Yesterday 20 June while activating DM/BM-133 I worked M0MAA on 7158.5 LSB at 0821 UTC - report peaked 4-3 but with heavy QSB.
Today I am trying to fill in the blanks on my log, and I cannot find any reference to M0MAA, M0MMA, MM0MAA or MM0MMA. I was pretty certain I got M0MAA for the call, but now I am wondering. Nothing in the QRZ database or in the SOTA chaser roll of honor that I can see.
Kind of hard researching calls on the tiny phone screen, so perhaps I missed something. Anyone got any ideas of who I worked?
Thanks Much.
Vy73 - Mike - DL/KD5KC.
Strahlungen, Germany - JO50cg.
W5-SOTA Association Manager.
Hi Mike, it was definatly me who you had the QSO with yesterday. I sometimes have a problem with activators and any other stations I work coming back with MAA instead of MDA. I think it must be my northern accent that some people donāt always understand.
I did hear you come back with my correct call. The QSB was a real problem on 40m yesterday.
Hi Walt,
As long as Mike has 4 other contacts he has activated the summit. I think he was more concerned that the chaser would get a confirmed contact in the database.
Yes - with 21 contacts on that summit - I am certain at least 4 contacts were good. And I did want to be certain all chasers earned the credit that was due. At one point I know I did call MDA, but then it was MAA in my log. It is possible that I even mis-typed it later. So Walt, I thank you for your concern, but it was really not necessary. Should I ever mis-log G3NYY, I would do the same for you. Unless of course you insisted I really contacted no one.
Not long ago, while doing an activation a station that I asked several times as I didnāt have his call sign correct, replied āthank you for the SOTA Chris 73ā to which I yet again asked for his call sign another couple of times. There was no reply so as far as Iām concerned thatās not a valid QSO. I didnāt log it therefore obviously it didnāt get entered when I submitted my activator log when I returned home.
I have also seen posts on the reflector where activators have corrected chasers who had got the wrong SOTA reference. Surely is you donāt exchange the correct information at the time of the QSO then itās not valid? Or have the rules been relaxed to the point where chasers can enter whatever they THINK they have heard?
Hello Mick,
I did email you ages ago asking you to consider experimenting with the phonetics of your call having heard quite a few times activators veering between MDA-MAA etc. in difficult conditions. My call G6TUH is sometimes heard as G6TUE so when necessary Hotel becomes Honoluluā¦oh well.
Mick, the correct alphabet to use is the ICAO one in which your call is MIKE ZERO MIKE DELTA ALPHA. Anything else can be easily mistaken. The ICAO has been designed by experts for the fact that all the words sound different unlike every other phonetic alphabet, especially the ones favoured by amateurs trying to be clever.
UK amateurs regularly say QUEBEC as Kwee-beck which is how we would say the state name in Canada. The correct pronunciation is Keh-beck.
Stick with the ICAO alphabet for maximum intelligibility Mick.
I absolutely agree that if you donāt know who you āworkedā at the time of the contact then itās not a valid contact. If you canāt get the other guy to confirm the call because of QSB etc or he just goes away then its a NIL.
However when transferring my paper log to the computer I have had occasional trouble deciphering my writing, sometimes because the log got wet. (Iāve since bought a waterproof paper logbook). I make every attempt to decipher the call but if I fail then it is also a NIL. . It probably happens about once every 500 contacts. If you were one of those I apologise.
Just because you arenāt in my log doesnāt mean you havenāt worked m; the awards manager knows that. If you āworkedā me and you clearly heard me enunciate or send your call and report and acknowledge yours then it is valid whether or not I have logged it properly.
I believe some activators do not bother logging more than 4 contacts on the data base and Iāve seen an occasion when he only recorded contacts on one band in spite of being on severalā¦
There are no sheep stations being offered for SOTA achievements so it is a matter of doing what you believe is right and proper and in the spirit of SOTA. The degree to which various aspects are followed varies from a bit iffy to over the top.
Please do not get me started on Phonetics. The official lists are innumerable so one might as well make up something that suits your accent and region. Ooops i got started.
HI Mick, yes your accent did make it difficult the first few times I every heard it but once you get used to it it is easy to understand. Same can be heard for a few other stations. I often have my 2m on scan back and forth to work and get three Irish repeaters and most of the time I canāt get their callsigns because they say it too damn fast.
Anyway, try a slightly longer pause between Mike and Delta, because the way I hear it is your D is part of your Mike.
I appreciate thatās the standard view Andy, for the reasons you state. However, my Echo gets mistaken for Tango and my Yankee and Pappa can both get heard as Japan (sic).
So when this occurs, I can solve it with England Yokohama Pacific - sorry! Or even better - use Morse!
[quote=āM1EYP, post:17, topic:11061ā]So when this occurs, I can solve it with England Yokohama Pacific - sorry! Or even better - use Morse![/quote]Yeah, there are certainly times the standard phonetics just donāt work, and trying an alternative or three is the only way to get things straight.
As for the fixing of logs, I figure it depends where the error appeared. Iāve certainly mis-transcribed my paper log when typing it into the electronic copy on occasions. If someone raises a query (or a QSL card turns up), and the contactās not in my computer log, then if I can find the original log I can go back and check, and I will correct transcription errors and omissions.
But they do work for everyone else. Itās because amateurs do not use them exclusively and amateurs do not say them correctly that they have trouble. The ICAO phonetics are designed so all the sounds are different. Around the world, all sorts of pilots who do not have English as a first language and have strong accents to native English speakers are able to successfully communicate often over noisy AM links with lots of cabin/engine noise. They do not switch to some made up ad hoc phonetics. Maybe we should learn from such people?
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