In reply to KU6J:
Eric, I’d have a question.
If you use another callsign, like the VE2SOTA ass. call VA2OTA, will the system autospot you?
Asking because I am posting an alert with my personal SOTAWATCH account but did post the callsign I’ll use for the activation.
In reply to VA2SG:
If you use another callsign, like the VE2SOTA ass. call VA2OTA, will
the system autospot you?Asking because I am posting an alert with my personal SOTAWATCH
account but did post the callsign I’ll use for the activation.
In that case you will get spotted. My software compares the callsign entered into the alert with the callsign heard and spotted by RBN. The callsign of the person who logged into Sotawatch and created the alert is not considered at all. For example, if you were to enter an alert for me (KU6J), then I would be spotted if I called CQ within the 2-hour window of the time you entered in that alert.
Note also that portable designators are stripped from both the alert callsign and the callsign heard and spotted by RBN for the purpose of making the ‘should a spot be send?’ comparison. For example, if you enter an alert for VA2OTA, you will still be spotted if you call CQ as VA2OTA, VA2OTA/P or even W1/VA2OTA/P. Similarly, if you enter the alert as VA2OTA/P and call CQ as VA2OTA or W1/VA2OTA, you will still be spotted.
73,
Eric KU6J
In reply to KU6J:
Correction: It is actually a 4-hour window (two hours before and two hours after the time of the alert). This is configurable, by the way. Two hours on each side of the alert time seemed like a reasonable number to allow the activator plenty of time to get spotted on their activation even if they are running a bit early or late, while still preventing them from being spotted when they return home and call CQ with the intent of telling the world how successful their activation was. 
Also, I meant to type ‘should a spot be sent?’ instead of ‘should a spot be send?’
73,
Eric KU6J
In reply to KU6J:
Thanks Eric. Awesome stuff, adding more fun. Cheers.
In reply to VA2SG:
Just been looking at today’s spots. The RBNgate is certainly working well.
I would like to see some of the redundant data in the comment trimmed e.g. “CQ CQ at 20wpm” and possibly a bit of trimming of the rest to something like “S/N 16dB @ TU2EF {@RBNgate}” - but that is just a personal preference!
Awesome work. Thanks.
73
Richard
G3CWI
In reply to G3CWI:
I like the speed being in there, but perhaps it’s redundant given that activators will QRS if needed?
In reply to LA9XSA:
There is an improved SOTAwatch on beta test which improves the display readability when there are lots of spots. The beta seems reliable but Jon has some more improvements in store so we haven’t announced how to view this different display yet. Please bare with us a bit longer before requesting Eric changes his spot format.
Andy, MM0FMF
obo SOTA MT
In reply to MM0FMF:
Please bare with us a bit longer before requesting Eric changes his spot format.
It’s too cold today for communal SOTA nudity! 
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to LA9XSA: Didn’t notice it listening to, and trying to chase, an HB9 yesterday. As my limit at the moment is about 15wpm on a good day, I’m very aware that, while some activators will QRS, many do not. I, too, find the speed usefull.
Regards, Dave, G6DTN
In reply to M0DFA: But please call even when anyone is at 23 or more, which may be due to quickly working a pileup. But your 15wpm-call will be answered in much less than 23 so we would make a qso, promised. Cu!
Strange Santa-wish for sotawatch: An opt-out for being spotted - for those days, when it is more for a good hike and only a little, very laid back operation with the regular 40-50 callers coming along from time to time - and not all at once - which IS nice at other times 
And it may be a relief for those enjoying or want to enjoy CW from a summit but don´t like to get overwhelmed by this initial pileup.
Hw?
P.S.: The RBN add-on needs no seperate opt-out as one need not to alert about the activation beforehand - and of course should alert if equipment and choosen bands don´t guarantee enough callers, very helpful for more qsos on 20/17m and up… But be aware: Even a topnotch-contester like N6TJ looks for ways to escape skimmers, there may be a reason for…
In reply to DL8MBS:
In reply to M0DFA: But please call even when anyone is at 23 or more,
which may be due to quickly working a pileup.
The speed listed in the RBN spot is the speed you used when calling the CQ that the skimmer spotted.
I also encourage slow senders to call regardless of the spotted speed. I will always gladly slow down when I hear a slower caller.
73,
Barry N1EU
In reply to MM0FMF:
There is an improved SOTAwatch on beta test which improves the display
readability when there are lots of spots.
Hi Andy,
If you or Jon could provide me with access to the beta test version of the new Sotawatch it would be most helpful. RBN Gate will likely stop working when that new version is released. The reason is that I have never been very good at writing parsers, and the parsers in RBN Gate are no exception. If the format of the data going into them changes even slightly, they may fail.
My parser for the alerts that Sotawatch returns from alerts.php in HTML format is the one most likely to fail. You mentioned that there may be a way in this new version of Sotawatch to retrieve the alerts via RSS. Having a sample output of the RSS saved to a file would let me write that new RSS alert parser in advance so that I could switch to it when the new Sotawatch is rolled out. I can write parsers for structured data such as RSS that are much more reliable than those for HTML. If alerts won’t be available via RSS, then having access to the output from alerts.php would let me firm up the HTML parser so that it accommodates any HTML changes being made.
My guess is that the formatting of the spot tweets sent to Twitter won’t change, nor will your Spotlite page for submitting spots. If they will change, then seeing a sample of the new ones would be useful as well.
73,
Eric KU6J
Hi Eric
Although it may not appeal to the purists who like to find their own chases the hard way, you have made an excellent job of combining various technical innovations into a valuable tool for SOTA enthusiasts. For that, a very big thank you.
