Following my experiences when activating G/WB-011 on 40m CW yesterday, and listening to other SOTA activators across Europe trying to make S2S QSOs through constant QRM and interruptions, it would perhaps do no harm to repeat the following:
CODE OF CONDUCT FOR SOTA CHASERS
I will listen, and listen, and then listen some more.
I will only call if I can copy the activating station properly.
I will not rely entirely on SOTAwatch spots and will be sure of the activating station’s callsign before calling.
I will not interfere with the activating station nor anyone calling him and
will never tune up on the activator’s frequency.
I will wait for the activator to end a contact before I call him.
I will always send my full callsign.
I will call once, and then listen for a reasonable interval. I will not call continuously.
I will not transmit when the activator calls another callsign, not mine.
I will not transmit when the activator queries a call sign not like mine.
I will be thankful if and when I do make a contact.
I will respect my fellow SOTA enthusiasts and conduct myself so as to earn their respect.
I will give priority to Summit-to-Summit (S2S) QSOs, and I will not call before the S2S QSO has been completed.
From my experience, the SOTA chasers are excellent in regards of the above. It is the WFF chasers that need to read and understand these guidelines, and why they would actually get worked more quickly if they adhered to them. SOTA pile-ups are a comparitive joy to manage from the activator’s side.
WFF = World Flora & Fauna, another amateur radio awards scheme. For some strange reason, the very mention of it often guarantees a huge (and unruly) pile-up on 20m CW, but rarely any interest on other bands! I tend to give the WFF reference on my 20m CW SOTA activations, after I’ve first worked the SOTA chasers, and want to do a little CW “training”!
It also makes for large and unruly pile-ups on 40m SSB, Tom. I don’t see the point of it myself, and think it stands for “Wallies Frenzy Fest” - well, it wasn’t actually “wallies” that I was thinking but lets draw a veil…
Similarly Brian, I don’t really get the appeal of WFF. SOTA, IOTA, CASHOTA, WAB, DXCC etc I can see the logic of, but WFF doesn’t quite seem to add up to me. However, no-one can deny the enormous interest it creates on HF, so it must have considerable appeal to a sizeable cohort of radio amateurs.
I had worked the pile-up down to the last 3 or 4 stations yesterday, but instead of sending their callsigns once only after my QRZ, they did so repeatedly. It was as though they sent their call, dropped key, but heard the end of someone else’s call, so they sent their’s again. And so on, the result being that all 3/4 stations repeated their own callsigns to me continually for two minutes at a time.
I had promised Rick M0RCP a lift back down to Keswick to meet up with his XYL, so I just sent “SRI QRM QRT”. But going back to my earlier point, this sort of stuff rarely goes on in SOTA pile-ups in my own recent experiences. It did about 3 years ago, but I was a much less experienced CW operator then, so part of that could have been down to me.
I had worked the pile-up down to the last 3 or 4 stations yesterday,
but instead of sending their callsigns once only after my QRZ, they
did so repeatedly. It was as though they sent their call, dropped
key, but heard the end of someone else’s call, so they sent their’s
again. And so on, the result being that all 3/4 stations repeated
their own callsigns to me continually for two minutes at a time.
These alligators are often on Dxpedition pileups; they watch the DXcluster, then they swich on their automatic keyer or use their computer, sending their call again and again. If you answer, they don’t reply because they often don’t know morse code. This is a ‘modern’ practice.
I thought the chasers calling me yesterday on 10.118 were very well behaved. In the past, sending a partial like DL1? would get the genuine DL1 stations calling along with many other chancers. Yesterday not a single station sent his call when it didn’t match the prefix I’d sent.
Just as well I didn’t know I was in GMFF-012 or that could have spoilt things good style!
Yes, I had both these problems yesterday. In a heavy part of the pile-up I could hear an RX1 prefix. I called “RX1?” and he came back. But his call was unreadable because a much stronger RK3 station replied every time. After three occurences of this, I called “PSE ONLY RX1”, and this did the trick. After working the RX1, I called “RK3?” several times - nothing! Only when I called CQ or QRZ again did the RK3 station call me again!
It is amazing how many stations with a partial nothing like the one you have asked for, come back at that point!
I agree with Andy - this rarely happens on SOTA activations, where the activator’s pile-up management is almost always respected and cooperated with by the chasers.
