[VHFcontesting] [NEWSVHF] Logging between various software programs

Mon Aug 7 18:53:23 EDT 2023

Dave,

One of the confirmation matching criteria for LOTW is that the modes must
be an exact match or match a mode group  ( ex. DATA = FT4, FT8, Q65, etc)
https://lotw.arrl.org/lotw-help/key-concepts#confirmation

Within TQSL, you can remap ADIF modes to something TQSL recognizes. You can
also remap Cabrillo modes to something that is recognized.
File Menu --> Display or Modify Preferences Then select ADIF Modes or
Cabrillo Specs Tabs.

I don't know where a printed document lives that specifies what mode and
propagation types TQSL/LOTW recognizes . However you can go into TQSL
 File Menu --> Create a new ADIF file  and look in the dropdown boxes for
mode and propagation mode to see what is available and accepted

Scott AA5AM

On Mon, Aug 7, 2023 at 3:19 PM David Olean <k1whs at metrocast.net> wrote:

> So I sent in my 222 & Up log to LOTW. It was exported from N1MM as an
> adif file. I checked and got an immediate match with VA3IKE for his 49th
> grid on 432. Ike was very keen to get that contact logged in LOTW. It
> was a new state on 432 as well as  grid #49.  The MODE I saw on LOTW was
> SSB. We actually used Q65B-30 but I changed it to SSB.  I am not sure
> what mode VA3IKE used.  I also got a note from K1TEO, who claims to have
> also sent his log in. He had a match for only one contact with me on
> SSB.  He had an FT8 contact with me on 432 and I called it SSB. Jeff had
> RY and there was no match. Strangely, I checked for K1TEO just now and
> came up with NO MATCH!!  What a mess.  Jeff gets a match for our 222
> contact but I do not.
>
> I wish I had paid attention to this stuff before. I just assumed that
> everything was fine with the world.
>
> I will pursue this further.
>
> Dave K1WHS
>
> On 8/7/2023 3:24 PM, Bob Bownes wrote:
> > Would it make sense to ask the ARRL to establish a 'standard' for this
> > sort of thing as we do for internet standards (IETF) or telecom (ITU),
> > even if it is a 'compliance is not mandatory' kind of thing?
> > Easy to see an extension to digital modes, codecs, etc.
> >
> > Bob, who has participated/written too many standards in his day
> >
> >
> > On Mon, Aug 7, 2023 at 2:29 PM David Olean <k1whs at metrocast.net> wrote:
> >
> >     I have had all sorts of problems with logging software and contest
> >     entry
> >     software that processes logs.  Maybe I missed it, but It is hard
> >     to find
> >     documentation that gets down and dirty to tell us what responses are
> >     allowed in each block where data is entered.  In this past contest I
> >     used N1MM to log for the 222 and Up contest, and it allows certain
> >     entries for MODE. My regular logging program is VQ-Log and it has
> >     various modes allowed.  When you make an ADIF file to submit to
> >     the ARRL
> >     LOTW, those choices may be incompatibile.  The ADIF format allows
> only
> >
> >     SSB
> >     CW
> >     RTTY
> >     TOR=AMTOR
> >     PKT
> >     AM
> >     FM
> >     SSTV
> >     ATV
> >     PAC=PACTOR
> >     CLO=CLOVER
> >
> >     N1MM recognizes CW, USB, LSB, SSB, AM, FM,SSTV, RTTY, PSK31, PSK63,
> >     PSK125, PSK250,  DIGITAL, FT8 and FT4.
> >
> >     Note that many of the modes allowed by N1MM are not listed in the
> >     ADIF
> >     specification. This means that any program with the wrong mode
> >     might be
> >     bounced out of the LOTW log and you are out of luck. The contact is
> >     discarded.
> >
> >     If you supply a Cabrillo file to the ARRL for your contest
> >     submission,
> >     the modes that are allowed are only
> >
> >     CW
> >     PH
> >     FM
> >     RY
> >     DG
> >
> >     It gets better. My daily logging software VQ-Log and is primarily
> >     aimed
> >     at VHF ops. There is a field for propagation type. If you read enough
> >     you might find a comment telling you that the propagation mode is not
> >     required in ADIF,  but I found out the hard way that only certain
> >     prop
> >     modes are accepted by the ARRL adif files.  TR means tropo but TRS in
> >     VQ-LOg indicates tropo scatter which is a primary means that we
> >     VHFers
> >     communicate with. I hand copied almost all of my old paper logs and
> >     entered the prop mode as TRS and only later found out that all of
> >     those
> >     submitted files went into the bit bucket in Newington.  So I have
> >     to go
> >     back and modify all my entries from TRS to TR to make things work.
> >     Really, my life is too short to have to deal with these glaring
> >     software
> >     compatability issues.
> >
> >     Somewhere, I have an email that delineates all of the prop modes
> >     recognized by ARRL LOTW and the adif input file.  I wish it had been
> >     published somewhere.
> >
> >     So I submitted my 222 & Up file to LOTW. Please let me know if you do
> >     not get a match. I ended up calling everything either CW or SSB.
> >     There
> >     was no real good choice for FT8 or MSK144, or Q65. You would think
> >     that
> >     maybe DIGI might be a good name for all of these VHF modes, but you
> >     would be mistaken.  Your choices are SSB or maybe RTTY. There must be
> >     some patches between software to fix some of this, but it sure has
> >     gotten me in trouble very often.
> >
> >     grumble grumble!
> >
> >     Dave K1WHS
> >
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