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Logbook

Keep a log of your contacts, kept in this browser, and export it in ADIF, the standard file format that logging programs and the ARRL Logbook of The World read.

Log a contact

MHz

The band fills in from the frequency.

Only for a contact through a satellite: its name exactly as Logbook of The World lists it, such as SO-50 or AO-7 (not AO7). Enter the frequency you transmitted on, the uplink.

More details and your station
W
See the ADIF record

Fill in the call sign, date, time, band and mode to see the record.

Each field is written as its name, its length in characters and its value; the record ends with EOR. This is the ADI format from the ADIF specification, which logging programs and Logbook of The World read.

Your log

Contacts
0
Stations
0
Grid squares
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Loading your log…

Contacts

No contacts yet.

Export and import

Contacts already in your log are skipped. Records the page cannot read are listed, not imported. Import keeps CALL, QSO_DATE, TIME_ON, BAND, FREQ, MODE, SUBMODE, RST_SENT, RST_RCVD, GRIDSQUARE, NAME, QTH, COMMENT, TX_PWR, STATION_CALLSIGN (or OPERATOR when it is absent), MY_GRIDSQUARE, and PROP_MODE with SAT_NAME for a satellite contact (PROP_MODE SAT). Other fields, such as NOTES and QSL status, are left out.

Try this

  • The band fills in from 14.074 MHz as 20m. Open "See the ADIF record" to see exactly what an export writes for it.
  • 146.520 MHz is the national 2 m FM simplex calling frequency in the ARRL band plan. FM is a phone mode, so the reports default to 59.

Apply it

  • To confirm contacts through Logbook of The World, download the ADIF file and open it in TQSL, the ARRL program that signs your records with your call sign certificate and uploads them. Each record needs the call sign, the UTC date and time, the mode, and the band or frequency. A satellite contact also needs PROP_MODE SAT and the satellite's name exactly as Logbook of The World lists it; fill in Satellite and the export writes both. The satellite tool shows passes and frequencies.
  • Fill in your call sign and grid square under "Your station" so they go into each record; TQSL checks them against your certificate and the station location you choose.
  • Log in UTC. The UTC clock converts from your local time.
  • The log lives in this browser. The backup file on Your progress includes it, and the logging and QSL cards guide covers what to record and why.

How it works

  • Dates and times are in UTC, and each contact uses the field names, band names and mode names of the ADIF 3.1.7 specification, so other logging programs can read the file. Every stored contact has a MODE from the Mode enumeration, so an export never writes a deprecated value.
  • The specification says deprecated (import-only) values are accepted on import but never exported, so import reads an old MODE such as DSTAR or C4FM as MODE DIGITALVOICE with that SUBMODE. A MODE that is a submode name, such as USB, is read under its mode, here SSB. Records whose MODE is in neither list are not imported, and the import message lists them by MODE.
  • Import keeps CALL, QSO_DATE, TIME_ON, BAND, FREQ, MODE, SUBMODE, RST_SENT, RST_RCVD, GRIDSQUARE, NAME, QTH, COMMENT, TX_PWR, STATION_CALLSIGN (or OPERATOR), MY_GRIDSQUARE, and PROP_MODE with SAT_NAME for satellite contacts. Other fields are left out, including NOTES, which the specification recommends for information of interest to the logging operator; COMMENT is for information of interest to the other station.
  • The band fills in from the frequency using the band edges in the ADIF specification, which names 136 kHz 2190m and 24 GHz 1.25cm.
  • Logbook of The World needs the call sign worked, the UTC date and time, the mode, and the band or frequency of each contact. A satellite contact also needs PROP_MODE set to SAT and SAT_NAME, the satellite name exactly as LoTW lists it (AO-7, not AO7); filling in Satellite adds both. FREQ and BAND are the ones you transmitted on. TQSL signs the records with your call sign certificate and checks the station call sign and grid square against it and your station location.
  • The log stays in this browser and is included in the backup file on the Your progress page. Importing an ADIF file or a backup adds contacts without replacing ones you already have.

Learn more: Logging and QSL cards

Sources: ADIF 3.1.7 specification (fields, Band and Mode enumerations, ADI format) (ADIF Developers Group); Submitting QSOs to LoTW (developer guide, ADIF fields TQSL processes) (ARRL Logbook of The World); Submitting QSOs (ARRL Logbook of The World); The Logbook of the World is for Satellite Operators Too (ARRL Logbook of The World); Band Plan (ARRL)

Practice the exam questions: G2 Operating Procedures (General)

Found something wrong or out of date? Report a problem with this tool on GitHub (a public issue; nothing is sent until you submit it there).