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Posted: 3/20/2024 8:12:22 AM EDT
Would it just be empty or would it have a jillion QSOs for me to confirm?
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http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com
Vote "YES" on 'NO'! For Captain Erick Foster, Wexford, PA KIA 29 Aug, 07. Rangers lead the way. Inspected by #26 I was checking out this midget porn website.... |
[#1]
I have never noticed a function on LoTW to "request" a confirmation (like on QRZ).
If you input your logs, you will see your confirmations. You do not...... do not...... want to manually enter them into that awful website. Use a different electronic logger to build an ADI file, and then upload the whole thing to LoTW. |
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[#2]
Originally Posted By piccolo: Would it just be empty or would it have a jillion QSOs for me to confirm? View Quote No. There is no manual act of confirmation required (that I have ever found). LotW matches things up for you. Once you have your TQSL program squared away, LotW knows to trust the logs you upload. I almost never look at my contacts on LotW because I think the UI is kind of crappy. What I do is enter my QSO on paper, then into HRD. HRD (is set by me to) automatically upload to QRZ and Club Log. I press one button to upload to LotW. I really only look at my log on QRZ, as I like how it presents the info. Periodically, when in QRZ, I will click the button for "import from LotW" and pull everything in that has matched. TL;DR: LotW does all the work for you. |
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Don't confuse where I live with where I'm from.
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[#3]
LoTW is certainly a lot faster and more convenient than moving QSL cards around and is therefore supported by most DX'ers, probably more than who send hard cards.
The key to happiness with LoTW is to use a logger with integrated LoTW support. For instance, I use DXLab DXKeeper for logging. It is highly automated with respect to LoTW. While some of the UI in DXKeeper is a bit obscure in this area there is good documentation and after a two or three of upload/download cycles you'll have the hang of it. Just a couple of clicks uploads all new contacts. Similarly, a click or two and it downloads confirmations. DXKeeper even helps you reconcile discrepancies, which you can do manually or just push the "screw it, do what you think best" button. I'm not an awards chaser, but when I thought I was DXKeeper will also tell you exactly where you stand on any sort of award progress. If DXKeeper is not your cup of tea, and for many it is not because of the immense complexity of the DXLabs suite of software, certainly there are other loggers that can perform similarly, I'm just not familiar with them. The only other subtlety is that you have to set up the Trusted QSL (TQSL) software and get your TQSL security certificate. Some people think this is somehow a PITA. I found it very straightforward. DXKeeper will remind you when it's time to renew your TQSL certificate, which takes just a few mouse clicks in TQSL. Like any new tools it all sounds terribly difficult and obscure. But once you learn the tools you'll wonder how you did without them. |
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[#4]
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[#5]
Can you hire a local kid to transfer your logs from the back of waffle house receipts to a computer program?
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[#6]
You would sign up and eventually get a postcard to confirm.
Then you tqsl your electronic records that you had a girlfriend digitize and then you have more time to get more girlfriends. It's ham radio, it's all about girls! |
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[#7]
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[Last Edit: K9-Bob]
[#8]
Because LoTW uses double blind comparison, users cannot see what other users have uploaded unless there is a matched QSO. All files uploaded to LoTW are electronically signed by verified users.
I started with an electronic logbook back in 2010 and created my LoTW account at the same time. I also use N3JFP's Amateur Contact Log and have almost 20,000 contacts digitally signed and uploaded to LoTW. I can't imagine the time it would take if I had to transfer all those contacts from a paper logbook to an electronic log, but I'm sure it would be considerable. How many contacts are in your logbook OP? You could potentially have thousands of electronic QSL confirmations wainting for you on LoTW. Many other Luddites have also embraced LoTW, so yes the "juice is worth the squeeze". |
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“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.” ? Ronald Reagan
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[#9]
Originally Posted By K9-Bob: I can't imagine the time it would take if I had to transfer all those contacts from a paper logbook to an electronic log, but I'm sure it would be considerable. How many contacts are in your logbook OP? View Quote Thousands and thousands. It would take me MONTHS to recopy them onto an electronic log format. I suppose maybe I should have started electronic logging right of the bat but early on I wondered about the bullshit of having to wait for a post card with my 'secret code' on it and why the Secret Squirrel security when I opened a PayPal account in just a few minutes and that's money as opposed to bragging rights. I would also imagine they require you to keep your membership up and I don't like the idea of having my log held hostage by the ARRL. |
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http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com
Vote "YES" on 'NO'! For Captain Erick Foster, Wexford, PA KIA 29 Aug, 07. Rangers lead the way. Inspected by #26 I was checking out this midget porn website.... |
[Last Edit: K9-Bob]
[#10]
You don’t have to be an ARRL member to upload or view your matched QSO’s.
