Hi Jim,.
 I understand that I can use the XML lookup, but when the band is open and I'm working stations quickly, especially on FT4 I don't have the time to look up and manually type in the grid.

My point is that JTAlert should not plug in incorrect CQ and ITU zones, derived from a callsign prefix, when a grid is not encountered in the report. That is assuming that it is JTAlert doing this before sending the QSO data to the logging program. Lets see what Laurie says on this topic.
73,
Rich - K1HTV