Most of the time I’m an activator. And if i get a dx - I’m pleased! Especially if its a weak signal.
I would be a little bit disappointed, if the DX would transmit on a large PA and his “receiver” would be very close to me.
It would kill the thrill…
73 Armin
yes - i’m sitting in the caffe at the top of the hill (the activation zone) , using their hotspot with my ipad and am operating … via a www. remote station.
Not my game!
I don’t understand why. I’m activator and chaser and the reward from each of this different disciplines is different.
While activating, I’ve been several times chased by DX stations putting real S9 on my S-meter and that strong signal coming from the chaser never made me feel less excited about the DX.
When chasing, things are usually different because the signals coming from the activators are weak most of the times, especially when they are DX. They are so weak that the S-meter doesn’t even move and something as apparently irrelevant as someone in the close neighbourhood switching on a LED lamp with a faulty switching power supply can totally ruin the reception of such tiny signal, thus making just impossible the weak but perfect reception of the activator’s signal before switching ON that faulty Switching Power Supply. The same applies to several other sources of QRM now a days in the urban areas.
The use of a web based SDR would allow several chasers, currently put off the chasing discipline due to urban QRM, back into enjoying the pleasure of chasing SOTA and that would surely increase the pleasure of the activators who would be able to log more QSOs, including DX.
While activating, I’ve been sometimes chased by someone in a location that made me guess that the use of a web SDR was involved and I assure you this didn’t made me feel less happy with the QSO at all. In fact, I was very happy and grateful to web SDR because they made that or those QSOs possible. And this is what this SOTA hobby is about.
For other stricter schemes where verifications and the like are necessary we already have DXCC, CQ WW contests and so on.
Let’s try to open our minds and conceive things in order to preserve and fuel our great hobby in spite of all the difficulties it’s currently having due to lack of interest among many of the youngsters and the ageing of our community, increasing QRM levels in the urban areas, restrictions at installing big antennas or even antennas at all…
73,
Guru
Can you list at least 5 summits in the whole world where you would be able to do so?
In EA2/NV with 156 listed summits, NONE!
Let’s be realistic, please!
73,
Guru
Hey Guru
That s a mater of perception…
In the last months i had my first contacts to vk. sometimes it was hard to work. But it made my day: i was heard in vk - with only 5 watts! - GREAT!
If i was aware, that i was only heard by a remote station in the neighborhood - it wouldn’t be great at all.
I think you’ll understand my point
73 - Armin
Questions about activator remote operation are a red herring. This would break several existing rules.
Okay - that with the cafe was exaggerated … 
But you often have telecom network
…then I’m glad !!! 
73 Armin
Brian,
You may well be right about the rising noise levels eventually killing suburban amateur radio.
So what to do to avoid it?
The answer is actually simple: complain.
But because most people don’t like to complain and just mumble about how noisy the bands are, those responsible for overseeing compliance to interference standards have no grounds to act. Reduced staff numbers and devolvement of customs inspections to other departments means non-compliant stuff is imported and sold to the public. In VK at least if you can present a good description of the interference and when it occurs and if possible roughly where it is then action will be taken.
But if no one complains about the noise then officially there is no noise.
If you think you have a problem now, wait until your neighbours get electric cars and charge them wirelessly overnight in their garage. It likely will be a 2.5 kW 90 kHz transmitter with lots of 3rd and 5th harmonics and hopefully some high performance filtering for the higher harmonics. It’s early days yet so expect some non-compliance and please complain if it troubles you.
Otherwise join a Radio Club with a remote station out of town.
Oh and thanks Brian for putting on the appropriate hat and stating the official policy of the MT on remote receivers and remote stations.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
…which is that currently there is no official policy! When an official policy is adopted then the GR will be modified and re-issued.
Why bother with a traditional Ham radio? Just use your cell phone to make contacts.
Aren’t Cell Phones just variants of handy talkies?..RF from two of them to a cell site/repeater.
Six Meter DXCC with your cell phone in one day. Not that is quite an accomplishment…not.
Pete
WA7JTM
DM/NS-001, DM/NS-122, DM/NW-135, DM/SA-001… 
Another point is, did the activator carry “their wifi” equipment up the summit and is it battery powered?
Ahoi
Pom
Hi Armin,
I understand that in the case of your VK chaser was using a web SDR within let’s say 1000 Km around your summit, as that would spoil the magic of knowing that your QRP signal was being heard in VK. However, according to what it’s been explained in previous post in this thread and others, things might end up accepting the use of web SDR within the chaser’s own association, region or even DXCC entity and that shouldn’t spoil at all the magic of your QRP signal making the real trip all the way to the distant location. Instead of being heard by the highly polluded in urban QRM antenna at the chaser’s QTH, you were heard by a not too distant decent antenna in a noise free area near your chaser.
