Hi Folks, Lately, the QSL manager part of the country file has been taking too much of my time. I gather data from many sources. I have software algorithms that check for bad QSL manager data (mostly busted calls) so it doesn't make it into the country file. It's not 100% but it's good enough.
My QSL manager software can automatically get QSL managers from the following sources: - DX spots, where QSL via #### is in the Comment field of the DX spot - DX spots, where "interesting" callsigns are looked up on QRZ.COM - 425 DX Bulletin from Italy - DX Newsletter (DXNL) from Germany I also get QSL manager information from DX World (http://dx-world.net/) and DX News (http://dxing.at-communication.com/), and a couple other DX bulletins. This is where the "manual labor" comes into play. It just takes me too long to re-format this information for input to my program. Most of this information is useful because it is for operations coming up, rather than for operations that have ended, or stations that are already on the air. So when you work a DXpedition for the first time, the QSL manager field will usually be filled in. My QSL manager records are stored in a plain-text .CSV file (comma-separated values) in a format like this: ZV0FWA,2013/11/20,LU8FAU,http://dx-world.net/2013/zv0fwa-fernando-de-noronha/ * The first field is the callsign of the DX station * The second field is the starting date, in YYYY/MM/DD format. This is important in case there is a new QSL manager (many special event stations have different managers each year) * The third field is the callsign of the QSL manager * The fourth field is the source of the information. This is important in case there is a disagreement as to who the QSL manager actually is. What I am looking for is a volunteer who can collect this kind of data, and deliver it to me in .CSV format (as an E-mail attachment), on say a weekly basis. If it's easier for you to format the date some other way, I can adapt my program to handle this. I want something I can just drop into my database without any extra work, and I'd prefer a list of new managers only, not managers that you have already sent (unless there is a correction). I do have a couple of people who send me QSL manager information on an irregular basis, but it's not in .CSV format, and thus makes it harder for me to enter the information into the database. If I can't find a volunteer, I may taper off including this data, and only include data from the "automatic" sources above, which means that upcoming operations are less likely to already have a QSL manager in the database (country file). Thanks & 73 - Jim AD1C -- Jim Reisert AD1C, <[email protected]>, http://www.ad1c.us ______________________________________________________________ DX4WIN mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/dx4win Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
