[CQ-Contest] ARRL E-Log Submittal

Sun Jul 4 17:40:40 EDT 1999

I was bracing for a batch of flames after my tirade about our travails with
checking the ARRL 10 logs.  However, every one who answered was completely
supportive and I deeply appreciate that.  A few of the respondants were
involved with logchecking themselves, and knew how difficult the task was.

I had a couple of responses from people who needed an explanation of
exactly what to submit, so I thought I would share this with the reflector.
 A lot of you already know this, so for those of you, press the Delete
button......NOW.

These instructions have to do with submitting logs for ARRL contests only. 
CQ and other contests have their own procedures.

For ARRL contests, what you should submit is what is called the "ARRL
Format File".  CT, NA, TRLog, and possibly other programs can generate this
file.  I would not expect most general-purpose or DXing logging packages to
create such a file, but I may be wrong.

Follow whatever procedure your software package uses to generate output
files, then look at what results.  You're looking for a file called
CALLSIGN.LOG (i.e., at my house it would be K8CC.LOG).  It is very
important to note that whatever the contest, the ARRL format file will have
the exact same file name, so make sure you have the correct one (i.e., make
sure that the file is for the correct contest) when you go to submit your
entry.

Please note that it is also very bad form for the filename to be different
from the actual callsign used.  For example, K9TM spent several days
looking for a log for K0xxx (which was the callsign used) when the filename
was N0xx (perhaps the owner of the software?).  Boy, was this confusing!

The other file you're interested in for ARRL entry submittal is the summary
sheet file.  In most cases, this is called CONTEST.SUM, where CONTEST is
the root filename of your computerized log file.

Here is the procedure I follow to submit an E-log to the ARRL:

1. Generate all the output files using my logging program.

2. I check the CALLSIGN.LOG file to make sure it is for the correct
contest.  (More on this later)

3. Open up the summary file with a text editor or Windows Notepad, checking
all the info and adding any comments.

4. Start a blank e-mail in the e-mail program.  Title the e-mail something
descriptive, like "K8CC ARRL DX CW MULTI-MULTI".

5. Most e-mail programs can insert a text file - no, I don't mean
attachment, but instead copying the text of the file into the body of the
e-mail.  I insert the summary file which becomes the body of the e-mail.

6. Finally, attach the ARRL format file (CALLSIGN.LOG) as an attachment,
then send the e-mail.

See, that wasn't so hard, was it?

DETAILS OF CALLSIGN.LOG

How can you tell if the file you plan to send is in the correct format, or
is for the correct contest?  You can inspect the file using any text
editor, including Windows Notepad.  You can also simply type the file to
the screen in DOS using the command:

TYPE CALLSIGN.LOG <cr>

When typing the file to the screen, it will probably scroll off very fast,
however once it stops you will probably still be able to see what you need
to see.

Here is a fragment of K8MAD.LOG from our Field Day effort last weekend:

00001 06/26/99 1800  40CW  K8MAD        2A  OH   WA8RCN       3A  OH      4

00002 06/26/99 1801  50CW  K8MAD        2A  OH   NT1N         1D  CT      4

00003 06/26/99 1801  40CW  K8MAD        2A  OH   W9GO         5A  IN      4

00004 06/26/99 1801  40CW  K8MAD        2A  OH   N3BJ         1B  VA      4

00005 06/26/99 1801  20CW  K8MAD        2A  OH   W2YD         2A  NNJ     4

00006 06/26/99 1802  40CW  K8MAD        2A  OH   W8MK         2A  OH      4

Most of the data is obvious and can be identified quickly.  The definition
of the ARRL format file is somewhat vague so the data in your file might
appear slightly different (the above example came from NA, obviously). 
Here are the important things to look for:

1. Using this technique, you can easily view the data.  This is the laymans
way of saying its an ASCII file, as opposed to a CT .BIN file or a NA .QDF
file which will be displayed as gibberish on the screen.

2. There are no headers or blank lines in the file.  Most programs generate
files intended to be printed, which have column titles and headings, page
breaks, etc.  In our experience, THIS IS THE MOST COMMON MISTAKE ENTRANTS
MAKE, taking a printer file and trying to submit it as a ARRL format file. 
This creates a tremendous amount of manual work for the logcheckers.

3. By looking at the data, you can determine if the file is for the correct
contest.  In the example above, the sent exchange (2A OH) and received
exchanges are readily apparent.

As I said in my previous e-mail, 300 of the 1300 ARRL 10M logs looked like
what you see above.  The other 1000 don't.  You can imagine how much manual
work this is to correct by hand.

If anyone has any questions, drop me an e-mail.

73,

Dave Pruett, K8CC

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