LoTW support in TurboLog 4 is manifold. Virtually all features of the LoTW system are now addressed and supported in TurboLog 4. In doing so past releases of our program contained more and more tools to benefit from this state of the art and comfortable system, i.e. for working the DXCC, WAS, WPX and other popular awards. The various tools which can be applied by the user are described in close connection to general procedures which they are a part of. Thus, this paragraph presents a synopsis from the perspective of using the LoTW only.
Exporting Log Data for LoTW submission:
TurboLog 4 successfully proved to work with TQSL version 2.0 ( Test date: 7/3/2023 ).
There are basically two ways of submitting log data to LoTW:
Manual Upload to LoTW:
You select a range of QSOs in your logbook for export in ADIF (*.ADI ) format. You specify the resulting data file in a dedicated sub directory of your TurboLog 4 installation, supposedly in ...\Turbolog4\LoTW_Im+Exports. In a next step you will run TQSL.EXE on this data file in order to generate a *.tq8 file which is necessary for the upload to LoTW. You finally open the LoTW web page and press the Upload File button in order to initiate uploading the file which you prepared for this purpose.
This procedure is described in greater details in the topic on Manual Export to ADIF and LOTW .
Automated E-mail Export to LoTW:
This procedure is the first choice for uploading log data to LoTW. The user is tightly guided through the whole process. Thus, potential pitfalls are omitted and considerable processing time is saved. The user only has to select the range of QSOs he wants to upload and move into the export facility. All steps following thereafter are predetermined. Furthermore, sending the data file as an e-mail attachment has the advantage that the LoTW system answers with an e-mail response in due time. This allows you to check whether the intended action was successfully performed.
The recommended procedure is outlined in the topic on Automated E-mail Export to LoTW.
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Downloading from LoTW and Log Update:
You can either download QSL data from LoTW manually or rather use the comfortable Query LoTW method which is strongly recommended. Both methods are outlined below:
Manual Download from LoTW:
This method is not recommended any longer. Creating the desired QSL data file for download has to be performed on LoTW's main web page in a rather tedious process. If you finally managed to download the file it should be saved in our suggested sub directory under the TurboLog 4 root directory ...\Turbolog4\LoTW_Im+Exports . Updating the logbook is performed by running a dedicated import routine.
It is described in the topic on Bulk import update from LoTW .
Query LoTW:
This is the recommended way of downloading QSL data from the LoTW system. Instead of manually working through menus on the LoTW web page TurboLog 4 automatically synthesizes a query string which is sent to the LoTW system. As a result the desired data file is downloaded and should be saved in our standard sub directory as above. The procedure is started from the sub menu item Query LoTW under the File menu and concluded by running Bulk import update from LoTW as well.
This recommended procedure is described in greater details in the topic on Query Lotw .
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LoTW User Activity - Highlighting in TurboLog 4:
Background:
If you are interested in getting your QSOs confirmed for the purpose of DXCC and other Awards within short time it is extremely beneficial to find stations which update their logs on a regular basis to LoTW.
The ARRL now provides a weekly survey of LoTW User Activity. This file is free for downloading and exploitation. The available CSV-file ( Comma Separated Variables) has the following structure:
1A0C,2016-04-23,20:15:52
1A0KM,2014-02-08,15:08:08
1A3A,2008-09-12,22:44:57
1A4A,2008-09-16,17:36:57
2A/DJ6AU,2012-01-04,22:24:58
2A0APF,2003-11-23,19:30:43
2A0APF/P,2003-11-23,19:38:39
2A0BQI,2004-10-03,17:44:10
...
It currently ( Monday, July 3, 2023 ) comprises of more than 124.000 lines (=Users) taking a volume of >3.3MB. As can be seen variables 2 and 3 show the time of last update. Thus, appropriate filtering by a date limit will generate a list of the 'Active Users'.
Starting with TurboLog 4.15 we now offer you a new procedure which allows you to match incoming calls from the Packet Cluster and received messages in the JT-Box to this list and to highlight those calls belonging to the 'Active User' selection.
In order to benefit from the extremely useful features please follow the following steps:
Implementation:
Step 1:
Move to the Basic Properties sub menu LoTW Support and read and perform the instructions given in the HELP topic LoTW User Activity. Please follow the instructions to be performed on the LoTW Support tab sheet. It controls downloading the raw data file from the ARRL web site and user specified filtering for the survey period of interest.
With this preparatory work completed you can now enable the LoTW User Activity highlighting in step 2..
Step 2:
Lotw User Activity highlighting can be enabled on the Basic Properties's sub menu Packet. Please read and perform the instructions given in the HELP topic Packet. All you need to do is to tick off the check box of the item LoTW Active User at the lower part of the tab sheet.
The following screen shot demonstrates an example of highlighting LoTW User Activity in the JT-Box.
Figure 322: User Activity Highlighting (green color); example: JT-Box
This sample is based on a LoTW User Activity survey for the last 10 days yielding a list which contains 9660 calls. It is amazing to see how many FT8 users (green color ) are active on LoTW. Calls known to your TurboLog 4 logbook are rendered on blue background by default. Calls on fuchsia background are marked as new DXCC slots. Keep an eye on them. You should try to work them...GL!
Last but not least:
Please don't forget to update the LoTW activity files from time to time.
This topic was last edited on Monday, 03-Jul-2023, at 23:57