What's New in QRZ Volume 4
What's New in QRZ Volume 4 	January 1995

By Fred Lloyd, AA7BQ       e-mail: aa7bq@qrz.com

Greetings and welcome to the fourth edition of the QRZ Ham Radio CDROM.

This edition contains new FCC callsign databases (last updated on 1 Nov 94) and a huge new selection of popular amateur radio shareware.  With the new shareware collection, It's our largest disc ever and there are new files in nearly every area.

Callsign Database Update

The FCC has completely changed their computer system and as a result we have some new data online.  For the first time, the registered US amateur radio clubs are now listed by the FCC. This new category was added to the main database however, due to a last minute change in format the club names were replaced by the name of the club's trustee.  This will be corrected in the next editon to properly display the actual club name along with the callsign of the club's trustee.  For example, if you look up W1AW you'll see the name David Sumner instead of THE AMERICAN RADIO RELAY LEAGUE (David Sumner is currently the president of the League).  The address for the club listings are correct as shown.  Unfortunately, there is no way to retrieve the actual club name in this edition.

Also new in this edition (thanks to the FCC's new database) is the listing of registered alien (foreign) amateurs operating in the US.  If you select Callsign Search and use the scrollbar to move to the far left end of the database you'll see quite a few very unusual callsigns and their US addresses.  Most of these operators have a 1 year authority to operate while in the United States and/or territories.  There are many more alien callsigns than are shown at the beginning of the listing, since they are spread out all over the database.

There has been an update to the Italian callsigns.  We received the callsigns in a format which had their first and last names both in the same record.  This made it necessary for us to manually separate the names into first-name/last-name pairs but, in some cases it was difficult for us to determine which was the first name and which was the last name of the operator.  The first/last name separation was done by a computer program and then the output was extensively edited by hand (that's over 32,000 names to check!).  Since some names have several parts (like Georgio Antonio Di Martino) our program was unable to tell precisely where to make the split on some of them.  We did the best we could (given our total lack of experience with Italian names) and we apologize to those who's names we didn't get separated correctly.

And speaking of names, the US callsign database as supplied by the FCC no longer separates the middle initial from the first name.  Because of this, you'll see the operator's middle initial printed next to their first name, without a comma in between.  In addition, the same suffix (such as JR, SR, III, etc.) will be printed as part of the last name.

We have been constantly trying to obtain callsign databases from other countries but have not been encouraged by the result.  For example: We made an attempt to obtain the callsign database from Germany, but were told that the "exclusive publishing rights" to the information had already been sold to another firm.  We're truely sorry that other countries around the world (and Germany is only one of many) consider the names and addresses of their radio amateurs to be a private property which may be sold to the highest bidder.  It is for this and other technical reasons that QRZ does not anticipate expanding our international coverage in the forseeable future.  QRZ will continue to publish only callsign data which is in the public domain, so that costs will remain affordable to the greatest number of amateurs.

Note: QRZ does not edit or update the FCC data files.  If the information contained in the QRZ Ham Radio CDROM is incorrect for your callsign, then you must contact the FCC to get the information changed.  The best way to do this is to fill out a 610 form and mail it in to the FCC.  If the changes are received in time, the corrected information will be on the next edition of the QRZ CDROM.

Shareware, Info and Mod Files Update

We've made a major effort to improve the quantity, quality and freshness of our shareware data files.  With this edition we're now shipping over 7,000 files with all new index files.

One the reasons that we''ve made such an improvement in the shareware contenet is that we've now put up an FTP Server on the Internet (ftp.qrz.com).  If you would like to contribute shareware and/or demonstration software to the next edition of QRZ, you are encouraged to FTP your material to ftp.qrz.com. You should login with user id anonymous while using your e-mail address as the password.  The shareware material is all located in the /pub directory.

If you're into one of the World Wide Web (WWW) browsers such as Mosaic or Netscape,  you'll want to check out  http://www.qrz.com for an on-line catalog and access to the FTP Server as well as an on-line, interactive version of the QRZ Callsign Database.

Coming Attractions

As the QRZ Callsign database grows, we're constantly looking for ways to make it better.  Here are a few of the thing which you'll probably be seeing on future editions of the QRZ Ham Radio CDROM:

Digital QSL Card Images - right now we're collecting QSL cards so that when a callsign is displayed, there will be an option to display the QSL Card - or any other photo - along with the other information.  One color digital image will be included with each amateur's record who chooses to send a photo, callsign or .GIF file.  Due to space limitations, .GIF files must be no more than 25 kbytes in size.  You can mail your QSL card or photograph to QRZ (see address below) or you can ftp it to our FTP Server at ftp.qrz.com.  Please place all incoming FTP files in the /incoming directory.  If you want your card or photo returned, please include an SASE.  Please make sure that your callsign appears either somewhere on the image or on the back side of the photo.

E-Mail Addresses - As more and more people get connected to the various networks, the list of amateurs with valid e-mail addresses grows ever larger.  E-Mail addresses will be gathered from Internet news groups and from those who correspond with QRZ.  If you don't frequent the usenet news systems, send an e-mail to email@qrz.com and ask that your e-mail address be added. This includes packet radio, BBS and internet e-mail addresses.  Please do not send e-mail addresses via postcards or letters - if you can't reach us via e-mail then your e-mail address can't be used.  If you have more than one e-mail address, send only two at most.  If you send us more than two e-mail addresses, then we'll pick the ones to use.  Your e-mail address registration message should look like this:

AA7BQ	aa7bq@qrz.com

AA7BQ	flloyd@off.com

If you don't include your callsign in the message, it will be discarded.  Please don't expect a personal response from the email@qrz.com address.  You will receive a confirmation that your message arrived.  If the confirmation bounces, then we won't use the address.

Macintosh Support -  This edition contains an experimental Macintosh program, qrz_mac.hqx, which may be used with a macintosh to lookup callsignsl.  It's still under development by a volunteer programmer, but we thought it important enough to include as a sample in this version.

Other News

The QRZ Ham Radio CDROM is now the official callsign database for GENIE online information service.  Look for us in the Radio Rountable disussion

QRZ.COM continues to grow.  We now offer an FTP Server (ftp.qrz.com), a WWW Server (http://www.qrz.com) with an online callbook server.  We're always looking for cool programs and data files, so if you're on the internet, check us out!

Again, thanks for buying the QRZ Ham Radio CDROM.

73,  -fred    AA7BQ