Lookup Provider Differences

[rlandquist]

I just started testing HAMRS and like it alot!
In testing the automatic lookup when entering their callsign, I have noticed different results, and I am wondering if it is specific to me or if this is normal.
QRZ - Operator is undefined and only the QTH and State are populated.
I created accounts for the other 2 options and found the following:
HamDB - long delay before information is populated, but not county
HamQTH - seems to work best, all fields seem to be filled in correctly and a very quick response.

[KZ3L]

Welcome! HAMRS is a great app—I’ve used it for over 65 POTA activations now and it has worked great for me.

Each of the lookup services has its own quirks, as you’ve seen.

• HamDB - Doesn’t have county info and is limited to call signs from the US and four other countries

• HamQTH - I’m not sure where their records originate or what countries they cover, but they do allow users to self-update any changes. I think only first names come through though when looking up a call sign.

• QRZ.com - Won’t populate grid squares unless you are a paid subscriber to their service. For some reason names aren’t coming through either—but they used to. I’m not sure what’s up with that. @jarrett, any insight on this?

As for speed, I haven’t noticed much difference between HamDB and HamQTH. Personally I use HamDB since County info isn’t that important to me.

[Jarrett]

Looking at the QRZ response for a non-subscriber:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<QRZDatabase version="1.36" xmlns="http://xmldata.qrz.com">
    <Callsign>
        <call>KB0ICT</call>
        <fname>Jarrett D</fname>
        <name>Green</name>
        <addr2>WICHITA</addr2>
        <state>KS</state>
        <country>United States</country>
    </Callsign>
    <Session>
        <Key>3108e197896bd95ba92cab7d1f49194b</Key>
        <Count>35</Count>
        <SubExp>non-subscriber</SubExp>
        <Message>A subscription is required to access the complete record.</Message>
        <GMTime>Fri Mar 25 02:20:15 2022</GMTime>
        <Remark>cpu: 0.016s</Remark>
    </Session>
</QRZDatabase>

You should get a call back, IF you’re username and password are correct for QRZ (the profile page will let you know if they are not). Can you give an example of a call that you looked up in QRZ that returned undefined?

[KZ3L]

My own call sign, for example. (I am an unpaid registered user.)

[Jarrett]

Found it! Go it fixed in this upcoming release. Thanks both of you!

[rlandquist]

Glad to be of service!
Thanks for creating this app. It will be very helpful to me.