I wanted to take a couple of minutes of your time to remind you about
submitting logs for the ARRL DX contests - CW portion this weekend February
16-17 and Phone portion the weekend of March 2-3. This is a detailed
message, and many of you will already have all of this information. But we
want to make sure that the information is readily available for as many
persons as possible.
All electronic logs need to be submitted in the Cabrillo format. CW logs
should be sent to dxcw@arrl.org and Phone logs to dxphone@arrl.org The
deadline for submitting logs is 30 days from the end of the contest. For CW
that is March 19 and for Phone that is April 2.
If you are using older logging programs, remember that old-style summary
sheets and logs are not in the Cabrillo format and are not valid
submissions. If you are using logging programs that do not create the
required Cabrillo file, you should upgrade your software to the most recent
version. There are several conversion programs available, but if you use a
conversion program you need to make sure that the output file meets the
Cabrillo format. You can not simply add a Cabrillo header to an old style
.log, .all or similar file. The information in each QSO line must appear in
a specific order to be read electronically by the robot.
The single biggest problem with submitted logs is inaccurate or incomplete
information in the headers. Do not assume that the information in your
header is correct. Many participants rush through the set-up screens for
their logging software and end up inadvertently selecting the wrong data.
Take your time when setting up your logging program. Make sure you select
the correct data for your operation. Getting the correct information into
the logging program as you set up should result in accurate information in
the final output file.
Before you submit the Cabrillo log file, open it up and make sure the
information is correct. Did you include a valid "ARRL-SECTION:" in that
field? Remember that "ARRL-SECTION" is NOT the contest exchange (which is
state). It is the ARRL / RAC Section in which W/VE operators reside and is
the basis for issuing awards. If you are a DX station, the "ARRL-SECTION:"
field should show the term DX.
Check your operator category. Make sure it is a valid category for this
contest. Some of the earlier versions of logging programs that produced
Cabrillo output broke down CATEGORY: onto several separate lines. The
category must appear on a single line. The valid categories for this
contest are:
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP ALL QRP
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP ALL LOW
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP ALL HIGH
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 160M QRP
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 160M LOW
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 160M HIGH
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 80M QRP
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 80M LOW
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 80M HIGH
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 40M QRP
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 40M LOW
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 40M HIGH
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 20M QRP
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 20M LOW
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 20M HIGH
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 15M QRP
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 15M LOW
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 15M HIGH
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 10M QRP
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 10M LOW
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP 10M HIGH
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP-ASSISTED ALL QRP
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP-ASSISTED ALL LOW
CATEGORY: SINGLE-OP-ASSISTED ALL HIGH
CATEGORY: MULTI-ONE ALL QRP
CATEGORY: MULTI-ONE ALL LOW
CATEGORY: MULTI-ONE ALL HIGH
CATEGORY: MULTI-TWO ALL QRP
CATEGORY: MULTI-TWO ALL LOW
CATEGORY: MULTI-TWO ALL HIGH
CATEGORY: MULTI-MULTI ALL QRP
CATEGORY: MULTI-MULTI ALL LOW
CATEGORY: MULTI-MULTI ALL HIGH
CATEGORY: CHECKLOG
These categories give us the complete information that is reported for each
entry - number of operators, number of bands, power level, etc. Remember:
not all of these are categories for which awards are earned. There is no
power differentiation for Single Band, Single Assisted or Multi-op
categories, but we do include the power levels in reporting the results.
If you are participating in the ARRL Affiliated Club Competition, make sure
that your club name appears on the CLUB: line. The list of clubs is found
at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/club-list.html Use the name for your club
found on the list. Please do not use abbreviations for your club, as many
clubs have similar acronyms. If you are not submitting a score for the club
competition, leave that field blank. To be part of the ARRL Affiliated Club
Competition, your club must be a currently affiliated club with the ARRL.
Most clubs in DX countries are not ARRL-affiliated and are ineligible to
submit a club score. If you are a DX station, leave the CLUB: field blank,
unless you are submitting the score under the DXpedition rule for this
contest. DXpedition entries may not be included in a Local Club score.
Some of us always seem to forget to do some of the basic things when setting
up the logging program. Make certain that you are logging the contest in
UTC, not local time. Check to make sure that you are logging on the correct
band. If you are a guest op station, make sure the CALLSIGN: field is the
callsign used during the contest and that you list your personal call on the
OPERATORS: field. If you are using a club call, the callsign of the
operator must appear in the OPERATORS: line, or the entry may not be
accepted. You must also include the callsigns of all operators at multi-op
stations. A multi-op entry without a list of operators may not be eligible
for inclusion.
Once you send your log to the submission address, the robot goes to work.
If it generates back a Log Received message with a numbered receipt, this
means your entry is not missing any required information that is needed to
report it in the results. Be sure to check that message. If the robot
detects problems on QSO lines it won't reject the entry, but will notify you
of QSO line problems in the numbered receipt.
If you receive back a message that begins RETURNED on the subject line, the
robot has detected a problem that means the log can not be processed as
received. It should identify specific problems and give you possible
solutions in the message it returns to you. If you think you received the
message in error, contact me and I will try to help.
Don't worry if the robot detects problems with your log information. By
detecting problems at the time of submission, it allows you sufficient time
to correct problems and re-submit the entry. And don't worry if it takes a
couple of attempts to get a complete, valid log to the robot. We are all on
a learning curve for this project, so we work together to get to the goal of
submitting complete logs with valid information so the contest results can
be accurately reported. As always, if you need help with submissions or have
questions, please contact me. Have a great ARRL International DX contest!
73
Dan Henderson, N1ND
ARRL Contest Branch Manager
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