This message is rather long, but I want to address this issue so it
can be fixed before WSJT-X 2.7 is released. Also note that this
message contains a lot of formatting. If it doesn't pass through
the mailing list correctly, please contact me and I can send you
the original copy.
I recently received this message:
On Tue, Nov 28, 2023 at 9:03 AM Dave Garber ve3wej
<ve3...@gmail.com> wrote:
I am getting 4u1a on ft4 today, and wsjt-x is showing it as
Italy. I have downloaded the updated cty-3388 file, and put
the cty.dat file ( which does show Austria , not Italy. and
put it the the save folder of each of my wsjt versions.. am I
in the wrong folder, because it still shows Italy still
Ron Whitsel, W3RJW also wrote me:
4U1A comes up as 'Italy' in WSJT-X Band Activity window.....
Should be Austria
He later wrote:
OK I fixed it:
Added:
Removed 4U from Italy
Now 4U1A comes up as Austria in WSJT-X.
After some back-and-forth with Brett VR2BG today, I think I might
understand the problem. I believe that WSJT-X is either parsing or
using the country file incorrectly.
First some background:
The CQWW DX contest uses two different country lists. It uses the
ARRL DXCC lists, plus five (5) entities which are multipliers for
the WAEDC contest, plus one other:
https://www.darc.de/der-club/referate/conteste/wae-dx-contest/en/wae-rules/
Look at the bottom of that page for "WAE Country List". It lists
these additional European entities:
* 4U1V (Vienna Int'l Center)
* GM/s (Shetland & Faire Islands)
* IT (without IG9/IH9 Zone 33) (Sicily)
* JW/b (Bear Island)
* TA1 (European part of Turkey)
Now IG9/IH9 are special. Normally they would be included as part
of Sicily, but they are in Africa, not Europe. Therefore they are
counted as a separate multiplier in CQWW DX (but not in WAEDC)
There is another point to take into account. A "prefix" in the
country file can be either a prefix or a full callsign. Full
callsigns are prefixed with '='. You will see some examples in the
next part. *Matching a full callsign should always have priority
over matching a prefix (partial callsign). *
One last point is that the "prefix" at the end of the line in the
country file that contains the entity name is for display purposes
only. It should never be included in the list of prefixes for the
given entity.
Now let's focus specifically on the country file. I have
highlighted some prefixes/callsigns.
Here is the 4U1/v entity as shown in the country file:
Vienna Intl Ctr: 15: 28: EU: 48.20: -16.30: -1.0:
*4U1V:
=4U0R,=4U100QO,=4U1A,=4U1VIC,=4U2U,=4Y1A,=C7A;
Here is the Italy entity as shown in the country file:
Italy: 15: 28: EU: 42.82: -12.58: -1.0: I:
4U,I,=I2DMK/RM,=IT9ELM/0,=IT9PQJ/0;
Here is the Austria entity as shown in the country file;
Austria: 15: 28: EU: 47.33: -13.33: -1.0: OE:
OE,=4U0R,=4U100QO,=4U1A,=4U1VIC,=4U2U,=4Y1A,=C7A;
You should notice a few things:
1. The "prefix" at the end of the line beginning with "Vienna Intl
Ctr" has a '*' in front of it. That means that this entity is
only used in the CQWW DX and WAEDC contests. It is not a DXCC
entity.
2. 4U1A (full callsign) is listed twice, once under "Vienna Intl
Ctr" and once under "Austria"
3. 4U is listed as a prefix for Italy.
Regarding #3, this was done so that "new" (previously unknown) 4U
callsigns that are spotted on the DX cluster will propagate through
the network. If that prefix mapping were not there, those calls
would be ignored because they could not be associated with any
entity in the country file. Tis was done at the request of Lee
VE7CC. 4U has been used numerous times from Italy. 4U24OCT is a
recent example. The QTH is the Global Service Centre ARC in
Brindisi, Italy, normally 4U1GSC. 4U could have just as easily
been listed as a prefix for Austria, but I chose Italy based on
past experience.
Regarding #2, 4U1A is listed twice. There is a good reason for
this. If the software is ignoring the WAEDC entities, and 4U1A is
decoded or spotted, it would be determined to be Italy because of
the 4U prefix mapping.
Based on the reports I'm getting, I think that WSJT-X processes the
country file like this:
1. It sees 4U1A listed as "Vienna Intl Ctr" and maps the callsign
to that entity. But that entity is a WAEDC entity.
2. It sees 4U1A listed *again* under Austria. Because the call
has already been seen and mapped to 4U1/v, the second
occurrence is ignored.
3. 4U1A is decoded by the software. It matches "Vienna Intl Ctr"
but because that is not a DXCC entity, it is ignored.
4. The only other option at this point is the 4U prefix under
Italy, so that is where the software determines 4U1A to be.
I believe the WSJT-X software *should* be doing this, assuming it's
only interested in identifying DXCC entities.
1. It sees the Vienna Intl Ctr entity with the *4U1V prefix in the
country file. It should just skip this entity entirely.
2. It sees the 4U prefix under Italy, so adds a prefix mapping.
3. It sees 4U1A listed under Austria, so it adds a callsign mapping.
4. When 4U1A is decoded, there is a full callsign match for
Austria, so the software determines that is the DXCC entity.
An important point to make is that processing the country file from
top to bottom should result in the *same* prefix and country
mappings as processing it from bottom to top, at least as far as
mapping DXCC entities is concerned. If you need to also take WAEDC
entities into account, then keep the first occurrence of a
callsign, and ignore any subsequent ones. It just works out that
way. One could also parse from bottom to top, and if a WAEDC
prefix or callsign appears again, then it replaces the existing one.
Does this make sense? I'm happy to answer any questions, either
off- or on-reflector. Obviously I do not know how WSJT-X parses
the country file, but I can only make assumptions based on what I
have been told by two different users.
73 - Jim AD1C
--
Jim Reisert AD1C, <jjreis...@alum.mit.edu>, https://ad1c.us
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