RBNGate now has a new feature that allows activators to specify custom spotting windows. To explain how it works and provide some examples of when you may wish to use it, I’ve added these two new questions & answers to the RBNGate FAQ that is linked to from the top of my website:
Q: Can I extend the spotting window?
A: Yes. The standard spotting window begins 1 hour before your alert’s ETA and ends 3 hours after it. You can override these start and end times by including a S+n and/or S-n code in the comment for your Sotawatch alert, where n is the number of hours the spotting windows extends from your alert’s ETA. For example, S+12 causes the spotting window to extend to 12 hours after your alert’s ETA, and S-6 would cause the spotting window to begin 6 hours before it. The codes are case insensitive, you can choose to include either or both codes anywhere in your comment, and they need not be the only text in the comment. For example, this comment will work fine: “Camping on the summit. S-12 Should be fun! s+18”.
Q: I’m doing a backpack trip this weekend in an area with no cell phone coverage. I’d like to activate some summits during the trip but don’t know which ones they will be, or when I’ll be on the air. Can RBNGate spot me throughout my trip?
A: Yes. Since you don’t know which summits you will be activating, enter a Sotawatch alert and specify the summit using question marks such as “W6/NS-???” or “G/??-???”. Enter an ETA that is near the beginning of your trip, then extend the spotting window by including a code such as “S+48” in the comment of your alert (this code extends the spotting window to 48 hours after your alert’s ETA). RBNGate will now spot you on your ‘to be determined’ summit (W6/NS-??? or whatever you entered) whenever it hears you calling CQ during the trip. The chasers will know that they have to get the actual summit from you over the air. You could also choose to use the midpoint of your trip as the alert’s ETA, then extend both the beginning and end of the spotting window with a comment such as “Backpacking all weekend in the Sierra. S-24 S+24”.
Please let me know if the information above isn’t sufficiently clear.
73,
Eric KU6J