Microwave (10 GHz and Up Contesting Page
by John P. Toscano, WØJT

Last revised 2005/08/25, and not yet complete!

This is, at the moment, a Quick and Dirty web page to help folks with the logging of their data for submission to the ARRL for the 2004 (and later) 10 GHz and Up Cumulative Contest.

There are three different versions of the 10 GHz Logger spreadsheet here. In all three cases, the files have been compressed into a "ZIP" archive to save space on the web server.

10GHz_Logger-large.zip is a zipped (compressed) Excel spreadsheet that is as comprehensive as possible.

10GHz_Logger-medium.zip is a zipped (compressed) Excel spreadsheet that is less comprehensive, to save space and speed up data entry on slow computers. Instead of automatically computing the distance points for every QSO, it attempts to look up the distance points from a table of pre-computed values. If the grid pair you need is not already in the table, there is a page where you can enter the new grid pair, get the distance points, and add the grid pair and distance to the lookup table.

10GHz_Logger-small.zip is a zipped (compressed) Excel spreadsheet that is the least comprehensive of the three. It does not even attempt to look up the distance points in a table, although there is still a table of pre-computed values for you to look at, and a built-in utility to compute the distance for any (new) pair of grids. You have to perform a manual lookup, and manually copy the distance points to the log table. This version is for the slowest machines or those machines with the most limited RAM capacity.

All three versions of the Excel spreadsheet will do much of the work of preparing your log. Some of the things they can do for you are as follows:

1. Allows you to enter your log data into a spreadsheet, with easy editing of the cells as you go.
2. If you wrote down your contacts on paper using local time instead of UTC, it can convert the times to UTC for you.
3. Automatically (large version only) or semi-automatically (medium version only) compute the distance points earned for each contact from the sub-grid names
4. Automatically compute the QSO points (unique callsigns contacted) for you
5. Automatically compute your total operation time by making provisions for entering ON and OFF times in the log
6. Automatically compute your total QSO's, total QSO points, total Distance points, and Total Score
7. Automatically compute your Best DX in Km for each band you worked
8. Generate a printable Log Submission page in ARRL format
9. Generate a printable Log Data page in slightly modified ARRL format

The following modifications (resulting in version 2.03) have been made since the 2004 version was published:

1. Unprotected the cell on the Settings page that allows you to enter TRUE or FALSE for "10 GHz Only".
2. If you logged in UTC, the log page column headings now say UTC Date and UTC Time instead of Local Date and Local Time
3. You now enter the QSO times as a 4-digit number, without the colon, e.g. 0852 instead of 08:52
4. If you work more than just the 10 GHz band, the 100 points per unique callsign is correctly computed for the higher band(s), e.g., if you work K0FQA on both 10 GHz and 24 GHz, you get 200 QSO points, not 100.
5. If you work another station in the same sub-grid as you, the distance points are more reliably set to 1 instead of 0.
6. On the SubmissionsPage, I allocated a bit more column width to a couple of fields that were sometimes too narrow to show their data.

The output format of the Log Data sheet(s) is slightly modified because the official ARRL forms are not adequate to record all of the data required by the rules! Per the official rules, if you are operating in the "10 GHz and Up" category, you need to record the BAND for each QSO made, and the official forms have no place to record this data! Also, the official rules explicitly state that you must record your ON and OFF times in the log, but there is no official place to do so. Therefore, I added one new column to the forms to support both omissions. In this column, you either record the Band (e.g., 10 GHz, 24 GHz, etc.), or you record one of three special codes that document your ON and OFF periods. The three codes are *ON* to indicate the start of an ON period,*OFF* to indicate the start of an OFF period, and *EOL* to indicate the End of Log. Note that this third code is only used on the data entry page, but does not appear in the printable log.

The spreadsheet is composed of 6 "pages"(large version) or 7 "pages" (medium and small versions), which are accessed by clicking on their "tabs" at the bottom of the Excel window.

Please Note: The following screen shots were of the original version. I have not had a chance to re-create them using the three different version 2.03 files, so there will be some subtle differences. They most closely resemble the current large version of the files.

This PDF file shows the instructions on how to use the Excel spreadsheet.

This PDF file shows an example of the page that allows you to enter various settings that apply to the whole log, such as the time zone offset between your handwritten data and the UTC date/time required for the log, your callsign, ARRL section, the contest year, the operator class (10 GHz Only vs. 10 GHz and Up), your name, your address, your email address, etc. This is basically a PDF "screen shot" of my own file for the 2004 contest year. In the corresponding page of the Excel spreadsheet, the yellow-shaded cells are the only ones you can change.

This PDF file shows an example of the page on which you enter your log data. The cells shaded yellow are the ones you fill in. You enter the Date and Time of the QSO; the indication of either Band or On/Off/End-of-Log; the Callsign of the station you worked; the 6-digit Maidenhead Grid and Sub-Grid you sent (i.e., your location); and the 6-digit locator you received (i.e., the other station's location). Everything else is computed automatically on-the-fly, including your running total score. As before, this is basically a PDF "screen shot" of my own file for the 2004 contest year. In the corresponding page of the Excel spreadsheet, the yellow-shaded cells are the ones that you can change. By default, most of these cells contain a formula that basically says, "the value of this cell is equal to the value of the cell above it". This is handy when entering a large number of contacts on the same DATE, with the same Locator Sent and the same Locator Received. Normally, when you move from one location to another (such as when the North Shore group of operators moved up or down the coast of Lake Superior on the first weekend), you will use one line to indicate the start of an OFF time, the next line to indicate the start of an ON time, and then the next row will resume log data. You would normally delete the grid locator info from the OFF and ON rows, which will temporarily make the rest of the sheet look kind of weird (lots of zeroes for grid locations), but as soon as you enter the new grid you moved to and the grid of the station you next worked, those grids will once again appear down the page. This is something that is best understood by playing with it.

This PDF file shows an example (my log for 2004) of the Submission (summary) page that is automatically generated for you. If you filled in all of the Settings and LogData pages correctly, everything here will be complete and correct. In the corresponding page of the Excel spreadsheet, you cannot change anything on this page except by modifying the Settings page or the LogData pages.

This PDF file shows an example (my log for 2004) of the Log Sheet pages that are automatically generated for you. Note that the "Total Hours Worked" field is automatically computed for you, if you properly used the ON and OFF markers in the LogData page. In the corresponding page of the Excel spreadsheet, you cannot change anything on this page except by modifying the Settings page or the LogData pages.

This PDF file shows the final page of the worksheet, which is a utility that allows you to convert locations among all four formats:

• Decimal Degrees (d.ddddddd, d.dddddd)
• Degrees and Minutes (d mm.mmmm, d mm.mmmm)
• Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds (d mm ss.s, d mm ss.s)
• Maidenhead Grid Squares (AA00aa)

As noted in the instruction page, the Excel spreadsheet, whie useful, is somewhat "fragile" with respect to incorrect data entry or data omissions. I did not put in much error checking, so you are on your own to fill in the cells correctly if you expect correct output.

I hope that you find these files helpful, and welcome feedback via email to my callsign at qsl.net (or, to my callsign at tcrc.org).

73 de WØJT