As an exercise in quality control of the SOTA Database after my recent CT/ES Tour I have just spent about 30 minutes doing a check via the SOTA Database on my operation as CT7/G4OBK/P.
I used the “Show who chased me” button in my activator log to access a list of SOTA Chasers who have claimed to have worked me on my CT/ES Tour. What an excellent database function this is. I commend this method of checking your activations have been correctly logged by chasers to all activators as a way of improving the standard of operating in SOTA and to avoid the so called “Phantom QSOs” being claimed, which unfortunately happens from time to time with certain operators.
Out of the 216 QSOs I completed on the tour there are at least 12 logging errors which have been made by chasers as follows:
Day 1 11/01/2016
CT/ES-010 M3FEH 0925Z 20M SSB LOGGED IN ERROR AS CT7/G4OBX/P BY M3FEH
CT/ES-010 DK7ZH 1540Z 20M CW (I WAS ON ES-002 AT THAT TIME) NO QSO MADE
CT/ES-001 PA0B 1224Z 20M CW QSO CLAIMED - NO QSO MADE
CT/ES-001 F6EAZ 1233Z 20M CW QSO CLAIMED - NO QSO MADE
CT/ES-002 DL2YBG 1541Z 20M CW QSO CLAIMED - NO QSO MADE
Day 2 12/01/2016
CT/ES-007 M3FEH 0916Z 20M SSB LOGGED IN ERROR AS CT7/G4OBX/P BY M3FEH
CT/ES-004 DL2HWI 1040Z 30M CW QSO CLAIMED - NO QSO MADE
CT/ES-004 M3FEH 1044Z 20M SSB LOGGED IN ERROR AS CT7/G4OBX/P BY M3FEH
CT/ES-006 M3FEH 1240Z 20M SSB LOGGED IN ERROR AS CT7/G4OBX/P BY M3FEH
CT/ES-005 M3FEH 1534Z 20M SSB LOGGED IN ERROR AS CT7/G4OBX/P BY M3FEH
Day 3 13/01/2016
CT/ES-008 DL8DXL 0918Z 30M CW QSO CLAIMED - NO QSO MADE
CT/ES-008 M3FEH 0929Z 20M SSB LOGGED IN ERROR AS CT7/G4OBX/P BY M3FEH
CT/ES-003 DL3HXX 1327Z 30M CW QSO CLAIMED - NO QSO MADE
Could the above operators please correct their database entries. I will recheck your logs have been corrected in one weeks time. If not corrected I will ask the database manager if he is able to remove the errors himself.
In addition, at the bottom of the “Show who chased me” page there is a list of contacts claimed for a particular summit that day. See example below where there were two of us operating from the same summit. You will see the typo in my callsign is shown as G4OBX by M3FEH, it stands out. I’m sure Karl will correct the callsign typo error as I know he likes to see the asterisk beside his contacts.
A fundamental question here is should the incorrectly logged callsigns be edited and corrected by the chaser, or should they simply be deleted as busted calls / not correctly completed QSOs?
This would need oversight by someone in authority which would place further demands on an MT Member who are no doubt already stretched for spare time due to their other duties.
In the case of M3FEH this has to be a transcription error. The others are in my opinion reception errors as I heard several of these chasers calling me and I went back to them, however due to either their local noise or my lower power they could could hear me asking for a confirmation. Hence they did not get the QSO they needed. Their calls (in most cases) were listed but crossed out in my paper logbook. In the case of:
CT/ES-010 DK7ZH 1540Z 20M CW (I WAS ON ES-002 AT THAT TIME) NO QSO MADE
I worked DK7ZH but I was on ES-002 at that time. DK7ZH logged me on ES-002 and also ES-010 at the same time. Probably a mistake rather than a deliberate attempt to claim another summit one hopes…
Interesting function, Phil, thanks for pointing this out.
I have spot checked a few of my 2015 SOTA activations.
Most errors seem to be straightforward typo’s but sometimes chasers log my call incorrectly and omit the /P or get the prefix wrong (when I’m operating SOTA abroad). A more frequent mistake is being logged with a GW prefix when I am MW somewhere on a Welsh SOTA. One chaser repeatedly logs only my home call and omits both prefix and /P (I did actually work him), obviously that entry will never match.
I log my activation manually and use the manual input to log the SOTA, typo’s are possible and I have corrected them when notified. I have on occasion attempted to contact chasers via email but email addresses are often not working anymore or there was no response.
I haven’t spotted any “claimed with no QSO” that would require me to cross check my logs again.
Best 73, Phil ON4TA
Yes Phil - very interesting. I think you probably get a lot more errors whether deliberate through fading signals, reading errors or typography in Morse than you do in Voice, and I believe you are mainly phone which explains your more accurate chasers logs. I do hope more activators do their own quality control and improve standards in SOTA.
When you start to look at some chasers logs closely they can be quite revealing… Without naming names or callsigns there is one prolific G Chaser who’s callsign is regularly logged wrongly when he is using CW. I’m not sure why that is, however to get the magic asterisk the G station chaser has on occasion logged some contacts using the callsign which the activator has sent back to him, which is not the callsign he used - so he gets the “valid” points. Hmmmm… but its not for me to complain, one hopes it gets spotted by the “authorities” and is addressed.
Now there’s a puzzle for you to pass the time on a miserable day, late afternoon, when there are few SOTA stations on the air… see if you can find the log. No further clues…
I was having a discussion about the SOTA Database with one of the top young UK DXers at FN last time I was there and he was impressed that we had the ability to cross check others logs for errors and confirmations - something you cannot do with the ARRL’s Logbook Of The World.
Are you a hunt and peck typist rather than a touch typist? If so X can look like K if you are just glancing at it while concentrating on your log or notes - I know, I’ve done it myself!
Karl - maybe you wrote it down and if your writing is like mine K can easily look like the X and when transposing to the computer you mistook it for X. Very simple error.
Yes, I would have thought it was misreading of a handwritten log too - and then electronic reproduction of the error once the first one was entered, as Karl suggested.
I’ll pass on your little challenge Phil. Feel free to tell me though - either on here or via PM.
Yes… I have a sometimes problem with ‘U’ and ‘V’ when I pencil things on the paper log. I now and try and make it clearer to me for later by making a big V and making a ‘U’ very square …oh well.
Cheers
Mike
In Mathematics the way to avoid this is to put a downward flick on the end of the V. Its often a problem when using the chain rule in calculus as you have to take dU and dV in the same equ.
We don’t have the best alphabet distinctive letters. I think that is why geek letters are used instead !
Isn’t learning where the keys are on a keyboard analagous to learning morse? Till you know where the keys are instinctively you’ll never be able to type. Just as if you don’t know the Morse alphabet you’ll never copy the code when you hear it.
If you don’t know where the keys are after a few weeks of hunt & peck and still need to look then you must have something wrong with your ability to learn and retain information. It’s the only explanation.
That is a bit harsh, Andy. I have been typing on QWERTY keyboards since 1958 and I still can’t do it without looking at the keyboard!
Mind you, I type with two fingers … one on each hand!
I recall, at school in the 1950s, the typewriters used to teach the girls to type all had blank keys … so they couldn’t cheat by looking at the keyboard. (Yes, in those days it was only girls who were taught typing skills.)
It’s interesting because there’s no way of knowing if it was a transcription error or logging error. Transcription errors should be correctet when you spot you have made one. People do fix logging errors too. In the grand scheme of things, such QSOs which may not be 100% kosher come out in the wash if the person involved has enough good QSOs.
The important thing about Phil’s original subject is it gets people checking their own logs and fixing them.
