DX4WIN 9.x POTA Reference Number Migration

These are instructions for updating the Parks on the Air (POTA) reference numbers to the current set being used by the POTA program. I suggest reading them all the way through at least once before performing the series of steps below.

1. Do not update any DX4WIN files at this time!
    
2. First, make a backup copy of your log file (<call>.DXL) and put it somewhere safe (portable USB drive, another partition, etc.). I can't stress this enough. If you make changes to the only copy of your log, and something goes wrong, there's no way to repair the damage.
    
3. Create a logbook report with just your Parks on the Air QSOs.
    
   1. Open the Logbook window (Window | Logbook)
      
   2. Right click and select Report Editor at the bottom. Select only the following fields:
      
      Date
      Time
      Callsign
      Band
      Mode
      Award
      AwdVal
      AwdStrng
   3. Use the F8 key to search your log for "Custom award" = POTA and "Custom award value" = '*'.
   4. Right-click on the logbook window to save the listing. This will contain all your POTA QSOS, showing the award (POTA), AwdVal (reference number) and AwdStrng (Name/Description). Remember the name of this file and where you saved it!
4. At this point, you can update the DX4WIN data files (Help | Check for Updates).
    
5. Create the same F8 search as above by selecting "POTA" in the "Custom award" field and '*' in the "Custom award value" field.
   
   The Custom award value is important. You might have logged a QSO with POTA as the Custom award, but left the Custom award value field blank. You might do this if you do not know the reference number or the reference number is not (yet) in the database. If you omit this part of the search, all of those QSOs will have the "POTA" Custom award removed.
    
6. Run the reference number conversion by using QSO | Multiple QSOs operations | Check Custom Awards. When it finishes, it will report the number of QSOs that were converted from the old POTA reference numbers to the new POTA reference numbers.
    
7. Repeat step #3 above. Save the listing file with a different name than you used in step #3 above. You may need to reference both files in case some of the POTA references did not convert correctly (see below).

IMPORTANT

Due to overlap between some of the old POTA reference numbers and the new POTA reference numbers, some of your QSOs may not convert properly. This happens when an existing (old) reference number like VE-0001 (Canada) matches a new reference number like VE-0001 (Venezuela). When this happens, DX4WIN will not convert the old reference number to a new one. You will have to change these yourself.

This is the list of OLD reference numbers that may not convert properly because of overlap:

New Reference Number	Old Reference Number	Old Entity	Old Name	New Entity	New Name
TW-0001	BV-0001	Taiwan	Kenting National Park	Bouvet	Bouvet Nature Reserve
CN-0001 (through) CN-0005	BY-0001 (through) BY-0005	China	The Great Locust Tree Roots Seeking Ancestor Garden World Heritage Site Taihu Lake National Lakeshore	Belarus	Belavezhskaya pushcha National Park Paleski dzyarzhauny radyyalagichna-`ekalagichny Other Conservation Area
CL-0001 (through) CL-0196	CA-0001 (through) CA-0196	Chile	Lauca National Park Embalse de Coihueco Park	Canada	Alaksen National Wildlife Area Duncan Escarpment Provincial Park
CU-0001 (through) CU-0457	CO-0001 (through) CO-0457	Cuba	Valle de Viñales National Park Museo Castillo de San Severino Historic Site	Columbia	Los Estoraques Natural Area Chairama Pueblito Archeological Reserve
IM-0001 (through) IM-0005	GD-0001 (through) GD-0005	Isle of Man	Glen Wyllin National Park Tynwald National Park and Arboretum National Park	Grenada	Levera National Park Gun Point Historic Site
CO-0001 (through) CO-0005	HK-0001 (through) HK-0005	Columbia	Los Estoraques Natural Area Humedal Maiciana Manacal Recreation Site	Hong Kong	Lantau Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
HN-0001 (through) HN-0058	HR-0001 (through) HR-0058	Honduras	Cusuco National Park Parque Nacional Congolón, Coyocutena y Piedra Parada	Croatia	Medvednica Nature Park Dolina Une Natura 2000
NL-0001 (through) NL-0058	PA-0001 (through) PA-0058	Netherlands	Schiermonnikoog National Park Vlieland Provincial Park	Panama	San Lorenzo Forest Reserve Tonosi Forest Reserve
BR-0001 (through) BR-0039	PY-0001 (through) PY-0039	Brazil	Alto Cariri National Conservation Area Marinho de Fernando de Noronha National Conservation Area	Paraguay	Bella Vista National Park Laguna Blanca Protected Landscape
SE-0001	SM-0001	Sweden	Abisko National Park	San Marino	Parco naturale di Montecchio Nature Park
GR-0001 (through) GR-0006	SV-0001 (through) SV-0006	Greece	Limni Koroneia National Wildlife Refuge Oros Beles Natura 2000	El Salvador	Montecristo National Park Walter Thilo Deininger National Park
IS-0001 (through) IS-0008	TF-0001 (through) TF-0008	Iceland	Herðubreiðalindir - Vatnajökulsþjóðgarður National Park Vestmannsvatn Nature Reserve	French Southern Territories	Martin De Vivies Base Provincial Glorioso Archipelago National Nature Reserve
RU-0001 (through) RU-0058	UA-0001 (through) UA-0058	Russian Federation	Alaniya National Park Zyuratkul National Park	Ukraine	Carpathian National Park Pryrichnyy Landscape Park
CA-0001 (through) CA-0055	VE-0001 (through) VE-0055	Canada	Alaksen National Wildlife Area Meanook National Wildlife Area	Venezuela	Henri Pittier National Park Simón Bolívar Park
IN-0001 (through) IN-0022	VU-0001 (through) VU-0022	India	Campbell Bay National Park Indravati (Kutru) National Park	Vanuatu	Vatthe Conservation Area Mystery Island National Conservation Area
RS-0001 (through) RS-0020	YT-0001 (through) YT-0020	Serbia	Fruska Gora National Park Tikvara Nature Park	Mayotte	Ilots Mtsamboro Provincial Park FORETS DE MAYOTTE FR3600182 National Nature Reserve

There are several way so resolve these conflicts. Here are a few suggestions:

1. Use F8 to search your DX4WIN log for each of the entities above while also selecting "POTA" in the "Custom award" field. Look for any of the exceptions above. For example, if you search for Canada POTA (Prefix=VE), and you see any Custom award values beginning with VE-, change them to begin with CA-.
    
2. Sort the two logbook listing files by AwdStrng and then display them side-by-side (open each listing using Excel or some other spreadsheet program). For the most part, if the POTA reference number was converted correctly, the "left" and "right" names should be the same. If the names do not match, see if the reference number is listed in the table above. If so, change the old reference number to the new reference number (left-hand column). Assuming you have enough screen room (width), you can put the two Excel windows next to each other (even if there is some overlap) to look for any mismatches.
    
3. David K2DBK suggests this method: "An easier way to check for conflicts was to import the list into Excel then enable Filter. In the park # field, it’s pretty quick to just type in the number of the first park in each range and see if anything shows up."

When you are satisfied with the results, perform the same F8 search as before:

Custom award       = POTA
Custom award value = *

Now select QSO | Multiple QSO Operations | Remove Custom Award error messages. This will erase the conversion messages from the "Notes for this QSO" field for the QSOs that were converted.

I realize that this may be a lot of work, but there is nothing in DX4WIN that can help you with this.