Take a look at this screen capture of spots from DX Summit this evening.
Now take a closer look at this one spot.
What's wrong with this picture? First, most of us would consider it to be in very poor taste to post a spot bragging about a contact you made with another station. Take a look at the callsigns at the top of the Honor Roll. Do you see them posting spots about who they just worked? No, they let their record speak for itself. Second, this fellow brags about a QSO he made LAST NIGHT. 3C0C was not even on 40 meters when this person decided to post his spot AN ENTIRE DAY LATER. If anything, he should've chosen to brag about it LAST NIGHT when he actually made the contact.
But the biggest flaw in what he did was this - he managed to set everyone's spotting alarm off for 3C0C by posting a spot on a valid frequency. Some of us - probably a lot of us - have these alerts set up to go to logging programs, cell phones, pagers, Blackberrys or iPhones. So off we rush to check out 40 meters for 3C0C, only to discover that some bonehead posted a spot bragging about a QSO he made the night before.
Heck, let's say his intention wasn't to brag, but was to let everyone know to be on the lookout for 3C0C on 40 meters at such and such time...or if he was just hellbent on bragging, there's a way to do it. It's called making an announcement. OR, if he didn't know how to do that (or didn't want to take the time to learn), he could've posted his spot and used a frequency that's "out of bounds". He could've posted for 7.000 or 14.000 and bragged all he wanted. That way he wouldn't have made everyone's alarms go off.
Or look so foolish.
4 comments:
I don't use the DX Cluster (except, in the interests of full disclosure, indirectly, by posting details of VHF Sporadic E contacts I manage to make so they can be plotted by vhfdx.info) and that kind of thing is one of the reasons. There is a prevalence of ham radio internet based chat systems and I think some people consider the Cluster to be one of them. The solution, if someone could be bothered, would surely be to redesign the system so it would only accept strictly formatted input.
LOL. How about the guys who think they need to "message all" with what they think is news or the latest card they received. And then there are the guys who think message all is an alternative to email.
The DX Cluster needs a big time technology overhaul to stop goofball stuff like this. Also, it's a wonder the entire cluster hasn't been taken down by a DDOS attack yet.
What a prat! Along with the idiots who self spot, are just testing or having a poke at some hapless novice who is making a hash of it, it is enough to make you turn off the cluster and go back to looking for the DX the old fashioned way. ;0)
I think a lot of spots are just bragging but at least they do it the right way. I spot on the cluster to make sure the DX/rare/Special Event or portable station is noticed and doesn't spend 3 hours calling CQ with no replies.
The cluster is a great tool but if we rely on it too much who is going to find the stations to spot them so we can find it?
Best regards Steve GW7AAV
Checkout that clowns QRZ page. You'll see where the attitude comes from.
Post a Comment