Cabrillo Log Format

Cabrillo refers to a universal log submission format created by Trey Garlough, N5KO. This is the preferred format for all electronic logs.

There are two versions of the Cabrillo log file format.  The North American SSB Sprint Contest accepts both Cabrillo v2 and v3 format files. We strongly request that you submit logs using the Cabrillo v3 format if possible; v2 is deprecated and support will be dropped in the future.

Cabrillo File Version 3 Header for the SSB Sprint Contest

Here is an example of a Cabrillo v3 file for the SSB Sprint Contest.

START-OF-LOG: 3.0
CALLSIGN: KA9FOX
CONTEST: NA-SPRINT-SSB
CATEGORY-OPERATOR: SINGLE-OP
CATEGORY-ASSISTED: NON-ASSISTED
CATEGORY-BAND: ALL
CATEGORY-POWER: HIGH
CATEGORY-MODE: SSB
CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER: ONE
CLAIMED-SCORE: 12345
LOCATION: WI
CREATED-BY: N1MM Logger+ 1.0.8701.0
NAME: Scott Neader
ADDRESS: Some Rd
ADDRESS-CITY: A City
ADDRESS-STATE-PROVINCE: WI
ADDRESS-POSTALCODE: 54321
ADDRESS-COUNTRY: USA
OPERATORS: KA9FOX
SOAPBOX: Put your comments here.
SOAPBOX: Use multiple lines if needed.
QSO: 14240 PH 2020-11-01 0001 KA9FOX  5  SCOTT   WI  N3QE   2  TIM    MD
END-OF-LOG:

The format for each line is <LABEL>: followed by a space.

START-OF-LOG: version-number X.X
Must be the first line of the log submission. This file is version 3.0.

CALLSIGN: callsign
The callsign used during the contest.

CONTEST: contest-name
The contest-name must be NA-SPRINT-SSB. Be sure to use hyphens as shown. DO NOT PUT THE YEAR OR USE PH INSTEAD
OF SSB.

CATEGORY-OPERATOR:
The category-operator must be SINGLE-OP. (If you do not want
your score included in the listings, or you have used multiple operators, you must set this field to CHECKLOG.)

CATEGORY-ASSISTED:
The category-assisted must be NON-ASSISTED. (If you have used assistance, set this field to ASSISTED and CATEGORY-OPERATOR to CHECKLOG.)

CATEGORY-MODE:
The category-mode must be SSB.

CATEGORY-BAND:
The category-band must be ALL.

CATEGORY-POWER:
The category-power must be one of the following.

  • HIGH
  • LOW
  • QRP

CATEGORY-TRANSMITTER:
The category-transmitter must be ONE.

CLAIMED-SCORE:  n
The claimed-score of the log submission, in integer form such as 19113 or 12. DO NOT USE COMMAS.

CREATED-BY: text
Name and version of the logging program used to create the Cabrillo file.
(This field is optional.)

LOCATION: text
USA and Canada stations please put your State, Province, or ARRL Section. Other North American countries please put standard country prefix.
All others please put DX.

EMAIL: text
A place to put an email address, if desired.

NAME: text
Name. Maximum of 75 characters long.

ADDRESS: text
Mailing address, each line should be a maximum of 45 characters long. Up
to 6 address lines are permitted.

ADDRESS-CITY: text
ADDRESS-STATE-PROVINCE:
text
ADDRESS-POSTALCODE:
text
Optional fields for providing mailing address details.

ADDRESS-COUNTRY: text
US Postal Service name for the country of your mailing address. Only required
for mailing addresses outside of the United States.

OPERATORS: callsign
The operator callsign (which may differ from the CALLSIGN).

SOAPBOX: text
Enter as many lines of soapbox text as you wish. Each line is a maximum
of 75 characters long and must begin with SOAPBOX: followed by a space.

X-<anything>: text
Lines beginning with X- are ignored by the log checking
software.  Use this for adding comment lines to your log.

QSO: qso-data
The qso-data format is shown below.

frequency mode date time CallSent QSO#Sent NameSent StateSent CallRcvd QSO#Rcvd NameRcvd StateRcvd
  • frequency – The frequency used in kHz.
  • mode – The mode used; must be PH.
  • date – The GMT date, in yyyy-mm-dd format.
  • time – The GMT time, in hhmm format.
  • CallSent ‑ The callsign you sent (see CALLSIGN header). Letters, digit, and slash are the permitted characters; no embedded spaces.
  • QSO#Sent ‑ The sequential serial number sent (see rule 7). Digits only; no commas.
  • NameSent ‑ Your name sent (see rule 7). Lettersd only; no embedded spaces.
  • StateSent ‑ Your state/province/NA country/DX sent (see rule 7). Letters only; no embedded spaces.
  • CallRcvd ‑ The callsign you received. Letters, digit, and slash are the permitted characters; no embedded spaces.
  • QSO#Rcvd ‑ The sequential serial number received. Digits only; no commas.
  • NameRcvd ‑ Name received. Letters only; no embedded spaces.
  • StateRcvd ‑ State/province/NA country/DX received. Letters only; no embedded spaces.

Fields in the qso-data are separated by one or more spaces. Fixed column positions are not required. However, using fixed column positions (as created by many logging programs) allows easier editing and visual scanning.

END-OF-LOG:
Must be the last line of the log submission.

More Information about Cabrillo

The SSB Sprint Contest only recognizes the Cabrillo fields shown on this
page. The complete Cabrillo specification can be found at
wwrof.org/cabrillo/