[CQ-Contest] A little LoTW gotcha

[Bill Coleman]

On Feb 8, 2005, at 10:20 PM, Bill Turner wrote:

> Did any of you know that your LoTW certificates have to be renewed 
> every
> year?

Actually, no they do NOT. They only need to be renewed if you plan to 
actively upload logs.

I have several certificates: WN8WOY, WB8WOY, N8BHE, AA4LR and even KM9P 
(but just for the period of the 95 SS Phone). The only one I have to 
worry about renewing now is AA4LR, since all of my other QSOs with the 
other callsigns are already posted.

> Normally, one can renew the certificate easily by selecting a menu
> option, but once it has expired, that option no longer exists. You have
> to apply for a new one. Too bad one does not get a warning of any kind 
> -
> at least I didn't.
>
> So check your certs, guys, and don't get caught short like me.

It's no big deal to renew, or even to ask for a new cert. I think the 
idea of the renewable cert is to allow for callsigns moving from person 
to person over time, which can happen with the vanity program, or 
various other ways in other countries.

If you did a guest op and used another station's callsign, you can also 
obtain a certificate for the contest period (as I did with KM9P).

It's actually a pretty well-thought-out system. Sorry it bit you.

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901