To get started with AC Log and LoTW, begin by downloading the tQSL software and following the steps on the ARRL's LoTW site.

1.  In the User Name field, enter your call sign.

2.  In the Login Password field, enter the login password for Internet access provided by ARRL.

3.  In the Station Location Field, enter your station location.  If you are unsure of how your station location is set up in LoTW, please do the following:

     - Start the tQSL software.

     - Click Station > Edit Locations.

     - Click on the location and see the name that is listed at the bottom of the form under selected station location.

     - That is the location you will enter into AC Log.

4.  If you only have one call sign on LoTW, leave the Own Call field blank. Otherwise, enter the call that you are working with.

5.  In the path to the Trusted QSL Software (tQSL), enter the path where you installed tQSL.  The default is c:\Program Files\TrustedQSL. If you installed tQSL in another loaction, you will have to enter the exact path to the installation folder.

6.  You will notice a button that reads LoTW Server Settings. Please ignore it. That will only be used if LoTW moves to a new server, but the defaults are currently fine.  They are https://p1k.arrl.org/lotwuser/upload?login= for upload and https://www.arrl.org/lotwuser/lotwreport.adi?login= for download.

Ready to Go!

If you have entered the information in the fields above correctly, you should be all set to upload contacts to LoTW.  To give it a try, click All Contacts Not Uploaded under the Sign and Upload column and follow the tQSL software prompts.

If your contacts upload okay, you are all set. If the LoTW record count does not reflect the number of contacts uploaded, don't worry. That happens from time to time and doesn't necessarily indicate a bad upload. In any case, AC Log won't mark your QSOs as uploaded until the upload has been confirmed by a subsequent download.

In Case of Difficulty - Don't Panic!

First, make sure that you are running AC Log 2.8 or later. After the LoTW server move during the summer of 2005, earlier versions would no longer upload properly.

If for some reason you are unable to upload your data, there are a number of possible causes. All the settings related to LoTW in AC Log are on AC Log's LoTW form as described above. There is nothing else in AC Log to change. Double check the fields listed above to make sure that you entered the information properly, don't have any extra spaces, etc.

Some of the most common reports of error messages are:

Unable to Sign Records - This usually occurs when you do not have the path to the tQSL software set properly.  Use Windows Explorer to verify the directory and path where tQSL resides. Then enter the correct path in the Path to the Trusted QSL Software as described in Step 5 above.

TQSL Error.  Name not found - This occurs when your station location is not set properly. To find the setting of your station location in the tQSL software, follow the directions in Step 3 above.

After uploading data, no records matched the verification search criteria, and AC Log isn't marking my records as sent. - When LoTW is busy, uploads are held in que and aren't immediately available for download. DO NOT upload the same records again because your previous records are replaced, and the cycle starts all over. Instead, wait a while, and then click the command button on the LoTW form under Download that says All Since and enter a recent date. Once your records are processed by LoTW, they will be available for download.

If a day or two has passed by and the records still aren't available for download from LoTW, check to make sure that your TQSL Certificate is not out of date.  An out of date TQSL Certificate won't return an error and it may appear that everything is working properly, but your uploaded records will not be accepted by LoTW.

I've done all that, but I'm STILL having problems!

We've already covered all the AC Log settings above. Here are a couple of other things to check:

- Make sure that you are running version 1.10 or later of the tQSL software.

- Make sure that your Internet and/or virus protection software is configured to allow AC Log to connect to the Internet.

- Make sure that you are connected to the Internet when you try uploading and downloading.

- If you are still having problems, try uploading data to LoTW the "regular" way (by first exporting a few records in ADIF, using the tQSL software to sign the records and the LoTW website to upload). That often brings to light problems that may exist in your settings.

I've done that, too. Now what?

As you probably realize, there are a lot of components that work together to use LoTW. These include AC Log, the tQSL software (including the certificates, passwords, etc.), your Internet connection, your virus protection software, etc.

We've provided all the information that you need for AC Log's link in the chain, and we wish that we could do more.  We are simply not equipped to provide support for the tQSL software, and all that goes into setting that up, configuring your Internet connection, supporting a variety of virus / Internet software programs, etc.

Perhaps there is another ham or PC savy person in your family or neighborhood that could help out. Sometimes a fresh pair of eyes is all that it takes.