Vanity HQ closing.

[w2xq]

First of all, hams are always reinventing the wheel! Thats what we do! Second of all there is no other site on the web that maps out every ham in a given zip code all at once. A list of entries you have to click on one by one is not the same as plotting them all on a map.

FWIW, I don't care to reinvent a wheel. Life's too short; too many other things to do. Having no need for or visiting the vanity call site -- I requested my call in 1976 after upgrading to Amateur Extra before the current vanity licensing procedure came into existence -- I didn't know that the now-closed web site mapped the licensees. The variables available on the FCC search page are more than sufficient for my needs, but that's me. Just trying to help. Your mileage may vary.

 

[N4CA]

First of all, hams are always reinventing the wheel!

Really? Is that why serial ports are still the standard, most hams still use Yahoo groups, and most ham websites look like they came out of the 1990s?


Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk 4

 

[AK9R]

Folks, let's keep this thread on topic. If you have something to post other than comments about Vanity HQ closing, please take it somewhere else.

 

[rapidcharger]

K3AOL, Ok you got me.

I have some bad news

Mike has said it will be too complicated for a hand-off, and he would like it to remain closed indefinently. He has appreciated my work in trying to get it backup, but he has said no. He will send me another email on his 100% decision before we give up all hope.

I did some personal research on the site and all I found was an index.php just giving that some saying at www.VanityHQ.com meaning everything was deleted, and/or hidden.

I will try to keep and maintain a steady contact, but in his email he sent me, he was very persuasive to leave it the way it is.

I will continue to post updates on everything I get from him.

But why!?

Too complicated of a handoff?
The tools he developed helped a lot of people. Why wouldn't he want to continue on letting them help people?

 

[ButlerAlerts]

Thats what I said rapidcharger, I told him I can learn anything (Since I know Scripting and Coding) but he has not emailed back.

 

[k4fv]

VanityHQ was a great resource and I'm sure Mike put a lot of effort into keeping it active for 14 years. Following the advice on his site and the list of available call signs I was able to receive my 1x2 call through the FCC lottery system. It was definitely of value to me and I've been licensed for over 35 years.

 

[Markinsac]

Another site, RadioQTH, is offering a lot of the functionality of VanityHQ.

RadioQTH Amateur Radio Vanity License Search

 

[AE7Q]

Death of VHQ

K3AOL, Ok you got me.

But why!?

Too complicated of a handoff?
The tools he developed helped a lot of people. Why wouldn't he want to continue on letting them help people?

Speaking from personal experience, there's a lot more to it than just re-hosting the tools. There's the FCC data, which is far from clean. Every so often, the FCC will include erroneous records that need to be filtered. Or, sometimes the the downloads will stop working and go unnoticed by the FCC for at least a week. Sometimes there is duplicate data. Or, the FCC will fail to update its list of codes that are used in the database. Note that there is little data integrity validation in the FCC's data. On my site, I have a list of the work-arounds and corrections I have had to make, in order to continue to use FCC data.

Handing off the website means a lot of support, probably much more than just maintaining it.

Finally, I think the constant work to prevent spammers on his open-message board, got to him; for the last several months the message board was closed, but the rest of the site was up.

Several times a week, I get requests to join my board from individuals who enter a garbage callsign (they're all rejected). These are the new "content spammers", who post innocuous messages with hidden links in order to increase the number of links to their site, in order to increase their search engine ranking from search engine web crawlers.

I of course wish Michael the best of luck. For years he performed a valuable and often thankless service to amateur radio.

 

[N4CA]

I think the constant work to prevent spammers on his open-message board, got to him; for the last several months the message board was closed, but the rest of the site was up.

Several times a week, I get requests to join my board from individuals who enter a garbage callsign (they're all rejected). These are the new "content spammers", who post innocuous messages with hidden links in order to increase the number of links to their site, in order to increase their search engine ranking from search engine web crawlers.

I of course wish Michael the best of luck. For years he performed a valuable and often thankless service to amateur radio.

Well thank you for your website!

 

[AK9R]

Dean, thanks for jumping into the conversation!

I used your web site quite a bit when I was searching for a vanity callsign. Very useful information!

 

[AK9R]

Guys, the plotting license holders on a map thread has been moved here:

http://forums.radioreference.com/ge...4583-amateur-radio-licensees-plotted-map.html