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QRZ Callsign Database Policy Change

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by AA7BQ, Jun 17, 2011.

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  1. K2NCC

    K2NCC Ham Member QRZ Page

    Still works fine with HRD here. Be sure to open a tab browser and login to QRZ.com within the DM780 program.

    60 bucks a year for an electronic phone-book is a bit much. hamcall.net is 80 bucks a year. I understand Fred charges what he needs to in order to keep the services running. But is it worth it to auto-fill your logbook?

    Callsign searches are about the only QRZ.com service I use. I'll miss it if it goes away from my logging software, but I'll never pay for it. I'd rather donate when I can. Convenient, but I lived decades without it and can do so again.

    However, I think the change is a good one. At the very least, one has to be a "member" of QRZ.com in order to see my details, which is a privacy plus feature to me.
     
  2. VK4ATH

    VK4ATH Ham Member QRZ Page

    Hi Fred,
    you are on doing the right thing by making the changes, We need all the help we can get to stop any spammers from getting into the System, Keep up the great work,
    Thanks Tom
     
  3. IK2GXE

    IK2GXE Ham Member QRZ Page

    Good Morning, QRZ.com is fantastic, but now with DM780 and the login i can automatically download only the name but not the qth...Why??? 73' to all....
     
  4. M1WML

    M1WML Ham Member QRZ Page

    great idea fred..

    this is a great idea fred.. but should have been done adges ago..
    qrz is a great site with loads of topics and info for the radio ham community..
    keep up the good work fred..
     
  5. KX0DW

    KX0DW QRZ Lifetime Member #212 Platinum Subscriber Life Member QRZ Page

    XML subscription is only $29.95/year....I don't know where this $59.99 comes from.

    Dave
    K3DCW
     
  6. W8RID

    W8RID Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Fred:

    This is a GREAT thing you have done!!! Please keep up the good work on keeping our interests and data safe.
    HRD is working fine here with your changes.
    You are always going to have the "Haters". Good services are not free and I think this is a GREAT service. I would like to get all my utilities for free too but we all know that is not going to happen. Great service is hard to come by. So if you have to register or pay the $29.99/yr for XML subscription I'm fine with that.
    I am an XML Subscriber for 2 years now and it is the best investment I have made for the price.

    Keep up the Great work and don't listen to the naysayers.

    Bob
     
  7. KD4SM

    KD4SM Ham Member QRZ Page

    XML is $29.95 per year. What do you get with your $29.95 per year?

    - 24 hour access to the call sign database, which as we all know is the most complete worldwide amateur radio database there is.
    - Access to the database even when QRZ.com is down for maintenance or other issues. Many times, QRZ is doing updates and XML still does lookups.
    - It is fast, and it works with all major logging programs. HRD, DM780, DX Keeper, and many more have areas where you enter your QRZ username and password and it performs your lookups for you. As for fast, it completes the fields as soon as you tab off of the callsign field.
    - The $29.95 helps keep QRZ online. This is a huge website, with resources used by amateurs all over the world daily. No other amateur radio organization can provide so much information and resources in one place. Rarely do I have a QSO where I'm not told "My info is good on QRZ." or "Learn more about me at QRZ."

    I find the $29.95 a year for XML service to be much better spent money than $39.95 a year for QST. IMHO.

    Shane
     
  8. K4HB

    K4HB Ham Member QRZ Page

    WHAT? Being an old timer puts money in our pockets? Someone please clue me in, because I'm definitely missing something. I was first licensed in 1962, and have been continually licensed since 1980. I haven't made a dime from being a licensed ham radio operator. Instead, being active has cost me thousands. Not only for equipment, but the costs of QSLing alone has cost me thousands by paying for postage both ways. I've never tried to figure out exactly how much, because I don't even want to know. There are some in the world who know hams will send whatever they want to get their QSL card and take advantage of it. Some of them will return a small percentage of the requests they receive and pocket the money. These guys might be making a hefty sum, but the average ham will pay for the hobby rather than profit.