In its present configuration it will be of limited use to me when I activate because, due to a number of reasons, I rarely post an alert beforehand. However, I do have a suggestion for a possible enhancement that would extend the number of activations eligible to be spotted by the RBN-connected system.
I propose that, in addition to checking if there is a posted alert within two hours of current time, your system checks to see if there has been a spot, or self-spot, within a parameter time (maybe 45 minutes). If it finds such a spot, it treats the station as an alerted activation and follows frequency changes as normal. This would mean that, for a multi-band activation, only one self-spot would be required as every subsequent frequency or band change would theoretically be captured. Does this make sense?
I have a further question. As I sometimes use datamodes for SOTA activations, does your system currently spot these when they are heard by the RBN? Also, if I stay on a frequency, but change mode from PSK to RTTY (or, indeed, CW), does this trigger a new spot?
Keep up the good work!
73 de Les, G3VQO
In reply to G3VQO:
Very good suggestion Les. I was wondering the same about how to include un-alerted activations.
On the datamodes question, I think you will find that RBN just “sees” CW (using CW skimmer) but the PSKreporter.info website would see your PSK CQ. It can report other datamodes but I’m not sure RTTY. I wonder if Eric has thought of that (although of course it is a rare mode for SOTA).
73 Marc G0AZS
In reply to G0AZS:
The RBN system has recently been enhanced, and now includes RTTY and the various PSK speeds. For some reason, this does not appear on the normal RBN page RBN - Reverse Beacon Network
but they are now being propagated via the cluster network (GB7DXS and VE7CC certainly show them, presumably others do too).
73 de Les
In reply to G3VQO:
Ahh… I stand corrected Les. I hadn’t noticed it was feeding that too. Although I only tend to look at the main pages rather than what comes through the cluster.
In which case, even easier for Eric.
73 Marc G0AZS
Goodness me, where on earth have I been?
So I can have the RBN spots page on my PC screen, make a quick CW CQ call and quickly see where in the world my signals are being heard, right?
I didn’t even know about this. I can’t wait to get home and try it out (still no antennas installed for the radio enrichment project in the new academy building here). However, I will have to wait a few more days as I have that little inconvenience known as the RSGB Convention in the way first. Such is life.
I really must try to read more widely in the AR hobby!
Tom M1EYP
In reply to M1EYP:
So I can have the RBN spots page on my PC screen, make a quick CW CQ
call and quickly see where in the world my signals are being heard,
right?
Yes exactly… and filtering by your callsign helps.
Keep up Mr Read!
73 Marc G0AZS
In reply to G3VQO:
I propose that, in addition to checking if there is a posted alert
within two hours of current time, your system checks to see if there
has been a spot, or self-spot, within a parameter time (maybe 45
minutes). If it finds such a spot, it treats the station as an alerted
activation and follows frequency changes as normal. This would mean
that, for a multi-band activation, only one self-spot would be
required as every subsequent frequency or band change would
theoretically be captured. Does this make sense?
Thanks for the positive feedback Les! Yes, believe it or not I was already working on adding a capability very much like what you described. The only difference is that I was also going to require the self-spot’s comment to include a specific string such as “RBNGateMe” (case-insensitive). My reasoning for requiring that is:
It allows the activator full control over whether or not they want RBNGate to spot them on an activation that they may have deliberately not entered an alert for.
It would avoid having RBNGate spot people after they send in a test spot (such as from home). I could look for “test” or “testing” in the comment to filter these out, but I don’t know if everyone includes those words in their test spots.
If would avoid the issue that Barry N1EU experienced the other day, that is discussed further up in this thread. He had entered alerts for two different summits. Prior to going on the air at the first summit, he inadvertently self-spotted himself on the second (incorrect) summit. RBNGate dutifully spotted him as per his alert (correctly) on the first summit. Had it used his self-spot to override his alert, it would have also spotted him on the wrong summit. Requiring that “RBNGateMe” be in the comment would have avoided this as Barry had pre-saved his two self-spots for later use, and he would have had no reason to include such a command, even had it existed at that time.
I am certainly open to tracking anyone who self-spots without requiring a “RBNGateMe” command in their spot’s comment, I just don’t know which approach would be best in the long run. If people have any opinions or thoughts regarding this I would love to hear them.
An improvement that I have already implemented is to look for “canceled” or “cancelled” in the comment for an alert. Such alerts are ignored. The command “NoRBNGate” can also be included in an alert’s comment for opting out of automatic spotting for that activation only. All of these are interpreted on a case-insensitive basis, meaning that “CANCELLED” or “NOrbnGaTe” work just as well.
73,
Eric KU6J
In reply to G0AZS:
On the datamodes question, I think you will find that RBN just “sees”
CW (using CW skimmer) but the PSKreporter.info website would see your
PSK CQ. It can report other datamodes but I’m not sure RTTY. I wonder
if Eric has thought of that (although of course it is a rare mode for
SOTA).
Yes Marc, this is already implemented in my software. I have seen RBN spots with a mode of “BPSK”. My software translates that mode to “PSK” prior to sending the spot to Sotawatch as that is what Andy’s Spotlite form expects to receive for that mode.
RBN may spot stations using other non-voice modes, I don’t know. Here is the mode mapping that I have implemented currently, but I can easily change it if needed:
“AM”, “CW”, “DATA”, “FM”, “RTTY”, “SSB” - These are passed through as-is to Sotawatch.
“PSK”, “BPSK” - Passed to Sotawatch as “PSK”
Anything other mode - Sent to Sotawatch as “other”.
73,
Eric KU6J