[CQ-Contest] Weird Calls and RBN

[N4ZR]

VC#@ is already flagged in the file as a common prefix.

73, Pete N4ZR
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On 4/19/2018 4:10 PM, Fred Kleber wrote:
> Might we want to let him know about VC3J?
>
> F
>
>> Gee, does this mean that folks will actually have to tune the radio,
>> listen to the station, and copy the "ingenious" prefixes correctly
>> rather than just clicking on a spot...:-)
>>
>> 73 - John, W4AU
>>
>>
>>> On 4/18/2018 8:46 AM, N4ZR wrote:
>>>
>>> This may be old news to many of us, but VE3NEA's CW Skimmer Server
>>> determines how "skeptical" to be about a callsign, based on a file of
>>> all expected callsign patterns. This assessment in turn affects how
>>> many repetitions of a callsign it must "hear" before issuing a spot.
>>>
>>>  From time to time, this causes problems for contesters who have gone
>>> out of their way to get a truly unique callsign for use in contests
>>> like CQWPX.? For example, normal Belize callsigns are V31@@ (where @
>>> is an alphabetic wild card), but I have recently been told about the
>>> issuance of a V3@ callsign for contest use.
>>>
>>> Revising the callsign pattern file in a truly systematic way involves
>>> getting data from QRZ.COMon the number of "hits" for each callsign and
>>> massaging the data with exotic techniques (exotic to me, anyway) to
>>> turn callsigns into patterns and aggregate the numbers of hits to
>>> determine how common the pattern is.? It's a lot of work.
>>>
>>> With a little time remaining before CQWPXCW, I'm offering an interim
>>> fix.? If you have received what you believe to be a unique prefix and
>>> have not used it before March, 2017 (the last systematic overhaul of
>>> the pattern file) e-mail me by May 1 and I will incorporate the new
>>> pattern in the RBN's pattern file distribution, which will be made
>>> available to all RBN nodes by May 10.? I can't promise you that all
>>> node-ops will download the new file before the contest, but the server
>>> will at least "nag" them to do so.
>>>
>>>
>>> 73, Pete N4ZR
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