![]() You might also wish to peek in the file at the "Claimed score:" line. Run Cab-converter to generate your Cabrillo file. Here's my thinking: it is better to make fewer contacts because you spent a bit of time proofreading than to make 5 more QSOs with a buggy log.Įxtract the portion of your log relating to the contest and create an ADIF file. Here I must admit I don't always follow my own advice and, on those occasions where I didn't proofread my work, I've regretted it (and it cost me a couple of points). Read and review your entry before and after you push "Log QSO". Listen and record the information carefully. ![]() Going to all the trouble of making the QSO and then misunderstanding the exchange costs you points and costs points to the fellow you just worked. This is where a fresh log really helps since you'll only see the QSOs that matter for this contest (and not the other twenty times you worked that OM in contests last year). Assuming you don't have this OM in the log 8 times, a quick glance will let you know if you've worked them this contest. Use the "Previous" panel to check for repeats. ![]() Check for duplicates during the contest.If you decide to try the fresh log approach, practice this well before the contest begins! Merging this log back into your main log after the contest is as easy as importing an ADIF file. Should you use a separate log file for a contest? MacLoggerDX can be a little more nimble if you start with a fresh, empty log. If you don't put the exchange information in the right place (and in the right form), Cab-converter won't be able to create a Cabrillo file for you. Each contest is different and Cab-converter depends on having the exchange information stored properly for that particular contest. You must read the contest-specific notes in the Cab-converter documentation to know where to put the exchange information and how that information should be formatted. My program Cab-converter is a FREE program that can take an exported ADIF file from MacLoggerDX and translate it into a Cabrillo file for submission. If you are sending serial numbers, check out the item in the preferences panel for auto incrementing the serial number. Know what you need to capture for each QSO and how Contests almost always have some fixed exchange information such as RS(T), zone, year first licensed, serial number, etc. Can you work somebody twice in the same contest? Can you work somebody on the same band if you use different modes? Read the rules for the contest before the contest begins. Then, I just take a quick glance to make sure my log entries aren't from 1904 (presumably with spark gap!). I've got mine synchronized off the web so I never really think about it until contest time. Does anybody really know what time it is?.If you forget to set this up you'll log a bunch of folks in MacLoggerDX and you'll not even know what band you used! Make sure that the radio and the computer are talking nicely. I'm sure you've done this but I'll mention it anyway. Get a good connection to the rig via RS232C. Make the radio talk nice to the computer.Here are my set of helpful hints for successful contesting: MacLoggerDX certainly makes the logging aspect fun. They are by no means comprehensive and I'm sure opinions differ so don't take anything below as the only version of the truth.Ĭontesting should be fun. This quick note is my views on how to use MacLoggerDX to get those entries successfully submitted to the contest sponsors like the ARRL and CQ Magazine. More and more contests now demand that submissions be made electronically (via the web or email) and in this format. The second thing to have happened is the nearly pervasive use of the file format known as "Cabrillo" for submissions of logs to contest sponsors. This has become a fine platform for contesting on the Macintosh. For one, MacLoggerDX has gotten even better. I originally posted some general guidelines for contesting with MacLoggerDX about two years ago.
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