[CQ-Contest] CTY-2006 Country Files - 04 October 2010

[Jim Reisert AD1C]

The Country (CTY) Files were updated on 04 October 2010.

    http://www.country-files.com/cty/

To install the file(s), follow the link to your software at the top of
the page.

THIS IS A MAJOR RELEASE!  Before using the files, check with your
software's reflector to see if there are additional instructions.
There may be additional downloads required, or you might not choose or
be able to use them right away.


Here are the release notes:


4 October 2010 (CTY-2006)
VER20101004, Version entity is Guadeloupe, FG

    * Removed entities PJ2, Netherlands Antilles and PJ7, Sint Maarten

    * Added four new entities resulting from the breakup of the
      Netherlands Antilles starting 10 October 2010. This is tentative
      and simply a "best guess" based on the available information. When
      the ARRL announces the actual entities, the country files will be
      updated ASAP.

          o PJ2 - Curacao
          o PJ4 - Bonaire
          o PJ5 - Saba and St. Eustatius
          o PJ7 - Sint Maarten

    * Revised the list of USA callsign exceptions, based on the Super
      Check Partial (SCP) release of 1 August 2010 and the latest FCC
      database. USA callsigns that require only an ITU zone override are
      now included, but only for states that lie entirely within the
      same ITU zone, i.e. Indiana but not Illinois. This process is
      entirely automated now, so the list of calls will be updated when
      there is a country file released after a SCP release.

This release of the country files is based on a complete tool rewrite
and new flow, as well as a new set of input data. I finally decided to
merge my two databases into one. I tried to maintain the original
content in each country file as much as possible, however, there are
bound to be some differences, mistakes or oversights. I have not tested
all these files on all the different platforms. If something is wrong or
missing, let me know and I will fix it ASAP.

Some of the highlights:

    * Many ITU zone overrides were added or corrected.

    * Many old callsigns have been "retired". Thus you'll notice shorter
      lists for Martinique, FM; UK callsigns beginning with GB and
      various LU callsign overrides.  Calls are "retired" about a year
      after they last appear on the bands. If an entity hasn't been
      active for more than a year, then the last callsign used from that
      entity will be in the country file.  Thus, these files are not
      useful as a historical database (and they never have been).

    * N3FJP is now a supported format.

    * Win-Test files are generated "natively" rather than doing a text
      substitution to the original CTY.DAT file. This results in a
      cleaner design, as well as fixing a handful of bugs in the
      previous Win-Test files.

    * Win-Test (cty_wt_mod.dat) now has geographic coordinates for some
      additional countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania and South
      America.

    * There are now additional files that WriteLog can use to enhance
      beam headings for Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania and South America.

    * CT8, N3FJP, Win-Test and WriteLog have separate .ZIP files that
      contain only the files needed for those programs. Of course,
      CTY-####.zip still contains all the files.


73 - Jim AD1C

-- 
Jim Reisert AD1C, <jjreisert at alum.mit.edu>, http://www.ad1c.us