[Dx4win] Utility program: LoTW Credits to DX4Win Awards

[Larry Gauthier (K8UT)]

DX4Win can automatically create a list of DXCC QSOs for awards submissions 
to the ARRL. However, changing those "S"ubmitted entries to "C"hecked in 
your awards table after they are approved by the DXCC desk is a tedious 
manual process. When purchasing hundreds of LoTW credits recently I vowed 
that I would write a utility program to enter the credited data back into 
DX4Win... which is what LoTWCreditToDX4WinAward.exe does.

This utility program is difficult to setup and run. It relies upon a feature 
of the DXLabs DXKeeper program to: reach out to the LoTW website, extract 
all of your CREDIT history (for both QSL cards and LoTW  transactions), 
compare all of your credit history with your log, and make adjustments where 
appropriate. It also requires that you export your DX4Win v8 log to a DXQ 
file, massage it with the utility program, and import the massaged file back 
into a fresh log in DX4Win. Complicated? Yes. Was there any other way to 
accomplish the task? ? Not that I could see.

Please don't confuse a QSO CONFIRMATION from LoTW (which is what happens 
when you download an LoTW report and import it into DX4Win) with LoTW CREDIT 
(which is what happens when you pay money to the ARRL for award credit). The 
first is easy; the second requires some heavy lifting.

If you are feeling adventurous and don't mind installing the DXLabs DXKeeper 
application suite as part of the process, you will find instructions and the 
utility program on my website at:
http://www.k8ut.com/tiki-index.php?page=LoTW+Credits+-to-+DX4Win+Awards+Utility

As I said - this is not easy and I would not encourage computer novices to 
attempt it. BUT - if you want to compare and update your DX4Win Award Credit 
records with those from the ARRL, I think this is the only automated game in 
town.

-larry (K8UT)