In reply to MM6ADR:
Thanks everybody for your comments.
In reply to Andy MM0FMF 2m FM is really tricky to get the QSO’s your right, the population density of GM/NS is very low as are some other parts of the country away from the central belt. It would be interesting to find out HAM’S per SQ mile!!
On reflection today i have came to the opinion that
A, I want to keep my points
B, Why should i lose my hard earned points through someone else’s mistakes.
C, If the activations are not validated by the awards manager then so be it.
Radio and indeed SOTA is supposed to be a fun and exciting, but as a newbie to the hobby its slightly discouraging that there are a few individuals out there that spoil it for others. I got my mm6 call in July 09 and 2m0 in december so im still trying to find the direction/s i want to take with the hobby. If i call CQ on 2m FM and a GM or MM callsign comes back and explains their QTH is within 30-40 miles of my location, has a valid sounding callsign, has a page on QRZ.com (althought no authenticity is guaranteed here for any callsign) why should i question it to be genuine or otherwise.
I did sent this guy a QSL card direct but one has not been returned and the aforementiond QRZ.com page has now been deleted.
So again thanks for the info and comments all are much appreciated.
In reply to MM6ADR:
Hi Adrian - don’t keep us in ‘suspenders’ - what is the pirates callsign so I can avoid him if he pops out of the ‘ether’ in the future? Ta!
And looking forward to a S2S - though I tend to operate HF.
In reply to GM4COX:
I don’t want to publicly name and shame people but I will email it to you.
Yes a S2S contact would be great, I’m working on getting an HF antenna made before the better weather comes in, hoping to do quite a few activations this year, what band/s do you operate on?
Hi Adrian,
I would take any thing you hear at clubs with a pinch of salt !
Unless you have asked OFCOM if the callsign exists, and they say it is not valid, you should treat it as valid.
A local amateur in Glasgow was accused of not holding a full call and e-mails and posts to forums accusing him of being a pirate were circulated.
This amateur has a full callsign and posted proof of his C&G result sheet and Licence.
As you have only worked a small number of summits you may have inadvertently put doubt to 2 full callsigns that show in your log.
I agree with Andy (MM0FMF) “when you had the contact you couldn’t know that the contact was suspect”. It may well be a valid callsign and by posting remarks on an open forum has now brought your points for your activation into doubt.
We need to watch what we say and repeat at clubs and on forums, I was accused of operating on 5mhz and only being a 2m0 this was because within 3 days of receiving my full callsign I had my NOV for 5mhz. This was only a comment made on local 2mtrs and I was lucky that I could inform him of his ignorance on the subject.