You only need to be a member if you want to apply for an award. |
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“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.” ? Ronald Reagan
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[#11]
Originally Posted By piccolo:I would also imagine they require you to keep your membership up and I don't like the idea of having my log held hostage by the ARRL. View Quote If you don't care about awards (like me), you don't have to be a member of ARRL, never pay anything for LoTW services, but you still get some satisfaction of seeing the confirmations. And, perhaps most important, by participating in LoTW you are helping award chasers that do care about and pay for pieces of paper from the ARRL. |
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[#12]
I’ve been on HF DX since 1993
when I got Lotw many years later, I talked my daughter into typing a zillion QSOs into my computer log the way I type, …id still be working on it |
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[#13]
Originally Posted By aa777888-2: If you don't care about awards (like me), you don't have to be a member of ARRL, never pay anything for LoTW services, but you still get some satisfaction of seeing the confirmations. And, perhaps most important, by participating in LoTW you are helping award chasers that do care about and pay for pieces of paper from the ARRL. View Quote exactly this . . . I doubt I’ll join ARRL again too expensive and I doubt they do much to “protect our bands from washington “ Wayne LaPierre should though |
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[Last Edit: ManiacRat]
[#14]
I do it to help folks out. Not that I am in a rare place at all. Not big into awards myself.
It seemed daunting the first time, but it really isn't too bad. I just renewed mine and that took all of 5 mins of my life I think. The website is pretty awful to navigate but I rarely log into there anyway. AC Log auto uploads for me. |
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[#15]
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It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.
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[Last Edit: SACraig]
[#16]
Originally Posted By piccolo: Would it just be empty or would it have a jillion QSOs for me to confirm? View Quote You confirm nothing at all nor do nothing at all. You upload your log data to LoTW and other stations log their data to LoTW. LoTW's software then hunts for matches by checking each new entry against all entries in the database. If two stations have worked each other they are flagged in the database as having worked each other on such-and-such date, time, frequency, and mode. Neither you nor the other station do ANYTHING to make this happen other than uploading your logs. How and when you upload data is up to you. One QSO at a time, one day at a time, one week, one month, one year, every 10 years, whatever interval you want. Nobody cares except the stations waiting for that confirmation match to show up for them. Like others I have my software set to automatically upload to eQSL and ClubLog. I have a one-button click for LoTW, and at the end of the day I download current data from LoTW to QRZ. I DID copy about 10 logbooks of handwritten data into my digital logbook. It took me a couple of years but I worked on it erratically, a night here, a night there. I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when I entered that last QSO and sent it all to LoTW. Several ways you can do it: o Just start with LoTW now and ignore the past o Decide on a date that is meaningful to you and enter data past that date o Bite the bullet, start at the beginning, and just do it As you enter data it will be checked for matches. I had quite a few and a few from back in the 70's and 80's where others had entered old log data as well. |
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[#17]
Originally Posted By piccolo: Thousands and thousands. It would take me MONTHS to recopy them onto an electronic log format. I suppose maybe I should have started electronic logging right of the bat but early on I wondered about the bullshit of having to wait for a post card with my 'secret code' on it and why the Secret Squirrel security when I opened a PayPal account in just a few minutes and that's money as opposed to bragging rights. I would also imagine they require you to keep your membership up and I don't like the idea of having my log held hostage by the ARRL. View Quote You can keep a copy of your logs on a memory stick. They are not held hostage. I use qrz, and load my logs there. for 3 bucks a month, they load them to lotw, and download lotw to qrz. I can download the whole shebang onto a stick any time I want. QRZ also gives you a forum to raise hell on, a web page anyone who puts your call sign in qrz can see. It's easier than your blog, and you should get on board. |
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World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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[#18]
When I joined LOTW in 2016 when people kept asking if I was on LOTW because they wanted the match, I took all of my old electronic logs from HRD, of course that was no trouble. Then I went though the old paper logs and uploaded the interesting DX stations that I thought might actually match. I did get some as far back as 1981 from the paper logs.
