"…Comments in spots provide NO feedback whatsoever to me as an activator because:
a. 70% of the time I don’t have a mobile signal.
b. I use the compressed view which means comments are not visible.
c. I would only check to look for a possible S2S.
d. If I do have a signal I normally turn the phone off anyway to stop the blasted thing chattering away in my headphones.
e. I’m activating, spots are for chasers! "
Spots are for chasers? Spots are useful for chasers but unfortunately you are again thinking greater of yourself.
Activators would like to activate summits, whatever band, besides the joy or perhaps pain of climbing a summit. An activator running 2w SSB on say 40M band without any spots would find it very difficult to be identified amongst the QRM. Higher bands when you are in the cm part of the band - are you really saying that spots are for chasers?
Do you not think that some indication of propagation is a good idea if you are an activator? Take RBN for CW - where is the signal being picked up.
To all those who activate summits I absolutely applaude. Those activators who plan well and operate bands to make sure no one is excluded except by propagation is a great thing.
You only need to see the flow of spots to see how co-operative the flow of information is between activators and chasers. Your opening line:
“Comments in spots provide NO feedback whatsoever to me as an activator”
Are people still using the old “normal page”?
Yes, me! I hope the normal page will stay in service also in future. I tried out the compact view and have found it absolute useless for me. If number of spots is large, I simply open two browser tabs one with “more spots” and one with “more alerts”. So I get both more than ten spots AND comments.
This discussion here clearly shows why I estimate the compact view as inefficient and useless: Important comments are not visible directly. Useful information about an activation is more than a call, summit ref and frequency. As chaser I don’t want to miss comments like “now qrt”, “antenna problems, will return soon”, “weak signal in QTH”, “15m later” and don’t mind QSY requests.
As activator I often read spots before and after pileup in order not to miss a S2S. Here I have a chance to see requests of chasers. I appreciate a QSY request e.g. in case a frequency sounds clear for me but is considered occupied by the chasers.
By the way: I want to explicitely thank G6TUH for his “non spots” during one of my last activations. After pileup on 40m was done I explained on RF I would QSY to 15m. Mike posted this valuable information as spot, so every chaser knew
it would be useless to listen for me on 40m
all who could not hear me on 40m would get a second chance on 15m.
the efficiency of our facilities if people are going to stick with the
old, inefficient facilities? Rant over!
Perhaps different people have different views of what is efficient and useful.
As long as requests do not dominate the spots I think they are ok. Of course the spot should reflect the actual working frequency and not the request.
“…As long as requests do not dominate the spots I think they are ok. Of course the spot should reflect the actual working frequency and not the request.”
Also think of people who cannot operate on certain bands. Obvious one here in the UK is 5Mhz - what is wrong with a request by an M3 or M6 to consider another band. The activator is always in control. They are requests to consider if you have the access to the spots.
This happened to me yesterday on G/SP-007. I was spotted on 60M and then a spot was added (still for 60M) but with the comment “any chance of doing 40M ?”.
I did not have any Internet access and so I had no idea about the request. However, one of my chasers told me about the request. When I finished my run on 60M I was happy to switch to 40M ssb and pick up those chasers who arent able to operation on 60M.
So I think it can be useful but:
The spot request must be for the current frequency to avoid confusing everybody
It relies on a chaser alerting the activator to the request as most times the activator wont be looking at Sotawatch.
I agree with Andrew’s assessment here. To follow it up with a slight digression:-
Is it reasonable to request that chasers who have already worked an activator don’t all pile in immediately after the QSY and block the new frequency for those needing the QSY to make contact at all?
Are people still using the old “normal page”?
Yes, me! I hope the normal page will stay in service also in future. I
tried out the compact view and have found it absolute useless for me.
Totally agree, Michael. As Pete quite rightly points out, there is no signal available on many of the UK summits. However, where there is a signal, I use my mobile phone to its full potential. So much so, that I even carry a device in my rucksack to recharge it from my SLAB.
Being spotted is crucial to a successful activation and in the case of the new S2S award, calls from the chasers, letting me know there are S2S contacts available when there’s been no signal on my phone has been a huge help.
At the start of every activation, I spend half an hour erecting the colinear and HF antennas. If someone wishes me to QSY on the HF bands, it takes 5 seconds with a simple push of the tuner button.
Is it reasonable to request that chasers who have already worked an
activator don’t all pile in immediately after the QSY and block the
new frequency for those needing the QSY to make contact at all?
