ZL2TZE asked:
Is there a problem within the Logging Software used to produce these logs or is
it the hand written logs causing problems or the wrong templates ?
Generally, no. The major contest software packages have the Cabrillo format
correct. There are some exceptions (mostly in less popular software packages -
& primarily from non-English speaking EU) but all the major, well-known contest
loggers get it right.
What is the biggest single poke you in the eye issue...
The biggest problem is errors that have nothing to do with proper formatting
(as mentioned, wrong contest, wrong callsign, etc.) followed by those who try
to create their own Cabrillo format file without strictly following the
requirements or edit the one correctly made by their software and mess it up
(when one looks at these files, they 'look' like a Cabrillo file - but they're
not), and lastly those who don't have a clue what they're doing and they submit
Word, Excel, Dbase, CT Bin files, Adif files, other proprietary logging
software database files, and other text files that in no way resemble the
required (and truly simple) Cabrillo format.
We've had people from rare DX locations who while on a business trip at the
last minute were able to activate a rare country and had no logging software
with them - so they used Excel. When we get a log like this with literally
thousands of QSOs, we want to get it into the database and this takes work -
and work that the entrant cannot do - for one reason or another. It would be
great if we could push back and tell the entrant to fix it, but that is not
always an available option.
The most frustrating ones are those that are created by logging software that
does Cabrillo correctly, but the entrant can't figure out how to get to the
Cabrillo file so they send an ADIF file, or the actual database that their
software uses (e.g. an .MDB file, .BIN, etc.).
So, the bottom line is that the majority of problems are human errors that
cannot be corrected by the logging software. Again, the logging software makes
the correct format file - the users end up goofing it up somehow.
The wrong callsign thing is a tough one as we often don't know until the first
pass of the log checking process that a file has been submitted with the wrong
callsign in the file - and this is detected because the file shows 100% NIL
(Not In Log). Often, the person submitting the file for a multi-op station will
have his callsign as the default in his copy of the logging program. He sends
the log, it's formatted perfectly, all the qsos are on the correct dates and
times, and the log is accepted. We have no way of knowing that this mistake has
occurred when it's submitted.
I wish there was an easy way to stop all of these errors from happening, but
they come in all shapes and sizes so I doubt that there's an easy solution.
73,
Bob W5OV
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