QRZ, LoTW and Club Log: How They Fit Together

Upload every QSO to all three services. Each has a different job, and none of them copies your log to the others for you.

The three services at a glance

In short: LoTW proves a contact, Club Log tracks your DXCC progress, and QRZ is the logbook other people see.

Worked vs confirmed

Worked means the contact is in your log. Confirmed means the other station’s log matches yours. Only confirmed contacts count towards awards.

A match needs the same callsigns, band and mode, with times within about 30 minutes of each other. If either side has a typo, a wrong band or a clock that’s badly off, the contact stays “worked” for good. It won’t fix itself.

Why the numbers never quite agree

Expect each service to show a slightly different total. That’s normal.

• Different timing. A contact can be confirmed in LoTW today and only show in Club Log or QRZ after their next import.
• Different DXCC rules. Each service decides which DXCC entity a callsign belongs to. Club Log keeps its own exceptions list, so a few calls land differently. For example, KG4 calls are Guantanamo Bay except the two-letter-suffix ones.
• Deleted entities. Some count lists include entities that no longer exist, and some leave them out.
• Missing uploads. If a QSO never reached a service, it can’t be counted there.

For DXCC itself, LoTW’s number is the one that matters. Use Club Log to see what’s missing, then check whether the gap is real.

How they sync

The services don’t send your QSOs to each other. The only thing that moves between them is LoTW confirmations, and only if you set that up.

Solid arrows are uploads you make. Dashed arrows are confirmations copied out of LoTW.

• Your log → each service. You upload to each one separately, from your logging program or by hand. A QSO you only sent to QRZ will never appear in LoTW or Club Log.
• LoTW → Club Log. Club Log can fetch your LoTW confirmations through a linked account. When that link misses QSOs, upload the LoTW confirmations report (ADIF) to Club Log by hand.
• LoTW → QRZ. QRZ Logbook can import LoTW confirmations and mark matching QSOs as confirmed. This feature may need a QRZ subscription: check your account.
• Club Log and QRZ → LoTW: never. LoTW only accepts QSOs you sign yourself with TQSL, so nothing reaches it any other way.

Uploading your logs

Treat your own logging program as the master copy, and send the same ADIF to all three services from it. Never edit a QSO in one service and expect the change to reach the others.

One-off setup

1. LoTW: request a callsign certificate from ARRL through TQSL. Non-US stations post or upload proof of licence and ID. It can take a week or two. Back up the certificate file (.p12) once it’s installed.
2. LoTW: in TQSL, set up a Station Location for each place you operate from: callsign, grid, ITU/CQ zones, and any POTA or portable details.
3. QRZ: create your logbook at qrz.com. Under its settings, copy your Logbook API key if your logging program can upload directly.
4. Club Log: register at clublog.org. Set an application password for automatic uploads, and add your callsign and its DXCC history (e.g. a period operating from another country).
5. Club Log: link your LoTW account so Club Log can fetch your confirmations, if your account offers it. If it doesn’t, plan to upload your LoTW confirmations by hand (see Every month or so).

After each session

1. Check the log for typos, wrong bands and missing contacts before uploading anything.
2. LoTW: in TQSL, choose Sign a log and upload it and pick the right Station Location. TQSL skips QSOs it has already signed, so re-uploading a whole log is safe.
3. QRZ and Club Log: upload the same ADIF file. Most logging programs (WSJT-X add-ons, Log4OM, N1MM+, etc.) can do this automatically after each QSO.

Every month or so

1. Download confirmations from LoTW (Your QSOs → Download Report, ADIF) and upload that file to Club Log. This marks contacts as confirmed in Club Log even if its automatic link has missed some.
2. In QRZ, run its LoTW confirmation import if your subscription includes it.
3. Compare the DXCC totals in LoTW and Club Log. A big gap usually means a missing upload, not missing confirmations.

Applying for an award

Apply in LoTW (Awards → DXCC). It lists your confirmed entities and you pick the ones to claim. Neither Club Log nor QRZ can submit an ARRL award for you.

Common problems

“Club Log shows fewer confirmed than LoTW.” Club Log hasn’t seen the latest LoTW confirmations yet. Download the LoTW confirmations report and upload it to Club Log, as in the monthly steps above.

“LoTW says I worked them but it’s not confirmed.” The other station hasn’t uploaded, or their log doesn’t match yours. Check the time, band and mode for that QSO. Many DXpeditions upload weeks or months later.

“My worked total is different in every service.” Some services may be missing some QSOs, or they assign a few calls to different DXCC entities (see Why the numbers never quite agree). Upload the same full ADIF everywhere before comparing.

“I fixed a typo but the old QSO is still there.” Fixing a QSO in your logging program doesn’t change the copies already uploaded. Delete the wrong QSO in QRZ and Club Log by hand. In LoTW you can’t delete it: upload the corrected QSO and the wrong one simply never matches.

“Will uploading twice create duplicates?” No for LoTW and Club Log: both ignore duplicates. QRZ usually rejects exact duplicates, but a QSO with a slightly different time can come in as a second entry.

Portable and compound calls (e.g. HB0/SP6LUT, G8GDS/P). Log the call exactly as the station sent it. In LoTW, sign /P and DX-prefix operations with a Station Location that matches. A missing or wrong prefix is a common reason a contact doesn’t confirm.

Clocks. Keep your computer clock accurate. It matters for FT8 decoding anyway, and a clock more than 30 minutes out stops every QSO from matching.