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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. AA7BQ

    AA7BQ QRZ Founder QRZ HQ Staff QRZ Page

    Effective today, the QRZ Callsign database is changing the way we serve callsign data to our web (browser) based users. These changes have been brought on by a steadily increasing number of automated systems that access the QRZ data in so-called hidden or stealth mode. Such systems create a significant load on the QRZ servers and in doing so, deprive ordinary users of the performance that they deserve.

    These robots (or 'bots') come in many forms. Some are designed to scrape the entire website for every piece of information we have. Others, known as "log checkers" are programs written by hams that repeatedly query the QRZ servers while working through lists of 10's of thousands of callsigns, doing it as rapidly as possible. Finally, some logging programs provide "auto fill" features that use the QRZ servers in the background to fetch callsign data as soon as the user types in a callsign.

    For the past several years, QRZ has provided an XML Data service that was specifically designed to serve automated requests such as those described above. The XML service is an extremely lightweight and flexible system that places less than 1/10 of the load on our database that a "stealth" callsign lookup does on our regular pages. In addition, our advertisers are being deprived of ad exposures by these programs which routinely ignore or discard all such non-callsign data as they scrape our site.

    Today's changes address these issues with a new set of constraints that we have developed with the goal of providing fast and fair access to all QRZ users. The following is a summary of what these measures mean:
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    • Callsign data, including name, address, and other QSL and logging information will be shown only to registered users of QRZ who are logged in at the time of the request. Guests that have not logged in will still see the callsign Bio page and pictures, but no callsign information will be shown.
    • Registered users who are logged in will see the full detail on callsign pages.
    • Ham users, i.e. those whose user name matches a callsign in our database, are limited to 100 callsign page lookups per day, not including their own callsign page.
    • Non-ham users, i.e. users who aren't hams or don't have a username that matches one of our callsigns, will be limited to 25 callsign lookups per day.
    • QRZ subscribers, of any type, are granted unlimited daily access to the QRZ callsign data.

    These limits are designed for fairness and the vast majority of our ham users will never be affected by them, aside from the new requirement that you must be logged in to see callsign data. Note as well that when looking up or viewing your own callsign page that the act does not count against your daily lookup limit.

    We ask for your support in accepting these changes and understanding that they were necessary in order to maintain the high level of service and support that our users have grown accustomed to.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 29, 2015
    AA7BQ, Jun 17, 2011
    #1
    SP2IRG, DL6CM, EA1FNF and 4 others like this.
  2. N4RZB

    N4RZB Ham Member QRZ Page

    :cool: I think this the best Idea you guy's have come up with because there are spam bot's out there and the more we kill the better :cool:
     
    N4RZB, Jun 17, 2011
    #2
    SP2GTJ, IW1EBE and EA1AAO like this.
  3. AA6DX/SK2022

    AA6DX/SK2022 Ham Member QRZ Page

    We in the Amateur Radio community sincerely appreciate the ongoing service(S) QRZ dot COM provides... The "bad guys" out there keep on keeping on, and it is important to not let them ruin sites such as QRZ! Thank you---es 73! Mark Nelson AA6DX - FAR Northern California.
     
    AA6DX/SK2022, Jun 17, 2011
    #3
    IW1EBE likes this.
  4. K4VO

    K4VO Guest

    I don't know why so many people think there should be a free lunch.
    Keep up the good work!
     
    K4VO, Jun 17, 2011
    #4
    IW1EBE likes this.
  5. KA0HCP

    KA0HCP XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Eminently reasonable. In any case, I just subscribed to the xml service. I don't want to lose the Zed!

    Bill
     
    KA0HCP, Jun 17, 2011
    #5
    IW1EBE likes this.
  6. N5YG

    N5YG Ham Member QRZ Page

    Thanks Fred, I believe this is needed. FYI, when NOT signed in, the address is still available when selecting "Other W5..." Again, thanks for all you and your staff accomplish every day.

    Mike W5EHM
     
    N5YG, Jun 17, 2011
    #6
  7. KD4WDG

    KD4WDG Ham Member QRZ Page

    MOR POWER TO YOU

    Fred,

    Just put the Q&A tab back at the top of the page.

    THANKS IN ADVANCE

    KD4WDG
     
    KD4WDG, Jun 17, 2011
    #7
    KC4APH and DL6CM like this.
  8. KQ4X

    KQ4X Guest

    Sounds like a good plan, Fred. Thank you so much for providing such a great service to the ham community. It is GREAT to be able to see pictures and read about the ham you are talking to.

    Thanks again.

    Warren Bone, KQ4X in Tennessee, USA
     
    KQ4X, Jun 17, 2011
    #8
  9. W1LVT

    W1LVT Ham Member QRZ Page

    Excellent move, Fred! QRZ.COM is a fantastic service to the community and I really appreciate it.
     
    W1LVT, Jun 17, 2011
    #9
  10. WA1GS

    WA1GS Premium Subscriber QRZ Page

    I understand the reason for the change. How do I get my logging program (EasyLog5) to still automatically insert the name and QTH from QRZ.com.Even when I log in to QRZ.com, my logging program does not recognize the data. Thanks. Guy Smiley WA1GS
     
    WA1GS, Jun 18, 2011
    #10
    IW1EBE likes this.
  11. N7DC

    N7DC Ham Member QRZ Page

    new constrictutions

    As a regular user, via the DXLab programs, I hope this will not affect me all that much. I do have my system set up to automatically look up all calls which I double click on the SpotCollector page. I am down to only needing 4 countries, so those numbers have decreased considerably the past couple of years. I do, on occasion, get into a 6 meter contest, and QRZ.com is usually the only way I know what state those contacts are in, but even then, I seldom would work more than 150 of them on a weekend. I have in the past, as what I hoped was a help in paying for the playing, clicked on ads on the web pages. I know others that have been doing the exact same thing, and would remind you that this might change those habits, especially if they normally would look at more than 150 call signs a day and find themselves locked out. I also use the page to attempt to find valid email addresses, to ask others as to status of cards I have been expecting, or even to ask for schedules, etc. Sadly, a very large percentage of emails addressed that way, bounce. Those who have listed their email addresses apparently need to be reminded to update them, when they change IP companies. Meanwhile thanks for being there.
     
    N7DC, Jun 18, 2011
    #11
  12. NT1K

    NT1K Ham Member QRZ Page

    Great, I'm glad because it makes me feel that I didn't waste my money on a XML subscription. Now it's worth having.
     
    NT1K, Jun 18, 2011
    #12
  13. K5YY

    K5YY Ham Member QRZ Page

    I thoroughly enjoy the information on QRZ and appreciate the effort to deselect abusers of the data contained on the QRZ.com site. The most important part I use is the callsign lookup and bio browsing and the addresses for QSLing to. The email link is a nice feature too. Again, thanks for the website.
     
    K5YY, Jun 18, 2011
    #13
  14. N4DLT

    N4DLT XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    I use Ham Radio Deluxe for logging. How do I get HRD to insert the QTH and other data as I log contacts? Was working great before. Do I have to make a change to HRD someplace? HELP!!!
     
    N4DLT, Jun 18, 2011
    #14
  15. K7VC

    K7VC Ham Member QRZ Page

    No problem, Fred, just be sure that I am not automatically logged out ofter I have logged in. Every couple of days it seems I have to log back in again.

    Dick
     
    K7VC, Jun 18, 2011
    #15
    YC1FBF and YG9EPJ like this.
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