I am reluctant to give a definite “No!” because it is not for me to tell one chaser that they may not alert other chasers to the summit. But I am also reluctant to give a definite “Yes!” because that could be interpreted as soliciting a spot. Hence the indefinite “It’s entirely up to you” answer that you got.
Rarer DX stations in contests get spotted on the DX Cluster, unsolicited by third parties, for the benefit of non-contesters who might need the DXCC. I noted this a lot in last year’s CQWW CW.
It was good to work you yesterday Brian; thanks for the call.
I am afraid the the General Rules for RSGB Contests (specifically rule 4i) may not be as clear as they could be.
The way I read them does not specifically exclude using the information from the spotting systems in a way which lets you as a contestant know that a particular DX station is active on a particular frequency.
I fail to see, short of a significant increase in stations inspections, how they could determine if you were using any spotting facility in a purely passive manner anyway.
Here is a page (which is linked from the rules) on the VHFCC website that gives you a flavour of what is permitted and what is not permitted when using the DXCluster:
In reply to G0LGS:
As Stewart as mentioned above,I think that if you are going on a summit do the SPOT after the contest has finished and not before.This is mentioned in the URL that he has posted,also there has been freqency spots during the contest.
This is not acceptable practice…My opinion ony.
A contester has no control over who spots him, how and when. If sanctions were to be applied to contesters who have been spotted then it would make it possible for a contester to eliminate a rival by arranging for him to be spotted - not that I think any contesters would do such a thing, but why provide the avenue for such gamesmanship?
I have only started contesting on VHF / UHF within the past couple of years & I feel that you can only be responsible for your own operating & following of the rules, & the spirit of the contest.
If another station, be it a DX station, another contester, or a SOTA chaser posts a spot on here or the DX cluster that was not solicited by yourself then you should not be held responsible for it. As Brian states, if that was the case, an unscrupulous contester could use it against a rival station.
Personally, when I am contesting I do not use this site, or the DX cluster & when operating on 50MHz I even disconnect my router as it throws out sproggies in various places on that band
There a few SOTA activators who take part in the RSGB contests & sometimes an alert will be posted beforehand indicating that they will be active from a particular summit during the contest. These alerts in my experience have never included a specific operating frequency, which I would see as a bit naughty, even if it may not be expressly forbidden.
Some of the larger contest stations tend to operate on or near to certain frequencies in every contest so a regular contester will soon know where to look for a particular station. That could be seen as an advantage, however it is one gained entirely by the contesters experience.
Being familiar with the callsigns of many SOTA activators, if I work a /P station that I know to be an activator I will ask if they are on a qualifying summit & if so I will claim the chaser contact. Many Activators are now familiar with my callsign as a chaser & will volunteer the information without needing to be asked, for which I am grateful. I would never spot an activator & give his / her exact operating frequency even if I was not taking part in a contest myself. I may post a spot stating the band & mode, but that would be all. As that situation has not arisen yet, I also like to think that I would ask the activator for permission before posting a spot.
In reply to MM0FMF:
Check QRZ.COM My name is John I live in Widnes in Cheshire I have had this call since January 1998…Sorry to have to tell you but George passed away on the 4th of July 2002.
De John G6VS
In reply to M0SGB:
Hi Steve.
Long time no chat/hear have been a member for quite awhile now,maybe I can do some of the summits with disabled access.been in and out of Hozzy since we last spoke…maybe bump into you on MN or VT.
cul M8TY 73 De John G6VS
