Logbook of the World, run by the ARRL, is the confirmation system most hams use for awards like DXCC and Worked All States. It's free, it's fast, and once it's set up it confirms contacts without a single postage stamp. This guide covers how to use Logbook of the World (LoTW): getting your certificate, setting up your station, uploading your log, and getting your confirmations counted for awards.
What Is Logbook of the World?
LoTW is an online database of contacts submitted by operators around the world. When you upload a QSO and the other station uploads a matching QSO, LoTW records it as confirmed. A LoTW confirmation counts for ARRL awards in the same way as a paper QSL card, which is why so many operators now use it as their main way to confirm contacts.
What makes LoTW trustworthy is that every upload is digitally signed with a certificate tied to a verified callsign. That's also why the setup takes a little more effort than most online accounts. LoTW is free, and you don't need to be an ARRL member to use it.
Step 1: Install TQSL
TQSL is the free ARRL program that signs and uploads your contacts. Download it from the ARRL's LoTW site and install it on the computer you'll use for logging.
Step 2: Request a Callsign Certificate
Open TQSL and request a callsign certificate for your current callsign. You'll enter your callsign, name, address and email, and the date range for the contacts you'll be uploading. If you've held other callsigns, you can request certificates for those too, so older contacts can be uploaded.
TQSL saves the request and sends it to the ARRL. Keep the computer you used, because the request and the certificate it produces are tied to it until you make a backup.
Step 3: Verify Your Identity With the Postcard
For a US callsign, the ARRL mails a postcard to the address on your FCC license. It contains a password you enter on the LoTW website to prove you're the licensee. After that, the ARRL emails your LoTW account password with your callsign certificate attached.
If the address on your FCC license is out of date, fix it in the FCC's Universal Licensing System before you request the certificate, or the postcard will go to the old address.
Step 4: Install the Certificate and Back It Up
Open the certificate file from the email with TQSL to install it. Then make a backup right away. TQSL can save a backup file that holds your certificates and station locations. If your computer fails and you don't have a backup, you'll have to go through the request process again. Certificates are good for three years, and the ARRL emails a reminder before yours expires.
Step 5: Define Your Station Location
In TQSL, create a station location describing where you operate from: your callsign, grid square, state, county and zones. If you operate from more than one place, such as home, a vacation house, or parks for POTA, create a separate station location for each one. Every contact you upload is tied to a station location, and awards like WAS depend on it being accurate.
Step 6: Upload Your Log
You can upload contacts two ways. TQSL can sign and upload an ADIF file exported from any logging program. Many logging programs and online logbooks can also upload directly, using TQSL in the background. Either way, you choose the station location, and TQSL signs the contacts with your certificate.
The first upload of a big log can take a while to process. After that, uploading regularly, after each operating session, keeps your confirmations current.
How LoTW Confirms a Contact
A contact is confirmed when both stations upload records that agree. LoTW compares callsigns, band, mode group and time, and the two records must be close in time. If a contact doesn't confirm, the usual causes are:
- The other station hasn't uploaded yet. Many operators upload months or years later. This is the most common reason.
- A typo in a callsign. A busted call on either side means no match.
- A mismatch in band or mode. For example, one station logged 20 meters and the other logged 17.
- Time zone mistakes. A log kept in local time instead of UTC can push contacts hours apart.
Using LoTW for DXCC, WAS and Other Awards
LoTW handles credit for ARRL awards including DXCC, Worked All States, VUCC and others. Log into your LoTW account, set up your award account for the award you're pursuing, and apply your confirmed contacts to it. Credits for some awards have fees when you submit them for the actual award. Check the ARRL website for current details on the award you want.
Logging With LoTW Through QSL Shack
QSL Shack has Logbook of the World integration built into its free logbook. You can pull your LoTW confirmations into QSL Shack with one click or automatically every four hours, and send contacts to LoTW with your certificate passphrase, which the ARRL requires every time. When a record can't be written, QSL Shack doesn't just show you an exception report. It gives you a reconciliation tool so you can fix the problem.
Your LoTW confirmations live alongside your QRZ confirmations and your QSL Shack matches in one logbook. Contacts with other QSL Shack members who log the same QSO are matched and confirmed on QSL Shack too, with a certificate and an automatic exchange of your digital QSL cards. If you're new to logging, our guide on how to make your first ham radio contact covers what to record for each QSO, and how to get started with FT8 will fill your log quickly.