Author: Alan, 5B4AHJ
Argentina uses the first letter of the suffix to specify the area the station is located in.
If the first letter of the suffix is 'Z', the station is located in one of the Antarctic entities.
In the case of callsigns with a two-letter suffix, the Antarctic entity is then specified by the second letter of the suffix, as follows:
Antarctica: B, D, E, F, H, J, K, L, N, P, Q, R, U, V, W, X
South Orkney: A, G, M
South Sandwich Is: Y
South Shetland Is: C, I, O, S, T
The callsign possibilities are summarised below:
| ADIF Entity Name | ADIF DXCC Code | Callsigns | Whitelisted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antarctica | 13 | L[O-W][0-9]Z[B, D, E, F, H, J, K, L, N, P, Q, R, U, V, W, X] | |
| South Orkney Is | 238 | [AY, AZ, L[O:W]][0:9]Z[A, G, M] | ✅ |
| South Sandwich Islands | 240 | [AY, AZ, L[O:W]][0:9]ZY | ✅ |
| South Shetland Islands | 241 | [AY, AZ, L[O:W]][0:9]Z[C, I, O, S, T] |
The above information is taken from the DX NEWS-SHEET, No. 193, dated 1965-11-30, published by Geoff Watts.
Club Log maps all the above callsign possibilities by a set of software rules, or by callsign exceptions in the case of whitelisted (✅ ) entities.
The mappings performed by software rules are not reflected in cty.xml.
CQ Magazine, dated March, 1962, has more detailed information:
| Suffix | Base | DXCC Entity |
| ZA, ZG, ZM | Laurie Island | South Orkney |
| ZC, ZI, ZO | Deception Island | South Shetlands |
| ZB, ZH, ZN | Observatory Island, Melchior | Antarctica |
| ZE, ZK, ZQ | Almirante Brown | Antarctica |
| ZF, ZL, ZR, ZU, ZV | Bahia Esperanza | Antarctica |
| ZW | General Belgrano, Terra del Coats | Antarctica |
| ZY | South Sandwich |
There is a small number of exceptions to the above rules, which Club Log handles in the usual way.
Known exceptions are:
LU1ZA (March 1975)
Some callsigns only have a single letter (ie Z only) suffix.
There is also a small number of callsigns with a three-letter suffix, e.g. LU1ZAB.
Club Log maps these by default to Antarctica.
The callsign possibilities are summarised below:
| Default ADIF Entity Name | ADIF DXCC Code | Callsigns |
|---|---|---|
| Antarctica | 13 | [AY, AZ, L[O:W]][0:9]Z |
| Antarctica | 13 | [AY, AZ, L[O:W]][0:9]Z[A:Z][A:Z] |
Club Log uses callsign exceptions to map callsigns with one or three letter suffices if they are not in Antarctica.
Acknowledgements
CQ Magazine
DX News Sheet, published by Geoff Watts