Not sure what’s going on for you Martyn, I haven’t experienced that problem. Maybe if you haven’t used it for a long time?
I also use SOTAGoat
Sometimes the location is not recognised and I have to enter it differently.
The dublicate function then helps with other spots.
73 Armin
If we didnt, we’d still be pedalling our cars Fred Flintstone style. Yabadabadoo!
sotl.as and vk-port-a-log get my vote. Much simpler than using the website.
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I suppose it depends on what you mean by a long time. I signed in yesterday. This morning, the settings screen reports that I am signed in, but if I go to enter a new spot, it says I need to sign in again. It doesn’t even pre-populate the username field. My password is unmemorable (even short term) so it’s back and forth multiple times between 1Password and SOTAgoat to get signed in again. Not too bad over the breakfast table not much fun on a windy summit while trying to hold on to a frequency and working around dodgy connectivity…
I’m not sure how long whatever session token it gets back from the SSO server is supposed to last. It obviously can’t present the username/password again because of 2FA. Do you have 2FA enabled?
Martyn M1MAJ
You’ve currently got the following SSO sessions running:
First use Last Use
Jun 16, 2024 8:15:14 AM Jun 16, 2024 3:16:39 PM no app mobile
Jun 16, 2024 7:38:57 PM Jun 16, 2024 7:40:56 PM sotadata home
account
Jun 17, 2024 7:58:33 AM Jun 17, 2024 7:58:33 AM sotagoat mobile
When you mentioned this yesterday I looked and the first session was in use by Sotagoat. Sotagoat is now using the latest session and the session it was using is still valid but not attached to any service.
SSO sessions have a lifetime of 30days max and tokens are valid for 5mins before you re-authorise. So you should in theory be able to login once and your web page/app login remain valid for 30 days before you get asked to logged in again as the app/browser handles the re-auth case… In reality the longest I’ve seen for anything is about 18days. I don’t know if it’s the app/web browser that is losing some context that causes the SSO server to request a new login or the SSO server. However, we are using an old version and Andrew is testing a newer release that should be rolled out soon and there’s not too much reason to debug issues that may vanish with the updated software.
But that doesn’t help you. An issue with a mobile phone is that the IP address assigned by your carrier will be a scarce resourse and they are also probably using CGNAT. Something may have changed that is upsetting the SSO server though your mobile IP is still the same. When I was writing my base class to handle SSO sign for my Python code (SMS spotter, SOTACluster et al.) I don’t recall the IP and port being specified other than the target address, you login, get the JWT and then send them back with each request to verify and authorise your access. After 5mins the token needs a re-auth and the code handled that. What I did see after days of using and re-authing the same tokens was the SSO failing to authorise or re-authorise. At that point I just brute forced a fresh login and everything was fine for many more days.
So maybe 2FA gets in the way of the app failing to re-auth and resubmitting the login data and pow… fresh 2FA code needed. Have you considered trying the following (and yes it will go against you more robust password etiquette), disable 2FA on your SSO account and change the password to something memorable but suitably difficult to brute force like a long sequence of words (baconlettuceandtomatosandwich) ? If that cures the problem then it’s something you can punt back to the app author.
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True but I don’t think this is relevant in this case. First of all, my tests have been with the phone on home WiFi, so I’d have been using the same IPv4 address for all sessions. Moreover, the IP address that the Keycloak page reports for the sotagoat sessions is not my phone’s mobile IP address. Moreover if I switch off WiFi and go cellular the SOTAgoat session I started a few hours ago is still OK.
I conjecture that SOTAgoat is doing some kind of proxy login and that the SSO login is actually coming from its own backend server.
I could try turning off 2FA, I suppose. The password is not too much of a problem - getting it from 1Password is probably quicker than typing a sufficiently long sequence of words.
Martyn
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Hi Fraser
A small point sotl.as IS a website and it (as with the current version of SotaWatch) senses when it is being accessed from a browser on a smartphone and changes layout, fonts etc. to suit, so that it is easier to use.
So, Paul @G4IPB , if you have a “desktop” type display (i.e. very small font) when you access Sotl.as or sotawatch, something is wrong that your phone set up as it is not saying it is a mobile device when it accesses these websites.
73 Ed.
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PM me if you want to try some experiments.