Wouldn’t that be equally satisfactory to you?
Wouldn’t that be highly more satisfactory to the chasers, being able to chase a DX instead of having his rig switched off and doing something else on other hobby?
Cheers,
Guru
Another straw man argument - read the rules!
Mauna Kea has an observatory complex on the summit, so somebody must have wifi there.
I would not be surprised if the new Pikes Peak Summit House has wifi.
That is two without trying hard. I’m sure there are three more. There is a one-pointer around here with at least one residence in the AZ and another where the summit is inside a work camp (prison). That isn’t exactly a café, of course.
wunder
I would assume that the wifi is password protected.
However, according to what it’s been explained in previous post in this thread and others, things might end up accepting the use of web SDR within the chaser’s own association, region or even DXCC entity
Then I saw on SOTAwatch that Rich @N4EX was spotted on 14.063 in that very moment.
Since he was activating from a W4 summit on 20m, I mentally estimated the skip distance and thought that a webSDR in Utah, might well be copying him.
So there I went. I selected Northern Utah WebSDR - Server #2, introduced the desired frequency 14.063 and bang! there he was perfectly copied.
“Some people say the earth is flat.”
You mean…it’s NOT?
What is SDR?
The best way for me to access and change frequencies on my HT is via the software. Manual inputs of frequencies +/- and all the other little things necessary to make the bugger work seems software defined.
it’s wearing on me.
I’ve two HTs. One I’m close to programming in the field, the other is light years away, or in Japan, take your pick.
So using a PC as your receiver is SDR? What’s a a 7300?
It’s NOT about radio waves? Nice computer graphics, I say.
Yes, there’s a logical reason I blew this up!
What ever happened to simply talking on a radio? Now I get more hours programming a radio than I do with AIR TIME!!!
Hi Chris,
When I did chase Rich N4EX by copying him on that webSDR in Utah, I did it because:
1- there was nothing in the SOTA General Rules against that.
2- the internet service at my remote station QTH was OFF due to a loose RJ45 connector.
3- I would have been able to copy him with my endfed wire in the rental appartment balcony should the urban QRM be stopped as it had not few times passed in the recent past with other NA activators, making me almost sure that he would copy me upon my call with 50 watts, as several others before had done.
At the moment,
With this current situation, I don’t need to and do not currently make any use of webSDR, but I can think for others and I speak out for others not as fortunate as I am right now because I can imagine many others in about the same situation I was a few weeks ago, with no owned remote station in a low noise environment and the only chance to perhaps have a piece of wire in a balcony. Let’s try to think about the benefit of the whole SOTA community, not just about ourselves individually in a given present situation. Bear in mind that even our currently ideal and comfortable situation, might get changed at any moment.
Even mine. Let me tell you that I’ve been informed a few days ago about a cancer growing in my rectum. This fact might change everything in my life and these sort of things are things anyone can experience at any time, as you all know perfectly.
If the MT finally take some decision and modify the general rules to allow the use of webSDR located within a certain area around the chaser QTH, I would find that acceptable and I would stick to it in case I would decide to chase again that way.
As long as this doesn’t happen, anything is allowed.
I’m sure many have been long time chasing with the help of webSDR and they have never declared it.
In my case, since I had not needed it before, I only started chasing with the help of webSDR that very day I chased Rich N4EX and I wrote it on this Reflector because I wanted to open a public discussion about the matter.
After that very first chase, I’ve chased a few others and all of them are clearly identifyable in my chaser log because I noted RX via SDR at IO83 or whatever locator it was.
These are all my chases made so far with the help of webSDR:
That’s it.
I have also informed to the activators during our QSO about the fact that I was copying them through an SDR by giving them the signal report in this format 599/SDR 599/SDR.
I did this in order to try to make the use of SDR regulated and accepted by the SOTA rules. At the moment, they are accepted by omission, but their use is not regulated.
I can tell you that I found the use of web SDR a lot of fun and I took it as part of the experimentation and continuous education that we all hams in the world always like and enjoy so much.
Best 73,
Guru
Hi Guru,
There are quite a few summits where you can sit inside and have a coffee or other beverage with food. In VK3 there are 3, in VK5 there is 1. I’m sure there are more than 5. I have been to 4 in VK3 and VK5 alone. Of course these represent less than 0.2% of the summits in VK3 and VK5 so your point about the small number of opportunities for internet QSO’s is valid.
Should you make it to VK3 I’d be delighted to take you into one of these restaurants for refreshments and a snack after we have done a “proper” activation.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
