Choosing an Import Source
This guide covers the Select step of Importing Contacts, QRZ sync, and automatic POTA imports. File imports stop at the source summary before How Imported Contacts Are Filed. QRZ and POTA use their own connection workspaces while sharing Hamtrax's filing rules.
Getting to the importer
Open the shared Import Contacts page from any of these shortcuts:
- Import in the sidebar — its own row at the top, first under Manage Contacts, which opens it in one tap.
- Logbook → Import Contacts — the button above the Contact Folders heading.
- Activate → Import a past activation.
- Logbook → Parks on the Air → Activations → Import.
All four open the same file importer. Connected QRZ synchronization is managed separately from its one workspace under Settings → Integrations → QRZ Logbook.
During Select, the page has one Back control above its title. It reads Back to logbook on the source choices, then Back to import options after you open Import from file, Import from connection, or Migrate from your logger.
After the source is read and routed, Select stays highlighted and shows We found X contacts with the records-read, ready-to-import, unreadable, duplicate, and rejected counts that apply. The headline and each count row stay visible and centered; only Show parse notes remains a disclosure when the source has notes. The top Back to import options button returns to the source choices. The bottom Next button opens Review with the same routed plan — it does not read or route the source again.
Supported files
Choose Import from file, then use Browse Files to select one file or drag and drop it onto the panel. Supported formats lists the accepted extensions:
- ADIF (
.adior.adif) — the standard amateur-radio log format, exported by virtually every logger. A contact's notes are read from the file'sCOMMENTfield, or fromNOTESwhen there is no comment, so a log written either way keeps what you wrote on each QSO. A summit or WWFF reference written in the dedicatedSOTA_REForWWFF_REFfield, or theirMY_twins, is read as that program's activity when the record has noSIG/SIG_INFOpair, so a log from SOTAdata or a desktop logger sorts the same way as one taggedSIG=SOTA. When a record carries both, theSIGpair decides, and a record naming both a summit and a WWFF area is read as the summit. The dedicated field itself stays with the contact and is written back on export. - CSV (
.csv) — a spreadsheet-style file. Hamtrax reads the columns in its own CSV export back in and recognizes the common column names other logbooks use (CALL,QSO_DATE,TIME_ON,FREQ,BAND,MODE,COUNTRY,DXCC, and so on) automatically. There's no column-mapping step to fill out — recognition is automatic. Hamtrax finds the header row itself: if your spreadsheet export starts with a title line and an export date above the column names, it looks down the first ten rows for the real header, so you do not have to tidy the file first. It also detects the separator, so a tab- or semicolon-separated file still reads correctly even when it was saved with a.csvextension. If no header can be found, the error quotes the first row of your file so you can see what Hamtrax actually read.
Local ADIF and CSV files have a 64 MiB safety ceiling. Hamtrax checks the file size before reading it into browser memory, so an unexpectedly huge or hostile file stops with a clear error instead of freezing the tab. Individual records can still be turned away for their own reasons once the file is open — see Import Validation.
For fields Hamtrax's CSV export does not include, such as a digital-voice contact's SUBMODE, use ADIF instead; see Exporting Contacts.
CSV imports also retain CONTEST_ID, SAT_NAME, SAT_MODE, PROP_MODE, and SUBMODE when present, keeping those details available for review and custom-folder suggestions. A SOTA_REF or WWFF_REF column is not among them — a spreadsheet carries an activity only in its SIG and SIG_INFO columns — so export a summit or WWFF log as ADIF when you want those contacts sorted by their program.
Export from another logger
Choose Migrate from your logger, then select See Steps for the logger whose file you want to move:
| Logger | Recommended export |
|---|---|
| World Radio League | General ADIF for a whole logbook, or a filtered QSO Manager export |
| Ham2K PoLo | Full ADIF Export |
| HAMRS | ADIF export from Logbook Actions |
Each guide explains only how to get the file out of that logger. Return to Importing Contacts for the maintained Hamtrax steps.
The Import from connection screen contains QRZ Logbook, whose Open QRZ sync action opens its sync workspace, and Logbook of The World for confirmation sync on contacts already in Hamtrax. While no QRZ logbook is connected, that card offers Connect instead, which opens Which QRZ plan do you have? directly. Neither QRZ action transfers contacts by itself. POTA imports run automatically from its Settings connection, outside this screen. LoTW does not import historical contacts, and a logger that requires a file stays under Migrate from your logger rather than appearing as a connected service.
When you open either connection page from Import Contacts, its Back button returns here. From that plan question or a logbook's own page, Back stops at the QRZ Logbook page first; from Add a QRZ logbook or Import a file instead, it returns to the plan question before that. When you open it from Settings — or load its URL directly — Back returns to Settings → Integrations.
QRZ contact sync
Open Settings → Integrations → QRZ Logbook, or use Open QRZ sync from Import from connection. Both reach the same workspace, which lists up to five connected logbooks, one per callsign; each opens its own page. Automatically sync with QRZ starts On when adding a logbook; turn it Off before Connect logbook if you want to sync manually. Sync now checks both directions once for that logbook, including eligible existing Hamtrax contacts; it is not an incoming-only import. Each contact syncs only with the logbook whose callsign matches the contact's station callsign.
Hamtrax reads QRZ in bounded pages on its server. Precisely matched contacts keep one counterpart in that logbook; ambiguous matches, conflicting edits, contacts needing a folder choice, and QRZ records Hamtrax can't read wait under Review issues. Folder duplicate rules cannot establish a QRZ match or bypass a filing refusal. Deleting your local contact leaves QRZ intact and excludes that known counterpart until you explicitly restore it.
