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Exporting Contacts

Hamtrax lets you export your contacts to ADIF 3.1.4 or CSV format -- the industry standard for ham radio log interchange. Use exports to upload to LoTW, back up your log, submit to award programs, or share contacts with other operators.

Downloading a folder​

Every export starts from a folder. There is no separate export screen and no whole-logbook export button -- you pick the folder whose contacts you want and download it.

  1. Open the Logbook tab and select a folder.
  2. Click the Download button in the folder toolbar.
  3. Choose ADIF or CSV in the dialog.
  4. Hamtrax prepares a file containing only that folder's contacts. On iPhone, finish by choosing Save to Files in the system sheet.
  • ADIF (.adi) -- the standard format for amateur radio logs. Use this for importing into other logging programs (Log4OM, N1MM+) or uploading to LoTW, QRZ, and POTA.
  • CSV (.csv) -- a spreadsheet-friendly format. Use this for Excel, Google Sheets, or non-ham-radio tools.

Non-activation ADIF files and every CSV folder export use <folder-name>-YYYY-MM-DD. An activation ADIF instead uses its stored submission identity, such as KA8H@US-1515-20201127.adi; renaming the folder for display does not change that filename.

tip

To export several folders, download them one at a time -- each file contains exactly that folder's contacts, which keeps an activation's submission file clean rather than mixed in with unrelated contacts.

Sharing as a contact map​

You can generate shareable PNG images of your contacts plotted on a world map with great-circle arcs from your station.

  1. Open the Logbook tab and select a folder.
  2. Click the Share map button — the orange button immediately beside the List / Map / DX switch in the Contacts header, spanning its heading and switch rows. A Contact Map dialog opens and prepares a preview of every contact in the folder; it may briefly show Preparing while station or activation details resolve.
  3. Download, or Share directly to social media, email, or messaging apps on devices that support the Web Share API (otherwise a 1920×1080 PNG downloads).
  4. For hunting and custom folders, map only some contacts by clicking Options above the preview and narrowing by a date range (it defaults to the folder's first and last contact and is limited to that span) plus radio and antenna filters (All by default, which keeps contacts logged with no equipment). The dialog shows how many contacts will be mapped; click Generate to re-render the preview with your selection.

The same Contact Map dialog is also available from the Showcase page: open one of your own activation or hunting folders and use the Share map button at the top of the folder modal, just above the photos. It's one flow — everything below applies to both entry points.

Tapping the final Share button completes the getting-started checklist's contact-map task, even if you cancel the system share sheet. Downloading alone does not complete that task.

On an activation folder, Options remains visible but grayed out. Tapping it stays on the preview and reveals Map options not available for activation folders underneath. An activation map represents a single activation session, so it always includes every contact.

The image includes your callsign with calendar-marked First contact and Last contact blocks beneath it. Each block shows the QSO time in the local timezone of the operator or activation location used for that contact, followed by a long-form date such as July 20th, 2026; if that timezone cannot be resolved, Hamtrax labels the time in UTC. For a safely resolved activation folder, the lower-left identity block shows its stored activity location, catalog name, or recorded reference. Unsupported or contradictory folder identity is left unlabeled instead of being guessed as POTA. Before fitting every plotted endpoint, the map centers the combined footprint of the places you operated from and wraps across the International Date Line so Pacific-spanning routes stay balanced. The image also includes the contact count and summary stats for bands, modes, and countries. The first saved folder photo can feather into the lower-left background, while the most-used radio and antenna remain separate equipment circles; the outing photo is not duplicated as another circle.

note

For hunting and custom folders, your station location must be set in Settings (GPS, manual coordinates, or callsign lookup) to generate a contact map. Activation folders don't need a personal location — the map radiates from the activation location resolved for that folder, so it works even if you haven't set your location. Contacts without valid coordinates or grid squares are excluded from the map.

Common use cases​

Use caseWhat to do
Upload to LoTWDownload the folder as ADIF, then upload the .adi file through the TQSL application.
Upload to QRZTurn on auto-push so new contacts go up as you log them. For older contacts, download the folder as ADIF and upload it through the QRZ Logbook import page.
BackupPeriodically download each folder to keep an offline copy of your log.
Share with othersDownload the activation folder from the Logbook and send the file.
Create a visual recordGenerate a contact map image to share on social media or keep as a souvenir of your activation or month of contacts.
Submit to award programsDownload the folder that holds the qualifying contacts -- an activation folder or a program's month.
Spreadsheet analysisDownload a folder as CSV and open it in Excel or Google Sheets.

What gets exported​

ADIF fields​

Hamtrax exports all standard ADIF 3.1.4 fields including:

  • Core fields: callsign, date, time on/off, band, mode, submode, frequency, RST sent/received. FREQ is always written in MHz, as ADIF defines it, so a contact whose frequency was stored in kHz by an older build still exports the right value. RST tags are written only when a contact actually has a report — a contact logged with Pre-fill perfect signal reports turned off exports without them, which POTA and ADIF importers accept
  • Digital voice exports as the pair ADIF defines: MODE:DIGITALVOICE with SUBMODE:DMR, D-STAR, or C4FM. Bring that file back into Hamtrax and the picker shows the submode name again, so a DMR contact makes the full round trip
  • Location fields: grid square (theirs and yours), QTH, state, county, country, continent, DXCC, CQ zone, ITU zone, coordinates
  • Activity references for every program, in the standard MY_SIG / MY_SIG_INFO and SIG / SIG_INFO pairs: SIG:POTA with a park reference, SIG:DX with a DXCC entity number, or SIG:REPEATER with the repeater's callsign and output frequency (W0ERH 442.100). That last pair is what lets a repeater contact re-import as a repeater contact, since no other logger writes it
  • Contest fields: contest ID, serial numbers (sent/received)
  • QSL fields: QSL sent/received, eQSL sent/received, LoTW sent/received
  • Station info: operator callsign, station callsign, power, propagation mode
  • Folder path: preserved as a custom APP_HAMRT_FOLDER field
info

