kb9mwr@gmail.com wrote:
It isn't meant as an automated tool. It was to aide me in lookup of calls. It outputs a list of invalid calls, which I manually reviewed.
Well, that is what I did as well. I ran a script and generated a mail message for the amprnet robot that I edited and sent. But that was before that change in the callsign assignment.
Here in the US, when you lookup a call that has been changed, the databases reference that. ex: http://callook.info/n9nof
That looks like a lot more convenient.
What you describe sounds like a headache to keep track of.
Well, what we have is stringent laws on "privacy". So, it is not allowed to publish personal data like name and address when looking up by callsign on an open Internet service. So, we get only license class and expiration date returned when checking a callsign at the local authority. When someone changes callsign and/or license class, we only see an entry that expired, and a new entry can only be found when the new call is known.
Sure it is a pain. Even the QSL bureau does not get this info, they have to rely on people reporting their callsign change to the bureau in order to route the cards. (a small advertisement appears in the club magazine to remind people of that)
One could lookup in QRZ.COM instead of the authority, but their info is kept uptodate only on manual action, so expired calls often remain there.
Rob