SMS Spotter OE status

[OE5JFE]

Hi Glenn,

I totally agree to your proposal. Pretty sure Andy @MM0FMF will update the FAQ page as he finds time.

And the SpotSMS should not be included because they use a different syntax. Again it is up to everyone which method to use.

73 Joe

[MM0FMF]

@OE5JFE

will update the FAQ page as he finds time.

Yes, probably this evening. I’m just sat in Lyon Airport waiting for the check-in to open. Wifi here is terrible but I have my 3G dongle with me. Best thing I’ve bought in years… I get almost unlimited data roaming on my phone but no tethering the laptop when roaming. A contract with tethering when roaming is a lot more money. So the PAYG dongle fills the gap. The best bit is if you run out of credit, you can still access the “buy more” webpage!

[OE5JFE]

My apologies for the SMS Spot OE not working between 10th of October and 14th of October 2018
Needed a restart. Should be back online.

Joe

[MM0FMF]

The delights of running a server from home! There again, mine sit on machines in data centres, the servers auto restart but my apps don’t

[OE5JFE]

14th of November 2018: SMS OE

No internet connection at my flat. Mostlikely the construction site in the building nearby destroyed the phone line. Will report back when it is back online. Expecting 1-3 days minimum…

UPDATE (16. Nov 2018): According to provider the DSL modem has died. New one is on the way.

UPDATE (23. Nov 2018): Unluckily my first though was confirmed today. Cable was cut and destroyed at construction site. I have ordered a LTE based Internet contract until the cable is fixed. Repair will probably take several weeks. Will keep you updated when the temporary solution is online.

73 Joe

[OE5JFE]

UPDATE (28. Nov 2018) : Internet connection via LTE restablished.
UPDATE (28. Nov 2018) SPOTSMS OE it back online

Sorry to @OE7PHI and @OE8DIV
I have seen your spots in logfile. I hope your activation were successful anyhow!

Will keep you updated on any changes with the service

73 Joe

[OE5JFE]

UPDATE (19. 01 2019) : Raspberry needed a restart. Now back online

@oe5akm: Alfred, jetzt geht es wieder. Entschuldige die gestrige Fehlfunktion.

[OE5AKM]

Danke! War beunruhigt, jetzt ist alles klar.

73, Alfred, OE5AKM

[OE5JFE]

UPDATE (01.04.2019) : Short downtime planned. Change of ISP till 11:00 LT

[OE5JFE]

UPDATE (15.09.2019): Needed to restart the Raspberry Pi. Now working again.

[OE5JFE]

UPDATE (10.01.2020): Developer update: I have tested a first script version the will convert the “SPOT SMS” syntax (as described here) to the official SOTA SMS syntax. The spot will indicate that user OE5JFE has spotted the user by SMS.

I will enable this feature at the time when sotawatch2 will be deactivated as announced here by end of February 2020

SOTA online service changes for 2020

2020 will be a big year for SOTA as we will finally be closing down the old database. The expected date for shutdown is 29-Feb-2020. Myself and Andrew VK3ARR are already implementing the shutdown plan. The first item was to stop registrations for the old database, you get redirected to the new one and have for quite a few months. DNS has been worked on which should make the switchover almost invisible. The old database is a fine and venerable piece of code. Whilst it was well written at the tim…

If you have any questions please message me here in the Reflector.

[HA5CQZ]

The linked announcement is about closing down the old database. Does this also mean closing down SOTAwatch2? Did I miss something?

[OE5JFE]

Yes it will. Sotawatch2 and Spotlite will stop. The simple http login will be replaced by the OAuth SingleSignOn on SW3.

This will impact your SPOT SMS script I guess.
Andy MM0FMF recommended to not use SMS and the SingleSignOn in combination as the user would need to send the password that is allowing access to the full user account including the database.
That’s why the official SOTA SMS system uses the activators phonenumber registration as security credential.

73 Joe

[HA5CQZ]

Yes, clear, thanks.

[MM0FMF]

Zoli, the old database closes on Feb 29-2020. There isn’t a date for SOTAwatch2 closing yet but expect it soon.

[OE5JFE]

UPDATE (01.03.2020) IMPORTANT INFO: User credentials are now checked against SSO (sotawatch3 ) username and password (and not Sotawatch2 anymore).

Users of Bogdans Android App SOTA Spotter and users of VK-Port-A-log should be fine with the SMS being created by those apps. Spots will show as spotted by my callsign OE5JFE. The comment field will append: [SMS_OE].

No changes for everyone using the official SOTA SMS format with your phone number preregistered with Andy MM0FMF. This version is highly recommended as no password needs to be included.

[SP9MA]

Sorry Joe about the mess.
I just tested with new login (Sotawatch3) but something is wrong with frq shown.
My text was 7.032
Moreover I cannot delete it

73, Jarek

[OE5JFE]

Hello Jarek,

Since the change to SW3 you can not delete spots anymore because they are forwarded to Andy SMS spotting service and show up that way. That was the easiest way for the moment to hande the change.

It looks like you mixed the official and the “SPOTSMS” syntax regarding QRG
The official SOTA SMS syntax is in QRG in MHz
The SPOTSMS is in kHz

So as long as you use the SPOTSMS version (were you add username and password) it must be in kHz.

73 Joe

[SP9MA]

Hello Joe,

Thank you for your explanation.
I will delete “dot” when SMS next time.
All the best & take care.

73, Jarek

[OE5JFE]

UPDATE (01.04.2020) : Worked a bit with HTML/CSS to make the info website SMS OE info page look and fell a bit less oldschool. A traffic light like indicator shows the status of the USB modem. And btw. you can access the page via https.

Hardware wise the 5V power supply failed and is replaced by a 4A version that is barely getting warm
At least the spotter and myself are ready for the season…Damn COVID-19