Requesting an Additional Callsign Certificate
When submitting a QSO to LotW, you must present a Callsign Certificate that matches the station callsign
you used over the air when making the QSO. Thus if you've made QSOs using callsigns other than your present primary callsign, you'll need to request a
Callsign Certificate for each. This process is more straightforward and rapid than requesting your Initial Callsign Certificate
because your initial certificate is used to authenticate your request.
These instructions assume that your Callsign Certificates reside in the folder C:\MyLoTWCertificates
(if you've stored them in a different folder, adjust the instructions accordingly).
1. | Start the TQSLCert application; the tQSL Certificates dialog will appear, displaying a list of your Callsign Certificates |
2. | In the tQSL Certificates dialog, open the File menu and select the New Certificate Request... command; the Generate Certificate Request dialog will appear |
3. | In the Generate Certificate Request dialog, |
| 3.a | you will be informed that a new certificate request file will be created; click the Next button |
| 3.b | specify your station callsign, DXCC entity, begin date, and end date |
| | 3.b.1. | specify the station callsign for which you seek a Callsign Certificate |
| | 3.b.2. | select the DXCC entity |
| | 3.b.3 | set the QSO begin date to the date of the first QSO made using this callsign |
| | 3.b.4. | if additional QSOs will be made using this callsign, leave the QSO end date blank; otherwise, set the QSO end date to the day after the date of the last QSO made using this callsign |
| | 3.b.5. | click the Next button |
| 3.c | enter your name and address |
| | 3.c.1. | for US callsigns, the mailing address you enter must match your address in the FCC database |
| | 3.c.2. | click the Next button |
| 3.d | enter your email address; click the Next button |
| 3.e | you will be prompted to enter a password |
| | 3.e.1. | specify a password in both textboxes; be sure to remember it, as you must supply it when submitting QSOs to LoTW with this Callsign Certificate |
| | 3.e.2. | click the Next button |
| 3.f | "sign" (authenticate) the certificate request |
| | 3.f.1. | set the Sign Request panel to signed |
| | 3.f.2. | in the list of Callsign Certificates, select your Initial Callsign Certificate |
| | 3.f.2. | click the Finish button |
| 3.g | you will be prompted to save a file whose name is the callsign and whose extension is .tq5 ; save this file in the folder
C:\MyLoTWCertificates ; this file will be referred to as theCallsign.tq5 |
| 3.h | Retain the theCallsign.tq5 file; its presence in C:\MyLoTWCertificates is required when you accept the Callsign Certificate that the ARRL will send you, so don't delete it! |
| 3.i | the tQSL Certificates dialog will now show an entry for your certificate with a pending icon:
(because the Callsign Certificate doesn't actually yet exist, and thus is not functional) |
| 3.j | close TQSLCert by opening its File menu and selecting the Exit command |
4. | upload your certificate request to the ARRL via https://p1k.arrl.org/lotw/upload ; use the web page's Browse button to navigate to the C:\MyLoTWCertificates folder, and select the theCallsign.tq5 file you find there |