For records that pass the import and cloud safety limits, Hamtrax preserves supported non-standard ADIF fields and includes them in later exports. Malformed or oversized records that are not cloud-accepted cannot make an unlimited payload round trip; the importer or retained pending-command review accounts for them instead.

CSV columns​

CSV exports include a fixed set of columns: callsign, date, timeOn, timeOff, frequency, band, mode, rstSent, rstReceived, name, qth, gridSquare, country, state, county, continent, power, myRadio, myAntenna, notes, mySig, mySigInfo, sig, sigInfo, stationCallsign, operatorCallsign, latitude, longitude, myLatitude, myLongitude, myGridSquare, qslSent, qslReceived, eqslSent, eqslReceived, lotwSent, lotwReceived. A contact without a signal report leaves its rstSent/rstReceived cells empty, and the frequency column is written in MHz to match the ADIF export. CSV has no submode column, so a digital-voice contact's mode cell reads DIGITALVOICE — use ADIF when you want the DMR / D-STAR / C4FM variant to travel with it.

warning

A folder with no contacts has nothing to download. If the Download button does nothing, check that the folder you selected actually holds contacts.

Syncing to external services​

Beyond downloading files, Hamtrax can push contacts to QRZ automatically as you log them. Connections and credentials are managed in Settings → Preferences → Integrations.

QRZ Logbook​

Hamtrax can push contacts to your QRZ.com logbook automatically via the QRZ API, as you log them.

  1. Connect your QRZ API key once in Settings → Preferences → Integrations → QRZ Logbook. Need the key? See Import from QRZ.
  2. Turn on Auto-Push New Contacts in that same panel.

Auto-push is the only way Hamtrax sends contacts to QRZ. There is no bulk "upload everything" action -- contacts reach QRZ as you log them, and only while the toggle is on.

Auto-push: log once, QRZ stays current​

Once connected, the QRZ panel in Settings offers an Auto-Push New Contacts toggle. With it on, every new contact you log — the activation logger, the hunt panel, the log form, hands-free FT8 Auto-Hunt, even the CLI — lands in your QRZ logbook on its own moments after it syncs. No export step, nothing to remember.

A few boundaries keep it predictable:

  • Imports never push. ADIF, CSV, and QRZ file or direct imports — plus the automatic POTA hunt import — are never auto-pushed, so a big import can't flood your QRZ logbook. To get imported history into QRZ, download the folder and upload that file to QRZ yourself.
  • Deletes follow the QRZ log ID. While the toggle is on, deleting a contact that auto-push sent to this QRZ logbook removes it from QRZ too. Contacts imported from QRZ are never touched: deleting your local copy always leaves the QRZ original alone.
  • Cloud-accepted offline contacts push after sync. A contact logged out of coverage auto-pushes after Hamtrax's cloud accepts it. If a permanent rejection sends the command to Needs Filing, resolve it there first; QRZ does not receive work that remains only on this device.
  • The toggle belongs to the connected logbook. Connect a different QRZ logbook's key and auto-push switches off until you enable it for that logbook.
  • A failed push does not retry. If a push fails outright — say your QRZ subscription lapsed — the QRZ panel in Settings → Preferences → Integrations shows the last failure and when it happened, and the next successful push clears the message. Hamtrax does not re-send the contacts that were missed, so after fixing the cause, download the affected folder and upload that file to QRZ to catch up.
  • Edits follow too — with a QSL shield. Change a pushed contact and Hamtrax updates its QRZ copy (QRZ has no edit operation, so the record is deleted and re-inserted behind the scenes). The one deliberate exception: a record QRZ has already confirmed is never touched — no edit is worth destroying a QSL confirmation — so that contact's changes stay in Hamtrax and the QRZ copy keeps its confirmed state.
Importing from QRZ

To pull contacts the other direction, open Import Contacts in the Logbook, choose Import from connection, and then choose QRZ Logbook. QRZ contacts use the same review, folder-routing, guardrail, and duplicate checks as ADIF and CSV imports.

LoTW (Logbook of the World)​

LoTW requires the TQSL desktop application for uploads -- there is no direct upload API. To submit contacts to LoTW:

  1. Download the folder you want to submit as an ADIF file, using the steps above.
  2. Open the .adi file in TQSL and sign/upload it.

Pulling LoTW confirmation status back into Hamtrax is supported. Configure your LoTW username and password in Settings → Preferences → Integrations → Logbook of The World, then run a sync to fetch confirmations and mark matching local contacts as lotwReceived.

HamQTH​

Hamtrax no longer pushes contacts to HamQTH. To get contacts into a HamQTH logbook, download the folder as ADIF and upload that file to HamQTH yourself.

Your HamQTH credentials in Settings → Preferences → Integrations → HamQTH Logbook are still used -- they power callsign lookup, which fills in an operator's name and location as you log.