Station desk guide
Fix invalid QSO dates and times safely
ADIF stores dates as YYYYMMDD and UTC times commonly as HHMM or HHMMSS. Formatting errors are easy to find; the correct replacement often requires evidence from the logger or adjacent records.
Validate format and calendar reality
Eight digits are not enough: 20260231 matches the shape but is not a real date. Validate the date with a non-lenient calendar and check hours, minutes and seconds separately.
Use adjacent records as context, not truth
Chronological neighbors can reveal a single mistyped digit, but contest imports and merged logs may not be sorted. Present the clue without changing the value automatically.
Do not convert time zones blindly
ADIF QSO_DATE and TIME_ON are normally UTC. Confirm whether the exporting logger already converted local time before applying any timezone correction.
Revalidate after editing
A corrected time can change duplicate grouping and chronological order. Run the full audit again before export and retain the issue report.