The FCC has not required amateurs to keep a log since 1983. Almost everyone does anyway: a log is how you claim awards, prove you were not the station somebody is complaining about, and remember whether you have already worked the operator calling you.
Logging software
- Cross-platform and free: N3FJP's suite (Windows), Log4OM (Windows), CQRLOG (Linux), MacLoggerDX
- Cloud logbooks: QRZ.com's logbook, Club Log, HRDLog. Convenient, and they compute award progress
- Contest loggers are a separate category — N1MM+, N3FJP, SkookumLogger — because they need dupe
(macOS), and the logbooks built into WSJT-X and other mode software.
for you.
checking, rate meters and Cabrillo export. See contesting.
Whatever you use, make sure it exports ADIF. That is the interchange format for amateur logs, and it is your guarantee of getting your data out again. Back up the log file somewhere off the shack computer.
What to record
Date and time in UTC, frequency or band, mode, the other station's callsign, and the signal reports exchanged. Everything else — name, location, grid square, rig, notes — is optional and makes the log much more useful later. See grid squares and time.
Electronic confirmation
- Logbook of The World (LoTW) is the ARRL's system and the one that counts for DXCC, WAS and WAZ.
- eQSL.cc is instant and easier to join, offers its own awards, and is accepted by some award
- QRZ and Club Log match contacts between members and track award progress, and both can feed
It requires a one-time identity verification and a digital certificate installed through the TQSL program; after that you upload signed logs and matches appear automatically. It is the single most useful account a new operator can set up.
programs but not by DXCC.
LoTW.
Paper QSL cards
A physical card is still a pleasure to receive, and for many operators it is the point.
- Direct — send your card with a self-addressed envelope. For overseas mail, enclose return
- Bureaus — the ARRL outgoing QSL service forwards cards in bulk for a fee, and incoming cards
- QSL managers — many DX stations and expeditions use one; check QRZ.com or Club Log for the
- OQRS (online QSL request service) — request a card, or a bureau card, and pay postage online.
postage; International Reply Coupons are no longer sold in the United States, so most operators send a US dollar or two. Never send cash where the post is unreliable.
reach you through your call-area bureau. Slow (often a year or more) and inexpensive.
correct route before mailing anything.
Increasingly the normal route for expeditions.
Design your own card with your callsign large enough to read at arm's length, your grid square, and room for the contact details. Clubs often print a batch together, which is cheaper and makes a good project ahead of events like Club Week — during which you should expect to send and answer a lot of cards.