2024 Virginia QSO Party Call History File


A call history file contains call signs and exchange information that can be used with the N1MM Logger and possibly other contest logging software.

When you type a call sign and leave that field, the logger automatically fills the exchange field with the county or state listed in the call history file – just copy what the station sends, and verify or correct the prefilled field.

I wrote a program to read VAQP logs, and extract call signs and counties (states, if outside Virginia), and produce a call history file. This one came from seven large logs submitted following the 2023 QSO Party.

How to Get and Use the Call History File

  1. Right-click here. On the pop-up menu that appears, click the Save option (e.g., Save as, Save link as, Save to disk, etc.). Proceed to step 3 below.

  2. Oops! If, despite the instruction above, you left-clicked the link, the file will open in a new browser window. Don't panic! On the browser's menu, select File -> Save page as or similar to save the file to disk.

  3. Save the file to your logger program's call history folder. For N1MM Logger on Windows, the path is something like: C:\Users\UserName\Documents\N1MM Logger\CallHistoryFiles.

  4. Next, tell your logger the name of the call history file. In N1MM Logger do this when you create or open a log for a contest. Look on the Associated Files tab, and click the Change button next to the Call History File Name field. When the file dialog opens, navigate to the location where you saved the file.

  5. Finally, Select Config on the N1MM Logger main menu, then check Enable Call History Lookup to tell the logger to use the data.

Please Note

Some call signs appear more than once, but with different counties because the county was entered differently in different logs. This can occur if the station operated as Mobile or Expedition, moving from one location to another, or if the operator copied the exchange incorrectly.

There is no way to predict a Mobile or Expedition station's "correct" county for this year's call history file, so don't panic if the station sends an exchange that doesn't match the prefilled field. Just enter what he sends.

I cleaned up the call history file a bit, so you probably won't need to make many changes. For stations with county variations that were not obviously Mobile or Expedition, I changed the county to match a QRZ.com lookup. (The county is found on the Detail tab.)

Here is the official list of VAQP counties and cities with their abbreviations.

To check or change the county for call signs with variations in the call history file, do this:

  1. Open the call history file in a plain-text editor such as Notepad.

  2. Search for the   # ALT -->   that marks the duplicate entries with county variations. The "hash" (#) first character tells the logger that line is a comment, and to ignore it, so it won't read the variations. The logger reads the non-commented line above one or more commented lines with the same call sign.

  3. Type your preferred county abbreviation in place of the one on the non-commented line.

  4. Save the file when you have made all your changes.


Updated March 27, 2024