Thanks for explaining that to me Ed. It isn’t however the website. sotl.as is easier to use. That’s all. VK port-a-log allows all activation details to be transferred to a spotting screen by simply swiping right. OK, it isn’t available for iOS but this thread has drifted anyway.
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Hi Fraser,
My point is, given the smaller number of iPhone apps for SOTA, the fact that sotl.as is a website (I don’t think there is a “Sotl.as” app for Android is there?) - it will work on both Apple and Android smartphones. Ditto with “the” website SOTAWatch.
1 more vote here for VK-Porta-Log - great (android) app.
73 Ed.
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… no it is reformatted and big, but it is even easier on Sota Goat as I can’t get the reference wrong… I wouldn’t want a fat finger error…
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Traditional ways to spot:
- Web sites: ex. https://SOTL.AS or SOTAwatch3 etc. [requires internet]
- SMS: ex. the official SOTA SMS gateway [requires cell service]
- Satellite SMS: same as #2, but requires Garmin users configure their device settings to avoid problem with appended content [requires subscription, and manual approval]
- Mobile phone app: ex. SOTA Goat [requires internet]
- RBNhole: for CW operators [requires pre-registration of a SOTA Alert on SOTA Watch]
- APRS Gateway [requires an APRS device in range]
- JS8call Gateway [requires computer]
There is also my SOTAMAT service and app for spotting.
It supports multiple approaches:
-
When you have cell service: use SMS (North America) or eMail (worldwide):
Supports the same functions as the official SOTA SMS service, and adds to it:- Supports spotting and alerting for both SOTA and POTA
- Peak-specific and park-specific weather reports based on MeteoBlue (an advanced paid weather service, but free to you)
- Retrieve recent spots from SOTAwatch (S2S) or POTA
- Retrieve callsign info, SOTA peak info, POTA park info
- Remembers your callsign, Peak ID, and Park ID so that QSY’s are just a few characters
-
When you have a Garmin inReach satellite device:
- Garmin has a policy against “virtual SMS phone numbers” used by automated systems. They have been known to block such numbers.
- SOTAMAT allows Garmin users to avoid SMS entirely. You send a message to SOTAMAT via Garmin eMail, and the automated reply comes back to the inReach via a direct Garmin API call.
- Supports all the same functions as #1 above.
-
When you don’t have cell service: spot with HF
Use the SOTAMAT mobile app to compute and play special FT8 audio into your HF radio microphone. The special FT8 message is a command for SOTAMAT to execute. There are over 130 monitoring skimmer stations worldwide listening for SOTAMAT commands encoded as special FT8 messages. This is analogous to RBNhole, but better in that it works for SSB/Voice users and doesn’t require an Alert be filed ahead of time. Supports 1-way commands:- post SOTA self-spot
- post SOTA self-Alert (useful for CW operators who want to then use RBNhole after the alert)
- post POTA self-spot
- send one of multiple pre-defined SMS or eMail messages to someone (spouse, etc.)
- allows you to download the database of worldwide SOTA peaks and POTA parks for offline use: GPS orientation and activation zone info, general peak/park info, search, etc.
-
When you have an Elecraft KX2 or KX3, or a KI6SYD MAX-3B: use a SOTACAT
SOTACAT is a tiny hardware module that plugs into a KX2/KX3 ACC/CAT port and allows your cell phone to control the radio via WiFi. The KI6SYD MAX-3B radio has the SOTACAT functionality built in without the need for an add-on module.- Enables “click-to-pounce” where you see a list of recent spots from SOTA Watch, and clicking a spot tunes your radio to that band, frequency, and mode. Works for SOTA and POTA. Quickly tune based on time, distance, band, mode, etc.
- Enables you to set your KX2/KX3 internal clock with a single click.
- The SOTAMAT mobile app works with the SOTACAT device:
- Enables you to self-spot similar to #3 (above) but where the radio directly synthesizes the FT8 SOTAMAT command without using audio. Direct FT8 FSK synthesis in hardware by the radio, which is very power efficient and packs a punch to get your command heard.
- Allows SOTAMAT to tune the radio, or the radio to configure SOTAMAT (bidirectional band, frequency, mode communication).
73 de AB6D - Brian
Resources:
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Hello, I still use OutdLog for logging and the spot feature when it works (not every time… sometimes I need to clear the token and reconnect again)… I have tested PoLo from Ham2k but unfortunately, it doesn’t spot SOTA (only POTA) … I hope the developer will change his mind.
73 Nico
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