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QUICK-START GUIDE for TQSL version 2.8
========================================
TQSL is an application used to digitally sign and upload QSOs to the ARRL's
Logbook of the World (LoTW) online service, and to manage the Callsign
Certificates used when digitally signing. TQSL accepts QSOs in a log file whose
format is either ADIF or Cabrillo, which many logging applications can create.
To digitally sign the QSOs in a log file, TQSL requires you to present a
Callsign Certificate issued to you by the ARRL, and requires you to specify the
location from which you operated when making every QSO in that log file.
To make this easy, TQSL lets you define and name a Station Location that
specifies your Callsign Certificate and operating location.
Documentation for TQSL is available via its Help menu's "Display Documentation"
command; on OS X, documentation is available via the Help menu's "Contents"
command). The information in this Quick-Start Guide is a subset extracted from
the documentation.
TQSL can be installed and executed on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.
Installation
============
To install TQSL on Windows, download and execute the .msi file to start the
TQSL installer. The installer makes TQSL accessible via the Windows
Start/Programs/TrustedQSL menu unless you direct it to use a different menu. The
installer also provides the option of creating a Desktop shortcut for TQSL.
To install on Mac OS X, download and open the package file (.pkg) to invoke
the OSX installer.
On a Mac OS X 10.8 or later system, you may need to grant permission for
the TQSL application to run: right-click or control-click on the application
icon, and then choose "Open"; when an "Are you sure" dialog box appears, click
the "Open" button to permit TQSL to start. You will only need to do this when
installing a TQSL release.
To install on Linux, consult the instructions in the INSTALL document included
with the source code.
If you're updating an existing TQSL installation
================================================
Note that this version of TQSL includes the Callsign Certificate management
functionality previously provided by TQSLCert; TQSLCert is no longer required,
and has been removed from your computer. To request, load, save, renew, or
delete a Callsign Certificate, use the "Callsign Certificates" tab on TQSL's
main window and its "Callsign Certificate" menu commands.
TQSLCert was by default configured to hide both "replaced" and "expired"
certificates. TQSL displays all Callsign Certificates on its main window's
"Callsign Certificates" tab:
- "replaced" Certificates are denoted by an A=>B icon
- "expired" Certificates are denoted by an alarm clock icon.
You should delete each "replaced" or "expired" Callsign Certificate by clicking
its entry on the "Callsign Certificates" tab, and then selecting the "Callsign
Certificate" menu's "Delete Callsign Certificate" command. When a new Callsign
Certificate is imported for a given callsign, TQSL will delete the expired and
replaced certificates for that callsign.
If you're installing TQSL for the first time
============================================
1) Request a Callsign Certificate
When you start TQSL, you'll be informed that you have no Callsign Certificates
and be asked if you want to request one. Choose "Yes", and proceed through the
sequence of "Request a new Callsign Certificate" dialogs:
a) When prompted to specify a callsign, use your present callsign without
any portable identifiers.
b) The "QSO begin date" is the date of the earliest QSO you'll submit to
LoTW using the callsign you've specified; normally, this is date-of-issue
for your license. Leave the "QSO end date" blank.
c) For US callsigns, your mailing address must match the address in the FCC's
database. If your address is now different than what you last filed with the
FCC, you must register your new address with the FCC.
d) You will be prompted to specify a password. If you're using a shared
computer, you should protect your Callsign Certificate by entering the same
password in both password textboxes; you'll be asked to provide this password
each time you direct TQSL to digitally sign a log file, so be sure not to
forget it! If you control access to the computer you're using, you can leave
both password textboxes empty, thereby avoiding the need to provide a
password each time you direct TQSL to digitally sign a log file.
e) When given the option to digitally sign the Callsign Certificate request,
choose "unsigned".
f) If your computer is connected to the internet, TQSL will offer to submit
your Callsign Certificate Request; choose "Yes". If you chose "No", you'll
be prompted to save a .tq5 file, which you should then attach to an email
message to lotw-logs@arrl.org, or upload via the Web
(https://www.arrl.org/lotw/).
g) If you are a US licensee, you will receive a post card in the mail with
further instructions; the post card will be sent to your address in the FCC's
database, so make sure that's correct! If you are a non-US licensee, you must
submit proof of license and identity to receive your Callsign Certificate.
See http://www.arrl.org/lotw/ for details.
