Grid locator source ?

[F6EXV]

Hi all
I have been playing with FT8 today, and see that about 90% of the grids inserted by Log4OM are erroneous, compared to those sent by the station I am working.

Where does Log4OM get the grid info from ?
How can I correct that, so most (yes, some people do move) are correct ?

Thanks + 73
Paul F6EXV

[DF5WW]

If you have lookup enabled in your UDP settings the grid comes from the external source you are using. If not it comes from WSJT-X.

[N6VH]

If the grid isn't available from any source, Log4OM logs an arbitrary grid. I think it would be better to not log any grid (leave the field blank).

73,

Jim N6VH

[KI5IO]

Jim,

As I recall it tends to default to the approximate geographic center of the given country. Much more noticeable in large land-mass countries such as USA, Canada, Australia, etc..

I thought Lele had mostly resolved that situation, but then I don't run any FTxx modes anymore so don't have to deal with the errant grids via the FTxx APPs.

[F6EXV]

Hi all
Thanks replies.
Where do I cancel the lookup for the grids ?

73
Paul F6EXV

[N6VH]

Jim,

As I recall it tends to default to the approximate geographic center of the given country. Much more noticeable in large land-mass countries such as USA, Canada, Australia, etc..

I thought Lele had mostly resolved that situation, but then I don't run any FTxx modes anymore so don't have to deal with the errant grids via the FTxx APPs.

Nolan,

The FTxx apps normally have the grid sent by the station. IOW, when I call CQ, I send CQ N6VH DM12. If I answer someone else's CQ, I send <his call> N6VH DM12. Those grids are correctly sent to Log4OM, and correctly logged. However, some stations respond to a CQ with a signal report, and no grid. In that case, no grid is sent to Log4OM, so Log4OM adds an arbitrary grid. That is what I was talking about when I suggested leaving the grid field blank, instead of adding a grid.

If Paul is getting wrong grids logged when the correct grids are sent from WSJT-X / JTAlert (or another FTxx app), then something else is wrong somewhere. I don't use lookups, because they aren't always correct. With POTA, for example, the other station could easily be in another grid / county / state, etc.

I notice another issue with grids listed in the cluster. When I am spotted, my grid is spotted on the cluster as DM12, but it shows as DM05 in the cluster listing in Log4OM.

73,
Jim N6VH

[G4POP]

I notice another issue with grids listed in the cluster. When I am spotted, my grid is spotted on the cluster as DM12, but it shows as DM05 in the cluster listing in Log4OM.

Jim,

This is because to avoid unnesesary load on the cluster we dont check every cluster spot with QRZ etc the spot locator is derived from the prefix not the complete call sign and just provides an indication of direction until you activate a look up the complete call by clicking a spot.

[N6VH]

I notice another issue with grids listed in the cluster. When I am spotted, my grid is spotted on the cluster as DM12, but it shows as DM05 in the cluster listing in Log4OM.

Jim,

This is because to avoid unnesesary load on the cluster we dont check every cluster spot with QRZ etc the spot locator is derived from the prefix not the complete call sign and just provides an indication of direction until you activate a look up the complete call by clicking a spot.

Terry,

I understand not wanting to do a QRZ (or other) lookup. However, my point is that the correct grid is in the spot, at least on my CC user app. The spot (DM12) is transferred from CC user to Log4OM. However, the grid shows as DM05 in the Cluster (F8) tab. It is possible that the original spot did not have the grid in it and CC User is getting the spot from some other source. It is also possible that the grid is not transferred form CC User to Log4OM. In any case, Log4OM is arbitrarily putting an incorrect grid in the log. My point is, if Log4OM doesn't KNOW the grid (zone, etc), then it shouldn't "guess" at the data. IMHO, it is much better to have no data than incorrect data.

Note --- I edited this from the original post where I said the correct spot is in the Cluster (F8) tab, which it isn't.

73
Jim N6VH