Home
Contest
DX4WIN
WPXLOC |
|
The files were last updated on 23 June 2008.
Contest (CTY) - last updated 23 June 2008
DX4WIN - last updated 16 June 2008
Packet (WPXLOC) - last updated 25 December 2007
Friday, August 11 2006 marked a milestone of sorts. On that day, I
generated the first CTY.DAT file for CT9/CT10/TR/Writelog/N1MM. The
file has been sent to the authors for testing. This was the last
generator that needed to be written.
This web site represents the home of "Country Files", databases of
entities (countries), prefixes and callsigns that are used by amateur radio
logging software. There are three "flavors" of country files:
The history of these databases is varied:
- The contest country data files have been maintained by Jim Reisert,
AD1C since early 1994. Variations of this format have been around since
1986 or thereabouts.
- The DX4WIN country data file has been maintained by Jim Reisert,
AD1C since early 1993. Before that it was maintained by the
program author.
- The packet cluster data file (originally named WPXLOC.RAW) has
fallen into a state of negligence over the years. It has been
around since the initial version of AK1A PacketCluster (tm) and was
originally derived from the contest country file format, with some
enhancements. Dirk, G1TLH has been marinating the file as part of his DX
Spider software, but changes have been minimal. It's not clear
whether anyone who is still running the original PacketCluster (tm)
software has done any work to the file. Jim Reisert, AD1C took this file
over in the summer of 2006. Working with the authors of AR-Cluster, CC
Cluster and DX Spider, we developed an
enhanced format and named it WPXLOC.DAT. The advantage of all
cluster software packages using the same country database is that
information passed between nodes will be viewed the same. So far, no one
has switched over to the new file, but that is expected to happen during
Fall, 2006.
This web site represents a unified approach to managing and generating
the data. In the past, each file had its own set of input data.
Changes made to one format would have to be made to all three (including the
revision histories). Maintaining data separately is both time-consuming and
error-prone. This was especially true during the summer of 2006 when
two new DXCC entities were added (Montenegro and Swains Island).
Furthermore, the input data was not necessarily the same - there were subtle
differences (errors) in ITU zones, continents, geographic coordinates and local time
offset from GMT. This unified approach is meant to fix all that.
The databases do not necessarily contain the same information:
- The contest and packet databases only need entities, prefixes and
callsigns that are current, whereas a general logging program needs a
complete historical list, by date, of those entities, prefixes and
callsigns (including deleted entities).
- The contest logging software authors have taken some shortcuts for
certain prefix sets (i.e. United States, Canada, Asiatic Russia, etc.)
by encoding them in software. This reduces the size of the data
file. General-purpose logging software like DX4WIN needs every
prefix specified.
- One can make use of more specific geographic data for the packet
database. For example, being able to get a more specific beam
heading for British Columbia, or the sunrise time in Krasnoyarsk. While
the contest and logging software could make use of this information, no
one does so today (except Writelog, but only through a separate file),
and I have heard of no plans to do so.
There is at least one potential downside, which I am have previously
announced, and have addressed with
contest logging software authors:
- As of Summer 2006, I am no longer supporting the pre-CT9 formats of
the country files (ARRL.CTY, CQWW.CTY and IARU.CTY). These formats are
different enough from the CTY.DAT that I do not want to write a new
generator for it. Besides, CT9 and CT10 are free, and CT9 has been
around since 1994, so it's time to "cut the cord" on these old versions.
Where do things stand today (mid-August, 2006):
- I now have a unified input database of entities, regions, prefixes
and callsigns
- I have generators for the three output formats (contest, DX4WIN and
packet)
- WPXLOC.DAT has been released to the cluster software authors for
evaluation and testing
- CTY.DAT has been released to the contest software authors for
evaluation and testing
- I have not tried the DX4WIN data (yet)
What still needs to be done (mid-August, 2006):
- Reduce the size of the contest and packet output files. The input
data still contains many unconstrained callsigns which have not been
used for many years. It is a manual process to research these calls and
add proper start/end dates.
- Tweak the contest output data to consolidate data for countries with
many prefixes. May need to leverage the contest logging software to
offload some of the prefix resolution.
- Add new exception callsigns since the last release of the DX4WIN
data file.
- (longer term) Standardize on a better set of geographic coordinates
for the entities listed in the file. Most of this data can be obtained
from the CIA
World Factbook. However, this data isn't perfect and needs to be
checked (the location of Malpelo Island is listed incorrectly, for
example).
- (longer term) For packet, add additional regions for countries that
are geographically large (i.e. Brazil, Argentina, Scandinavia). This
only makes sense if callsign prefixes are specific to a geographical
region, and not spread out all over the country. Do the same thing for
island pairs (i.e. Agalega & St. Brandon, Palmyra and Jarvis, etc.).
I am expecting to have a final release of the output data by the end of
August, 2006. There will be some beta testing in the interim.
Who can use this data?
This an important question to ask. I have invested literally hundreds
(perhaps thousands) of hours over the past twelve years collecting,
verifying and distributing the data that makes up these databases. This is
completely a volunteer effort, I have not earned one dime for doing so. I
want to make sure that amateur radio operators have the data that they need
to operate contests and collect awards. More importantly, I want this data
for myself to be correct, and I am willing to share the fruits of my
labor with the rest of the community.
Anyone is free to use the ASCII data files (contest and packet) long as
credit is given to Jim Reisert, AD1C. It is expected that only registered
users of the DX4WIN software would use the DX4WIN data.
I would prefer that you not attempt to "reverse-engineer" the data for
another purpose. No data file contains the complete picture of what I have
collected. If you want to make use of this data in another format, please
contact me via E-mail and I'll try to accommodate you.
|
Monitor page for changes: | |
|
|