73,
Rod
It is very reasonable, and also sensible, Rod but unlikely to happen as there appears to be a ‘feeding frenzy’ among certain chasers
Are people still using the old “normal page”?
Yes, me! I hope the normal page will stay in service also in future. I
tried out the compact view and have found it absolute useless for me.
If number of spots is large, I simply open two browser tabs one with
“more spots” and one with “more alerts”. So I get both more than ten
spots AND comments.
This discussion here clearly shows why I estimate the compact view as
inefficient and useless: Important comments are not visible directly.
Useful information about an activation is more than a call, summit ref
and frequency. As chaser I don’t want to miss comments like “now qrt”,
“antenna problems, will return soon”, “weak signal in QTH”, “15m
later” and don’t mind QSY requests.
The “compact view” was introduced because at busy times the active spots were extending below the bottom of the page even on the “More Spots” view. Even at quiet times of the year it is not unusual for the red highlighted spots (< 30 minutes old) in the compact view to extend below the bottom of the page in the Home Page view. At the busy times that we can expect when the weather improves (please!) and weekends I fully expect the active spots to extend below the bottom of the page even on the “More Spots” compact view, but at least the MT have maximised the amount of information available at a view. You and some others have chosen to scroll down on the “Normal View” at busy times, I prefer to gain any additional data by using the mouseover on the “Compact View”. Fair enough. As far as I know there is currently no plan to retire the “Normal View” so you can continue to work the way you prefer, but with ever expanding activity and Associations on six continents I suspect that it won’t be long before the “Normal View” is overwhelmed by active spots.
I prefer to gain any additional data by using the mouseover
When chasing from home I find the compact view with its mouseover to be the most useful. I wouldn’t mind if it was even more ruthless in its amalgamation, either; the mouseover works fine.
When away from home and relying on the browser on my mobile, however, the mouseover is not so helpful (especially if the phone’s dropped back to 2G, which is often the case in remote locations), and the old expanded view is rather better. It’d be even handier if I could get it to filter say “ssb only”, “20 metres only”, “hf only”, or whatever. Did I just see some flying goats?
In reply to M1EYP:
Citation: "Chasers are certainly very keen Mike. The best I heard was a Central European chaser “working” Jimmy 2O0EYP/P (as he was last summer), giving out a report and saying “Thank you for the contact”. This all took place shortly after the spot had appeared for 20m SSB, but shortly before Jimmy started transmitting!
I found it hilarious, but ISTR Jimmy was far from amused at the time!
Tom M1EYP"
He tried it again yesterday, but at least the NA station did copy in the end…
“Being spotted is crucial to a successful activation and in the case of the new S2S award, calls from the chasers, letting me know there are S2S contacts available when there’s been no signal on my phone has been a huge help…”
Yes Mike. I also think that the ‘feedback loop’ (post 15/03/13 1947Z) through spots and passing on information to activators on air is vital. Any activator who rejects such a notion is hobbling themselves. I frequently hear chasers passing on information about potential S2S and such like.
I try to give an indication of the RST from my location of the station I work and spot for the benefit of other chasers. Recently I gave up on a station (in the noise) and then saw a spot come up later from a chaser giving an indication of how they were heard, in this case by a SW UK. I went back and made the contact.
I also think that the ‘feedback loop’ (post 15/03/13 1947Z) through spots and passing on information to activators on air is vital.
No it isn’t vital. It is useful, even desirable in certain circumstances, but ‘vital’ it is not.
I thought I was too late this morning to get the S2S with EO5JFF on a Ukrainian summit. But I was advised on air in CW, I think by Laci HA7UG, that EO5JFF was still QRV, and positioned just 1.7kHz above my frequency. I went there and got him second call - I was very pleased! Without checking, I think this is certainly my first ever S2S with UT (including before the launch of the S2S award), and probably my first ever chase into a UT SOTA activation.
“I think this is certainly my first ever S2S with UT (including before the launch of the S2S award), and probably my first ever chase into a UT SOTA activation.”
Well done you 8)
One of the things that I enjoy about radio are the suprises!
People like me rely on people buying new phones Rick. Maybe you may wish to invest in an extra G. Then you’ll only be a single G behind where it’s all at and be using a comms standard from this century.
People like me rely on people buying new phones Rick. Maybe you may
wish to invest in an extra G. Then you’ll only be a single G behind
where it’s all at and be using a comms standard from this century.
Andy
MM0FMF
I must remember that argument next time somebody is extolling the virtues of CW!
