LoTW and 2 very close QTHs (OT but related)

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kd7mw
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LoTW and 2 very close QTHs (OT but related)

Post by kd7mw »

I've gotten no answer from Newington, yet, so I thought I'd ask here.

I have lived in the Seattle area for 35 years. I've had one call sign and two station locations. For the first 9 years I lived in an apartment in north Seattle. Since spring 1992 I have lived in a house in the adjacent suburb of Shoreline. The two locations are 3.5 miles (5.6 km) apart. They are in the same state, the same county, the same 4-character grid square and (obviously) the same DXCC entity. As best I understand the rules, the two QTHs may be combined for for DXCC, WAS and every other HF and VHF award I've read about.

Do I still need to create and maintain two station locations within the callsign certificate for the two QTHs (and 2 profiles in Log4OM), or will just the current location suffice?

Thanks!
--Peter, KD7MW
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KI5IO
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Location: Plano, TX

Re: LoTW and 2 very close QTHs (OT but related)

Post by KI5IO »

Peter,

I don't know all the finer details with respect to your question, but I have found a link at the ARRL's LOTW that discusses changing, merging, combining addresses, etc.. Actually there is a lot of information in this LOTW help section.

https://lotw.arrl.org/lotw-help/stnloc/

With the locations being so close and for such longevity I would be inclined to keep it all in one file, but that is just me and might not be the right solution.
73 - Nolan Kienitz - KI5IO
Plano, TX
kd7mw
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Re: LoTW and 2 very close QTHs (OT but related)

Post by kd7mw »

Thanks, Nolan. I, too, would be inclined to just keep everything together in one file, but that may not be what "The Rules" say. I'm hoping someone here asked the same question earlier and got a definitive answer. Does anyone else want to chime in?

I asked the same question of eQSL. One of their volunteer help people just told me that unless the SIX character grid square matches, I should create a second profile for the older address. I'm now awaiting further instructions on what to do about all the older QSOs I already confirmed.

I have a funny feeling that LoTW won't be any less stringent, but we'll see...

--Peter, KD7MW
K7PT
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Re: LoTW and 2 very close QTHs (OT but related)

Post by K7PT »

For DXCC purposes, as long as the entity is the same all is OK no matter if you move from Bangor, Me to L.A.

WAS is 50 miles and the same state.

VUCC is a different story as your grid square will change.
K7PT-Chuck "#1 Top of the Honor Roll"
kd7mw
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Re: LoTW and 2 very close QTHs (OT but related)

Post by kd7mw »

Well, I have my answers, sort of.

At eQSL, one volunteer help person told me that unless both QTHs had the same SIX character grid square, I had to have two linked accounts, the main (new) one and a linked (old) one for the two different station locations. Another one told me that if both QTHs were in the same county and the FOUR character grid square matched, one station location was fine as long as I "changed the address."

At ARRL, I wrote to both the DXCC desk and the LoTW help desk. The DXCC person appears to have thought that I had two callsign certificates, so that answer didn't apply. The LoTW person told me that as long as both QTHs had the same geographic information that is saved in the TQSL station location (which they do), one station location was fine.

At which point I just decided that the safest thing to do was just have two Log4OM profiles, two eQSL QTH accounts, and two LoTW station locations. That way no one can decide later that I broke some rule. It only took me a couple of hours to create the accounts, profiles and icons, use Massive QSO Update" to push the old address and grid square to older entries, and upload the older and newer sections of the log to the appropriate places. I won't be using the older (pre-mid-1992) profile much, as most if not all new QSLs will come from more recent contacts. But it's fine to have it in case I need it later.

--Peter, KD7MW
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