[CQ-Contest] Country Files

[Felix Riess]

I'd just like to remind everyone to update their contry files before the
upcoming contest season. Country files for almost all major contest
logging programs are available at:

     http://www.k1ea.com/cty/

I currently live and work in Antarctica, and have participated part-time
in a few of this year's contests. My call sign in Antarctica is DP1POL,
CQ Zone 38, ITU Zone 67. The country files by AD1C have been updated in
February 2003 (release CTY-1301) to correctly reflect my location.

I had quite a few on-the-air-discussions about my QTH in recent
contests. In WAEDC, some Europeans refused to work me because they
suspected I was not DX. During CQWW RTTY, I spent quite a bit of time
eplaining my contest exchange, especially to stations from North
America. Those were not only casual participants, there were some
well-known big guns among those who would not believe I was in Zone 38.
It seems that some people trust their computer more than what they
actually copy on the air.

So please take the time and download a current country file before you
join the next contest. For me, it is great fun to be able to give a
multiplier from Antarcica to those who need it, and it is even more fun
when those who work me won't have to struggle with their computer just
to put me in the log.

By the way, there are also contest sponsors who seem to rely on outdated
files. Even though I clearly indicated my QTH in my log submission, I
ended up in the "Germany" section of the ARRL DX Contest CW 2003 results
writeup...

CUAGN in CQWW SSB (time permitting)!

73, Felix, DP1POL (DL5XL, N5BC).
http://www.dl5xl.de/dp1pol.htm