Of course some good ones came from the old Ham Radio Deluxe logs, which I think started in 2008. I wish I had matches from way back when in the 70's but I don't have the paper to convert and upload. One in particular is Johnston Island, I remember it and of course there is no guarantee that person uploaded for a match, but I will never know how many could be "lurking" out there in LOTW, that would do me some good, because I don't have the details to make a match. I was very cavalier about logging "back in the day" because I did not care back then. I have no one to blame but myself. I made some really poor decisions before I became interested in DXing. Oh well. It is just a game. |
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[#19]
Originally Posted By K0UA: When I joined LOTW in 2016 when people kept asking if I was on LOTW because they wanted the match, I took all of my old electronic logs from HRD, of course that was no trouble. Then I went though the old paper logs and uploaded the interesting DX stations that I thought might actually match. I did get some as far back as 1981 from the paper logs. Of course some good ones came from the old Ham Radio Deluxe logs, which I think started in 2008. I wish I had matches from way back when in the 70's but I don't have the paper to convert and upload. One in particular is Johnston Island, I remember it and of course there is no guarantee that person uploaded for a match, but I will never know how many could be "lurking" out there in LOTW, that would do me some good, because I don't have the details to make a match. I was very cavalier about logging "back in the day" because I did not care back then. I have no one to blame but myself. I made some really poor decisions before I became interested in DXing. Oh well. It is just a game. View Quote I was very lucky in that I conscientiously logged every contact from Day 1 on. It was a pain to convert all those paper logs to an electronic format, but it's done and I'm glad I did it. I've looked back in the old parts of my electronic log many times for a tidbit of information. For example, Johnston Island in the 70's I also remember very clearly. There weren't many at all. Was it by chance KJ6DN? If so I have a card from him that might help. |
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[#20]
Originally Posted By K0UA: It is just a game. View Quote Pretty much this. I have my WAS and DXCC which is actually good enough for me. I'm running on borrowed time and with what little time I have left I have better things to do than enter thousands of QSOs into an electronic format so I think I'll just keep things as they are. |
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http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com
Vote "YES" on 'NO'! For Captain Erick Foster, Wexford, PA KIA 29 Aug, 07. Rangers lead the way. Inspected by #26 I was checking out this midget porn website.... |
[#21]
Originally Posted By K0UA:..... I was very cavalier about logging "back in the day" because I did not care back then. ... View Quote Same here. Ran a lot of HF mobile, and got tired of pulling over to write down a QSO on the side of the road. Nothing wrong with taking a laid back approach Nobody but you cares about how many you worked. Just have fun. |
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[#22]
Originally Posted By Shootindave: I have never noticed a function on LoTW to "request" a confirmation (like on QRZ). If you input your logs, you will see your confirmations. You do not...... do not...... want to manually enter them into that awful website. Use a different electronic logger to build an ADI file, and then upload the whole thing to LoTW. View Quote or use an electronic log that uploads the log file automatically |
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Mach
Nobody is coming to save us. . |
[#23]
I use N3JFP. It interfaces with the radio and fills in everything but the callsign, signal report ( except digital it does fill in signal reports) and notes.
I hit enter, it logs the contact and auto uploads real time to LoTW and eQSL when i use WSJT-X and JTAlert it even auto logs into N3JFP which then auto uploads |
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Mach
Nobody is coming to save us. . |
[#24]
Originally Posted By Colt653: Same here. Ran a lot of HF mobile, and got tired of pulling over to write down a QSO on the side of the road. Nothing wrong with taking a laid back approach Nobody but you cares about how many you worked. Just have fun. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Colt653: Originally Posted By K0UA:..... I was very cavalier about logging "back in the day" because I did not care back then. ... Same here. Ran a lot of HF mobile, and got tired of pulling over to write down a QSO on the side of the road. Nothing wrong with taking a laid back approach Nobody but you cares about how many you worked. Just have fun. Attached File There are rules....LOG EVERYTHING. |
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“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.” ? Ronald Reagan
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[#25]
I haven't had a confirmation of contacts on QRZ since the 11th of the month. Anyone else seeing this? Some stations I have gotten in the past and have confirmed right away have not confirmed along with new ones.
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World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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[#26]
Originally Posted By lorazepam: I haven't had a confirmation of contacts on QRZ since the 11th of the month. Anyone else seeing this? Some stations I have gotten in the past and have confirmed right away have not confirmed along with new ones. View Quote Suspiciously lines up with daylight savings time. Did you log as -5 or -6 UTC? |
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[#27]
Originally Posted By lorazepam: I haven't had a confirmation of contacts on QRZ since the 11th of the month. Anyone else seeing this? Some stations I have gotten in the past and have confirmed right away have not confirmed along with new ones. View Quote I just checked my QRZ and had 47 confirmations pop up. |
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“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.” ? Ronald Reagan
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[#28]
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World ain't what it seems, is it Gunny?
