Identifying Special Callsigns

SpotCollector Online Help Contents

SpotCollector's Special Callsign List can be used to accomplish three 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 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. Each entry on the Special Callsign List contains a callsign and optionally a list of one or more alphanumeric tags

• A Special Callsign List Entry that specifies no tag means that spots of the Entry's callsign should be ignored

  • such Special Callsign List Entries are displayed using red font

• A Special Callsign List Entry that specifies the single tag BadSource means that spots of the Entry's callsign should be ignored, and that spots sourced by the Entry's callsign should be ignored

  • such Special Callsign List Entries are displayed using red font

  • SpotCollector only checks the source (spotting station callsign) for a BadSource  tag if the Check Spotting station callsigns for BadSource tags option is enabled

• A Special Callsign List Entry containing one or more tags other than BadSource means that the Entry's callsign is sought independently of need for award progress

  • if more than one tag is specified, they should be separated with commas, e.g. EPC, FOC, QCWA

  • if a tag specifies both an organization and a membership number, they should be separated by a hyphen, e.g. EPC-2640

  • when a Spot Database Entry is created for such a callsign, its tags field will be populated from the tag list specified in the Special Callsign List Entry, and it will be announced

  • SpotCollector's Tag Filter can be used to display all Spot Database Entries that match a specified tag value

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, then SpotCollector will either create or update a Spot Database Entry for the spotted station. In either case, 

• the Spot Database Entry's tags field will be populated from the tag list specified in the matching Special Callsign List Entry, with each tag in the Special Callsign List Entry enclosed with angle brackets; for example, the tag list 

EPC-2640, FOC, QCWA

would set the Spot Database Entry's tags field to

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

• the Spot Database Entry will be displayed in the specified font color 

• if not previously announced, the Spot Database Entry will be announced

  • the announcement includes each letter of the callsign if the Include special callsigns in announcements option is enabled in the Audio Alarm panel on the Config window's General tab

  • the announcement is preceded by playing the file Special.wav in SpotCollector's Sounds folder. If Special.wav  is not present, then the file You Want This One.wav in the General sub-folder of SpotCollector's Sounds folder is played.

  • settings in the Audio Alarm panel on the Config window's General tab allow you to

    • enable or disable the audio alarm

    • specify whether the DXCC country, band, and mode should be announced

    • specify that the alarm should be triggered whenever a Spot Database Entry for a tagged Special Callsign is created, or only if this entry passes the Band, Mode, Origin, Continent, and LotW filters.

    • test the audio alarm to verify proper volume settings

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

• if any of these components match a Special Callsign List entry that either specifies no tag or specifies a tag of BadSource, the incoming spot will be ignored

• if more than one of these components match a Special Callsign List entry that specifies tags other than BadSource, then the tags associated with the left-most of these components is recorded in the Spot Database Entry's tags item in the angle bracket-enclosed format described above

Example: suppose the Special Callsign List contains 7 entries:

Callsign	Tag List
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,

• scroll to the last row of the list; this row is distinguished by an asterisk in its leftmost cell

• click in the Callsign cell of this last row; SpotCollector will immediately create a new row, into which you can type the desired callsign and optional tag.

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

Loading a file containing the above text  into your Special Callsign List would specify 15 callsigns to ignore and 6 callsigns to tag as members of the DXLab group.

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

• if the line does not specify a tag, then the tag list in the existing Special Callsign List Entry will be cleared.

• if the line specifies a single BadSource tag, then the tag list in the existing Special Callsign List Entry will be set to BadSource

• if the line specifies one or more tags other than BadSource, any new tags will be appended to the the tag list in the existing Special Callsign List

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

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 tab-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.