*DRAFT* *DRAFT* *DRAFT* *DRAFT* *DRAFT* *DRAFT* *DRAFT* If you can't find a HAM list for YOUR area here but would like to have one, email me a pure-text "control file" which follows the rules explained below (between the pair of "cut here" lines). GENERAL NOTES: * NOTHING described herein requires UPPER- or lower-case letters, but for convenience and readability I have used UPPER-CASE for keywords, titles, and HAM callsigns and lower- or mixed-case for almost everything else. * Except for some lines which MUST be indented by one or more spaces, SPACING is relatively UNimportant. * Totally-blank lines are occasionally used to make things more readable, but they are ALWAYS totally ignored! * Lines in the following example have been numbered to assist the explanation which follows the second "cut here" line: * "|" represents the actual left margin of lines in the control file * Keywords *MUST* BE FOLLOWED BY AT LEAST ONE SPACE (more are acceptable) * MUST-BE-INDENTED LINES *MUST* BEGIN WITH AT LEAST ONE SPACE (more are OK) * If a keyword is repeated, the LAST one is used (for example, note the first two lines below) EXAMPLE CONTROL FILE (between the "cut here" lines): ------------ cut here ------------ cut here ------------ cut here ------------ 1 |TITLE You can write anything here you want, but the following is useful: 2 |TITLE HAMS LIVING NEAR MANHATTAN AND SURROUNDING TOWNS (BUT NOT TOPEKA!) 3 | 4 |REQUESTER-CALL W0PBV 5 |REQUESTER-NAME Myron A. Calhoun 6 |REQUESTER-ADRS 2001 Dunbar Road; Manhattan, KS 66502-3907 7 |REQUESTER-EMAIL mcalhoun@sdf.org 8 | 9 |INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING ZIPCODES 10 |------------------------------ 11 | 67432 CY Clay Center 12 | 66441 You can write anything here you want, but naming the county 13 | 66535 and giving each county's abbreviation seems to be useful 14 | 66536 PT St Marys 15 | 66502 RL Manhattan & Zeandale 16 | 66503 RL Manhattan & Keats 17 | 66505 RL Manhattan 18 | 19 |EXCLUDE THESE HAMS FROM THIS LIST 20 |--------------------------------- 21 | F1GHI ValJean, Jean Returned to France 22 | A0BCD John Doe [Retired and spends most of his time in Florida] 23 | EF4HEX I'm superstitious 24 | 25 |I SIMPLY DON'T WANT TO SEE THE FOLLOWING IN MY LIST! 26 |---------------------------------------------------- 27 | N0SEX I'm too old 28 | XY4BAD One is known by the associates one keeps ----------- cut here ------------ cut here ------------ cut here ------------ EXPLANATIONS BY LINE NUMBER(S): 3/8/18/24/29: ANY number of blank lines may appear ANYwhere in the control file to make it more readable, but ALL blank lines are ALWAYS ignored! 1: The LEFT-JUSTIFIED keyword "TITLE " signals that the remainder of the line (i.e., everything to the right of "TITLE ") should appear at the top of each output page. 2: NOTES: Control-file lines must NOT exceed 80 characters in length. If more than one title line is given, the last one wins! 4/5/6/7: The "REQUESTER-CALL ", "REQUESTER-NAME ", "REQUESTER-ADDRESS ", and "REQUESTER-EMAIL " lines can be in ANY order, but, again, the above- given order seems reasonable. When your output is prepared, it will be placed on a special webpage (currently < http://mcalhoun.sdf.org/HAMS > ) AND you can either download it at your convenience or (someday, maybe?) a copy will be sent to the email address given. 10/20/25/26: Since these left-justified lines do NOT start with "TITLE ", "REQUESTER-whatever ", "INCLUDE ", or "EXCLUDE ", they are ignored. You can use such lines to add information to the control file or to make the control file more readable, but they are otherwise totally ignored and do NOT affect the output in any way nor do they appear in the output. 9: The LEFT-JUSTIFIED "INCLUDE " line signals the start of a list of zipcodes. NOTE: If more than one "INCLUDE " line is found, the zipcode list just gets longer. 