, accents and phonetics. A plausible-looking callsign can still be wrong, so the original audio remains part of the review.

I use the app as help with listening and notes. The operator still checks the exchange and decides what to put in the log.

Poul, OV9PL

I’m Poul, a radio amateur in Denmark. My callsign is OV9PL.

I live in Roskilde, Denmark, with my wife and our two children.

I work in IT and have a background in Computer Science, with a focus on user-friendly IT design, usability, and software development.

I develop QSO Transcriber myself. It began as a tool I wanted at my own station, and I hope it may be useful at yours too.

Getting on the air can take some courage, particularly in another language. Experienced operators also have QSOs where a callsign or report is difficult to copy. I would like this project to offer a little practical help in those situations, without promising that software can resolve every difficult exchange.

Keeping processing on the iPhone

I wanted recordings to be processed locally. The app uses Apple’s on-device speech recognition and analyses the transcript on the iPhone. It does not upload QSO audio or text to a transcription service.

Apple’s speech models may need downloading first. After that, the recordings and log information stay in the app unless you choose to export them.

Keeping a record of the QSO

You can replay a passage, correct the proposed log fields and save the contact with its audio and transcript. Corrections leave the original recording and raw transcript intact.

For me, this is also about keeping good memories: an enjoyable conversation, a first contact on a band, or a station I was pleased to work. I would like to be able to return to those QSOs after the details have faded.

Sharing it with fellow operators

I enjoy being part of the amateur-radio community and would like to contribute something useful. This app is my attempt to help with a difficulty I have experienced myself.

I hope it helps some operators feel a little less rushed at the microphone and leaves more time to enjoy the contact. I’m grateful for feedback from people using it at their stations; there will be things I have missed.