U.S. State posting on cluster

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n5att
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by n5att »

This is a low priority request; "iceing on the cake" feature for USA folks if not too difficult:

Some of the internet DX clusters now list the spotter's U.S. state in the extreme right-hand column beyond the UTC time posting. If that info could be picked up in the Winlog32 Cluster Window, it would be nice.

Obviously only of use to USA hams, so I understand if you don't want to clutter the program.

Love the program as-is.

73,
Lawson N5ATT
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by G0CUZ »

Hi Lawson

Thanks for your suggestion, can you indicate which particular DXClusters are showing 'State' spots, so that I can see if this is feasable.




73 Colin G0CUZ
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n5att
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by n5att »

I use K5DX and K7AR primarily, and both have that feature now.

Thanks,
Lawson
N5ATT
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by G0CUZ »

OK Lawson.

I have spent a few minutes this evening looking at this, when logged onto K5DX AR-Cluster....

It would seem that this 'field' is used also for the Country ID if it is not a USA contact, however one spot just noticed has the following confusion:

DX de W5TFW: 50124.8 XE1BRX DL90 > em41 +XE 2131Z MS

So, if DX Callsign is not USA, then spotter's' Stste is indicated, not good logic?

But then a few spots later I see this...........

DX de KG4W: 7029.8 K4ZK CQ FL QSO K 2139Z KG4

Should not K4ZK's state be in the last field for this spot?, I think that KG4W is in fact in the U.S. not Guantanamo Bay as indicated by Country ID anyway

Then a few spot s later.....

DX de K9PY: 14278.9 K4LRA K 2152Z IL

This is a US to US QSO, this now all seems to indicate that the SPOTTERS state is the one that is being indicated (as K4LRA = FL) as in this example the spotter's K9PY state =IL is the one indicated, the logic on this does not make sense to me.

So far it is a bit confusing and at first glance looks a bit unreliable.

Pity, as I was thinking to make use of this field for WAS checking, but as it stands, this may not be practical unless this will be resolved.


73 Colin G0CUZ
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n5att
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by n5att »

Colin,

Here is a listing I pulled from the cluster this morning:

N5ATT de K5DX 27-Apr 1615Z arc >
DX de NW0W: 18077.0 4B1XR cq XE 1616Z MO
DX de NW0W: 18071.9 OZ1CTK cq OZ 1617Z MO
DX de VE1DX: 14016.9 RN6MA +UA 1617Z NS
DX de N1DT: 14007.0 UT7QF calling CQ +UR 1617Z MA
DX de VE1DX: 14022.0 SM1ALH SM 1618Z NS
DX de NW0W: 18069.9 IV3IHF cq I 1619Z MO
DX de NW0W: 18070.9 YT40E cq YU 1619Z MO
DX de W1OW-7: 14265.9 G0VML/P Lighthouse G 1621Z MA
DX de W1MKA: 18126.1 DL1XXL DL 1621Z MA
DX de VE1DX: 14029.1 EW8O EU 1621Z NS
N5ATT de K5DX 27-Apr 1625Z arc >
DX de VE1DX: 14023.1 RA3EG UA 1627Z NS
DX de VE1DX: 14018.5 MU0FAL GU 1628Z NS
DX de AD1L: 14213.0 4S7AB tnx Kamal - CQ NA 4S 1629Z MA
DX de W6KH: 14188.0 9M2GET tnx 59 9M2 1632Z CA
DX de W6CCP: 14188.0 9M2GET tnx 59 9M2 1633Z CA
DX de KJ4BUG: 28280.0 K5AB/B FM03AF<ES>EM10DP K 1636Z SC
DX de WA2WUH: 21003.0 LW3DG clg cq LU 1638Z NJ
DX de W0BBI: 14089.6 SP3GXH RTTY SP 1639Z
DX de VE3FDT: 14246.5 IQ4AX CQ I 1640Z ON
DX de KC2SIZ: 14007.0 UT7QF tnx Igor and 73 +UR 1640Z NY
DX de VE1DX: 14019.0 HF80PZK SP 1641Z NS

The Country ID is right before the Time stamp and the State ID is following. I see one listing that doesn't show a state, but assume that is due to some problem with the database. As you can see on this end, it is pretty consistent, but I don't know anything about how this is generated in the DX Cluster. Evidently they must have some lookup to a callsign database somewhere.

