Check a Cabrillo log before you submit it
Drop the .log file and every line is checked against the Cabrillo 3.0 specification: what a log-checking robot would reject, what is worth a second look, and possible duplicates — each with its line number in the file.
What is checked
The header: START-OF-LOG with a version, CALLSIGN, CONTEST, and every CATEGORY- value against the list the specification allows (SINGLE-OP, MULTI-OP or CHECKLOG; HIGH, LOW or QRP; and so on), CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER for a multi-op entry, CLAIMED-SCORE as a plain number, EMAIL as an address, and END-OF-LOG at the end. Each QSO line: the frequency in kHz below 30 MHz or a band such as 50, 144 or 432 above, a mode of CW, PH, FM, RY or DG, a real date (no 30 February) and a time from 0000 to 2359, both callsigns, and enough items to be a QSO at all.
Worth a look, not an error
Lines out of time order; a sent and a received exchange of different lengths; a frequency in kHz above 30 MHz where the specification asks for the band; a category value the specification does not list but a contest might (WRTC, for example). And duplicates — the same call on the same band and mode — which are best left in the log: the robot scores a duplicate as zero, and deleting one can cost the other station that QSO.
Fixing it
Correct the file in any text editor and drop it here again. Or save it from this page as Cabrillo: the header is a form with the allowed values, and every QSO line is written the standard way — kHz, modes, dates, times, exchanges lined up.
Questions
- Does it check my score or the other logs?
- No — that is the organiser’s job, done against everyone’s logs after the contest. This catches what makes a robot reject the file or read it wrong, before you send it.
- Is the log uploaded?
- No. The file is read in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
- Which contests?
- Any contest that takes Cabrillo: CQ WW, CQ WPX, ARRL DX, Sweepstakes, Field Day, IARU HF, NAQP, state QSO parties, VHF contests and the rest. The checks are those of the specification itself; a contest’s own exchange rules are not checked.