NOTE! Do not delete the Callsign Certificate Request (the red-lined
"pending" icon) from TQSL's "Callsign Certificates" tab after the Request
has been conveyed. Each Certificate Request is unique and must match the
Callsign Certificate that you will receive from the ARRL. If you direct TQSL
to delete the Certificate Request, you will not be able to load the Callsign
Certificate the ARRL sends you in response.
2) Accept the Callsign Certificate
Your Callsign Certificate will arrive as a file with a .TQ6 suffix attached to
an email message sent to the email address that you specified in the "Request a
new Callsign Certificate" dialog.
You must accept the Callsign Certificate using the same computer on which you
generated the Callsign Certificate Request in step 1 above. Attempting to accept
a Callsign Certificate using a different computer will fail.
Double-click the email attachment in the received email message to launch TQSL
and direct it to load the .TQ6 file. If double-clicking the attachment does not
start TQSL, then save the attached .tq6 file to a folder, start TQSL, and use
its Callsign Certificate menu's "Load Callsign Certificate From File" command
to load your Callsign Certificate. This certificate will appear on TQSL's
"Callsign Certificates" tab with a yellow medal icon indicating that it is
valid.
3) Backup the Callsign Certificate
This step is strongly recommended: if you fail to make a backup and later lose
your Callsign Certificate to a hard-drive crash or operating system failure,
your certificate will not be recoverable. Select the File menu's "Backup
Station Locations, Certificates, and Preferences..." command, and create a
backup on a flash (thumb) drive, an external hard drive, or on a cloud storage
service like DropBox, Google Drive, or Microsoft Sky Drive.
4) Request Additional Callsign Certificate
Logbook of the World treats a callsign with a portable identifier (e.g. NU1AW/4
or KP2/W1AW) as distinct from its home callsign. To submit QSOs made with a
portable callsign, you must obtain a Callsign Certificate for that portable
callsign.
After you have received your Callsign Certificate for your home callsign, repeat
steps 1, 2, and 3 above, but
- in step 1a specify your portable callsign
- in step 1e digitally sign the request with the Callsign Certificate for your
present callsign
5) Create a Log File
TQSL accepts log files saved from logging applications in either ADIF or
Cabrillo format.
If you're not yet using a logging application and want to create a log file
containing a few QSOs, start TQSL, select the "Log Operations" tab, and click
the "Create an ADIF file for signing and uploading" button.
Because new modes may not yet be specified in ADIF, and because LoTW may not
accept all modes specified in ADIF, TQSL enables you to "map" a new mode to a
mode or mode group recognized by LoTW; this most often takes the form of mapping
a new digital mode to the DATA mode group. Previous versions of TQSL would allow
you to map modes accepted by LoTW. This version of TQSL will refuse to map a mode
that is recognized by LoTW. Any existing mappings of modes recognized by LoTW
will be automatically removed on startup.
6) Define a Station Location
Select TQSL's "Station Locations" tab and click the "Create a new Station
Location" button.
A sequence of "Add Station Location" dialogs will prompt you for the location
of the station used to make all of the QSOs in the log file you'll be
submitting, and will enable you to specify a name that identifies the Station
Location you've defined, e.g., "Home" or "Portable in EM29".
7) Digitally Sign and Submit a Log File
In TQSL, select the "Log Operations" tab and click the "Sign a log and
upload it automatically to LoTW" button. In the "Select File to Sign" dialog,
specify either ADIF (.adi) or Cabrillo (.cbr or .log) format, navigate to the
folder containing your log file, select your log file, and click the "Open"
button. In the "Select Station Location" dialog, select the Station Location
from which you were operating when you made all of the QSOs in the log file,
and click the "OK" button; TQSL will digitally sign your QSOs and submit them
to LoTW via the internet.
When submitting log files in Cabrillo format, previous versions of TQSL
submitted FM and PH modes as PHONE. TQSL now submits FM mode as FM, and PH
mode as SSB.
8) Visit the Logbook of the World Web site at https://www.arrl.org/lotw/ to
view your submitted QSOs and confirmed QSOs, and to apply for award credits.
Using TQSL, you can navigate there by clicking the "Log Operations" tab's "Log
in to the Logbook of the World Site" button.
9) For assistance or to report defects, send email to lotw-help@arrl.org.
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