USA-VE State Database

Talking with some contest friends in Italy revealed that there is not an updated version of the database of pairs <call,state> for Wintest and other contest softwares. This kind of database serves to the exchange guessing feature that helps the operator to “know what to expect” in the course of a contest QSO.

The .dtb file from Wintest website is outdated, so why not maintain a constantly updated database? So here we are! The file is produced from two sources: the first one are logs that i receive after each contest from individuals or teams (a simple algorithm ensure that the state is correct in all probability) and the second are latest version of FCC (USA) and RAC (VE) database intersected with the MASTERUSVE.dta. So basically you have all states of calls included in the master file (well maintained by K6TU) plus state of OM who are not in the master but are in recents contests logs.

In particularly this file can be used for exchange guessing in ARRL DX CW/SSB and ARRL RTTY Roundup contests. You can rename (see Wintest reference) and use it in other contests like ARRL 10M.

Wintest Exchange guessing setup

To enable Exchange guessing in Wintest follow the official documentation here.

Edit the name of database as follow according to the contest and save in Wintest’s database directory.

ARRL_160_DX.DTB ARRL 160 m (contains US stations only)
ARRL-ALL.DTB    ARRL 10 m, CQWW 160 m contests, NA Sprint, NCCC Sprint
ARRL-DX.DTB     ARRL DX contest (use if you are inside US/VE)
ARRL-USVE.DTB   ARRL DX contest (use if you are outside US/VE), ARRL RTTY Roundup

Dxlog.net Exchange guessing setup

Setting up the database for Dxlog.net is simpler, just rename the .dtb file to USA-VE_db.dtb and save in the Dxlog’s database directory.

To enable exchange guessing click on Tools -> Exchange Guessing. More info here.

N1MM Call History setup

N1MM and N1MM+ prefills the exchange through the Call History Database. Just download the call history file above and follow the official documentation here to import correctly the db to N1MM. (NB! Make sure you enable call history lookup after importing it!)