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[Last Edit: Shootindave]
[#29]
Originally Posted By lorazepam: Well shit. Guess I will have to change the time on a few pages of entries. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By lorazepam: Originally Posted By Shootindave: Suspiciously lines up with daylight savings time. Did you log as -5 or -6 UTC? Well shit. Guess I will have to change the time on a few pages of entries. I have a cheap walmart clock at my desk with UTC and my G Shock watch does UTC. But my computer logging digital has gotten me before. |
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[#30]
Originally Posted By lorazepam: Well shit. Guess I will have to change the time on a few pages of entries. View Quote While traveling cross-country last year my logging got messed up due to changing time zones. I changed the computer time rather than just changing the time zone setting. So WSJTX times wound up being wrong. |
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[#31]
Originally Posted By SACraig: I was very lucky in that I conscientiously logged every contact from Day 1 on. It was a pain to convert all those paper logs to an electronic format, but it's done and I'm glad I did it. I've looked back in the old parts of my electronic log many times for a tidbit of information. For example, Johnston Island in the 70's I also remember very clearly. There weren't many at all. Was it by chance KJ6DN? If so I have a card from him that might help. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By SACraig: Originally Posted By K0UA: When I joined LOTW in 2016 when people kept asking if I was on LOTW because they wanted the match, I took all of my old electronic logs from HRD, of course that was no trouble. Then I went though the old paper logs and uploaded the interesting DX stations that I thought might actually match. I did get some as far back as 1981 from the paper logs. Of course some good ones came from the old Ham Radio Deluxe logs, which I think started in 2008. I wish I had matches from way back when in the 70's but I don't have the paper to convert and upload. One in particular is Johnston Island, I remember it and of course there is no guarantee that person uploaded for a match, but I will never know how many could be "lurking" out there in LOTW, that would do me some good, because I don't have the details to make a match. I was very cavalier about logging "back in the day" because I did not care back then. I have no one to blame but myself. I made some really poor decisions before I became interested in DXing. Oh well. It is just a game. I was very lucky in that I conscientiously logged every contact from Day 1 on. It was a pain to convert all those paper logs to an electronic format, but it's done and I'm glad I did it. I've looked back in the old parts of my electronic log many times for a tidbit of information. For example, Johnston Island in the 70's I also remember very clearly. There weren't many at all. Was it by chance KJ6DN? If so I have a card from him that might help. I can't remember the callsign. I made a couple of contacts with this guy. It was no big deal to me at the time. I did not realize how valuable that QSO would be later on in life. |
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[#32]
Originally Posted By Colt653: Same here. Ran a lot of HF mobile, and got tired of pulling over to write down a QSO on the side of the road. Nothing wrong with taking a laid back approach Nobody but you cares about how many you worked. Just have fun. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Originally Posted By Colt653: Originally Posted By K0UA:..... I was very cavalier about logging "back in the day" because I did not care back then. ... Same here. Ran a lot of HF mobile, and got tired of pulling over to write down a QSO on the side of the road. Nothing wrong with taking a laid back approach Nobody but you cares about how many you worked. Just have fun. True, but there are 4 of us that compete locally. Give each other "crap" and help each other too with spotting DX. I am ahead in some categorys, but certainly behind in others. One guy is the big towers, big amp and ideal location guy. He has me beat in most categorys. BUT I do have him beat on 160 and 80 meters. He came from behind and smoked me on 6 meters. He is over 100 confirmed now and I am stuck at 79 |
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[#33]
Originally Posted By K0UA: I can't remember the callsign. I made a couple of contacts with this guy. It was no big deal to me at the time. I did not realize how valuable that QSO would be later on in life. View Quote I have some I did the same thing with. I didn't try to get a QSL then and now some of them are SK's or out of the hobby or whatever. |
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[#34]
No real need to check if a call sign uses lotw before entering it - they could decide tomorrow to start using it.
K0UA's points are good. Just start using lotw now - and by using it, I mean record your new QSOs in a logging program on your computer so that uploads to the various services like QRZ, lotw, and club log, will be relatively painless. I record my QSOs in a paper logbook, then enter them into a logging program (HRD). I have HRD configured to automagically upload any new QSO to QRZ and Club log. I then have to push a single button to upload to lotw. Easy peasy. When I want to check a logbook entry, I usually check the QRZ logbook because I like the way it displays and I always have it open in a browser tab anyway. You could spend 15 minutes now and then picking QSOs from the logbook and entering them into a logging program. Even that would start to get you some matches. |
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Don't confuse where I live with where I'm from.
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