[PaQSO] PA QSO Party for Windows Log Converter Ready for Distribution

[Mark Kempisty]

All,

As many of you may remember I have been working on a program to convert the logs from Don Reamer - KA3JWE's excellent PA QSO Party for Windows logging software to standard ADIF format.  Once the logs are in ADIF format, you can import the data into just about any current general purpose amateur radio logging software.

Well its finally finished with the inclusion of the last feature.  Originally the program would only handle logs from 2000 forward since Don needed to change the log format to improve support for the Friendliest QSO Party.  I was able to dig up an earlier copy of the old log format and incorporate support for it within the program.

During the development and testing of the log converter I discovered a number of subtle differences in how different logging programs treat imported data.  While they all handled the ADIF format correctly, the specification does not dictate how the data must be interpreted.  Therefore, there are a number of options for controlling the conversion of the data.  I urge you to review the program's help information to learn what the options will do for you and perform some test imports into a temporary log to inspect the results before merging with your main log.

When converting a log, make sure you set the contest year correctly in the dialog box.  Logs from last year are 2003 and not 2004!

You can get a copy of the program at http://home.comcast.net/~n3gnw/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html in the link under Highlights.  

I would like to thank the beta testers who gave me a hand in testing the program earlier this year as well as Don KA3JWE who helped out with some details.

Finally, if you have any questions, you can send them to me on the reflector or at n3gnw at arrl.net.

Catch you in October!

73,
Mark - N3GNW