BasicLog v1.0
Excel Spreadsheet to ADIF Format

Background:

I recently was involved in uploading my logs to the ARRL's Logbook of the World and found that I had a few contest logs that were done on paper which I needed to "easily" put into the computer.  In searching the Internet for a suitable program, I found nothing that would do it as quickly as I wanted.  I felt all I should have to input was the Date, Time, Band, Mode and Callsign.  So, I wrote an Excel spreadsheet to do this.

While I was writing it I emailed the LoTW desk at ARRL with a question about the minimum requirements for an LoTW log upload and they responded by sending me a link to another spreadsheet written by W8TM (I didn't know him before this but that's a really similar call to mine, hi!)  Paul, W8TM, had written a similar spreadsheet to what I was doing but his required you to enter the exact frequency, type in the full name of the mode and type the Date, Time and Mode for each QSO.  I was trying to keep it simple and quicker so my version lets the computer do a lot of the work for you.  But, I did "borrow" (with his permission) the part of Paul's spreadsheet that would take the log info and create an ADIF file and added it to mine.

For those who want to enter the exact frequency or who are not very concerned with speed, here is a link to Paul's spreadsheet which works just fine.  Click on the "Excel - ADIF Conversion Spreadsheet" link:

http://www.wb8nut.com/downloads.html

Now, for my quicker program called BasicLog:

Below you will find a link to download a ZIP archive which contains  two files. One is the Excel spreadsheet itself and the other is a Microsoft Word version of the instructions. There are simple instructions included in the spreadsheet but the Microsoft Word instructions go into a little more depth.

Be sure to follow the instructions EXACTLY !

The basic reason I wrote this was to allow paper logs (contest or otherwise) to be entered with the minimum amount of effort into LoTW. Once you enter the first QSO, the spreadsheet will automatically enter the same date, band and mode for the next QSO. So, you just have to type the following (after you enter one QSO) as long as none of those three items change:

Time, TAB, Call (down-arrow, back-arrow)
Time, TAB, Call (down-arrow, back-arrow)
Time, TAB, Call (down-arrow, back-arrow)
   and so on.  This goes REALLY fast!  And, if you need to change
   the Date, Band or Mode - just cursor or TAB to that field and over-type it.

Plus, in the Time field, if it is the beginning of a new day and you work someone in the first minute, you just need to type a "1" and the spreadsheet will enter "0001" for you.  In addition, you do not have to enter the full frequency of the QSO, just the whole number of the frequency (e.g. "28" instead of "28.568".)  And, the mode can be entered with just a "c" or "s" for CW or SSB or a "1" or "3" for A1a or A3a. Of course, you can over-type any field at any time to change that information.

Once you have keyed in the data, the spreadsheet will create an ADIF file from that data.  You can then either import it into a full-featured logging program or directly upload it to LoTW.

I find that I can enter old logs six to eight times faster with this spreadsheet than I can just enter the same data into a logging program. I use it to create an ADIF file which I then import into my regular logging program (DXBase) and it works great for that. KC8FS the ARRL SM for WV has been using it to upload his logs directly to LoTW and it has worked great there also. Of course, if anyone finds any bugs, I would really like to know about them.
 

Here is the ZIP archive that contains the Spreadsheet and the M/S Word Instructions. Just click on this link to download the ZIP'ed files:

BasicLog v1.0 Spreadsheet & Instructions ZIP file
 

Once you have downloaded this file, unzip it and you will have an Excel spreadsheet file called "BasicLog v1.0" and a Microsoft Word document which contains the full instructions.  Be sure to follow the instructions for saving the data EXACTLY or you may have difficulty.  It is very easy to use once you have done it.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

NEVER work with the original file you downloaded.  Always do a "Save As" of the file before you enter any data.  That way you are always working with a copy of the program and the next time you want to enter data you will be able to start with a fresh file.  If you fail to do this you will have to either unzip the downloaded file again or come back to this page and download a new copy of the ZIP file.  You CAN NOT just erase the data and start over.
 

BasicLog Screen Shot

If you have any problems, questions or comments, please contact me.  I would be pleased to hear from you if this program works well for you.  Here is my contact info:

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This page last updated 16 Dec 2005.