[Dx4win] Logging and spotting portable stations

[Jim Reisert AD1C]

I see a common error when spotting and logging portable 
stations:  use of the "double portable".  The way this usually shows 
up is as a DX cluster spot which appears to be for North Korea.  Here 
is one recent example:

     14260.0  BA4DW/P7    11-Mar-2007 1448Z

People who use logging programs with a DX Cluster interface may be 
mistakenly notified that North Korea is on the air, when it really is 
not (the call above was used from a Chinese IOTA).

The '/' character already means portable.  So one might read the call above as:

     BA7DW-portable-P7

(which is how most logging programs will interpret it) or

     BA7DW-portable-portable-7

The correct way to spot or log this callsign is:

     BA7DW/7

which reads, simply:

     BA7DW-portable-7

where '/' is replaced by the word "portable".

There is one small exception:

     3727.6  GW3RMD/P    12-Mar-2007 1116Z

In this case, you don't want to spot or log just "GW3RMD/" because 
that wouldn't make much sense (many logging programs probably would 
not know what to do with that call anyway).  So it's generally 
written as shown above, and is pronounced:

     GW3RMD-portable

Most logging programs will ignore the /P at the end when determining 
the country from the callsign.

Another reason to use the correct callsign (i.e. BA7DW/7 and not 
BA7DW/P7) is for Logbook of The World.  I would not expect BA7DW to 
digitally sign his QSOS as BA7DW/P7 and upload them that way.  So the 
QSO that you upload will never match his.

I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader how to log this station in Kansas:

     KL1V mobile ZERO

Hint: if your logging program says England, you didn't log it correctly

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