    In reality, some have extra cash and some don't. Generally speaking, how long you've been a ham has nothing to do with it other than what you spend on your station, to receive QSL cards, and to have them approved by the awards programs.

    Back to the subject at hand, QRZ made the right move to stop the bots from gathering our information.
     
  9. W6SDM

    W6SDM Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Being an Arizona resident, if Fred decides to run for Governor or the Senate, I want to be his campaign manager. Never have I seen 100% agreement when someone charges you money for something that used to be free. Isn't this why politicians exist? :)

    Seriously, I think it's a great move. My logging program logs me in so there isn't an issue there. My station is completely automated with Flex, logging software, and spotting software so that in many cases I don't even have to enter a call sign or rotate the beam. I am already an XML subscriber so it didn't cost anything but I would have been okay with it if it had.

    Now, Fred, do you have any discreet Twitter photos out there? I need to get started on name recognition before we announce your candidacy.
     
  10. DF1PAW

    DF1PAW Ham Member QRZ Page

    In my humble opinion that's simply not true: think about wikipedia, openstreetmap or many other FOSS community projects.

    qrz.com's data was provided by the community and the revenue is now privatized? If server load is to heavy simply dump the callsign database to a file and release it under creative commons license using bittorrent or one of the open source CDN (like sourceforge).

    vy 73,
    Andreas Weller, DF1PAW
     
  11. W8QAS

    W8QAS Ham Member QRZ Page

    Seriously? Are you still waiting for the government to Fed-Ex you a check too? Somebody has to invest a great deal of time and money to maintain this and you have the audacity to insist that it be a free service? I for one don't have a lot of money but realized the important value of someone's time and effort. And before I ever bought a radio, I paid for subscriptions to services like this so that I had a place to learn. Shame on you for that sense of entitlement! Get up off your butt and go volunteer to help maintain this site, then complain.



     
  12. W6SDM

    W6SDM Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    Harold, our newer colleagues don't remember the days when we used to thumb through an 8-year old Callbook (because a new one cost so much we couldn't afford one) only to find that the rare DX you worked wasn't listed. If you wanted to confirm your contact, your only option was to send a card to the bureau and hope that in a year or so you got one back.

    I spend an average of three dollars per QSL, not counting printing and envelopes, to send out a card overseas. QRZ.com ensures that it goes to the right address or QSL manager and my return rate at present is upward of 90%. What I spend on this service is money well spent.

    When I came back to amateur radio after being gone for a while, I found QRZ.com to be the most useful change that I had seen in the hobby. Plus, it's still a free service to anyone who wants it. Its' just that if you are going to be a heavy user, you need an XML subscription. Sounds fair to me.
     
  13. K2HAT

    K2HAT Premium Subscriber Volunteer Moderator Volunteer DX Helper QRZ Page

    Hi Fred,

    Sounds good to me, I am happy to pay to use QRZ.

    I also support the Amateur Hobby, by paying dues to 4 local clubs in my area,
    along with other ways of supporting the Hobby, like helping to move NTS Traffic.

    Field Day is Next weekend, support a local Club and visit, join in at a Field Day near You. :)

    I will be involved with the East Greenbush, NY Field Day, and will try to visit another couple of local sites too.

    http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?299270

    73 K2HAT
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2011
  14. W0VYE

    W0VYE Ham Member QRZ Page

    Wikipedia isn't "free"! There's a lot of time, effort, and money spent to make it availible. It's only free to you if you choose not to contribute in some form. Wiki and many others have made a political decision to price access at $0, but that's not the same thing. Do you think the internet itself is "free"?

    Some of us don't seem to understand a basic law of the universe: There's no free lunch!

    I'm retired and living on a lot less than almost everyone here. I have health issues. I'll almost certainly never hold a paying job again as long as I live. But I'm not going to go around whining about people not being willing to give me something for nothing. Life isn't for sissies.
     
  15. K3SR

    K3SR Ham Member QRZ Page

    Change in Database Policy

    OM,
    Thank you for the QRZ website. Rules work and your efforts are much appreciated. Charlie K3SR
     
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