[Dxspider-support] QSL databases and things...

[Dirk Koopman]

Now this isn't meant as an excuse. I will improve database support after I 
have done the current load of rejigging. However, some information:-

Firstly the command 'show/qrz' is available to those nodes that have internet 
access. Now I don't know quite what he is doing but an awful lot of the 'dx' 
callsigns that people ask the address/manager for - appear in this database. 

Because it is internet based and the chap keeps it up to date, it is really 
accurate. For example:-

sh/qrz za1k
      Name: BEN 
     Addr1: POB 7464
     Addr2: TIRANA 
   Country: ALBANIA
     Class: Codes: E
    Issued: 0000-00-00    Exp: 0000-00-00    dob: 0000-00-00
   Updated: 1999-06-07 22:46:31    
    Server: Lookups provided by http://www.qrz.com

Secondly, there is a built in version of the 'QSL_NEW' database in the sh/dx 
command - which is also more up to date because it works in real time on the 
spots that you actually have. To use this do:

show/dx <call> qsl

for example:-

sh/dx 3g0y qsl
 18073.0  3G0Y        14-Mar-2001 0829Z  up 1 via dk7yy              <GW3WWN>
 21295.0  3G0Y        14-Mar-2001 0451Z  QSL VIA DK7YY                <HL1JV>
 28492.3  3G0Y        13-Mar-2001 2207Z  qsl via dk7yy                 <K8OU>
 21008.9  3G0Y        13-Mar-2001 1958Z  QSX 21011.2 VIA DK7YY       <DL9ZAL>
 24893.0  3G0Y        13-Mar-2001 1526Z  via DK7YY, Falk             <DL4SZB>
 24893.3  3G0Y        13-Mar-2001 1521Z  CQ CQ PSE QSL INFO ?        <DL7SAL>
  7002.1  3G0Y        13-Mar-2001 0659Z  up1-2, qsl dk7yy.           <SP4CMY>
 18141.0  3G0Y        13-Mar-2001 0256Z  QSL via DK7YY                <KC8CY>
 18141.0  3G0Y        13-Mar-2001 0254Z  QSL via DK7YY                <KC8CY>
 28495.0  3G0Y        12-Mar-2001 2140Z  QSL via DK7YY               <JA8EDS>

It is also possible to look for IOTA islands and grid squares:-

sh/dx iota oc144   (or sh/dx iota oc-144 either works)
 21265.0  YC4FIJ      14-Mar-2001 1505Z  VIA YC9BU DIR. OC-144       <IT9RTA>
 21265.0  YC4FIJ      14-Mar-2001 1451Z  via YC9BU  OC-144             <K3ZO>
 21264.9  YC4FIJ      14-Mar-2001 1441Z  IOTA OC-144                  <G4YVV>
 21260.0  YC4FIJ      12-Mar-2001 1549Z  IOTA oc-144 not oc-114      <IZ2ABN>
 21260.0  YC4FIJ      12-Mar-2001 1549Z  IOTA oc-144  not oc-114     <IZ2ABN>
 21260.0  YC4FIJ      12-Mar-2001 1515Z  OC-144 QSL YC9BU            <JI6URU>
 21259.9  YC4FIJ      12-Mar-2001 1505Z  OC-144 ---> YC9BU            <VE3ZZ>

sh/dx qra kh52
 50124.9  Z22JE       14-Mar-2001 1546Z  KH52NF                      <ON4ANT>
 50114.9  Z22JE       12-Mar-2001 1857Z  CQ 59 JM76-KH52             <IT9RZR>
 50110.5  Z22JE       11-Mar-2001 1340Z  CQ 579 JM76-KH52            <IT9RZR>
 50114.8  Z22JE       10-Mar-2001 1634Z  kh52>jn83 55                 <9A5ST>
 50114.0  Z22JE       10-Mar-2001 1618Z  KH52 58  JN16 !!             <F4JVG>
 50111.0  Z22JE        7-Mar-2001 1558Z  cq 599 jm76-kh52            <IT9RZR>
 50110.0  Z22JE        6-Mar-2001 1858Z  cq 59 jm76-kh52             <IT9RZR>
 50110.0  Z22JE        1-Mar-2001 1656Z  CQ 59 JM76-KH52             <IT9RZR>

or you could combine some of these:-

sh/dx iota oc144 qsl
 21265.0  YC4FIJ      14-Mar-2001 1505Z  VIA YC9BU DIR. OC-144       <IT9RTA>
 21265.0  YC4FIJ      14-Mar-2001 1451Z  via YC9BU  OC-144             <K3ZO>
 21260.0  YC4FIJ      12-Mar-2001 1515Z  OC-144 QSL YC9BU            <JI6URU>
 21260.0  YC4FLJ      12-Mar-2001 1427Z  oc 144 qsl yc9bu             <W8WFN>
 21250.0  YC4FIJ       9-Mar-2001 1407Z  OC-144 IOTA VIA YC9BU       <VK8NSB>
 21265.0  YC4FIJ       5-Mar-2001 1518Z  oc-144 via yc9bu            <PA3GOX>
 21254.8  YC4FIJ       1-Mar-2001 1356Z  OC-144  QSL YC9BU           <JM4MAQ>
 21280.0  YC4FIJ      27-Feb-2001 1441Z  oc-144 LIST QSL->YC9BU      <DL4FAY>

So you can see that, with a combination of these commands, you can get most 
of the useful information that you are likely to need :-)

For a laugh, I could implement a command that combines all of these things 
and allows you to input a callsign and it automatically extracts useful 
information for you and displays it. Anybody got a sensible name for this 
command?

Dirk G1TLH