I hope it’s a bit drier than now. Lots of Dumfries and Galloway is underwater. Probably will have given Paul and Gerald’s Paramo and Gortex a good testing these last days.
Email addresses should be case-insensitive. Certainly the spec for the bit about domains, the @somewhere.com bit, requires software to ignore case. Most software ignores case in the user part, the myname bit, but there will be some that doesn’t. However, the normal reasons for mail not arriving are aggressive spam filters or blocked domains. My own email thourgh my ISP is actually handled by Google’s gmail service. If mails don’t arrive I can check the web interface and I often find all sorts languishing in the spam folder. I’d check that. Also some domains just too many spammers resident and other domains block any mail from them. They just assume it will be spam. Annoying if you happen to use the same domain.
Hi Michael, yes, the chaser’s locator comes from qrz.com, if it exists there. I don’t know if the SOTA database has any infos on chasers/activators locators, since I have no access to those data.
When I got the test activations data from Andy FMF, it soon became apparent that I had to get chaser’s locators from somewhere. Fortunately, I already had some code to query the qrz database - after re-writing it, I made it into a cron job on the server, which then ran intermittently for a total of 20 hours, pulling info for the 18,000-or-so chasers in the data.
As Ian VK1DI has pointed out, the locators thus obtained are not always as accurate as one might wish. But as it stands at the moment, it’s better than nothing.
Re the problems that some have had with registration, callsigns can be entered lower- or upper-case: they will in any case be converted to upper-case. Emails are case-insensitive, as Andy points out they should be; passwords are CaSe-SeNsItIvE !!!
Another point in passing: it was always my intention to show the QSO-lines as geodesics (i.e. curved lines) on the map, which would give a much better idea of the actual signal bearing for DX contacts, but unfortunately the Google Maps API has HUGE problems showing more than a couple of these in any one map, slowing down to a crawl or crashing altogether. With the straight lines as they are shown in the activations map, everything runs smoothly.
I don’t know if the SOTA database has any infos on
chasers/activators locators, since I have no access to those data.
SOTAWatch has the option to enter one’s home position in the account details. This is used as default when searching summits by distance in SOTAWatch.
But I do not know how many users really have filled in this fields especially as they are in latitude and longitude rather than grid locator. As the data of qrz.com seem to be quite comprehensive using SOTAWatch account information as a second source may add only little improvement.
As Ian VK1DI has pointed out, the locators thus obtained are not
always as accurate as one would wish. But as it stands at the moment,
it’s better than nothing.
I would even say it’s the best thing you can do. At least I do not know a better source available worldwide. Your effort is highly appreciated.
I finally succeeded in registering after 4 attempts
The verification email was averaging about 6 hours to arrive.
Just had a play & it looks really good to see where the chasers are located.
I realise lifting data from qrz database has its limitations (it puts VP5/W5CW in Oklahoma) but hey I can live with that.
Thanks for your work Rob.
HNY Steve (Have a good Sylvester as they used to say when I lived in Germany)
The emails are sent immediately but as you say, they can sometimes take ages to arrive. When I’m testing these routines, the emails usually arrive within 1 to 5 seconds after sending. Sorry it took so long to arrive at your end this time, but that’s all in the lap of the gods.
Since the SOTAWatch Daily Digest was for a few days unavailable, news of the latest updates and additions to the Mapping pages has probably reached just a few people (not everybody reads the reflector online). So - at the risk of boring many here - I’d like to take this opportunity to recap the “highlights”, so that they may appear in the Digest, for those who may not have been aware of the changes:
new data export option added to range page;
new “activations” (test-) page, using real activations data from September to mid-December 2013 only as test data;
new dynamic Maidenhead Locator Grid added to “Position” map-control.
In addition, we - Andy FMF and I - will need some feedback on whether you the user find the activations page at all useful, or whether you would like to see changes or enhancements. That’s why it’s in test-phase. Unlike the other pages, this one will need some pretty close team-work between Andy and myself to get at least semi-live data access - if people really don’t find it useful, the page can/will be dropped and we can save ourselves a headache or two. How about the Locator Grid - is that at all useful?
In reply to DM1CM:
Thanks Rob - I did miss the daily digest updates myself so thank you for bringing us to date. I’ll be looking over the changes to the SMP with great interest. The mapping project has proved so useful. I will continue to catch up with submitting the backlog of GPX tracks for UK summits which I have in hand - the only New Years Resolution made this year - NOT TO BE BROKEN hihi!
Best wishes and continued success with your project
In reply to DM1CM:
The Maidenhead Locator Grid facility is wonderful! Please do keep it. There are a lot of VHF/UHF mountaintoppers who would very much appreciate such an easy reference for planning and operational use. I will make a point of publicizing this facility to those folks. In addition, lots of times SOTA activators and chasers like to keep track of Maidenhead data as well. Keep up your good work!
