[Dx4win] ARRL National Parks on the Air - DX spotting assistance

[Jim Reisert AD1C]

Hi Folks,

Several of us have tried different methods (spotting patterns) in
DX4WIN for identifying DX spots of ARRL National Parks on the Air
(NPOTA) stations.  All attempts so far have been unsuccessful.

What I have decided to do is to make two files available, based on the
list of upcoming NPOTA events which can be found here:

    https://npota.arrl.org/nps-events.php

1.  A calendar which can be imported into the DX4WIN calendar
2.  A list of callsigns that can be imported into the DX4WIN membership list

Regarding #2, there are two ways to use (import) this file:

a) import the list using an Id such as 'N'.  This will show 'N' in the
"Memb" column of the DX Spots window when one of the scheduled
stations is spotted.

b) import the list using the '@' symbol as the Id.  This will show '@'
in the "Memb" column of the DX Spots window when one of the scheduled
stations is spotted.  It will *also* cause the spot to be treated as
the highest priority.  In other words, the DX spot will be highlighted
the same as an all-time new (never worked) DXCC entity, i.e. black
letters on a yellow background.

There is at least one problem with #2 above (membership list).  There
is no way to narrow down the date range against which to check the
incoming DX spots.  For example, if N4CD operates mobile on
Tuesday-Thursday, and then hits a national park on Friday, any spots
of N4CD from Tuesday-Thursday will *also* be identified as an NPOTA
spot.  Unfortunately, there is no way around this.

A second problem is that if one keeps importing lists of scheduled
NPOTA stations into the membership list, there will be many old calls
there that may not be making any activations in the future.  However,
spots of these callsigns will continue to be identified as NPOTA
stations.  There is no way to to simply remove the NPOTA calls from
the membership list and leave everything else alone.

The best way to deal with the "stale callsign" problem is to download
a new membership list first, using the DX4WIN Data Updater, then
import the NPOTA station list into that fresh (clean) membership list.
This will limit the "damage" to a 10-day window of possible bad spots.

I have not decided on a distribution mechanism yet, but am leaning
towards adding it to the DX4WIN Data Updater.  If a new "NPOTA" box is
checked, the Updater will download both the calendar and callsign list
files.  You will still have to manually import one or both of those
files as you see fit.

I have not decided on the best day to update the two files, but I'm
leaning toward Friday morning USA, with the hope that any upcoming
weekend activity will have been scheduled by then.

I'll put out an announcement on the reflector when the various parts
are ready.  I will most likely make the two files available for direct
(manual) download first, then work on the Updater changes after that.

If anyone has any opinions about this, please share them with me or
the reflector.

73 - Jim AD1C

-- 
Jim Reisert AD1C, <jjreisert at alum.mit.edu>, http://www.ad1c.us