Short answer: Contest Analyzer supports 22 contests, and the contests page lists each one with its mode, start and end in UTC, and log deadline. When you upload a Cabrillo file you pick the contest and the year, so the check uses the right period, bands and exchange. Choose the entry that matches both the contest and the mode of your log, and if your contest is not on the list, it is not covered.
What the contests page shows
The contests page is a calendar. Each row is one contest, with the name, the mode, the start and the end in UTC, and the log deadline. The mode column shows CW, SSB, RTTY or mixed. The page says that dates are calculated from each contest’s rules, and each contest has its own exchange checks, files and statistics. The rows are ordered by the next date, so the contest that comes first is at the top, and there is a link to upload a log from each row.
This is useful in two ways. Before the contest, it is a planning tool: you can see what is coming and how long you will have to submit. After the contest, it tells you which entry to choose when you upload. The page changes with the calendar, so look at it on the day you plan to upload and do not rely on a list you saw months ago.
The 22 contests
Several contests appear more than once, because the CW, SSB and RTTY editions are separate entries. The list covers these families:
- CQ WW DX in SSB, CW and RTTY, and CQ WW WPX in SSB, CW and RTTY.
- CQ WW 160-Meter in CW and SSB.
- ARRL International DX in CW and SSB.
- WAE DX in CW, SSB and RTTY, and All Asian DX in CW and SSB.
- IARU HF World Championship, European HF Championship and Worked All Germany.
- Russian DX Contest, ARI International DX, 9A DX Contest and the Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge.
That makes twenty-two entries. A contest that is not in this list, for instance a national or regional event, is not covered, so check the page before you plan an upload.
How to pick the right entry
Three things identify the right entry: the contest, the mode and the year. The first two come from your log, and the third from the date. If you operated in the CW weekend of a contest that has both CW and SSB editions, choose the CW entry. The mode of the entry controls what the check expects, so a mismatch gives a poor result. If you took part in a mixed-mode contest, such as the Russian DX Contest, choose the mixed entry.
The Cabrillo header can help you identify the event. The CONTEST line holds a name chosen by your logging program, such as CQ-WW-CW, and it should agree with what you select. If the header and your choice disagree, find out why before you upload. The article on the Cabrillo header explains each field, and the article on common header mistakes lists the typical problems.
Contest, period and bands
Each contest has its own period, bands and exchange, and these are built into the check. Fixed items such as CQ or ITU zones are checked, and serial numbers are not. The service marks QSOs outside the contest period and outside the band limits for your ITU region, with split QSOs shown as a note. This makes the choice of the right contest important: a log uploaded to the wrong entry would be compared with the wrong period and the wrong rules.
For this reason, take a minute with the calendar when you upload. Does the date of your first QSO fall inside the period of the contest you chose? Does the end of the log match? If the first QSO is days before the start, or the last is far after the end, either the clock was wrong or you picked the wrong entry. The article on QSOs before the start or after the end deals with the first possibility.
Log deadlines on the calendar
The last column of the contests page shows the log deadline, which differs from contest to contest. It can be as short as 48 hours for some and many days for others. Take these figures as a guide and confirm them in the current official rules of the organiser, because organisers can change them. The sensible approach is to plan the check inside the first days, upload, fix what needs fixing and submit with time to spare. The article on log deadlines gives a routine to avoid missing one.
The service also works well when the deadline is short. Checking runs in the background, with progress shown live in My logs, and the report appears as soon as it is ready. You do not need to keep a page open while it works.
What you can upload
The service accepts Cabrillo files from N1MM Logger+, DXLog and Win-Test, and the FAQ says that any Cabrillo 3.0 file is accepted, including files with different spacing or an extra TX column and files in ISO-8859 encoding. If you are unsure how to produce the file in your logger, see exporting a Cabrillo file from N1MM, DXLog and Win-Test. The report gives you full statistics, a check of every callsign and zone, and the option to download a corrected Cabrillo.
Remember that a log can be checked only for a callsign in your account that is verified. If you operate from several callsigns, add and verify each one. The plans differ in log size, so look at the pricing page for the current limits and conditions.
The list is also a good way to plan a season. Choose the contests you really want to enter, mark the dates, and decide in advance which categories you will use. Many operators enter the same contests every year, and the calendar is the starting point for a year-on-year comparison with your own logs: if you upload each year under the same entry, you will have a series that you can compare. Whatever you choose, keep a record of the entry you used for each year so that later uploads stay consistent. If you are new, our guide to your first HF contest offers a simple way to choose.
Choosing between similar entries
Some pairs of entries look alike and cause most of the confusion. CQ WW DX and CQ WW WPX both exist in SSB, CW and RTTY, and an operator who entered both in one season can easily upload the right file to the wrong one. The difference is in the exchange and in the multipliers: one contest counts zones and countries, the other counts prefixes and uses serial numbers. A quick test is to look at a few lines of your Cabrillo file. A column holding a number such as 14 or 15 suggests a zone exchange, while a growing number from 001 upwards suggests serial numbers.
The same goes for the 160-metre contests and the topband distance challenge, which share a band but differ in the exchange. If you are in doubt, read the header and a handful of QSO lines, then compare them with the rules of the contest you think you entered. The article on Cabrillo QSO lines shows what each column means, which makes this check simple.
Team and club logs
The upload step also supports team and club members, who can add their logs to the same contest. This is handy when a club wants to look at its members’ results together, or when two operators of a multi-operator effort want to see their own parts. Each log is still checked for a verified callsign, and a log stays private: your log and your callsign are never shown to other users. If you plan to collect logs from friends, agree in advance on the contest entry that everyone will use, so that the comparison is fair. The article on helping a friend check a contest log gives practical advice for that situation.
A short checklist before you upload
- Open the contests page and find the entry with the right contest and mode.
- Look at the Cabrillo header: contest name, callsign, category and operators.
- Check the first and last QSO times against the period shown on the page.
- Confirm that the callsign you use is added and verified in your account.
- Upload, wait for the report, and review the short list of QSOs to check.
- Edit what needs editing, download the corrected Cabrillo and submit it to the organiser before the deadline.
Related reading
- Plan Your Contest Schedule in UTC: Bands and Sleep
- How to Submit a Contest Log: Upload or E-mail
- December Contest Calendar: How to Plan the Month
The bottom line
Look at the contests page, choose the entry that matches the contest, the mode and the year, and check that the dates of your log fall inside the period. Then upload, let the check run and review the short list. If your event is not among the twenty-two, plan another way to check it.
FAQ
How many contests are supported?
Twenty-two, counting the CW, SSB and RTTY editions of a contest as separate entries.
What if my contest is not on the list?
Then it is not covered by the service. Use the contests page to see which events are.
Where do I see log deadlines?
On the contests page. Confirm the figure in the organiser’s current rules before you rely on it.
Which loggers can I use?
Cabrillo files from N1MM Logger+, DXLog and Win-Test work, and so does any Cabrillo 3.0 file.
