You will need a SOTAREF for at least one end of each QSO as appropriate for chaser/activator uploads.
Thanks. That’s fine for the SOTA, and may give me a few hints. My log’s not all SOTA, though, and obviously I’m not chasing from a SOTA summit, either.
That was the purpose… to show you a valid ADIF format for SOTA.
1 Like
My old general-purpose logger doesn’t produce any SOTA-specific ADIF fields. I just put SOTA references into the QTH field, and the perl I hacked together turns the logger’s ADIF into csv that works with the SOTA database (once I’ve removed all the non-SOTA lines).
I got something presentable out, though it took a few steps (export ADIF, convert to csv, remove non-SOTA entries, convert to SOTA ADIF, upload to ADIF Processor, download KML, open in Google Earth) and it’s only got my SOTA contacts in it… 
1 Like
OK so you found a bug 
Can you believe I have never tried this with a log from my home QTH? The logic to determine your location from QRZ.com in that situation (ie not portable) was missing.
So I’ve uploaded a bug fix, if your QRZ.com location (preferably set as Lat/Lon, but at least Grid) is set you are good to go.
The idea always is for the software to determine as much as it can on its’ own.
Regards, Mark.
2 Likes
If you add an entry in the ADIF comment field for any SOTA activators you make contact with of the form ‘SOTA: G/LD-010’ the ADIF transformer will recognise that and set their location and the MY_SOTA value in the output ADIF file. It does the same for WOTA, POTA and WWFF references but in those cases it sets the SIG ADIF field to be WOTA/POTA/WWFF and the SIG_REF ADIF field to be the entered reference.
Mark.
1 Like
Also worth mentioning there is a new feature now on the Options panel, click on the Options link to show the panel.
If you tick the Show Local Activations Sites checkbox then transformer will add markers on any SOTA summits within the specified radius of any activator you have contacted, and if you are on a SOTA summit your own summit. This applies to any of the other activities too, where there is a specified location. So if you click on the activators callsign in the list, or manually zoom in, you can explore their local summits.
The markers can be clicked on for a link to the relevant SOTA Summits page.
1 Like
I think QRZ has my home QTH set accurately enough, but I’ll check next time I’m looking. I tried setting an override location but that didn’t seem to fix the issue with the original ADIF I’d exported. I’ll see what I can do about ensuring key and reference pairs get into the exported ADIF where appropriate. Is it intended to work when neither end of a QSO is one of the SIGs?
Absolutely. The most common issue I find is that folk don’t set their home QTH in QRZ.com. In the UK this defaults to a London Grid square. I don’t think I’m able to lookup a location based on an address, that would be the last resort.
If you want me to check your ADIF file please email me it at mark@wickensonline.co.uk.
Regards, Mark.
QRZ has my position to four decimal places, which I would expect to be enough. I’ll send you the ADIF I’ve been trying…
1 Like
…and thanks. 
For anyone interested, it turns out one QSO had garbage where it should have had a Maidenhead locator… oops. 
(There was at least one other incorrect locator in the ADIF which the KML allowed me to spot.)
1 Like
I’ve been working on the ADIF Processor in my spare time and have now added support for SOTA V2 CSV files. It is early days, so no doubt there will be some issues, but CSV files downloaded from the SOTA Database should work OK.
You don’t have the flexibility to fix location issues like you do with an ADIF input file, but it does as good a job as it can.
Location determination has improved greatly since I last posted. Stations that have a ‘default’ location set in QRZ.com are now detected. Typically in the UK stations can end up mapping to Central London, or for example the middle of the Atlantic.
In these cases the application now ignores the faulty location data in QRZ.com and instead performs a geocoding based location lookup on any address data provided in QRZ.com and tries hard to get as accurate a location as the data will allow.
If you experience an error please email or PM me the CSV file so I can correct the issue.
Given that you get an ADIF file out this turns the application into a somewhat fancy SOTA CSV to ADIF file converter.
Regards, Mark.
M0NOM
2 Likes
What this means of course is that you can now use Google Earth to be a virtual activator as the entire SOTA database is available for visualization.
Take for example the recent 09/09/2021 activation of Matterhorn HB/VS-006 by Martin @DK3IT. The downloaded CSV converted to Google Earth KML provides a wonderful SOTA fuelled world to explore.
The Google Earth KML file that was used to generate this image can be downloaded from here: 1632869690919-DK3IT_566759_activator_20210928.kml.
Regards Mark.
10 Likes
Hi Mark,
Thanks a lot for providing your great ADIF Processor!
I experimented with the resulting KML file and created an animation by using some features of Google Earth.
You can see the result while I filmed my activation two weeks ago at 1:30.
73 Stephan
7 Likes
Hi Stephan.
Really like the video, and you have very intelligent used Google Earth to demonstrate a DX success!
Thanks for using the software.
Mark.
2 Likes
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your feedback!
It was my first try with Google Earth. It doesn’t always do exactly the way I had in mind, but I think one gets the basic message.
First I created some paths and then manually followed them. The resulting video was recorded with the built-in movie maker.
Your ADIF Processor is so cool!
73 Stephan
1 Like
I’m working on Low Earth Satellite support in the ADIF Processor Google Earth visualisation module, and it’s coming along nicely.
p.s. just before anyone comments those QSOs are fictitious based on a real pass of JAS-2 (FO-29) a couple of nights ago.
If anyone has an ADIF file for LEO satellite contacts from a SOTA summit that would be cool to visualize, it may be I can trawl SOTA data and find such contacts.
4 Likes
Finally got round to the thorny problem of Long Path HF Visualization, prompted by @EA2IF Guru’s SOTA chase of @JG4LCS Seiji on JA/OY-060 on 10-JAN-2022 at 07:49.
According to my calculation the QSO distance was 29,499 km.
| Date: | 2022-01-10 |
|---|---|
| Time (UTC): | 07:49 |
| Band: | 20m |
| Mode: | CW |
| Freq: | 14.285 Mhz |
| Gnd Dist: | 29,499 km |
| Bearing: | 215.082° |
| Bounces: | 12 |
| Reflection Alt: | 405 km |
| Propagation Mode: | F2 |
Still plenty of wrinkles to iron out but the hard bit is over 
Regards, Mark.
7 Likes
Think the code is stable now, just uploaded a new version.
@EA2IF Guru was kind enough to provide me with an ADIF file containing some of his long path SOTA chases, very impressive!
3 Likes
Did a quick video creating the Google Earth KML file from Guru’s ADIF file, load it up in Google Earth and a (long) scroll around!
8 Likes