Logbook, QSL and awards
Logbook, QSL and awards for radio amateurs: analyse your ADIF log right in the browser, check errors and confirmations, learn how to send and receive QSLs and which awards your contacts can earn.
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ADIF log analyser
Load the .adi file exported by your logging program: get the number of QSOs, bands, modes, grid squares, confirmations received and the errors to fix before uploading to LoTW or Club Log.
Choose an ADIF file or try the sample log.
How to confirm a QSO
The most common ways to get a contact confirmed. Many amateurs use more than one.
QSL via bureau
Card sent through your national society’s QSL service: cheap but slow. In Italy it is an ARI service for members.
ARI — Associazione Radioamatori Italiani ↗
Wikipedia — ARI (QSL bureau per i soci) ↗
Direct QSL
Card mailed directly to the other station or its QSL manager: faster, with postage costs.
LoTW (Logbook of The World)
ARRL’s electronic system: the QSO is confirmed when the data uploaded by both stations match. ARRL membership is not required; uploading is free.
ARRL — Logbook of The World ↗
ARRL — Submitting QSOs to LoTW ↗
eQSL
Electronic QSL service with its own awards.
Club Log and OQRS
Log upload, DXCC analysis and online QSL requests (OQRS) for many DXpeditions; also used for IOTA log matching.
Main awards
What they require and who issues them. For exact numbers, categories and rules, the official rules apply.
| Award | What you need | Issued by | Confirmations |
|---|---|---|---|
| DXCC | Confirmed contacts with 100 DXCC entities | ARRL | Paper QSLs, LoTW |
| WAS | Confirmed contacts with all 50 US states | ARRL | Original paper QSLs, LoTW |
| VUCC | A minimum number of grid squares per band, VHF and up | ARRL | LoTW, QSLs |
| WAC | Contacts with all six continents, from the same country | IARU, through member societies | QSLs |
| WAZ and WPX | CQ zones (WAZ) and prefixes (WPX) | CQ Amateur Radio | LoTW, then apply to the CQ manager |
| IOTA | Contacts with islands in different IOTA groups | IOTA Ltd with RSGB | Club Log, QSLs |
Log formats
Two formats to know: one to exchange logs between programs, one to submit contest logs.
ADIF
Open standard for exchanging logs between programs: almost every logger, LoTW and Club Log import and export it. Date and time are always UTC (QSO_DATE YYYYMMDD, TIME_ON HHMM or HHMMSS).
Cabrillo
Standard format for submitting contest logs to organisers; the current version is 3.
Common problems
Why a QSO is not confirmed or a log is not accepted.
LoTW does not confirm the QSO
The callsign you logged must match the one the other station used to upload (watch /P, /M and prefixes), and band and mode (or mode group) must match. Also check date and time in UTC.
Times off by one or two hours
The log was kept in local time instead of UTC: fix the logger setting and, if needed, shift the affected QSOs before uploading again.
ADIF import fails
The file was edited by hand: in ADIF each field states its own length, and if you change the text without fixing the number the rest of the record shifts. Export the file again from the logger.
Duplicate QSOs
The same log uploaded twice or merged from several programs. Use the logger’s duplicate check before uploading to LoTW or Club Log.
The bureau QSL does not arrive
The bureau is slow by nature: it can take a long time. Check that you are enrolled in the service and, for DXpeditions, see whether there is an online request (OQRS).
Sources: ADIF — specification 3.1.8, ADIF 1.0 — ADI record format, ARRL — Logbook of The World, ARRL — Submitting QSOs to LoTW, ARRL — DXCC, ARRL — WAS, ARRL — VUCC, DARC — WAC award (IARU), IOTA — Islands On The Air, Club Log, eQSL.cc, ARI — Associazione Radioamatori Italiani, Wikipedia — ARI (QSL bureau per i soci), WWROF — Cabrillo. Sources consulted on 18 October 2026. Links open on the publisher’s website.
See also: To fill your log with new DXCC entities and squares: DX Cluster · Band conditions · Grid locator and distance · CAT/PTT configuration
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