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[CQ-Contest] TO4T Call

Subject: [CQ-Contest] TO4T Call
From: k4bai@att.net (k4bai@att.net)
Date: Mon Mar 4 18:43:41 2002
I suspect that French licensing officials have 
determined that TO4 is a designate call for Guadeloupe.  
The same as the FCC has determined the calls that are 
appropriate for its territorial (or non-continental 
states) entities.  The updating of contest software to 
keep up with such calls is a continuing process.  There 
is no need to suggest that this was a rules violation.  
I am sure they were signing a call allocated to 
Guadeloupe by the French licensing authorities.  
Software will now be updated to include TO4 = FG with 
the next revision.  

It is very easy to take care of this during the contest 
if you want your score readout to be correct.  It used 
to be that in CT you could type TO4 = FG and it would be 
correct.  I assume you can still do that.  NA does not 
accept =.  What I do under the circumstances is to log 
it each time as TO4T/FG and make a note to delete 
the "/FG" with a text editor before submitting the 
Cabrillo file.  If you don't care that the cumulative 
score in your computer may be wrong, you need to do 
nothing.  The Cabrillo file will be scored without 
regard to what you think is a new country.  As long as 
the logcheckers have determined that TO4T = FG, it will 
be scored that way without the need of any help from the 
contestant.  

Experienced contesters, particularly those with 
directional antennas, should suspect that stations with 
calls like TO4T that are loud and are coming in from the 
direction of the Caribbean are actually in the 
Caribbean.  If your software doesn't recognize it, or 
recognizes it only as France, your only alternative is 
to ask (which I did on the first QSO).  

I imagine that the operators of TO4T wanted a new prefix 
more than they wanted instant country recognition.  
Continued use of that prefix will bring more recognition.

73,

John, K4BAI/8P9HT/8P9Z.

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