There is no separate QRZ Select → Review → Finalize wizard. See QRZ sync rules for the transfer rules. For incoming-only file review, export an ADIF from QRZ and follow Import from QRZ.
Sync confirmations from LoTW
Choose Import from connection → Logbook of The World to open its dedicated connection page. Enter your LoTW username and password and select Connect LoTW. Hamtrax validates the login, then stores it encrypted on its server so the connection works from any device signed in to the same Hamtrax account. Select Sync Confirmations to request a read-only confirmation report; connecting does not start a sync, and syncs are never automatic. See LoTW Confirmation Sync for connection management and the one-time reconnection from the old vault.
Hamtrax matches each confirmation to an existing contact by callsign, UTC date and minute, band, mode or submode, and station callsign when LoTW supplies it. A confirmation cannot be reused for a second local row. Any confirmation with no exact local match is kept on that device and retried during later syncs, while the LoTW cursor continues forward. LoTW uploads remain a separate TQSL workflow; see Exporting Contacts.
Automatic POTA contact sync
Open Settings → Integrations → POTA. Automatically sync POTA contacts starts On and is visible before you connect. Connecting with it on starts importing all available hunter and activation history from your POTA account, subject to the existing duplicate and validation rules, without opening Import Review or asking for another confirmation. Hamtrax checks again daily, including for accounts already connected, and picks up contacts submitted to POTA later even when their QSO dates are old. The sync runs on Hamtrax's server, so you can close the app while it works.
Hamtrax applies the existing duplicate rules to contacts already in your logbook, including file and public starter imports, and preserves their details. Hunted contacts go into the matching UTC-month Hunting folders; your activation contacts go into compatible activation folders. The same folder guardrails apply before saving. Records that cannot be safely filed are skipped and counted instead of being filed under an assumed park or month. This incoming sync does not edit POTA's records or enable activation uploads.
A contact logged in Hamtrax can return from POTA with only one side of a park-to-park contact. Hamtrax keeps the existing contact when the station callsigns, UTC time, band, mode, and available park details identify exactly one match. When POTA later supplies the missing park with matching park-to-park evidence, Hamtrax adds that missing side to the same contact and moves it to the correct activation folder if needed. Notes, photos, equipment, and other saved details stay intact. Ambiguous matches are not chosen for enrichment.
Deleting a contact in Hamtrax prevents automatic POTA imports from recreating a counterpart that Hamtrax can identify from its saved contact details or earlier POTA history. This also covers contacts logged in Hamtrax before being uploaded to POTA and contacts deleted with a folder. If you correct a contact's identifying details, such as its time, band, mode, or park, its old POTA representation is also excluded from being added back as another contact. Reconnecting or retrying does not reset these exclusions. You can deliberately log the contact again yourself; doing so does not reset the automatic-import exclusion. A record disappearing from POTA never deletes your local contact, and local deletion does not remove a POTA record.
The connection page shows progress, outcome counts, and the last successful sync. Duplicates or excluded contacts includes existing matches, repeat source records, and old representations excluded because you deleted or corrected their local counterpart.
Hamtrax requires valid totals and reads both hunter and activation history before saving the result. Missing or changing totals, a short read, or identical rows appearing on different pages leave the run incomplete and retryable. Repeats within one page can be ordinary duplicate source records; repeats across pages could also mean POTA returned overlapping pages, so Hamtrax does not assume the history is complete. A successful run accounts for the pages POTA returned; it cannot guarantee that POTA held its history unchanged during the read. Temporary failures retry automatically, and an expired connection asks you to reconnect. See POTA connection for setup, the account-wide switch, and pausing imports without deleting contacts.
Automatic POTA starter import
When your Hamtrax account gets a callsign for the first time, or when you change it later in Settings → Account, Hamtrax fetches the public POTA profile for that callsign and imports the latest public hunter QSOs POTA exposes, unless Automatically sync POTA contacts is off. This starter import needs no POTA connection and uses only the capped recent public list. Connect POTA with automatic sync on to import all available hunter and activation history under those same duplicate and validation rules.
These contacts follow the same rules as file imports: Hamtrax skips duplicates, files hunted parks into monthly Hunting folders, fills map coordinates from POTA park data when available, and runs the same folder guardrails before anything is saved. The import runs in the background with a transactional per-callsign claim, so two devices cannot import the same profile at once. A successful import is final; if POTA returned no profile or no public rows, Hamtrax may retry after seven days on a later app open instead of treating that temporary empty response as permanent. Accepted contacts appear automatically while Hamtrax is open and connected; you can keep using the app while the import runs.
Importing a single past activation
There is no separate activation importer. Tap Import a past activation on Activate, or Import beneath Logbook → Parks on the Air → Activations; both shortcuts open Import Contacts.
Choose Import from file, upload the ADIF or CSV, and review the destinations Hamtrax derives from the file. For POTA contacts to land in an activation folder, the source must carry valid operator-side POTA activity identity, including the park reference. Hamtrax does not ask you to invent or overwrite a missing park during import: missing, invalid, or ambiguous identity stays visible in Review and is never silently re-tagged.
An imported activation arrives finished, not live. When a matching recorded activation already exists, its span can keep a session together through 0000 UTC. Without one, contacts are organized into activation folders by UTC day.
Re-importing is safe: the same guarded duplicate checks used for every other import skip contacts already in your logbook.