[Wswss] Uploading logs to LOTW for every grid I have activated...

[Tim Marek]

SUCCESS!!!!!!! The First Rover/Portable Log Is Uploaded! (Logs for K7XC - 
DN00 are in LOTW as I craft this message)

I have a goal of uploading to "Log Book Of The World" (LOTW) ALL of my 
QSO's... EVER. Trust me when I say it sounds simpler than it really is...

It took almost two years of typing from old paper logs, digging thru floppy 
disks, hard drive directories, backup CD's, thumb drives, etc... converting 
various formats of log, text, & excell files, etc... but pretty much all of 
my stateside HF QSO's are now signed & uploaded to LOTW. From now on its a 
much simpler matter of uploading new contacts on a regular basis (and after 
each contest) as N1MM makes that task very easy.

Next was getting all of my home grid (DM09) VHF+ contacts gathered up, 
converted, signed and uploaded and until this morning I thought DM09 was 
current... While going thru the many papers stored within my 3 large steel 
Navy Surplus file cabinets, prepairing to move later this summer, I found 
several hand written pages of 6M contacts from 2007/2008 yet to key in. 
But... the key point is DM09 is essentially current... like HF...

All that remains are the dreaded 20 plus years of  "ROVER" and "PORTABLE" 
logs to go thru. Starting last spring I have slowly been working my way thru 
the master VHF+ logfile (over 65,000 Q's). Its not in a modern 
program/format that would make the process easy... Nooooo.... Its has all 
been gathered from all manner of sources into one LARGE spreadsheet.

>From that Master file I have been manually sorting data, parsing it into 
each grid operated from, creating new copies of the data with the correct 
grid as part of the file name, then manually editing it down to only that 
grids data, making a master file for that grid, and then parsing each grid 
into files based on the call used, until I am left with a excell file per 
call/grid that now needs to be converted into a cabrillo file that can be 
signed and uploaded. Why Cabrillo you ask? I understand Cabrillo, while ADIF 
files are pure greek to me.

Yes its a detail driven pain in the butt! But I would rather get all this 
done correctly and uploaded to LOTW otherwise what was the point of 
activating those rare grids (other than being a huge advantage in a VHF 
contest).

All that remains now is creating all those Cabrillo files, signing them 
correctly and uploading to LOTW... Compared to the journey so far that 
hopefully will be a bit more straight forward.... (Crosses Fingers)

Well.... Today... I finally magaged to figure out the right combination of 
Cabrillo header / data format that LOTW would accept, allowing me to sign 
the file!  Finally, after all this effort spanning many years... literally 
back to 1987 when I first began computer logging, the log will be complete 
and in a place others can make use of it for awards, and no longer requires 
me to hand write any more blasted QSL cards!!! That alone will save me weeks 
of my life for more suitable pursuits... like making more Q's!

Even with the correctly formated Cabrillo file It is still like walking a 
"mental mine field" of making sure you have (1) the right grid, with (2) the 
right call, and then sign it with the (3)correct callsign & (4) LOTW station 
locaton... After sifting, sorting, manipulating, combining, & editing over a 
hundred different files it can still get very confusing very fast...  so, I 
plod along very slow and methodical and today finally solved the last bit of 
the puzzle...

So, if you have worked me in the past from any of over the 80+ grids I have 
been in, pay attention to your LOTW VUCC totals as hopefully in the next 
week or two I hope to have "ALL of the Qs" from "ALL the Grids" that I have 
activated over the years, finally uploaded to LOTW.

I love LOTW and what it offers once the data is uploaded but at times 
throughout this whole process I kept thinking there has got to be a better 
way... Sadly for alot of what I was dealing with... there isnt.... I do 
think thought that with everyone now using established standards to upload 
contest logs it only makes sense that the LOTW system in time be upgraded to 
where it can all my itself parse out the grids a ROVER has been active in 
and place them in the correct grid all by itself...

LOTW has Grown up some and the days of "manually sorting a log file into 
different grid locations BEFORE uploading" should draw to a close in time... 
I can see no reason why it cant be so other than it not being a priority for 
LOTW to write the code to make it happen...

73s de Tim - K7XC - DM09nm... sk