In a different thread, Matt, W4GO, raises the issue of chasers chasing spots to claim Challenge points. I have recently noticed one or two offenders who routinely chase spots when they are obviously unable to hear the activator. Repeatedly calling on top of the activator and being out of sync with the rest of the pile raises some questions…but all doubt was removed when the chaser proceeded to conduct an entire exchange scenario after the activator had changed bands. Hihi!!
Unfortunately, that is the age we live in.
Stay well & 73!
Mike, WB2FUV
Mike this routinely happens when some chasers chase parks. There is one chaser in particular that will have “phantom” qso’s after calling on top of others. By the way, don’t feel bad about calling me “Len” it happens all of the time. My good friend, Len, K6LEN and I get a kick out of it.
73, and please stay safe out there. de W6LEN / Jess
Would be interesting if the challenge results and honor rolls for chasers were amended to include a column showing each chaser’s NIL (not in log) rate.
I do wonder if changing the awards scheme so as to base chasers’ honor roll scores, challenge scores, badges, etc. not on the chasers’ logs, but on the activators’ logs, would have an (eventual) effect of discouraging the practice of making and logging phantom/deaf QSOs.
If this had the side effect that chasers lost credit for the surely tiny fraction of activations not uploaded, no big deal IMO.
That puts all the responsibility on the activator. POTA works that way, and it’s one of the reasons I very seldom hunt parks for POTA’s sake (and have never deliberately activated one). SOTA chasing is an activity for me, while POTA hunting is just something that happens in passing.
I’d be interested to know how big a fraction that really is. I’ve done a few joint SOTA activations where I was the only one to upload a log to the SOTA database.
I think there would be some unintended consequences of going the route of POTA when it comes to chasers. One of the things I appreciate about SOTA is that the chasers are more persistent in their attempts to work you. In POTA, if you don’t work the chaser in the first two attempts, they are gone never to return. In SOTA, I truly believe it is the “scoreboard effect” and the small victory of logging the chase yourself that gives “our” folks a little more motivation to try harder. You get an immediate reward.
That said, the “immediate reward” is what pushes some ops to cheat.
I agree with your observation Mike. When chasing a station where propagation just isn’t providing adequate reception of the activator, I just patiently wait for improvement in the path or hope they move to a band with more favorable propagation to my location. Otherwise, it is far too easy to walk over the activator and other chasers.