[UK-CONTEST] GB7HQ and DXCC/LOTW

[Dave Sergeant]

Sorry for the cross posting, but the original GB7HQ threads were 
anyway...

Just pondering this weekend and my failure to work GB7HQ on 160m led me 
to look at the gb7hq.com website to find out where the ops were 
(perhaps I should have done that before the contest...).

I see this year Top Band was a mixed effort shared between the QTHs of 
G3SVL, GM3POI and GW0GEI - no less than 3 seperate DXCC countries and 
no way of knowing which of them you were working! (or at least on CW, 
the regional accents might have given the game away on SSB). That old 
chesnut again. Presumably only CW or SSB was on at any one time, which 
explains why there were long periods when I could hear no CW. I see 
also that 40m SSB was at GM3WOJ's site.

When the logs are uploaded to LOTW, as they were last year, how is the 
distinction made. This depends on the correct country field in the 
uploaded ADIF log, and presumably if the other station does not have 
the same country in his ADIF there will be no match and no QSL... Does 
the printed card specify this information?

For what it is worth, I have just checked my LOTW receipts for the 2007 
contest. Then GU4YOX was the CW op on 160m - in Guernsey. LOTW 
correctly shows it as Guernsey on the website but when downloaded I 
didn't get the country code in the abbreviated ADIF I normally grab so 
my logger imported it as England... And I see it was uploaded as 
England....

Of course I don't need these countries confirmed for DXCC purposes or 
for 2008 band credits, but if it was one of the higher bands I may well 
do (you don't work GU on 10m every day...).

I am not sure how this problem can be addressed, but it seems yet 
another reason not to have GB to be a global UK prefix.

(now duck below the bench..).

73 Dave G3YMC

http://www.davesergeant.com