Exception Reports

Overview

An Exception Report lists the contacts an integration could not handle, with the reason for each one and the controls that will settle it. Nothing is ever discarded in silence, and nothing on these reports changes a QSO in your logbook until you say so.

There are two reports on one page, as tabs. The QRZ Exception Report covers your QRZ connections. The LOTW Exception Report covers Logbook of the World. Each tab carries a count, so you can see at a glance which one is asking for something.

Each tab is divided by direction, because a member's question is different in each case. One set of sections is about contacts the service sent that could not be written to your logbook here. The other is about contacts of yours that have not reached the service.

Clearing a report is not housekeeping. A contact sitting on it is a contact that is not confirmed, not on your QSL card exchange, and not counted toward an award.

How To Open Your Exception Reports

1. Open your logbook.
2. Press Exception Reports, in the button row at the top right.
3. Choose the QRZ or LOTW tab.

Every message on the site that tells you a contact had a problem names which report it is on, and links straight to that tab. The bell notifications do the same.

How To Reconcile A QRZ Conflict

A conflict means the contact exists in both logbooks but the two copies disagree. QSL Shack never picks a winner for you.

1. On the QRZ tab, find the contact under Not written to your QSL Shack logbook. The disagreement is listed beside it.
2. Press Reconcile.
3. Read the comparison. Your QSL Shack value and your QRZ value are shown side by side for every field that differs.
4. Choose one of the four answers.

QSL Shack is correct replaces the QRZ version with your QSL Shack version on the next sync.

QRZ is correct replaces your QSL Shack version with the QRZ version. Nothing is sent to QRZ.

None, I need to Edit the QSO opens the QSO for editing. Saving a change replaces QRZ's copy with the corrected one.

Both, these are two separate QSOs keeps them both. The QRZ version is added to your logbook, and your QSL Shack version is sent to QRZ as a new contact on the next sync.

Two of these are offered only while the QSO can still be changed. Once a contact is confirmed, its data is locked and only QSL Shack is correct remains.

Both is sometimes shown grayed out. That happens when the two records agree on everything used to tell contacts apart, which means they cannot be two different contacts. Pick the logbook that is correct, or edit the QSO.

How To Clear A Record QRZ Sent That Could Not Be Written

These are records QRZ holds that QSL Shack could not turn into a contact. They appear under Not written to your QSL Shack logbook, below the conflicts, with QRZ's date and callsign exactly as they arrived.

1. Press Edit on QRZ. Your QRZ logbook opens in a new tab so you can correct the record there.
2. Come back to your Exception Report and press Retry.

Do not skip the second step. QSL Shack asks QRZ only for records newer than the last one it received, so a record that never arrived sits permanently behind that mark. Correcting it at QRZ does nothing on its own, because the scheduled check will never ask for it again. Retry is the only way to bring it in.

Retry is grayed out on a record that arrived without a QRZ identifier, because there is nothing to ask QRZ for.

A record where you appear to have worked yourself is handled differently. It gets Delete at QRZ instead of Edit, because QRZ's own form cannot correct that field. Pressing it shows you the record exactly as QRZ holds it right now, read at that moment rather than from anything stored here, and asks you to confirm a second time before anything happens. QRZ has no undo for this and neither does QSL Shack. Your logbook here is unaffected, because the contact was never written to it.

How To Clear A Contact That Has Not Reached QRZ

These are under Not written to your QRZ logbook, with the reason for each one. Some are waiting on something you can change on the QSO itself, so the pencil opens it for editing.

One reason has its own control. If QRZ refused the contact as a duplicate, QRZ already holds something that looks like it, and the row is highlighted with a Reconcile button.

1. Press Reconcile.
2. Read the comparison of your QSO against the QRZ record it collided with.
3. Press Yes, they are the same to link them. The contact stops being listed.
4. Press No, they are different if it is a different contact. That QRZ record will not be offered for this QSO again.

You were at the radio and QSL Shack was not, so this one is always your call.

How To Handle A Contact LoTW Confirmed That Was Already Confirmed Here

Under Also confirmed by LoTW, these are contacts that were already confirmed on QSL Shack when LoTW confirmed them too. Nothing was changed, and nothing needs to be.

A confirmed QSO is never altered here, by any service, which is why this is reported rather than applied. Press Dismiss when you have seen it.

How To Link A LoTW Contact That Fits More Than One QSO

Under Could match more than one QSO, LoTW reported a contact that fits several QSOs in your logbook, so nothing was changed.

1. Read the candidates listed beside the row. The eye opens any of them in a new tab if you need to look before deciding.
2. Select the QSO the contact belongs to.
3. Press Link selected QSO.

If none of them is right, press Dismiss. A row that no longer matches anything in your logbook says so and offers Dismiss alone.

How To Fix A LoTW Contact That Could Not Be Read

Under Could not be read, LoTW sent contacts that could not be added to your logbook, each with its reason.

LoTW does not let anyone change a QSO after it has been uploaded, so the fix is always a corrected copy rather than an edit. Press Fix at LOTW and take either path.

In your logging software. Correct the QSO there and upload it to LoTW again with TQSL. The ARRL explains the procedure in its Fixing Your Log document, which the overlay links. Once LoTW holds the corrected copy, it comes into your logbook on the next LoTW check.

Here on QSL Shack. Press Enter the correct QSO, log the contact correctly in your logbook, and send it to LoTW with a manual push.

The row clears itself once the corrected contact is in your logbook. You can also dismiss it.

How To Clear A Contact That Has Not Reached LoTW

Under Not sent to LoTW, every contact waiting to go to LoTW is listed with the reasons it cannot go yet. A contact can carry several reasons at once, and all of them are shown.

The reasons come from ARRL's own software rather than from QSL Shack, so they read exactly as they would if you ran TQSL yourself. Most are fixed by editing the QSO, and the pencil opens it.

Two reasons are not about the contact at all. A contact dated outside the period your Callsign Certificate covers needs a certificate that covers it. A contact in a logbook with no certificate stored cannot be signed by anything.

This section is deliberately last on the tab, so a long list of contacts waiting to go out cannot bury what LoTW has sent you.

What To Watch For

A Dismiss takes the row off your report. It does not change your logbook, and it does not fix anything at the service.

Sections that report on contacts waiting to go out are capped on very large logbooks, and the page says so when it caps. Clearing the ones shown lets the rest through.

If LoTW cannot be reached when you open the tab, it says so in red and leaves the waiting list out rather than showing you a shorter list that looks like good news. Try again in a few minutes.