Identifying Special Callsigns

SpotCollector Online Help Contents

 

SpotCollector's Special Callsign List can be used to accomplish five objectives:

  1. to specify callsigns that should be ignored when spotted, e.g. PIRATE or SLIM 

  2. to specify callsigns whose spots should be ignored, and that should be ignored when spotted

  3. to specify callsigns whose Spot Database Entries should not be pruned

  4. to specify callsigns that you wish to work on each of 11 bands ((160m, 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m, 2m), or in each of 3 modes (phone, CW, digital), or on each of the 33 combinations of those 11 bands and 3 modes - as selected by the Leaderboard Settings; these options are useful for Leaderboard competitions

  5. to associate callsigns with groups or activities so they can be rapidly identified when spotted

The Special Callsign List is displayed on the Configuration window's Special Callsigns tab. If the Special Callsign List contains more entries than can be simultaneously displayed, you can scroll through the entries using the vertical scrollbar along the List's right-hand margin. A set of two VCR-style buttons located above the vertical scrollbar give you one-click access to the first and last Special Callsign List Entry. 

Each entry on the Special Callsign List contains a callsign, an optional list of one or more alphanumeric tags and an optional expiration date;

An incoming spot's callsign matches the callsign of an entry in the Special Callsigns list if

  1. the incoming spot's callsign is identical to an entry's callsign (ignoring upper/lower case)

  2. the incoming spot's callsign contains one or two forward slash characters separating the callsign into two or three components, one of which is identical to an entry's callsign (ignoring upper/lower case)

When a spot arrives with the Check Spotting station callsigns for BadSource tags option is enabled, SpotCollector checks to see whether the incoming spot's spotting station callsign matches the callsign of an entry in the Special Callsign list. If a matching entry is found and this entry's tag is BadSource, then the incoming spot is ignored.

If the Check Spotting station callsigns for BadSource tags option is not enabled, or if it is is enabled but the spotting station callsign matches no entry in the Special Callsign list or matches an entry whose tag is not BadSource, then SpotCollector checks to see whether the incoming spot's callsign matches the callsign of an entry in the Special Callsign list. If a matching entry is found and this entry either specifies no tag or specifies the tag BadSource, then the spot is ignored.

If a matching entry is found for the spot's callsign and this entry specifies tags other than BadSource or NoPrune, then SpotCollector will either create or update a Spot Database Entry for the spotted station. Whether creating or updating an Entry, 

EPC-2640, FOC, QCWA

would set the Spot Database Entry's tags field to

<EPC-2640>, <FOC>, <QCWA>

If an incoming spot's callsign contains one or two forward slash characters that separate the callsign into two or three components, then

Example: suppose the Special Callsign List contains 7 entries:

Callsign Tag List Expires
B    
SLIM    
SP3E DXLab  
W4TV DXLab  
G6CSY DXLab  
AA6YQ DXLab, EPC-2640  
P portable  

The Spot Database Entry for the spotted callsign KP2/G6CSY/P would be recorded with its tags set to <DXLab> (rather than portable), because G6CSY is the left-most callsign component to match a Special Callsign List entry. The Spot Database Entry for the spotted callsign KP2/K4CY/P would be recorded with its tags set to <portable>.

Adding entries to the Special Callsign List

You can add an entry to the Special Callsign List directly, or by importing from a comma-delimited  text file. To add an entry directly,

To load Special Callsign List Entries from a comma-delimited text file, click the Load button to display a navigation window that lets you specify the file to be loaded. Each line of this file should contain a callsign, followed optionally by a comma and a comma-separated list of tags:

BROKE
W2NRA,DXLab

BUST

BOZO

SP3E,DXLab

B0ZO
DX
MUSIC
SLIM

W4TV,DXLab
G6CSY,DXLab
V1DEO
VIDEO
BCI
BROADCAST
PIRATE
SL1M
BAD

K3BZ,DXLab

AA6YQ,DXLab,EPC

FT4TA,Leaderboard,<expires:2014-11-09>

Loading a file containing the above text  into your Special Callsign List would specify 15 callsigns to ignore, 6 callsigns to tag as members of the DXLab group, and one callsign to consider "needed" if it hasn't been worked on the entry's band (160m, 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m, 2m) and in the entry's mode (phone, CW, digital). Note that an entries expiration date is conveyed with an <expires: yyyy-mm-dd> tag; this must be the last tag specified.