Well, anyhow thanks for looking.

73,
Lawson N5ATT
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by G0CUZ »

OK, thanks for that Lawson

But the main point I am making is that the State ID is given for the SPOTTER not the station spotted and this occurs even with inter-U.S. spots - to me this makes no sense at all and not of any use as far as I can see?

From your example:
DX de KJ4BUG: 28280.0 K5AB/B FM03AF<ES>EM10DP K 1636Z SC

KJ4BUG (SPOTTER) = MONCKS CORNER, SC (QRZ.COM)

K5AB/B (spotted) = GEORGETOWN, TX

As you see the spotter(KJ4BUG) is in SC and that state ID is given in the spot, this is wrong info from AR-Cluster as it should be TX (K5AB is in TX), this appears to happen in all cases.

Further more if the spotter is non-U.S. this happens.........

DX de EA1AHA: 50180.0 EA8CTK EA8 2043Z EA

The last field now has the country prefix of the spotter, when this is the same as a state ID it will be very difficult to differntiate the two like with CT (Conn. and CT Portugal)?




73 Colin G0CUZ
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n5att
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by n5att »

Colin,

I know this sounds screwy to someone that doesn't live in this country, but believe me, it means something to us or they wouldn't have put it in the cluster printout. But, it totally DOES NOT apply to Europe.

Since the FCC doesn't require our callsign to match the zone we live in any more, we now never know if a station that spots DX from a callsign area is actually from that area or not. (A W1 callsign might live in California, W6.) Since the country is so large, spots by a station in the eastern states are of reduced value to someone in the western states because of the difference in propagation. And vice versa, of course.

Back when USA stations were required to change their callsign when they moved from one zone to another, when you saw a spot by a W5, you could expect the spotter to be in W5-land. With our system today, a W5 could be in any state in the country.

Now, for your specific questions:

The country ID for a spot by a USA station (KJ4BUG in your example) for another USA station (K5AB/B) is listed as "K" (the spotted state is a don't care). The spotter (KJ4BUG) is listed as SC, which tells me that he is in South Carolina. Since I'm in Texas, there is a good chance I won't hear the station he is spotting. The "USA for USA" spots are not of any great importance unless they are 6-meters and above.

This is NOT about identifying states for WAS.

As for spots by DX stations for other DX, I must admit that I run the cluster with the K/VE pass option set. This filters out all non-K/VE originated spots. A spot for DX by a G0 is not very useful to someone in Texas, other than to identify that the DX station is operating. Rarely are DX for DX spots workable here.

I don't know if I made things any clearer. Maybe someone else can help me clarify. Or maybe this is not worth the effort.

Thanks again,
Lawson N5ATT
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by G0CUZ »

Hi Lawson

Thanks for the full explanation.

I now see your reasoning behind this and sorry for the confusion.

I will be having a look at this in due course to see if I can add it to the cluster display as an option.

As you say, it will not be useful regarding my initial thoughts on WAS checking (pity!), but if some may find this addition useful

73 Colin G0CUZ
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by G0CUZ »

Hi Lawson et.al.

Next version release (5.3.8 onwards) will have the Spotter 'QTH' added to the Cluster display, as an option.
For U.S. hams this will indicate State abbreviation or in some cases the Grid Locator of the Spotter.
I have tested on AR-Cluster, DXSpider, CLIX, CC-Cluter, DXNet, not all have this extra field output, but where it is available, Winlog32 will display it if it is required.
For countries outside of the U.S. this field, when available, is normally populated with the Spotters Prefix.



73 Colin G0CUZ
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n5att
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U.S. State posting on cluster

Post by n5att »

Thanks Colin for all your great work on Winlog32! I know I speak for many other users.

Best Regards,
Lawson
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