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OpsLog/wiki/QSL-Management.md
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rouggyandClaude Opus 5 82cd5c5d0b fix(qsl): every confirmation service has a default, and the wiki explains them
HAMLOG.online was added after most profiles were configured, so it had no
entry in the shipped defaults and no stored value either: it came back
blank, and blank is not a status anybody chose. Every service now starts
the same way — the sent side at R, the received side at N — and a blank
left by a service that did not exist when the operator last saved is
filled in from that. A status they chose themselves is untouched.

Two tests hold the line: no sent side may default to Y, and no field may
be left without a default. Y means "already sent", so it makes the
uploader skip the contact for ever — an operator with eQSL Sent at Y had
a logbook that never reached eQSL, and the only trace was one line in the
application log.

Wiki, both from operator reports:

QSL Management opens with Confirmations — what the page actually is (the
status stamped on every new QSO, not an action), what each status does,
and the warning about Y in the plainest words available, because it fails
silently and by design.

Digital Modes and GridTracker is new. Unicast and multicast explained
from the operating problem rather than the networking: one letterbox that
two programs watch, against a broadcast everyone can tune to. It carries
the real evidence — two starts of one station an hour apart, decodes in
the second and none in the first, the only difference being whether
GridTracker or OpsLog reached port 2237 first — then the settings for
WSJT-X, JTDX, MSHV, GridTracker and OpsLog, the 127.0.0.1-in-the-group-box
mistake, what to do if unicast is unavoidable, and how to check it from
the log.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <[email protected]>
2026-09-08 09:37:37 +02:00

5.5 KiB

QSL Management

Tools → QSL Manager. Upload and download confirmations for the online QSL services, and manage paper QSL.


Confirmations — the status every new QSO starts with

Settings → Confirmations. This page does not send anything. It sets the status stamped on each new QSO, per service, at the moment it is logged — by hand, or automatically from WSJT-X / JTDX / MSHV.

Think of it as the starting position of each column in your log. Everything else — the QSL Manager, the automatic uploads, the Select required button — reads those columns and acts on what it finds.

⚠ Sent = Yes means the QSO will NEVER be uploaded

Y does not mean please send it. It means already sent.

A contact stamped Y is finished as far as that service is concerned: the uploader skips it, the QSL Manager does not offer it, and nothing is ever sent for it. Set eQSL Sent to Y here and every QSO you log from that moment on will silently never reach eQSL.

There is no error, because nothing failed — OpsLog did exactly what the column said. The only trace is one line in the application log:

extsvc: QSO 3807 not eligible for eqsl — EQSLSent already "Y"
        (set Confirmations default to N to upload)

If a service has stopped receiving your contacts, this is the first place to look.

What each status means

Meaning Effect on uploads
R — requested Waiting to go out Uploaded ✔
N — no Not sent / not received Uploaded ✔
Q — queued Waiting in a batch Uploaded ✔
Y — yes Already sent / received Skipped for ever
I — ignore Deliberately excluded Skipped
blank No status at all Column stays empty

What OpsLog ships

One rule, for every service: the sent side starts at R (this contact is waiting to go out) and the received side at N (nothing has come back yet).

Paper QSL is the exception on the sent side — it starts at N, because a card is only requested once somebody asks for one.

You only need to change this if you work differently. The common reason is gating: set a service to N and nothing goes out until you select the contacts yourself in the QSL Manager.

Two things worth knowing

  • It is per profile. Your contest callsign can upload to a different set of services from your home one.
  • It applies from now on. Changing a default never touches contacts already in the log — use Bulk edit field (right-click in Recent QSOs) for those.

Services

Service Upload Download confirmations
LoTW ✔ (via TQSL)
QRZ.com
eQSL
ClubLog ✔ (batched ADIF)
HRDLog
POTA hunter-log sync ✔ (park tags)
Paper set sent/received + via

Uploading

Pick a service, find the QSOs (by callsign or a filter), select and upload. Bulk edit field (right-click in Recent QSOs) flips a batch's upload status to Requested first, if you gate uploads that way.

Downloading confirmations

Pick a service and a date window (All / Since last download / a date), then Download confirmations. OpsLog matches each confirmation to your log (call + minute + band + mode), stamps it (LOTW_RCVD, EQSL_RCVD, QRZ download…), and optionally adds not-found QSOs. Downloading auto-refreshes the award stats.

  • LoTW and paper QSL are the award-valid confirmations for ARRL awards; eQSL / QRZ count only against their own confirmations.
  • LoTW upload goes through TQSL (ARRL's signer) — set the TQSL path and station location in Settings.

Paper QSL: sent, received, and how

The QSL Manager's paper form sets four things on a batch at once — the sent status and date, the received status and date — plus how the card travelled, in each direction.

Two ADIF fields are involved and they are not the same thing:

Field Holds Example
QSL_VIA the manager's callsign M0OXO
QSL_SENT_VIA / QSL_RCVD_VIA how the card travelled — an enumeration B bureau · D direct · E electronic

Some loggers write the routing into the manager field, and OpsLog's own older versions wrote the words "Bureau" / "Direct" / "Electronic" there too. If your log has a mixture, OpsLog offers a repair — it tells you how many QSOs are affected before it changes anything, and it only moves values that are unmistakably a routing method (a manager is a callsign, never one of those six words).

On import, the two fields are kept apart and nothing is invented: a file without a routing gives an empty routing. If you see E on every imported QSO it came from the file — Log4OM writes QSL_SENT_VIA:E on every record whether a card was ever sent. To clear them, filter the imported QSOs and use Bulk edit field with an empty value (Recent QSOs and Filters).

Confirmed means Y or V

A LoTW confirmation can come back as V (verified) rather than Y. Both count as confirmed — in the awards, the band/mode matrix, the slot statistics, the row colours and the QSL Info tab alike.

E-mail eQSL

Right-click a QSO → Send eQSL by e-mail via the configured SMTP account. The QSL Card Designer card is rendered with that QSO's data and sent to the address found by the QRZ/HamQTH lookup.

Outlook/Hotmail disable basic-auth SMTP — use Gmail with an app password, or a Microsoft app password.