 

If a line of a comma-delimited file being loaded contains a callsign already present in Special Callsign List, then

Membership lists for several amateur radio clubs are available in files formatted for direct loading into SpotCollector's Special Callsign List:

 

If one or more loaded entries specified a Leaderboard tag, SpotCollector will offer you the opportunity to recompute the award progress of all Spot Database Entries. After adding entries to the Special Callsign List that don't specify a Leaderboard tag, recomputing the award progress of existing entries in the Spot Database will update them to reflect Special Callsign status.

 

 

Sorting the Special Callsign List

 

You can arrange the Special Callsign list in ascending order of Callsign by clicking the Sort button.

 

 

Saving the Special Callsign List

 

You can save the contents of the Special Callsign list to a comma-delimited text file by clicking the Save button; SpotCollector will display a navigation window that lets you specify the name and location of the file to be save.

 

 

Clearing the Special Callsign List

 

To clear the Special Callsign List, click the Clear button. This is useful as a prelude to re-loading the list from one or more text files. If any deleted Special Callsign List entry specified a Leaderboard tag, SpotCollector will offer you the opportunity to recompute the award progress of all Spot Database Entries.

 

 

Deleting an entry from the Special Callsign List

 

To delete an entry from the Special Callsign List, select entry by clicking in its leftmost cell (this cell is shaded) and then click the Delete from Special Callsign List panel's  Selected list entry button. If the deleted entry specified a Leaderboard tag, SpotCollector will selectively recompute the award progress of each Spot Database Entry for the deleted entry's callsign.

 

 

Deleting all expired entries from the Special Callsign List

 

To delete all expired entries from the Special Callsign List, select entry by clicking in its leftmost cell (this cell is shaded) and then click the Delete from Special Callsign List panel's  Expired list entries button. If any deleted entry specified a a Leaderboard tag, SpotCollector will offer you the opportunity to recompute the award progress of all Spot Database Entries.

 

 

Searching the Special Callsign List

 

You can locate a callsign in the Special Callsign list by type the callsign into the Find Callsign panel and striking the Enter key or clicking the Search button.

 

Deleting Spot Database Entries last spotted by a callsign present on the Special Callsign List with a BadSource  tag

 

If after adding a callsign to the Special Callsign List with a BadSource tag you wish to permanently delete all Spot Database Entries most recently spotted by that callsign, click the Delete from Spot Database panel's Entries last spotted by BadSource callsigns box.

 

 

Leaderboard Options


The  Leaderboard panel on the Configuration window's Special Callsigns tab provides settings that govern the processing of active leaderboard callsigns - callsigns on the Special Callsign List that specify a tag of Leaderboard .

A Spot Database Entry for a callsign that is needed for Leaderboard will be rendered using the Unworked DX Band or Mode font color.

Special Callsigns Database

The Special Callsigns List is contained within a database named SpecialCallsigns.mdb that resides in SpotCollector's Databases folder. If SpotCollector is (non-simultaneously) employed by more than one operator, all of these operators share the same Special Callsigns List. The Special Callsign Database panel on the Configuration window's Special Callsigns tab can be used to provide each operator with a private Special Callsign List by creating a private database for each in SpotCollector's Databases folder.

If the Operator Callsign specified on the Configuration window's General tab is K9UW, then clicking the Special Callsign Database panel's Make Unique to K9UW will

After an operator-unique Special Callsign Database has been created, clicking the Special Callsign Database panel's Use with all Operator Callsigns button will

You can then create a private Special Callsign List for another user by specifying his or her Operator Callsign and then clicking the Make Unique button.