73, Bruce Prior N7RR
Washington State Association SOTA Manager
I really like looking at the Activations Tool (test mode) that you have incorporated into the SMP. I enjoy looking at the maps which are easily created from ones own activations.
I’ve looked at where the readings within the UK are erroneous errors and can see this is down to the contacts made not providing locator data in QRZ.COM.
I made a list of G station SOTA Chasers from 2m FM activator contacts made since September 2013 when the test listing starts who appear to live in IO91VL which is London. Is there any chance any of you reading this could fill in your Maidenhead locator in QRZ.COM to improve the accuracy of the tool? You don’t need to put your full home address in there you know
Why would G4JAG come out as being in Pattaya, Thailand?
MD3OED is not on QRZ.COM however even his basic Geosource data doesn’t come out anywhere, whereas the G stations who don’t have any QRZ.COM data entered come out as being in London (the popular IO91VL square!). Surely if MD3 callsigns operate in the same way MD3OED should come out in the Isle of Man’s capital of Douglas?
Thanks for a great feature Rob, really enjoying the SMP facilities.
Is there any chance any of you reading this could fill in your Maidenhead locator in QRZ.COM to improve the accuracy of the tool? You don’t need to put your full home address in there you know
Phil,
Request noted.
Not sure where Locator is supposed to go so I have put it in my address field.
Rob has been asking me to look at this for a week and I’ve been otherwise engaged. It has improved visually since I last looked. The curved paths between QSO partners looks fabulous. It’s simple to use and looks lovely. I couldn’t make it do anything bad either.
When I first saw mapping summits on a Google map I thought that was nice. I forked the code and wrote something that was used to check new associations had their summits in the right place. It’s much easier to see than by looking at the raw data. Jim G0CQK took it and uses his version now in new association checking. I used my privileged position to extract data from the database and a UK postcode database to map activator to chaser QSOs in the UK. I’ve wanted to do something for S2S QSOs and worldwide contacts since but have had far too many other things to do.
This is just so much better and prettier than I could have imagined never mind produced. It really is the mutz… and it displays the SOTA summits and tracks and … thank you Rob.
Thanks for entering your locator data into QRZ. The data hasn’t yet migrated into the SMP. It may happen automatically later as some things seem to take time to take effect when they are put on the internet. I’ll keep checking the SMP over the coming days to see if your locator data changes, but at present the arrows still put you in London IO91VL.
Hi Phil, many thanks for your kind comments, and thanks also for your continued interest in the activations page and the SMP in general. I have to say you are probably the closest thing to the “ideal user” I have ever come across in my years as a programmer. You use the program intelligently, you don’t just throw in the towel when something goes wrong, you come back with insightful observations and suggestions for improvement… Thanks again.
Your listing of stations with incorrect locators in their qrz.com entries is one which I had contemplated making, but it would be far too cheeky of me to ask people to change those entries - once again, thank you for doing some of my dirty work! Now, if anybody is unclear about their locator - or indeed the locator for any particular spot on the Earth’s surface - they could do worse than use the “Position” control situated at the top of the map area in any of the four mapping pages in the SMP. Activating this control will (in addition to showing some position-readouts and “jump-to” controls at the bottom of the page) show a dynamic Maidenhead Locator Grid (an internet first, folks!) which will show more detail as you zoom in to any desired location.
The G4JAG “feature” you mention is easily explained if one tries to access his qrz.com page - one is redirected to his former Thailand callsign.
As far as your other observations go, it’s obviously difficult or impossible to ascertain the locators for many stations - in such cases, the activations page will not draw a “QSO line” for QSOs with such stations. Of course, I could just assume that the station is located in the center of his/her country but that would often result in many QSO lines being stacked one on the other, which would give no real information to the user - hence useless.
I also discovered a nice screenshot of the activations page used as an illustration in your blog:
which is an interesting use of the page!
Finally, I’ve just spotted your comment about updated locator data migrating into the SMP - there is actually no updating process yet, so I’d have to do these manually at the moment, which is easy.
Andy, thank you for your wonderful comments (the crate of Quarter Cask is on its’ way as I write ). No idea what “the mutz” might be, but it doesnt sound too bad!?
I couldn’t make it do anything bad either.
Heh! - you obviously didn’t try to view activations by Csaba YO6PIB, which causes an error associated with a Google Javascript weather library - don’t ask!
Now all I need is access to the live data, hint, hint…
In reply to G4OBK:
Phil, I have amended my locator info. I hadn’t realised that I was showing as being in London. I definitely set my correct location initially via the map … perhaps QRZ.com had a glitch during a power cut and reset to default lol.
A new feature has been added to each of the mapping pages: a “Terminator” control joins the group of controls at the top of the map area. Clicking this control does NOT make Arnie appear, but something rather more mundane - it shows greyline and night-side shading on the map, and which are updated every 10 seconds.
be converted to upper-case. Emails are case-insensitive, as Andy points out they should be; passwords are CaSe-SeNsItIvE !!!
