Setting TQSL Log Handling Options
To inspect or change TQSL's log handling options, select the File menu's Display or Modify Preferences... command (on OS X, select the Application menu's Preferences command) to display its Preferences dialog; this dialog's Log Handling tab provides control over several settings that govern TQSL's log signing operations:
Specify ADIF and Cabrillo File Extensions
Because there are no standard file extensions (.XXX) consistently used
for ADIF AND Cabrillo files, TQSL lets you specify the extensions used on your system for each
file types. The Select File to Sign and Upload and
Select File to Sign and Save dialogs set their Files of type
selectors based on the extensions specified on this tab:
In the example shown above, files whose names end in .log
or .cab
will be treated as Cabrillo files, while those with names ending in .adi
or
.ADI
are ADIF files. When using an operating system like Windows that doesn't distinguish
case in file names, the two ADIF entries shown in this example would be unnecessary.
Allow Nonamateur Callsigns
The Allow nonamateur call signs checkbox lets you to choose whether TQSL
should treat a nonamateur call-worked as an error. An amateur callsign must meet these requirements:
- contains only the letters A through Z, the digits 0 through 9, and the slash character
- contains at least one number and one letter
- is at least three characters in length
- does not begin or end with a slash character
- does not begin with 0
- does not begin with 1 unless it begins with 1A, 1M, or 1S
LoTW will not accept a QSO whose callsign does not conform to the above requirements so you should leave TQSL's Allow nonamateur call signs box unchecked.
Prompt for QSO Date Range
This checkbox determines whether TQSL will display the QSO Date Range dialog
when Submitting a Log File to LoTW via the Internet or when
Submitting a Log File from a Computer without Internet Access.
The QSO Date Range dialog can be used to prevent QSOs already submitted to LoTW that haven't been subsequently modified from being submitted again,
sparing LoTW from processing QSOs that have already been processed.
Display details of already uploaded QSOs when signing a log
If, when signing and uploading a file or signing and saving a file, TQSL encounters QSOs that have already been submitted to LoTW, then if this box is checked the details of each already uploaded QSO will be reported in the Status Log; if this box is not checked, no details will be reported.
Ignore seconds in QSO times
If, when signing and uploading a file or signing and saving a file, and this box is checked, then the seconds part of the QSO time are set to zero. This is useful if your log contains mistakenly logged QSOs, such as those from WSJT-X when the station contacted sends multiple confirmations. The duplicate QSOs can then be ignored when signing a log.
Ignore callsigns in ADIF files
If, when signing and uploading a file or signing and saving a file, and this box is checked, then the callsigns of the operator in the ADIF file (STATION_CALLSIGN, OPERATOR) for the QSO record are ignored. This is useful if your log contains an invalid callsign for logged QSOs.
Set options for handling QTH details in ADIF logs
If, when signing and uploading a file or signing and saving a file, TQSL encounters station information in the log that indicates callsign, DXCC entity, or QTH information such as gridsquare, zone, state, etc. TQSL can verify this against the Station Location and either report on or update the Station Location with the information from the log. This set of options allows either ignoring, reporting on, or updating the Station Location using the log data.
The Handle QTH information in ADIF logs with what action? selection dictates what action TQSL takes when procssing QTH indications in an ADIF file.
TQSL uses the Station Callsign and fields such as MY_STATE or MY_GRIDSQUARE as indications of what station was used to make a particular QSO.
The Handle QTH information in ADIF logs with what action? selection allows selection of one of three options.
- If the Ignore QTH details from your log option is selected, station details are ignored.
- If the Report on QTH differences option is selected, TQSL will report on any differences between a QSO and the selected Callsign Certificate and Station Location.
- If the Override Station Location with QTH details from your log option is selected, TQSL will track changes in the Station Callsign and location data and use that data for each QSO signed. It is possible to have unique Station Callsigns and QTH data for each QSO in a log.
The Override option requires that you have a valid Callsign Certificate for any callsign changes. Note that any change to QTH data is "sticky" - for example, if you sign a QSO with MY_ITU_ZONE set to "5", then subsequent QSOs will continue to use that until another QSO with a different zone value is processed.
If you are using Override and the ADIF file being signed has complete QTH and Station Callsign information, you may wish to use "[NONE]" as the callsign for the Station Location chosen for signing, as well as setting minimal data for that Station Location. This eliminates the risk of misusing this Station Location for logs which lack complete station data.
ADIF fields defininng station data
The following ADIF fields will be used when included with a QSO in an ADIF file.
MY_CNTY | County (secondary administrative subdivision) |
MY_COUNTRY | County (DXCC Entity) |
MY_CQ_ZONE | CQ Zone number |
MY_DXCC | DXCC Entity number |
MY_GRIDSQUARE | Maidenhead Gridsquare |
MY_IOTA | IOTA reference number |
MY_ITU_ZONE | ITU Zone number |
MY_STATE | State/Province/Oblast (primary administrative subdivision) |
MY_VUCC_GRIDS | List of up to four Maidenhead Gridsquares |
OPERATOR | Callsign used [only used if STATION_CALLSIGN is not provided.] |
STATION_CALLSIGN | Callsign used for QSOs |