[Dx4win] APPNOTE: Why do we have callsign exceptions?

Thu Mar 10 18:49:25 EST 2005

Jim,
Along this line of thought, are there updates to the CTY.DAT files for 
the KH8SI operation at Swain Island?  This is a different IOTA and 
LAT/LONG than the home KH8 island calls, and MAYBE? (depending on the 
ARRL) a new country, along the line of the Ducie Island DXpedition. 
When I log them in DX4WIN the log takes KH8SI as OC077, Amer Samoa, 
but their web site at http://www.swains-island.org shows their logging 
program info as:

        Prefix            |        Country name
        KH8/S                     Swains Island
        Zone              |           Start date
          32                           3-2-2005
       Details
         11.00  Hours     Behind    UTC

      IOTA         |          ITU         |     Continent
     OC-200                   63                 Oceania
     Longitude               |                Latitude
      171.05 West                               11.05 South
     GRID   AH48LX

Jim Reisert AD1C wrote:
> Periodically I will write something about the country files.  If you find these
> useful, let me know and I'll write more, especially if you have a topic in
> mind. I'll try to post these somewhere on my web site:
> 
>   http://www.ad1c.us/dx4win/
> 
> Today's topic: Why do we have callsign exceptions?
> 
> In an ideal world, the ITU prefix (http://life.itu.int/radioclub/rr/ap42.htm)
> would fully specify the location of a callsign.  However, we do not live in an
> ideal world.
> 
> Many prefixes are unique to a particular entity: DL4, J3, VK5 to name a few. 
> However, many are not: 3D2, CE0, FO0, JD1, VP8, the list goes on.  One can pick
> a standard default, i.e. 3D2 is more likely to be Fiji than Rotuma or Conway
> Reef.  However, when a 3D2 call is used from one of those two entities, it must
> be added to the exception list.
> 
> Prefixes change over time.  Lesotho, 7P used to be ZS8.  Palmyra, KH5 used to
> be KP6.  In the first case, ZS8 was reclaimed by South Africa and now is used
> only from Marion Island.  In the second case, no KP6 calls have been issued
> since the switch, but they could be. Sometimes a prefix is used past its
> expiration date.  Take KX6 for example. Stations in the Marshall Islands began
> using the new V7 prefix in September, 1978.  However, a number of KX6 stations
> remained on the air into the late 1980s.  During the 1980s, the FCC began
> issuing 2x1 KX6 callsigns to stations in the 6th call area.  Sure, a 2x2
> callsign is most likely Marshall Islands, but coding up each special case in
> software makes it harder to make changes down the line.
> 
> Sometimes the prefix doesn't tell you everything about the entity. For example,
> many 4K1 callsigns were used from Antarctica, KC4 in CQ Zone 39.  But some were
> used from zones *other than* zone 39, and some were used from other Antarctic
> island like South Shetlands, VP8/H.
> 
> The following is a list of the conditions when a callsign exception is needed:
> 
> 1.  The prefix is ambiguous - here is a list of some common ones:
> 
>         3D2, 3Y, 4U, CE0, CE9, FO, GB, HK0, JD1,
>         KC6, PY0, SV0, TO, TX, VK0, VP8, ZK1
> 
>     Sometimes this affects only the CQ zone and not the entity.  For
>     example there are a number of different prefixes used in
>     Antarctica, KC4. Some prefixes are only used from a particular CQ
>     zone, for example FT5Y and ZL5 are both in CQ zone 30.  However,
>     some prefixes like VK0 or VP8 can be used from any of the
>     following CQ zones: 12, 13, 29, 30, 32, 28 or 29.
> 
> 2.  The callsign is used from more than one location.  For example,
>     VK9ZR has been used from both Willis Island and Mellish Reef.
> 
> 3.  The callsign isn't correct for the entity.  For example, there are
>     a number of folks who moved to the states (lower-48 USA) but kept
>     their KH6 or KL7 callsigns.
> 
> 4.  The callsign uses a portable designator that may not be a valid
>     prefix.  For example, a number of Israeli's signed /SK in 1998 -
>     SK is typically a prefix for Sweden!  Sometimes the portable
>     designator changes the entity, for example RZ3BY/0 is in Asiatic
>     Russia, UA9 not European Russia, UA.  Or the portable designator
>     can change the CQ Zone, for example VE3EXY/2 operated from CQ Zone
>     2.
> 
> 5.  The callsign uses an old prefix, even after a new prefix has been
>     issued.  Many of the old Russian calls had this problem, like 4K2
>     stations operating from Franz Josef Land in 1994.
> 
> 6.  The callsign uses a portable designator that is the same length as
>     the callsign.  Normally the shorter part contains the DXCC entity
>     prefix, for example SV9/HA0HW/P.  However, what if there is no
>     shorter part?  Take this callsign: N6YA/VP2A.  You can look at it
>     and probably determine that it's Antigua, V2.  But what about this
>     callsign: VP2A/N6YA. It's also probably Antigua, but how can the
>     computer tell that these two callsigns are both for the same
>     entity? Software has to consistently pick first or second, leaving
>     the rest to be taken care of by callsign exceptions.  A number of
>     visitors to Chinese club stations have this problem,
>     i.e. OH2BH/BY1PK or W8JAY/BY4AA.
> 
> Sometimes a tweak to the prefix mappings can compensate for a special callsign.
>  However, this must be weighed against how that prefix may be used in the
> future.  For example, even though "NLD" would be a prefix for USA (if that was
> even used), it's more typically used by Kuwait during their annual "National
> Liberation Day" celebration. Therefore, adding the single prefix mapping for
> NLD to 9K can save a number of callsign exception mappings.  However, "SK" is
> commonly used in Sweden, so adding "SK" as a prefix mapping for Israel in 1998
> would not have been such a good idea.
> 
> Ideally, the list of callsign exceptions should stabilize over time.
> Eventually, but maybe not in my lifetime, all the old exceptions will be
> understood, and only new ones for current/future operations will be added.
> However, the people who have worked these problematic callsigns may not use
> DX4WIN, so collecting the information becomes more difficult over time.
> 
> 73 - Jim AD1C
> 
> 
> Jim Reisert AD1C, 7 Charlemont Court, North Chelmsford, MA 01863
> USA +978-251-9933, <jjreisert at alum.mit.edu>, http://www.ad1c.us
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> 

-- 
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Alan Zack
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