Tell me about it. 
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Why are you so adamant that everyone who participates will read a 43 page rule book? Also why are you so against making things clear and simple by repeating important info where it will be found quickly by people who are considering participating?
I agree with ZL4NVW a one page prominent summary is needed.
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All we need is the addition of one sentence to the home page and to the introduction for activators.
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Whether itâs 1 page or 100 pages, there will always be people who will not RTFM.
I donât see anyone offering to help by producing such a summary.
We (MT) will be happy to review such a summary and then put it out to our AMs and friends to get translated into French, Spanish etc. etc.
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The one page summary already exists. Itâs the Guidelines for Activators document.
We just need to add one sentence to the home page.
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Iâm âadamantâ because if you donât read the rules, how will you know what the rules are? How can you play the game if you donât know the rules? It is not necessary to read all 43 pages, summit definitions and organisation can be skipped over, but the rules for activators are just five pages - 3.5 actually - why is that too much to read? I doubt if in this case the guy had even read the intro, with or without a mention of vehicle restrictions!
Repeating important information in the intro would mean more than just saying no operation from vehicles - no use of the vehicle for antenna support or use of the car battery in situ comes to mind, then there is the activation zone to mention, and environmental concerns, respect for land users and so on. Its all important to the game.
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Nevermind all this debate over cars, I hadnât realised it was a requirement to send the wife shopping for an activation to be valid.
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When I did PE at school the first lesson wasnât to sit down and read through the rule book before playing rugby. We started playing and the teacher taught us the rules as we went along. All we needed were the fundamentals - run with the ball, pass backwards and release the ball when you are tackled.
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There are millions of people that take part in sports that have never read the complete rules. You just pick them up as you play, or by observation of others.
My granddaughter plays football (soccer) every weekend, but I doubt she, or any of her team mates, have read the rules.
Yes, it is clear in the Guidelines for Activators document, but it could be made clearer on the webpage. Most people nowadays will just look on the web for information.
Stuart
G1ZAR
Seem to have gone a bit off-topic. I thought for chasers points to be validated there had to be an activators log, otherwise, how do you check?
Im fairly certain the rules as they stand allow for disability inclusion, (ok without looking i cant remember the exact wording but) it is something like âall activations must be made within the spirit of the rules but please contact the MT if you are disabled and need special arrangementsâ
The way i see it is, if you are able too, then you should walk/cycle but if you are Disabled in some way, and need an electric off road mobility scooter to get to a summit, that too is equally as valid! a line does need to be drawn though, and sitting in a car or on an ATV is a bit out of order IMO!
Cheers
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Theyâre not. Activators and chasers submit their own separate logs and itâs taken on trust that theyâre not cheating. So you can get points as an activator even if your QSOs were with non-SOTA hams and as a chaser, you donât have to wait for the activator to submit their log before you get your points.
That works for a team sport, though offside might need some explaining, but SOTA is more or less solitary. You probably learn of its existance by hearing activators on the air, but that tells you little about the way the game is conducted, it just tells you that a game exists. Those who just assume that it is simply drive up a hill and make contacts are likely to make crucial mistakes, as we see here. I suspect that you guys are trying to blame the MT for this guys mistakes, yet the rules about vehicles are stated in several places already, and a proliferation of mentions wonât do anything to educate the sort of person who just bulls ahead on a mistaken assumption. Ignorance of the rules is not an acceptable excuse, the rules are necessary and were crafted with care in the expectation that participants would read and adhere to them, and I wonder about whether the people who âjust pick them up as they go alongâ are breaking any rules out of ignorance?
Look, talk about the rules on the reflector is just talk and is likely to be forgotten when the next hot topic emerges. If any of you seriously think the rules or guidances should be
changed then this is not the place to advocate it. What you should do is make a detailed proposal directly to the MT, who after discussion may reject, accept or adjust your proposed changes.
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And they arenât going to read the rules. But they might look at the homepage and notice that operation from vehicles is not allowed.
Iâm certainly not.
No one is suggesting that the rules should be changed just that some guidance could be made more prominent. I think this is exactly the right place to advocate it and for the community to discuss it.
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Hmm ⊠why did I spend my time to make this in five languages ? Links below
The main sentence you need is :
The radio must not be connected to the mains power or a fuel generator, or be operated from a car. It must be a true âportableâ station.
DONE
(NOTE : these pages donât mention Activation Zone etc, they were not written for activators as such)
Luc ON7DQ
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Just bear in mind that while some of the MT are active on the reflector, some others rarely appear, and some never look at it. In practice any useful ideas that come up will be taken to the MT reflector and discussed there, but a formal proposal would be better because it would be more thoroughly thought out than a quick post on the reflector. In this case a suggested form of words would be a good idea.
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Coming into the mix on one point of order on what seems to have become an heated thread!
Not so Ed, your supposition is wrong. e-bike transportation to a summit or near it is permitted, providing the ebike is not used as a power source for your station or as a support for your antenna. The only stipulation that should be made clear in the rules if they are ever written up to cover e-bikes, is that the e-bike must be EU / UK / wherever, road legal, which means they must be pedalled with some human power to reach the summit and not be modified (as some do or be imported from China etc and are made like that) to be ridden like a moped - no pedalling needed.
Most e-bike riders like me, (and I have used mine to get part way or all the way to summits on a handful of occasions) ride the bike on the Eco setting, This provides a the little help, so riding an e-bike is still an aid to keeping fit. I guess the lazy ones use the turbo setting too much, but this seriously reduces the range of the e-bike! I donât know about other manufacturers systems but on mine and my XYLs e-bikes using the Bosch system the grading of power generally goes:
OFF > ECO > TOUR > SPORT >TURBO. I never ride the e-bike on Off as itâs like pedalling with a lump of lead between your legs!
73 Phil G4OBK
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My 2 centsâŠ
People are generally, shall we say, lazyâŠwe donât like to read, and most people will certainly not read the full ARM. How many of us have done that?
I would be in favor of creating a short list of things you can and canât do to have a valid activation. It would be placed on the SOTAWATCH webpage and the Ref Manual on PAGE 1. If it is not placed on page one/home page 1 many people will never see it.
If not a list, then a highlighted LINK to a page with the summary info.Something like "Is Your Activation Legal, click here."
Even then, it may not help, as some people will never comply for whatever reasonâŠbut I donât think it could hurt to put this info right up frontâŠPAGE 1 stuffâŠon SOTAWATCH and the ARMâs.
If it is too much work to make this info more visible then we just go forward like we are now⊠realizing that some people will always cheat, thru ignorance or attitude.
Pete
WA7JTM
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Pete⊠right there with youâŠ
But somehow a few things should have gotten around⊠or you should have noticed them, if you donât waddle through SOTA life completely ignorantâŠ
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No power sockets from the house / No power generator / No power supply from the car
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You have to lift your ass out of the car⊠And walk a few steps⊠(you should do it yourself - in my opinion no sedan chair will do).
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No relay operation except sattelites.
âŠand I am quite sure! This is done correctly by 99.999999% without them ever reading the full rules of the game.
73 Armin
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