11-17: MUST-BE-INDENTED lines following an "INCLUDE " line MUST be five-digit zipcodes; HAMs who live in those zipcodes will appear in the output IF they are NOT in the EXCLUDEd list described later. NOTE: The order of the zipcode(s) is absolutely UNimportant, and repeated/duplicate zipcodes are ignored. FWIW, I tried using town NAMES instead of zipcodes until I learned that towns in the FCC database are OFTEN misspelled! I have found one incorrect zipcode (an apartment complex in Olathe, KS, carries a Manhattan, KS zipcode), but zipcodes seem to be more accurate than town names in the FCC database. 19: An OPTIONAL left-justified "EXCLUDE " line signals the start of a list of callsigns which will NOT appear in your output even though the FCC database claims they are in one of the named zipcodes. If no callsigns are to be excluded, then NO "EXCLUDE " line needs to appear in the control file ... but if one did, it would make absolutely no difference to the output. NOTE: If more than one EXCLUDE line is found, the excluded callsign list just gets longer. 21-23: MUST-BE-INDENTED lines following EXCLUDE lines are a list of callsigns of HAMs which should NOT appear in the output. 25: Was mentioned earlier (it is ignored because it does NOT start with one of the "key" words) 27-28: Because lines 25-26 did not start with a keyword, these additional MUST-BE-INDENTED lines basically follow the earlier EXCLUDE line, so they are a continuation of the list of callsigns of HAMs which should NOT appear in the output. NOTES: The order of the callsigns to be excluded is absolutely UNimportant. Duplicate/repeated callsigns are ignored. "Stuff" to the right of callsign(s) is also ignored. This is a way to keep known-dead HAMs, whose license can remain "active" in the FCC database for up to TEN YEARS after they die (plus a TWO-YEAR "grace period") from cluttering your list. SPECIAL NOTE: If you ABSOLUTELY KNOW *WITHOUT A DOUBT* the callsigns of deceased HAMs in your area, PLEASE TELL ME. My program has the capability of deleting those entries from my local copy of the FCC database during the monthly download process so that such known-dead HAMs would not appear in anyone's list. After my program has accepted and processed a control file, it then searches the FCC database for HAMs who live in the specified zipcode(s) but are NOT on the EXCLUDEd-callsign list and creates ONE output file containing the various output versions (see below) separated by a new-page character which most printers should understand (a control-L at the left margin). Currently, SIX different versions of the requested information, TITLEd as requested and separated by new-page breaks, are written to the output file (although NOT necessarily in the order shown): * A "compressed" list of HAMs in alphabetized callsign order; example: HAMS LIVING IN/NEAR MANHATTAN AND SURROUNDING TOWNS (BUT *NOT* TOPEKA!) ======================================================================= CALLSIGN ORDER (COMPRESSED) FCC date: --------------------------- 17Sep2017 LICENSE CALL CLASS NAMES TOWNS ----- ----- ----------------------------------------------- -------------------- AA0MI (E) BLANKLEY, KEITH L WAMEGO AA0TA (E) DUGAS, PHILLIP P JUNCTION CITY [snip] * An "expanded" list of HAMs in alphabetized callsign order; example: HAMS LIVING IN/NEAR MANHATTAN AND SURROUNDING TOWNS (BUT *NOT* TOPEKA!) ======================================================================= CALLSIGN ORDER (EXPANDED) FCC date: ------------------------- 17Sep2017 LICENSE NAMES and TOWNS and CALL CLASS ADDRESSES ST ZIPS EXPIRES ----- ----- ----------------------------------------------- -------------------- AA0MI (E) BLANKLEY, KEITH L WAMEGO 14120 AMANDA LN KS 66547 31Jul2025 AA0TA (E) DUGAS, PHILLIP P JUNCTION CITY 1322 SUNSHINE ST KS 66441 27May2025 [snip] * An "expanded" list of HAMs whose licenses have expired but which are still in the FCC database * An "expanded" list of HAMs in zipcode order * An "expanded" list of HAMs in alphabetized town name order * An "expanded" list of HAMs in alphabetized last name * Plus several summaries. Someday I hope to include another list: a list of CHANGES from the previous list. Possible "changes" might include just-licensed HAMs, HAMs whose call- signs have changed, HAMS whose licenses AND grace periods have expired, etc. OTHER OUTPUT(S) ARE POSSIBLE; CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTION(S)!