Can I ask why all spots for Norby have been deleted?
Mike GW0DSP
Hi Mike,
He isn’t doing a SOTA activation. This will shortly be automatic in SOTAwatch. There is a spotting facility specifically for GMA activations, and Norby is indeed spotted there.
Naturally, spots for GMA activations that are also valid SOTA activations are welcome.
73, Tom M1EYP
In reply to M1EYP:
Hi Tom
Please see my other post.
Phil
In reply to M1EYP:
Neither were you, so what’s the difference?
http://www.sotawatch.org/reflector.php?topic=2534#
Tom, behaviour such as deleting a spot just because it isn’t SOTA won’t help relations between SOTA and GMA.
Does this mean that when you are spotted for a school lesson session that any spots must be removed and will be?
Mike, GW0DSP
This issue is regarding use of the spotting facility, rather than the reflector. However, if the feeling is that my occasional updates/requests about the Year 7 Foundation project is not appropriate on the reflector, then I will accept and not use it again.
The answer to your last question is yes, when the process becomes automated, such spots will be automatically removed.
Tom M1EYP
In reply to M1EYP:
I regard SOTAwatch as a valuable tool and appreciate all information that can assist me as a chaser. In this respect information that a station signing /P is NOT on a SOTA is as useful to me as a genuine spot. In the past there have been comment s from other stations to the effect that “F6ABC/P is COTA” and this provides me with valuable advice that allows me the choice whether to work him or not.
There was confusion this morning because I originally spotted Norby at 1047 with a comment that this was a GMA summit only. After this was removed Phil arrived on the scene and commented that this summit was no longer valid, then Mike had to explain that it was a GMA summit.
I for one, would appreciate that all spots be allowed to remain otherwise we are throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
73
Roy G4SSH
In reply to GW0DSP:
Yes, Mike, when the automatic filter is installed it will be impossible to spot anything except a currently valid SOTA summit. Worthy causes such as Toms will then have to be spotted on the reflector.
Note my reply on the other topic, we hope more Associations will become active this year and the pressure on spots will become heavier, and we don’t want current activations pushed out of sight by non-SOTA spots (we have even had lighthouses in the past!) moving so far down the page they will not be noticed.
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to M1EYP:
No Tom, not the reflector. You were spotted by me on the spots page, hence the thread in the link above. I am not referring to the reflector at all.
For what it’s worth, I support non sota spots such as yours when helping the students, but surely we all have to be treated the same.
I am surprised to hear of a filter being applied to sideswipe any none sota spots. Is that a good way to encourage friendly relations with other schemes?
Mike
GW0DSP
In reply to G8ADD:
“we hope more Associations will become active this year and the pressure on spots will become heavier”
Hi Brian - I dont think this is or will be an issue. If I cant find what I want spotted on the home page, or if all recent spots are red, it is a simple case of clicking on “more spots” & reading albeit, a longer list.
How about reducing the current spots to one line of info, this would immediately double the number of spots for those too lazy or too busy to click the more spots button.
p.s. any chance of EA8 coming on board before 9th March? 
In reply to G4SSH:
Perfectly put Roy. I find this to be a worrying development for SOTA public relations.
73
Mike GW0DSP
In reply to G4SSH:
Yes Roy, and if your spot had remained I would have continued with the work I am in the middle of on my antennas and would have not dropped my tools and sat down to work DM/RP-295 on the 30m band. No disrespect to Norby, the management team or GMA but I am very busy with various things going around my place most days, and that is what makes SOTAWatch so useful.
Phil
In reply to G1INK:
On a very busy day even clicking on “more spots” will show red to the foot of the screen and this will happen more and more often. Scrolling down through a lot of spots including irrelevant ones makes it easy to miss some. Compacting the display would certainly save space and if it is considered worthwhile it will be added to the long list of jobs to be done in the back room!
I don’t know the current status of EA, its a very mountainous country and putting together summit lists can be a daunting job especialy if the summits are poorly documented. You might try contacting the person listed on the website for up to date information. With Marcs facilities new Associations could pop up much quicker nowadays!
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G8ADD:
Brian, with all due respect, when was the last time the spots were red to the bottom of the page, other than NP day? and although it is appreciated when the hard work is done to bring new associations on board, it doesn’t multiply the spots that much to cause concern. Look at the amount of activity from…
EI, HB0, OD, SV, W2, ZS, hardly a floodtide.
73
Mike GW0DSP
In reply to G8ADD:
Yes, Mike, when the automatic filter is installed it will be
impossible to spot anything except a currently valid SOTA summit.
So how will anybody spot that they’ve heard what they are pretty sure is a SOTA activation but are not sure of the summit?
At the weekend I thought I heard CQ SOTA on 5.3985 but the signal was buried in the noise and impossible to work. Nobody seemed to be going back though. Since it is well known that many chasers come out of the woodwork when a spot appears, I thought it might be helpful to put up a speculative spot. In the end I was overtaken by events and a genuine spot appeared for G4RQJ (who is nearly always weak with me for some reason).
It seems a pity to block this kind of hint. Of course I could have guessed the likely callsign and summit based on the alerts, but that could have been very misleading.
You could use the comments field to convey that elements of your spot are tentative, Martyn.
In reply to M1EYP:
Tom, am I correct in presuming that the only possible way to filter out none sota is via the summit ref.? If so Martyn has a very good point.
How can we use the comments box if we can’t spot because we have heard the callsign, but we can’t get the summit ref.?
Mike GW0DSP
In reply to M1EYP:
You could use the comments field to convey that elements of your spot
are tentative, Martyn.
Other than pure guesswork based on alerts, I really didn’t have a clue. All I would have wanted to say was that 5.3985 might be worth a listen by somebody who doesn’t have S8 noise.
Since in the end I didn’t actually do it, I suppose I don’t have a very strong case, but I was just flagging it up as a potential concern with being too rigid.
You may also end up blocking spots with minor typos which render them technically wrong but where it is often clear what is meant.
It could be argued that until you have the summit ref firmly identified, then you shouldn’t be spotting. However, if you’ve got a good idea what the ref is, then you could spot it and mention in the comments that you’re not 100% sure.
One this is for sure, and it goes along the lines of things evolving that Brian mentioned earlier. That is, that if the policy of SOTAwatch auto-rejecting non-SOTA spots proves to spoil the use of the facility and the chasing experience, it will be reviewed and possibly reversed. If, as intended, it improves the use and clarity of the system, it will be retained.
We will monitor this, and if the judgement of the MT is proven wrong, we can change it.
Tom M1EYP
In reply to GW0DSP:
Well, I don’t know about your computer, but mine went to the bottom of the screen in red a couple of times over the rather active New Year period and come the Spring I expect it will be quite frequent. I’m not too handy with computers, it might be possible to go to a smaller print size by a click or two of the mouse but then I will be forced to read the screen with the bottom half of my bifocals and that causes neck strain!
I expect that if home grown activity from places like EI doesn’t pick up in the spring, it will be well augmented by holiday traffic. Some of the other Associations have low ham populations and may never appear frequently, but I confess I am disappointed by W2 - perhaps W6 will kickstart it eventually!
The MT can’t afford to look on SOTA as a snapshot in time, they have to look forward and be - excuse the expression - proactive (sounds like SOTA margarine!) so it might sometimes take a little while for the reasoning behind decisions to be seen as logical and reasonable. I can appreciate your concern that GMA should not feel slighted, as I can appreciate that some of these spots would help avoid things, but GMA + new Associations + increased activity will inevitably put a strain on the spotting facility.
73
Brian G8ADD