West Allis Radio Amateur Club

A typical electronic entry consists of three basic parts - an infomation section, a scoring section and the actual QSO data section. This format has been in use for a number of years, and is known as the Cabrillo format. Many contest sponsors ask that electronic entries be in this format. As sponsors of the Wisconsin QSO Party (WIQP) for many years, the West Allis Radio Amateur Club also asks that the Cabrillo format be used. This allows for easy processing, as each piece of QSO data information is in the same spot in each line.

An electronic entry, at present, should consist of:

A summary sheet
The QSO log data

Please submit the summary sheet with your callsign plus "sum" followed by the file name extension ".txt", e.g. K9KRsum.txt. Please submit the log information with your callsign followed by the extension ".log", e.g. K9KR.log. All electronic entries need to be submitted to: k9kr@tds.net

Below is a sample of a typical Cabrillo WIQP entry for WIQP:

START-OF-LOG 2.0
CREATED-BY: N3FJP'S WI State QSO Party Program 1.7
ARRL-SECTION: WI
CONTEST: Wisconsin State QSO Party
CALLSIGN: K9KR
NAME: LYNN TAMBLYN
ADDRESS: 5436 SCENERY ROAD
ADDRESS: WATERFORD, WI 53185
ADDRESS:  (e-mail)  k9kr@tds.net
HOME COUNTY: RACINE 		CLUB AFFILIATION: WEST ALLIS RAC
WI COUNTIES WORKED FROM: RACINE
NAMES AND CALLSIGNS OF ALL OPERATORS: LYNN TAMBLYN, K9KR

ENTRY CLASS: SOF
POWER LEVEL: LOW
CW QSOs: 1
PHONE QSOs: 5
POWER MULTIPLIER: 1.5
TOTAL CONTACT POINTS: 10.5
WISCONSIN COUNTIES: 2
STATES: 3
PROVINCES: 1
TOTAL MULTIPLIERS: 6
BONUS POINTS: 0
CLAIMED SCORE: 63
SOAPBOX: FINE PARTY BUT NOT MUCH TIME TO OPERATE
SOAPBOX:
SOAPBOX:

QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 1801 K9KR              RAC    ND9Z              BRO
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 1804 K9KR              RAC    N9EZ/RAC          RAC
QSO: 28403 PH 2008-03-09 1922 K9KR              RAC    W1AW              CT
QSO: 21030 CW 2008-03-09 1944 K9KR              RAC    K6LL              AZ
QSO: 28455 PH 2008-03-09 2311 K9KR              RAC    VE5SF             SASK
QSO: 28567 PH 2008-03-09 2345 K9KR              RAC    DLQQK             DX
END-OF-LOG

QSO DATA

For each QSO data line, we suggest that a Cabrillo format similar to that shown below be used when when submitting an electronic entry for WIQP, with QSO data placed at a specific spot in a basic 80 column line:

00000000011111111112222222222333333333344444444445555555555666666666677777777778
12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890

QSO: freq  mo date       time call              exch   call              exch
QSO: ***** ** yyyy-mm-dd nnnn ***************** ****** ***************** ******

QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 1801 K9KR              RAC    ND9Z              BRO

Below are some examples of showing QSO data for various types of operation:
FIXED STATION IN WISCONSIN

Working Wisconsin Stations - Fixed And Mobile

QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 1801 K9KR              RAC    ND9Z              BRO
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 1802 K9KR              RAC    AB9DI/WIN         WIN
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 1803 K9KR              RAC    N9FH              OZA
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 1804 K9KR              RAC    N9EZ/RAC          RAC

Working Out-Of-State Stations

QSO: 28403 PH 2008-03-09 1922 K9KR              RAC    W1AW              CT
QSO: 21030 CW 2008-03-09 1944 K9KR              RAC    K6LL              AZ
QSO: 14022 CW 2008-03-09 2233 K9KR              RAC    VE1OP             MAR
QSO: 28455 PH 2008-03-09 2311 K9KR              RAC    VE5SF             SASK
QSO: 28567 PH 2008-03-09 2345 K9KR              RAC    DLQQK             DX

WISCONSIN MOBILE STATION

Working In-State, Out-Of-State, and DX Stations as the Mobile Station Travels Through 3 Different Counties

QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 2155 K9KR              KEN    WA9AXQ            MIL
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03011 2156 K9KR              KEN    N9QA              OZA
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 2210 K9KR              WAL    WA9AXQ            MIL
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 2213 K9KR              WAL    N9QA              OZA
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 2318 K9KR              ROC    K6LL              AZ
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 2322 K9KR              ROC    N9QA              OZA
QSO:  7240 PH 2008-03-09 2345 K9KR              ROC    DL6QK             DX

OUT-OF-STATE STATION

QSO: 14033 CW 2008-03-09 1812 W1AW              CT     K9KR              RAC
QSO: 14033 CW 2008-03-09 1813 W1AW              CT     WA9AXQ            MIL
QSO: 14033 CW 2008-03-09 1814 W1AW              CT     N9QA              OZA

WIQP TEST - a suggestion for helping with the test

In order to simplify future WIQP electronic entries, we are asking if you might be interested in providing a wee bit more information in the information section of the entry. We are asking for this so we can test the concept, with the hope that if it works, perhaps a single file could be submitted in the future, which would contain all entry information we need to process each entry, instead of the two files we now need. We realize that existing logging programs will not provide this information in this format. We would hope that once we finish testing, we can ask programmers to begin using this single file format. If you are willing to modify your entry to match the single file system, please do so. We would like to work with you to see what problems you experience and how we might make it better. I am available at k9kr@tds.net for questions and/or comments.

How can you help? If you look at the typical Cabrillo WIQP entry example above, you will see three lines that probably do not appear on your Cabrillo entry form. We added "HOME COUNTY, WI COUNTIES WORKED FROM and NAMES AND CALLSIGNS OF ALL OPERATORS" to the N3FJP printout. You can help by adding those three lines to your Cabrillo entry form before you submit it to us. You can add that additional information into the LOG file that Cabrillo creates by using a simple text editor. You still need to submit the summary and log files created by your logging program as in past years. The changes involve: 1) indicating your HOME county, and all the counties you operated from - so we can determine if you qualify for any bonus points; and 2) including all operators at a specific station, both names and callsigns - which we use for the certificates.

Why are we adding these lines? For a number of years, we have had a goal of being able to generate results from electronic entries, using just a Cabrillo formatted entry, i.e. one file. This test will get us closer to that goal. Receiving one file would allow us to strip off the information part from the top, for the data base, and then process the QSO data. We could then compare our computed score to the claimed score shown on the entry, for verification. The QSO data could then be compared to other entries, which would allow us to confirm valid QSOs AND would allow us to be able to check for dupes. Someday we hope there will be software available to allow us to quickly process an entire year's WIQP as one unit, and spit out the results shortly after the submission deadline is passed. We would also like to be able to take paper entries and convert them to an electronic format, but that is a few years off yet. The more electronic entries we receive the faster the results will be available. Thanks in advance for your help with this test.