[Logic] Buckmaster callbook web site

[Daniel L. Bateman]

Hi,

   My name is Dan Bateman, I work for Buckmaster Publishing, the company 
that makes the HamCall CD-ROM.  As some LOGic users have noticed, we've 
changed our callsign lookup website so the information is no longer 
understandable to computer programs.  This was originally to keep automated 
programs from harvesting information from our website, especially people's 
e-mail addresses.  It's a known fact that spammers get many of their 
addresses to mail to from automated programs that surf the web looking for 
e-mail addresses.  The HamCall site with it's 160,000+ e-mail addresses was 
a prime target, although we don't believe any significant number have been 
harvested due to diligence on our part in watching server activity.  We've 
also found that automated programs tend to put a large strain on our server 
and bandwidth, they're not very polite and do several lookups per second 
for hours or longer.  All that doesn't apply to LOGic, but it's part of why 
we changed the way our server returns callsign data.

   Also, thinking of the long-term, even though we enjoy our work on 
HamCall and would like to be able to do it for free, it is our means of 
support and we can't afford to give it all away for free.  A limited number 
of web browser-based lookups is fine to demonstrate the completeness of our 
database, but the enhanced functionality of actually supplying callsign 
data to be parsed into fields and digested into a program is something we 
feel we deserve to be paid for.

   So where does this leave LOGic users?  The combination of a logging 
program and HamCall is a great tool, but we realize that CD-ROMs are to a 
certain extent out of date as soon as you receive them, even with HamCall's 
ability to download monthly update files.  Hundreds or thousands of changes 
are made to our database every day.  What we would like to propose is a 
Internet-based callsign lookup system where for each lookup the LOGic 
program would submit to our server the callsign you want to look up and 
your registered HamCall callsign and password.  Our server would then 
return the full data for that callsign, right out of the current master 
HamCall database.  LOGic could treat these lookups just like lookups from a 
CD-ROM, and it could save your login information so you wouldn't have to 
type it in each time.

   A password is included with each HamCall CD-ROM.  If you already have 
one your current password would work just fine.  Otherwise the HamCall CD 
can be had for  $50, or as little as $30 if you get one through our 
auctions.  Both of these come with a password good for 6 months.  For $80 
you can get a CD with a password good for a full year of lookups.  In the 
future we may offer an Internet-only subscription for a lower price if the 
interest is sufficient.

   I realize some people will never pay for what they can manage to get for 
free elsewhere, even if it's not the most accurate or current data.  But we 
believe that most people think it's reasonable to pay something for a 
useful service.  Plus with the expenses of getting a QSL card up to a 
dollar or two, good current addresses are important and should be worth 
something.  We're interested in everyone's input and comments, and Dennis, 
let us know if you're interested in the Internet-based callsign lookup 
system.  It shouldn't be hard for you or us to implement.


73,

-Dan Bateman
http://hamcall.net