In the VarAC log, some (not all) beacons are received but not processed. The following message appears:
"Unable to process unformatted KISS data. Skipping index was outside the bounds of the array."
Others can see those beacons. Just not me. It's possible that only those beacons that are also email gateways are not processed but I can't confirm this. Is there a fix for this?
Here is the log:

For anyone having this issue, look at the “My Information” settings. Look for the Locator field. Make sure your grid square is there. If it’s blank, you likely are having the problem described. In my case I put my grid in the QTH field. Once I corrected this, I was able to see gateways, and no errors in the log. Special thanks to Irad and Gary for their help in figuring this out. Much appreciated!
Thanks Irad. Here is a section of the debug VarAC log from just now. I contacted an operator of one of the gateway beacons that will not process and asked that he attempt again to send a gateway beacon. If you need more just let me know.
10/09/2025 19:03:03 - Starting write_command_stream_log
10/09/2025 19:03:03 - Writing event to command stream log
10/09/2025 19:03:03 - End of write_command_stream_log
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - Starting write_command_stream_log
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - Writing event to command stream log
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - End of write_command_stream_log
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - KISS BEACON received from N4WXI
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - KISS CQ Data: Tag:0C Loc:EM63MH Type:
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - Received beacon tag: 0C
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - Starting write_data_last_heard_log
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - DB: SELECT 1 FROM qso WHERE callsign = @var1 AND snr_received != '' AND snr_sent != '' AND is_deleted = false LIMIT 1
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - DB: SELECT name, qth, comments FROM contact WHERE callsign = @var1 AND is_deleted = false ORDER BY time_added desc LIMIT 1
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - DB: SELECT 1 FROM qso WHERE callsign = @var1 AND band = @var2 AND is_deleted = false LIMIT 1
10/09/2025 19:03:08 - Unable to process unformatted KISS data. Skipping.Index was outside the bounds of the array.
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.MarshaledInvoke(Control caller, Delegate method, Object[] args, Boolean synchronous)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.Invoke(Delegate method, Object[] args)
at VarAC.VarAC.write_data_last_heard_log(String log_type, String callsign, String bw, Int32 his_sn_last, DateTime log_time, String band, Boolean history_load, String slot, String data, String locator, Boolean is_emcomm, Int64 frequency, Boolean is_email_gateway)
at VarAC.VarAC.<connect_varahf_modem>b__129_1()
10/09/2025 19:03:09 - Starting write_command_stream_log
10/09/2025 19:03:09 - Writing event to command stream log
10/09/2025 19:03:09 - End of write_command_stream_log
10/09/2025 19:03:12 - Starting write_command_stream_log
10/09/2025 19:03:12 - Writing event to command stream log
10/09/2025 19:03:12 - End of write_command_stream_log
Enabling Debug mode will show the data in those KISS packets in the log. please do so and paste the data.
It starts with "KISS CQ Data: Slot:....." also for beacons it will say CQ - its ok. paste those here
I’m going to keep this discussion on the FB group since the other person reporting this problem is there also.
It could be related to the Vara Modem V4.8.9. The Creator of Vara fixed some bugs including in the KISS protocol in V4.8.9 but for some reason did not change the version number. After you download it and install it again = please LMK if you still get those errors. It could be also on the other side. I cant tell for sure but it seems related. please let us know. If NC3Z also received the same station but without any issues than it is more likely the issue is with your Vara modem version and not the other side.
Well I just looked for the first time at the whole log since I installed VarAC on 7/26/2025 and the error has occurred many times since then. I stopped counting after 20 different call signs and some call signs created the error more than once.
How would I share this log?
Here is something interesting: neither VaraHF or VarAC show up in the applications catalogue on this Win11 laptop. So uninstalling and reinstalling will be a problem.
Are you the same person who posted this issue on FB yesterday? Somewhere along the way someone is not running the latest versions. Can you attach a more extensive log with more stations that cause this or is it just from N4WXI as shown? Versions being used??