N1MM Logger+ uses the country file WL_CTY.DAT from http://www.country-files.com/ which has extra CQWW zone information for several countries including: Canada, Australia, and China. Because each of these countries is allocated a multitude of prefixes, but the CQWW zone is determined by the call area regardless of prefix, a very large number of entries would be necessary to spell out all the combinations. Instead, WL_CTY.DAT contains special “macro” commands that indicate how the CQWW zones are determined for that country. This file can be downloaded and installed from the Tools > Download and install latest country file (wl_cty.dat) (Internet) menu item in the main Entry window. This should be done regularly, as the country file is updated frequently, especially before major contests. Access to the Internet is required in order to perform this operation.
There are some special situations where the country file may need to be customized. The Tools > Import country list from downloaded file menu item may be used to import a customized country file from the SupportFiles subdirectory in the N1MM Logger+ user files area. If you do this for a particular contest, remember to restore the normal country file before starting another contest.
Occasionally the country file may need to be edited, for example in order to add a special call sign that was not caught in the regular file. In 95% of such cases, all you need to do is download and install the latest file, but occasionally you may need to edit the file to add a call sign. The file is a text file and can be edited with a text editor.
- You can override the continent, zone etc. on a prefix-by-prefix basis.
- Primary prefixes preceded by an * are only valid for the CQWW and WAE contests. The logging program will ignore these lines otherwise. When updating the country file please don’t remove the *.
- The logging program doesn’t handle prefixes such as FR5ZQ/J correctly. Listing FR/J as a prefix for Juan de Nova in the country file doesn’t work unless a station signs “FR/J” as his callsign. If you work one of these islands, you’ll have to add the callsign of the worked station to the country file manually before it is counted as the right country.
- When updating the WL_CTY.DAT file use a text editor, not a word processor. Notepad is fine, watch out for WordPad etc., always save as a text file!
- After updating the WL_CTY.DAT file it has to be reloaded. Reload the file via Tools/Import country list from downloaded file menu item.
- After a Reload the prefixes are imported into the database which you are using. When changing to another database you have to do a reload again to be sure that you use the most recent country file for that database (or the one you want).
- When a database is copied, also the country list in it will be copied. So if the country file was updated in the original file after a copy you don’t have to import the country list again.
Note on KG4 stations: When a KG4 callsign is a 2×2 callsign it is assumed to be Guantanamo otherwise it is K (2×1 or 2×3). When the exact callsign appears in the loaded cty.dat the associated country will be used (K or KG4 are then not automatically assumed).
Examples
Netherlands: an easy example with nothing special. The program will assign all calls starting with PA, PB, PC, etc. to the country Netherlands in CQ zone 14, ITU zone 27 and EU as continent. PA will be the the prefix shown in the multiplier window.
Netherlands: 14: 27: EU: 52.40: -4.90: -1.0: PA:
PA,PB,PC,PD,PE,PF,PG,PH,PI;
Greenland: Normally only stations with OX are counted as Greenland. The callsign XP1AB has been added which normally belongs to Denmark (OZ). XP1AB will be valid as Greenland with standard Greenland parameters i.e. zones, continent etc.
Greenland: 40: 05: NA: 62.50: 45.00: 3.0: OX:
OX,XP1AB;
African Italy: This is an example where a * is added before the primary prefix which means that the country only counts in CQ-sponsored contests.
African Italy: 33: 37: AF: 35.40: -12.50: -1.0: *IG9:
IG9,IH9,IQ9L,IZ9;
Wl_cty.dat macro example.
The macro starts with # and ends with the next ; It means that for all the prefixes in China the zones are determined by the call area and first letter of the suffix.
China: 24: 44: AS: 40.00: -116.40: -8.0: BY:
- BY: BY3G(23),BY3H(23),BY3I(23),BY3J(23),BY3K(23),BY3L(23),
BY9A(23),BY9B(23),BY9C(23),BY9D(23),BY9E(23),BY9F(23),BY9G(23),
BY9H(23),BY9I(23),BY9J(23),BY9K(23),BY9L(23),BY9T(23),BY9U(23),
BY9V(23),BY9W(23),BY9X(23),BY9Y(23),BY9Z(23),BY0(23);
3H,3I,3J,3K,3L,3M,3N,3O,3P,3Q,3R,3S,3T,3U,BG,BT,BW,BY,BZ,XS;
